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The Rt Revd Eric Austin Gowing, MA (Oxon).
11th March 1913 - 1981
7th Bishop of Auckland 1960 - 1979
 Bishop Gowing was a quiet, gentle, genial person recognisable for his near-constant smile, and for being one of the last of our Bishops to wear frock coat, gaiters and episcopal (purple) hose. The author of this article, a young server in St Jude's Church, Avondale, when Mr Gowing was Bishop of Auckland, remembers his gift for names, as well as the large black Austin Princess which he drove. In his role as a church leader he was noted for his work on gender equality and the development of the Maori arm of the Church in New Zealand.
Born at Lindfield, Sydney, a grand-nephew of the founders of iconic Sydney menswear store, Gowing Bros., he was educated at North Sydney Boys' School and the University of Sydney, where in 1934 he gained a BA. At Oxford University he attained a further BA in 1938 and an MA in 1943.
The Rev'd Gowing was ordained deacon at Manchester in 1938 and priested there the following year. He accepted the curacy of the Dean of Lancashire in 1938, then of St Andrew's Church, Plymouth in 1942, before becoming in 1945 the Vicar of St Peter's, Norbiton, Surrey. In 1940 he married Muriel Sherwood Jones, daughter of the former Suffragan Bishop of Hulme, Thomas Sherwood Jones (1872 - 1972).
In 1950 the Rev'd Gowing was installed as Dean of Nelson Cathedral, New Zealand, moving in 1956 to become the incumbent of St Mary's Church, Merivale, Archdeacon of Christchurch and Chaplain to St Mary's College. In 1958 he became the Deputy Vicar-General of Christchurch.
He was consecrated Bishop of Auckland in St Mary's Cathedral Church on 1st November 1960 by ten bishops, including his father-in-law, and retired in 1978. Bronze plaques on wall of the Marsden Chapel sanctuary commemorate the lives of Bishop Eric and his wife Muriel (1913 - 1991).
The Rev'd Michael Blains, who was a young server in Merivale during Mr Gowing's incumbency, and whose ordination in Yorkshire was assisted by Bishop Gowing, recalls:
"I respected Eric Gowing. He was a conscientious and good man, but not a lateral thinker, so his style was very four-square. He was not humourless, but it was always hard to judge if he was smiling because of the situation, if he was really amused, or just puzzled and friendly. He was attentive in listening to people, and responded carefully and always slowly. I never heard him speak rapidly. He was flat-footed, but declared an enthusiasm for rugby."
"He had a ceremonious style, solemn rather than high church, a liturgical style which in retrospect I would say now was almost sedating in its impact. He liked language and used it well, though without élan. He sounded English, and I was quite surprised when I learned that he was Australian. In sermons he was always citing Archbishop William Temple, and Albert Schweitzer; he probably thought that hero figures were helpful.
Some information on this page was drawn from Blains' Biographical Dictionary of Clergy of the South Pacific and from the Rev'd Michael Blain, and is used with permission. Our thanks, also, to Mr John Gowing of Gowing Bros. Ltd, Sydney, who provided biographical information.
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