Simon Wilton Phipps MC (1921–2001) was a British

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 ...

bishop, who served as Bishop of Lincoln 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 Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. Eton may also refer to: Places *Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England * Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States * Éton, a commune in the Meuse dep ...

and

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

. In 1940, he was commissioned into the Coldstream Guards. 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 i ...

(MC). He reached the rank of

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

, 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 the F ...

, 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 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 Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon, (Margaret Rose; 21 August 1930 – 9 February 2002) was the younger daughter of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, and the younger sister and only sibling of Queen Elizabeth ...

, "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 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 jurisdictiona ...

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 Horsha ...

, before being translated to Lincoln 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'' (fou ...

'' 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