William Tyrrell (31 January 1807 – 24 March 1879) was the first

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 of Newcastle, New South Wales.

Early life

Tyrrell was the youngest of 10 children of Timothy Tyrrell, Remembrancer of the City of London. He was educated at the

Charterhouse Charterhouse may refer to: * Charterhouse (monastery), of the Carthusian religious order Charterhouse may also refer to: Places * The Charterhouse, Coventry, a former monastery * Charterhouse School, an English public school in Surrey London ...

as a day boy, and

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corpo ...

, where he graduated in 1831 as fourth senior optime. He had intended studying law, but about the time of his father's death in 1832 he decided to enter the Church, and was ordained deacon in September 1832 and priest a year later. He was curate at

Aylestone Aylestone is a suburb of Leicester, England, southwest of the city centre and to the east of the River Soar. It was formerly a separate village, but the growth of the city since the Leicester Extension Act of 1891 incorporated Aylestone into ...

, near Leicester for about six years, was for a few months at Burnham, near Maidenhead, and in 1839 became rector of Beaulieu in Hampshire.

Bishopdom

In 1847 Tyrrell was offered and accepted the position of bishop of the newly created see of

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

Colony of New South Wales The Colony of New South Wales was a colony of the British Empire from 1788 to 1901, when it became a State of the Commonwealth of Australia. At its greatest extent, the colony of New South Wales included the present-day Australian states of New ...

. He sailed on 18 September 1847 with two clergymen, seven candidates for ordination, a schoolmaster and schoolmistress, his housekeeper, gardener and groom, with the wife and children of his gardener, 20 in all, and arrived at Sydney on 16 January 1848. The new diocese covered an area of more than and there were only 14 clergymen. Tyrrell rode over much of it, working unceasingly, yet carefully reserving time every day for study and private devotions. He had no training college for his clergy and spent much time advising and helping the less experienced. In 1858 steps were taken to subdivide the diocese by forming the new Diocese of Brisbane, and by September of that year he had arranged for the provision of £5000 as its endowment fund. Eight years later there was another subdivision when the see of Grafton and Armidale was formed. It was suggested that Tyrrell should go to England to assist in the selection of the first bishop, but he felt that it was his duty to stay in his diocese. With advancing years he was feeling the strain of his work, and was much exercised about the future of the diocese, the provision of stipends for the clergy, their training and superannuation, and the religious instruction of the young. When he made his will, leaving everything to the diocese, he hoped there would be a large endowment for it. Tyrrell suffered a

stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...

in August 1877 leaving him partially paralysed. He died at

Morpeth Morpeth may refer to: *Morpeth, New South Wales, Australia ** Electoral district of Morpeth, a former electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in New South Wales * Morpeth, Ontario, Canada * Morpeth, Northumberland, England, UK ** Morpeth (UK ...

after an operation, on 24 March 1879. He was entombed at St John's Anglican Cemetery in Morpeth. In 1961,

Francis De Witt Batty Francis de Witt Batty (known as De Witt; 10 January 1879 – 3 April 1961) was the 7th Anglican Anglican Bishop of Newcastle (Australia), Bishop of Newcastle in Australia from 1931 until his retirement in 1958. Early life De Witt Batty was born ...

, the 7th Bishop of Newcastle's ashes were interred with Tyrrell.

References

Citations

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tyrrell 1807 births 1879 deaths Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Anglican bishops of Newcastle (Australia)