James Alan George Housden (16 September 1904 – 22 April 1994) was the fifth

Anglican Bishop of Rockhampton The Bishop of Rockhampton is the diocesan bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Rockhampton The Diocese of Rockhampton (also known as Anglican Church Central Queensland) is a diocese of the Anglican Church of Australia, founded in 1892. It i ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

, Australia, serving from 1947 to 1958. In 1958 he then became the Bishop of Newcastle in New South Wales until 1972. Housden was born in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

and educated at

Essendon High School Essendon Keilor College was founded in 1992 from the amalgamation of Queens Park Secondary College (formerly Essendon Technical School), Essendon High School, Niddrie High School and Keilor Heights Secondary College. Essendon Keilor College (cur ...

and the

University of Queensland , mottoeng = By means of knowledge and hard work , established = , endowment = A$224.3 million , budget = A$2.1 billion , type = Public research university , chancellor = Peter Varghese , vice_chancellor = Deborah Terry , city = B ...

before being ordained in 1929. His first position was as a

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'') ''of souls'' of a parish. In this sense, "curate" means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy w ...

at St Paul's

Ipswich, Queensland Ipswich () is a city in South East Queensland, Australia. Situated on the Bremer River, it is approximately west of the Brisbane central business district. The city is renowned for its architectural, natural and cultural heritage. Ipswich pre ...

after which he was

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a Minister (Christianity), minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a laity, lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secularity, secular institution (such as a hosp ...

of the Mitchell River Mission. He then 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 ...

Darwin, Northern Territory Darwin ( ; Larrakia: ) is the capital city of the Northern Territory, Australia. With an estimated population of 147,255 as of 2019, the city contains the majority of the residents of the sparsely populated Northern Territory. It is the smalle ...

then

vicar A vicar (; Latin: ''vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pref ...

Coolangatta Coolangatta is a coastal suburb in the City of Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. It is the Gold Coast's southernmost suburb and it borders New South Wales. In the , Coolangatta had a population of 5,948 people. Geography Coolangatta and its ...

. From 1940 to 1946 he was the

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. ...

Warwick Warwick ( ) is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England, adjacent to the River Avon. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined with Leamington Spa and Whi ...

and finally (before his ordination to the

episcopate 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 ...

) vicar of

Christ Church, South Yarra Christ Church, South Yarra is the Anglican parish church of the suburb of South Yarra in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The parish is in the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne and dates from 1856. The parish is well known as belonging to the Angl ...

. Housden was consecrated a bishop on 28 October 1947 at

St John's Cathedral (Brisbane) St John's Cathedral is the cathedral of the Anglican Diocese of Brisbane and the metropolitan cathedral of the ecclesiastical province of Queensland, Australia. It is dedicated to St John the Evangelist. The cathedral is situated in Ann Street ...

. On Sunday 2 November 1947, he was enthroned at

St Paul's Anglican Cathedral St Paul's Pro-Cathedral ( Malti: ''Il-Pro-Katridral ta' San Pawl''), officially The Pro-Cathedral and Collegiate Church of Saint Paul, is an Anglican pro-cathedral of the Diocese in Europe situated in Independence Square, Valletta, Malta. A "pro- ...

Rockhampton Rockhampton is a city in the Rockhampton Region of Central Queensland, Australia. The population of Rockhampton in June 2021 was 79,967, Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. making it the fourth-largest city in the state outside of the ...

. In 1958, Housden translated from Rockhampton to

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

where he was enthroned on 21 November 1958, where he remained until his retirement due to poor health in 1972.

References

1904 births People from Birmingham, West Midlands 20th-century Anglican bishops in Australia Anglican bishops of Newcastle (Australia) Anglican bishops of Rockhampton University of Queensland alumni 1994 deaths {{Australia-anglican-bishop-stub