Edward Stuart

Edward Craig Stuart (1827 – 15 March 1911) was the second Anglican Bishop of Waiapu, whose episcopate spanned a 16-year period during the second half of the 19th century. Stuart served as a missionary under the auspices of the Church Missionary Society (CMS) in London, which had appointed him to serve in India and later in New Zealand.

Early life He was born in Edinburgh, the son of Alexander Stuart and Mary McKnight. He was educated at Trinity College, Dublin, and ordained in 1850. With his great friend Valpy French Stuart worked in India as a CMS missionary for 21 years, first at Agra and latterly (until his appointment to the episcopate) at Jalalpur.

Vocation Stuart worked in India as a CMS missionary for 21 years, first at Agra and latterly (until his appointment to the episcopate) at Jalalpur. Recruited from came from India in 1874, Stuart, previously the Secretary of the Church Missionary Society at Calcutta, went to New Zealand for his health, and remained there, proving to be a valuable helper and adviser. At this time William Williams was Bishop, but on 25 March 1876, he was stricken with a paralytic stroke on the fiftieth anniversary of his arrival in New Zealand, which forced him to hand in his resignation as Bishop of Waiapu, where he lived for two more years. The Diocese, having the power of election under the constitution of the Church, chose Stuart to be Williams' successor. Williams was subsequently consecrated as Bishop on 9 December 1877, just twelve days before his prior fellow missionary in India in 1850, T. Valpy French, was consecrated first Bishop of Lahore.

At a meeting on 24 March 1885, Stuart proposed that a Gordon Memorial Mission be built in the Eastern Soudan in honor of Major-General Charles George Gordon, killed by the Ansar at Khartoum in January. Stuart's proposal was met with cheers and overwhelming support by the hundreds of people present.

Later life On 31 January 1894 he resigned and his last calling was as a CMS missionary in Julfa, Ispahan, Persia, for 15 years from 1894. Stuart died on 15 March 1911, having at some point become a Doctor of Divinity (DD).