Ian Shevill

Ian Wotton Allnutt Shevill, AO[1] (11 May 1917 – 3 November 1988) was an Australian Anglican bishop in the second half of the 20th century.[2]

Ian Shevill AO
Church	Anglican Church of Australia
Diocese	Diocese of North Queensland
Installed	23 April 1953
Term ended	1970
Predecessor	Wilfrid Belcher
Successor	John Lewis
Other posts	Bishop of Newcastle (1973–1977)
Orders
Ordination	1941
Consecration	19 April 1953 in St John's Cathedral, Brisbane
Personal details
Birth name	Ian Wotton Allnutt Shevill
Born	11 May 1917 Broken Hill, New South Wales, Australia
Died	3 November 1988 (aged 71) Auchenflower, Queensland
Spouse	June Stephenson ​ ​ (m. 1959; died 1970)​ Margaret Ann Brabazon ​ ​ (m. 1974)​

Early life and education

Ian Shevill was educated at Scot's College, Sydney and Sydney University,[3] then Moore Theological College and the Australian College of Theology.[4]

Ordained ministry

Shevill was ordained in 1941[5] and his first position was as a curate of St Paul's Burwood, New South Wales.[6] From 1948 to 1953 he worked for the Society for the Propagation of Gospel.

In 1953, he was ordained to the episcopate as Bishop of North Queensland, a post he held for 17 years. He was enthroned on 23 April 1953 in the St James' Cathedral, Townsville.[7] Shevill was nicknamed 'the boy bishop' as he was only 34 when he became bishop of North Queensland, the world's youngest Anglican Bishop.[8]

In 1970, Shevill's wife died and he became Secretary of the United Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in London. In 1973 he returned to Australia and was enthroned as Bishop of Newcastle[9] on 6 August 1973.[10]

Shevill retired in 1977 following a stroke[8] and died on 3 November 1988. He opened Bible House, Townsville, on 7 November 1964 with Canon H.M. Arrowsmith and Preston Walker of the British and Foreign Bible Society.[11]

Author

Shevill was an author, both during his work and after his retirement. Amongst others he wrote New Dawn in Papua (1946); Pacific Conquest (1948); God’s World at Prayer (1951); Orthodox and other Eastern Churches in Australia (1964); Going it with God (1969); One Man’s Meditations (1982); O, My God (1982); Between Two Sees (1988) and an autobiography, Half Time (1966) while bishop in Townsville

Personal life

Shevill married June Stephenson, an English missionary he had met in New Guinea, in 1959;[4] she died in 1970. He married again in 1974 to Margaret Ann Brabazon at Bishopscourt Chapel in Darling Point, Sydney.[4]

The then Bishop of Newcastle, Greg Thompson, reported in 2015 that he had been sexually abused by Shevill as a young man when he was 19 and interested in the priesthood.[12]

References

1. "Ian Wotton Allnutt Shevill AO". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Retrieved 24 February 2012.
2. Church news New bishop for Australia, The Times, 22 December 1972; pg. 15; Issue 58663; col E
3. Who was Who 1987-1990: London, A & C Black, 1991, ISBN 0-7136-3457-X
4. Kidd, Alex (2012). "Shevill, Ian Wotton Allnutt (1917–1988)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Melbourne University Press. ISSN 1833-7538. Retrieved 15 January 2017 – via National Centre of Biography, Australian National University.
5. Crockford's Clerical Directory 1975-76 London: Oxford University Press, 1976 ISBN 0-19-200008-X
6. Church website
7. "BISHOP SHEVILL ENTHRONED". Townsville Daily Bulletin. LXXIII. Queensland, Australia. 24 April 1953. p. 1. Retrieved 20 January 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
8. McCarthy, Joanne (27 August 2014). "'Charming' Bishop Shevill's abuse link". The Newcastle Herald. Retrieved 15 January 2017.
9. Diocesan History
10. "DIOCESE OF NEWCASTLE.—In pursuance of the provisions". Government Gazette Of The State Of New South Wales (105). New South Wales, Australia. 17 August 1973. p. 3550. Retrieved 20 January 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
11. Bible to thousands: fulfilling the vision with the Bible Society in Australia 1963 to 1979, S. Preston Walker, 2005, ISBN 9780646521473
12. McCarthy, Joanne (26 October 2015). "Anglican bishop Greg Thompson sexually abused by late Bishop Ian Shevill". The Newcastle Herald. Retrieved 15 January 2017.