George Lefroy Explained

George Alfred Lefroy[1] (August 1854 – 1 January 1919) was an eminent Anglican priest and missionary in India during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Lefroy was born into an eminent Irish family in County Down in August 1854: his father was Jeffrey Lefroy, Dean of Dromore, and his grandfather, Thomas Langlois Lefroy, Chief Justice of the Queen's Bench, Ireland.[2] He was educated at Marlborough and Trinity College, Cambridge and ordained in 1879. He joined the Cambridge Mission to Delhi the same year and eventually became head of the SPG Mission in Delhi.[3] In 1899 he became Bishop of Lahore.[4] Translated to become Bishop of Calcutta in 1912.[5] Lefroy was known for his regular participation in public religious debates and for his lectures among Muslims and Hindus.[6] He also joined fellow missionary C. F. Andrews in opposing western racism towards Indians.[7] He became a Doctor of Divinity (DD) and died in post on 1 January 1919.[8]

Works

. George Lefroy. The leather-workers of Daryaganj. 1884. Cambridge Mission to Delhi. Delhi.

Notes and References

  1. http://anglicanhistory.org/india/lefroy_montgomery/ Photo of Bishop Lefroy
  2. [Who's Who|"Who was Who" 1897-2007]
  3. "A Bishop in Search of a Church: George Alfred Lefroy," Cox, Jeffrey in After the Victorians: Private Conscience and Public Duty in Modern Britain. Essays in Memory of John Clive, Susan Pederson and Peter Mandler (eds): London, Routledge, 1994
  4. "The Clergy List, Clerical Guide and Ecclesiastical Directory" London, John Phillips, 1900
  5. New Bishop Of Calcutta The Times Tuesday, 17 December 1912; pg. 10; Issue 40084; col B
  6. Book: John C.B. Webster. A Social History of Christianity: North-west India since 1800. 2018. Oxford University Press. 978-0-19-947837-8. 144.
  7. Book: John C.B. Webster. A Social History of Christianity: North-west India since 1800. 2018. Oxford University Press. 978-0-19-947837-8. 153.
  8. Obituary- The Bishop Of Calcutta The Times Tuesday, 7 January 1919; pg. 11; Issue 41991; col E