King, Edward C.

Edward King (29 December 1829 - 8 March 1910) was an Anglican bishop. He was the second son of the Reverend Walker King, Archdeacon of Rochester and rector of Stone, Kent, and grandson of the Reverend Walker King, Bishop of Rochester; his nephew was the Reverend Robert Stuart King, who played football for England in 1882.
King graduated from Oriel College, Oxford, was ordained in 1854, and four years later became chaplain and lecturer at Cuddesdon Theological College (now Ripon College Cuddesdon). He was principal at Cuddesdon from 1863 to 1873, when Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone appointed him Regius Professor of Pastoral Theology at Oxford and canon of Christ Church. King became the principal founder of the leading catholic theological college in the Church of England, St Stephen's House, Oxford, now a Permanent Private Hall of the University of Oxford. To the world outside, King was known at this time as an Anglo-Catholic and one of Edward Pusey's
most intimate friends (even serving as a pall-bearer at his funeral in
1882), but in Oxford, and especially among the younger men, he exercised
influence by his charm and sincerity. King had also been devoted to his
mother, who assisted him at Cuddleston and Oxford by keeping his house
and entertaining guests as his position required. King never married and
his mother died in 1883.
A leading member of the English Church Union, Dr. King fought prosecutions in lay courts under the Public Worship Regulation Act 1874 (which Archbishop of Canterbury Archibald Campbell Tait and Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli had secured over the Gladstone's opposition, in order to restrict the growing Oxford Movement). In 1879 King's writings concerning Holy Communion were criticized as Romish in a pamphlet by a local vicar.
In 1885, upon Gladstone's invitation when he again became Prime Minister, King accepted consecration as Bishop of Lincoln, which he noted had been the diocese of John Wesley. The consecrating bishops included Archbishop of Canterbury Edward White Benson, with presenting Bishops John Mackarness
of Oxford and Woodford of Ely. Other consecrating bishops were Bishop
Temple of London, Bishop Thorold of Rochester, Bishop Wilberforce of
Newcastle, Bishop Trollope of Nottingham, Bishop How of Bedford, Bishop
Carter of Ripon and Bishop Bousfield of Pretoria.
Although Tait had died in 1882, the Puritan faction continued,
including at Lincoln where J. Hanchard published a sketch of King's
life, criticizing his Romish tendencies. Beginning in 1888, based on a churchwarden's complaint concerning a service conducted at Cleethorps, funded by the Church Association, King was prosecuted before Archbisjop Benson for six ritualistic practices.
In his "Lincoln Judgment", Archbishop Benson found Bishop King guilty
on two counts and also required him to conduct the manual acts during
the prayer of consecration during the Holy Communion service in such a
way that the people could see them.
Archbishop Benson specifically allowed the use of lighted candles, and
mixing of elements, as well as the eastward position during the service.
The Church Association appealed the Bishop's process to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, but was denied in 1890.
Bishop King loyally conformed his practices to the archbishop's
judgment. Some considered the process a repudiation of the
anti-ritualism movement,
though it proved physically and emotionally taxing for King, whose
physique had never been particularly robust. Moreover, a decade later,
after Frederick Temple
succeeded Benson as Archbishop of Canterbury, he and the Bishop of York
prosecuted two priests for using incense and candles, and notified
Bishop King of Lincoln of their condemnation, which he abided.
Later, many of King's liturgical practices became commonplace,
including making the sign of the cross during the absolution and
blessing, and mixture of elements during the service, for which the
criticisms had been upheld as an innovation.
As Bishop, King devoted himself unsparingly to pastoral work in his
diocese, particularly among the poor, both farmers and industrial
workers, as well as condemned prisoners. He supported the Guild of
Railway men, as well as chaplains in the Boer War and missionaries. In 1909 he visited Oxford in his episcopal capacity for the 400th anniversary of Brasenose College. Irrespective of his High Church views, he won the affection and reverence of all classes by his real saintliness of character.

Created 2015-10-29 by Anna St.Onge.

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