Howard Mowll | |
|---|---|
| Archbishop of Sydney | |
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| Church | Church of England |
| Province | New South Wales |
| Diocese | Sydney |
| In office | 1933–1958 |
| Predecessor | John Wright |
| Successor | Hugh Gough |
| Other posts |
|
| Previous post | Assistant Bishop and Bishop of Western China |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | 21 September 1913(as deacon) byEdmund Knox 7 June 1914 (as priest) by Randall Davidson |
| Consecration | 24 June 1922 |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Howard West Kilvinton Mowll (1890-02-02)2 February 1890 |
| Died | 24 October 1958(1958-10-24) (aged 68) St Luke's Private Hospital,Potts Point,New South Wales |
| Denomination | Anglican |
| Parents |
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| Spouse | |
| Education | |
| Alma mater | King's College, Cambridge |
| Coat of arms |  |
Howard West Kilvinton Mowll (2 February 1890 – 24 October 1958) was theAnglicanBishopof Western China from 1926 to 1933, andArchbishop of Sydney from 1933 until his death in 1958.[1][2]
Mowll was born inDover and was educated at theKing's School, Canterbury,King's College, Cambridge, andRidley Hall.[3] He was the eldest of six children of Henry Martyn Mowll, a solicitor, and his wife Gertrude Emily Worsfold, a daughter of C. K. Worsfold, who had married in April 1889. He had four brothers and a sister. In 1911, the family had four servants.[4][5]
In 1913 Mowll was appointed as a tutor atWycliffe College, Toronto, where he went on to serve as Dean from 1919 to 1922.[3]
In June 1922, Mowll was consecrated as a bishop atWestminster Abbey[6] and sailed to become Assistant Bishop toWilliam Cassels,Bishop of Western China. In 1926, he succeeded him as bishop, remaining in post until 1933, when he was elected asArchbishop of Sydney.[3]
Mowll's election as Archbishop was a pivotal moment for the diocese of Sydney. His predecessor,Archbishop Wright, in office since 1909, had been a liberal reformer, while Mowll had always stood firm against liberalism and was a staunch and unashamed Conservativeevangelical. A campaign to promote Mowll was led by Archdeacon Langford Smith, supported by D. J. Knox and R. B. Robinson. They arranged meetings in the parishes to highlight the strengths of Mowll, and articles inThe Australian Church Record andThe Sydney Morning Herald. The other leading candidates wereJohn Moyes, Bishop of Armidale, an advocate for the "social gospel", andJoseph Hunkin, Rector of Rugby and Archdeacon of Coventry, a Liberal Evangelical. Mowll was elected in a landslide, and this was a decisive turning point for the diocese, changing its direction from Liberal to Conservative Evangelicalism, its dominant culture well into the 21st century.[7]
In 1934, Mowll was chosen as Sub-Prelate of theVenerable Order of St John of Jerusalem.[3]
Within a month of theSecond World War starting, Mowll had formed theChurch of England National Emergency Fund (CENEF), which was supported with volunteers and fundraising by the Sydney Diocesan Churchwomen's Association. CENEF funded huts for recreation and chaplains in military camps around Sydney, as well as atSt Andrew's Cathedral, Sydney, and other churches around the city. To continue to help ex-service people after the war and youth work, CENEF raised funds to buy 201Castlereagh Street, Sydney, and Rathane in theRoyal National Park. CENEF leveraged the Castlereagh Street building to buy land at Gilbulla and 117 acres in Castle Hill for a retirement village. This retirement village was one of his great achievements (some say his wifeDorothy was the driving force behind the idea), and became the first retirement village in Australia. Today this site remains the flagship forAnglican Retirement Villages, Diocese of Sydney.
In 1946, Mowll became Chairman of the National Missionary Council of Australia and Tasmania, and President of the Australian Section of theWorld Council of Churches. Having risen to national prominence during the war years, in 1947 he was elected asPrimate of Australia.[3]
As Archbishop of Sydney, Mowll consistently promoted evangelism and in 1958 he invitedBilly Graham to conduct a"crusade" in the city. Mowll did not live to see this take place, but in April and May 1959 about one quarter of Sydney's population attended and 57,000 responded to the Gospel call.[7]
On 23 October 1924, in a Church of England religious ceremony atMienchu, Mowll marriedDorothy Anne Martin, a missionary, the daughter of a clergyman, John Martin. The marriage was repeated in the British Consulate-General inChengtu in December 1924.[8] They had no children.[6]
Dorothy Mowll died before her husband on 23 December 1957, leaving an estate in England valued at £10,236.[9]
Media related toHoward Mowll at Wikimedia Commons
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