Jonathan Titcomb
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Jonathan Holt Titcomb (29 July 1819 – 2 April 1887) was an English clergyman and 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
Rangoon Yangon ( my, ရန်ကုန်; ; ), formerly spelled as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar (also known as Burma). Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government ...
.


Education

Jonathan Holt Titcomb was born in London on 29 July 1819, and educated at Brompton in 1826, and at
Clapham Clapham () is a suburb in south west London, England, lying mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, but with some areas (most notably Clapham Common) extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth. History Early history T ...
from 1827 to 1830. In 1831, he moved to
King's College School King's College School, also known as Wimbledon, KCS, King's and KCS Wimbledon, is a public school in Wimbledon, southwest London, England. The school was founded in 1829 by King George IV, as the junior department of King's College London an ...
, from where he went in 1834 to
Thomas Jarrett Thomas Jarrett, DD, (1805–1882) was an English churchman and orientalist. Life He was educated at St. Catharine's College, Cambridge, where he graduated B.A. in 1827 as thirty-fourth wrangler, and seventh in the first class of the classical tr ...
to be prepared for university. He entered
Peterhouse, Cambridge Peterhouse is the oldest constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England, founded in 1284 by Hugh de Balsham, Bishop of Ely. Today, Peterhouse has 254 undergraduates, 116 full-time graduate students and 54 fellows. It is quite ...
, in 1837, read for mathematical honours, and at the end of his first year gained a college scholarship. He graduated BA (''junior optime'') in 1841, and MA in 1845, and was created
D.D. A Doctor of Divinity (D.D. or DDiv; la, Doctor Divinitatis) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity. In the United Kingdom, it is considered an advanced doctoral degree. At the University of Oxford, doctors of divinity are ra ...
''
honoris causa An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...
'' in 1877.


Career


Curate and vicar

In 1842 he took up residence in the house of Lady Harriet Forde of Hollymount, near
Downpatrick Downpatrick () is a town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is on the Lecale peninsula, about south of Belfast. In the Middle Ages, it was the capital of the Dál Fiatach, the main ruling dynasty of Ulaid. Its cathedral is said to be the bu ...
, Ireland, (the widow of
Mathew Forde Mathew Forde, also spelt 'Matthew Forde' (17 May 1785 – 5 August 1837) was an Irish landowner and politician. He was born the eldest son of Mathew Forde of Seaforde, Co. Down and Coolgreany, Co. Wexford and educated at Trinity College, Dublin ...
) as
tutor TUTOR, also known as PLATO Author Language, is a programming language developed for use on the PLATO system at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign beginning in roughly 1965. TUTOR was initially designed by Paul Tenczar for use in co ...
to her nephew, Pierce Butler. He was ordained on 25 September 1842, and acted as
curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'') ''of souls'' of a parish. In this sense, "curate" means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy w ...
at Downpatrick. In February 1844, he became curate of St Mark's Church, Kennington, London, and in April 1845
perpetual curate Perpetual curate was a class of resident parish priest or incumbent curate within the United Church of England and Ireland (name of the combined Anglican churches of England and Ireland from 1800 to 1871). The term is found in common use mainly du ...
of St. Andrew-the-Less, a large parish in
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 ...
where a portion of the population were of the most disreputable and degraded character. He married, in May 1845, Sarah Holt, eldest daughter of John Wood of
Southport Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England. Southport lies on the Irish ...
. They had two sons and eight daughters, four of whom died in the bishop's lifetime. Titcomb very soon made himself popular, and had large congregations attending his church; he instituted
Sunday school A Sunday school is an educational institution, usually (but not always) Christian in character. Other religions including Buddhism, Islam, and Judaism have also organised Sunday schools in their temples and mosques, particularly in the West. Su ...
s and district visitors, and became a very successful open-air preacher. He resigned his living in June 1859, and moved to
South Kensington South Kensington, nicknamed Little Paris, is a district just west of Central London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Historically it settled on part of the scattered Middlesex village of Brompton. Its name was supplanted with ...
, London. For nearly three years he acted as secretary to the Christian Vernacular Education Society for India. In April 1861, Titcomb was presented to the vicarage of St. Stephen's,
South Lambeth Lambeth () is a district in South London, England, in the London Borough of Lambeth, historically in the County of Surrey. It is situated south of Charing Cross. The population of the London Borough of Lambeth was 303,086 in 2011. The area ...
, where a new district church had been erected. From 1870 to 1876 he acted as rural dean of
Clapham Clapham () is a suburb in south west London, England, lying mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, but with some areas (most notably Clapham Common) extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth. History Early history T ...
, Surrey, and in 1874 was made an honorary
canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western ca ...
of
Winchester Cathedral The Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity,Historic England. "Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity (1095509)". ''National Heritage List for England''. Retrieved 8 September 2014. Saint Peter, Saint Paul and Saint Swithun, commonly known as Winches ...
. His London engagements were also numerous: he was a member of the Eclectic Society and of the Prophetical Society, where he read papers; he lectured at the
Christian Evidence Society The Christian Evidence Society is a British Christian apologetics organisation that was founded in 1870. At its financial peak in 1883, it had slightly over 400 paying members, but that it had declined to below 300 by 1897. After 1900, its focus s ...
, and argued with
atheists Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no d ...
at Bradlaugh's Hall of Science. His wife died on 25 January 1876, aged 52. The
Earl of Onslow Earl of Onslow, of Onslow in the County of Shropshire and of Clandon Park in the County of Surrey is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1801 for George Onslow, 4th Baron Onslow. History The Onslow family descends ...
, who had witnessed the success of his ministry in South Lambeth, gave him the living of
Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in northwest Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'' and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settlement o ...
, Surrey, in March 1876. In the following year he was appointed the first bishop of the newly formed
diocese of Rangoon The Diocese of Yangon (formerly Rangoon) is the Church of the Province of Myanmar (Anglican) jurisdiction in and around the old capital Yangon, and under the care of the Bishop of Yangon and Archbishop of Myanmar. The diocese (then called Rangoon ...
(now
Yangon Yangon ( my, ရန်ကုန်; ; ), formerly spelled as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar (also known as Burma). Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government ...
) in
British Burma British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...
, and consecrated in
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 ...
on 21 December 1877.


Bishop of Rangoon

He landed in Rangoon on 21 February 1878, and during his short career in the country led an active life. He held a confirmation in the
Andaman Islands The Andaman Islands () are an archipelago in the northeastern Indian Ocean about southwest off the coasts of Myanmar's Ayeyarwady Region. Together with the Nicobar Islands to their south, the Andamans serve as a maritime boundary between th ...
, consecrated a missionary church at
Toungoo Taungoo (, ''Tauñngu myoú''; ; also spelled Toungoo) is a district-level city in the Bago Region of Myanmar, 220 km from Yangon, towards the north-eastern end of the division, with mountain ranges to the east and west. The main industry ...
, ordained to the
diaconate 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 Churc ...
Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...
and
Karen Karen may refer to: * Karen (name), a given name and surname * Karen (slang), a term and meme for a demanding woman displaying certain behaviors People * Karen people, an ethnic group in Myanmar and Thailand ** Karen languages or Karenic l ...
converts, paid seven visits to
Moulmein Mawlamyine (also spelled Mawlamyaing; , ; th, เมาะลำเลิง ; mnw, မတ်မလီု, ), formerly Moulmein, is the fourth-largest city in Myanmar (Burma), ''World Gazetteer'' south east of Yangon and south of Thaton, at th ...
resulting in the appointment of a chaplain there, and baptised and confirmed numerous Tamils, Karens, Burmese, Chinese,
Eurasian Eurasia (, ) is the largest continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. Primarily in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Eastern Hemispheres, it spans from the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Ja ...
s and
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s. On 17 February 1881 he fell over a cliff in the Karen hills, and was so injured that he was ultimately obliged to return to England, where, on 3 March 1882, he resigned his bishopric. An account of some portion of his career as a bishop is given in his autobiography ''Personal Recollections of British Burma, and its Church Mission Work in 1878–9'' (London, 1880). His son, William Holt Yates Titcomb, was a figurative oil painter, particularly known for his depictions of Cornish fisherfolk.


Later life

After a period of rest, Titcomb was appointed by the
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 ...
his
coadjutor The term coadjutor (or coadiutor, literally "co-assister" in Latin) is a title qualifier indicating that the holder shares the office with another person, with powers equal to the other in all but formal order of precedence. These include: * Coadj ...
for the supervision of the English chaplains in Northern and Central Europe, extending over ten nations (i.e. a predecessor of the European
Bishops of Fulham A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or offic ...
). After eight long continental journeys (1884–1886) his strength failed, and he accepted the vicarage of St. Peter's,
Brockley Brockley is a district and an electoral ward of south London, England, in the London Borough of Lewisham south-east of Charing Cross. History The name Brockley is derived from "Broca's woodland clearing", a wood where badgers are seen (' ...
, Kent. He formally resigned his post as coadjutor in or before March 1886. He died at
St. Leonard's-on-Sea St Leonards-on-Sea (commonly known as St Leonards) is a town and seaside resort in the Borough of Hastings in East Sussex, England. It has been part of the borough since the late 19th century and lies to the west of central Hastings. The origina ...
on 2 April 1887, aged 67, and was interred at
Brompton Cemetery Brompton Cemetery (originally the West of London and Westminster Cemetery) is a London cemetery, managed by The Royal Parks, in West Brompton in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is one of the Magnificent Seven cemeteries. Estab ...
.


Works

In addition to addresses, lectures, pastorals, and sermons, he published: * ''Heads of Prayer for Daily Private Devotion, with an Appendix of Occasional Prayers.'' (Cambridge, 1830; 4th edit. 1862) * ''Bible Studies, or an Inquiry into the Progressive Development of Divine Revelation.'' (Cambridge, 1851, part 1 only; ²1857) * ''Baptism, its Institution, its Privileges, and its Responsibilities.'' (1866) * ''The Real Presence: Remarks in Reply to
R. F. Littledale Richard Frederick Littledale (1833–1890) was an Anglo-Irish clergyman and writer. Life The fourth son of John Littledale, an auctioneer, he was born in Dublin on 14 September 1833. On 15 October 1850 he entered Trinity College Dublin, was elec ...
.'' (1867) * ''The Doctrine of the Real Presence in the Lord's Supper.'' (1868) * ''Revelation in Progress from Adam to Malachi: Bible Studies.'' (1871) * ''Cautions for Doubters.'' (1873; ²1880) * ''Church Lessons for Young Churchmen, or Gladius Ecclesiæ'' (1873), two editions * ''The Anglo-Israel Post-Bag'' (1876) * ''Is it not Reasonable? A Dialogue on the Anglo-Israel Controversy'' (1877) * ''Liberationist Fallacies'' (1877) * ''Before the Cross: a Book of Devout Meditation'' (1878) * ''The Bond of Peace: a Message to the Church'' (1878) * ''Short Chapters on Buddhism, past and present'' (1883) * ''A Message to the Nineteenth Century'' (1887), a work on Anglo-Israelism


See also

*
Church of the Province of Myanmar The Church of the Province of Myanmar in Asia is a member church of the Anglican Communion. The province comprises the entire country of Myanmar. The current archbishop of Myanmar and bishop of Yangon is Stephen Than Myint Oo. Official name The ...
* St. Andrew's Anglican Church, Moscow


References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Titcomb, Jonathan Holt 1819 births 1887 deaths People educated at King's College School, London Alumni of Peterhouse, Cambridge Burials at Brompton Cemetery 19th-century Anglican bishops in Asia Anglican bishops of Rangoon People from Brockley Anglican clergy from London British Israelism