Sydney Kirkby
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Sydney James Kirkby | |
---|---|
Born | 24 January 1879 Victoria |
Died | 12 July 1935 Sydney, Australia |
Venerated in | Anglican Church of Australia |
Feast | 13 July |
Sydney James Kirkby (24 January 1879 – 12 July 1935) was a bishop of the Church of England in Australia and Tasmania (now renamed the Anglican Church of Australia).
Early life
He was born in Sandhurst (now
He was sent by Bishop Langley to Moore Theological College in Sydney, where he proved a very capable student. He was selected as an Abbott scholar and senior student for 1905 and was one of the few students who took a first in the Oxford and Cambridge preliminary examination.[1]
Church work
He returned to Bendigo, and was made a
In 1932 he was reassigned to diocesan work. He was already the part-time
At St Philip's Kirkby proved to be quite popular, with his weekday lunchtime services attracting large numbers of people. In his position as coadjutor he worked to address the financial and social problems the church was having, worsened by the ongoing Great Depression. He also worked on constitutional reform.
Kirkby had the duty of presiding over the election of the new archbishop to replace Archbishop Wright. He was himself nominated for the post, against his own wishes, but successfully worked to limit his own chances of getting the post. He also helped bring the synod through an exhausting session which gave the post to Bishop Howard Mowll of West China, through a skillfully managed effort behind the scenes. The election of Mowll to the post caused a split among the Evangelicals in the area, which Kirkby, despite his popularity with the people and the clergy and common sense, would prove to be unable to heal.
Death and legacy
Mowll was enthroned as archbishop in March 1934 and Kirkby continued as an assistant to the new archbishop, although he was much more personally interested in his work with his congregation at St Philip's. He was afflicted with chronic nephritis, which led to his death in Royal Prince Alfred Hospital on 12 July 1935. He was survived by his wife, two sons and two daughters.
He was buried in the grounds of his beloved St Philip's and is commemorated in the calendar of the Anglican Church of Australia on 13 July.