Randall Davidson

The Right Reverend and Right Honourable The Lord Davidson of Lambeth GCVO PC
Archbishop of Canterbury
Randall Davidson, by Leslie Ward, 1901.
Installed	1903
Term ended	1928
Predecessor	Frederick Temple
Successor	Cosmo Lang
Personal details
Birth name	Randall Thomas Davidson
Born	7 April 1848 Edinburgh
Died	25 May 1930 (aged 82) London
Spouse	Edith Tait
Children	None

Randall Thomas Davidson, 1st Baron Davidson of Lambeth, GCVO, PC (7 April 1848 – 25 May 1930) was an Anglican bishop of Scottish origin who served as Archbishop of Canterbury from 1903 to 1928.

Davidson was the son of Henry Davidson, a grain merchant, of Edinburgh and Henrietta, daughter of John Campbell Swinton of Kimmerghame; his parents were Scottish Presbyterians. His education was mostly in small private schools that he later described as unsatisfactory and long lamented his lack of proficiency in Latin and Greek. Later, he studied at Harrow, where Brooke Foss Westcott was his final year housemaster, and at Trinity College, Oxford. In his final year of schooling, he was involved in a shooting accident that threatened the loss of his leg. According to his own account, it was only much later in his life, after the discovery and use of X-ray technology, that it was found that a considerable number of shotgun pellets still remained in his body. The accident left him with a hernia and he was a lifelong truss wearer, this caused him continuous difficulty as the hernia regularly dropped, especially when he was preaching.

Davidson served as chaplain to Archibald Campbell Tait when Tait was Archbishop of Canterbury. He later married Tait's daughter. After Tait's death, Davidson remained at Lambeth Palace as chaplain to the succeeding Archbishop of Canterbury, Edward White Benson. A favourite of Queen Victoria, Davidson was appointed Dean of Windsor at a very young age. The Queen relied heavily on him for advice regarding church appointments and only reluctantly agreed to his preferment to episcopal office. He was nominated, elected, and confirmed as Bishop of Rochester before his episcopal ordination by Edward Benson, Archbishop of Canterbury, on St Mark's day (25 April) 1891 at Westminster Abbey. He later served as Bishop of Winchester between 1895 and 1903 before becoming Archbishop of Canterbury in 1903. He played a major part in the funeral ceremonies for Queen Victoria in 1901, taking care, along with James Reid, of the wake at Osborne House, Isle of Wight.