Mathew Blagden Hale | |
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Bishop of Brisbane | |
Mathew Hale
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Personal details | |
Birth name | Mathew Blagden Hale |
Born |
Alderley, Gloucestershire |
18 August 1811
Died | 3 April 1895 Clifton, Bristol |
(aged 83)
Nationality | British Australian |
Denomination | Anglican |
Parents | Robert H. Blagden Hale and Lady Theodosia Hale (née Bourke) |
Spouse | Sabina Hale |
Occupation | Bishop |
Education | Trinity College, Cambridge |
Mathew Blagden Hale (18 June 1811 – 3 April 1895), very frequently spelled "Matthew", was the first Bishop of Perth and then the Bishop of Brisbane.
Hale is recognised for seeking to empower the South Australian Aboriginals through his work in the Poonindie mission, establishing the Anglican Diocese of Perth and Hale School. Hale also served as Bishop of Perth and Brisbane.
Mathew Blagden Hale was born on 18 June 1811 at Alderley, Gloucestershire, the third son of Robert H. Blagden Hale (5 May 1780 – 20 December 1855) and Lady Theodosia Hale (née Bourke). His maternal grandfather was The Earl of Mayo, Lord Archbishop of Tuam. After completing his education at Wotton-under-Edge, he attended Trinity College, Cambridge, and obtained his B.A. in 1835 and M.A. in 1838. During his time at Cambridge he met Harold Browne and they became life long friends. Both came under the influence of Charles Simeon who celebrated fifty years of evangelical ministry at (Holy) Trinity Church in 1832. The antislavery movement driven by William Wilberforce also influenced Hale and he wanted to minister to the newly emancipated slaves, particularly in the West Indies, but was not encouraged to do so neither by his family nor by the missionary society working in that region. Hale was ordained a deacon in the Church of England in 1836, and priest in 1837 by the Bishop of Bristol and Gloucester. From 1836 to 1838 he was curate of Tresham. In 1838 he acted as curate of Wootton-under-Edge, then from 1839 to 1845 Perpetual Curate of Stroud, an expanding woollen-cloth manufacturing centre in Gloucestershire. In 1840 Hale married Sophia Clode, with whom he would have three children, the eldest of whom died in infancy. Sophia died in early 1845 followed by Hale’s mother a few months later. Hale had an emotional breakdown and resigned. Subsequently he served briefly as Rector of Alderley in 1845 and 1846, and then as Perpetual Curate of Atworth with Wraxhill in 1846 and 1847.