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Archbishop
Robert Machray
Robert Machray was a
native of Scotland, born in Aberdeen on 17 May 1831 and educated at
King's College, Aberdeen, and Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge. Although
raised a Presbyterian, his mother had been an Anglican before her
marriage, and the future Primate had determined early on to become a
clergyman in the Church of England. He
was ordained deacon in Ely Cathedral on 11 November, 1855 and
Priest on 9 November, 1856. After
spending some time as a curate, he returned to Sidney College, Cambridge
as its Dean in 1858. In 1864,
when Dr. Anderson, the first bishop of Rupert's Land, resigned and
returned to England, Robert Machray was nominated to succeed him.
Appointed to the See by Queen Victoria, he was consecrated at Lambeth
Palace Chapel on June 24, 1865. He was only 34 years old, and at the time
was the youngest bishop in the Church of England. He had left the
security of Cambridge to serve a diocese that was the largest in the
world, larger in size that Europe. Fort Yukon, part of his diocese, was
2,500 miles from St. John's. The English population was scattered, and
most of the native peoples had yet to be converted to Christianity. Bishop
Mach ray embarked on the first visitation of his diocese in January,
travelling by dog sled. When Bishop Machray first met with his clergy on December 5, 1865, six
were present. A meeting of clergy and laity was held the next year, and he
expressed his desire to create a Synod. A native church must be
self-governing. In addition,
Bishop Machray wanted to provide not only education for the population
generally, but also a theological school for candidates for ordination and
for Indian catechists. He
revitalized St. John's College, which had fallen into near ruin. He was
for many years on the staff of the college, even after its incorporation
as the University of Manitoba. Indeed,
he became the first Chancellor of the University
of Manitoba (founded in 1877), and repeatedly re-elected as
chairman of the Protestant Board of Education after the secularization of
the School System in Manitoba. Though a respected educator and statesman, Bishop Machray's main concern
was, of course, the spread of the gospel in his vast diocese. With the
territory's entrance into confederation as the province of Manitoba, an
influx of immigration was expected; it was time, the Bishop believed, to
divide the diocese. By 1874 there were four dioceses where there had been
only one; in due course Bishop Machray would be named Metropolitan of the
Province which bears the name of its original diocese, "Rupert's
Land" (1875). Early in 1887, the "Association for Canadian Church Union" was
founded in London, Ontario, to promote the "consolidation" of
the Canadian Church. The idea
of forming a General Synod in Canada was discussed at the Lambeth
Conference of 1888 and the response was positive.
When a conference was held in Winnipeg in 1890 to discuss the
formation of a General Synod, Bishop Machray was chosen its chairman. On the eve of the
first General Synod, Robert Machray had been Bishop of Rupert's Land for
25 years; there were now 58 clergy in his diocese alone, there were now
five dioceses within the territory that had been his original diocese. He
was universally recognized as the Patriarch of the Western Canadian
Church, and his renown through-out the British Empire is evidenced by his
being named by Queen Victoria in 1893 Prelate of the Most Distinguished
Order of St. Michael and St. George. He
died on 9 March 1904. May his
example inspire us in our day as we strive to preserve and uphold the
principles for which he stood.
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