The Rt. Rev. Benjamin Cronyn (11 July 1802 – 21 September 1871) was the first bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Huron. Cronyn was born in

Kilkenny Kilkenny ( , meaning 'church of Cainnech of Aghaboe, Cainnech'). is a city in County Kilkenny, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region, Ireland, South-East Region and in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinst ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

and educated at

Trinity College, Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Univ ...

."Alumni Dublinenses : a register of the students, graduates, professors and provosts of Trinity College in the University of Dublin (1593–1860 George Dames Burtchaell/ Thomas Ulick Sadleir p195: Dublin, Alex Thom and Co, 1935 A member of the prominent

Anglo-Irish Anglo-Irish people () denotes an ethnic, social and religious grouping who are mostly the descendants and successors of the English Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. They mostly belong to the Anglican Church of Ireland, which was the State rel ...

Protestant Ascendancy The Protestant Ascendancy (also known as the Ascendancy) was the sociopolitical and economical domination of Ireland between the 17th and early 20th centuries by a small Anglicanism, Anglican ruling class, whose members consisted of landowners, ...

Cronyn family, he emigrated to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

in 1832. He was posted to

London, Ontario London is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River (Ontario), Thames River and N ...

, where he completed the church building started by his predecessor. In 1844 he relocated the church to a better site, now occupied by St Paul's Cathedral. When the new

Diocese of Huron The Diocese of Huron is a diocese of the Ecclesiastical Province of Ontario of the Anglican Church of Canada. The diocese comprises just over 31,000 square kilometres in southwestern Ontario, sandwiched between Lake Huron and Lake Erie. Its Episc ...

was created in 1857 he was elected its first bishop and travelled to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, UK to be consecrated, the last Canadian bishop required to go to Britain to do so. A noted

Low Church In Anglican Christianity, the term ''low church'' refers to those who give little emphasis to ritual, often having an emphasis on preaching, individual salvation, and personal conversion. The term is most often used in a liturgical sense, denot ...

cleric, he distrusted what he considered to be the romanizing tendencies of

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

's Trinity College, in 1863, he founded

Huron University College Huron University College is a university college affiliated with the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario, Canada. It was Incorporated on the 5 May 1863. Huron is the founding institution of the University of Western Ontario. It ...

which in 1908 grew into the secularised

University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO; branded as Western University) is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by residential neighbourhoods and the Thame ...

. He died in London, Ontario in 1871. He had married in Ireland Margaret Ann Bickerstaff of Lislea, Longford with whom he had seven children. On her death he was married to Martha Collins. He was father to Benjamin Cronyn, Jr. a former mayor of London, Ontario. He was the father-in-law of

Edward Blake Dominick Edward Blake (13 October 1833 – 1 March 1912) was a Canadian politician and lawyer who was the second premier of Ontario from 1871 to 1872 and leader of the Liberal Party of Canada from 1880 to 1887. He is one of three federal perm ...

Premier of Ontario The premier of Ontario () is the head of government of Ontario. Under the Westminster system, the premier governs with the confidence of a majority the elected Legislative Assembly; as such, the premier typically sits as a member of Provincia ...

and grandfather of politician Hume Cronyn, Sr. and great-grandfather of actor Hume Cronyn, Jr. and artist Hugh Verschoyle Cronyn GM. In 1957, a biography, entitled ''Benjamin Cronyn: First Bishop of Huron'', was written by The Very Reverend Alfred Henchman Crowfoot and was published by The Incorporated Synod of the Diocese of Huron.

External links

Bibliographic directory
from

Project Canterbury Project Canterbury (sometimes abbreviated as PC) is an online archive of material related to the history of Anglicanism. It was founded by Richard Mammana, Jr. in 1999 with a grant from Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Frank T. Griswold, and is ...

References

* 1802 births 1871 deaths Irish emigrants to pre-Confederation Ontario People from Kilkenny (city) People educated at Kilkenny College Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Anglican bishops of Huron 19th-century Anglican Church of Canada bishops University of Western Ontario Immigrants to Upper Canada Christian clergy from County Kilkenny {{Canada-Anglican-bishop-stub

See also

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References