The Most Reverend Arthur Sweatman |
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Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada | |
Installed | 1907 |
Term ended | 1909 |
Predecessor | William Bennett Bond |
Successor | Samuel Pritchard Matheson |
Personal details | |
Born |
London, England |
19 November 1834
Died | 24 January 1909 Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
(aged 74)
Arthur Sweatman (19 November 1834 – 24 January 1909) was a Canadian Anglican bishop and the third Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada.
Sweatman was born on 19 November 1834 in London, England to parents John and Anne. His education began in two London private schools, followed by education at University College School. In 1859, Sweatman received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Christ's College, Cambridge and was ordained as a deacon the same year. Sweatman soon distinguished himself as a pioneer in the movement for boys' clubs, beginning with the founding of the Islington Youths' Institute in 1860. In 1865, whilst curate of St Stephen's in Canonbury, he impressed the visiting headmaster of Huron College, Upper Canada with his work with youths. The visiting headmaster convinced Sweatman to become the first headmaster of the London Collegiate Institute in Huron, serving there until 1871. Until 1872, he was the mathematics master at Upper Canada College, leaving there to become the rector of Grace Church in Brantford until 1874. From 1874 to 1876, Sweatman again served as the principal of the London Collegiate Institute, which had been renamed Hellmuth Boys’ College. From 1876 to 1879, he was the priest in charge of New St Paul's, Woodstock.
On February 3, 1879, the second bishop of the Diocese of Toronto, Alexander Bethune, died. Later that month, the synod met to elect a new bishop. Most of the clergy were inclined to vote for George Whitaker, the provost of the University of Trinity College. However, the lay synod delegates were opposed to the clergy candidate and proposed a Reverend Dr Sullivan as their candidate, who was then on his way from Chicago to Montreal to take up the rectory there. Neither candidate received the necessary number of votes to become the bishop. Sweatman was elected as a compromise between the clergymen and laymen of the synod after five days of balloting.