Christopher George BARLOW

BARLOW, CHRISTOPHER GEORGE (b. Dublin, Ireland, 1858; d. Cooma, NSW, 30 Aug 1915). Anglican bishop.

Educated at Brecknock College, Wales, Christopher Barlow worked in his stepfather's London manufacturing firm before resigning to accompany (as secretary) his life-long friend, George Henry Stanton, rector of St Giles in the Fields, who had been appointed first bishop of North Queensland (1878-91). Stanton's shortage of clergy meant that Barlow did not then study at the University of Sydney, but was deaconed Dec 1881 to become Albert Maclaren's curate at Mackay, then priested (14 Sept 1882), becoming rector of St Paul's, Charters Towers, and in 1885 incumbent and canon at St James Pro-Cathedral, Townsville.

When Stanton was translated to Newcastle in 1891, Canon Barlow was elected his successor, becoming the first person ordained in Australia to be elected bp by an Australian Anglican synod. Stanton reassured Abp Benson of Canterbury of his suitability (23 Jan 1891): 'Canon Barlow is youngish—able to bear this hot climate—a good bushman—an able speaker—earnest and self-denying—single—judicious—very popular with the Clergy and Laity ... a many-sided excellent man'. His Metropolitan, Bp T T Webber of Brisbane, told Benson (Jan 1891) that Barlow was 'a very eloquent ex tempore preacher' and held in high esteem, but with four other Australian bishops, Webber objected to his being made bishop, ostensibly on educational grounds: viz, his uncanonical ignorance of Greek and Latin. Nevertheless Archbishop Benson awarded Barlow a Lambeth DD following his consecration in Sydney on 25 July 1891.

After returning to England to find desperately needed clergy, Barlow was installed in Townsville on 10 April 1892, to spend ten years in pastoral travel, fighting the effects of droughts, cyclones, depression and diocesan debts, and initiating ministries to Aborigines at Yarrabah, Islanders at Mackay and Herbert River, and Chinese in major centres. Finding his diocese too big to work, he raised the funds to enable the new diocese of Carpentaria to be launched in November 1900.

Worn out by disease and hard work in an unforgiving climate, he accepted appointment as third bp of Goulburn, and was enthroned on 23 April 1902. Drought related debts, a still-unresolved cathedral dispute, and shortages of able clergy confronted him. He spent time with isolated rural clergy, subdivided the diocese pastorally into four archdeaconries, founded the Southern Churchman to heal divisions and infirm, reinvigorated the Church Society (raising income from £800 to £3000 pa), reformed diocesan financial administration, set up a full-time diocesan registry, introduced clergy superannuation, and saw to the building of churches and clergy residences. (He no longer lived in his own 'Bishopthorpe' which burnt down in 1914.) Poor health forced his resignation in March 1915 and, depressed by the war, he died later that year in Cooma rectory. He never married.

Practically and pastorally evangelical (like many in those years in both of his dioceses), Bp Barlow publicly castigated bigotry in all parties. Manly, peace-loving, courteous, and affectionate, he was an able and hard-working church-builder, pastor and administrator.

Australian Church Quarterly Review 29 June 1936; ADB 7; Archbishop E W Benson Papers (Lambeth Library) Vol 99 ft28 1ff; J O Feetham and W V Rymer (eds) The North Queensland Jubilee Year Book, 1878-1928 (Townsville, 1929); Southern Churchman 15 Sept, 15 Oct 1915

ROBERT S M WITHYCOMBE