De Witt Batty
{{Short description|British-Australian bishop}}
{{Use Australian English|date=June 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}}
{{Infobox Christian leader
| honorific-prefix = The Right Reverend
| name = Francis de Witt Batty
| archbishop_of = 7th Bishop of Newcastle
| honorific-suffix =
| image = SLNSW 34273 St George Anglican Church Hamilton stone laid by Bishop of Newcastle Rt Rev F de Witt Batty.jpg
| caption = Batty laying the foundation stone of St George's Church, Hamilton, in 1956
| church = Anglican Church of Australia
| province = New South Wales
| diocese = Newcastle
| see =
| enthroned = 3 March 1931
| ended =
| predecessor = George Long
| successor = James Housden
| other_post = Dean of Brisbane
| ordination =
| consecration =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = 10 January 1879
| birth_place = London, England
| death_date = 3 April 1961
| death_place = Sydney, New South Wales
| buried = St John's Anglican Cemetery, Morpeth
| nationality = British-Australian
| religion = Anglicanism
}}
Francis de Witt Batty OBE (known as De Witt;[http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A070211b.htm AB on line] 10 January 1879 – 3 April 1961The Times, 4 April 1961; pg. 11; Issue 55046; col C, Death of Bishop Batty) was the 7th Anglican Bishop of Newcastle in Australia from 1931 until his retirement in 1958.
Early life
De Witt Batty was born in 1879, the son of the Rev William Edmund Batty and his wife Frances Beatrice, née Jebb, the daughter of Sir Joshua Jebb. He was named after his mother's ancestor, the Dutch patriot Johan de Witt. He was educated at St Paul's School, London and Balliol College, Oxford.Who was Who 1987-1990: London, A & C Black, 1991, {{ISBN|0-7136-3457-X}}
Clerical career
Batty trained for ordination at Wells Theological College, and was ordained deacon in 1903 and priest in 1904. His first position was as a curate at Hornsey where he was asked a year later by the outgoing rector, St Clair Donaldson, to accompany him as his chaplain when Donaldson was appointed Archbishop of Brisbane.The Times, 3 November 1904; pg. 8; Issue 37542; col B, Ecclesiastical Intelligence From 1909 to 1916 he edited the Brisbane Church Chronicle. In 1915 he was appointed a residential canon at St John's Cathedral, Brisbane and in 1925 the cathedral's dean. He was consecrated a bishop on 25 January 1930 by Gerald Sharp, Archbishop of Brisbane,{{cite web |url=http://anglicanarchives.org.au/HDMS-HTML/PHOTS192.htm#PHOT03941 |title=Archived copy |website=anglicanarchives.org.au |access-date=13 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130409162722/http://anglicanarchives.org.au/HDMS-HTML/PHOTS192.htm#PHOT03941 |archive-date=9 April 2013 |url-status=dead}} to serve as coadjutor bishop of Brisbane.{{cite web |url=http://www.anglicanarchives.org.au/HDMS-HTML/OANDS175.htm |title=Archived copy |website=www.anglicanarchives.org.au |access-date=13 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100525095114/http://www.anglicanarchives.org.au/HDMS-HTML/OANDS175.htm |archive-date=25 May 2010 |url-status=dead}} He once called his see "the most enviable diocese in Australia".
Batty retired to Double Bay, Sydney, and died on 3 April 1961. He was cremated and his ashes interred with William Tyrrell at St John's Anglican Cemetery, Morpeth. In his obituary in The Times, he was described as being "one of the most outstanding Englishmen ever to dedicate his life to public service in Australia".The Times, 25 April 1961, p. 17. "Obituary: Bishop De Witt Batty".
References
{{Reflist}}
{{S-start}}
{{S-rel|en}}
{{S-bef|before=George Merrick Long}}
{{S-ttl|title=Bishop of Newcastle (Australia)|years=1931 –1958}}
{{S-aft|after=James Housden}}
{{S-end}}
{{Bishops of Newcastle,NSW}}
{{Deans of Brisbane}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Batty, De Witt}}
Category:People educated at St Paul's School, London
Category:Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford
Category:Alumni of Wells Theological College
Category:Assistant bishops in the Anglican Diocese of Brisbane
Category:Anglican bishops of Newcastle (Australia)
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