The Rt Rev Robert Bickersteth FRS (24 August 1816 – 15 April 1884) was the Anglican

Bishop of Ripon The Bishop of Ripon is an episcopal title which takes its name after the city of Ripon in North Yorkshire, England. The bishop is one of the area bishops of the Diocese of Leeds in the Province of York. The area bishop of Ripon has oversight of ...

in the mid 19th century.

Life

Robert Bickersteth was born into an ecclesiastical family, the son of Rev. John Bickersteth, sometime

Rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

Sapcote Sapcote is a small village in the south west of Leicestershire, England, in the Sparkenhoe Hundred. It has a population of approximately 3,260, measured at the 2021 census The well-known inland scuba diving site Stoney Cove is nearby. Histor ...

. His brother

Edward Edward is an English given name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortune; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”. History The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-Sa ...

was a

Dean of Lichfield The Dean of Lichfield is the head (''primus inter pares'' – first among equals) and chair of the chapter of canons, the ruling body of Lichfield Cathedral. The dean and chapter are based at the ''Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary and ...

. His uncle was

was also a priest and Edward Bickersteth,

Bishop of Exeter The Bishop of Exeter is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Exeter in the Province of Canterbury. Since 30 April 2014 the ordinary has been Robert Atwell.

was his cousin. Another uncle, a prominent barrister, was raised to the peerage as

Baron Langdale Baron Langdale was a title that was created twice in British history. The first creation came in the Peerage of England on 4 February 1658 when the prominent royalist commander of the English Civil War, Sir Marmaduke Langdale, was made by Baron ...

. He was educated at

Queens' College, Cambridge Queens' College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Queens' is one of the oldest colleges of the university, founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou. The college spans the River Cam, c ...

Ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform var ...

in 1845, his first post 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 ...

to his father. After a further

curacy 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 ...

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

he became

of St John's,

Clapham Clapham () is a suburb in south west London, England, lying mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, but with some areas (most notably Clapham Common) extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth. History Early history T ...

and then of

St Giles in the Fields St Giles in the Fields is the Anglican parish church of the St Giles district of London. It stands within the London Borough of Camden and belongs to the Diocese of London. The church, named for St Giles the Hermit, began as a monastery an ...

. Between 1854 and 1857 he was a canon at

Salisbury Cathedral Salisbury Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is an Anglican cathedral in Salisbury, England. The cathedral is the mother church of the Diocese of Salisbury and is the seat of the Bishop of Salisbury. The buil ...

when he was elevated to the

episcopate A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or offic ...

as the

, a post he held until his death. He was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathematic ...

in 1858. His son, also named Robert Bickersteth, was a Liberal MP. He consecrated the church of St Thomas the Apostle, Killinghall on 29 July 1880.''Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer'' West Yorkshire, England 30 Jul 1880 p5: "Consecration of Killinghall Church"

Works

* ''The Social Effects of the Reformation'' (1859) * ''Romanism in its relation to the second coming of Christ'' (1854) * ''The Gifts of the Kingdom. Being Lectures Delivered During Lent'' (1855)

External links

Bibliographic directory
from

Project Canterbury Project Canterbury (sometimes abbreviated as PC) is an online archive of material related to the history of Anglicanism. It was founded by Richard Mammana, Jr. in 1999 with a grant from Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Frank T. Griswold Frank T ...

Notes

1816 births 1884 deaths Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge 19th-century Church of England bishops Bishops of Ripon (modern diocese) Fellows of the Royal Society Robert, bishop {{ChurchofEngland-bishop-stub