Weston Henry Stewart

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(15 March 188730 July 1969) was a British Anglican bishop who served as

Archdeacon An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in the Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, St Thomas Christians, Eastern Orthodox churches and some other Christian denominations, above that o ...

for Palestine, Syria and Trans-Jordan between 1926 and 1943 and then

Anglican Bishop in Jerusalem The Anglican Diocese of Jerusalem ( ar, أبرشية القدس الأنغليكانية) is the Anglican jurisdiction for Israel, the Palestinian territories, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. It is a part of the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the ...

until 1957. Stewart was born in 1887 in

Bakewell Bakewell is a market town and civil parish in the Derbyshire Dales district of Derbyshire, England, known also for its local Bakewell pudding. It lies on the River Wye, about 13 miles (21 km) south-west of Sheffield. In the 2011 census, ...

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 ...

, the sixth child of Lucy Penelope ( Nesfield; 1850–1939) and Ravenscroft Stewart (1845–1921, priest). He was made a deacon in

Advent Advent is a Christian season of preparation for the Nativity of Christ at Christmas. It is the beginning of the liturgical year in Western Christianity. The name was adopted from Latin "coming; arrival", translating Greek ''parousia''. In ...

1910 (18 December) and ordained a priest the following Advent (24 December 1911) — both times by

Arthur Winnington-Ingram Arthur Foley Winnington-Ingram (26 January 1858 – 26 May 1946) was Bishop of London from 1901 to 1939. Early life and career He was born in the rectory at Stanford-on-Teme, Worcestershire, the fourth son of Edward Winnington-Ingram (a Ch ...

Bishop of London A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

, 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 ...

. In 1916 he was appointed

Incumbent The incumbent is the current holder of an official, office or position, usually in relation to an election. In an election for president, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the office of president before the election, whether seek ...

Chelsea Old Church Chelsea Old Church, also known as All Saints, is an Church of England, Anglican church, on Old Church Street, Chelsea, London, Chelsea, London SW3, England, near Albert Bridge, London, Albert Bridge. It is the church for a parish in the Diocese o ...

. In 1932 he married Margaret A. Clapham at

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

. In 1933 Stewart suggested acquiring land together with the British Mandate government for a new municipal cemetery on

Mount Scopus Mount Scopus ( he, הַר הַצּוֹפִים ', "Mount of the Watchmen/ Sentinels"; ar, جبل المشارف ', lit. "Mount Lookout", or ' "Mount of the Scene/Burial Site", or ) is a mountain (elevation: above sea level) in northeast Je ...

next to the British Jerusalem War Cemetery, allowing each different Christian congregation to use a specific section for its burials. From 1938 to 1943 he was the Honorary Chaplain to the

Palestine Police Force The Palestine Police Force was a British colonial police service established in Mandatory Palestine on 1 July 1920,Sinclair, 2006. when High Commissioner Sir Herbert Samuel's civil administration took over responsibility for security from Gener ...

. In 1943 he was appointed the seventh Anglican Bishop in Jerusalem and Dean of the Collegiate Church of St George the Martyr in Jerusalem following the sudden death of

Francis Graham Brown George Francis Graham-Brown (27 January 1891 – 23 November 1942) was an Anglican bishop in the second quarter of the 20th century. Life Graham-Brown was educated at Monkton Combe School and St Catharine's College, Cambridge. After World Wa ...

in a car accident in November 1942. Because of

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 found it difficult to travel to London for his consecration by William Temple,

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 ...

, on St Matthew's Day 1943 (21 September), 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 ...

. He laid the cornerstone of the

Church of the Redeemer, Amman The Church of the Redeemer (Arabic: كنيسة الفادي) is the largest church by membership of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem, and is located in Amman, the capital of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. The Church of the Redeemer is home to ...

in 1949. In 1952, assisted by the former diplomat

Stewart Perowne Stewart Henry Perowne OBE, KStJ, FSA, FRSA (17 June 1901 – 10 May 1989) was a British diplomat, archaeologist, explorer and historian who wrote books on the history and antiquities of the Mediterranean. Despite his homosexuality, in 1947 he ...

, he was involved in designing and organising model villages for

Palestinian Arabs Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...

who had been made refugees as a result of the

1948 Arab–Israeli War The 1948 (or First) Arab–Israeli War was the second and final stage of the 1948 Palestine war. It formally began following the end of the British Mandate for Palestine at midnight on 14 May 1948; the Israeli Declaration of Independence had ...

. On 16 November 1956 Stewart consecrated and dedicated the newly built St Paul's Anglican Church in

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...

. On his return to England in 1957, Stewart became Rector of Cottesmore with

Barrow, Rutland Barrow is a village and civil parish in the county of Rutland in the East Midlands of England. It is located about five miles (8 km) north-east of Oakham. At the 2011 census the population remained less than 100 and is included in the civil ...

until 1964, and an Assistant Bishop of Peterborough and

honorary canon A canon (from the Latin , itself derived from the Greek , , "relating to a rule", "regular") is a member of certain bodies in subject to an ecclesiastical rule. Originally, a canon was a cleric living with others in a clergy house or, later, i ...

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 ...

until his death in 1969 at Exton near

Oakham Oakham is the county town of Rutland in the East Midlands of England, east of Leicester, south-east of Nottingham and west of Peterborough. It had a population of 10,922 in the 2011 census, estimated at 11,191 in 2019. Oakham is to the west o ...

Rutland Rutland () is a ceremonial county and unitary authority in the East Midlands, England. The county is bounded to the west and north by Leicestershire, to the northeast by Lincolnshire and the southeast by Northamptonshire. Its greatest len ...

Publications

*Stewart, Weston Henry 'Chelsea Old Church', J. B. Sears & Sons, London (1926)

References

External links

Stewart Catalogue Records in National Church Institutions Database of Manuscripts and Archives
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stewart, Weston Henry 1887 births 1969 deaths Holders of a Lambeth degree Anglican bishops of Jerusalem Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East archdeacons 20th-century Anglican bishops in the Middle East