Morris Gelsthorpe
{{Short description|English Anglican bishop and missionary}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox Christian leader
| type =
| honorific_prefix = The Right Reverend
| name = Morris Gelsthorpe
| honorific_suffix = DSO
| title = Bishop in the Sudan
| image = Alfred Morris Gelsthorpe.jpg
| image_size =
| alt =
| caption = Bishop Gelsthorpe, 1945
| church =
| archdiocese =
| province =
| metropolis =
| diocese = Diocese of the Sudan
| term = 1945 to 1952
| predecessor =
| successor =
| opposed =
| other_post = Assistant Bishop of Southwell (1952–1968)
| ordination = 1920
| ordained_by = Hensley Henson
| consecration = 1933
| consecrated_by =
| laicized =
| birth_name = Alfred Morris Gelsthorpe
| birth_date = 26 February 1892
| birth_place =
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=y|22 August 1968|26 February 1892}}
| death_place =
| nationality = English
| religion =
| residence =
| parents =
| spouse =
| children =
| occupation =
| profession =
| education = The King's School, Canterbury
| alma_mater = Hatfield College, Durham
| module = {{Infobox military person
|embed = yes
|allegiance = United Kingdom
|branch = British Army
|serviceyears = 1914–1919
|rank = Lieutenant Colonel
|unit = Artists Rifles
Durham Light Infantry
Machine Gun Corps
|battles = First World War
}}
}}
Alfred Morris Gelsthorpe, DSO (26 February 1892{{snd}}22 August 1968) was an English Anglican bishop and missionary. Known popularly as 'Gelly', he was the first Bishop in the Sudan.{{cite book |last1=Gregson |first1=Keith |title=One Among Many: The Story of Sunderland Rugby Football Club RFC (1873) In Its Historical Context |date=2011 |publisher=Andrews}}‘GELSTHORPE, (Alfred) Morris’, Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2007; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2012; online edn, Nov 2012 [http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whowaswho/U51692, accessed 29 Nov 2013]
Early life
He was educated at The King's School, Canterbury and matriculated to Hatfield College, Durham (part of Durham University) as an arts student in October 1911."Stand To!" (the journal of the Western Front Association) January 2004, number 69 'Churchman Militant' pp53/4{{cite journal |title=Matriculation Examination |journal=Durham University Calendar 1912-13 |date=1913 |page=334 |url=http://reed.dur.ac.uk/xtf/view?docId=bookreader/DU_Calendars/1912-3/ducal1912METS.xml#page/352/mode/2up |access-date=16 December 2019}} He was part of the same Hatfield cohort as Percy Fewtrell, later to become Dean of Hobart.
=Military service=
In September 1914, not long after the outbreak of the First World War, Gelsthorpe, who had been an active member of the Durham University Officers' Training Corps in his time as a student, enlisted initially as a regular soldier in the Artists Rifles, but then received a commission the following month and transferred to the 8th battalion of the Durham Light Infantry as second lieutenant.{{cite web |title=Gelsthorpe, Rt. Rev. (Alfred) Morris, (26 Feb. 1892–22 Aug. 1968) |url=https://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/10.1093/ww/9780199540891.001.0001/ww-9780199540884-e-51692 |website=Who's Who (UK) |access-date=16 December 2019 |language=en }}{{cite web |title=Supplement to the London Gazette, 14 November, 1914 |url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/28975/supplement/9370/data.pdf |publisher=London Gazette |access-date=16 December 2019}}
He served on the Western Front in France, May 1915–September 1916, and April–September 1917; then in Mesopotamia, September 1917–January 1919. He received the Distinguished Service Order on attachment to the Machine Gun Corps and was twice mentioned in despatches. He finished the war with the rank of lieutenant colonel, despite his youthfulness.
Ordained ministry
After returning from the war, he returned to Durham University to study theology and was awarded a Licentiate of Theology (LTh). He was made a deacon in the Church of England in 1919, and was ordained as a priest in by the new Bishop of Durham, Hensley Henson, in 1920.Crockford's Clerical Directory 1929-30 p 479 Oxford, OUP 1929
Gelsthorpe began his ecclesiastical career with a curacy at St Gabriel’s, Sunderland. In 1923 he became a CMS Missionary and moved to Awka in Colonial Nigeria.{{cite news |title=The Rt. Rev. M. Gelsthorpe |work=The Times |date=23 August 1968 |page=10}} A popular minister in Sunderland, before his departure he received the gift of a watch from the committee of Sunderland Rugby Club.
He was Principal of the Staff Training College for African Agents in Awka from 1926 to 1933; Assistant Bishop to the Bishop on the Niger from 1933 to 1938, and Assistant Bishop to the Bishop of Egypt from 1938 to 1945.Ecclesiastical News: two Assistant Bishops for Africa The Times (London, England), Wednesday, Dec 07, 1932; pg. 17; Issue 46310 He was Bishop in the Sudan from 1945 to 1952; Rector of Bingham, Nottinghamshire from November 1952 to 1963, and an Assistant Bishop of Southwell from November 1952 'til death.The Journal of African History / Volume 43 / Issue 01 / March 2002 pp 51-75
Copyright © 2002 CUP{{Church Times | title = Preferments and Appointments | archive = 1952_11_21_851 | issue = 4685 | date = 21 November 1952 | page = 851 | accessed = 25 May 2019 }}{{Church Times | title = Bishop Gelsthorpe: Nigeria & Sudan | archive = 1968_08_30_016 | issue = 5507 | date = 30 August 1968 | page = 16 | accessed = 25 May 2019 }}
Personal
Gelsthorpe claimed to have a 'special interest' in all athletics. He was particularly active in rugby and competed for Blackheath Rugby Club as a youth, later on representing Durham County during his university studies.
In 1949 he married Dr Elfrida Whidborne of the Church Missionary Society Hospital in Omdurman.{{cite news |title=Marriage |work=The Times |date=6 January 1949 |page=6}}
Notes
{{Reflist}}
{{Commons category|Alfred Morris Gelsthorpe}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gelsthorpe, Morris}}
Category:People educated at The King's School, Canterbury
Category:Artists' Rifles officers
Category:Companions of the Distinguished Service Order
Category:Anglican bishops in Sudan
Category:Alumni of Hatfield College, Durham
Category:Durham Light Infantry officers
Category:Durham County RFU players
Category:Blackheath F.C. players