Charles Richard Alford (13 August 181613 June 1898) was an

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

bishop and author in the last third of the 19th century. Alford was born into an ecclesiastical family in

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

, England on 13 August 1816. His father was the

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 ...

West Quantoxhead West Quantoxhead is a small village and civil parish in the Somerset West and Taunton district of Somerset, England. It lies on the route of the Coleridge Way and on the A39 road at the foot of the Quantock Hills, from East Quantoxhead, from Wil ...

. He was educated at St Paul's School, London and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

. He was

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 va ...

deacon in 1839 and priest a year later at

Lincoln Cathedral Lincoln Cathedral, Lincoln Minster, or the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Lincoln and sometimes St Mary's Cathedral, in Lincoln, England, is a Grade I listed cathedral and is the seat of the Anglican Bishop of Lincoln. Constructio ...

. He served

curacies 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 ...

at Holy Trinity,

Finningley Finningley is a village and civil parish in the City of Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. Historically in Nottinghamshire, it lies on the A614 road between Bawtry and Thorne, about 6 miles south-east of Doncaster, at , and around 23 feet ab ...

and St Matthew's

Rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

. Alford married Sarah Jacosha Fleet at

St Margaret Pattens St Margaret Pattens is a Church of England church in the City of London, located on Eastcheap near the Monument to the Great Fire of London, Monument. The dedication is to St. Margaret of Antioch. History The church was first recorded in 1067, a ...

in the City of London, on 20 July 1840. In 1846 he became

Vicar A vicar (; Latin: ''vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pref ...

of Christ Church,

Doncaster Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated in ...

, a post he held for eight years. He was then Principal of Highbury Training College for a decade then

vicar A vicar (; Latin: ''vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pref ...

of Holy Trinity,

Islington Islington () is a district in the north of Greater London, England, and part of the London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the ar ...

. He was ordained and consecrated to the

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

Canterbury Cathedral Canterbury Cathedral in Canterbury, Kent, is one of the oldest and most famous Christian structures in England. It forms part of a World Heritage Site. It is the cathedral of the Archbishop of Canterbury, currently Justin Welby, leader of the ...

on the

Feast of the Purification Candlemas (also spelled Candlemass), also known as the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus Christ, the Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary, or the Feast of the Holy Encounter, is a Christian holiday commemorating the presentati ...

(2 February 1867), by

Charles Longley Charles Thomas Longley (28 July 1794 – 27 October 1868) was a bishop in the Church of England. He served as Bishop of Ripon, Bishop of Durham, Archbishop of York and Archbishop of Canterbury from 1862 until his death. Life He was born at Roc ...

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...

; to serve as the second

Bishop of Victoria The Bishop of Victoria, Hong Kong was (from 1849 to 1951) the Ordinary of a corporation sole including Hong Kong and South China that ministered to 20,000 Anglicans. Bishops *18491865 (ret.): George SmithHandbook to the Diocese of Victoria (Hong K ...

. The Alfords left England on 29 July 1867 and arrived in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

on 8 October 1867. Between September and December 1868 Alford made pastoral visits to the newly established treaty ports of Japan, arriving in

Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of To ...

on the 24th of November just in time to witness the procession of the

Meiji Emperor , also called or , was the 122nd emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession. Reigning from 13 February 1867 to his death, he was the first monarch of the Empire of Japan and presided over the Meiji era. He was the figure ...

as the Imperial capital was relocated from Kyoto to Edo. After resigning his episcopate and returning to England in 1872 (he had resigned before he was appointed to

Bowden, Cheshire Bowdon is a suburb and electoral ward in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, Greater Manchester, England. History Within the boundaries of the historic county of Cheshire, both Bowdon and Dunham Massey are mentioned in the Domesday Book, cit ...

in April 1872); he held further incumbencies at Christ Church,

Claughton, Merseyside Claughton ( ) is a village and suburb of Birkenhead, on the Wirral Peninsula, Merseyside, England. It is situated approximately to the west of Birkenhead town centre, adjacent to Birkenhead Park. Administratively, Claughton is a ward of the Me ...

and St Mary's Kippington. From 1880 until his retirement in 1881 he was a

commissary A commissary is a government official charged with oversight or an ecclesiastical official who exercises in special circumstances the jurisdiction of a bishop. In many countries, the term is used as an administrative or police title. It often c ...

to the

Diocese of Huron The Diocese of Huron is a diocese of the Ecclesiastical Province of Ontario of the Anglican Church of Canada. The diocese comprises just over 31,000 square kilometres in southwestern Ontario, sandwiched between Lake Huron and Lake Erie. Its See ...

. He died on 13 June 1898.''Obituary. Bishop Alford''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

16 June 1898; pg. 10; Issue 35544; col A

Works

*''First Principles of the Oracles of God'', 1856 *''Charge to Diocese of Victoria, with Review of Missions to China and Japan'', 1871 *''Standfast'', 1895 *''Collected Sermons'', 1899 (posthumous publication)

References

External links

* 1816 births 1898 deaths People from West Somerset (district) People educated at St Paul's School, London Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Anglican bishops of Victoria, Hong Kong 19th-century Anglican bishops in China Principals of St. Paul's College, Hong Kong {{Anglican-bishop-stub