Henry Mackenzie (16 May 1808 – 15 October 1878) was
Bishop of Nottingham (a
suffragan bishop
A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations.
In the Anglican Communion, a suffragan bishop is a bishop who is subordinate to a metropolitan bishop or diocesan bishop (bishop ordinary) and so is not normally jurisdiction ...
in the
Diocese of Lincoln
The Diocese of Lincoln forms part of the Province of Canterbury in England. The present diocese covers the ceremonial county of Lincolnshire.
History
The diocese traces its roots in an unbroken line to the Pre-Reformation Diocese of Leic ...
) from 1870 until 1877. He became the first
suffragan bishop
A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations.
In the Anglican Communion, a suffragan bishop is a bishop who is subordinate to a metropolitan bishop or diocesan bishop (bishop ordinary) and so is not normally jurisdiction ...
in the
Church of England since 1608.
Life
Mackenzie was born — the fourth and youngest son of John Mackenzie, merchant, descended from the Mackenzie clan of Torridon in Ross-shire — in King's Arms Yard, Coleman Street, London, on 16 May 1808. He was educated at the
Merchant Taylors' School under
Thomas Cherry.
Owing to the death of his father he left school early, and engaged for some years in commercial pursuits; but in 1830 he entered
Pembroke College, Oxford
Pembroke College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford, is located at Pembroke Square, Oxford. The college was founded in 1624 by King James I of England, using in part the endowment of merchant Thomas Tesdale, and was named after ...
, where he had
Francis Jeune, subsequently
Bishop of Peterborough, as his tutor, and formed a lifelong friendship with
John Jackson, afterwards Bishop
of Lincoln and then
of London. He took an honorary fourth class in 1884, graduating
Oxford Master of Arts (MA Oxon) in 1838 and
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) in 1869.
In 1834, he was ordained to the curacy of Wool and Lulworth, on the south coast of Dorset, and in the next year accepted a temporary engagement as chaplain to the English residents at Rotterdam.
Charles James Blomfield
Charles James Blomfield (29 May 1786 – 5 August 1857) was a British divine and classicist, and a Church of England bishop for 32 years.
Early life and education
Charles James Blomfield was born in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, the eldest son (and ...
, Bishop of London, came to Rotterdam to confirm, and at once discerned his high gifts and promise. Returning to England, Mackenzie in 1836 became curate of
St Peter's Church, Walworth
St Peter's Church is an Anglican parish church in Walworth, London, in the Woolwich Episcopal Area of the Anglican Diocese of Southwark. It was built between 1823–25 and was the first church designed by Sir John Soane, in the wave of the churc ...
, whence he removed in 1837 to the mastership of Bancroft's Hospital, Mile End, and becoming secretary to the committee for the erection of ten new churches in
Bethnal Green
Bethnal Green is an area in the East End of London northeast of Charing Cross. The area emerged from the small settlement which developed around the Green, much of which survives today as Bethnal Green Gardens, beside Cambridge Heath Road. By t ...
contributed largely to the success of that enterprise. In 1840, he was made incumbent of the densely populated riverside parish of St James's,
Bermondsey
Bermondsey () is a district in southeast London, part of the London Borough of Southwark, England, southeast of Charing Cross. To the west of Bermondsey lies Southwark, to the east Rotherhithe and Deptford, to the south Walworth and Peckham, ...
. While at Bermondsey he gained the friendship of
Frederick Denison Maurice
John Frederick Denison Maurice (29 August 1805 – 1 April 1872), known as F. D. Maurice, was an English Anglican theologian, a prolific author, and one of the founders of Christian socialism. Since World War II, interest in Maurice has exp ...
, then chaplain of Guy's Hospital. Maurice recommended him to
George Pellew,
Dean of Norwich
The Dean of Norwich is the head of the Chapter of Norwich Cathedral in Norwich, England. The role is vacant since Jane Hedges' retirement on 1 May 2022.
List of deans
Early modern
*1538–1539 William Castleton (last prior)
*1539–1554 ...
, for the important
cure of Great Yarmouth, to which he was appointed in 1844. Mackenzie was recalled to London, to the rectory of
St. Martin's-in-the-Fields, by Blomfield in 1848. In 1865, he was appointed by
Robert Rolfe, 1st Baron Cranworth
Robert Monsey Rolfe, 1st Baron Cranworth, PC (18 December 1790 – 26 July 1868) was a British lawyer and Liberal politician. He twice served as Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain.
Background and education
Born at Cranworth, Norfolk, he ...
,
Lord Chancellor
The lord chancellor, formally the lord high chancellor of Great Britain, is the highest-ranking traditional minister among the Great Officers of State in Scotland and England in the United Kingdom, nominally outranking the prime minister. Th ...
to the well-endowed living of Tydd St. Mary, in the Fens of Lincolnshire, near Wisbech. His college friend, John Jackson, who in 1853 had succeeded
John Kaye as Bishop of Lincoln, made him one of his examining chaplains in 1855, and in 1858 collated him to the prebendal stall of Leighton Ecclesia at
Lincoln Cathedral
Lincoln Cathedral, Lincoln Minster, or the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Lincoln and sometimes St Mary's Cathedral, in Lincoln, England, Lincoln, England, is a Listed building, Grade I listed cathedral and is the seat of the Angl ...
, once held by
George Herbert
George Herbert (3 April 1593 – 1 March 1633) was an English poet, orator, and priest of the Church of England. His poetry is associated with the writings of the metaphysical poets, and he is recognised as "one of the foremost British devo ...
. As bishop's chaplain he delivered courses of lectures on pastoral work to the candidates for holy orders, which were published in 1863.
On the appointment of
James Jeremie
James Amiraux Jérémie (12 April 1802, Saint Peter Port, Guernsey – 11 June 1872, Lincoln, England) was Professor of Classical Literature at The East India Company College 1830–50, Regius Professor of Divinity at the University of Cambridge ...
as
Dean of Lincoln
The Dean of Lincoln is the head of the Chapter of Lincoln Cathedral in the city of Lincoln, England in the Church of England Diocese of Lincoln. Christine Wilson was installed as Dean on 22 October 2016. in 1864, Mackenzie succeeded him as subdean and canon residentiary, and on the death of
George Wilkins
George Wilkins (died 1618) was an English dramatist and pamphleteer best known for his probable collaboration with William Shakespeare on the play ''Pericles, Prince of Tyre''. By profession he was an inn-keeper, but he was also apparently invol ...
in 1866 was appointed to succeed him as
Archdeacon of Nottingham
The Archdeacon of Nottingham is a senior ecclesiastical officer in the Church of England Diocese of Southwell and Nottingham, who exercises supervision of clergy and responsibility for church buildings within the Archdeaconry of Nottingham.
Histor ...
, exchanging the lucrative living of Tydd for the poorly endowed rectory of
St John the Baptist's Church, Collingham, near Newark, in order that he might become resident within his archdeaconry. In 1870, the long-dormant office of
bishop suffragan was revived in him on the nomination of
Christopher Wordsworth
Christopher Wordsworth (30 October 180720 March 1885) was an English intellectual and a bishop of the Anglican Church.
Life
Wordsworth was born in London, the youngest son of Christopher Wordsworth, Master of Trinity, who was the youngest b ...
, Jackson's successor as Bishop of Lincoln, and he was consecrated as
Bishop of Nottingham at
St Mary's Church, Nottingham
The Church of St Mary the Virgin is the oldest parish churchDomesday Book: A Complete Translation (Penguin Classics) of Nottingham, in Nottinghamshire, England. It is the largest church after the Cathedral in the city of Nottingham. The church ...
, by Jackson on the feast of the Purification, 2 February 1870. The revival of the office of
bishop suffragan, after more than three centuries' suspension, was not at first popular (Mackenzie was the first so consecrated, although
Edward Parry's appointment as
Bishop of Dover
The Bishop of Dover is an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Canterbury, England. The title takes its name after the town of Dover in Kent. The Bishop of Dover holds the additional title of "Bishop in ...
was almost contemporaneous). The county of Nottingham especially was disposed to regard itself slighted on being made over to the care of a 'curate-bishop.' But, careful never to overstep his subordinate relations to his diocesan, Mackenzie maintained the office with true dignity, and secured for it general respect. In 1871, he exchanged Collingham for the perpetual curacy of
Scofton, near
Worksop
Worksop ( ) is a market town in the Bassetlaw District in Nottinghamshire, England. It is located east-south-east of Sheffield, close to Nottinghamshire's borders with South Yorkshire and Derbyshire, on the River Ryton and not far from the nor ...
, which he also resigned in 1873 to devote himself exclusively to his episcopal duties. These he continued to fulfil till growing years and infirmities led to his resignation at the beginning of 1878.
He died, almost suddenly, on 15 October 1878, and was buried at
South Collingham.
Family
Mackenzie was twice married: first, to Elizabeth, daughter of Robert Ridley, esq., of Essequibo, by whom he had one daughter; and, secondly, to Antoinette, daughter of
James H. Turing, sometime her majesty's consul at Rotterdam, by whom he left six sons and five daughters.
References
Sources
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mackenzie, Henry
1808 births
Alumni of Pembroke College, Oxford
1878 deaths
Archdeacons of Nottingham
Anglican suffragan bishops of Nottingham