The Bishop of Bedford is an episcopal title used by a Church of England suffragan bishop who, under the direction of the Diocesan Bishop of St Albans, oversees 150 parishes in Luton and Bedfordshire. in the east of the City of London. The suffragan was always intended to take responsibility for the East End; by 1887 this meant the rural deaneries of Spitalfields, of Hackney and of Stepney. To these were added the rural deaneries of Islington, Shoreditch, St Sepulchre (the part outside the City), and Enfield in 1888, such that the bishop's area became known as "East and North London" — i.e. the east and north of the then-County of London (inside the diocese). Billing called himself Bishop-Suffragan for East London, and this responsibility passed to the Bishop of Stepney (which See was newly-erected under the Suffragans Nomination Act 1888) on Billing's resignation of his London duties in 1895. How was resident at Stainforth House, Upper Clapton by 1887;
List of the Bishops of Bedford
{| class="wikitable" style="width:95%;"
|-
! colspan="4" style="background-color: #7F1734; color: white;" | Bishops of Bedford
|-
! style="background-color: #D4B1BB; width: 10%;" | From
! style="background-color: #D4B1BB; width: 10%;" | Until
! style="background-color: #D4B1BB; width: 33%;" | Incumbent
! style="background-color: #D4B1BB; width: 42%;" | Notes
|- valign="top" style="background-color: white;"
| style="text-align: center;" | 1537
| style="text-align: center;" | 1560
| John Hodgkins
| Deprived by Queen Mary I; died in office.
|- valign="top" style="background-color: #F7F0F2;"
| style="text-align: center;" | 1560
| style="text-align: center;" | 1879
| colspan="2" | in abeyance
|- valign="top" style="background-color: white;"
| style="text-align: center;" | 1879
| style="text-align: center;" | 1888
| Walsham How
| Suffragan for the East End; translated to Wakefield.
|- valign="top" style="background-color: #F7F0F2;"
| style="text-align: center;" | 1888
| style="text-align: center;" | 1898
| Robert Billing
| Suffragan for East and North London; resigned duties in 1895, retaining the see until his death.
|- valign="top" style="background-color: white;"
| style="text-align: center;" | 1898
| style="text-align: center;" | 1935
| colspan="2" | in abeyance
|- valign="top" style="background-color: #F7F0F2;"
| style="text-align: center;" | 1935
| style="text-align: center;" | 1939
| Lumsden Barkway
| Translated to St Andrews, Dunkeld & Dunblane.
|- valign="top" style="background-color: white;"
| style="text-align: center;" | 1939
| style="text-align: center;" | 1942
| Alymer Skelton
| Previously Archdeacon of St Albans; translated to Lincoln.
|- valign="top" style="background-color: #F7F0F2;"
| style="text-align: center;" | 1948
| style="text-align: center;" | 1953
| Thomas Wood
| Previously Archdeacon of St Albans.
|- valign="top" style="background-color: white;"
| style="text-align: center;" | 1953
| style="text-align: center;" | 1957
| Campbell MacInnes
| Translated to Jerusalem.
|- valign="top" style="background-color: #F7F0F2;"
| style="text-align: center;" | 1957
| style="text-align: center;" | 1962
| Basil Guy
| Translated to Gloucester.
|- valign="top" style="background-color: white;"
| style="text-align: center;" | 1963
| style="text-align: center;" | 1968
| John Trillo
| Translated to Hertford then Chelmsford.
|- valign="top" style="background-color: #F7F0F2;"
| style="text-align: center;" | 1968
| style="text-align: center;" | 1976
| John Hare
| Previously Archdeacon of Bedford; died in office.
|- valign="top" style="background-color: white;"
| style="text-align: center;" | 1977
| style="text-align: center;" | 1981
| Alec Graham
| Translated to Newcastle.
|- valign="top" style="background-color: #F7F0F2;"
| style="text-align: center;" | 1981
| style="text-align: center;" | 1993
| David Farmbrough
| Previously Archdeacon of St Albans.
|- valign="top" style="background-color: white;"
| style="text-align: center;" | 1994
| style="text-align: center;" | 2002
| John Richardson
| Translated to honorary assistant bishop. Living
|- valign="top" style="background-color: #F7F0F2;"
| style="text-align: center;" | 2003
| style="text-align: center;" | 2012
| Richard Inwood
| Previously Archdeacon of Halifax. Translated to Southwell and Nottingham
|- valign="top" style="background-color: white;"
| style="text-align: center;" | 2012
| style="text-align: center;" | present
| Richard Atkinson
| Previously Archdeacon of Leicester.
|- valign="top" style="background-color: #F7F0F2;"
|align="center" colspan="4"| Source(s):
|}
References
External links
- Crockford's Clerical Directory - Listings