BENSON, EDWARD WHITE (182g1896)

This article appears in Volume V03, Page 745 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: BEC-BER

BENSON, EDWARD WHITE (182g1896) , archbishop of Canterbury, was born on the 14th of July 1829, at Birmingham.
He came of a family of Yorkshire dalesmen, his father, whose name was also Edward White Benson, being a manufacturing chemist of some note. He was educated at King Edward VI.'s school, Birmingham, under James Prince Lee, afterwards bishop of Manchester, and amongst his school-fellows were B.F. Westcott and J. B. Lightfoot, both of whom preceded him to Trinity College,

Cambridge

, where he was elected a sub-sizar in 1848, becoming subsequently sizar and scholar. The death of his widowed mother in 185o left him almost without resources, with a family of younger brothers and sisters dependent upon him. Relations came to his aid, and presently his anxieties were relieved by Francis Martin, bursar of Trinity, who gave him liberal help. Benson took his degree in 1852 as a senior optime, eighth classic and senior chancellor's medallist, and was elected fellow of Trinity in the following year. He became a master at Rugby, first under E. M. Goulburn, and then (1857) under Frederick Temple, who became his lifelong friend; he was also ordained deacon in 1854 and priest in 1856. From Rugby he went to be first headmaster of

Wellington

College, which was opened in January 1859; and in the course of the same year he married his

cousin

, Mary Sidgwick. The school flourished under his management and also developed his administrative abilities, but gradually his thoughts began to turn towards other

work

WORK

. In 1868 he became prebendary of Lincoln and examining chaplain to Bishop Christopher Wordsworth, an office which he also held for a short time in 187o for Dr Temple, just appointed to the see of Exeter. In 1872 his acceptance of the chancellorship of Lincoln opened a new period of his life. As chancellor, the statutes directed him to study theology, to

train

TRAIN (M. Eng. trayn or trayne, derived through Fr. from Late Lat. trahinare, to drag, draw, Lat. trahere, cf. trail, trace, ultimately from the same source)

others in that study and to oversee the educational

work

WORK

of the diocese. To such work Benson at once devoted himself; and did more perhaps than any other man to reinvigorate cathedral life in England. He started a theological college (the Scholae Cancellarii), founded night schools, delivered courses of lectures on church history, held Bible classes, and was instrumental in founding a society of mission preachers for the diocese, the " Novale Novale." Early in 1877 he was consecrated first bishop of Truro, and threw himself with characteristic vigour into the work of organizing the new diocese. His knowledge, his sympathy, his enthusiasm soon made themselves felt everywhere; the ruridecanal conferences of clergy became a real force, and the church in

Cornwall

CORNWALL

was inspired with a vitality that had never been possible when it was part of the unwieldy diocese of Exeter. A chapter was constituted, the bishop being dean; amongst its members was a canon missioner (the first to be appointed in England), and the Scholae Cancellarii were founded after the Lincoln pattern. Moreover, the bishop at once set to work to build a cathedral. The foundation-stone was laid on the 2oth of May 188o, and on the 3rd of November 1887 the building, so far as then completed, was consecrated. On the death of Dr Tait, Benson was nominated to the see of Canterbury and was enthroned on the 29th of March 1883. His primacy was one of almost unprecedented activity.
Frequent communications passed between him and the heads of the Eastern Churches. With their approval a bishop was again consecrated, after six years' interval (18811887), for the Anglican congregations in Jerusalem and the

East

EAST
EAST, ALFRED (1849- )

; and the features which had made the plan objectionable to many English churchmen were now abolished. In 1886, after much careful investigation, he founded the " Archbishop's Mission to the Assyrian Christians," having for its object the instruction and the strengthening from within of the " Nestorian " churches of the

East

EAST
EAST, ALFRED (1849- )

(see NESTORIANS). An interchange of courtesies with the Metropolitan of Kiev on the occasion of the Booth anniversary of the conversion of Russia (1888), led to further intercourse, which has tended to a friendlier feeling between the English and Russian churches. On the other hand, with the efforts towards a rapprochement with the Church of Rome, to which the visit of the French Abbe Portal in 1894 gave some stimulus, the archbishop would have nothing to do.
With the other churches of the Anglican Communion the archbishop's relations were cordial in the extreme and grew
loser as time went on. Particular questions of importance, the (1906), Beside Still Waters (1907). He also collaborated with Lord Esher in editing the Correspondence of Queen Victoria
(1907).
The third son, EDWARD FREDERICK BENSON (b. 1867), was educated at Marlborough College and King's College,

Cambridge

. He worked at Athens for the British Archaeological Society from 1892 to 1895, and subsequently in Egypt for the Hellenic Society. In 1893 his society novel, Dodo, brought him to the front among the writers of clever fiction; and this was followed by other novels, notably The Vintage (1898) and The Capsina (1899).
The fourth son, ROBERT HUGH BENSON (b. 1871), was educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge. After reading with Dean Vaughan at

Llandaff

LLANDAFF

he took orders, and in 1898 became a member of the Community of the Resurrection at Mirfield. In 1903 he became a Roman Catholic, was ordained priest at Rome in the following year, and returned to Cambridge as assistant priest of the Roman Catholic church there. Among his numerous publications are The Light Invisible, By What Authority?, The King's Achievement, Richard Raynal, Solitary, The Queen's Tragedy, The Sentimentalists, Lord of the World.
See A. C. Benson, Life of Archbishop Benson (2 vols., London, 1899); J. H.

Bernard

, Archbishop Benson in Ireland (1897); Sir L. T. Dibdin in The Quarterly Review, October 1897.

End of Article: BENSON, EDWARD WHITE (182g1896)

If you wish, you can link directly to this article.

<a href="http://jcsm.org/StudyCenter/Encyclopedia/BEC_BER/BENSON_EDWARD_WHITE_182g1896_.html">
BENSON, EDWARD WHITE (182g1896)
</a>

(Previous)
BENSLEY, ROBERT

(Next)
BENSON, FRANCIS ROBERT (1858 )

JCSM was founded in 1997 and exists to help the community and bring people into a life-changing and productive relationship with Jesus Christ. JCSM offers over 200,000 free web pages, including its weekly inspirational emails that were sent continuously for over a decade.

Jesus Christ Saves Ministries
P.O. Box 9297
San Diego, CA 92169
1-888-887-0417 or Email