Edward Feild
Encyclopedia
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
of Newfoundland
Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada. Situated in the country's Atlantic region, it incorporates the island of Newfoundland and mainland Labrador with a combined area of . As of April 2011, the province's estimated population is 508,400...
, born Worcester, England. Educated at Rugby School
Rugby School
Rugby School is a co-educational day and boarding school located in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire, England. It is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain.-History:...
and Queen's College, Oxford.
Early years
An exhibitioner at Queen's College (although he matriculatedMatriculation
Matriculation, in the broadest sense, means to be registered or added to a list, from the Latin matricula – little list. In Scottish heraldry, for instance, a matriculation is a registration of armorial bearings...
at Wadham College, Oxford
Wadham College, Oxford
Wadham College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, located at the southern end of Parks Road in central Oxford. It was founded by Nicholas and Dorothy Wadham, wealthy Somerset landowners, during the reign of King James I...
he moved immediately to Queen's), he graduated in 1823 with first class honours in mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
and second in classics
Classics
Classics is the branch of the Humanities comprising the languages, literature, philosophy, history, art, archaeology and other culture of the ancient Mediterranean world ; especially Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome during Classical Antiquity Classics (sometimes encompassing Classical Studies or...
, in 1825 becoming a Fellow
Fellow
A fellow in the broadest sense is someone who is an equal or a comrade. The term fellow is also used to describe a person, particularly by those in the upper social classes. It is most often used in an academic context: a fellow is often part of an elite group of learned people who are awarded...
. From 1823 to 1825 he studied divinity and attended lectures given by the Regius Professor of Divinity
Regius Professor of Divinity
The Regius Professorship of Divinity is one of the oldest and most prestigious of the professorships at the University of Oxford and at the University of Cambridge.Both chairs were founded by Henry VIII...
, Charles Lloyd
Charles Lloyd (bishop)
Charles Lloyd , Regius Professor of Divinity and Bishop of Oxford from 1827 to 1829, was born in West Wycombe, Buckinghamshire on 26 September 1784, the second son of Thomas Lloyd. Thomas, a 'clergyman and schoolmaster', was Rector of Aston-sub-Edge in Gloucestershire and ran a school at Great...
, which undoubtedly influenced the formation of his High Church
High church
The term "High Church" refers to beliefs and practices of ecclesiology, liturgy and theology, generally with an emphasis on formality, and resistance to "modernization." Although used in connection with various Christian traditions, the term has traditionally been principally associated with the...
convictions. Feild tried unsuccessfully to become a Fellow of Oriel College, a more intellectually lively college than Queen's. The successful candidates were future Tractarians Hurrell Froude and Robert Isaac Wilberforce
Robert Isaac Wilberforce
Robert Isaac Wilberforce was an English clergyman and writer, second son of abolitionist William Wilberforce, and active in the Oxford Movement.-Early life and education:...
. So fierce was the competition, in fact, that one of Oriel's Fellows commemorated the event in Greek verse. Feild was ordained a deacon
Deacon
Deacon is a ministry in the Christian Church that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions...
in 1826, and a priest
Priest
A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...
in 1827 by the Bishop of Oxford
Bishop of Oxford
The Bishop of Oxford is the diocesan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Oxford in the Province of Canterbury; his seat is at Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford...
and combined acting as a tutor at Queen's and university examiner with being curate in charge at Kidlington
Kidlington
Kidlington is a large village and civil parish between the River Cherwell and the Oxford Canal, north of Oxford and southwest of Bicester.-History:...
. There he stayed until 1835 when he accepted the living of English Bicknor
English Bicknor
English Bicknor is a village and civil parish in the Forest of Dean district of west Gloucestershire, England. According to the United Kingdom Census 2001 the population is 406. The village is close to the county border with Herefordshire, opposite which is the village of Welsh Bicknor...
. In both parishes he instituted considerable reform, rebuilding, starting schools, encouraging his parishioners to cultivate allotments on church land, and raising money from his friends. However, what brought him to prominence — and led to his being offered a bishopric — was his work as Inspector of Schools for the National Society and his subsequent published report which was widely discussed throughout the country.
He remained Bishop of Newfoundland from 1844 to 1876 despite being considered for the See of Lincoln in 1851 and turning down the See of Montreal
Diocese of Montreal
Diocese of Montreal can refer to:* Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Montreal* Anglican Diocese of Montreal...
in 1868.
On arrival in Newfoundland, having already decided what he intended to do, he proceeded to build up a strong independent church with a distinctly high church tone. His first problem was to make the church self financing and he tackled it by setting up a Church Society to receive money collected by missionaries from their parishioners. This proved hugely unpopular as the fishermen were used to a church which was financed by missionary societies which obtained their funds in England. Nor were missionaries easy to find, the SPG
USPG
The USPG or United Society for the Propagation of the Gospel is a 300-year-old Anglican missionary organization, formed originally as the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts in 1701...
could produce few as Newfoundland lacked the glamour of Africa or New Zealand, so Feild had recourse to his network of friends in England who recruited several able and highly educated volunteers and some uneducated men of working class origin who became missionaries in return for education and the ordination impossible for them in England. They were educated at his theological college, fashioned out of an ineffective previous Theological Institute and called Queen's College, and grounded in Tractarian theology in a hardworking semi-monastic institution. He made it very clear that any missionaries who denied the doctrine of baptismal regeneration
Baptismal regeneration
Baptismal regeneration, the literal meaning of which is "being born again" "through baptism" , is the doctrine within some Christian denominations that holds that salvation is dependent upon the act of baptism; in other words, baptismal regenerationists believe that it is essential for one to be...
would be promptly suspended and was attacked in England by the Evangelical
Evangelicalism
Evangelicalism is a Protestant Christian movement which began in Great Britain in the 1730s and gained popularity in the United States during the series of Great Awakenings of the 18th and 19th century.Its key commitments are:...
paper "The Record" as "an ultra-Tractarian of the Exeter school". He also built a cathedral, work beginning in 1846 guided by Sir George Gilbert Scott
George Gilbert Scott
Sir George Gilbert Scott was an English architect of the Victorian Age, chiefly associated with the design, building and renovation of churches, cathedrals and workhouses...
, a leading church architect in England who wrote detailed instructions to a Clerk of Works and team of masons in Newfoundland. By 1850 the nave had been built and services commenced. When completed it was thought to be one of the finest churches in North America. With the aid of the Revd William Grey, the diocesan architect, Feild had by 1855 built 27 new churches on the Gothic pattern.
As his diocese also included the Bermudas, he bought a church ship and travelled a great deal, describing his journeys in a journal published in The Church in the Colonies. This, together with numerous publications, kept his doings in the public eye in England. He set up a boys' school, the precursor of Bishop Feild College
Bishop Feild College
Bishop Feild College , founded in 1844, is a school in St. John's, Newfoundland...
of which so many influential Newfoundlanders were alumni, and a girl's school, as he was a firm believer in the education of women. He campaigned for thirty years for the grant given for education by the local legislature to Protestants to be divided so that Anglicans could be treated in the same way as the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
. Nowhere else in the British colonies was a bishop to obtain such a denominational system of education. Although he disapproved of clergymen being politicians, he spoke out in defence of the Newfoundland fisheries, and in 1861 denounced the Newfoundland government. In 1867 he reorganised his diocese, acquired an assistant bishop, James Butler Knill Kelly
James Butler Knill Kelly
James Butler Knill Kelly was a Bishop of the Church of England active in the British colony of Newfoundland and in Scotland. Kelly was a participant in the first Lambeth Conference, which was a crucial step in the creation of the Anglican Communion...
(afterwards Primus of Scotland), and married Sophia, the widow of the Revd J.G. Mountain (one of his missionaries).
Never a man to compromise, despising popularity, who made no bones about his differences with Methodists and Roman Catholics, and trying hard to rid his church of evangelicals, he was at first unpopular, but his engaging personality, absence of malice, and strong sense of principle won him affectionate respect. Newfoundland was often compared to Ireland and sectarian feeling ran high and could have led to extensive bloodshed had the Protestant ascendancy of the early nineteenth century been maintained. However it was shattered by Feild, as the Methodists disliked him as much as they did the Roman Catholics, so that in a community split three ways no one could be dominant. Not only did he unwittingly divide the population, but his insistence that educational grants be divided three ways provided an important precedent for a general division of all state patronage. This kept the peace.
Later years
He was reputed to be never ill, although poor diet and the hardships of life in Newfoundland led to many deaths among his missionaries; but in 1875 overwork and an exceptionally cold winter led to a severe illness and a journey to Bermuda to recuperate. There he died and was buried in HamiltonHamilton, Bermuda
Hamilton is the capital of the British Overseas Territory of Bermuda. It is the territory's financial centre and a major port and tourist destination.-Geography:...
cemetery.
Like his great Roman Catholic contemporary, Bishop John T. Mullock
John T. Mullock
John Thomas Mullock was Roman Catholic bishop of St. John's, Newfoundland and did much to establish and develop the church in the region. Born in Limerick, Co. Limerick, Ireland, he died in St. John's and is buried in the crypt of the Basilica of St. John the Baptist.-Academic Life:Mullock became...
, he was a pivotal figure in the history of nineteenth century Newfoundland. His greatest monuments now are probably his cathedral, Bishop Feild College in Newfoundland which bears his name, and Feild Hall, the postgraduate student residence of Memorial University of Newfoundland
Memorial University of Newfoundland
Memorial University of Newfoundland, is a comprehensive university located primarily in St...
. In England, the local state school in Kidlington is called Edward Feild Primary School.
See also
External links
Biography at Oxford Dictionary of National Biography