De Witt Batty

The Right Reverend

Francis de Witt Batty
7th Bishop of Newcastle
Batty laying the foundation stone of St George's Church, Hamilton, in 1956
ChurchAnglican Church of Australia
ProvinceNew South Wales
DioceseNewcastle
Installed3 March 1931
PredecessorGeorge Long
SuccessorJames Housden
Other post(s)Dean of Brisbane
Personal details
Born10 January 1879
London, England
Died3 April 1961
Sydney, New South Wales
BuriedSt John's Anglican Cemetery, Morpeth
NationalityBritish-Australian
DenominationAnglicanism

Francis de Witt Batty OBE (known as De Witt;[1] 10 January 1879 – 3 April 1961[2]) was the 7th Anglican Bishop of Newcastle in Australia from 1931 until his retirement in 1958.

Early life

De Witt Batty was born in 1879, the son of the Rev William Edmund Batty and his wife Frances Beatrice, née Jebb,[1] the daughter of Sir Joshua Jebb. He was named after his mother's ancestor, the Dutch patriot Johan de Witt.[1] He was educated at St Paul's School, London and Balliol College, Oxford.[3]

Clerical career

Batty trained for ordination at Wells Theological College, and was ordained deacon in 1903 and priest in 1904.[1] His first position was as a curate at Hornsey where he was asked a year later by the outgoing rector, St Clair Donaldson, to accompany him as his chaplain when Donaldson was appointed Archbishop of Brisbane.[4] From 1909 to 1916 he edited the Brisbane Church Chronicle.[1] In 1915 he was appointed a residential canon at St John's Cathedral, Brisbane and in 1925 the cathedral's dean. He was consecrated a bishop on 25 January 1930 by Gerald Sharp, Archbishop of Brisbane,[5] to serve as coadjutor bishop of Brisbane.[6] He once called his see "the most enviable diocese in Australia".[1]

Batty retired to Double Bay, Sydney, and died on 3 April 1961. He was cremated and his ashes interred with William Tyrrell at St John's Anglican Cemetery, Morpeth. In his obituary in The Times, he was described as being "one of the most outstanding Englishmen ever to dedicate his life to public service in Australia".[7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f AB on line
  2. ^ The Times, 4 April 1961; pg. 11; Issue 55046; col C, Death of Bishop Batty
  3. ^ Who was Who 1987-1990: London, A & C Black, 1991, ISBN 0-7136-3457-X
  4. ^ The Times, 3 November 1904; pg. 8; Issue 37542; col B, Ecclesiastical Intelligence
  5. ^ "Archived copy". anglicanarchives.org.au. Archived from the original on 9 April 2013. Retrieved 13 January 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. ^ "Archived copy". www.anglicanarchives.org.au. Archived from the original on 25 May 2010. Retrieved 13 January 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. ^ The Times, 25 April 1961, p. 17. "Obituary: Bishop De Witt Batty".
Church of England titles
Preceded by Bishop of Newcastle (Australia)
1931 –1958 		Succeeded by


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