Nelson Victor Halward (, called Victor; 12 December 189717 December 1953) was an English

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 in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

and

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

. He was the Colony Commissioner of the Boy Scout Association, Hong Kong Branch from 1934 to 1950.

Biography

Victor Halward was educated at

The King's School, Canterbury The King's School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school for 13 to 18 year old pupils) in Canterbury, Kent, England. It is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference and the Eton Group. It is Britain's ...

. In 1916 he went straight from school into the

army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

, at first in the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

, then in 1917 he was commissioned as

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

in the

Gloucestershire Regiment The Gloucestershire Regiment, commonly referred to as the Glosters, was a line infantry regiment of the British Army from 1881 until 1994. It traced its origins to Colonel Gibson's Regiment of Foot, which was raised in 1694 and later became the ...

. In 1919 he was 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 ...

: :For gallantry and devotion to duty during an attack on nenemy position S.W. of

Fleurbaix Fleurbaix (; vls, Vloerbeek) is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France. Geography A farming village some northeast of Béthune and west of Lille, at the junction of the D176 and the D171 roads, at ...

, on 30 September 1918. His platoon was selected to secure and hold an enemy position on a flank, and he pushed them forward and occupied an advanced position, inflicting heavy casualties on the enemy. In face of heavy machine-gun fire and snipers he held on to his position, and it was mainly owing to his coolness and initiative that the remainder of the attacking troops gained their objectives. In June 1919 Halward was promoted to

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

. He then left the army and went up to

Jesus College, Cambridge Jesus College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college's full name is The College of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint John the Evangelist and the glorious Virgin Saint Radegund, near Cambridge. Its common name comes fr ...

. After graduating he studied theology 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 ...

, and 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

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 ...

. He was

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'') ''of souls'' of a parish. In this sense, "curate" means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy w ...

at St Saviour's Church,

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...

, 1922–25, then in 1926 he moved to

as Diocesan Chaplain to the Anglican Church there (

Chung Hua Sheng Kung Hui Chung Hua Sheng Kung Hui (CHSKH, zh, t=中華聖公會), known in English as the Holy Catholic Church in China or Anglican-Episcopal Province of China, was the name of the Anglican Church in China from 1912 until about 1958. History The Chung ...

). He was also the Scoutmaster of St Paul's College in Hong Kong and was enthusiastic in

Scouting Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth movement employing the Scout method, a program of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activities, including camping, woodcraft, aquatics, hiking, backpacking ...

activities. He was priest-in-charge in

Kowloon Tong Kowloon Tong () is an area of Hong Kong located in Kowloon. The majority of the area is in the Kowloon City District. Its exaclocationis south of the Lion Rock, north of Boundary Street, east of the East Rail line and west of Grampian Road. It i ...

1933–36. From 1936 to 1946 – throughout the

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific Th ...

and

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

– he was based in Canton (now

Guangzhou Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...

) in southern China as a missionary for the

Church Missionary Society The Church Mission Society (CMS), formerly known as the Church Missionary Society, is a British mission society working with the Christians around the world. Founded in 1799, CMS has attracted over nine thousand men and women to serve as mission ...

, but continued as Hong Kong Colony Commissioner for Boy Scouts despite the

Japanese occupation of Hong Kong The Imperial Japanese occupation of Hong Kong began when the Governor of Hong Kong, Mark Aitchison Young, Sir Mark Young, surrendered the British Crown colony of British Hong Kong, Hong Kong to the Empire of Japan on 25 December 1941. The surr ...

. During his commissionership, the

Scout Movement Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth movement employing the Scout method, a program of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activities, including camping, woodcraft, aquatics, hiking, backpacking ...

rooted among the Chinese population in Hong Kong. Halward appointed Chinese district commissioners and they significantly helped to develop Scouting in Hong Kong. Through his connections in Canton he established cooperation with the

Scouts of China The Scouts of China or the General Association of the Scouts of China in full, is the national Scouting association of the Republic of China and represents the Scouting organization in Taiwan. It is a member of the World Organization of the Sco ...

. He was awarded the Silver Wolf, the highest honour in

The Scout Association The Scout Association is the largest Scouting organisation in the United Kingdom and is the World Organization of the Scout Movement's recognised member for the United Kingdom. Following the origin of Scouting in 1907, the association was for ...

. During the Japanese occupation Halward was interned in the

concentration camp Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...

in Canton. After the war Halward was Assistant

Bishop of Victoria The Bishop of Victoria, Hong Kong was (from 1849 to 1951) the Ordinary of a corporation sole including Hong Kong and South China that ministered to 20,000 Anglicans. Bishops *18491865 (ret.): George SmithHandbook to the Diocese of Victoria (Hong K ...

(Hong Kong and South China) 1946–51 (for

) and Assistant

Bishop of British Columbia The Diocese of British Columbia, also known as the Anglican Diocese of Islands and Inlets, is a diocese of the Ecclesiastical Province of British Columbia and Yukon of the Anglican Church of Canada. Despite the name, the diocese comprises only ...

1951–53. He was consecrated a bishop on St James's Day 1946 (25 July), by

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 ...

, 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 ...

References

HALWARD, Rt Rev. (Nelson) Victor
''Who Was Who'', A & C Black, 1920–2015; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2014

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Halward, Victor Nelson 1897 births 1953 deaths People educated at The King's School, Canterbury Royal Artillery soldiers Gloucestershire Regiment officers British Army personnel of World War I Recipients of the Military Cross Alumni of Jesus College, Cambridge Alumni of Westcott House, Cambridge 20th-century Anglican Church of Canada bishops Scouting and Guiding in Hong Kong 20th-century Anglican bishops in Asia Anglican bishops of British Columbia Anglican bishops of Victoria, Hong Kong