Frederick Merivale Molyneux (called Merivale;
[Blain, Michael. ''Blain Biographical Directory of Anglican clergy in the South Pacific – ordained before 1932'' (2019) pp. 1064–8 (Accessed a]
Project Canterbury
27 June 2019) 10 May 188520 November 1948)
was a British Anglican bishop who served as
Bishop of Melanesia The Archbishop of Melanesia is the spiritual head of the Church of the Province of Melanesia, which is a province of the Anglican Communion in the South Pacific region, covering the nations of Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. From 1861 until the inaugu ...
.
Family and education
Born at
Bransgore
Bransgore is a village and civil parish within the New Forest District, Hampshire, England. The village developed in the 19th century when a church and a school were built. It is technically classified as an urban area, although in some respects ...
,
Molyneux was the son of Rosa
and Frederick Molyneux (a priest) and grandson of lawyer Echlin Molyneux; he was younger brother to Ernest, also a priest, who served as his
commissary
A commissary is a government official charged with oversight or an ecclesiastical official who exercises in special circumstances the jurisdiction of a bishop.
In many countries, the term is used as an administrative or police title. It often c ...
in Britain (1928–1932). Merivale was educated at
Rossall School
Rossall School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school) for 0–18 year olds, between Cleveleys and Fleetwood, Lancashire. Rossall was founded in 1844 by St Vincent Beechey as a sister school to Marlborough College ...
, and
Keble College, Oxford
Keble College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its main buildings are on Parks Road, opposite the University Museum and the University Parks. The college is bordered to the north by Keble Road, to th ...
(he graduated Bachelor of Arts in 1908 and proceeded
Master of Arts (Oxford) in 1913),
and trained for the ministry at
Cuddesdon College
Ripon College Cuddesdon is a Church of England theological college in Cuddesdon, a village outside Oxford, England. The College trains men and women for ministry in the Church of England: stipendiary, non-stipendiary, local ordained and lay min ...
.
Early ministry
He was made deacon at
Advent
Advent is a Christian season of preparation for the Nativity of Christ at Christmas. It is the beginning of the liturgical year in Western Christianity.
The name was adopted from Latin "coming; arrival", translating Greek ''parousia''.
In ...
1909 (18 December) and ordained priest at
Lent
Lent ( la, Quadragesima, 'Fortieth') is a solemn religious observance in the liturgical calendar commemorating the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert and enduring temptation by Satan, according to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke ...
1911 (12 March) — both times by
William Boyd Carpenter,
Bishop of Ripon
The Bishop of Ripon is an episcopal title which takes its name after the city of Ripon in North Yorkshire, England. The bishop is one of the area bishops of the Diocese of Leeds in the Province of York. The area bishop of Ripon has oversight of ...
, at
Ripon Cathedral
The Cathedral Church of St Peter and St Wilfrid, commonly known as Ripon Cathedral, and until 1836 known as Ripon Minster, is a cathedral in Ripon, North Yorkshire, England. Founded as a monastery by monks of the Irish tradition in the 660s, i ...
. His title (curacy) was of
All Souls' Leeds, until 1913, when he returned to Cuddesdon as college Chaplain. During this time (the
Great 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 was also a
Chaplain to the Forces
The Royal Army Chaplains' Department (RAChD) is an all-officer department that provides ordained clergy to minister to the British Army.
History
The Army Chaplains' Department (AChD) was formed by Royal Warrant of 23 September 1796; until the ...
(CF) in
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the F ...
(1916–19): for which he was
mentioned in despatches
To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...
,
made a
Member of the Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
(3 June 1918) and an honorary chaplain to the forces (Hon CF) in 1919. He had been in Mesopotamia for 3 years other than for 6 months leave in 1918 spent in Ceylon. He had spent much of his commission working in hospitalsHe served as Vicar of
High Wycombe
High Wycombe, often referred to as Wycombe ( ), is a market town in Buckinghamshire, England. Lying in the valley of the River Wye surrounded by the Chiltern Hills, it is west-northwest of Charing Cross in London, south-southeast of Ayl ...
from 1920.
Melanesia
On 14 July 1924, the
Melanesian Mission The Melanesian Mission is an Anglican missionary agency supporting the work of local Anglican churches in Melanesia. It was founded in 1849 by George Selwyn, the first Bishop of New Zealand.
History
Bishop Selwyn's see was focused on New Zealand. ...
committee in England recommended Molyneux to the New Zealand bishops and
John Steward,
Bishop of Melanesia The Archbishop of Melanesia is the spiritual head of the Church of the Province of Melanesia, which is a province of the Anglican Communion in the South Pacific region, covering the nations of Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. From 1861 until the inaugu ...
, for appointment as an assistant bishop of that diocese; by April 1925, when
Thomas Strong,
Bishop of Oxford
The Bishop of Oxford is the diocesan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Oxford in the Province of Canterbury; his seat is at Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford. The current bishop is Steven Croft, following the confirmation of his electio ...
, presented him with a
crozier
A crosier or crozier (also known as a paterissa, pastoral staff, or bishop's staff) is a stylized staff that is a symbol of the governing office of a bishop or abbot and is carried by high-ranking prelates of Roman Catholic, Eastern Catholi ...
at High Wycombe, that recommendation had been accepted, and he was duly consecrated a bishop on 9 August 1925 by
Alfred Averill
Alfred Walter Averill (7 October 18656 July 1957) was the second Anglican Archbishop of New Zealand, from 1925 to 1940. He was also the fifth Anglican Bishop of Auckland whose episcopate spanned a 25-year period during the first half of the 20th ...
,
Archbishop of New Zealand
Primate of New Zealand is a title held by a bishop who leads the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia. Since 2006, the Senior Bishop of each '' tikanga'' (Māori, Pākehā, Pasefika) serves automatically as one of three co-equal ...
in
St Paul's Pro-Cathedral, Wellington.
Molyneux then served as
Assistant Bishop of Melanesia from 1925 to 1928:
initially, he had responsibility for the Southern Archdeaconery (based in Lolowai, Aoba (now called
Ambae
Ambae Island, also known as Aoba, Omba, Oba, or Opa and formerly Lepers’ Island, is an island in the South Pacific island nation of Vanuatu, located near , approximately north-northwest of Vanuatu's capital city, Port Vila.
History
First ...
), but lived primarily in the
Banks Islands; however, as Steward's health declined, Molyneux increasingly assisted him throughout the diocese.
Steward having announced his imminent resignation (due to ill-health), on 13 June 1928 the diocesan synod unanimously chose to nominate Molyneux for the diocesan See;
Steward having resigned effective 1 August, the New Zealand bishops elected Molyneux on 16 August, and he was enthroned at
St Luke's Cathedral, Siota on 13 November. His assistant bishop
Edward Wilton
Edward Nowill Wilton (1872-1966)Blain, Michael. ''Blain Biographical Directory of Anglican clergy in the South Pacific — ordained before 1932'' (2019) (Accessed aProject Canterbury 9 February 2020) was an Australian Anglican bishop who served as ...
having resigned 1 July 1929, Molyneux he wrote to the Mission committee on 8 October 1930 to ask for a new assistant bishop;
in 1931,
John Dickinson
John Dickinson (November 13 Julian_calendar">/nowiki>Julian_calendar_November_2.html" ;"title="Julian_calendar.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Julian calendar">/nowiki>Julian calendar November 2">Julian_calendar.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Julian calendar" ...
became assistant bishop for the Southern area.
[Blain. p. 426.]
Return to Britain
In the midst of allegations of "improper conduct with young men" and "concerns about erotic involvements with men", he experienced a "complete nervous breakdown", resigned his See in November 1931, and left the Solomon Islands. He arrived back in Britain in January 1932, where he retired to
Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...
— initially with his father at
Martyr Worthy
Martyr Worthy is a small village in the English county of Hampshire. It is part of the Worthys cluster of small villages.
Martyr Worthy is located on the banks of the River Itchen to the northeast of the city of Winchester.
The place-name 'Ma ...
rectory.
Cyril Garbett
Cyril Forster Garbett (6 February 1875 – 31 December 1955) was an Anglican bishop and author. He was successively the Bishop of Southwark, the Bishop of Winchester and the Archbishop of York from 1942 to 1955.
Early life
Garbett was born in ...
,
Bishop of Winchester
The Bishop of Winchester is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Winchester in the Church of England. The bishop's seat (''cathedra'') is at Winchester Cathedral in Hampshire. The Bishop of Winchester has always held ''ex officio'' (except dur ...
, declined to licensed the younger Molyneux to any ministry;
he became a farmer.
He died at the
Royal Victoria Hospital,
Boscombe
Boscombe is a suburb of Bournemouth, England. Historically in Hampshire, but today in Dorset, it is located to the east of Bournemouth town centre and west of Southbourne.
Originally a sparsely inhabited area of heathland, from around 1865 B ...
and was buried at Bransgore.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Molyneux, Frederick Merivale
1885 births
1948 deaths
Anglican bishops of Melanesia
Anglican assistant bishops of Melanesia
20th-century English Anglican priests
LGBT Anglican bishops
Alumni of Keble College, Oxford
Alumni of Ripon College Cuddesdon
People educated at Rossall School