The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justin Welby, who was enthroned at Canterbury Cathedral on 21 March 2013. Welby is the 105th person to hold the position, as part of a line of succession going back to the "Apostle to the English" Augustine of Canterbury, who was sent to the island by the church in Rome in 597. Welby succeeded Rowan Williams.
Augustine of Canterbury was a Christian monk who became the first archbishop of Canterbury in the year 597. He is considered the "Apostle to the English" and a founding figure of the Church of England.
Rowan Douglas Williams, Baron Williams of Oystermouth, is a Welsh Anglican bishop, theologian and poet. He was the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury, a position he held from December 2002 to December 2012. Previously the Bishop of Monmouth and Archbishop of Wales, Williams was the first Archbishop of Canterbury in modern times not to be appointed from within the Church of England.
Edward White Benson was archbishop of Canterbury from 1883 until his death. Before this, he was the first Bishop of Truro, serving from 1877 to 1883, and began construction of Truro Cathedral.
Simon Sudbury was Bishop of London from 1361 to 1375, Archbishop of Canterbury from 1375 until his death, and in the last year of his life Lord Chancellor of England. He met a violent death during the Peasants' Revolt in 1381.
Arthur Michael Ramsey, Baron Ramsey of Canterbury, was a Church of England bishop and life peer. He served as the 100th Archbishop of Canterbury. He was appointed on 31 May 1961 and held the office until 1974, having previously been appointed Bishop of Durham in 1952 and the Archbishop of York in 1956.
Nicholas Baines is a British Anglican bishop. He has served as Bishop of Leeds since 2014, having previously been Bishop of Bradford from 2011 to 2014 and Bishop of Croydon from 2003 to 2011.
John Stapylton Habgood, Baron Habgood, was a British Anglican bishop, academic, and life peer. He was Bishop of Durham from 1973 to 1983, and Archbishop of York from 18 November 1983 to 1995. In 1995, he was made a life peer and so continued to serve in the House of Lords after stepping down as archbishop. He took a leave of absence in later life, and in 2011 was one of the first peers to explicitly retire from the Lords.
David Staffurth Stancliffe is a retired Church of England bishop. He was Provost of Portsmouth Cathedral from 1982 to 1993, and the Bishop of Salisbury from 1993 to 2010. He is the third generation of his family to serve the ordained ministry.
Stephen Geoffrey Cottrell is a Church of England bishop. Since 9 July 2020, he has been the Archbishop of York and Primate of England; the second-most senior bishop of the church and the most senior in northern England. He previously served as Bishop of Reading, 2004–2010, and as Bishop of Chelmsford, 2010–2020.
Peter Alan Broadbent, known as Pete Broadbent, is an English Anglican bishop. He served as the Bishop of Willesden, an area bishop in the Church of England Diocese of London for twenty years, 2001–2021. During the vacancy in the diocesan see from 2017 to 2018, he served as Acting Bishop of London.
Sir Howard Montagu Colvin was a British architectural historian who produced two of the most outstanding works of scholarship in his field: A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects, 1600–1840 and The History of the King's Works.
Benjamin Woolfield Mountfort was an English emigrant to New Zealand, where he became one of the country's most prominent 19th-century architects. He was instrumental in shaping the city of Christchurch's unique architectural identity and culture, and was appointed the first official Provincial Architect of the developing province of Canterbury. Heavily influenced by the Anglo-Catholic philosophy behind early Victorian architecture, he is credited with importing the Gothic revival style to New Zealand. His Gothic designs constructed in both wood and stone in the province are considered unique to New Zealand. Today, he is considered the founding architect of the province of Canterbury.
Stephen George Platten, FSA is a retired Anglican bishop. He was the last diocesan Bishop of Wakefield in the Church of England. He was consecrated in this role on 19 July 2003 and immediately prior to that was Dean of Norwich from 1995. He was installed at Wakefield Cathedral on 19 July 2003.
Keith Newton is an English prelate of the Catholic Church. On 15 January 2011, Newton was named as the first ordinary of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham. Prior to his reception into the Catholic Church in 2011, An Anglican episcopal convert to Catholicism, Newton had been a priest and bishop of the Church of England; his last Anglican office was as Bishop of Richborough in the Province of Canterbury from 2002 to 31 December 2010.
David John Atkinson is the former Bishop of Thetford.
Robert Ronald Atwell is a British Anglican retired bishop, writer, and former Benedictine monk. From 2014 until 2023, he served as the Bishop of Exeter; from 2008 to 2014, he was Bishop of Stockport, a suffragan bishop in the Diocese of Chester.
John Bernard Taylor was a British bishop and theologian who served as Bishop of St Albans.
Robert Selby Taylor was an Anglican bishop in the 20th century.
Hugh Kyle McCurdy is a retired priest in the Church of England who served as Archdeacon of Huntingdon and Wisbech
