Edward Denison the elder (1801–1854) was an English
bishop of Salisbury
The Bishop of Salisbury is the ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of Salisbury in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers much of the counties of Wiltshire and Dorset. The see is in the City of Salisbury where the bishop's seat ...
.
Life
He was born at 34
Harley Street, London, on 13 March 1801. His father was John Denison of Ossington, a merchant in London, whose surname was originally Wilkinson, but as first cousin of William Denison of
Kirkgate, Leeds, he was left the bulk of a large property on condition that he assumed the name of Denison and continued the business in Leeds. His father did this, and afterwards resided at
Ossington, Nottinghamshire, before dying at 2 Portman Square, London, on 6 May 1820. His mother, his father's second wife, was Charlotte, second daughter of
Samuel Estwick, M.P. for
Westbury.
John Evelyn Denison
John Evelyn Denison, 1st Viscount Ossington, PC (27 January 1800 – 7 March 1873) was a British statesman who served as Speaker of the House of Commons from 1857 to 1872. He is the eponym of Speaker Denison's rule.
Background and education
D ...
, speaker of the House of Commons,
George Anthony 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 ...
the archdeacon of Taunton, and
Sir William Thomas Denison were his brothers.
Edward Denison received his early education at
Esher
Esher ( ) is a town in Surrey, England, to the east of the River Mole.
Esher is an outlying suburb of London near the London-Surrey Border, and with Esher Commons at its southern end, the town marks one limit of the Greater London Built-Up ...
, and in 1811 entered
Eton College
Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, ...
. In 1818 he entered
Oriel College, Oxford, where in 1822 he took a first class and his B. A. degree. He was elected a fellow of
Merton College in 1826, proceeded M.A., and received ordination on 23 December 1827. After serving as curate at
Wolvercote, near
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 ...
, and at
Radcliffe on Trent in Nottinghamshire, he returned to Oxford and took charge of the parish of St. Peter, where he remained until his appointment to the see of
Salisbury
Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath.
Salisbury is in the southeast of ...
.
He acquired some reputation while filling the office of select preacher before the university in 1834, but in 1835 strongly opposed the admission of dissenters to the colleges of Oxford. With the support of
Lord Melbourne
William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, (15 March 177924 November 1848), in some sources called Henry William Lamb, was a British Whig politician who served as Home Secretary (1830–1834) and Prime Minister (1834 and 1835–1841). His first pre ...
, and at the early age of thirty-six, he was consecrated bishop of Salisbury (16 April 1837), having on 5 April previously been created D.D. by his university. He immediately increased the number of Sunday services in the parish churches, and reformed the mode of conducting
confirmations. When
cholera broke out in Salisbury the bishop worked both as a religious teacher and as a sanitary reformer.
He was a well-known advocate of the revival of the church's synodical powers, and in convocation displayed considerable resolution in furthering the movement. A good administrator, in his theological views he was always somewhat intolerant. He died from the effects of a cold, which terminated in a
black jaundice, in the Close, Salisbury, on 6 March 1854, aged fifty-three, and was buried in the cloisters of the cathedral on 15 March.
Works
Denison wrote mainly sermons and charges. They include:
* 'The Sin of Causing Offence,' a sermon, 1835.
* '
A Review of the State of the Question respecting the Admission of Dissenters to the Universities,' 1835.
* 'Sermons preached before the University of Oxford,' 1836.
* 'The Church the Teacher of her Children,' a sermon, 1839.
* 'The Obligation of the Clergy in Preaching the Word of God,' a charge, 1842.
* 'Difficulties in the Church,' a sermon, 1853.
* 'Speech in the House of Lords, June 25, 1853, relative to the Charge of having received more than the legitimate Income of his See,' 1853.
Family
On 27 June 1839 Denison married Louisa Mary (b. 1812), daughter of Henry Ker Seymer of Hanford, Dorset, who died on 22 September 1841. It was of this first marriage that
Edward Denison (1840–1870) was born. He married secondly, on 10 July 1845, Clementina (b. 1812), daughter of Charles Baillie-Hamilton, archdeacon of Cleveland, who died on 12 May 1894.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Denison, Edward
1801 births
1854 deaths
Bishops of Salisbury
Alumni of Oriel College, Oxford
People educated at Eton College
Fellows of Merton College, Oxford