Place of birth: Nassau, The Bahamas
Year of matriculation at St Catharine’s (Catz): 1949
Subject: Theology
Catz connection:
- He was mentored by alumnus A.F. Adderley (1912. Law), the College’s earliest Black student on record.
- He won a Special Grant from the College’s John’s Fund in 1951.
- He was awarded Bishop Graham Brown’s Prize for Ordinands by the College in 1952.
- He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in theology in 1952.
Life before Catz:
He grew up with a calling to be a priest at a very young age, often holding funeral services for family pets and other services with just his sister Keva (later Dr Keva Bethel, an alumna of Girton College, Cambridge) in attendance. He was educated at Queen’s College, where he distinguished himself as both a sprinter and a scholar, rising to Head Boy.
Life after Catz:
After graduation, he prepared for ordination at St Stephen’s House, an Anglican theological college in Oxford. On his return to The Bahamas in 1954, he was ordained a deacon – 17 days before his 23rd birthday and the canonical age for the diaconate (he was given a special dispensation for the ordination by the Bishop). He was ordained a priest the next year.
A series of appointments followed during the 1960s: he was appointed Parish Priest of Grand Bahama in 1962, he was made Rural Dean of the Northern Bahamas in 1965 and he was appointed Archdeacon of Grand Bahama in 1967. While in Grand Bahama, he served as a teacher and probation officer, and became Chairman of the Grand Bahama Christian Council.
He became Bishop Suffragan of New Providence in 1971 and was unanimously elected the eleventh Bishop of Nassau and The Bahamas in 1972 – the first Bahamian Bishop of the Diocese, then known as Nassau and The Bahamas including The Turks and Caicos Islands.
He was also the Founding Chairman of the Council of the College of The Bahamas for twenty years, overseeing the development of the College from community college to four-year institution, and laying the foundation for its further expansion and its progress towards university status.
He was created a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) by Queen Elizabeth II in 1984. The Government of The Bahamas awarded him The Bahamas Order of Merit in 1996, which also marked his year of retirement and his 25th anniversary as bishop.
