Francis West (bishop)

Francis Horner West (9 January 1909 – 2 January 1999) was a British Anglican bishop. He was the Bishop of Taunton in the Church of England from 1962 until 1977.

West was educated at Berkhamsted School and Magdalene College, Cambridge.[1] He was ordained as a deacon on 11 June 1933 (Trinity Sunday) at Leeds Parish Church[2] and priest the next Trinity Sunday, 27 May 1934, at Christ Church, Harrogate — both times by Edward Burroughs, Bishop of Ripon.[3] He was a curate at St Agnes Leeds[4] and then chaplain of Ridley Hall, Cambridge. After wartime service as a Chaplain to the Forces[5] he was vicar of Upton then Archdeacon of Newark[6] before his ordination to the episcopate. He was consecrated a bishop on 2 February 1962 by Michael Ramsey, Archbishop of Canterbury, at Westminster Abbey.[7] He was also an author — among others he wrote “Sparrows of the Spirit”, 1957; “The Country Parish Today and Tomorrow”, 1960; “F. R. B.: a portrait of Bishop F. R. Barry”, 1980; and “The Story of a Wiltshire Country Church”, 1987.[8]