Archdeacon of Maidstone

The Archdeacon of Maidstone is an office-holder in the Diocese of Canterbury (one of the dioceses of the Province of Canterbury in the Church of England). The Archdeacon of Maidstone is an Anglican priest who oversees the Archdeaconry of Maidstone, which is one of three subdivisions of the diocese.

The archdeaconry was created from the ancient Archdeaconry of Canterbury by Order in Council on 4 June 1841. ^[1]

Composition

The archdeaconry covers approximately the north-west and south-west corners of the diocese. As of 2012 ^[update] , the archdeaconry of Maidstone consists the following deaneries in the Diocese of Canterbury:

• Deanery of Maidstone
• Deanery of North Downs
• Deanery of Ospringe
• Deanery of Sittingbourne
• Deanery of the Weald

List of archdeacons

• 4 June 1841 – 1845 (res.): William Lyall
• 4 December 1845 – 25 March 1887 (d.): Benjamin Harrison
• 1887–26 March 1900 (d.): Benjamin Smith ^{[2] [3]}
• 1900–1921 (ret.): Henry Spooner ^{[4] [5]}
• 1921–1934 (res.): John Macmillan ^[6] (also Bishop suffragan of Dover from 1927) ^[7]
• 1934–1939 (res.): Karl Sopwith ^[8]
• 1939–1942 (res.): Alexander Sargent ^[9]
• 1942–1958 (ret.): Julian Bickersteth ^{[10] [11] [12] [13]}
• 1959–1965 (res.): Gordon Strutt ^{[14] [15] [16]}
• 1965–1968 (res.): Michael Nott ^{[17] [18]}
• 1968–1972 (res.): Thomas Prichard ^{[19] [20]}
• 1972–1979 (ret.): Niel Nye ^{[21] [22]} (later archdeacon emeritus) ^[23]
• 1979–1989 (res.): Michael Percival Smith ^[24]
• 1989–2002 (res.): Patrick Evans ^{[25] [26]}
• 2002–13 March 2011 (res.): Philip Down ^[27]
• 18 September 2011 –27 September 2020 (res.): Stephen Taylor ^{[28] [29]} (on leave 2019–2020; became an Archdeacon without territory and Senior Chaplain to the Bishop of Dover, ^[30] 2020–2022; Diocesan Secretary 2022–2024, acting since 2021)
• 27 September 2020 –18 February 2025 (ret.): Andrew Sewell ^[30] (previously Acting, 30 November 2019 ^[31]  –31 May 2020) ^[32]

Andrew William Sewell. ^[33] Born in 1961, Sewell was educated at the University of Nottingham, and St John’s College, Nottingham. He was ordained deacon in 1993, and priest in 1994. He served in parishes in the Diocese of Ripon and Leeds until 1998 when he was appointed Priest in Charge of Otham with Langley in Kent, becoming the Rector in 2001. He was Vicar of St Paul’s Maidstone from 2010 to 2020 and an Honorary Canon of Canterbury Cathedral from 2011. ^[33] Sewell retired effective 18 January 2025. ^[34]

References

1. "No. 19985". The London Gazette . 4 June 1841. pp. 1433–1434.
2. Clergy List, 1897
3. "Smith, Ven. Benjamin Frederick" . Who's Who & Who Was Who . Vol. 1920–2007 (December 2007 online ed.). A & C Black. Retrieved 18 December 2013.(Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
4. Crockford's 1929, p. 1214.
5. "Spooner, Rev. Henry Maxwell" . Who's Who & Who Was Who . Vol. 1920–2007 (December 2007 online ed.). A & C Black. Retrieved 18 December 2013.(Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
6. Crockford's 1929, p. 364.
7. "Macmillan, John Victor" . Who's Who & Who Was Who . Vol. 1920–2007 (December 2012 online ed.). A & C Black. Retrieved 18 December 2013.(Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
8. "Sopwith, Thomas Karl" . Who's Who & Who Was Who . Vol. 1920–2007 (December 2012 online ed.). A & C Black. Retrieved 18 December 2013.(Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
9. "Sargent, Alexander" . Who's Who & Who Was Who . Vol. 1920–2007 (December 2012 online ed.). A & C Black. Retrieved 18 December 2013.(Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
10. Bickersteth, John. "Bickersteth, (Kenneth) Julian Faithfull". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/74205.(Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
11. "The Julian Bickersteth Memorial Medal". IHGS. 16 October 1962. Retrieved 30 October 2013.
12. Canterbury Cathedral Archives CCA-DCc-MAND/RC/1959/1
13. "Bickersteth, Kenneth Julian Faithfull" . Who's Who & Who Was Who . Vol. 1920–2007 (December 2012 online ed.). A & C Black. Retrieved 18 December 2013.(Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
14. "St Mary Magdalene | Detailed History". Stmmm.org.uk. Retrieved 31 July 2012.
15. Canterbury Cathedral Archives CCA-DCc-MAND/RC/1959/1 and CCA-DCc-MAND/RC/1965/1
16. "Strutt, Rupert Gordon" . Who's Who & Who Was Who . Vol. 1920–2007 (December 2012 online ed.). A & C Black. Retrieved 18 December 2013.(Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
17. Canterbury Cathedral Archives CCA-DCc-MAND/RC/1965/1 and CCA-DCc-MAND/RC/1968/1
18. "Nott, Michael John" . Who's Who & Who Was Who . Vol. 1920–2007 (December 2012 online ed.). A & C Black. Retrieved 18 December 2013.(Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
19. Canterbury Cathedral Archives CCA-DCc-MAND/RC/1968/1
20. "Prichard, Thomas Estlin" . Who's Who & Who Was Who . Vol. 1920–2007 (December 2012 online ed.). A & C Black. Retrieved 18 December 2013.(Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
21. Crockford's Clerical Directory, 2010–2011
22. "The Ven Niel Nye". Telegraph. 25 January 2003. Retrieved 30 October 2013.
23. "Nye, Nathaniel Kemp" . Who's Who & Who Was Who . Vol. 1920–2007 (December 2012 online ed.). A & C Black. Retrieved 18 December 2013.(Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
24. "Percival Smith, (Anthony) Michael" . Who's Who . Vol. 2014 (December 2013 online ed.). A & C Black. Retrieved 18 December 2013.(Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
25. Canterbury Cathedral Archives CCA-DCc-MAND/HC/1989/1
26. "Evans, Patrick Alexander Sidney" . Who's Who . Vol. 2014 (December 2013 online ed.). A & C Black. Retrieved 18 December 2013.(Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
27. "Down, Philip Roy" . Who's Who . Vol. 2014 (December 2013 online ed.). A & C Black. Retrieved 18 December 2013.(Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
28. "Diocese of Canterbury". Canterburydiocese.org. Archived from the original on 7 August 2011. Retrieved 30 October 2013.
29. "Taylor, Stephen Ronald" . Who's Who . Vol. 2014 (December 2013 online ed.). A & C Black. Retrieved 18 December 2013.(Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
30. &
31. "The Briefing: 2 December".
32. "Appointments".
33. "The Ven Andrew William SEWELL". www.crockford.org.uk.
34. "Archdeacon Andrew Sewell announces his intention to retire in January 2025". Diocese of Canterbury. 7 November 2024. Archived from the original on 25 November 2024. Retrieved 25 November 2024.

Sources

• Horn, Joyce M. (1974), Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1541–1857, vol. 3, p. 17