Simon Wilton Phipps MC (1921–2001) was a British Anglican bishop, who served as

Bishop of Lincoln The Bishop of Lincoln is the ordinary (diocesan bishop) of the Church of England Diocese of Lincoln in the Province of Canterbury. The present diocese covers the county of Lincolnshire and the unitary authority areas of North Lincolnshire and ...

between 1974 and 1987.

Life

He was born on 6 July 1921, the son of Captain William Duncan Phipps R.N. and Pamela Ross, and was educated at Eton and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

. In 1940, he was commissioned into the

Coldstream Guards The Coldstream Guards is the oldest continuously serving regular regiment in the British Army. As part of the Household Division, one of its principal roles is the protection of the monarchy; due to this, it often participates in state ceremonia ...

. He fought both in North Africa, where he was wounded, and in Italy. On 19 April 1945, in the Allied advance to the

River Po The Po ( , ; la, Padus or ; Ancient Ligurian: or ) is the longest river in Italy. It flows eastward across northern Italy starting from the Cottian Alps. The river's length is either or , if the Maira, a right bank tributary, is included. Th ...

, he was again wounded during a reconnaissance mission and was subsequently awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC ...

(MC). He reached the rank of major, before being demobilised in 1946. Following the war, having read History at

Trinity The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God th ...

, he studied for the priesthood at

Westcott House, Cambridge Westcott House is an Anglican theological college based on Jesus Lane in the centre of the university city of Cambridge in the United Kingdom.Westcott House website, Home pag Retrieved on August 27, 2006. Its main activity is training people for ...

. A talented writer of lyrics, he was President of

Footlights Cambridge University Footlights Dramatic Club, commonly referred to simply as the Footlights, is an amateur theatrical club in Cambridge, England, founded in 1883 and run by the students of Cambridge University. History Footlights' inaugural ...

in 1949. In 1953, after a short spell as a curate in

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...

, Phipps was appointed Chaplain at

. That appointment was followed by ten years at Coventry as an Industrial Chaplain, during which time he lived in a small council flat on a new housing estate. The modesty of his surroundings did not prevent him from entertaining his long-time friend, Princess Margaret, "to the great interest of his neighbours".Edward H. Patey, ''Cathedral and Industry'', in ''Simon Phipps: A Portrait'' His time in Coventry is generally thought to have formed one of the personally happiest periods of his ministry. In 1968 Phipps was appointed as Suffragan

Bishop of Horsham The Bishop of Horsham is an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop (area bishop from 1984 to 2013) of the Church of England Diocese of Chichester, in the Province of Canterbury, England. The title takes its name after the market town of Hor ...

, before being translated to

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincol ...

in 1974, where he served as Bishop until 1987. Phipps died in January 2001. In 1973, he had married Mary Welch, who died in 2000. They had no children. On his death, ''

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 ...

'' recorded that Phipps had combined gentleness, tranquillity and sweetness of character with deep psychological insight and considerable strength of purpose.

Sources

Daily Telegraph obituary
* Caroline Gilmour and Patricia Wyndham, ''Simon Phipps: A Portrait'' (Continuum, 2003) {{DEFAULTSORT:Phipps, Simon Wilton Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Bishops of Lincoln Bishops of Horsham 20th-century Church of England bishops Coldstream Guards officers Recipients of the Military Cross British Army personnel of World War II People educated at Eton College 2001 deaths 1921 births