Summary
Bevan Stanley Meredith (14 August 1927 – 17 December 2019) was an Anglican clergyman in Australia and Papua New Guinea who was Bishop of the New Guinea Islands (1977–1995) and Archbishop of Papua New Guinea (1990–1995).
Bevan Meredith | |
|---|---|
| Archbishop of Papua New Guinea | |
| Church | Anglican Church of Papua New Guinea |
| See | New Guinea Islands (1977–1995) |
| In office | 1990–1995 |
| Other post(s) | Assistant Bishop of New Guinea (1967–1977) |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | 1961 deacon, 1962 priest by Philip Strong |
| Consecration | 1967 |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 14 August 1927 Alstonville, New South Wales, Australia |
| Died | 17 December 2019 (aged 92) Brisbane, Australia |
Early life edit
Meredith was born in 1927,[1] the son of Stanley Meredith, who was a teacher,[2][3] and his wife Edith (née Witchard).[4]
He was educated at Towalbyn Public School in Uralba[5] and Ballina High School.[6] In 1945 the family moved to Mango Hill in Queensland.[7] Initially working on the family farm, he then became a clerk at the City Electric Light Company.[8] Meredith then became a teacher, initially at a small Anglican school called St Christopher's in Brookfield, which had been established by Fr Robert Bates, Rector of All Saints, Wickham Terrace, Brisbane.[9]
From 1948 he taught at the Slade School in Warwick,[10] before moving to Papua & New Guinea in 1954 to teach at the Martyrs School in Popondetta.[11] This was only three years after the Mount Lamington volcanic eruption which destroyed the school, and at the time it was still being rebuilt.[12]
Career edit
Meredith trained for ordination at St Francis' Theological College, Brisbane and was ordained deacon in 1961 and priest in 1962.[13] He served a short curacy at St Thomas', Toowong in the Diocese of Brisbane from 1961 to 1962 and then returned to Papua & New Guinea as a missionary in the Papuan Peninsula from 1962 to 1966.[14] He was then Archdeacon of New Guinea from 1966 to 1967.[15]
He was consecrated a bishop in 1967 and became an assistant bishop of New Guinea, as well as being Archdeacon of the New Guinea Islands.[16] In 1968 he was appointed an Australian Army chaplain (Papua & New Guinea then being an Australian territory).[17]
As late as 1970, Meredith was still finding communities of Papuans in the Highlands for whom Christianity was novel, and he was the first to baptise any of them.[18] In 1977 he became Bishop of the New Guinea Islands,[19] and in 1990 additionally Archbishop of Papua New Guinea.[20] He survived the volcanic eruption in Rabaul in 1994,[21] and retired in 1995. Meredith was a Franciscan tertiary.[22]
Personal life edit
In retirement Meredith lived in Brisbane.[23] He died in 2019, aged 92, and his funeral was at St John's Cathedral in Brisbane.[24] He was unmarried.[25] His sister Marion married the Rt Rev George Tung Yep.[26]
References edit
- ^ "ABM: RIP Bishop Bevan Meredith, 17 December 2019". Retrieved 21 April 2021.
- ^ "Slade School Teacher Going to Papua". Warwick Daily News. No. 10, 802. Queensland, Australia. 26 March 1954. p. 2. Retrieved 22 April 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ Autobiography of Bishop Bevan Meredith, (2020: privately published), p 11.
- ^ Autobiography of Bishop Bevan Meredith, (2020: privately published), p 13.
- ^ Autobiography of Bishop Bevan Meredith, (2020: privately published), p 14.
- ^ Autobiography of Bishop Bevan Meredith, (2020: privately published), p 16.
- ^ Autobiography of Bishop Bevan Meredith, (2020: privately published), p 17.
- ^ Autobiography of Bishop Bevan Meredith, (2020: privately published), p 18.
- ^ Autobiography of Bishop Bevan Meredith, (2020: privately published), p 19.
- ^ Autobiography of Bishop Bevan Meredith, (2020: privately published), p 20.
- ^ "Slade School Teacher Going to Papua". Warwick Daily News. No. 10, 802. Queensland, Australia. 26 March 1954. p. 2. Retrieved 22 April 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Slade School Teacher Going to Papua". Warwick Daily News. No. 10, 802. Queensland, Australia. 26 March 1954. p. 2. Retrieved 22 April 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ Crockford's Clerical Directory, 1973–74, 85th Edition, p 646.
- ^ Crockford's Clerical Directory, 1973–74, 85th Edition, p 646.
- ^ Crockford's Clerical Directory, 1973–74, 85th Edition, p 646.
- ^ Crockford's Clerical Directory, 1973–74, 85th Edition, p 646.
- ^ "AUSTRALIAN MILITARY FORCES". Commonwealth of Australia Gazette. No. 76. 19 September 1968. p. 5235. Retrieved 22 April 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "FIRST CHRISTIANS IN THE AREA". Papua New Guinea Post-courier. International, Australia. 20 October 1970. p. 3. Retrieved 22 April 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "'Little beginning at St George's". Papua New Guinea Post-courier. International, Australia. 28 April 1977. p. 12. Retrieved 22 April 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "ABM: RIP Bishop Bevan Meredith, 17 December 2019". Retrieved 21 April 2021.
- ^ Autobiography of Bishop Bevan Meredith, (2020: privately published), p 154.
- ^ Autobiography of Bishop Bevan Meredith, (2020: privately published), p 179.
- ^ "ABM: RIP Bishop Bevan Meredith, 17 December 2019". Retrieved 21 April 2021.
- ^ "ABM: RIP Bishop Bevan Meredith, 17 December 2019". Retrieved 21 April 2021.
- ^ "The Weekly Times: Bishop Bevan Stanley Meredith". Retrieved 21 April 2021.
- ^ "Anglican Diocese of North Queensland: Bishop's Bulletin January 2020". Retrieved 21 April 2021.