John Augustne Kempthorne Bishop of Lichfield

John Augustine Kempthorne (26 May 1864,

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

– 24 February 1946,

Trumpington, Cambridgeshire Trumpington is a village and parish to the south of Cambridge, England. The village is an electoral ward of the City of Cambridge and a ward of South Cambridgeshire District Council. The 2011 Census recorded the ward's population as 8,034. Th ...

) was an Anglican Bishop in the first half of the twentieth century. John Augustine Kempthorne was the son of the Rev. John Kempthorne (1835–1880), Vicar of Trumpington. He was educated at Haileybury and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

, achieving a 1st class degree in

Classical Tripos The Classical Tripos is the taught course in classics at the Faculty of Classics, University of Cambridge. It is equivalent to Literae Humaniores at Oxford. It is traditionally a three-year degree, but for those who have not previously studied L ...

in 1886, and a

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in 1890. His first post after

ordination Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorization, authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominational ...

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 Aidan’s,

Gateshead Gateshead () is a large town in northern England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank, opposite Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle to which it is joined by seven bridges. The town contains the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, Millennium Bridge, Sage ...

. He then held incumbencies at

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

, and

Hessle Hessle () is a town, civil parish and electoral ward in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, west of Kingston upon Hull city centre. Geographically it is part of a larger urban area consisting of the city of Kingston upon Hull, the town of ...

, before elevation 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 ...

in March 1910 as

Bishop of Hull The Bishop of Hull is an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of York, England. The suffragan bishop, along with the Bishop of Selby and the Bishop of Whitby, assists the Archbishop of York in overseeing t ...

, a

Suffragan 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 jurisdictiona ...

to the

Archbishop of York The archbishop of York is a senior bishop in the Church of England, second only to the archbishop of Canterbury. The archbishop is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of York and the metropolitan bishop of the province of York, which covers th ...

. He was appointed the 93rd

Bishop of Lichfield The Bishop of Lichfield is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Lichfield in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers 4,516 km2 (1,744 sq. mi.) of the counties of Powys, Staffordshire, Shropshire, Warwickshire and West Mi ...

in May 1913, and retired in 1937. A Christian pacifist, Kempthorne believed war was inconsistent with Christianity. The weekend before the start of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

he had attended a conference in Kinstanz, Germany, as part of a world alliance for promoting friendship through churches. Whilst he was prepared to work for peace, his pacifism did not extend to rejection of the war, given the UK's obligations to

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. He did, however, preach several times about the need to avoid reprisals. Generally, nevertheless, he was strongly in support of the First World War even though he recognised its potential for devastation. ‘Civilised Europe is at war, and it may well prove to be the most terrible war known to history .... It may well be that the list of casualties will be terrible.’ He believed that Britain and her allies were engaged in a righteous cause. He wrote ‘Surely we are not moved by hatred, nor lust of power, nor greed of gain. We stand for loyalty to our engagements, for the protection of weaker peoples, for the liberty of Europe.’ He noted that Christian leaders of Germany were also confident of the rightness of their cause. Throughout the War, despite the casualties, Kempthorne preached in favour of victory as against a peace agreement. ‘ ... we cannot rest until tyranny is overthrown .... we cannot flinch. An uncertain and inconclusive peace would only leave the world in worse case than before.’ Kempthorne had married in 1890, Hester Mary was the daughter of

John Peile John Peile (24 April 1838 – 9 October 1910) was an English philologist. Life He was born at Whitehaven, the son of geologist Williamson Peile, F.G.S., who died when his son was five years old.Dictionary of National Biography, 1912 supplement ...

, the master of

Christ's College, Cambridge Christ's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college includes the Master, the Fellows of the College, and about 450 undergraduate and 170 graduate students. The college was founded by William Byngham in 1437 as ...

. Also Kempthorne was appointed

Military chaplain A military chaplain ministers to military personnel and, in most cases, their families and civilians working for the military. In some cases they will also work with local civilians within a military area of operations. Although the term ''cha ...

in 1912 for the

Territorial Force The Territorial Force was a part-time volunteer component of the British Army, created in 1908 to augment British land forces without resorting to conscription. The new organisation consolidated the 19th-century Volunteer Force and yeomanry i ...

. He died on 24 February 1946.''Right Rev. Dr. J. A. Kempthorne'' (Obituaries) The Times Monday, 25 Feb 1946; pg. 6; Issue 50385; col E

References

Source

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kempthorne, John Augustine 1864 births 1946 deaths People from Trumpington People educated at Haileybury and Imperial Service College Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Bishops of Hull Bishops of Lichfield 20th-century Church of England bishops