Charles Sumner (bishop)


Charles Richard Sumner KG was a Church of England bishop.

Life

Charles Sumner was a brother of John Bird Sumner, Archbishop of Canterbury. Their father was Robert Sumner and their mother was Hannah Bird, a first cousin of William Wilberforce.
Sumner was educated at Eton College and Trinity College, Cambridge and graduated Bachelor of Arts in 1814 and Cambridge Master of Arts in 1817. After ordination he ministered for the two winters of 1814–1816 to the English congregation in Geneva. From 1816 to 1821 he was curate of Highclere, Hampshire. In 1820, George IV wished to appoint him as a canon of Windsor, but the prime minister, Robert Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool, objected; Sumner received instead a royal chaplaincy and librarianship. Other preferments quickly followed; in 1826 he was consecrated Bishop of Llandaff and in 1827 Bishop of Winchester. In 1869 he resigned his seat, but continued to live at the official residence in Farnham until his death on 15 August 1874.
Though Evangelical in his views he did not confine his patronage to that school.
He and his brother were members of the Canterbury Association from 27 March 1848.

Works

Sumner published a number of charges and sermons and The Ministerial Character of Christ Practically Considered. He also edited and translated John Milton's De doctrina christiana, which was found in the State Paper office in 1823, and formed the text of Macaulay's famous essay on Milton.

Family

Sumner married Jennie Fanny Barnabine Maunoir and had seven children, including: