Arthur Parham
{{Short description|English Anglican bishop}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}}
{{Infobox Christian leader
| name = Arthur Parham
| title = Bishop of Reading
| image =
| image_size =
| alt =
| caption =
| diocese = Diocese of Oxford
| term = 1942–1954
| predecessor = abeyance
| successor = Eric Knell
| other_post = Vicar of Reading Minster {{nowrap|(1926–1946)}}
Archdeacon of Berkshire {{nowrap|(1942–1954)}}
| ordination = 1909 (deacon); 1910 (priest)
| ordained_by = John Harmer (deacon)
| consecration = 1942
| consecrated_by = Cosmo Lang
| birth_date = {{birth date|1883|6|25|df=y}}
| birth_place = Highbury, Middlesex, {{nowrap|United Kingdom}}
| death_date = {{death date and age|1961|1|8|1883|6|25|df=y}}
| death_place = {{nowrap|Little Wittenham,}} Berkshire, UK
| buried =
| nationality = British
| religion = Anglican
| residence =
| parents = Edmund & Ann
| spouse = Margaret Montagu (m. 1946)
| children = 2 daughters
| occupation =
| profession =
| education =
| alma_mater = Exeter College, Oxford
}}
Arthur Groom Parham {{post-nominals|MC}} (25 June 1883{{snd}}8 January 1961){{Who's Who | title=Parham, Arthur Groom | id = U55978 | type = was | volume = 1920–2016 | edition = April 2014 online | access-date = 16 April 2017 }} was an English Anglican bishop who was bishop of Reading (a suffragan bishop in the Diocese of Oxford){{Cite newspaper The Times|department=Ecclesiastical News|title= Consecration of the Bishop of Reading|date= 1 June 1942|page= 6|issue =49250|column= C}} from 1942 until 1954.
Family and education
Son of Edmund and Ann, Parham was educated at Magdalen College School, Oxford then Exeter College, Oxford (gaining the degree of Oxford Master of Arts). He trained for the ministry at Leeds Clergy School and was ordained a deacon on Trinity Sunday (6 June) 1909 by John Harmer, Bishop of Rochester, at Rochester Cathedral{{Church Times | title = Trinity Ordinations | archive = 1909_06_11_803 | issue = 2420 | date = 11 June 1909 | page = 803 | accessed = 16 April 2017 }} and a priest in 1910.
Ministry pre-war
Beginning his ministry with a curacy at Bromley, Kent (1909–1912), he was then appointed chaplain and precentor of Christ Church Cathedral and chaplain of Magdalen College, Oxford (all 1912–1921); that period was interrupted with World War I service as a temporary chaplain to the Forces during which he was twice mentioned in despatches and awarded the Military Cross.{{London Gazette|issue=29608|page=5576|date=2 June 1916|supp=y}}
Ministry in Berkshire
When peace returned, he became rector of Easthampstead (1921–1926), then vicar of St Mary's, Reading (1926–1946; both in Berkshire), and additionally rural dean of Reading[http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/a2a/records.aspx?cat=005-drdr&cid=0 Berkshire Rural Deaneries at the National Archive] (1934–1942); during this period his became an honorary canon of Christ Church (1934 onwards) and was first elected a proctor in convocation (1935–1954). Remaining, to start with, vicar of Reading, he became also archdeacon of Berkshire[http://www.purley.eu/H3P/YB.pdf Archdeacons of Berkshire] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720171225/http://www.purley.eu/H3P/YB.pdf |date=20 July 2011 }} and bishop of Reading (a suffragan bishop of the diocese), both from 1942 to 1954. He was ordained and consecrated a bishop by Cosmo Lang, archbishop of Canterbury, at St Paul's Cathedral, on Candlemas (2 February) 1942.{{Church Times | title = Candlemas at St. Paul's. Consecration of Bishops. | archive = 1942_02_06_087 | date = 6 February 1942 | page = 87 | accessed = 16 April 2017 }} In 1946, he both married Margaret Elizabeth Montagu, with whom he had two daughters, and resigned his vicarage (retaining the archdeaconry and suffragan see). He retired in 1954 and continued to serve the Church as an assistant bishop within the Diocese of Oxford; at his death, he lived in Little Wittenham, Berkshire, where he died at home.{{Church Times | title = In Memoriam: Arthur Parham | archive = 1961_01_13_016 | issue = 5109 | date = 13 January 1961 | page = 16 | accessed = 16 April 2017 }}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
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{{S-start}}
{{S-rel|en}}
{{S-bef|before=Richard Wickham Legg}}
{{S-ttl|title=Archdeacon of Berkshire|years=1942–1954}}
{{S-aft|rows=2|after=Eric Knell}}
{{S-non|reason=in abeyance}}
{{S-ttl|title=Bishop of Reading|years=1942–1954}}
{{S-end}}
{{Archdeacons of Berkshire}}
{{Bishops of Reading}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Parham, Arthur Groom}}
Category:Military personnel from the London Borough of Islington
Category:People from Little Wittenham
Category:20th-century Church of England bishops
Category:Alumni of Exeter College, Oxford
Category:Archdeacons of Berkshire
Category:British Army personnel of World War I
Category:People educated at Magdalen College School, Oxford