William Temple (bishop)

The Most Reverend and Right Honourable William Temple
Archbishop of Canterbury
Church	Church of England
Appointed	1 April 1942 (nominated)
Installed	17 April 1942 (confirmed)
Term ended	26 October 1944 (his death)
Predecessor	Cosmo Lang
Successor	Geoffrey Fisher
Other post(s)	Bishop of Manchester (1921–1929) Archbishop of York (1929–1942)
Orders
Ordination	1909 (deacon), 1910 (priest) by Randall Davidson
Consecration	25 January 1921
Personal details
Born	15 October 1881 Exeter, England
Died	26 October 1944 (aged 63) Westgate-on-Sea, England
Buried	Canterbury Cathedral
Denomination	Anglicanism
Spouse	Frances Anson ​ (m. 1916)​
Alma mater	Balliol College, Oxford
Signature

William Temple (15 October 1881 – 26 October 1944) was an English Anglican priest who served as Bishop of Manchester (1921–1929), Archbishop of York (1929–1942) and Archbishop of Canterbury (1942–1944).

The son of an Archbishop of Canterbury, Temple had a traditional education after which he was briefly a lecturer at the University of Oxford before becoming headmaster of Repton School from 1910 to 1914. After serving as a parish priest in London from 1914 to 1917 and as a canon of Westminster Abbey, he was appointed Bishop of Manchester in 1921. He worked for improved social conditions for workers and for closer ties with other Christian Churches. Despite being a socialist, he was nominated by the Conservative government for the Archbishopric of York in 1928 and took office the following year. In 1942 he was translated to be Archbishop of Canterbury, and died in post after two and a half years, aged 63.

Temple was admired and respected for his scholarly writing, his inspirational teaching and preaching, for his constant concern for those in need or under persecution, and for his willingness to stand up on their behalf to governments at home and abroad.