Walter Augustus Shirley (30 May 1797 – 21 April 1847) was an English bishop who was the

Bishop of Sodor and Man The Bishop of Sodor and Man is the Ordinary (officer), Ordinary of the Diocese of Sodor and Man (Manx Gaelic: ''Sodor as Mannin'') in the Province of York in the Church of England. The diocese only covers the Isle of Man. The Peel Cathedral, Cath ...

Life

He was born on 30 May 1797 in Westport, Ireland, where his father held a curacy, the only son of Walter Shirley, by his wife Alicia, daughter of Sir Edward Newenham. His grandfather was Walter Shirley. At the age of nine, Shirley was placed under the care of the Rev.

Legh Richmond Legh Richmond (1772–1827) was a Church of England clergyman and writer. He is noted for tracts, narratives of conversion that innovated in the relation of stories of the poor and female subjects, and which were subsequently much imitated. He wa ...

but was soon moved to a school at Linton in

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

. He became a scholar of

Winchester College Winchester College is a public school (fee-charging independent day and boarding school) in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 and has existed in its present location ever since. It is the oldest of the ...

in 1809, and six years later was elected to a scholarship at

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 ...

, where he became a Fellow in 1818. After his ordination on 7 August 1820, he took charge of the parish of

Woodford, Northamptonshire Woodford is a large village and civil parish located in North Northamptonshire, England. At the time of the 2011 census, the parish's population (including Woodwell) was 1,461 people. The village's name means 'wooded ford', referring to wood ...

, one of the livings held by his father. In 1821 he became curate of

Parwich Parwich is a village and parish in the Derbyshire Dales, 7 miles north of Ashbourne. In the 2011 census the population of the civil parish was 472. Village facilities include the Anglican church of St Peter's, a primary school, the Sycamore Inn ...

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

. In 1822 he was appointed assistant lecturer of Ashbourne and curate of

Atlow Atlow is a village and civil parish in the Derbyshire Dales district of Derbyshire, England, about eight miles west of Belper. According to the 2001 census the parish had a population of 98. At the 2011 Census the population remained less than 1 ...

and was awarded the prize for the English essay at Oxford, the subject being ''the Study of Moral Evidence''. He acted as chaplain at Rome in the winter of 1826–7, and during his residence there he became intimately acquainted with

Christian Karl Josias von Bunsen Christian Charles or Karl Josias von Bunsen (25 August 1791 – 28 November 1860), also known as , was a German diplomat and scholar. Life Early life Bunsen was born at Korbach, an old town in the German principality of Waldeck. His fath ...

and Thomas Erskine, as well as with

Charles Lock Eastlake Sir Charles Lock Eastlake (17 November 1793 – 24 December 1865) was a British painter, gallery director, collector and writer of the 19th century. After a period as keeper, he was the first director of the National Gallery. Life Eastlake ...

and

David Wilkie David Wilkie may refer to: * David Wilkie (artist) (1785–1841), Scottish painter * David Wilkie (surgeon) (1882–1938), British surgeon, scientist and philanthropist * David Wilkie (footballer) (1914–2011), Australian rules footballer * David ...

. In the autumn of 1827 he was married at Paris to Maria, daughter of William Waddington, and at the same time, his father resigned the living of St Michael's Church, Shirley in his favour. He took possession of his new home in January 1828. After nine years' residence at Shirley, he accepted the living of Whiston, near

Rotherham Rotherham () is a large minster and market town in South Yorkshire, England. The town takes its name from the River Rother which then merges with the River Don. The River Don then flows through the town centre. It is the main settlement of ...

, which he held jointly with Shirley. He gave up the former cure two years later when he was appointed to the incumbency of

Brailsford Brailsford () is a small red-brick village and civil parish in Derbyshire on the A52 midway between Derby and Ashbourne. The parish also includes Brailsford Green. The civil parish population at the 2011 Census was 1,118. The village has a pub ...

, a parish adjoining that of Shirley. In 1829 he alienated some of his friends by his outspoken advocacy of

Catholic emancipation Catholic emancipation or Catholic relief was a process in the kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland, and later the combined United Kingdom in the late 18th century and early 19th century, that involved reducing and removing many of the restricti ...

; in later years he estranged others by refusing to support measures against the

Tractarians The Oxford Movement was a movement of high church members of the Church of England which began in the 1830s and eventually developed into Anglo-Catholicism. The movement, whose original devotees were mostly associated with the University of O ...

. His own upbringing and views were

evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide Interdenominationalism, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "bor ...

. He was made

Archdeacon of Derby The Archdeacon of Derby is a senior ecclesiastical officer in the Church of England Diocese of Derby. The archdeacon has responsibility for church buildings and clergy discipline in her/his archdeaconry – the Archdeaconry of Derby – which rough ...

by the bishop of Lichfield on 21 December 1840. In November 1846 he was appointed Bishop of Sodor and Man by

Lord John Russell John Russell, 1st Earl Russell, (18 August 1792 – 28 May 1878), known by his courtesy title Lord John Russell before 1861, was a British Whig and Liberal statesman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1846 to 1852 and ag ...

; but because of a serious illness, he was not consecrated until 10 January 1847. He had been elected

Bampton lecturer The Bampton Lectures at the University of Oxford, England, were founded by a bequest of John Bampton. They have taken place since 1780. They were a series of annual lectures; since the turn of the 20th century they have typically been biennial ...

for that year but lived only long enough to deliver two of the lectures of his course. He died at Bishop's Court, Isle of Man, on 21 April 1847. His only son was

Walter Waddington Shirley Prof. Rev. Walter Waddington Shirley (1828–1866) was an English churchman and ecclesiastical historian. Life The only son of Walter Augustus Shirley, bishop of Sodor and Man, he was born at Shirley, Derbyshire, on 24 July 1828. In 1837 he beca ...

. Among his pupils were Stafford Henry Northcote and his nephew,

William Henry Waddington William Henry Waddington (11 December 182613 January 1894) was a French statesman who served as Prime Minister in 1879, and as an Ambassador of France. Early life and education Waddington was born at the Château of Saint-Rémy in Eure-et-Loi ...

, the French minister.

Works

In addition to his Oxford prize essay, Shirley published ''A Charge to the Clergy of the Archdeaconry of Derby'', 1846. The two Bampton lectures that he had delivered, together with two others which he had completed before death overtook him, were published in 1847 under the title of '' The Supremacy of the Holy Scriptures''.

References

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Shirley, Walter Augustus 1797 births 1847 deaths Bishops of Sodor and Man Archdeacons of Derby Fellows of New College, Oxford 19th-century Church of England bishops