Edward Wilkinson (bishop)
Thomas Edward Wilkinson (1837−1914), known as Edward Wilkinson, was an Anglican bishop, legionnaire and travel writer in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The sixth child of a gentleman farmer, he was born at Walsham Hall, Walsham le Willows, Suffolk. Before he was ordained, he joined the French Foreign Legion and travelled around Europe.
The Right Reverend Edward Wilkinson | |
|---|---|
| Bishop of Zululand Coadjutor Bishop of London for north and central Europe | |
T.E. Wilkinson, 1870 | |
| Church | Anglican |
| Province | Southern Africa |
| Diocese | Zululand |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 26 December 1837 Walsham-le-Willows, Suffolk, United Kingdom |
| Died | 23 October 1914 (aged 76) Khartoum, Sudan |
| Signature | |
As a priest he had the curacies of two consecutive parishes, then spent six years with his wife and children in South Africa as the inaugural Bishop of Zululand. Following a Cornwall incumbency, he was concurrently the rector of St Katherine Coleman, London, and coadjutor bishop of London for north and central Europe. Within this diocese he had the oversight of missions across ten nations. To reach all of his European chaplaincies meant a journey of over 14,000 miles; he made 82 of these episcopal tours.
He published several books, including a Zulu hymn book, an edition of his wife's Zululand journals, and his own travel book relating to his years in Europe. In his Who's Who entry, Wilkinson listed his recreation as "work".