John Sheepshanks (23 February 1834 – 3 June 1912) was an English
AnglicanBishop in the last decade of the 19th century and the first one of the 20th.[1]
Sheepshanks then moved to Canada as a missionary, working in
British Columbia at the time of the
Cariboo Gold Rush.[7] He was responding to an invitation in 1859 from
George Hills, the Bishop of Columbia and formerly a fellow-curate under Hook at Leeds.[5] Sheepshanks was made
Rector of
New Westminster. Since New Westminster was then little more than a forest clearing on the banks of the
Fraser River, this was a rugged life.[8] He was also chaplain to the
Royal Engineers, Columbia Detachment. He returned to England in 1864, to raise funds, via San Francisco and Utah; his church had burned down by the time he reached New Westminster in 1866. His father then fell ill, and planning to visit him, Sheepshanks set off once more; the trip turned into an extended Pacific and Asian journey.[5]
Sheepshanks was a
High Church Anglican, much influenced by Walter Hook in adopting ideas from the
Tractarians. He supported votes for male agricultural workers,
suffragan bishops (his diocese had 900 parishes), and the ultimate division of the
Diocese of Norwich. He was noted for pastoral work, and attention to his clergy, who were affected directly by the
Great Depression of British Agriculture.[5]
On the level of personal comfort, Sheepshanks was austere. His daughter Dorothy wrote about life in the episcopal palace, where carpets had been replaced by
linoleum.[5]
Family
Sheepshanks married in 1870 Margaret Ryott, daughter of William Hall Ryott M.D. of
Thirsk, whom he had seen in a bookshop there.[12][13] They had 17 children, of whom 12 reached adulthood. Those were:[14]
Richard (1871–1939), judge in India and polo player[15]
William, educated at Winchester College and
New College, Oxford, and joined the Civil Service; he died in 1917, serving in the
Rifle Corps, at age 27[21][20]
^The Times, Saturday, 8 July 1893; pg. 14; Issue 33998; col A Ecclesiastical Intelligence New Bishop of Norwich
^Amongst others he wrote "Confirmation and Unction of the Sick", 1889; "Charge, Eucharist and Confession", 1902; "My Life in Mongolia and Siberia", 1903; and "The Pastor in his Parish", 1908 >
British Library web site accessed 17:04
GMT Saturday 1 August 2009