Henry Cotterill (1812 – 16 April 1886) 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 t ...

bishop serving in

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in the second half of the 19th century. From 1872 until death he was a bishop of the

Scottish Episcopal Church The Scottish Episcopal Church ( gd, Eaglais Easbaigeach na h-Alba; sco, Scots Episcopal(ian) Kirk) is the ecclesiastical province of the Anglican Communion in Scotland. A continuation of the Church of Scotland as intended by King James VI, and ...

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Early life

Cotterill was born in Ampton in 1812 into an ecclesiastical family of committed Church Evangelicals. His father, Joseph Cotterill (1780 – 1858), was Rector of Blakeney, Norfolk, and a

prebendary A prebendary is a member of the Roman Catholic or Anglican clergy, a form of canon with a role in the administration of a cathedral or collegiate church. When attending services, prebendaries sit in particular seats, usually at the back of th ...

Norwich Cathedral Norwich Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Norwich, Norfolk, dedicated to the Holy and Undivided Trinity. It is the cathedral church for the Church of England Diocese of Norwich and is one of the Norwich 12 heritage sites. The cathedra ...

. His mother, Anne Boak, was a close friend of

Hannah More Hannah More (2 February 1745 – 7 September 1833) was an English religious writer, philanthropist, poet and playwright in the circle of Johnson, Reynolds and Garrick, who wrote on moral and religious subjects. Born in Bristol, she taught at a ...

. Educated at his father's old college,

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 ...

, he was both Senior Wrangler and headed the list of Classicists in 1835, on the strength of which he was elected as a

Fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

of his college. Influenced by

Charles Simeon Charles Simeon (24 September 1759 – 13 November 1836) was an English evangelical Anglican cleric. Life and career He was born at Reading, Berkshire, in 1759 and baptised at St Laurence's parish church on 24 October of that year. He was the ...

, he was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform ...

in 1836 and went to India as Chaplain to the

Madras Presidency The Madras Presidency, or the Presidency of Fort St. George, also known as Madras Province, was an administrative subdivision (presidency) of British India. At its greatest extent, the presidency included most of southern India, including the ...

the following year. Forced by malaria to return to England in 1846, he became inaugural Vice Principal and then the second Principal of

Brighton College Brighton College is an independent, co-educational boarding and day school for boys and girls aged 3 to 18 in Brighton, England. The school has three sites: Brighton College (the senior school, ages 11 to 18); Brighton College Preparatory Sc ...

. In post less than six years, he reinvigorated the languishing infant school. In a whirlwind of energetic reform, he overhauled the curriculum by introducing the teaching of the sciences and oriental languages, restored discipline, launched a fund to build a chapel, built the first on-site boarding house and connected the school to the town's gas supply.

Bishop of Grahamstown

At the suggestion of

Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury Anthony Ashley Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury (28 April 1801 – 1 October 1885), styled Lord Ashley from 1811 to 1851, was a British Tory politician, philanthropist, and social reformer. He was the eldest son of The 6th Earl of Shaftesbury ...

and John Sumner,

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Just ...

, he was nominated and consecrated in 1856 as the second colonial

Bishop of Grahamstown The Bishop of Grahamstown is the Ordinary of the Diocese of Grahamstown in the Anglican Church of Southern Africa. The Bishop's residence is Bishopsbourne, Grahamstown List of Bishops of Grahamstown Diocesan bishops # John Armstrong, D ...

in South Africa. As was then customary, he was simultaneously created a

Doctor of Divinity A Doctor of Divinity (D.D. or DDiv; la, Doctor Divinitatis) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity. In the United Kingdom, it is considered an advanced doctoral degree. At the University of Oxford, doctors of divinity are ran ...

(DD). Cotterill was consecrated on 23 November 1856, and arrived in Grahamstown in May 1857. Bishop Cotterill's episcopate was occupied with the development and consolidation of his diocese, and with the institution of diocesan and provincial synods. The opening service of the first synod of the diocese was held in the

Grahamstown Cathedral The Cathedral of St Michael and St George is the home of the Anglican Diocese of Grahamstown in Makhanda in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. It is the episcopal seat of the Bishop of Grahamstown. The cathedral is located on Church ...

on 20 June 1860. It may be of interest to record that H. Blaine and F. Carlisle were the representatives of the Cathedral congregation at the synod. As one of the bishops of South Africa, he sat in judgement in December 1863 on

John Colenso John William Colenso (24 January 1814 – 20 June 1883) was a Cornish cleric and mathematician, defender of the Zulu and biblical scholar, who served as the first Bishop of Natal. He was a scholar of the Zulu language. In his role as an Angl ...

Bishop of Natal The Diocese of Natal is in the region of Natal, South Africa, the diocese has its northern boundary at the Tugela River. The episcopal leader of the diocese is the bishop of Natal. History The history of the Diocese in the Colony of Nata ...

, his college friend from Cambridge days.

Translation to Edinburgh

He was

translated Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transla ...

in 1871 as coadjutor bishop of the

, and was created a full diocesan bishop in 1872. During his time in Edinburgh he resided at 10 North Manor Place (later renumbered as 56 Manor Place), just north of his place of worship St Mary's Cathedral. From 1875 to 1881, he served as one of the founding Council members of the

Cockburn Association The Cockburn Association (Edinburgh's Civic Trust) is one of the world's oldest architectural conservation and urban planning monitoring organisations, founded in 1875. The Scottish judge Henry Cockburn (1779–1854) was a prominent campaigner t ...

, a campaigning conservation group established in 1875 to protect and preserve Edinburgh's built and natural heritage. He died in post in

in 1886 and was buried between the choir stalls in the cathedral. His grave is covered by a large memorial brass made by

Francis Skidmore Francis Alfred Skidmore (1817 – 13 November 1896) was a British metalworker best known for high-profile commissions, including the glass and metal roof of the Oxford University Museum of Natural History (1859), the Hereford Cathedral choir scr ...

of Coventry.

Family life

In 1836 he married Anna Isabella Parnther (1812-1899) who had been born in

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. They had at least two daughters and four sons. The four boys all attended

. George Edward (1839 – 1913), a Cambridge cricket blue and Sussex cricketer, was briefly Headmaster of St. Andrew's College, Grahamstown (1863 – 65) before returning to teach at Brighton College (1865 – 81). Henry Bernard (1846 – 1924) was an African missionary explorer and writer. Joseph Montagu Cotterill (1851 – 1933) played cricket for

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the Englis ...

and became President of the

Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (RCSEd) is a professional organisation of surgeons. The College has seven active faculties, covering a broad spectrum of surgical, dental, and other medical practices. Its main campus is located o ...

and was knighted. Arthur John (1849 – 1915) was Engineer-in-Chief, Egyptian Railways. His brother George was on the teaching staff of

1849 – 51 before emigrating 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 coun ...

while, intriguingly, his youngest brother, James Henry, was a pupil at the school while he was the Principal. James Henry became Professor of Applied Mathematics at the

Royal Naval College, Greenwich The Royal Naval College, Greenwich, was a Royal Navy training establishment between 1873 and 1998, providing courses for naval officers. It was the home of the Royal Navy's staff college, which provided advanced training for officers. The equi ...

(1873 – 97) and was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

in 1878.

Published works

His published works include * * * * * * *

Notes and references

Sources

* * * * * * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cotterill, Henry 1812 births Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Headmasters of Brighton College People from the Borough of St Edmundsbury Senior Wranglers Fellows of St John's College, Cambridge 19th-century English Anglican priests Anglican bishops of Grahamstown Bishops of Edinburgh 19th-century Anglican Church of Southern Africa bishops 1886 deaths