The Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich is the Ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich in the Province of Canterbury.
The current bishop is Martin Seeley. The Bishop's residence is the Bishop's House, Ipswich [1] — a little to the north of the town centre.
Under the Suffragan Bishops Act 1534, the title Bishop of Ipswich was created in 1536, but it fell into abeyance following the first holder surrendering the office in 1538. [2] [3] In 1899, the title was revived with two suffragan bishops of Ipswich appointed to assist the diocesan bishop of Norwich. [3] Through reorganisation in the Church of England, the Diocese of Saint Edmundsbury and Ipswich was established by Act of Parliament in 1913 under King George V. The bishop's and the diocesan offices are located in Ipswich, while the bishop's seat is located at St Edmundsbury Cathedral in Bury St Edmunds. Since 1934, the bishops of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich have been assisted by the suffragan bishops of Dunwich in overseeing the diocese. [4]
| Bishops of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| From | Until | Incumbent | Notes |
| 1914 | 1921 | Henry Hodgson , DD | Nominated on 18 February, consecrated on 24 February, and enthroned in March 1914. Died in office on 28 February 1921. |
| 1921 | 1923 | Albert David | Nominated on 21 January and consecrated on 25 July 1921. Translated to Liverpool on 18 October 1923. |
| 1923 | 1940 | Walter Whittingham , DD, MA | Nominated on 22 October and consecrated on 1 November 1923. Resigned on 31 August 1940 and died on 17 June 1941. |
| 1940 | 1953 | Richard Brook , DD | Nominated on 24 September and consecrated on 1 November 1940. Resigned on 1 October 1953 and died on 31 January 1969. |
| 1954 | 1965 | Arthur Morris , DD | Translated from Pontefract. Nominated on 4 May and confirmed on 2 June 1954. Resigned on 31 December 1965 and died on 15 October 1977. |
| 1966 | 1978 | Leslie Brown , CBE, DD | Previously Archbishop of Uganda. Nominated on 25 January and confirmed on 25 March 1966. Resigned on 30 September 1978 and died on 27 December 1999. |
| 1978 | 1986 | John Waine , KCVO, BA | Translated from Stafford. Nominated on 23 October and confirmed on 21 November 1978. Translated to Chelmsford in 1986. |
| 1986 | 1996 | John Dennis | Father of the British comedian Hugh Dennis. Translated from Knaresborough. Nominated and confirmed in 1986. Retired in 1996. [5] |
| 1997 | 2007 | Richard Lewis | Translated from Taunton. Nominated and confirmed in 1997. Retired in June 2007. [6] |
| 2007 | 2013 | Nigel Stock , BA, DipTh | Translated from Stockport. Nominated and confirmed in 2007. |
| 20 October 2013 [7] | 7 May 2015 | David Thomson (acting) | Bishop suffragan of Huntingdon (Ely) |
| 7 May 2015 | present | Martin Seeley | Previously Principal of Westcott House, Cambridge. Nominated on 20 November 2014; [8] election confirmed 7 May 2015. |
| Source(s): [9] [10] | |||
Among those who have served the diocese as assistant bishops have been:
The Bishop of Bradford is an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Leeds, in the Province of York, England. The title takes its name after Bradford, a city in West Yorkshire.
The Bishop of Manchester is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Manchester in the Province of York.
The Bishop of Norwich is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Norwich in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers most of the county of Norfolk and part of Suffolk. The bishop of Norwich is Graham Usher.
The Bishop of Bedford is an episcopal title used by a Church of England suffragan bishop who, under the direction of the Diocesan Bishop of St Albans, oversees 150 parishes in Luton and Bedfordshire.
The Bishop of Winchester is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Winchester in the Church of England. The bishop's seat (cathedra) is at Winchester Cathedral in Hampshire. The Bishop of Winchester has always held ex officio the office of Prelate of the Most Noble Order of the Garter since its foundation in 1348, and Bishops of Winchester often held the positions of Lord Treasurer and Lord Chancellor ex officio. During the Middle Ages, it was one of the wealthiest English sees, and its bishops have included a number of politically prominent Englishmen, notably the 9th century Saint Swithun and medieval magnates including William of Wykeham and Henry of Blois.
The Bishop of Salisbury is the ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of Salisbury in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers much of the counties of Wiltshire and Dorset. The see is in the City of Salisbury where the bishop's seat is in the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The current bishop is Stephen Lake.
The Bishop of Dover is an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Canterbury, England. The title takes its name after the town of Dover in Kent. The Bishop of Dover holds the additional title of "Bishop in Canterbury" and is empowered to act almost as if the Bishop of Dover were the diocesan bishop of Canterbury, since the actual diocesan bishop is based at Lambeth Palace in London, and thus is frequently away from the diocese, fulfilling national and international duties. Among other things, this gives the Bishop of Dover an ex officio seat in the church's General Synod. There is another suffragan, the Bishop of Maidstone, who has different responsibilities.
The Anglican Bishop of Shrewsbury is an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Lichfield, in the Province of Canterbury, England. The title takes its name after the town of Shrewsbury in Shropshire and was first created under the Suffragan Bishops Act 1534. The Bishop of Shrewsbury has particular episcopal oversight of the parishes in the Archdeaconry of Salop. The bishops suffragan of Shrewsbury have been area bishops since the Lichfield area scheme was instituted in 1992.
The Bishop of Crediton is an episcopal title which takes its name from the town of Crediton in Devon, England. The title was originally used by the Anglo-Saxons in the 10th and 11th centuries for a diocese covering Devon and Cornwall. It is now used by the Church of England as the title of a suffragan bishop who assists the diocesan Bishop of Exeter.
The Bishop of Warrington is an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Liverpool, in the Province of York, England. The title takes its name after the town of Warrington in Cheshire; the current bishop's official residence is in Eccleston Park, St Helens.
The Bishop of Dunwich is an episcopal title which was first used by an Anglo-Saxons bishop between the 7th and 9th centuries and is currently used by the suffragan bishop of the Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich. The title takes its name after Dunwich in the English county of Suffolk, which has now largely been lost to the sea.
Clive Young was a Church of England bishop. From 1999 to 2013, he was the Anglican Bishop of Dunwich, a suffragan bishop in the Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich.
The Bishop of Colchester is an episcopal title used by an area bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Chelmsford, in the Province of Canterbury, England.
The Bishop of Ipswich was an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Norwich, in the Province of Canterbury, England.
Maxwell Homfray Maxwell-Gumbleton was an Anglican bishop in the first half of the 20th century.
The Bishop of Berwick is an episcopal title used by the suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Newcastle in the Province of York, England.
Henry Bernard Hodgson was an Anglican bishop in the first half of the 20th century.
Michael Robert Harrison is a Church of England bishop. Since February 2016, he has been the Bishop of Dunwich, a suffragan bishop in the Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich. He was consecrated a bishop on 24 February 2016. From 2006 to 2016, he was the Director of Mission and Ministry in the Diocese of Leicester.
The Bishop of Dunwich is an episcopal title which was first used by an Anglo-Saxon bishop between the seventh and ninth centuries and is currently used by the suffragan bishop of the Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich. The title takes its name after Dunwich in the English county of Suffolk, which has now largely been lost to the sea.
The Bishop of Wakefield was the ordinary of the now-defunct Church of England Diocese of Wakefield in the Province of York. The diocese was based in Wakefield in West Yorkshire, covering the City of Wakefield, Barnsley, Kirklees and Calderdale. The see was centred in the City of Wakefield where the bishop's seat (cathedra) was located in the Cathedral Church of All Saints, a parish church elevated to cathedral status in 1888.
