Peter Hancock (born 26 July 1955) is a retired

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

bishop. He served as the

Bishop of Bath and Wells The Bishop of Bath and Wells heads the Church of England Diocese of Bath and Wells in the Province of Canterbury in England. The present diocese covers the overwhelmingly greater part of the (ceremonial) county of Somerset and a small area of Do ...

from 2014 to 2021, having previously been the

Bishop of Basingstoke The Bishop of Basingstoke is an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Winchester, in the province of Canterbury, England. The title takes its name after the town of Basingstoke in Hampshire. The previous b ...

, a

suffragan bishop 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 jurisdiction ...

in the

Diocese of Winchester The Diocese of Winchester forms part of the Province of Canterbury of the Church of England. Founded in 676, it is one of the older dioceses in England. It once covered Wessex, many times its present size which is today most of the historic enla ...

, from 2010 to 2014.

Early life and education

Hancock was born on 26 July 1955 in Kent and grew up on the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Isle of ...

. His family moved to

Fareham Fareham ( ) is a market town at the north-west tip of Portsmouth Harbour, between the cities of Portsmouth and Southampton in south east Hampshire, England. It gives its name to the Borough of Fareham. It was historically an important manufact ...

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 ...

, when he was eleven. He took a first degree at

Selwyn College, Cambridge Selwyn College, Cambridge (formally Selwyn College in the University of Cambridge) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1882 by the Selwyn Memorial Committee in memory of George Augustus Selwyn (18 ...

, before training for the ordained ministry at

Oak Hill Theological College Oak Hill College is a conservative evangelical theological college located on Chase Side in Southgate, London, England. Its aim is to prepare men and women from the Church of England and Independent churches for ministry in the real world. Over ...

Ordained ministry

Hancock was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform va ...

in the

: made a

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Churc ...

Michaelmas Michaelmas ( ; also known as the Feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, the Feast of the Archangels, or the Feast of Saint Michael and All Angels) is a Christian festival observed in some Western liturgical calendars on 29 September, a ...

, 28 September 1980, and ordained a

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

the Michaelmas following, 27 September 1981, both times by

Ronald Gordon Archibald Ronald McDonald Gordon (19 March 1927 – 8 August 2015) was a British Anglican bishop. He was the Bishop of Portsmouth from 1975 to 1984. He was the Bishop at Lambeth from 1984 and, additionally, the Bishop to the Forces from 1985. He ...

, Bishop of Portsmouth, at

Portsmouth Cathedral The Cathedral Church of St Thomas of Canterbury, commonly known as Portsmouth Cathedral, is an Anglican cathedral church in the centre of Old Portsmouth in Portsmouth, England. It is the cathedral of the Diocese of Portsmouth and the seat of ...

. He was a curate at Christchurch,

Portsdown Portsdown is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest on Portsdown Hill, on the northern outskirts of Portsmouth in Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East E ...

, between 1980 and 1983, and at Saint Aldhelm,

Radipole Radipole was is a suburb of Weymouth in Dorset, England. History It was formerly an independent parish, until abolished as a separate local government unit in 1933. It remains a separate ecclesiastical parish. Radipole stands at the head of, an ...

, until 1987. From 1987 to 1999 he was

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 Wilfrid's

Cowplain Cowplain is a village north of Waterlooville, Hampshire, England. With a population of 9,353 at the 2011 census, it makes up above 7% of Havant borough's population. It grew along the old London to Portsmouth road (the A3) on which the village ...

before becoming

Archdeacon of The Meon The archdeacons in the Diocese of Portsmouth are senior ecclesiastical officers in the Church of England in south-east Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. They currently include: the archdeacon of The Meon, the archdeacon of the Isle of Wight and the ...

— a post he held until 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 ...

Episcopal ministry

Hancock was consecrated as a bishop at

St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in London and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London. It is on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London and is a Grad ...

on 21 September 2010,Winchester Diocese — Three new bishops consecrated...
/ref> and welcomed as

Winchester Cathedral The Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity,Historic England. "Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity (1095509)". ''National Heritage List for England''. Retrieved 8 September 2014. Saint Peter, Saint Paul and Saint Swithun, commonly known as Winches ...

on 2 October 2010.Diocese of Portsmouth — New Bishop of Basingstoke
/ref> On 10 December 2013, it was announced that Hancock would become

in 2014. Initially it was stated that, unlike his predecessors, he would not live in the Bishop's Palace. However, that decision was later reversed. His

election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...

was

confirmed In Christian denominations that practice infant baptism, confirmation is seen as the sealing of the covenant created in baptism. Those being confirmed are known as confirmands. For adults, it is an affirmation of belief. It involves laying on ...

on 4 March 2014 and he was installed at

Wells Cathedral Wells Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Wells, Somerset, England, dedicated to St Andrew the Apostle. It is the seat of the Bishop of Bath and Wells, whose cathedra it holds as mother church of the Diocese of Bath and Wells. Built as a ...

on 7 June 2014. From 2016 to 2020, he was additionally lead bishop for

safeguarding Safeguarding is a term used in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, Ireland to denote measures to protect the health, well-being and human rights of individuals, which allow people—especially children, youth, young people and vulnerable ...

in the Church of England. Since August 2020, Hancock has been on leave while undergoing treatment for cancer. It was announced in March 2021 that he was recovering from leukaemia but would be taking retirement on medical grounds; a farewell service was held on 22 May 2021. He retired to

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

Personal life

Hancock married in 1979,Number 10 — Official Announcement
/ref> and he and his wife have four adult children. In 2020, Hancock was diagnosed with

acute myeloid leukaemia Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a cancer of the myeloid line of blood cells, characterized by the rapid growth of abnormal cells that build up in the bone marrow and blood and interfere with normal blood cell production. Symptoms may include ...

and took leave to undergo treatment.

Views

In his first interview after being installed as the Bishop of Bath and Wells, Hancock said about

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same Legal sex and gender, sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being ...

on Radio Bristol: "I think marriage is a gift from God. It's a means of grace and his way of blessing us. I believe this was set aside for a man and a woman." In an article in the ''Bath Chronicle'', he said "We will therefore need to think, pray and consider very deeply what it might mean to share the gospel across the diocese, what it might mean to foster spiritual and numerical growth in Church and community, and how we can so order our life as a diocese to enable the Church to grow and flourish in new ways."

Styles

*''

The Reverend The Reverend is an style (manner of address), honorific style most often placed before the names of Christian clergy and Minister of religion, ministers. There are sometimes differences in the way the style is used in different countries and c ...

'' Peter Hancock (1980–1997) *''The Reverend''

Canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western can ...

Peter Hancock (1997–1999) *''

The Venerable The Venerable (''venerabilis'' in Latin) is a style, a title, or an epithet which is used in some Western Christian churches, or it is a translation of similar terms for clerics in Eastern Orthodoxy and monastics in Buddhism. Christianity Cathol ...

'' Peter Hancock (1999–2010) *''

The Right Reverend The Right Reverend (abbreviated The Rt Revd, The Rt Rev'd, The Rt Rev.) is a style (manner of address), style applied to certain religion, religious figures. Overview *In the Anglican Communion and the Roman Catholicism in the United Kingdom, ...

'' Peter Hancock (2010–present)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hancock, Peter 1955 births 21st-century Church of England bishops Living people Alumni of Selwyn College, Cambridge Archdeacons of the Meon Bishops of Basingstoke Bishops of Bath and Wells