Bishop Hunter, Bishop of Sheffield

Correspondence, 1871 - 1983 (BHP/1)

Sermons, addresses and lectures delivered by Hunter; visitation charges and speeches made in the House of Lords, 1916 - 1971 (BHP/2)

Typescripts from published and unpublished works (mostly undated) plus miscellaneous printed articles, [1924] - 1963 (BHP/3)

Press cuttings regarding Hunter, plus miscellaneous obituaries, 1921 - 1968 (BHP/4)

Orders of Service in Sheffield Cathedral and elsewhere, 1930 - 1964 (BHP/5)

Material relating to Hunter's trips to Germany, German Prisoners of War, Bishop Dibelius of Berlin etc., 1946 - 1976 (BHP/6)

Personal - certificates, diaries, notebooks etc., 1890 - 1976 (BHP/7)

Miscellaneous, 1910 - 1983 (BHP/8)

This catalogue was created by retro-converting a paper catalogued created in the 1980s. Series levels have been created and new ISAD(G) standard references have been assigned, but the original order of the catalogued has been retained. All the material of this collection is held offsite and has not been requested back, so the creation of the new catalogue has been a desk based exercise. This means that the material at item level has not been assessed in terms of exact extent or if there are also any conservation requirements.

Open

The right Reverend Leslie Hunter was Bishop of Sheffield, succeeding Dr Burrows, from 1939 - 1962. Latterly a member of the House of Lords (1946 - 1962), one of his particular concerns was the need for reconciliation after the war with the German people. He also took a great interest in industrial relations in Britain, out of which grew the Sheffield Industrial Mission. He was a pioneer in recognising the achievement of the Taizé community in France and the need to open the ministry to women. Hunter?s concern for the re-ordering of the church of his time was reflected in his involvement in the report 'Putting our House in Order' (1941) which included suggestions for improvements in clergy pay and deployment. He also played a large part in the devising the service of 'Thanksgiving for Victory' in 1945 and, in retirement, compiled 'A Diocesan Service Book' (1965).

Hunter was born 2 May 1890 in Glasgow, youngest son of Marion Hunter and the Reverend, and later Dr, John Hunter, Minister of Trinity Congregational church, Glasgow and Kings Weigh House, London. He was educated at Kelvinside Academy, Glasgow and New College, Oxford and worked with the Student Christian Movement and at St Martin-in-the-Fields [London] before being appointed canon of St Benedict Biscop in Newcastle-upon-Tyne cathedral in 1922. From 1926 - 1930, Hunter was Vicar of Barking, Essex during which time he wrote 'A Parson?s Job: Aspects of Work in the English Church' (1931). In 1931, he returned to Teesside as Archdeacon, combining his ecclesiastical duties with the promotion of public education and relief work with the unemployed.

Leslie Hunter succeeded Leonard Hedley Burrows as the second Bishop of Sheffield in the first week of World War Two. During his episcopate he formed strong links with the steel industry both at management and union level, helped by the work of the Industrial Mission under the leadership of Ted Wickham. He also enjoyed a good relationship with Labour and Civic leaders. He was chairman of the Industrial Committee of the Church?s Board for Social Responsibility for several years and stimulated the establishment of the William Temple Foundation, the Whirlow Grange Conference Centre, Sheffield and a youth centre at Hollowfield [Castleton, Derbyshire]. After the war, Hunter built on earlier ecumenical links in Europe to encourage good relations between the British and German churches while stressing in the House of Lords the need to return prisoners of war to Germany and the continuing problems of refugees there. He regularly visited Scandinavia in an attempt to bring the Northern churches together, whilst remaining in close touch with the Inter Church Aid (later Christian Aid) in Europe and elsewhere as Chairman of that Department of the British Council of Churches from 1947 ? 1965. In 1962, Hunter was made Honorary Freeman of the City of Sheffield.

In 1919, he married Grace Marion McAulay, the daughter of Samuel McAulay JP of Aylesby, Lincolnshire. She died in 1975. Leslie Hunter died 15 Jul 1983. They had no children.