ST. AUSTELL PARISH Life in the Parish	Life in the Parish Index Main Menu

John William COLENSO, Bishop of NATAL -

an important figure in South African church history, representative of mid-nineteenth century "liberal" Anglican theology; one of only two St. Austellians mentioned in the "Who's Who" of Britain. (Samuel Drew was the other.)

Chronology:

• 1814, January - born at St. Austell, Cornwall, England
• 1831-1853 ---  served at a teacher and tutor, attended St. John's College, Cambridge; served as vicar, Fornett St. Mary in Norfolk.
• 1846, Jan ---- married Frances Bunyon, who became the mother of his five children: Frances, Harriette,Agnes, Robert, and Francis.
• 1854, Jan, --- arrived in Natal to serve as the first bishop of Natal. Shortly after his arrival, controversy was aroused by his stand on polygamy.
• 1855 ----        returned to Natal after a stay of some months in England
• 1859 -1861 -  published a grammar of the Zulu language, a Zulu-English dictionary, manuals of instruction for natives on history, astronomy, geography, etc.
• 1861 ----        commentary on St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans, published by Colenso, was declared full  of heresies by Bishop Gray of Capetown.
• 1862 ----        Colenso published a critical examination of the Pentateuch. His radical theology caused a  controversy that shook the Anglican Church in Natal, raising constitutional as well as doctrinal issues. Bishop Gray, as metropolitan of Capetown, claimed to exercise coercive jurisdiction over Bishop Colenso and the power of trying and condemning Colenso.
• 1863, Dec16 - Bishop Gray pronounced a sentence of deposition followed by excommunication of Colenso. Colenso appealed to the crown and the judicial committee of privy council which declared the whole of Gray's proceedings null and void. Colenso returned to his diocese as the legal bishop. Controversy continued to rage as the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel and the Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge chose to regard Colenso as canonically deposed. (His pay was suspended.)
• 1864-1875 --  In general, friendly feelings toward Colenso among the colonists increased until he took an unpopular stand on an issue of native trouble. (Zulu called him their 'Father', as he respected them.)
• 1883, June -- Died
  
  Papers and records which document his thought and the controversies that he aroused are held at Yale University, Yale Divinity School Library, New Haven, Connecticut - Special Collections. (divinity.library <at>yale.edu) They are organized into four sections: Writings by Colenso, Writings about Colenso, Writings of his Family, Photographs and Memorabilia, 1864-1882.