John Charles Ryle (1816-1900)

John Charles Ryle was an English evangelical bishop. He was the first Anglican bishop of Liverpool. he was a strong supporter of the evangelical school. He was a writer, pastor and an evangelical preacher.

John was the eldest son of John Ryle, a member of parliament. His father’s family owned a bank. who was a private banker. He was educated at Eton and at the University of Oxford.

He left university with the intention of following in his father’s footsteps. Unfortunately his father’s fortunes took a down turn… They lost the family bank, filed for bankruptcy, and John needed to go in a different direction.

He had been converted in 1937 by hearing Ephesians 2 v 8 *God save you by grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift of God. *

He decided to be clergyman. He took holy orders (1841-2) and became a curate at Exbury, in Hampshire. ( read 3rd para. on Life ).

In 1880 he was designated dean of Salisbury and ‘at once’ 19th April advance to the newly seated see of Liverpool. He was bishop of Liverpool for almost 20 years (1880-1900) until his death at Lowerstoft on 10th June 1900.

John was described as having a commanding presence and vigorous in advocating his principles albeit with a warm disposition. He is credited with having some success in evangelizing the blue collar workers.

John had a number of published works ( See* Legacy* and ‘Published works’ )

He was buried at All Souls Church, Childwall, Liverpool.

Source used wikipedia