Horatio Powys (20 November 1805–31 May 1877) was a priest in the

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 Britai ...

and

Bishop of Sodor and Man The Bishop of Sodor and Man is the Ordinary of the Diocese of Sodor and Man (Manx Gaelic: ''Sodor as Mannin'') in the Province of York in the Church of England. The diocese only covers the Isle of Man. The Cathedral Church of St German where t ...

. Powys, born on 20 November 1805, was third son of

Thomas Powys, 2nd Baron Lilford Thomas Powys, 2nd Baron Lilford (8 April 1775 – 4 July 1825) was a British peer. He was the son of Thomas Powys, 1st Baron Lilford and Mary Mann of Lilford Hall. He succeeded his father as Baron Lilford in 1800. He was educated at Eton College ...

(1775–1825), by Henrietta Maria, eldest daughter of Robert Vernon Atherton of Atherton Hall, Lancashire. He was educated at Harrow and at

St. John's College, Cambridge St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corporation established by a charter dated 9 April 1511. The ...

, where he graduated M.A. in 1826, and was later created D.D. in 1854. In 1831 he became the rector of the parish of

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

, Lancashire and he was for some time

rural dean In the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion as well as some Lutheran denominations, a rural dean is a member of clergy who presides over a "rural deanery" (often referred to as a deanery); "ruridecanal" is the corresponding adjective ...

of Cheshire. Strongly impressed with the necessity for improved education, he succeeded in establishing the training college at Chester and the institution for the education of the daughters of the clergy at Warrington, both of which proved permanently successful. On 5 July 1854 he was nominated to the bishopric of Sodor and Man. He made successful endeavours to uphold the rights of the see, and involved himself in much litigation, including a lengthy dispute with the Rev. William Drury, the Vicar of Kirk Braddan, over the patronage of St Thomas' Church, Douglas, which was closed for over a year as a consequence.John Gelling, 'A History of the Manx Church 1698–1911' pages 109–115 Powys was unpopular among most of the Manx clergy due to his High Church views, and contentious nature. After his health began to decline in 1873, he spent much time in England, and his episcopal duties were undertaken by other bishops on Powys' commission. He printed two charges, ''A Pastoral Letter to the Congregation at Warrington,'' 1848, and two sermons.

Death and legacy

He died of cancer at Bewsey House, Bournemouth, on 31 May 1877, and was buried at Warrington on 5 June. He married, on 21 February 1833, Percy Gore, eldest daughter of William Currie of East Horsley Park, Surrey, and had issue: Horace (d 1857); Percy William, rector of Thorpe-Achurch, Northamptonshire; Henry Lyttleton, lieutenant-colonel of the Oxfordshire light infantry; and five daughters.

References

* ;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Powys, Horatio 19th-century Church of England bishops People educated at Harrow School Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Bishops of Sodor and Man 1805 births 1877 deaths Place of birth missing