Michael Humphrey Dickens Whinney (8 July 19303 February 2017) was a Church of England bishop who served in two episcopal posts; he was also a great-great-grandson of Charles Dickens. He was born in Chelsea, London on 8 July 1930 and educated at

Charterhouse School (God having given, I gave) , established = , closed = , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , president ...

and

Pembroke College, Cambridge Pembroke College (officially "The Master, Fellows and Scholars of the College or Hall of Valence-Mary") is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college is the third-oldest college of the university and has over 700 ...

(he became a Cambridge Master of Arts ); he later gained a Master of Sacred Theology (STM) degree from General Theological Seminary. He was ordained in 1957 after an earlier career as an

accountant An accountant is a practitioner of accounting or accountancy. Accountants who have demonstrated competency through their professional associations' certification exams are certified to use titles such as Chartered Accountant, Chartered Certifi ...

. His first ministry position was as a

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'') ''of souls'' of a parish. In this sense, "curate" means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy w ...

at Rainham after which he held two posts in Bermondsey, firstly as priest in charge of the Cambridge University Mission Settlement and later as the vicar of St James' with Christ Church. He became the

Archdeacon of Southwark The Archdeacons in the Diocese of Southwark are senior clergy in the Church of England in South London and Surrey. They currently include: the archdeacons of Southwark, of Reigate (formerly of Kingston-on-Thames) and of Lewisham & Greenwich ...

before being ordained to the episcopate in 1982 as the Bishop of Aston. After three years he was translated to be the

Bishop of Southwell __NOTOC__ The Bishop of Southwell and Nottingham is the diocesan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Southwell and Nottingham in the Province of York.''Crockford's Clerical Directory'', 100th edition, (2007), Church House Publishing. . The ...

where he remained until 1988. Taking temporary early retirement from Southwell with an injury in early 1988, he returned to Birmingham for a sabbatical year. In February 1989 (aged 59 and long before retirement age), he was invited to become an Assistant Bishop of Birmingham and Canon of the Cathedral. In retirement he continued to serve as an honorary assistant bishop in Birmingham. He died on 3 February 2017 at the age of 86.

References

1930 births 2017 deaths People from Chelsea, London People educated at Charterhouse School Alumni of Pembroke College, Cambridge Archdeacons of Southwark 20th-century Church of England bishops Bishops of Aston Bishops of Southwell {{ChurchofEngland-bishop-stub