Alwyn Terrell Petre Williams

Who was Alwyn Terrell Petre Williams?

Alwyn Terrell Petre Williams was Bishop of Durham and then Bishop of Winchester.

He was educated at Rossall School and then went up to Jesus College, Oxford, where he had a remarkable career. He was a Scholar of his college and took a Triple First in Classical Moderations, Greats, and Modern History, having won the Gladstone Historical Essay in 1909. He was elected a Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford for the period 1911–18.

He was ordained deacon in 1913 and priest in 1914 and soon moved to Winchester College, where he was Assistant Master, Second Master, and Headmaster, having meanwhile been appointed an Honorary Canon of Winchester Cathedral in 1928 and Chaplain to King George V in 1931, both of which he gave up in 1934, when he was then appointed Dean of Christ Church, Oxford. He remained there until 1939, when he was elevated to the Episcopate, as Bishop of Durham 1939-52 and Bishop of Winchester and Prelate to the Most Noble Order of the Garter 1952–61. He was also the Chairman of the committee that eventually produced the New English Bible. An unobtrusive but much respected cleric, he retired to Bridport and died seven years later, his funeral service being at Winchester Cathedral.