Nationality British | In office 1942 to 1958 Died 16 October 1962 Battles and wars World War I | |
Birth name Kenneth Julian Faithfull Bickersteth Born 5 July 1885Ripon, Yorkshire, England ( 1885-07-05 ) Awards Mentioned in dispatches, Military Cross | ||
Kenneth Julian Faithfull Bickersteth, MC, QHC (5 July 1885 – 16 October 1962) was a British Anglican priest, chaplain, and headmaster. He started his career as a school chaplain and teacher. During World War I, he served as a military chaplain. Between the wars he was headmaster of The Collegiate School of St Peter in Adelaide, Australia, and then headmaster of Felsted School in Essex, England. From 1942 to 1958, he served as Archdeacon of Maidstone in the Diocese of Canterbury, Church of England.
Contents
Early life and education
Bickersteth was born on 5 July 1885 in Ripon, Yorkshire, England. He was one of six sons born to The Reverend Canon Samuel Bickersteth (1857–1937) and Ella Chlora Faithfull Bickersteth (1858–1954). His mother was the daughter of Professor Sir Monier Monier-Williams, and she was "one of the five or six little girls in Oxford on whom Lewis Carroll modelled his Alice in Wonderland".
Bickersteth was educated at Rugby School, then an all-boys public school in Rugby, Warwickshire. He then studied mathematics at Christ Church, Oxford. He graduated from the University of Oxford in 1907 with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree; as per tradition, his BA was promoted to a Master of Arts (MA Oxon).
Career
After completing his undergraduate degree, Bickersteth spent a year teaching English in the British Raj. He decided enter the clergy and returned to England. He then entered Wells Theological College, an Anglican theological college to train for ordained ministry. As a graduate, he only need to spend one year training before ordination.
Bickersteth was ordained in the Church of England as a deacon in 1909 and as a priest in 1910. From 1909 to 1912, he served his curacy at St Andrew's Church, Rugby, which was then in the Diocese of Worcester. In 1912, he first moved to Australia where he had been appointed the chaplain to Melbourne Church of England Grammar School, an independent boarding school in Melbourne.
In 1915, one year after the start of the First World War, Bickersteth returned to England with the intention of becoming a military chaplain.
Honours
On 9 June 1917, Bickersteth was mentioned in despatches by Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig. On 1 January 1918, he was awarded the Military Cross (MC) "for distinguished service in the Field". Though he was immediately given the ribbon to wear on his uniform, he had to wait till 1919 to receive the medal itself. That year, during a ceremony at Buckingham Palace, he stood side by side with one of his brothers as they both awarded the Military Cross by King George V.
On 3 November 1953, Bickersteth was appointed an Honorary Chaplain to the Queen (QHC).