John James Stewart Perowne (3 March 1823 – 6 November 1904) was an English Anglican bishop. Born inBurdwan, Bengal, Perowne was a member of a notable clerical family, whose origins wereHuguenot.
 | This sectionneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "John Perowne" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(August 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
He was educated atNorwich School, and atCorpus Christi College, Cambridge, becoming a fellow in 1849[1] and where his brotherEdward was later Master. After holding a chair inKing's College London, he became, in 1862, the fourth vice-principal ofSt Davids College, Lampeter, a college with which he was already familiar, for he had been external examiner between 1851 and 1852. The ageing Principal of the college took a back seat, and Perowne effectively 'took the reins' until his departure from Lampeter in 1872.
In 1868 he was electedHulsean lecturer, taking as his subjectImmortality[2] or ratherconditional immortality; stating"The immortality of the soul is a phantom which eludes your eager grasp."
He was elected canon ofLlandaff in 1869,dean of Peterborough 1878, and in 1891 succeededHenry Philpott asbishop of Worcester.[2] While at Lampeter, Perowne had gained a great respect for the theology of his predecessor in the role of Vice-Principal,Rowland Williams, and when he became a bishop, he went to great lengths to avoid taking action against modernists in the church. Indeed, a work by one of his incumbents, which denied theTrinity, theVirgin Birth, the Divinity of Christ, theAtonement, and the concepts of theResurrection of Christ and theAscension was described by Perowne as 'an honest attempt to deal with great spiritual problems'. He resigned his see in late 1901.
In 1884 he served as president of theMidland Union of Natural History Societies.[3]
Perowne was a respectedHebrew scholar of the traditional type and sat on the Old Testament Revision Committee. He is best remembered as the general editor of theCambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges. His chief works were aCommentary on the Book of Psalms (2 vols., 1864–1868) and a life ofBishop Thirlwall (1877–1878).[2]
Perowne married Anna Maria Raikea, daughter ofHumphry William Woolrych, before moving to Wales in 1862.[4] His son,Arthur William Thomson Perowne, became the firstBishop of Bradford and, subsequently,Bishop of Worcester. Another son wasJohn Thomas Woolrych Perowne, aBritish Army officer,King's Messenger, and Gold Staff Officer.
One of his grandsons,Stewart Perowne, married DameFreya Stark and was the more famous as Head of Education in British Palestine, archaeologist, explorer, and writer.[5]
Stewart's brother, Leslie, was sometime Head of Music at theBBC and was responsible for bringingAlbert Ketèlbey out of retirement to conduct a huge BBC Ketèlbey Concert at theRoyal Albert Hall prior toWorld War II.[citation needed]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Perowne, John James Stewart".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 21 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 179.
| Church of England titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Vice-principal ofSt Davids College, Lampeter 1862–1872 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Dean of Peterborough 1878–1891 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Bishop of Worcester 1891–1901 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Academics | |
| People | |
| Other | |
