Bill Down

{{Short description|British Anglican bishop (1934–2025)}} {{distinguish|Bill Downe}} {{Use British English|date=April 2026}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}} {{Infobox Christian leader | name = Bill Down | title = Assistant Bishop of Leicester | diocese = Diocese of Leicester | term = 1995–2001 | predecessor = Godfrey Ashby | successor = John Austin | other_post = Bishop of Bermuda (1990–1995)<br />Honorary assistant bishop in Oxford (2001–2021) | ordination = 1959 (deacon); 1960 (priest) | consecration = 1990  | birth_date = 15 July 1934 | birth_place = Surrey, {{nowrap|United Kingdom}} | nationality = British | religion = Anglican | parents = William & Beryl Down | spouse = Sylvia Aves (m. 1960) | children = 2 sons; 2 daughters | occupation = | profession = Missionary; writer | alma_mater = St John's College, Cambridge | death_date = 4 February 2025 (aged 90) | death_place = Oxford, United Kingdom }}

'''William John Denbigh Down''' (15 July 1934 – 4 February 2025) was a British cleric who was the ninth Bishop of Bermuda and later the Assistant Bishop of Leicester.

==Biography== Educated at St John's College, Cambridge, Down was ordained in 1960. His first post was as a curate at St Paul's Church, Salisbury, after which he was secretary to the Missions to Seaman, chaplain of St Michael Paternoster Royal,<ref>''Crockford's clerical directory, 1995'', Lambeth, Church House {{ISBN|0-7151-8088-6}})</ref> and honorary chaplain to the Carmen's Company<ref>{{Cite news |date=31 January 1990 |title=Luncheon: Carmen's Company |page=18 |work=The Times|location=London|url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/IF0501800485/TTDA |url-access=registration}}</ref> until his ordination to the episcopate in 1990.<ref>"Down, Rt Rev. William John Denbigh", ''Who's Who 2012'', A & C Black, 2012; online edition, Oxford University Press, December 2011 [http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whoswho/U14051], accessed 22 July 2012</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=20 October 1989 |title=New Bishop of Bermuda |page=16 |work=The Times|location=London|url=https://go.gale.com/ps/retrieve.do?tabID=Newspapers&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&searchResultsType=SingleTab&hitCount=14&searchType=AdvancedSearchForm&currentPosition=2&docId=GALE%7CIF0502618813&docType=Article&sort=Pub+Date+Forward+Chron&contentSegment=ZTMA-MOD2&prodId=TTDA&pageNum=1&contentSet=GALE%7CIF0502618813 |url-access=registration}}</ref> He returned to England as the Assistant Bishop of Leicester in 1995<ref>{{Cite news |date=25 August 1995 |title=Church news |page=18 |work=The Times|location=London|url=https://go.gale.com/ps/retrieve.do?tabID=Newspapers&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&searchResultsType=SingleTab&hitCount=14&searchType=AdvancedSearchForm&currentPosition=7&docId=GALE%7CIF0500723745&docType=Article&sort=Pub+Date+Forward+Chron&contentSegment=ZTMA-MOD2&prodId=TTDA&pageNum=1&contentSet=GALE%7CIF0500723745 |url-access=registration}}</ref> before retiring in 2001.<ref>[http://www.oremus.org/acp/2002.txt Oremus]</ref> He was ultimately honorary assistant bishop in the Diocese of Oxford, where he settled at Witney.<ref>{{Who's Who | title=Down, William John Denbigh | id = U14051 | volume = 2014 | edition = December 2013 online | access-date = 30 April 2014 }}</ref>

Down died on 4 February 2025, at the age of 90.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2025/14-february/gazette/deaths/deaths|title=''Church Times'': "Deaths", 14 February 2025}}</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

{{s-start}} {{s-rel|en}} {{s-bef|before=Christopher Luxmoore}} {{s-ttl|title=Bishop of Bermuda|years=1990–1996}} {{s-aft|after=Ewen Ratteray}} {{s-bef|before=Godfrey Ashby}} {{s-ttl|title=Assistant Bishop of Leicester|years=1995–2001}} {{S-vac|next=John Austin}} {{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Down, Bill}} Category:1934 births Category:2025 deaths Category:Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Category:20th-century Anglican bishops in Bermuda Category:Anglican bishops of Bermuda Category:Assistant bishops of Leicester (1987–2017)