Edward White Benson
1829-1896. Archbishop of Canterbury from 1882. Born at Birmingham, he studied at King Edward's School and at Trinity, Cambridge. An assistant master at Rugby (1852), he was ordained later and became first headmaster of Wellington College (1859-72). He was consecrated first bishop of Truro (1877), and was appointed to Canterbury partly because of his friendship with W.E. Gladstone.* A zealous churchman, he defended the principle of establishment, vigorously opposing the disestablishment of the Welsh Church (1893). In 1890 he gave an important judgment at the trial of Edward King, bishop of Lincoln, charged with ritual offenses, in which he countenanced High Church usages, e.g., the “eastward position,” and use of candles at the Eucharist.