Graeme Paul Knowles (born 25 September 1951) is a retired

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. He served latterly as the Acting Dean of St Edmundsbury, having previously served as Bishop of Sodor and Man and as

Dean of St Paul's The dean of St Paul's is a member of, and chair of the Chapter of St Paul's Cathedral in London in the Church of England. The dean of St Paul's is also ''ex officio'' dean of the Order of the British Empire. The current dean is Andrew Tremlett, ...

Biography

Knowles was educated at

Dunstable Grammar School Dunstable Grammar School was a grammar school in the market town of Dunstable, Bedfordshire, England. Opened in 1888, it was closed in 1971. The site is now home to residential flats and apartments. Foundation Dunstable Grammar School was esta ...

and

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

, spending his final year of theological studies at

St Augustine's College, Canterbury St Augustine’s College in Canterbury, Kent, United Kingdom, was located within the precincts of St Augustine's Abbey about 0.2 miles (335 metres) ESE of Canterbury Cathedral. It served first as a missionary college of the Church of England (18 ...

. Knowles served a curacy at St Peter-in-Thanet in

Broadstairs Broadstairs is a coastal town on the Isle of Thanet in the Thanet district of east Kent, England, about east of London. It is part of the civil parish of Broadstairs and St Peter's, which includes St Peter's, and had a population in 2011 of ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

from 1974 to 1979. From 1979 he was precentor and senior curate of Leeds Parish Church before moving to become precentor and a

canon residentiary 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 ...

Portsmouth Cathedral The Cathedral Church of St Thomas of Canterbury, commonly known as Portsmouth Cathedral, is an Anglican cathedral church in the centre of Old Portsmouth in Portsmouth, England. It is the cathedral of the Diocese of Portsmouth and the seat of ...

in 1981. He was also a chaplain during his time at the cathedral and held the post of chapter clerk from 1985 to 1987. He became the vicar of Leigh Park in 1987, additionally taking on the role of Rural Dean of Havant from 1990. He was appointed Archdeacon of Portsmouth in 1993 and held the post until 1999. Knowles was

Dean of Carlisle The Dean of Carlisle is based in Carlisle, UK and is the head of the Chapter of Carlisle Cathedral. There have been 39 previous incumbents and the post is currently vacant. List of deans Early modern *1542–1547 Lancelot Salkeld (last prio ...

from 1999 until he moved to the

Isle of Man ) , anthem = "O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europe ...

as Bishop of Sodor and Man in 2003, replacing Noël Jones. He was consecrated a bishop by David Hope,

Archbishop of York The archbishop of York is a senior bishop in the Church of England, second only to the archbishop of Canterbury. The archbishop is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of York and the metropolitan bishop of the province of York, which covers th ...

at York Minster on 4 December 2003 and installed at Peel Cathedral on 17 January 2004. He became

in 2007 in succession to

John Moses John Moses may refer to: * John Moses (Norwegian politician) (1781–1849), member of the Norwegian Constituent Assembly * John Moses (Illinois politician) (1825–1898), Illinois judge and politician *John Moses (American politician) (1885–1945), ...

who retired in 2006. Knowles was installed as

Cathedral, London on 1 October 2007 after

Letters Patent Letters patent ( la, litterae patentes) ( always in the plural) are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch, president or other head of state, generally granting an office, right, monopoly, titl ...

were issued on 20 September 2007. He resigned from St Paul's on 1 November 2011 as a result of the reactions to the Chapter's resolution to evict the

Occupy London Occupy London was a political movement in London, England, and part of the international Occupy movement. While some media described it as an "anti-capitalist" movement, in the statement written and endorsed by consensus by the Occupy assembly i ...

protesters from cathedral land. Knowles is also an honorary chaplain in the

Royal Naval Reserve The Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) is one of the two volunteer reserve forces of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. Together with the Royal Marines Reserve, they form the Maritime Reserve. The present RNR was formed by merging the original Ro ...

and a patron of the Burgon Society. After leaving St Paul's, Knowles retired to

Bury St Edmunds Bury St Edmunds (), commonly referred to locally as Bury, is a historic market town, market, cathedral town and civil parish in Suffolk, England.OS Explorer map 211: Bury St.Edmunds and Stowmarket Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – ...

, where he was licensed as an honorary assistant bishop and appointed as registrar of

Sons of the Clergy Clergy Support Trust is a charity which was formerly (between 2012 and 2019) known as Sons & Friends of the Clergy. The full official name of the charity is Governors of the Charity for Relief of the Poor Widows and Children of Clergymen. The pres ...

, a charity supporting the families of Anglican clergy. On 11 January 2023, Knowles was installed as Acting Dean of Chichester following the departure of

Stephen Waine Stephen John Waine (born May 1959) is an Anglican priest. Since February 2015, he has been the Dean of Chichester. He had been the Archdeacon of Dorset from 2010 to 2015. Early life Waine was born in 1959, son of John Waine, later Bishop of Staff ...

. The Diocese of Chichester had earlier announced that Knowles would take up the role until April 2023.

Styles

*''

The Reverend The Reverend is an style (manner of address), honorific style most often placed before the names of Christian clergy and Minister of religion, ministers. There are sometimes differences in the way the style is used in different countries and c ...

'' Graeme Knowles (1974–1981) *''The

Venerable The Venerable (''venerabilis'' in Latin) is a style, a title, or an epithet which is used in some Western Christian churches, or it is a translation of similar terms for clerics in Eastern Orthodoxy and monastics in Buddhism. Christianity Cathol ...

'' Graeme Knowles (1993–1999) *''The Very Reverend'' Graeme Knowles (1999–2003) *''The

Right Reverend The Right Reverend (abbreviated The Rt Revd, The Rt Rev'd, The Rt Rev.) is a style applied to certain religious figures. Overview *In the Anglican Communion and the Catholic Church in Great Britain, it applies to bishops, except that ''The M ...

'' Graeme Knowles (2003–2012) *''The

'' Graeme Knowles (2012–present)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Knowles, Graeme Paul 1951 births Living people Alumni of King's College London Bishops of Sodor and Man Deans of St Paul's Deans of Carlisle Archdeacons of Portsmouth Associates of King's College Fellows of King's College London 21st-century Church of England bishops Alumni of St Augustine's College, Canterbury People educated at Dunstable Grammar School Deans of Peel People from Woburn, Bedfordshire Provosts and Deans of St Edmundsbury Royal Naval Reserve personnel