Audrey Spencer, Bishop of Jamaica

Born in London on 12 February 1795, Aubrey George Spencer was a descendant of the Duke of Marlborough. He originally joined the Navy but he health failed him and he was instead ordained a priest in 1819. He eventually became a Society for the Propogation of the Gospel missionary to Newfoundland, and when the climate proved too cold for him, he moved to Bermuda. However, in 1839 he accepted when he was offered the first Anglican bishopric of Newfoundland. However, he was once again troubled by ill health and in consequence obtained his translation to Jamaica where he was bishop until 1855. He then retired to England, settling in Torquay and occasionally assisting the ageing Bishop of Exeter.

Theologically, not only was he very anti-Tractarian and anti-Catholic, he also insisted on the Church of England having its ministry from the Apostles and condemned those who rejected forms and undervalued the sacraments. His last publication, A Brief Account of the Church of England, its Faith and Worship (1867) was a decidedly traditional and Protestant work.

Photographed by Disdéri of Paris.