Reginald Stephen Copleston (26 December 1845 – 19 April 1925) was an

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 ...

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 ...

and author who served as a

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 ...

in India for more than 30 years.

Biography

Copleston was born in

Barnes, London Barnes () is a district in south London, part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England. It takes up the extreme north-east of the borough, and as such is the closest part of the borough to central London. It is centred west sou ...

, the son of Rev. R. E. Copleston, Fellow of Exeter College, Oxford."Ecclesiastical Intelligence", ''

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'' (fou ...

'' (London), Thursday, 30 January 1902; pg. 6; Issue 36678; col B He was educated at Merchant Taylors' and

Merton College, Oxford Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is one of the Colleges of Oxford University, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the ...

, where he graduated in 1869. In the same year he was elected to a tutorial

fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

ship at

St John's College, Oxford St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded as a men's college in 1555, it has been coeducational since 1979.Communication from Michael Riordan, college archivist Its founder, Sir Thomas White, intended to pro ...

, and

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 ...

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 ...

in 1871. During his time at Oxford he was editor of the ''

Oxford Spectator Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the Un ...

''. Four years later, in 1875, he was ordained

and received the degree

Doctor of Divinity A Doctor of Divinity (D.D. or DDiv; la, Doctor Divinitatis) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity. In the United Kingdom, it is considered an advanced doctoral degree. At the University of Oxford, doctors of divinity are ran ...

(DD). Later the same year he was appointed

Anglican Bishop of Colombo The Anglican Bishop of Colombo is the ecclesiastical head of the Anglican Diocese of Colombo, a diocese in the Church of Ceylon which is part of the Anglican Communion. The Anglican Diocese of Colombo was founded in 1845, as the diocese of the C ...

as one of the youngest prelates to be consecrated bishop, and was occasionally known as the ''Boy Bishop'' in the following years. He served in Colombo for 27 years, spending some of his time studying the native religions. In early 1902 he was

translated Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transla ...

to become Bishop of Calcutta and Metropolitan of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. He arrived in

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

on 20 May 1902, and was enthroned at the St. Paul's Cathedral the following day. He held these posts until 1913. Whilst in Ceylon he served as president of the

Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society The Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka (RASSL) is based in Colombo, Sri Lanka. It is one of the oldest learned societies in Sri Lanka with a history of over 160 years. It was established on 7 February 1845, paralleling the Royal Asiatic Society ...

from 1885 to 1901.

Family

Copleston died in London in 1929. He had married, in 1889, Edith Chenevix Trench (1844-1942), daughter of

Richard Chenevix Trench Richard Chenevix Trench (Richard Trench until 1873; 9 September 1807 – 28 March 1886) was an Anglican archbishop and poet. Life He was born in Dublin, Ireland, the son of Richard Trench (1774–1860), barrister-at-law, and the Dublin write ...

Archbishop of Dublin The Archbishop of Dublin is an archepiscopal title which takes its name after Dublin, Ireland. Since the Reformation, there have been parallel apostolic successions to the title: one in the Catholic Church and the other in the Church of Irelan ...

. They had one son and two daughters His brother Ernest Arthur Copleston was also an Anglican bishop and his nephew

Frederick Copleston Frederick Charles Copleston (10 April 1907 – 3 February 1994) was an English Roman Catholic Jesuit priest, philosopher, and historian of philosophy, best known for his influential multi-volume '' A History of Philosophy'' (1946–75). Copl ...

was a notable

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

and philosopher. His brother Frederick Selwyn Copleston, father of Frederick Copleston, was the first Chief Judge of the Chief Court of Lower Burma.

Publications

* ''Aeschylus'' (1870), part of the series Ancient Classics for English Readers (

William Blackwood and Sons William Blackwood and Sons was a Scottish publishing house and printer founded by William Blackwood in 1804. It played a key role in literary history, publishing many important authors, for example John Buchan, George Tomkyns Chesney, Joseph Con ...

) * ''Buddhism'' (Henry S. King & Co., 1892; republished as ''Buddhism Primitive and Present in Magadha and in Ceylon'', Longmans, 1908; 3rd revised edition published in 1993 as ''Theravāda Buddhism'', Eastern Book Linkers, Delhi, India, ).

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Copleston, Reginald Stephen 1845 births 1925 deaths People from Barnes, London People educated at Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood Alumni of Merton College, Oxford Fellows of St John's College, Oxford Anglican bishops of Colombo Anglican bishops of Calcutta 19th-century Anglican bishops in Asia 20th-century Anglican bishops in Asia 20th-century Anglican archbishops British expatriates in India British expatriates in Sri Lanka