Eric Austin Gowing (11 March 1913 - 3 June 1981) was the seventh Anglican

Bishop 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 c ...

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

. His

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 ...

spanned a long period during the second half of the 20th century. Born in Sydney, Australia, Gowing was educated at North Sydney High School and the universities of Sydney and

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, before beginning his ordained ministry as a curate at St Mary's Deane Stafford. After an

incumbency The incumbent is the current holder of an office or position, usually in relation to an election. In an election for president, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the office of president before the election, whether seeking re-ele ...

at St Peter's Norbiton, he emigrated to

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

in 1950 where he was

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of Merivale and Archdeacon of

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...

before his appointment to the episcopal see of

in 1960; he was consecrated a bishop on 1 November 1960. He was one of the last bishops to wear the traditional

frock coat A frock coat is a formal men's coat characterised by a knee-length skirt cut all around the base just above the knee, popular during the Victorian and Edwardian periods (1830s–1910s). It is a fitted, long-sleeved coat with a centre vent at th ...

, hose and

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. He served as a vice-president of the New Zealand Homosexual Law Reform Society and as a patron of the

Society for Promotion of Community Standards The Society for Promotion of Community Standards Inc. ("SPCS") is a conservative lobby group in New Zealand. A registered charity and incorporated society, the Society has taken a strong pro-censorship stance and clashed many times with the Office ...

.Laurie Guy, ''Worlds in Collision: The Gay Debate in New Zealand, 1960-1986'' (Victoria University Press, Wellington, 2002), p. 71. Gowing was the son-in-law of

Thomas Sherwood Jones The Rt Rev Thomas Sherwood Jones (also rendered Sherwood-Jones) was the Anglican Suffragan Bishop of Hulme in Manchester, Britain, from 1930 until 1945. He was born on 4 March 1872 and educated at Durham University and ordained in 1899. He wa ...

, a

Bishop of Hulme The Bishop of Hulme was an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Manchester, in the Province of York, England. The See was created by Order in Council on 11 October 1923 (under the Suffragans Nomination ...

, who in 1961 travelled from England (at the age of 89) to assist in Gowing's consecration.

References

1913 births Clergy from Sydney University of Sydney alumni Alumni of the University of Oxford Anglican bishops of Auckland 20th-century Anglican bishops in New Zealand 1981 deaths Australian emigrants to New Zealand People educated at North Sydney Boys High School {{Anglican-bishop-stub