Ernest Anderson

Who was Ernest Anderson?

Ernest Augustus Anderson was installed in Hay, New South Wales as the second Anglican Bishop of the Diocese of Riverina, New South Wales Australia, on 11 February 1896, at a time of financial difficulty for the church.

Anderson was born in Milton Damerel, Devon, England and educated at Bedford School. He went to North Queensland as a mission preacher in 1882.

Because of the continuing drought and rabbit plague, station owners no longer had the means of supporting the church, which meant that clergy had to work for almost nothing. Anderson's episcopate was also a time of conflict between the bishop and his clergy and the clergy and their parishioners.

By the turn of the century, new towns were flourishing throughout the Riverina, as the growing wheat industry gave the district a much needed economic boost. Anderson retired from active ministry in 1925, leaving twice as many parishes in the diocese as he took over originally.