Morris Gelsthorpe

(Alfred) Morris Gelsthorpe, DSO, DD (26 February 1892 – 22 August 1968) was an English Anglican priest and missionary. Known popularly as 'Gelly', he was the first Bishop in the Sudan.[1][2]

Bishop Morris Gelsthorpe, 1945

Early life

He was educated at The King's School, Canterbury and matriculated to Hatfield College, Durham (part of Durham University) as an arts student in October 1911.[3][4] He was part of the same Hatfield cohort as Percy Fewtrell, later to become Dean of Hobart.[4]

In September 1914, not long after the outbreak of the First World War, Gelsthorpe, who had been an active member of the Durham University Officers' Training Corps in his time as a student, enlisted initially as a regular soldier in the Artists Rifles, but then received a commission the following month and transferred to the 8th battalion of the Durham Light Infantry as Second Lieutenant.[5][6]

He served on the Western Front in France, May 1915–September 1916, and April–September 1917; then in Mesopotamia, September 1917–January 1919.[5] He received the Distinguished Service Order on attachment to the Machine Gun Corps and was twice mentioned in despatches.[5] He finished the war with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, despite his youthfulness.[1] Returning to Durham to read for a licentiate in Theology, he was ordained in 1920 by the new Bishop of Durham Hensley Henson.[7]

Career

Gelsthorpe began his ecclesiastical career with a curacy at St Gabriel’s, Sunderland. In 1923 he became a CMS Missionary and moved to Awka in Colonial Nigeria.[8] A popular minister in Sunderland, before his departure he received the gift of a watch from the committee of Sunderland Rugby Club.[1]

He was Principal of the Staff Training College for African Agents in Awka from 1926 to 1933; Assistant Bishop to the Bishop on the Niger from 1933 to 1938, and Assistant Bishop to the Bishop of Egypt from 1938 to 1945.[9][8] He was Bishop in the Sudan from 1945 to 1952; Rector of Bingham, Nottinghamshire from November 1952 to 1963, and an Assistant Bishop of Southwell from November 1952 'til death.[10][11][12]

Personal

Gelsthorpe claimed to have a 'special interest' in all athletics. He was particularly active in rugby and competed for Blackheath Rugby Club as a youth, later on representing Durham County during his university studies.[5]

In 1949 he married Dr Elfrida Whidborne of the Church Missionary Society Hospital in Omdurman.[13]

Notes
  1. Gregson, Keith (2011). One Among Many: The Story of Sunderland Rugby Football Club RFC (1873) In Its Historical Context. Andrews.
  2. ‘GELSTHORPE, (Alfred) Morris’, Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2007; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2012 ; online edn, Nov 2012 accessed 29 Nov 2013
  3. "Stand To!" (the journal of the Western Front Association) January 2004, number 69 'Churchman Militant' pp53/4
  4. "Matriculation Examination". Durham University Calendar 1912-13: 334. 1913. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  5. "Gelsthorpe, Rt. Rev. (Alfred) Morris, (26 Feb. 1892–22 Aug. 1968)". Who's Who (UK). Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  6. "Supplement to the London Gazette, 14 November, 1914" (PDF). London Gazette. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  7. Crockford's Clerical Directory 1929-30 p 479 Oxford, OUP 1929
  8. "The Rt. Rev. M. Gelsthorpe". The Times. 23 August 1968. p. 10.
  9. Ecclesiastical News: two Assistant Bishops for Africa The Times (London, England), Wednesday, Dec 07, 1932; pg. 17; Issue 46310
  10. The Journal of African History / Volume 43 / Issue 01 / March 2002 pp 51-75 Copyright © 2002 CUP
  11. "Preferments and Appointments". Church Times (#4685). 21 November 1952. p. 851. ISSN 0009-658X. Retrieved 25 May 2019 – via UK Press Online archives.
  12. "Bishop Gelsthorpe: Nigeria & Sudan". Church Times (#5507). 30 August 1968. p. 16. ISSN 0009-658X. Retrieved 25 May 2019 – via UK Press Online archives.
  13. "Marriage". The Times. 6 January 1949. p. 6.
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