George Merrick Long

Infobox Military Person
name= George Merrick Long
lived= 5 November 1874 - Death date and age|1930|7|9|1874|11|5|df=yes
placeofbirth= Carisbrook, Victoria
placeofdeath= England


caption=
nickname=
allegiance= Australian Army
serviceyears= 1917-1918
rank= Brigadier General
commands=
unit=
battles= World War I
awards= Commander of the Order of the British Empire
laterwork=
Brigadier General George Merrick Long CBE (5 November 1874 - 9 July 1930) was an Anglican Bishop who served as an Australian Army Brigadier General in World War I. He was the father of Gavin Long, the historian.

Early life and career

George Merrick Long was born on 5 November 1874 in Carisbrook, Victoria. He was educated at Maryborough Grammar School. He later matriculated and was awarded the Rupertswood theological studentship to Trinity College at the University of Melbourne from which he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1899 and a Master of Arts in 1901.

Long became a deacon on 28 May 1899 and a priest on 10 June 1900. In 1899 he was posted to the district of Foster in Gippsland. Long later returned to Melbourne to become senior curate at Holy Trinity Church, Kew. Here he became involved with the foundation of Trinity Grammar School and becoming its headmaster in 1904. Long served on several diocesan committees and was made a canon of St Pauls Cathedral in 1910. In May 1911 he was elected to the see of Bathurst, New South Wales and was consecrated on 30 November 1911 at St Andrew's Cathedral in Sydney. For his services, Long was awarded a Lambeth degree of Doctor of Divinity by the Archbishop of Canterbury.

World War I

Long joined the First Australian Imperial Force on 16 November 1917 as an Anglican chaplain. He sailed for London in January 1918 and was posted to the Australian Reinforcement Camp in France in April 1918. There he was approached by Major General White to head the AIF's education project. Long accepted the post of Director of Education, AIF on 10 May 1918 and was promoted to lieutenant colonel on 1 June 1918.

Long established himself in London, Long drew up a scheme for professional, general and technical training to be conducted by teaching within the AIF and by sending men out to universities, schools and businesses. Officers with instructional experience was selected and assembled for three weeks training at the University of Cambridge. In three weeks at Cambridge, Kelly produced the books Beef, Mutton and Wool, the first of a series of fifteen texts written by Long's agricultural section.

Post war

When the war ended on 11 November 1918 Long was forced to put the education scheme into full effect earlier than expected. Long was promoted to colonel and temporary brigadier general on 1 January 1919. In March, with the scheme in fully unerway, Long's health began to suffer and in April he handed over control to Major General McNicoll. For his services, Long was awarded honorary Doctor of Letters (LLD) degrees by universities of Cambridge and Manchester and was appointed a Companion of the British Empire (CBE).

In July 1919, Long returned to his diocese, where he continued his involvement with education. He restarted All Saints College in Bathurst on a new site, opened the Marsden School for Girls at Kelso. Long was grand chaplain of the United Grand Lodge from 1923 to 1926. He drafted a new constitution for the Church of England in Australia, making it independent of the church in Britain. Long advocated the White Australia Policy. Long was elected bishop of Newcastle in December 1927 and was enthroned on 1 May 1928.

Long went to England in March 1930 to attend the Lambeth Conference in London. There he suffered a cerebral haemorrhage and died on 9 July 1930. His requiem was celebrated by Archbishop Cosmo Lang before 300 bishops and his ashes returned to New South Wales and placed in All Saint's Cathedral in Bathurst. He was commemorated in Christ Church Cathedral, Newcastle, where a window of its Tyrrel chapel contains his portrait.

ee also

List of Australian Generals

References

* [http://www.unsw.adfa.edu.au/%7Ermallett/Generals/index.html George Merrick Long Biography] in "General Officers of the First AIF"
* [http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A100126b.htm George Merrick Long Biography] in "Australian Dictionary of Biography"