{{Short description|Anglican bishop of Brisbane (1837–1903)}} {{Use Australian English|date=June 2020}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2020}}
'''William Thomas Thornhill Webber''' (30 January 1837 – 3 August 1903) was the third Anglican Bishop of Brisbane in Queensland, Australia.
== Early life == Webber was born in London, the son of a surgeon, William Webber and his wife Eliza (née Preston).<ref>{{Cite book|chapter-url=https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/webber-william-thomas-thornhill-9027|title=Australian Dictionary of Biography: William Thomas Thornhill Webber|chapter=Webber, William Thomas Thornhill (1837–1903)|publisher=National Centre of Biography, Australian National University|access-date=3 August 2021|archive-date=3 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210803004929/https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/webber-william-thomas-thornhill-9027|url-status=live}}</ref> He was educated at Tonbridge School, Kent, at Norwich School under John Woolley and Pembroke College, Oxford where he obtained B.A. in 1859 and M.A. in 1862.
== Religious life == Webber was ordained a deacon in 1860 and a priest in 1861.<ref>{{Cite book|chapter-url=https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/webber-william-thomas-thornhill-9027|title=Australian Dictionary of Biography: William Thomas Thornhill Webber|chapter=Webber, William Thomas Thornhill (1837–1903)|publisher=National Centre of Biography, Australian National University|access-date=3 August 2021|archive-date=3 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210803004929/https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/webber-william-thomas-thornhill-9027|url-status=live}}</ref>
Webber spent four years as curate of Chiswick (1860–64). He was then Vicar of St John the Evangelist, Holborn, (1864–85)<ref>{{Cite book|chapter-url=https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/webber-william-thomas-thornhill-9027|title=Australian Dictionary of Biography: William Thomas Thornhill Webber|chapter=Webber, William Thomas Thornhill (1837–1903)|publisher=National Centre of Biography, Australian National University|access-date=3 August 2021|archive-date=3 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210803004929/https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/webber-william-thomas-thornhill-9027|url-status=live}}</ref> and was a member of the London School Board (1882–85). He was consecrated bishop of Brisbane on 11 June 1885 by Edward White Benson, Archbishop of Canterbury, at St Paul's Cathedral, London<ref>{{cite web |url=http://anglicanarchives.org.au/HDMS-HTML/PHOTS192.htm#PHOT03812 |title=Archived copy |website=anglicanarchives.org.au |access-date=13 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130409162722/http://anglicanarchives.org.au/HDMS-HTML/PHOTS192.htm#PHOT03812 |archive-date=9 April 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref> and enthroned on 17 November 1885 in St John's Cathedral, Brisbane. He brought clergymen over from Oxford and Cambridge Universities for work in Queensland on five-year tours of duty.
Webber visited England in 1888 to attend the Pan-Anglican synod at Lambeth. He spent a lot of his time in raising funds, including money for a cathedral in Brisbane but died before work commenced.
== Later life == On 3 August 1903, Webber died in Brisbane at his residence Bishopsbourne.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article19233742|title=Death of Bishop Webber|date=4 August 1903|newspaper=The Brisbane Courier|accessdate=18 August 2019|issue=14,2[?]4|location=Queensland, Australia|volume=LX|page=5|via=National Library of Australia|archive-date=19 July 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220719064419/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/19233742|url-status=live}}</ref> He was buried on Tuesday 4 August 1903 in Toowong Cemetery.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article19231092|title=THE LATE BISHOP WEBBER.|date=5 August 1903|newspaper=The Brisbane Courier|accessdate=18 August 2019|issue=14,215|location=Queensland, Australia|volume=LX|page=5|via=National Library of Australia|archive-date=19 July 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220719064419/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/19231092|url-status=live}}</ref>
==References== * {{Dictionary of Australian Biography|First=William Thomas Thornhill|Last=Webber|shortlink=0-dict-biogWe-Wy.html#webber2}} *George P. Shaw, '[https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/webber-william-thomas-thornhill-9027 Webber, William Thomas Thornhill (1837–1903)]', ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'', Volume 12, MUP, 1990, p. 429. * Sources listed by the ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'': :Church of England Diocese of Brisbane, ''Proceedings of Synod'', 1884-1904 and ''Year Book'', 1890-1904; K. Rayner, The History of the Church of England in Queensland (PhD thesis, University of Queensland, 1962); Webber papers (Church of England Diocesan Archives, Brisbane). {{reflist}}
{{s-start}} {{s-rel|ac}} {{s-bef|before=Matthew Hale}} {{s-ttl|title=Bishop of Brisbane|years=1885–1903}} {{s-aft|after=St Clair Donaldson}} {{s-end}}
{{Bishops of Brisbane}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Webber, William}} Category:1837 births Category:1903 deaths Category:People educated at Tonbridge School Category:People educated at Norwich School Category:Alumni of Pembroke College, Oxford Category:Anglican bishops of Brisbane Category:Members of the London School Board
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