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Gerard Trower (3 December 1860 – 25 August 1928) was an 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 ...
.


Early life

Trower was born in
Hook, Yorkshire Hook is a village and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is situated approximately north-east of Goole town centre and lies on the west bank of the River Ouse. According to the 2011 UK census, Hook parish had a populat ...
, the son of the Rev Arthur Trower (1819 - 1891) and Jane Lawford. His father's cousins included Bishop Walter Trower (1804 - 1877) and Charles Francis Trower (1817 - 1891). He was educated at Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood and Keble College, Oxford. He graduated with a BA in 1885 and an MA in 1888.


Church career

He was made a deacon in 1888 and ordained priest in 1889 by the Bishop of Worcester. His first position was as a curate in
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...
at St Alban's, Bordesley. This was followed by a curacy at St Mary Redcliffe, Bristol, where he was curate-in-charge of the mission district. He then emigrated to Australia where he became
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
Christ Church St Laurence Christ Church St Laurence is an Anglican Church of Australia, Anglican church (building), church located at 814 George Street, Sydney, George Street, near Central railway station, Sydney, Central railway station and Haymarket, in City of Sydney, S ...
in 1895. Trower's appointment to Christ Church caused controversy in the predominantly evangelical Diocese of Sydney as it was made without reference to the diocesan nominators after the parochial nominators had consulted Fr R. L. Page, superior of the Cowley Fathers in Oxford. During his short term as rector, a Sung Eucharist became the rule for Sundays and the parish acquired several sets of vestments. The church became open all day for private prayer, while more free pews (not rented) were set aside for the poor. Trower had a whimsical sense of humour which he often displayed at public gatherings. During one synod debate on church ritual he pointed out that candles, when used to beautify a church, were no different to vegetables decorating a harvest festival, adding "so, if you blow out our lights, we'll blow out your flowers and vegetables". While on a visit to England, in 1900, he resigned to take up an appointment as Bishop of Likoma in northern Malawi. His former parishioners at Christ Church St Laurence gave him a gold pectoral cross, and he received the honorary degree Doctor of Divinity (DD) from the
University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...
. He was consecrated as
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 ...
of Likoma by the Archbishop of Canterbury,
Frederick Temple Frederick Temple (30 November 1821 – 23 December 1902) was an English academic, teacher and churchman, who served as Bishop of Exeter (1869–1885), Bishop of London (1885–1896) and Archbishop of Canterbury (1896–1902). Early life ...
, in
Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the Unite ...
, on 25 January 1902, and arrived in his diocese later that year. The
bishopric In 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 provinces were administratively associate ...
of Likoma in
Nyasaland Nyasaland () was a British protectorate located in Africa that was established in 1907 when the former British Central Africa Protectorate changed its name. Between 1953 and 1963, Nyasaland was part of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasala ...
(now Malawi) was part of the Universities' Mission to Central Africa, started at the suggestion of
David Livingstone David Livingstone (; 19 March 1813 – 1 May 1873) was a Scottish physician, Congregationalist, and pioneer Christian missionary with the London Missionary Society, an explorer in Africa, and one of the most popular British heroes of t ...
. Trower laid the foundations of a cathedral (dedicated in the name of St Peter) on the island of Likoma in
Lake Nyasa Lake Malawi, also known as Lake Nyasa in Tanzania and Lago Niassa in Mozambique, is an African Great Lake and the southernmost lake in the East African Rift system, located between Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania. It is the fifth largest fre ...
in January 1903 and he dedicated the building for worship in 1905. He also founded the theological college at Nkwazi in 1905. In 1908, he secured from the Archbishop of Canterbury a change in his See's name from Likoma back to Nyasaland. Trower left Likoma in 1910 to take up the oversight of the new Diocese of North West Australia on the insistence of an old friend, Charles Riley, the Bishop of Perth. In September 1925, he ordained James Noble, the first Australian Aboriginal person to be made a deacon of the Anglican Church. After 17 years in North West Australia, Trower retired to Chale, Isle of Wight, where he died in 1928.''
Isle of Wight County Press The ''Isle of Wight County Press'' is a local, compact newspaper published every Friday on the Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a Counties of England, county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated ...
'', 31 August 1928.


References


External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Trower, Gerard 1860 births People from Goole People educated at Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood Alumni of Keble College, Oxford Anglican bishops of Nyasaland Anglican bishops of Likoma Anglican bishops of North West Australia 1928 deaths Clergy from Yorkshire