Norwich Cathedral, Norfolk, UK
Monument to Bishop John Pelham †1893. Marble. Free standing in north transept. Commissioned by his friends. Signed: Forsyth. Sculp. London. 1896
Bishop Pelham lies full length on a shroud, his head resting on an elegantly decorated pillow, his hands clasped in prayer. The base is of pink marble slabs, separated by panels with quatrefoils above lancet windows. The head was based on an engraving of Pelham, like that in the Illustrated London News 48 p. 365 of 1865, but the hair is more ordered and the features suitably older.It is a fine example of the many reclining effigy inspired by the gothic revival (see for example the Monument to Bishop Goldwell in the south presbytery) which James Forsyth used for his Monument to the Earl of Dudley, in Worcester Cathedral of1888, and again the next year for the Monument to Bishop Atlay in Hereford Cathedral. In both those, however the tomb chests were more obviously gothic in their architecture. The use of coloured marble looks back rather to the rich colour of early Christian funerary monuments. The sculptor was James Forsyth (1851-1907), not to be confused with his son, James Nesfield Forsyth (1864-1942) the portraitist.
Bishop Pelham, born 1811 graduated from Christ Church Oxford in 1832, appointed an honorary canon of the cathedral in 1847 he had moved to London in 1852 and after rapid promotion was appointed dean of Norwich in 1857, remaining in post for thirty-six years, longer than any recent predecessor. ‘As a bishop Pelham proved himself an able administrator and, though he rarely spoke in the House of Lords, unrivalled in the chairing of public meetings. He was a thoroughgoing pastoral bishop. In his first years of office he made rural deans the means of meeting with his clergy. In later times he visited them in a more systematic way. His custom was to spend a long weekend in each parish passing time with the clergyman's family, participating in the church services, and inspecting the Sunday and day schools. His constant activity even succeeded in stirring up the dormant energies of his senior clergy. Pelham resigned the see early in 1893 and was according to the Christian Remembrancer, a pastor of pronounce evangelical views ‘with some ability, entire earnestness, and the manners and feelings of a gentleman’.
Nigel Scotland, ‘Pelham, John Thomas (1811–1894)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography; theforsythbrothers.com both accessed 6 Nov 2015
Norwich Cathedral, Norfolk, UK
Monument to Bishop John Pelham †1893. Marble. Free standing in north transept. Commissioned by his friends. Signed: Forsyth. Sculp. London. 1896
Bishop Pelham lies full length on a shroud, his head resting on an elegantly decorated pillow, his hands clasped in prayer. The base is of pink marble slabs, separated by panels with quatrefoils above lancet windows. The head was based on an engraving of Pelham, like that in the Illustrated London News 48 p. 365 of 1865, but the hair is more ordered and the features suitably older.It is a fine example of the many reclining effigy inspired by the gothic revival (see for example the Monument to Bishop Goldwell in the south presbytery) which James Forsyth used for his Monument to the Earl of Dudley, in Worcester Cathedral of1888, and again the next year for the Monument to Bishop Atlay in Hereford Cathedral. In both those, however the tomb chests were more obviously gothic in their architecture. The use of coloured marble looks back rather to the rich colour of early Christian funerary monuments. The sculptor was James Forsyth (1851-1907), not to be confused with his son, James Nesfield Forsyth (1864-1942) the portraitist.
Bishop Pelham, born 1811 graduated from Christ Church Oxford in 1832, appointed an honorary canon of the cathedral in 1847 he had moved to London in 1852 and after rapid promotion was appointed dean of Norwich in 1857, remaining in post for thirty-six years, longer than any recent predecessor. ‘As a bishop Pelham proved himself an able administrator and, though he rarely spoke in the House of Lords, unrivalled in the chairing of public meetings. He was a thoroughgoing pastoral bishop. In his first years of office he made rural deans the means of meeting with his clergy. In later times he visited them in a more systematic way. His custom was to spend a long weekend in each parish passing time with the clergyman's family, participating in the church services, and inspecting the Sunday and day schools. His constant activity even succeeded in stirring up the dormant energies of his senior clergy. Pelham resigned the see early in 1893 and was according to the Christian Remembrancer, a pastor of pronounce evangelical views ‘with some ability, entire earnestness, and the manners and feelings of a gentleman’.
Nigel Scotland, ‘Pelham, John Thomas (1811–1894)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography; theforsythbrothers.com both accessed 6 Nov 2015