Anthony Otter Explained

Anthony Otter
Bishop of Grantham
Diocese:Diocese of Lincoln
Term:1949–1965
Predecessor:Algernon Markham
Successor:Ross Hook
Ordination:1925 (deacon); 1926 (priest)
Consecration:1949
Consecrated By:Geoffrey Fisher
Birth Date:8 September 1896
Death Place:Belton, Lincolnshire,
Nationality:British
Religion:Anglican
Parents:Robert & Marianne
Spouse:Dorothy
Occupation:naval officer, missionary, writer
Alma Mater:Trinity College, Cambridge

Anthony Otter (8 September 18969 March 1986) was an Anglican bishop who served as the sixth Bishop of Grantham (a suffragan bishop of the Diocese of Lincoln), from 1949[1] to 1965.[2]

Son of Robert and Marianne, Otter was educated at Repton and Trinity College, Cambridge (he gained his Bachelor of Arts in 1920 and proceeded Cambridge Master of Arts in 1925). After wartime service with the RNVR, he completed his degree and joined the Cambridge Mission to Delhi. Upon return, he trained for the ministry at Westcott House, Cambridge and was ordained a deacon by Arthur Winnington-Ingram, Bishop of London, at St Paul's Cathedral on 20 December 1925 and a priest by William Perrin, Bishop of Willesden, at St Saviour's Hampstead on 19 December 1926.

His first post was as curate of Holy Trinity, Marylebone (1925–1931).[3] During his curacy he was also London Secretary for SCM from 1926, and, in 1929, he married Dorothy Ramsbotham, who died in 1979. From 1931 to 1949 he was Vicar of Lowdham, serving also as chaplain of the local borstal (1931–1945), an honorary canon of Southwell Cathedral (1942–1949) and Rural Dean of Gedling (1946–1949). He was appointed Dean of Stamford, Lincolnshire (an ancient Peculiar Jurisdiction), 1949–1971) at the time of his appointment to the episcopate. He held the Deanery of Stamford jointly with the Suffragan See Diocese of Lincoln as Bishop suffragan of Grantham from his ordination and consecration as a bishop on 18 October 1949 at Southwark Cathedral by Geoffrey Fisher, Archbishop of Canterbury, until he retired in 1965. In retirement, he was licensed an honorary assistant bishop of the diocese (1965–1986). He was also a published writer. He died at home in Belton, Lincolnshire.

Notes and References

  1. Consecration of Three Bishops: Service in Southwark Cathedral, The Times Wednesday, 19 October 1949; p. 7; Issue 51516; col. C
  2. Bishop of Grantham to Retire, The Times Wednesday, 21 October 1964; p. 14; Issue 56148; col. E
  3. Crockford's Clerical Directory 1975–1976 London: Oxford University Press, 1976