Tony Bridge

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For the Jamaican Olympic shooter, see
Tony Bridge (sport shooter)
.

Antony Cyprian "Tony" Bridge (5 September 1914 – 23 April 2007) was a British artist who became an

Anglican priest. He was Dean of Guildford
for 18 years, from 1968 to 1986, and wrote several books on the history of Constantinople and the Crusades.

Education and painting

Bridge's father was

Lord of Appeal in Ordinary
from 1980 to 1992.

After school, where his artistic talent had been recognised, Bridge studied at the

Royal Academy School of Art, where he was influenced by Post-Impressionism. Living on a small private income, he became an artist in the 1930s. For a period, he shared a studio with Dylan Thomas and spent the summers from 1934 to 1937 in Sark, Channel Islands, in the colony of artists which included Mervyn Peake and Peter Scott
.

During and after World War II

Bridge enlisted as a private in the

demobilised
in 1945 in the rank of major.

He returned to painting after the war, and exhibited in London, but his wartime experiences had affected him profoundly: he found his earlier atheism dissolving, being replaced by a strong Christian belief. He described his conversion in his book, One Man's Advent, published in 1985.

Ordained ministry

Bridge decided to seek ordination and, in an interview with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Geoffrey Fisher, said that he did not really want to become a priest but could see little alternative. He studied at Lincoln Theological College from 1953 and was ordained as a priest in the Church of England in 1955. He moved to Romney Marsh to become curate of Hythe in Kent.[2] He was appointed as vicar of Christ Church at Lancaster Gate in Paddington in 1958.

Prostitution was prevalent in his parish, but it also contained many young professionals living in

Mediterranean
.

He wrote several books, including Theodora: Portrait in a Byzantine Landscape (1978), The Crusades (1980), Suleiman the Magnificent (1983), One Man's Advent (1985) and Richard the Lionheart (1989). Upon his retirement in 1986, and became a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries.

Marriage and family

Bridge married twice. He married artist Brenda Lois Streatfeild in 1937.[3] They had two daughters and a son together Bridge married a second time in 1996, to Diana Joyce Readhead. He was survived by his second wife and the three children from his first marriage.

Sources

References

  1. ISBN 978-0-19-954087-7
  2. ISBN 978-0-19-200008-8
  3. ^ General Register Office; United Kingdom; Volume: 1a; Page: 475
Church of England titles
Preceded by
George William Clarkson
 Dean of Guildford
1968–1986 		Succeeded by
Alexander Gillan Wedderspoon


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