William Louis Anderson (11 February 1882 – 5 March 1972) was 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 Britai ...

Bishop of Portsmouth and then the

Bishop of Salisbury The Bishop of Salisbury is the ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of Salisbury in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers much of the counties of Wiltshire and Dorset. The see is in the City of Salisbury where the bishop's seat ...

. He also held what is believed to be the unique distinction of being the only bishop to have served in all three of the armed services.

Early life

Anderson was born at

Tezpur Tezpur () is a city and urban agglomeration in Sonitpur district, Assam state, India. Tezpur is located on the banks of the river Brahmaputra, northeast of Guwahati, and is the largest of the north bank cities with a population exceeding 100, ...

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

, India, on 11 February 1892, the younger son of James Drummond Anderson, a member of the

Indian Civil Service The Indian Civil Service (ICS), officially known as the Imperial Civil Service, was the higher civil service of the British Empire in India during British rule in the period between 1858 and 1947. Its members ruled over more than 300 million p ...

who later became a lecturer in Bengali at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...

. His elder brother, Sir James Drummond Anderson, also had a distinguished colonial career. He was educated as a scholar at St Paul's School and graduated BA from

Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Gonville and Caius College, often referred to simply as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and one of t ...

in 1914 and MA in 1920. He was appointed an honorary fellow in 1950.Obituary, ''

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'' (f ...

, 7 March 1972

Military service

He served throughout 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 ...

, initially in the 1st King Edward's Horse, then the Royal Naval Air Service, and finally in the newly formed

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

, ending the war with the rank of captain (later flight lieutenant from 1918 to 1919). He fought in France as a sergeant-major in King Edward's Horse, and flew American Flying Boats with the Royal Naval Air Service from Felixstowe and then the Isles of Scilly. He was awarded the

Distinguished Service Cross The Distinguished Service Cross (D.S.C.) is a military decoration for courage. Different versions exist for different countries. *Distinguished Service Cross (Australia) The Distinguished Service Cross (DSC) is a military decoration awarded to ...

after sinking an enemy submarine in a flying boat attack while serving in the Isles of Scilly.

Ministry

demobilisation Demobilization or demobilisation (see spelling differences) is the process of standing down a nation's armed forces from combat-ready status. This may be as a result of victory in war, or because a crisis has been peacefully resolved and milit ...

, he studied for ordination at Ridley Hall, Cambridge. He 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 ...

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Chur ...

in 1920 and

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...

in 1921. He married Gwendoline Jones and they had two sons.Biography, ''

Who Was Who ''Who's Who'' is a reference work. It is a book, and also a CD-ROM and a website, giving information on influential people from around the world. Published annually as a book since 1849, it lists people who influence British life, according to i ...

'' He rejoined the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

as a chaplain and served in a succession of naval establishments. His last posting was as chaplain to the

Britannia Royal Naval College Britannia Royal Naval College (BRNC), commonly known as Dartmouth, is the naval academy of the United Kingdom and the initial officer training establishment of the Royal Navy. It is located on a hill overlooking the port of Dartmouth, Devon, En ...

. In 1928, he was appointed

vicar A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pre ...

Sparkhill Sparkhill is an inner-city area of Birmingham, England, situated between Springfield, Hall Green and Sparkbrook. Historically part of Worcestershire, Sparkhill once existed as a rural area with its main industry being agriculture until the 1 ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

, taking on the additional responsibility of

rural dean In the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion as well as some Lutheran denominations, a rural dean is a member of clergy who presides over a "rural deanery" (often referred to as a deanery); "ruridecanal" is the corresponding adjective ...

of Bordesley. In 1932, he moved to

Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. Eastbourne is immediately east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain and part of the la ...

. By 1937, he was

Bishop of Croydon The Bishop of Croydon is an episcopal title used by an area bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Southwark, in the Province of Canterbury, England. The Croydon Archdeaconry was transferred from Canterbury Diocese to Southwark in 1984. ...

and in late 1941 he was appointed Bishop of Portsmouth to succeed the recently deceased Frank Partridge. Given his association with the Royal Navy, it is unsurprising that Anderson had responded to the offer of the post with "there is no Diocese in the Country to which I would more gladly be sent" However, in 1949, he transferred to the more senior see of Salisbury,''The Times'', 8 April 1949. a position he was to hold until his retirement in 1962. His wife died in 1957, and he then married Jessie Hearn in 1963. He died on 5 March 1972 aged 90.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, William (bishop of Salisbury) 1892 births People educated at St Paul's School, London British Yeomanry officers Royal Navy officers Royal Air Force officers Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Fellows of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom) Archdeacons of Croydon Bishops of Croydon Bishops of Portsmouth (Anglican) Bishops of Salisbury 20th-century Church of England bishops 1972 deaths Royal Naval Air Service personnel of World War I Royal Air Force personnel of World War I British Army personnel of World War I Royal Navy chaplains People from Sonitpur district