Thomas Carr (1788 – 5 September 1859) was the inaugural Bishop of Bombay between 1837 and 1851.

Early life and career

The son of Thomas Carr and Catherine Wilkinson, Carr was born in 1788. He was educated at

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College, formally the College of St John the Evangelist in the University of Cambridge, is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch L ...

, matriculating in 1809, graduating

B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

in 1813, and receiving the

Lambeth degree A Lambeth degree is an academic degree conferred by the Archbishop of Canterbury under the authority of the Ecclesiastical Licences Act 1533 as successor of the papal legate in England. The degrees conferred most commonly are DD (Doctor of Div ...

D.D. A Doctor of Divinity (DD or DDiv; ) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity (i.e., Christian theology and ministry or other theologies. The term is more common in the English-speaking world than elsewhere. In the United Kin ...

in 1831. Chaplain in the service of the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...

in 1817. Appointed to the archdeaconry of Bombay in 1833. Consecrated Bishop of Bombay at

Lambeth Palace Chapel Lambeth Palace is the official London residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury. It is situated in north Lambeth, London, on the south bank of the River Thames, south-east of the Palace of Westminster, which houses Parliament, on the opposite b ...

on 19 November 1837. Installed in Bombay 25 February 1838. Rector of

Bath Abbey The Abbey Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, commonly known as Bath Abbey, is a parish church of the Church of England and former Benedictines, Benedictine monastery in Bath, Somerset, Bath, Somerset, England. Founded in the 7th century, i ...

between 1854 and 1859. Gave key evidence in a famous court case, that of

Archdeacon Denison George Anthony Denison (1805–1896) was an English Anglican priest. He served as Archdeacon of Taunton from 1851. Life Brother of politician Evelyn Denison, 1st Viscount Ossington, colonial administrator Sir William Denison and bishop Edward ...

. He died at

Bath, Somerset Bath (Received Pronunciation, RP: , ) is a city in Somerset, England, known for and named after its Roman Baths (Bath), Roman-built baths. At the 2021 census, the population was 94,092. Bath is in the valley of the River Avon, Bristol, River A ...

in 1859. A monument to Carr, designed by British sculptor

Matthew Noble Matthew Noble (23 March 1817 – 23 June 1876) was a leading British portrait sculptor. Carver of numerous monumental figures and busts including work, memorializing Victorian era royalty and statesmen, displayed in locations such as Westminster ...

, is located in St. Thomas Cathedral, Mumbai.

Family

First marriage to Elizabeth Matilda Farrish on 19 May 1814 at Great St. Mary's, Cambridge. * A daughter, Frances Ellen who married Sir John Awdry. * A son, Revd. William Carr, M.A. * A son, James Thomas Carr, MRCS, (29 September 1822 – 15 April 1847), a surgeon serving the

Indian Medical Service The Indian Medical Service (IMS) was a military medical service in British India, which also had some civilian functions. It served during the two World Wars, and remained in existence until the independence of India in 1947. Many of its officer ...

, was lost at sea in the foundering of

steam frigate Steam frigates (including screw frigates) and the smaller steam corvettes, steam sloops, steam gunboats and steam schooners, were steam-powered warships that were not meant to stand in the line of battle. The first such ships were paddle stea ...

Cleopatra Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator (; The name Cleopatra is pronounced , or sometimes in both British and American English, see and respectively. Her name was pronounced in the Greek dialect of Egypt (see Koine Greek phonology). She was ...

in a cyclone off the

Malabar Coast The Malabar Coast () is the southwestern region of the Indian subcontinent. It generally refers to the West Coast of India, western coastline of India stretching from Konkan to Kanyakumari. Geographically, it comprises one of the wettest regio ...

. A memorial to the loss of this ship and over 300 passengers and crew is located in St. Thomas Cathedral, Mumbai. Later on 24 June 1831, a second marriage to Catherine Emily MacMahon. * A daughter, Mary Catherine Carr who in 1853 married firstly Vere Hobart, later Lord Hobart, Governor of Madras between 1872 and 1875. After Lord Hobarts death in 1875 she married secondly in 1879 Charles Coates a Doctor of Medicine. Carr's grandson

William Awdry William Awdry (24 January 1842 – 4 January 1910) was the inaugural Bishop of Southampton and Osaka who subsequently served South Tokyo. He was the fourth son of Sir John Wither Awdry and his second wife Frances Ellen Carr, second daughter of ...

was also consecrated a bishop serving in Southampton, Osaka and South Tokyo.

References

1788 births 1859 deaths Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Anglican bishops of Bombay Holders of a Lambeth degree {{UK-Christian-clergy-stub