Spencer Stottisbury Gwatkin Leeson was an eminent

headmaster A head master, head instructor, bureaucrat, headmistress, head, chancellor, principal or school director (sometimes another title is used) is the teacher, staff member of a school with the greatest responsibility for the management of the school ...

and

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in the mid 20th century. He was an influential and popular figure in the Church of England in the early 1950s and, had he survived, may well have been appointed to an archbishopric.

Life

Memorial Window to Bishop Spencer Leeson, Peterborough Cathedral

Plaque to Spencer Leeson in Peterborough Cathedral

He was born on 9 October 1892 and educated at

Winchester Winchester is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs Nation ...

and

New College, Oxford New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as its feeder school, New College is one of the oldest colleges at th ...

. Although he had just been awarded a 1st in classical moderations and was on his way to further academic distinction, he enlisted in the army in August 1914, soon after the outbreak of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. He was commissioned into the

Middlesex Regiment The Middlesex Regiment (Duke of Cambridge's Own) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1966. The regiment was formed, as the Duke of Cambridge's Own (Middlesex Regiment), in 1881 as part of the Childers Re ...

and his first posting was to Gibraltar, where he gained the rare experience of guarding German-American prisoners who had been intercepted whilst attempting to reach Germany. In March 1915, he was sent to

Ypres Ypres ( , ; nl, Ieper ; vls, Yper; german: Ypern ) is a Belgian city and municipality in the province of West Flanders. Though the Dutch name is the official one, the city's French name is most commonly used in English. The municipality co ...

but returned to England with influenza. He was in hospital when his battalion was in action, with over 500 casualties. In September 1915, unfit for active service, he was attached to Naval Intelligence Division of the Admiralty and MI5. He was

mentioned in dispatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...

, gazetted in May 1917. He had lengthy periods of absence resulting from a heart problem. Post-war, he was

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at the

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then an assistant master at his old school. He was appointed headmaster of Merchant Taylors' in 1927, then Winchester College eight years later. He was made

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1939 (22 September) at Wolvesey chapel 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 ...

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1940 (19 May) at

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 ...

— both times by

Cyril Garbett Cyril Forster Garbett (6 February 1875 – 31 December 1955) was an Anglican bishop and author. He was successively the Bishop of Southwark, the Bishop of Winchester and the Archbishop of York from 1942 to 1955. Early life Garbett was born in ...

Bishop of Winchester The Bishop of Winchester is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Winchester in the Church of England. The bishop's seat (''cathedra'') is at Winchester Cathedral in Hampshire. The Bishop of Winchester has always held ''ex officio'' (except dur ...

. He was

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and then Wiccamical Prebendary at

Chichester Cathedral Chichester Cathedral, formally known as the Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity, is the seat of the Anglican Bishop of Chichester. It is located in Chichester, in West Sussex, England. It was founded as a cathedral in 1075, when the seat of the ...

. Leeson had made such an immediate impression in Southampton that he was recommended for bishoprics. Added to that was his national reputation as an authority on education, particularly Church schools. Wakefield, Hereford and Peterborough dioceses all became vacant in 1949, and Leeson was eventually appointed to Peterborough. He was ordained and consecrated a

that

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(1 November) at

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...

Geoffrey Fisher Geoffrey Francis Fisher, Baron Fisher of Lambeth, (5 May 1887 – 15 September 1972) was an English Anglican priest, and 99th Archbishop of Canterbury, serving from 1945 to 1961. From a long line of parish priests, Fisher was educated at Marlb ...

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...

; and held this post until his death on 27 January 1956. By then, his hyperactivity and zeal had damaged his health, so that when Archbishop Garbett of York announced his retirement in 1955, Leeson was not in the running. Nevertheless, during the previous six years at Peterborough, Leeson was one of the most eminent Church of England bishops.

Memorials

A memorial stained glass window was erected in the south aisle of

Peterborough Cathedral Peterborough Cathedral, properly the Cathedral Church of St Peter, St Paul and St Andrew – also known as Saint Peter's Cathedral in the United Kingdom – is the seat of the Church of England, Anglican Bishop of Peterborough, dedicated to Sain ...

to his memory.Plaque in Peterborough Cathedral

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leeson, Spencer Stottisbury Gwatkin 1892 births People educated at Winchester College Alumni of New College, Oxford Headmasters of Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood Headmasters of Winchester College Bishops of Peterborough 20th-century Church of England bishops 1956 deaths