Field Flowers Goe (10 February 1832 – 25 June 1910) 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 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 ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

Early life

Goe was born in

Louth Louth may refer to: Australia *Hundred of Louth, a cadastral unit in South Australia * Louth, New South Wales, a town * Louth Bay, a bay in South Australia **Louth Bay, South Australia, a town and locality Canada * Louth, Ontario Ireland * Cou ...

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, the only son of Field Flowers Goe, a solicitor, and his wife Mary Jane. Goe was educated at the King Edward's Grammar School, Louth and later at

Hertford College, Oxford Hertford College ( ), previously known as Magdalen Hall, is a colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It is located on Catte Street in the centre of Oxford, directly opposite the main ga ...

where he graduated B.A. in 1857 and M.A. in 1860.

Career

Goe was ordained

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Churc ...

and

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

in 1858 by Archbishop Thomas Musgrave of York. Later that year Goe was appointed curate at

Kingston upon Hull Kingston upon Hull, usually abbreviated to Hull, is a port city and unitary authority in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Estuary, inland from the North Sea and south-east ...

. He was rector of

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

from 1873 to 1877 and

St George's, Bloomsbury St George's, Bloomsbury, is a parish church in Bloomsbury, London Borough of Camden, United Kingdom. It was designed by Nicholas Hawksmoor and consecrated in 1730. The church crypt houses the Museum of Comedy. History The Commissioners for the ...

, London, from 1877 to 1887. Goe had shown ability as a parish worker, preacher and organiser and in 1886 he was appointed the Bishop of Melbourne in succession to

James Moorhouse James Moorhouse (19 November 1826 – 9 April 1915) was a Bishop of Melbourne and a Bishop of Manchester, and a Chancellor of the University of Melbourne. Early life and career Moorhouse was born in Sheffield, England, the only son of James Moo ...

. Though strongly

Evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide Interdenominationalism, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "bor ...

he was not bigoted and had signed the memorial protesting against the persecution of the ritualists. He was installed at the cathedral church of St James, Melbourne, on 14 April 1887. Goe was aware of many problems in his church which needed attention but resolved that until the cathedral could be finished and paid for these must stand aside.

St Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Melbourne, Australia. It is the cathedral church of the Diocese of Melbourne and the seat of the Archbishop of Melbourne, who is also the metropolitan archbishop of the Province of Victoria. Th ...

was completed, except for its spires, and consecrated on 22 January 1891. By that time the land boom had burst and for the next ten years Melbourne suffered from a severe depression. The financial question caused so many difficulties that it was almost impossible to do more than mark time. The forming of new

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, pro ...

s had several times been discussed and, on 3 October 1901, an act was passed in the church assembly which gave to the state of Victoria three additional dioceses;

Bendigo Bendigo ( ) is a city in Victoria, Australia, located in the Bendigo Valley near the geographical centre of the state and approximately north-west of Melbourne, the state capital. As of 2019, Bendigo had an urban population of 100,991, makin ...

Wangaratta Wangaratta ( ) is a city in the northeast of Victoria, Australia, from Melbourne along the Hume Highway. The city had an estimated urban population of 19,318 at June 2018. Wangaratta has recorded a population growth rate of almost 1% annually ...

and

Gippsland Gippsland is a rural region that makes up the southeastern part of Victoria, Australia, mostly comprising the coastal plains to the rainward (southern) side of the Victorian Alps (the southernmost section of the Great Dividing Range). It covers ...

Late life and legacy

In 1861 he married Emma, the daughter of William Hurst; they had no children. Goe's wife died on 24 July 1901 and he resigned on 1 November 1901 but acted as administrator until his departure for England on 7 April 1902. He lived in retirement at

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...

, near London, until his death on 25 June 1910. Goe was a large man, and regarded as kind. He was neither a great scholar nor a great thinker, but he was a man of shrewd sense who preached peace on earth and goodwill to all men and kept his diocese going through a difficult period.

References

*James Grant,
Goe, Field Flowers (1832 - 1910)
, ''

Australian Dictionary of Biography The ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'' (ADB or AuDB) is a national co-operative enterprise founded and maintained by the Australian National University (ANU) to produce authoritative biographical articles on eminent people in Australia's ...

'', Volume 9, MUP, 1983, p. 39. Retrieved on 24 December 2008. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Goe, Field Flowers 1832 births 1910 deaths People from Louth, Lincolnshire 19th-century Anglican bishops in Australia Anglican bishops of Melbourne English emigrants to Australia Alumni of Hertford College, Oxford