The Bishop

Bishop

A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...

 of Blackburn is the Ordinary

Ordinary

In those hierarchically organised churches of Western Christianity which have an ecclesiastical law system, an ordinary is an officer of the church who by reason of office has ordinary power to execute the church's laws...

 of the Church of England

Church of England

The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...

 Diocese of Blackburn

Diocese of Blackburn

The Diocese of Blackburn is a Church of England diocese, covering much of Lancashire, created in 1926 from part of the Diocese of Manchester. The Diocese includes the towns of Blackburn, Blackpool, Burnley, and the cities of Lancaster, and Preston, as well as a large part of the Ribble Valley...

 in the Province of York

Province of York

The Province of York is one of two ecclesiastical provinces making up the Church of England, and consists of 14 dioceses which cover the northern third of England and the Isle of Man. York was elevated to an Archbishopric in 735 AD: Ecgbert of York was the first archbishop...

.

The diocese covers much of the county of Lancashire

Lancashire

Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...

 and has its see

Episcopal See

An episcopal see is, in the original sense, the official seat of a bishop. This seat, which is also referred to as the bishop's cathedra, is placed in the bishop's principal church, which is therefore called the bishop's cathedral...

 in the town of Blackburn, where the seat of the diocese is located at the Cathedral Church of Saint Mary

Blackburn Cathedral

Blackburn Cathedral, officially known as the Cathedral Church of Blackburn Saint Mary the Virgin, is a cathedral situated in the heart of Blackburn town centre, in Lancashire, England...

. Despite having a cathedral Blackburn is not officially a city

City status in the United Kingdom

City status in the United Kingdom is granted by the British monarch to a select group of communities. The holding of city status gives a settlement no special rights other than that of calling itself a "city". Nonetheless, this appellation carries its own prestige and, consequently, competitions...

.

The office has existed since the foundation of the see from part of the Diocese of Manchester

Anglican Diocese of Manchester

The Diocese of Manchester is a Church of England diocese in the Province of York, England. Based in the city of Manchester, the diocese covers much of the county of Greater Manchester and small areas of the counties of Lancashire and Cheshire.-History:...

 in 1926 under King George V

George V of the United Kingdom

George V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 through the First World War until his death in 1936....

. The current bishop is the Right Reverend Nicholas Reade

Nicholas Reade

Nicholas Stewart Reade is the current Bishop of Blackburn in the Province of York.Reade was educated at Elizabeth College, Guernsey and the University of Leeds. He was ordained in 1973 after studying at the College of the Resurrection, Mirfield. He began his ordained ministry with a curacy at St...

BA, the 8th Bishop of Blackburn, who signs +Nicholas Blackburn.

List of bishops

Bishops of Blackburn
From	Until	Incumbent	Notes
1927	1942	Percy Herbert	Translated Translation (ecclesiastical) Translation is the technical term when a Bishop is transferred from one diocese to another.This can be* From Suffragan Bishop status to Diocesan Bishop*From Coadjutor bishop to Diocesan Bishop*From one country's Episcopate to another...  from Kingston-upon-Thames Bishop of Kingston-upon-Thames The Bishop of Kingston-upon-Thames, often referred to simply as Bishop of Kingston, is an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Southwark, in the Province of Canterbury, England. The title takes its name after Kingston upon Thames, a settlement in south-west... ; nominated 18 December 1926 and confirmed 26 January 1927; translated to Norwich Bishop of Norwich The Bishop of Norwich is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Norwich in the Province of Canterbury.The diocese covers most of the County of Norfolk and part of Suffolk. The see is in the City of Norwich where the seat is located at the Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided...  22 July 1942.
1942	1954	Wilfred Askwith	Nominated 2 November and consecrated Consecration Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service, usually religious. The word "consecration" literally means "to associate with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different groups...  30 November 1942; translated to Gloucester Bishop of Gloucester The Bishop of Gloucester is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Gloucester in the Province of Canterbury.The diocese covers the County of Gloucestershire and part of the County of Worcestershire and has its see in the City of Gloucester where the seat is located at the Cathedral Church...  7 July 1954.
1954	1960	Walter Baddeley	Translated from Whitby Bishop of Whitby The Bishop of Whitby is an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of York, in the Province of York, England.The title takes its name after the town of Whitby in North Yorkshire... ; nominated 10 September and confirmed 2 October 1954; died in office 11 February 1960.
1960	1971	Charles Claxton	Translated from Warrington Bishop of Warrington The Bishop of Warrington is an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Liverpool, in the Province of York, England. The title takes its name after the town of Warrington in Cheshire.-List of the Bishops of Warrington:... ; nominated 1 July and confirmed 18 July 1960; resigned 30 November 1971; died 7 March 1992.
1972	1981	Robert Martineau Robert Martineau Robert Arnold Schürhoff Martineau was a British clergyman who was the first Bishop of Huntingdon and who was later translated to Blackburn....	Translated from Huntingdon Bishop of Huntingdon The Bishop of Huntingdon is an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Ely, in the Province of Canterbury, England. The title takes its name after Huntingdon, the historic county town of Huntingdonshire, England.... ; nominated 21 December 1971 and confirmed 24 January 1972; resigned 31 October 1981; died 28 June 1999.
1982	1989	Stewart Cross	Translated from Doncaster Bishop of Doncaster The Bishop of Doncaster is an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Sheffield, in the Province of York, England. The title takes its name after the town of Doncaster in South Yorkshire. The see is currently vacant following the retirement of the Rt Revd... ; nominated 26 January and confirmed 26 February 1982; died in office in 1989
1989	2003	Alan Chesters	Previously Archdeacon of Halifax Archdeacon of Halifax The archdeacon of Halifax is the priest in charge of the archdeaconry of Halifax, an administrative division of the Church of England Diocese of Wakefield.-History:...  since 1985; nominated and consecrated in 1989; resigned 31 March 2003.
2004	present	Nicholas Reade Nicholas Reade Nicholas Stewart Reade is the current Bishop of Blackburn in the Province of York.Reade was educated at Elizabeth College, Guernsey and the University of Leeds. He was ordained in 1973 after studying at the College of the Resurrection, Mirfield. He began his ordained ministry with a curacy at St...	Previously Archdeacon of Lewes and Hastings since 1997; nominated 4 August 2003, consecrated at York Minster York Minster York Minster is a Gothic cathedral in York, England and is one of the largest of its kind in Northern Europe alongside Cologne Cathedral. The minster is the seat of the Archbishop of York, the second-highest office of the Church of England, and is the cathedral for the Diocese of York; it is run by...  2 March 2004 and installed at Blackburn Cathedral Blackburn Cathedral Blackburn Cathedral, officially known as the Cathedral Church of Blackburn Saint Mary the Virgin, is a cathedral situated in the heart of Blackburn town centre, in Lancashire, England... 27 March 2004.
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