The Right Reverend Michael Hartley Eldon
It was said that Bishop Markham’s “crowning achievement was that a Bahamian succeeded him in the See of Nassau and The Bahamas”. The first Bahamian Bishop (and eleventh Bishop) of Nassau and The Bahamas was the Right Reverend Michael Hartley Eldon. Bishop Eldon and his mother, Mrs. Rowena Eldon lived in the House until 1990. The Reverend John Taylor has…
The Right Reverend Bernard Markham
The last English Bishop of Nassau was Bishop Bernard Markham who lived at Addington House from 1962 to 1972. The house was re-roofed and refurbished during his time. The West Building became the administrative centre for the Diocese and the upper story was used as a conference room. Markham was an anti-colonialist who did much to prepare the Church and…
The Right Reverend Spence Burton
The only American to serve as Bishop of Nassau, the Right Reverend Spence Burton, took up residence in 1942. Bishop Burton was a monk of the Society of St. John the Evangelist, and was the Superior of the American branch of the Order. He had already served as Suffragan Bishop of Haiti. Although he was unmarried, the tradition of open…
The Reverend John Dauglish
When Bishop Shedden retired in 1931, the Synod elected a former Royal Navy Chaplain, the Reverend John Dauglish to succeed him. Bishop Dauglish moved into Addington House in 1932 and his mother lived with him for the first four years of his time in Nassau before she passed away. Bishop Dauglish is remembered as an efficient administrator and one who…
The Right Reverend Roscow Shedden
The Right Reverend Roscow Shedden and his sister Miss Evelyn Shedden were the next occupants of Addington House. Fr. Shedden had been selected to replace the Reverend G.H. Brown, who had been elected by the Diocesan Synod but had died in the terrible influenza epidemic of 1918 before he could be consecrated. At the time of Shedden’s consecration as Bishop,…
The Right Reverend Wilfred Bird Hornby
One of Bishop Edward Churton’s friends was the Right Reverend Wilfred Bird Hornby, the Bishop of Nyasaland. Hornby visited the Churtons in Nassau in 1899 and visited many of the islands to assist Bishop Edward Churton who was already in poor health. When Henry Churton died, Bishop Hornby, who was already known and loved by many in the Diocese, was…
The Right Reverend Henry Noris Churton
Bishop Edward Churton’s wife passed away in 1890, and his younger brother the Reverend Henry Noris Churton, who was already a widower, came to Nassau to assist his brother in the work of the Diocese. He became Archdeacon of The Bahamas and treasurer of the Diocese. The older brother resigned because of illness in 1900, and the younger brother eventually…
The Right Reverend Edward Townson Churton
The Right Reverend Edward Townson Churton, who was Bishop from 1886 to 1900, followed the Cramer-Roberts family at Addington House. ‘The Lord Edward’ as Bishop Edward Churton came to be known, arrived in Nassau in March 1886, after having been shipwrecked on the voyage out. In April of that year, he wrote how he had brought the Priest from Governor’s…
The Right Reverend Francis Alexander Randall Cramer-Roberts
In honour of the late Bishop Addington Venables the house on Bishop Hill was renamed Addington House and became the home of the next Bishop, the Right Reverend Francis Alexander Randall Cramer-Roberts and his wife. Bishop Cramer-Roberts’ period in Nassau was a peaceful time after the turmoil of Bishop Venables’ tenure. Although he achieved much in consolidating the work of…
The Right Reverend Addington Robert Peel Venables
By the time Bishop Caulfeild’s successor arrived in Nassau, the question arose as to where the new Bishop should live. The choice for bishop had fallen on the Reverend Addington Robert Peel Venables, a member of a powerful and wealthy family. (Sir Robert Peel, who has twice served as Prime Minister of Great Britain, was the Bishop’s uncle and guardian).…