William Walsham How

William Walsham How (December 13, 1823 - August 10, 1897) was an English bishop.

The son of a Shrewsbury solicitor, How was educated at Shrewsbury School and Wadham College, Oxford. He was ordained in 1846, and for upwards of thirty years was actively engaged in parish work at Whittington in Shropshire and Oswestry (rural dean, 1860). He refused preferment on several occasions, but his energy and success made him well known, and in 1879 he became a suffragan bishop in London, under the title of bishop of Bedford, his province being the East End.

There he became the inspiring influence of a revival of church work. He founded the East London Church Fund, and enlisted a large band of enthusiastic helpers, his popularity among all classes being immense. He was particularly fond of children, and was commonly called the children's bishop.

In 1888 he was made bishop of Wakefield, and in the north of England he continued to do valuable work. His sermons were straightforward, earnest and attractive; and besides publishing several volumes of these, he wrote a good deal of verse, including such well-known hymns as "Who is this so weak and helpless", "Lord, Thy children guide and keep" and "For All the Saints".

In 1863-1868 he brought out a "Commentary on the Four Gospels" and he also wrote a manual for the Holy Communion. Published by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge during the 1890s under the title "Holy Communion, Preparation and Companion...together with the Collects, Epistles and Gospels" this book was widely distributed and many copies still survive today. In the movement for infusing new spiritual life into the church services, especially among the poor, How was a great force. He was much helped in his earlier work by his wife, Frances A Douglas (d. 1887).

See his "Life" by his son, FD How (1898).

Bishop How burnt a copy of Thomas Hardy's novel "Jude the Obscure". The burning took place during the summer and Hardy, noted for his thrift, was said to have been outraged that the bishop wasted the firewood rather than waiting until the winter when the fire would be needed anyway. However, as "the Bishop of Wakefield announced that he had thrown "such garbage" onto his fire", and this is recorded as happening in May (when it might have been cold in Wakefield), the firewood may not have been needed for burning the book only, but for warming his house.

References

*1911

reference:Wikipedia entry re Thomas Hardy