The

Rt Rev The Right Reverend (abbreviated The Rt Revd, The Rt Rev'd, The Rt Rev.) is a style applied to certain religious figures. Overview *In the Anglican Communion and the Catholic Church in Great Britain, it applies to bishops, except that ''The M ...

Peter Eves Sutton (7 June 1923 – 23 March 2013) was a New Zealand

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

church leader. He served as the 8th

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 ca ...

of Nelson from 1965 until 1990.

Biography

Born in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

in 1923, Sutton was educated at Nelson College from 1938 to 1940.''Nelson College Old Boys' Register, 1856–2006'', 6th edition (CD-ROM). He then studied at Canterbury University College, graduating with a Master of Arts degree in 1947. His thesis was on the student Christian movement in New Zealand. At Canterbury, Sutton won a university blue for golf and served as president of the student union. Ordained in 1947, he began his career with

curacies 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 ...

Whanganui Whanganui (; ), also spelled Wanganui, is a city in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand. The city is located on the west coast of the North Island at the mouth of the Whanganui River, New Zealand's longest navigable waterway. Whangan ...

, St John the Evangelist

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 common land, Green, much of which survives today as Bethnal Green Gardens, beside Cambridge Heat ...

, and

Bishops Hatfield 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 ...

. He was 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 ...

of St Cuthberts,

Berhampore Berhampore (, ) is a city and a municipality in the state of West Bengal, India. As of 2011 census, Berhampore urban agglomeration had a population of 305,609 and is the seventh largest city in West Bengal (after Kolkata, Asansol, Siliguri, D ...

(1952–58) and Whangarei (1958–64). He was

Archdeacon An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in the Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, St Thomas Christians, Eastern Orthodox churches and some other Christian denominations, above that o ...

of Waimate from 1962 to 1964 and then Dean of

St. Paul's Cathedral, Dunedin St Paul's Cathedral is the mother church of the Anglican Diocese of Dunedin in New Zealand and the seat of the Bishop of Dunedin. Location The Cathedral Church of St Paul occupies a site in the heart of The Octagon near the Dunedin Town Hall and ...

. On 24 August 1965 he was consecrated 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 ...

ACANZP Lectionary, 2009
(p. 96) and served as the eighth Bishop of Nelson for 25 years. As bishop, Sutton was ''ex officio'' a member of the

Cawthron Institute The Cawthron Institute is New Zealand's largest independent science organisation, specialising in science that supports the environment and development within primary industries. Cawthron has its main facilities in Nelson. It works with regional ...

trust board and was its chairman for 10 years. He was an outspoken opponent of

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

in South Africa and led a protest march in Nelson during the

1981 Springbok tour The 1981 South African rugby tour (known in New Zealand as the Springbok Tour, and in Republic of South Africa, South Africa as the Rebel Tour) polarised opinions and inspired widespread protests across New Zealand. The controversy also extende ...

. In 1985, Sutton was appointed an

Officer of the Order of St John The Order of St John, short for Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem (french: l'ordre très vénérable de l'Hôpital de Saint-Jean de Jérusalem) and also known as St John International, is a British royal order of ...

. Following his retirement as Bishop of Nelson, he was appointed a

Commander 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 ...

in the

1990 Queen's Birthday Honours The Birthday Honours 1990 for the Commonwealth realms were announced on 15 June 1990, to celebrate the Queen's Birthday of 1990. The recipients of honours are displayed here as they were styled before their new honour, and arranged firstly by the ...

. Sutton died in Nelson in 2013. Following his funeral service at

Christ Church Cathedral, Nelson Christ Church Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in upper Trafalgar Street, Nelson, New Zealand with seating for 350 people. It is 58 metres in length and 27 metres wide. The tower is 35 metres high. History The original church was erected in ...

, he was buried in Marsden Valley Cemetery,

Stoke Stoke is a common place name in the United Kingdom. Stoke may refer to: Places United Kingdom The largest city called Stoke is Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire. See below. Berkshire * Stoke Row, Berkshire Bristol * Stoke Bishop * Stok ...

References

External links

New Bishop for Nelson
''Nelson Photo News'', No. 59, 18 September 1965. 1923 births 2013 deaths Religious leaders from Wellington City People educated at Nelson College University of Canterbury alumni Anglican archdeacons in New Zealand Deans of Dunedin Anglican bishops of Nelson 20th-century Anglican bishops in New Zealand Officers of the Order of St John New Zealand Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Burials at Marsden Valley Cemetery People associated with the Cawthron Institute Anti-racism activists {{Anglican-bishop-stub