Frederic Chase

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Frederic Chase
Bexhill, Sussex
NationalityBritish
Alma materChrist's College, Cambridge
Occupation(s)Academic and Bishop of Ely
SpouseCharlotte Elizabeth (m. 1877)

Frederic Henry Chase (21 February 1853, London – 23 September 1925, Bexhill) was a British academic and Bishop of Ely.

Life

The only son of Charles Frederic Chase, rector of St Andrew by the Wardrobe and St Anne Blackfriars, and Susan Mary Alliston. Chase was educated at King's College School, London and Christ's College, Cambridge, graduating in classics in 1876 after receiving the Powys Medal the previous year.[1]

He was

Norris Professor of Divinity.[2]

Three years later, on 18 October 1905, he was consecrated a bishop by Randall Davidson, Archbishop of Canterbury, at Westminster Abbey;[4] to serve as Bishop of Ely. He resigned as bishop in 1924 and died in 1925. He is buried in Brookwood Cemetery.

When the Great War opened in August, 1914, Chase declared his support for British involvement. He wrote ‘We believe the war to be a just and necessary war; but each day we feel more deeply its horrors and anxieties .... At this time of national need it seems to me that our young men ought to offer themselves for service in Lord Kitchener’s Second Army. I believe that this is a solemn duty. I earnestly hope that this diocese may not be behind in this matter. Here lies our national safety, under God.’ [5] Under Chase's influence, clergy led local recruitment activities,[6] and a survey of church schools indicated that they provided more recruits than council schools.[7] This pressure from clergy backfired when they were accused of hypocrisy for encouraging recruitment but not having to face the enemy themselves. Chase wrote that clergy should not be blamed because they were ‘under orders’ from the bishop.[8] Some clergy volunteered as temporary chaplains to the forces and others took on additional duties with prisoners of war and in the new and expanding military hospitals.[9]

One of the bishop's sons, George Armitage Chase, was awarded a Military[10] Cross when he was a temporary chaplain. He became Bishop of Ripon in 1946.

Works

Grave of Frederic Chase in Brookwood Cemetery

Chase was known for research into the Bezan and Syro-Latin texts, including the Codex Bezae.[2]

References

  1. ^ "Chase, Frederic (CHS871FH)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  2. ^ a b c d "University intelligence". The Times. No. 36612. London. 14 November 1901. p. 11.
  3. ^ "University intelligence". The Times. No. 36071. London. 21 February 1900. p. 12.
  4. ISSN 0009-658X
    . Retrieved 19 September 2019 – via UK Press Online archives.
  5. ^ Ely Dioceses Remembrancer, September, 1914
  6. ^ Ely Dioceses Remembrances, September, 1915
  7. ^ Ely Dioceses Remembrances, August, 1915
  8. ^ Ely Dioceses Remembrances, December, 1915
  9. ^ Ely Diocesan Gazette 1916-19. This monthly magazine changed its title at the end of 1915. Wartime activities in the diocese appear frequently.
  10. ^ ‘What Did You Do In The Great War Bishop?’ By Tom Scherb, in Stand To!, September, 2012, Western Front Association

External links

Academic offices
Preceded by
1901-1906
Succeeded by
Thomas Cecil Fitzpatrick
Preceded by
Adolphus William Ward
Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge

1902-1904
Succeeded by
Edward Anthony Beck
Church of England titles
Preceded by Bishop of Ely
1905 – 1924
Succeeded by