Herbert Hensley Henson: A Biography - Softcover

Peart-Binns, John S.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0718893026 ISBN 13: 9780718893026

Publisher: Lutterworth Press, 2013

Synopsis

John S. Peart-Binns brings us a fresh and distinctive view of Herbert Hensley Henson, the eighty-sixth Bishop of Durham, who is shown here to have formed his own character and forged his own way amidst the chaos of the shifting and unpopular labour laws, two World Wars, the abdication crisis of the twentieth century and the misconceptions of those around him.
Hensley Henson was an outspoken controversialist who never feared to assert his opinion. Peart-Binns goes beyond the traditional notions of biography - Hensley Henson's complex childhood; education at Oxford; his ministry at Ilford and Barking, Canon of Westminster and Bishop of Durham - and withal provides a rich psychological insight into the nature of the indefatigable and quick-witted though sharp-tongued figure. This perspective illuminates the Bishop's often overlooked theological thoughts and political views. The furore surrounding his appointment as Bishop of Hereford is analysed and his volte face from a formidable bulwark of the Establishment to trenchant advocate of Disestablishment is evaluated. Hensley Henson emerges clearly differing from the familiar image we have of him, which can be found in novels, newspapers and magazines of the time, and in his own autobiography. Peart-Binns provides a permanent and deserved niche for him in the history of the Church.
Herbert Hensley Henson: A Biography examines the life and times of this charismatic and astute character of the twentieth century. This work will inform those interested in the twentieth century, and delight any who are intrigued by Hensley Henson's indomitable spirit.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements
Preface

One: Precocious Prodigy
Two: Endless Searching
Three: Solid and Shifting Foundations
Four: Battlefields
Five: Towards Transforming Church and State
Six: Bishop of Hereford
Seven: A Bill Passed and an Ideal Destroyed
Eight: Herbert Dunelm
Nine: Pastoral Bishop
Ten: Collisions of Church and State
Eleven: Disestablishment and Antagonisms
Twelve: Ominous Developments
Thirteen: The Glory Departs

Bibliography

About this title

About the Author:

John S. Peart-Binns was born and brought up in Bradford and now lives with his wife Annis in Hebden Bridge in the South Pennines. He has written twenty biographies of Anglican bishops. His research has brought him a large collection of material relating to over 400 bishops (past and present) of the Church of England and of the other churches of the Anglican Communion, which now forms The Peart-Binns Episcopal Biography Archive at the University of Bradford.

Review:

Herbert Hensley Henson is John S. Peart-Binns's 20th episcopal biography, and sets the seal on his justly renowned achievement as a chronicler of the lives of Anglican bishops. His literary reputation may not be equal to that of Chadwick, but there is much in his life of Henson which will not be found in Chadwick's biography of 30 years ago. Peart-Binns can be read with profit as an admirable complement to Chadwick. (Dr. Bernard Palmer Church Times)

In this well-written biography...the author has produced a coherent and admirably accesible study of Henson.
(John Maiden 66, 02 September 2015)

...I am enormously impressed. John S. Peart-Binns brings into sharp focus material that can only be gleaned by long toil through poring over lengthy biographies and other long out-of print sources. He sheds new light on issues that have been long forgotten. (Colin Brown Hensley Henson Lecturer, 1993, University of Oxford 2014)

[Peart-Binns] research is heavily dependent on primary archival work which is demonstrated throughout. the writing style is readable and the chronology is easily followed [...] this book may interest people wanting an introduction to the church of England's history from the late Victorian era through to the end of World War II. (Edward Loane Churchman, Vol 128, Issue 3, (2014))

This book is a very good read. It is full of fascinating Church and wider English history, and the figure at the heart of it is a compelling, if not, always a comfortable or agreeable one.
(Peter M. Waddell 22:3, 2015)

About this edition

• Publisher: Lutterworth Press
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 0718893026
• ISBN 13: 9780718893026
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 212