Michael Ashley Mann KCVO (25 May 1924 – 31 December 2011) was an Anglican

bishop 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 c ...

during the last quarter of the 20th century.

Early life

He was born on 25 May 1924 in

Harrow, London Harrow () is a large town in Greater London, England, and serves as the principal settlement of the London Borough of Harrow. Lying about north-west of Charing Cross and south of Watford, the entire town including its localities had a popula ...

, England. He was educated at Harrow School, an all-boys public school in London, where was a member of the shooting team. Mann attended a wartime short course at the

Royal Military College, Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC), founded in 1801 and established in 1802 at Great Marlow and High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, England, but moved in October 1812 to Sandhurst, Berkshire, was a British Army military academy for training infant ...

. Then, 1943 to 1946, he served as an officer in the

1st King's Dragoon Guards The 1st King's Dragoon Guards was a cavalry regiment in the British Army. The regiment was raised by Sir John Lanier in 1685 as the 2nd Queen's Regiment of Horse, named in honour of Queen Mary, consort of King James II. It was renamed the 2nd Ki ...

, an armoured car regiment of the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

. He began his active service in North Africa equipped with the

Humber Armoured Car The Humber Armoured Car was one of the most widely produced British armoured cars of the Second World War. It supplemented the Humber Light Reconnaissance Car and remained in service until the end of the war. Development The Guy company did ...

. Then, in September 1943, he was involved in the Salerno landings of

Operation Avalanche Operation Avalanche was the codename for the Allied landings near the port of Salerno, executed on 9 September 1943, part of the Allied invasion of Italy during World War II. The Italians withdrew from the war the day before the invasion, but ...

. As a troop leader, he advanced north through Italy to

Monte Cassino Monte Cassino (today usually spelled Montecassino) is a rocky hill about southeast of Rome, in the Latin Valley, Italy, west of Cassino and at an elevation of . Site of the Roman town of Casinum, it is widely known for its abbey, the first ho ...

, where the armoured cars became stuck in the boggy ground and the regiment resorted to mules and even formed an operational horse troop. His troop were then posted to

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...

to support the local

Italian partisans The Italian resistance movement (the ''Resistenza italiana'' and ''la Resistenza'') is an umbrella term for the Italian resistance groups who fought the occupying forces of Nazi Germany and the fascist collaborationists of the Italian Social ...

maintain order in the city, and Mann took over a bar on the Piazza della Repubblica as a base for himself and his troops. From 1946 to 1955, he served in the

Colonial Service The Colonial Service, also known as His/Her Majesty's Colonial Service and replaced in 1954 by Her Majesty's Overseas Civil Service (HMOCS), was the British government service that administered most of Britain's overseas possessions, under the aut ...

in Nigeria.

Ordained ministry

Ordained in 1957 he was later

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 pre ...

Sparkwell Sparkwell is a small village and civil parish in the South Hams district of Devon. Historically it was part of Haytor Hundred. Its local Anglican church is All Saints Church, Sparkwell. Its local non-conformist church is Lee Mill Congregation ...

, a Canon Residentiary at

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 ...

Bishop of Dudley The Bishop of Dudley is an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Worcester, in the Province of Canterbury, England. The title takes its name after the town of Dudley in the West Midlands; the See was er ...

and finally

Dean of Windsor The Dean of Windsor is the spiritual head of the canons of St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle, England. The dean chairs meetings of the Chapter of Canons as ''primus inter pares''. The post of Dean of Wolverhampton was assimilated to the dea ...

.''New Dean of Windsor ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

Wednesday, Jun 16, 1976; pg. 16; Issue 59731; col E He retired in 1989.

Personal life

In 1990, the year after his retirement, his first wife died. In 1991, he married the widow of George Pepys,

Bishop of Buckingham The Bishop of Buckingham is an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Oxford, in the Province of Canterbury, England. The title takes its name from the historic county town of Buckingham; the See was er ...

from 1964 to 1974. He died on 31 December 2011.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mann, Michael Ashley 1924 births People educated at Harrow School Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst Bishops of Dudley 20th-century Church of England bishops Knights Commander of the Royal Victorian Order Deans of Windsor 2011 deaths Honorary Chaplains to the Queen