History

The see was founded in 1633 by King Charles 1: William Forbes was consecrated in St. Giles Cathedral as its first bishop on 23 January 1634 though he died later that year. The General Assembly of 1638 deposed Bishop David Lindsay and all the other bishops, so the next, George Wishart, was consecrated in 1662 after the Restoration. In 1690 it was Bishop Alexander Rose (1687-1720) whose unwelcome reply to King William III led to the disestablishment of the Scottish Episcopalians as Jacobite sympathisers, and it was he who led his congregation from St. Giles to a former wool store as their meeting house.

After the repeal of the penal laws in 1792 and the reuniting of Episcopal and ‘Qualified’ congregations, the Diocese grew under the leadership of Bishops Daniel Sandford, James Walker, C.H. Terrot and Henry Cotterill. The high point of the 19th Century was the consecration of St. Mary’s Cathedral in 1879.

Bishop Edward Luscombe’s The Scottish Episcopal Church in the Twentieth Century, 1996, contains much that is relevant to the Diocese.

The present Bishop is Brian Smith who was installed on 23rd June 2001.

For more general information on the history of the Scottish Episcopal Church see http://www.scotland.anglican.org/about/history/

Bishops of the Diocese of Edinburgh:

Historical succession:

1634 William Forbes
1634 David Lindsay
1662 George Wishart
1672 Alexander Young
1679 John Paterson
1687 Alexander Rose
1720 John Fullarton
1727 Arthur Millar
1727 Andrew Lumsden
1733 David Freebairn
(1739-76) See Vacant
1776 William Falconer
1787 William Abernethy Drummond
1806 Daniel Sandford
1830 James Walker
1841 Charles Hughes Terrot
1872 Henry Cotterill
1886 John Dowden
1910 George Henry Somerset Walpole
1929 Harry Seymour Reid
1939 Ernest Denny Logie Danson
1947 Kenneth Charles Harman Warner
1961 Kenneth Moir Carey
1975 Alastair Iain Macdonald Haggart
1986 Richard Frederick Holloway
2001 Brian Arthur Smith

The Right Revd Brian Smith
Born 1943. Edinburgh University MA 1966. Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge BA 1968, MA 1972. Jesus College, Cambridge MLitt 1973. Wescott House Cambridge 1966. Deacon 1972. Priest 1973. Curate Cuddesdon, Diocese of Oxford 1972-79. Tutor and Librarian Cuddesdon College 1972-1975. Director of Studies 1975-78. Senior Tutor Ripon College, Cuddesdon 1978-79. Director of Training 1979-87. Priest in Charge, Halifax St. John 1979-85. Hon. Canon of Wakefield Cathedral 1981-1987. Archdeacon of Craven, Diocese of Bradford 1987-93. Consecrated Bishop 2nd November 1993. Suffragan Bishop of Tonbridge, Diocese of Rochester 1993-2001. Installed Bishop in Diocese of Edinburgh 23rd June 2001.