Alfred Rawlinson

Alfred Edward John Rawlinson (called Jack; 17 July 188417 July 1960) was an eminent British scholar of divinity and an Anglican bishop. He was the second Bishop of Derby (a diocesan bishop in the Church of England) from 1936 until his retirement in 1959.

Biography Born at Newton-le-Willows, Lancashire and educated at Dulwich College and Corpus Christi College, Oxford, he was ordained a deacon in 1909 and a priest in 1910. He married Mildred, oldest daughter of P. A. Ellis (sometime Vicar of St Mary-the-Virgin, Tothill Fields), and they had one son. He would later write of his experiences in ‘Religious Reality’. Its introduction, by the Bishop of Lichfield, noted that Rawlinson was ‘The sort of man with whom men are not afraid to talk’, referring to his work in preparing officers and men in military hospitals for Confirmation.

He was appointed a Chaplain to the King (George V; 1930–1936) and departed Oxford to become Archdeacon of Auckland, a Canon Residentiary of Durham Cathedral, and examining chaplain to Hensley Henson, Bishop of Durham (all 1929–1936), before his election to the See of Derby. He was consecrated a bishop by Cosmo Gordon Lang, Archbishop of Canterbury, on St Matthias' day (24 February) 1936 at St Paul's Cathedral. As an outstandingly biblical scholar, Rawlinson’s name appeared for several more senior bishoprics and, although he had the support of successive archbishops, his name was not forwarded to the Crown with the Prime Minister’s recommendation for appointment. The Prime Minister was the key figure in such appointments and Rawlinson was considered for vacancies at London in 1939, Bath and Wells in 1945 and Lincoln and Salisbury in 1946. The problem was that although Rawlinson’s academic prowess was greatly admired, his personal relationships, especially with his clergy, caused considerable concern. In 1945, for example, in recommending Rawlinson for Bath and Wells, Archbishop Geoffrey Fisher justified the translation because of Rawlinson’s reputation in Derby. ‘He dislikes his own Diocese and I don’t think they like him’. Successive Prime Ministers refused to risk making an unpopular appointment. He retired to Golders Green in 1959 and died at a London hospital. His ashes were interred in Derby Cathedral at a memorial service on 17 September 1960.

Works Monographs Dogma, Fact, and Experience (1915) Religious Reality: A Book for Men London: Longmans, Green & Co (1918) Catholicism with freedom : an appeal for a new policy / being a paper read at the Anglo-Catholic congress at Birmingham on 22 June 1922; and now addressed as an open letter to all members of the Church of England ... London: Longmans (1922) Adventures in the Near East, 1918–1922 London: Melrose. Attr. King's College London (1924) Authority and freedom: Bishop Paddock Lectures. 1923 London, Longmans, Green (1924) St Mark (Westminster commentaries series) London: Methuen (1925) The New Testament Doctrine of the Christ Bampton Lectures London; New York: Longmans, Green (1926) Christ in the Gospels Oxford: Oxford University Press (1944) The Anglican Communion in Christendom London: SPCK (1960).

Contributor to Foundations: A Statement of Christian Belief in Terms of Modern Thought: By Seven Oxford Men. London: Macmillan (1912) Essays Catholic and Critical edited by E G Selwyn London: SPCK (1926) Essays on the Trinity and the Incarnation London: Longmans (1928) God and the World through Christian Eyes London: Student Christian Movement Press (1933) The Christian Faith: Essays in explanation and defence London: Eyre & Spottiswoode (1944).