Henry Archdall Langley (15 October 1840 – 5 August 1906) was an influential Irish-born Anglican priest, of considerable physical strength,"Bendigo's Bishop: An Interview", The Evening Journal (Adelaide), 16 June 1904, p. 1. who migrated to Australia in 1853, and became the first Bishop of Bendigo from 1902 until his death in 1906.Australian National University website.

Many of his 12 children made notable contributions to Australian society in the domains of business, education, medicine; also, two of them became Anglican bishops.

Family

He came to Australia in 1853 when his entire family emigrated from Ireland: the economic and social consequences of the Great Famine having greatly affected both boys' formal education at Trinity College, Dublin.Langley, Rt. Rev. John Douse, pp.190-191 in Johns, F., Johns's Notable Australians and Who is Who in Australasia; A Dictionary of Biography Containing Records of the Careers of Men and Women of Distinction in the Commonwealth of Australia and the Dominion of New Zealand, Fred Johns, (Adelaide), 1908; Death of Bishop Langley, The Argus, (Monday, 10 November 1930), p.8.

Parents Born in Dungarvan on 15 October 1840, Henry Archdall Langley was the third son of Henry Langley (1802–1882) and Isabella Edwards Langley, née Archdall (1800–1874),Deaths: Langley, The Sydney Morning Herald, (Monday, 6 March 1882), p.1.Deaths: Langley, The Sydney Morning Herald, (Friday, 28 August 1874), p.8. of Ballyduff, County Waterford, Ireland.

Siblings He had two brothers and three sisters: John Douse Langley (1836–1930) who became the second Bishop of Bendigo.Death of Bishop Langley, The Age, (Monday, 10 November 1930), p.6. Henry Archdall Langley who predeceased Langley's birth, dying of croup aged 16 months. Frances Elizabeth Uzzell (1842–1920),"Deaths: Uzzell", The Daily Telegraph (Sydney), 30 September 1920, p. 4. née Langley, who married William Frederick Boulton Uzzell (1834–1885), the incumbent of St Paul's Church, Carcoar, New South Wales, in October 1867.Marriages, The Maitland Mercury and Hunter River General Advertiser, 22 October 1867, p.1; Deaths: Uzzell, The Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser, 4 April 1885, p. 746. Aphra Maria Isabella Glasson (1843–1925),Deaths: Glasson, The Sydney Morning Herald, 26 September 1925, p.14. née Hill, née Langley, who married Frederick Mellin Hill (-1870), JP in September 1864.Marriages: Hill—Langley, The (Sydney) Evening News, 7 September 1866, p. 1.Then, following Hill's death in 1870,Deaths, The (Sydney) Evening News, (Friday, 27 May 1870), p.2. and the death of their daughter, Catherine Isabella Hill, aged 6, in August 1871,Deaths: Hill, The Sydney Mail, (Saturday, 23 September 1871), p.957. Aphra married Richard Glasson (1837–1895) in July 1872.Marriages: Glasson—Hill, The Sydney Mail, (Saturday 31 August 1872), p.284; Deaths: Glasson, The Sydney Morning Herald, (Wednesday, 25 December 1895), p.1. Catherine Isabella Pearse (1845–1927), née Langley, who married William Pearse (1841–1927) in March 1866.Marriage: Pearse—Langley, The (Sydney) Empire, (Thursday, 5 April 1866), p.1; Deaths: Pearse, The Sydney Morning Herald, (Thursday, 12 May 1927), p.10; Deaths: Pearse, The Sydney Morning Herald, (24 September 1927), p.14.

Children Langley had six sons and six daughters with his Australian-born wife, Elizabeth Mary Langley (1842–1923), née Strachan:Marriages: Langley—Strachan, The (Sydney) Empire, (Thursday, 27 June 1867), p.1; Deaths: Langley, The Argus, (Monday, 2 April 1923), p.1; Death of Mrs. Langley, The Maitland Daily Mercury, (Monday, 2 April 1923), p.4. Frederick Archdall Langley (1868–1952), a banker.Mainly About Somebody, The Southern Districts Advocate, (Monday, 16 June 1930), p.5; Deaths: Langley, The West Australian, (Thursday, 3 January 1952), p.18. Isabella Charlotte Alice Carrington, née Langley (1869–1941).Marriages: Carrington—Langley, The Sydney Morning Herald, (Thursday, 11 July 1895), p.1; Deaths: Carrington, The Argus, (Tuesday, 18 February 1941), p.4. Aylmer John Langley (1872–1943), a banker.Obituary: Mr. Aylmer J. Langley, The Argus, (Monday, January 1943), p.5.Aylmer married Minnie Aimee Mills, on 22 July 1903 (Marriages: Langley—Mills, The Age, (Saturday, 8 August 1903), p.5.); and Minnie was also the elder sister of Lillie Kate Mills (1876-1967) who married Aylmer's brother, Frank, on 25 April 1908 (Marriages: Langley—Mills, (Saturday, 23 May 1908), p.13). Hilda Sarah Langley (1874–1951), principal of St Catherine's School, Toorak.Deaths: Langley, The Argus, (Monday, 15 January 1951), p.14. William Leslie Langley (1875–1952), Archdeacon of St Andrew's Cathedral, Sydney.Births: Langley, The Sydney Morning Herald, (Friday, 9 July 1875), p.8; http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/96519058 Archdeacon Langley Dies, The (Lismore) Northern Star, (Monday, 14 July 1952), p.1.] Henry Thomas Langley (1877–1968), Dean of Melbourne.Births: Langley, The Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser, (Saturday, 14 April 1877), p.473; Minnie Ruth Langley (1878–1933), principal of St Catherine's School, Toorak.Woman's Realm: Social Notes, The Australasian, (Saturday, 23 December 1933), p.11; Obituary, The Argus, (Wednesday, 20 December 1933), p.6. Aphra Victoria Pearce, née Langley (1879–1967).Births: Langley, The Sydney Morning Herald, (Monday, 4 August 1879), p.9; Pearce—Langley, The Sydney Morning Herald, (Saturday, 9 January 1909), p.12; Deaths: Pearce, The Argus, (Friday, 13 June 1919), p.1. Nona Bertha Archdall-Pearce, née Langley (1881–1964).Wedding: Archdall-Pearce—Langley, The Mount Alexander Mail, (Monday, 31 May 1915) p.2; Marriages: Archdall-Pearce—Langley, The Argus, (Saturday, 19 June 1915), p.11; The Late Canon L. A. Pearce, The (Bowral) Southern Mail, (Friday, 21 October 1949), p.5. Francis Ernest Langley (1882–1946): a medical practitioner who also played Australian rules football for the Melbourne Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL) from 1900 to 1906.Marriages: Langley—Mills, (Saturday, 23 May 1908), p.13; Deaths: Langley, The Age. (Saturday, 23 March 1946), p.11; Death of a Grand Sportsman and Gentleman, The Dandenong Journal, (Wednesday, 27 March 1946), p.14. Doris Elizabeth Langley (1884–1958).Births: Langley, The Australasian Sketcher, (Monday, 30 June 1884), p.110. Arthur Theodore Langley (1886–1947), a medical practitioner.Langley—Smith, The Weekly Times, (Saturday, 29 April 1911), p.13; Deaths: Langley, The Argus, (Wednesday, 21 May 1947), p.9; Obituary: Dr. A. T. Langley, The Age, (Wednesday, 21 May 1947), p.2.

Education Langley was educated at Moore Theological College, Sydney, under Robert Lethbridge King (1868–1878), graduating in 1865.Langley, Rt Rev. Henry Archdall, Who Was Who, A & C Black, 1920–2008; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2007 accessed 26 May 2012Religious Memoranda: Church of England, The Sydney Morning Herald, (Saturday, 23 June 1866), p.5.

Cleric He was ordained deacon by Frederic Barker, Archbishop of Sydney, in 1865, and priest in 1866.

He was curate of All Saints' Church Bathurst from 1865 to 1867. He later held incumbencies at Holy Trinity Church, Orange (1867–1869), St. Mary's Church Balmain (1870–1875), St Andrew's Cathedral, Sydney (1876), St. Matthew's Church Windsor (NSW) (1877–1878), and at the newly built St. Matthew's Church Prahran in 1878.

During his time at Prahran, he was responsible for founding St. Alban's Church, Armadale, as a "chapel of ease to that parish" in 1885; and, in 1935, the Golden Anniversary memorial service was conducted by Canon H.T. Langley, "son of the founder, who as a lad was the first to ring the bell of the church".St. Alban's, Armadale: Jubilee Celebrations, (Monday, 14 October 1935), p.11.St. Alban's Church, Armadale, The Argus, (Saturday, 5 November 1877), p.4.

He was Archdeacon of Gippsland from 1890 until 1894. In 1894 he became Archdeacon of Melbourne;Notes of the Month, The Church of England Messenger for Victoria and Ecclesiastical Gazette for the Diocese of Melbourne, (Friday, 10 August 1894), p.133; "Ecclesiastical news", The Times (London, England), 21 September 1894, p. 8. a post he held until his ordination to the episcopate.First Bishop of Bendigo, The Bendigo Independent, (Wednesday, 1 January 1902), p.2.

Bishop of Bendigo In 1901, the Anglican ecclesiastical province of Victoria, already divided into the dioceses of Melbourne (established 1847) and Ballarat (established 1875), was further divided into three more sub-divisions — viz., that of Bendigo, Gippsland, and Wangaratta — and Langley was appointed as the first Bishop of Bendigo, serving for four and a half years from 5 March 1902 until his death on 5 August 1906.The Bendigo Diocese: Bishop Langley's Installation, The (Melbourne) Leader, (Saturday, 8 March 1902), p.24.

Langley was the first Bishop of Bendigo, as well as the very first graduate from Moore Theological College to be appointed as Bishop.Nunn, H.W., A Short History of the Church of England in Victoria 1847-1947, Editorial Committee of the Centenary Celebrations, Melbourne Diocese, (Melbourne), 1947, p.64.

Bishopscourt, Bendigo The "See House", situated at the corner of Napier Street and Lyons Street, White Hills, and designed by the Bendigo architects William Charles Vahland (1828–1915) and John Beebe (1866–1936), was expressly built for Langley.The See House, The Bendigo Advertiser, (Thursday, 8 September 1904), p.2. Generally known at the time as "Bishopscourt" — now known as "Langley Hall" — its Dedication Stone was laid in September 1904,Diocese of Bendigo: The Bishop's Residence, The Bendigo Independent, (Thursday, 8 September 1904), p.4. and the Bishop and his family moved in during mid-March 1905.Bendigo, The Age, (Thursday, 16 February 1905), p.6; About People, The Bendigo Independent, (Tuesday, 21 March 1905), p.3.

Following the resignation of Langley's brother in 1919, the bishop's residence moved from White Hills to Forest Street, beside All Saints' Cathedral,Bendigo, The Age, (Monday, 8 November 1920), p.8. and the former Bishopscourt building was leased to the Red Cross.Bendigo: Bishopscourt as Convalescent Home, The Ballarat Star, (Wednesday, 10 September 1919), p.8. A convalescent home for returned soldiers suffering shell shock and other "physical" injuries was opened in the building on 3 December 1919 by Lady Helen Munro Ferguson, the wife of the Governor General, and the President (and founder) of the Australian branch of the Red Cross."Diggers" Convalescent Home, (Thursday, 4 December 1919), p.7. It continued to function as a convalescent home until 1926. For a time Langley Hall was used for the Bendigo Theological College, associated with the Australian College of Theology,Australian College of Theology: Successful Victorian Students, The Age, (Monday, 7 February 1927), p.11. under the direction of Rev. Frederick Alfred Philbey (1887–1947).Personal, The Shepparton Advertiser, (Thursday, 23 September 1926), p.9; Bendigo and District, The Argus, (Friday, 24 September 1926), p.18; Personal, The (Melbourne) Weekly Times, (Saturday, 22 September 1928), p.9; Personal, The Argus, (Saturday, 14 September 1929), p.18.

In 1932, Langley Hall was converted into St. Luke's Toddlers' Home,Bendigo Synod, The Argus, (Wednesday, 26 August 1931), p.8; Bendigo and District, The Argus, (Thursday, 7 January 1932), p.3; Bendigo, The Age, (Thursday, 21 January 1932), p.5; Bendigo Toddlers' Home, The Age, (Monday, 6 June 1932), p.9; Toddlers' Home at Bendigo The Argus, (Monday, 6 June 1932), p.9. run by the Mission of St James and St John, which continued to operate until 1979, when it moved to a different location, and became St. Luke's Family Care. The building, unused for a time, was completely refurbished, and has operated as bed and breakfast accommodation, as "Langley Hall", since 2000.

Death