William Austin

Who was William Austin?

William Piercy Austin was the inaugural and long serving Bishop of Guyana from 1842 until his death. Educated at Exeter College, Oxford and ordained in 1831 he was in rapid succession Curate, Vicar and Rural Dean of Georgetown, Guyana, then Archdeacon and Bishop. He was consecrated as first Bishop of Guyana on 24 August 1842. In the words of the youthful Queen Victoria, he was "the youngest and handsomest of my Bishops."

In 1883 he was appointed Primate of the West Indies and in 1891 Prelate of the Order of St Michael and St George.