AUCKLAND'S NEW BISHOP.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXIII, Issue 308, 29 December 1902, Page 4

AUCKLAND'S NEW BISHOP.

THE APPOINTMENT OF THE || REV. M. R. NELIGAN. ','

(From Our Special Correspondent.) i

LONDON, November 21, 1902. Beading- this morning the trusty. Renter's announcement that the Bey. Moore Richard Neligan, Vicar of St. Stephen's, Westbourne - park, had been appointed Bishop of Auckland, I hastened to the crescent, where, the centre of a somewhat drab region, the high spire of St. Stephen's rises tall and elegant. I was not fortunate enough to run the new bishop to earth, so I cannot give you a pen picture of him until uext week, but lifter a little hunting I found a coworker at home, from whom I gleaned some idea of what manner of man Auckland's new bishop is. Mr Neligan, who is about 40, is the son of the Bey. Maurice Neligan, a well-known Irish evangelical clergyman, till recently Canon of Christ Church Cathedral, and. incumbent of Christ Church, Leeson-park. Dublin. He was educated at Beading School, and at Trinity College, Dublin, from which he graduated in 18S4. After a brief experience as a schoolmaster at Ipswich, be was ordained deacon and priest in 18S6 and 18S7 by the Archbishop of York (Dr. Thomson), his first curacy being that of St. Paul's, Sculcoates, Hull. After being for a short time curate of Dereham, a quiet Norfolk village, whera eGorge Borrow, tbe author, and Woolaston, tbe chemist, were born, and Cowper, the poet, buried, be became in 1890 curate of Christ Church, Lancaster-gate, under its. present vicar, Prebendary Ridgeway. Four years--later be was appointed to tha vicarage of St. Stephen, Westbourne- vpark, where his work has been high, ly successful. The "Times" "The lines on which it lias been carried on augur well for the new Bishop's usefulness, in New Zealand. Ha is a moderate churchman anxious to promote bright services without extravagant ritual. He has been a keen educationalist, and the Church schools of his parish have been, brought at great expense to a high state of efficiency. Few men have been more successful in attracting" and retaining the loyal co-operation of tbe laity, and he can boast that many thousands ■of pounds contributed to St. Stephen's during bis incumbency have been entirely administer and accounted for by bis lay colleagues and not by himself. His acceptance of episcopal office in the colonies is in accordance with the zeal which be displayed in fostering the missionary spirit at Home. Together witb the Bey. .J. H.-J-. Ellison, vicar of Vv T mdsor, he is largely responsible for the development of that spirit in recent years amo;;g tbe younger clergy connected '.with the S:P.G.,'atid be is the chairman of the federation of the younger clergy missionary association."

He is a-.typical Irisbman, vvith all the Irish humour and bonhomie, and a great gift of keeping those with! whom he is brought into contact in a good humour. Although he is a small man, be bas a sonorous bass voice, that carries well, and be is a forcible and eloquent preacher, delivering vig-t orous.and practical sermons with a strong element of. the emotional in them, apd "good . strong . definite. Church teaching." He always draws a crowded congregation; and the long line of sidesmen' every' service testifies' to the interest which be induces bis laity to' take in tbe work of the Church. Mr Neligan makes a point of always keeping -in touch witb the laity, and at tbe annual laymen's meeting he takes . counsel with them about the welfare of fh'e parish and bears and discusses the reports of the secretaries and treasurers of tbe various parochial institutions. Perhaps his forte is bis educational work, and his great achievement the maintenance of t .c voluntary schools which were built at a cost of £11,000, raised in tbe parish, and which received the highest grant which it is possible to get from the Government for efficiency. My informant described him as "a born teacher," and said that bis strong point is his work amongst children, who are every day brought- to the parish church and catechised by the vicar himself, and to whom he delivers very bright addresses. lie never appears to better advantage than when he is holding instruction classes for Communion and Confirmation candidates. As an organiser, too, he has great ability. He is chairman of the junior clergy federation of the S.P.G., and played an active pa*t in the formation of tbe Church of Engljuid's Men's Society, which has absorber! most of the associations of the kind, and in which the Bishops of London and Stepney are keenly interested. Mr Neligan is assisted at- St. Stephen's by two curates.

His wife is. tbe daughter of Mr Edmond Macrory, K.C., and lias taken great interest hi the missionary work of the parish, holding- herself a Bibleclass for women.

They have three children — two girls and a boy. The date of Mr Neligan's departure is not yet decided upon, but it will probwblv not b» before February. ' ' •*