Sydney Linton

Sydney Linton (2 July 1841 – 15 May 1894)^[1] was the first Anglican Bishop of Riverina.^[2]

Life

The son of the Rev. Henry Linton, Vicar of St Peter-le-Bailey, Oxford,^[3] he was educated at Wadham College, Oxford,^[4] ordained in 1867^[5] and held incumbencies at Holy Trinity, Oxford,^[6] and St Philip, Norwich (from 1877 until his elevation to the Episcopate). He played first-class cricket at Oxford for the university club.^[7]

Linton was consecrated on 1 May 1884 at St Paul's Cathedral, London,^[8] and on 15 January 1885 he set sail for Australia with his family.^[9] Upon his arrival he travelled through Melbourne, Sydney and Goulburn before travelling west to Hay, the site of the proposed bishopric. Linton was formally installed as the Bishop of Riverina in the old St Paul's Church at Hay by the incumbent, the Reverend James Macarthur, on 18 March 1885. The new St Paul's Church - the pro-cathedral of the new diocese - was completed by the end of 1885.^[10]

Throughout his service, Linton toured extensively around the Riverina diocese's parishes and was instrumental in setting up the first synod for the Church of England in Australia in 1887. Linton made the last of his journeys throughout the diocese during 1894, before suddenly falling ill. He died later in Melbourne. The second diocesan bishop found the diocese in a somewhat ailing financial state.

Family

Linton married Isabella, eldest daughter of Charles Abel Heurtley.^[11] He was the great grandfather of Martin Linton, who was the Member of Parliament for Battersea in London, England, from 1997 to 2010.

Notes

1. Cable, K. J. "Linton, Sydney (1841–1894)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Canberra: Australian National University. Retrieved 15 November 2012.
2. ECCLESIASTICAL INTELLIGENCE The Morning Post (London, England), Thursday, 24 May 1894; pg. 6; Issue 38050. 19th Century British Library Newspapers: Part II.
3. Mennell, Philip (1892). " Linton, Right Rev. Sydney". The Dictionary of Australasian Biography. London: Hutchinson & Co. Wikisource 
4. The Times, Monday, 19 Dec 1864; pg. 6; Issue 25059; col D University Intelligence. Oxford, 17 Dec..
5. The Times, Tuesday, 19 Mar 1867; pg. 12; Issue 25762; col D Ordinations. Glocester And Bristol.
6. Jackson's Oxford Journal (Oxford, England), Saturday, 12 February 1876; Issue 6411
7. ESPNcricinfo profile
8. The Times, Friday, 2 May 1884; pg. 4; Issue 31123; col E Consecration Of Two Bishops
9. Australia Trove
10. In a Strange Land: A History of the Anglican Diocese of Riverina by Laurel Clyde (Hawthorn Press, Melbourne: 1979)
11.  Lee, Sidney, ed. (1901). "Heurtley, Charles Abel". Dictionary of National Biography (1st supplement) 1. London: Smith, Elder & Co.