Correspondence : [Letter to the Editor dated November 5, 1973]
https://archives.anglican.ca/link/article42912
- Author
- Peake, Frank A. (Frank Alexander), 1913-2008
- Material Type
- Journal Article
- Journal
- Journal of the Canadian Church Historical Society
- Date
- 1973 December
- Material Type
- Journal Article
- Date
- 1973 December
- Volume
- 15
- Issue
- 4
- Page
- 98-99
- Notes
- "The exigencies of a sabbatical leave have prevented me until now from commenting on recent correspondence in the 'Journal' of the Society. In the June [1973] it was suggested that Jacob Mountain of Quebec was unique in the possession of Royal Letters Patent creating him a Lord Bishop. The following issue [September 1973] contained a yet more dogmatic statement that 'The title Lord Bishop conferred on Francis Fulford and his successors was shared by no other Canadian Bishop except the Bishop of Quebec'. In the first place, Mountain and Fulford were not alone in their position of the title. The Letters Patent granted to George Hills, the first Bishop of British Columbia, January 12, 1859, contain the following statement: ... for ever hereafter called by the name or title of the "Lord Bishop of British Columbia',' I suspect that all Bishops appointed by Letters Patent were designated Lord Bishops. It would appear that in later instances the Bishop was incorporated as a legal entity by provincial legislation and that now specific reference was made to the title" (p. 98). "With the emergence and development of diocesan synods the legal powers formerly vested solely in the bishop were transferred to the Synod" (p. 99). "In the case of newer dioceses, e.g., Calgary, the synod rather than the Bishop was incorporated as the legal body .... The purpose of incorporation was to protest the ownership of real estate belonging to the diocese and it is not surprising that territorial and provincial legislatures were not concerned with the niceties of ecclesiastical titles. Certainly, however, such legislation did nothing to eliminate them. It may be assumed, therefore, that the title Lord Bishop was specifically conferred on bishops whose sees were created by Royal Letters Patent. It was intended to be assumed by all other bishops of the Church of England in Canada" (p. 99).
- Subjects
- Forms of address - Anglican Church of Canada - History
- Anglican Church of Canada - Bishops - Titles
- Mountain, Jacob, 1749-1825
- Fulford, Francis, 1803-1868
- Hills, George, 1816-1895
- Location
- General Synod Archives