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Spence Burton

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The Right Reverend

Spence Burton

Bishop of Nassau and The Bahamas
ChurchChurch of England
DioceseNassau and The Bahamas
Elected1942
In office1942-1962
PredecessorJohn Dauglish
SuccessorBernard Markham
Previous post(s)Suffragan Bishop of Haiti (1939-1942)
Orders
Ordination1908
by Reginald Heber Weller
ConsecrationMay 3, 1939
by Henry St. George Tucker
Personal details
Born(1881-10-04)October 4, 1881
DiedFebruary 15, 1966(1966-02-15) (aged 84)
Cincinnati, Ohio, United States
BuriedSpring Grove Cemetery
NationalityAmerican
DenominationAnglican
ParentsCaspar H. Burton & Byrd Waithman

Spence Burton SSJE[1] (4 October 1881 - 15 February 1966) was an Anglican bishop in the mid 20th century and the first American to be consecrated a bishop in the Church of England.[2]

Biography

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Born on 4 October 1881 in Cincinnati, Ohio, the son of Caspar H. Burton and Byrd Waithman. He was educated at Harvard University graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in 1903 and a Master of Arts in 1904. He was a reporter with the New York Daily News from 1903 until 1904. He then attended the General Theological Seminary from where he earned a Bachelor of Divinity in 1907 and awarded a Doctor of Sacred Theology in 1939. He was ordained deacon in 1907 by the Bishop of New Hampshire Edward M. Parker, and priest in 1908 by the Coadjutor Bishop of Fond du Lac Reginald Heber Weller.[3] After a short spell as an assistant priest at St John the Evangelist, Boston between 1907 and 1908, he was to spend the next 30 years with the Society of St. John the Evangelist.[4] He was initially curate at the Church of St John the Evangelist in Oxford, and after a period as a novice was then professed as a religious in 1912. In 1916 he returned to the United States and became master of the novices of the American Congregation, while in 1922 he eventually become Father Superior of the same congregation. He was also rector of the Church of the Advent of Christ the King in San Francisco and chaplain at the San Quentin State Prison from 1922 until 1924.

Episcopacy

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On November 3, 1938, he was elected Suffragan Bishop of Haiti and the Dominican Republic and consecrated on May 3, 1939 at Trinity Church Boston by Presiding Bishop Henry St. George Tucker. Three years later, he was translated to Nassau,[5] and enthroned on November 1, 1942 in Christ Church Cathedral, Nassau, Bahamas. He finally resigned in 1962.[6] He died on 15 February 1966. A college he founded during his episcopate recently celebrated its 60th anniversary.[7]

He was a bishop associate of the Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament.

Notes

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  1. ^ Anglican Diocese of the Bahamas
  2. ^ Bahamas uncensored
  3. ^ Who was Who 1987-1990: London, A & C Black, 1991 ISBN 0-7136-3457-X
  4. ^ Project Canterbury
  5. ^ Anglican church in the Bahamas Archived 2011-02-15 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ Ecclesiastical News Bishop Of Nassau to resign The Times, Saturday, Oct 17, 1942; pg. 6; Issue 49369; col D
  7. ^ Commonwealth of The Bahamas
Religious titles
Preceded by Bishop of Nassau
1942 –1962
Succeeded by