A. G. Edwards (bishop)

The Most Reverend

A. G. Edwards
The Most Reverend; A. G. Edwards
Archbishop of Wales
Church	Church in Wales
Diocese	St Asaph
Elected	1920
In office	1920–1934
Successor	Charles Green
Orders
Ordination	1875
Consecration	1889
Rank	Archbishop
Personal details
Born	2 November 1848; Llanymawddwy, Gwynedd, Wales
Died	22 July 1937 (aged 88)
Alma mater	Jesus College, Oxford

Alfred George Edwards (2 November 1848 – 22 July 1937), known as A. G. Edwards, was elected the first archbishop of the disestablished Church in Wales.

The son of a priest of the Church of England, Edwards was born in Llanymawddwy in Gwynedd. He studied at Jesus College, Oxford, before being appointed warden of Llandovery College in 1875.^[1] In the same year he was ordained as a priest and in 1885 he was appointed the vicar of St Peter's Church, Carmarthen. ^[2]

In 1889, Edwards was appointed the Bishop of St Asaph:^[3] he was elected on 2 March at St Asaph Cathedral^[4] and consecrated a bishop on Lady Day 1889 (25 March), by Frederick Temple, Archbishop of Canterbury, at Westminster Abbey.^[5] He was a strong defender of the rights of the established Church of England in Wales in the face of mounting call for disestablishment from the nonconformist and liberal majority.

He was Honorary Chaplain to the Denbighshire Yeomanry from 2 August 1902.^[6]

When the Church of England in Wales was disestablished and became the Church in Wales in 1920, he was elected the first Archbishop of Wales by his fellow Welsh bishops on 7 April 1920.^[7] From 1928 onwards he was assisted by Thomas Lloyd, Bishop of Maenan,^[8]^[9] the only example of an assistant bishop being given a territorial title in the history of the Church in Wales. He retired in 1934, died in 1937 and was buried at St Asaph.^[10]

References

^ Malden Richard (ed) (1920). Crockford's Clerical Directory for 1920 (51st edn). London: The Field Press. pp. 1319/20.
^ Who was Who 1897–20 07, 1991, ISBN 978-0-19-954087-7
^ The Bishop Of St Asaph (News), The Times, 26 April 1889; pg. 7; Issue 32683; col F
^ "The Bishopric of St Asaph (col. 3–4)". Church Times. No. 1363. 8 March 1889. p. 222. ISSN 0009-658X. Retrieved 26 June 2018 – via UK Press Online archives.
^ "Consecration of Bishops (col. 3–4)". Church Times. No. 1366. 29 March 1889. p. 289. ISSN 0009-658X. Retrieved 26 June 2018 – via UK Press Online archives.
^ "No. 27460". The London Gazette. 1 August 1902. p. 4972.
^ Owen, Eluned E. (1961). The Later Life of Bishop Owen. Llandyssul: Gomerian Press. p. 434.
^ "Bishop-Suffragan of St. Asaph". Church Times. No. 3435. 23 November 1928. p. 601. ISSN 0009-658X. Retrieved 6 October 2017 – via UK Press Online archives.
^ Green, Charles A.H. (1937). The Setting of the Constitution of the Church in Wales. London: Sweet and Maxwell. pp. 20, 320.
^ Ecclesiastical News, Archbishop Of Wales's Retirement (Official Appointments and Notices), The Times, 25 July 1934; pg. 15; Issue 46815; col D

Church in Wales titles
Preceded by Joshua Hughes	Bishop of St Asaph 1889–1934	Succeeded by William Havard
New title	Archbishop of Wales 1920–1934	Succeeded by Charles Green