Edward Bickersteth (26 June 1850 – 5 August 1897) was an ordained Anglican missionary,

Bishop of South Tokyo The Bishop of South Tokyo was a historic title of a bishop in the Nippon Sei Ko Kai, or Anglican Church in Japan. Edward Bickersteth (1850–1897) was the first Bishop of South Tokyo from 1886 until his premature death in 1897. He was born at Bann ...

and a leading figure in both the establishment of the

Cambridge Mission to Delhi The Cambridge Mission to Delhi was an Anglican Christian missionary initiative to India in the mid 19th and early 20th centuries led by graduates of the University of Cambridge. Individual members of the mission community are credited with helpin ...

and in the early years of the

Anglican Church in Japan The ''Nippon Sei Ko Kai'' ( ja, 日本聖公会, translit=Nippon Seikōkai, lit=Japanese Holy Catholic Church), abbreviated as NSKK, sometimes referred to in English as the Anglican Episcopal Church in Japan, is the national Christian church rep ...

.''

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 ...

'', Wednesday, 26 January 1898; pg. 7; Issue 35423; col E ''Church Missions in Japan''

Early life and education

Edward Bickersteth was born at

Banningham Banningham is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Colby, in the North Norfolk district, in the English county of Norfolk. The village is 2.9 miles north east of Aylsham, 14.7 miles north of Norwich and 129 miles north east ...

, Norfolk into a noted

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

ecclesiastical family; his father,

Edward Henry Bickersteth Edward Henry Bickersteth (25 January 1825 – 16 May 1906) was a bishop in the Church of England and he held the office of Bishop of Exeter between 1885 and 1900. Life Edward Henry Bickersteth was born in Islington, the son of Edward Bickers ...

, was the

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.

from 1885 to 1900. Educated at

Highgate School Highgate School, formally Sir Roger Cholmeley's School at Highgate, is an English co-educational, fee-charging, independent day school, founded in 1565 in Highgate, London, England. It educates over 1,400 pupils in three sections – Highgate ...

where he excelled in both academic studies and athletics winning an open classical scholarship to

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 ...

in 1869. At Cambridge, as well as studying for

ordination Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorization, authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominational ...

, he obtained both classical and theological degrees with honours and was elected a Fellow in 1875. In 1873, Bickersteth took up his first post 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 Holy Trinity, South Hampstead.Details of early career
/ref> Bickersteth was then appointed lecturer in Theology at his old college and in 1877 founded and led the

, an initiative in support of the North India mission and educational work of the

Society for the Propagation of the Gospel United Society Partners in the Gospel (USPG) is a United Kingdom-based charitable organization (registered charity no. 234518). It was first incorporated under Royal Charter in 1701 as the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Part ...

. After seven years in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Bickersteth returned to England to become

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 ...

of the Church of St. Michael,

Framlingham Framlingham is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Suffolk, England. Of Anglo-Saxons, Anglo-Saxon origin, it appears in the 1086 Domesday Book. The parish had a population of 3,342 at the 2011 Census and an estimated 4, ...

Missionary bishop in Japan

Consecrated in February 1886 at

St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in London and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London. It is on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London and is a Grad ...

Archbishop Benson Edward White Benson (14 July 1829 – 11 October 1896) was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1883 until his death. Before this, he was the first Bishop of Truro, serving from 1877 to 1883, and began construction of Truro Cathedral. He was previousl ...

, as Missionary-Bishop of the

in Japan, Bickersteth arrived at

Nagasaki is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. It became the sole port used for trade with the Portuguese and Dutch during the 16th through 19th centuries. The Hidden Christian Sites in the ...

on 13 April the same year. Working from the church's mission center at St. Andrew's Church in Tokyo, Bickersteth is remembered for his commitment to building a Japanese led, indigenous, Anglican Church. In February 1887, at a meeting in

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...

instigated by Bickersteth, and presided over by Bishop

Channing Moore Williams Channing Moore Williams (July 17, 1829 – December 2, 1910) was an Episcopal Church missionary, later bishop, in China and Japan. Williams was a leading figure in the establishment of the Anglican Church in Japan. His commemoration in some Angl ...

, it was agreed to unite the various Anglican missionary efforts in Japan into one autonomous national church; the Nippon Sei Ko Kai. Bickersteth is also remembered for his leadership and skill in the development of a constitution, Canons, Prayer Book and comprehensive mission program for the

Nippon Sei Ko Kai The ''Nippon Sei Ko Kai'' ( ja, 日本聖公会, translit=Nippon Seikōkai, lit=Japanese Holy Catholic Church), abbreviated as NSKK, sometimes referred to in English as the Anglican Episcopal Church in Japan, is the national Christian church repr ...

. His "watchful care and strong influence" led to a punishing schedule on the road travelling between the scattered mission churches in Japan eight months of the year. In 1891, Bickersteth was visited in Japan by his father,

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.

. The travel journal of Mary Jane Bickersteth, who accompanied the tour of Japan, includes detailed descriptions of the Anglican church's mission work, visits to sites such as the

Shrines and Temples of Nikkō The UNESCO World Heritage Site Shrines and Temples of Nikkō encompasses 103 buildings or structures and the natural setting around them. It is located in Nikkō, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. The buildings belong to two Shinto shrines (Futarasan Shri ...

, a meeting with

Fukuzawa Yukichi was a Japanese educator, philosopher, writer, entrepreneur and samurai who founded Keio University, the newspaper '' Jiji-Shinpō'', and the Institute for Study of Infectious Diseases. Fukuzawa was an early advocate for reform in Japan. His ...

and the experience of surviving the strong Mino–Owari earthquake at

on 28 October 1891. Bickersteth, suffering from failing health brought on by overwork, died on 5 August 1897 at

Chiseldon Chiseldon is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Swindon, Wiltshire, England. It takes its name from the Old English cisel dene, or gravel valley, being noted in the Domesday Book as ''Chiseldene''. The village lies on the edge of the ...

, Wiltshire shortly after speaking on "The Development of Native Churches" at the opening meetings of the Fourth

Lambeth Conference The Lambeth Conference is a decennial assembly of bishops of the Anglican Communion convened by the Archbishop of Canterbury. The first such conference took place at Lambeth in 1867. As the Anglican Communion is an international association ...

.S. Bickersteth, ''Life and Letters of Edward Bickersteth, Bishop of South Tokyo'', p.462. Bickersteth's funeral and interment at

was attended, by among others, Bishop John McKim of North Tokyo and Sir

Ernest Satow Sir Ernest Mason Satow, (30 June 1843 – 26 August 1929), was a British scholar, diplomat and Japanologist. Satow is better known in Japan than in Britain or the other countries in which he served, where he was known as . He was a key fig ...

, British Envoy to Japan.

Family

On a return visit to England in the summer of 1893, Bickersteth met, and after a short courtship and engagement, married on 28 September, Marion Forsyth, the daughter of

William Forsyth QC William Forsyth QC (25 October 1812 – 26 December 1899) was a Scottish lawyer and Conservative Member of Parliament (MP). Early life and education He was born at Greenock in Renfrewshire, son of merchant Thomas Forsyth, of Birkenhead, and ...

, formerly Conservative Member of Parliament for Marylebone. There were no children from the marriage. The couple set out to return to Japan, via Canada on 21 October 1893. The Fourth Synod of the Nippon Sei Ko Kai was held in Tokyo in November 1893, shortly after the Bickersteth's return to his full-time pastoral duties.S. Bickersteth, ''Life and Letters of Edward Bickersteth'', p.351.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bickersteth, Edward 1850 births People from North Norfolk (district) People educated at Highgate School Alumni of Pembroke College, Cambridge English Anglican missionaries Anglican bishops of South Tokyo 1897 deaths Anglican missionaries in Japan British expatriates in Japan Anglican missionaries in India British people in colonial India

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 ...