Richard Chartres

The Right Reverend and Right Honourable The Lord Chartres GCVO PC FSA
Bishop of London
Lord Chartres, 2018
Church	Church of England
Diocese	Diocese of London
In office	1995–2017
Predecessor	David Hope
Successor	Sarah Mullally
Previous post(s)	Gresham Professor of Divinity (1987–1992) Bishop of Stepney (1992–1995)
Orders
Ordination	1973 (deacon) 1974 (priest)
Consecration	22 May 1992
Personal details
Born	(1947-07-11) 11 July 1947 Ware, Hertfordshire, England
Nationality	British
Denomination	Anglican
Residence	The Old Deanery, Dean's Court, London
Spouse	Caroline Mary McLintock ​ ​ (m. 1982)​
Children	4
Alma mater	Trinity College, Cambridge
Member of the House of Lords Lord Spiritual
In office 22 January 1996 – 31 March 2017
Lord Temporal
In office 7 November 2017  – Life Peer

Richard John Carew Chartres, Baron Chartres, GCVO, ChStJ, PC, FSA, FBS (/ˈtʃɑːrtərz/; born 11 July 1947) is a retired senior bishop of the Church of England.

Chartres served as area Bishop of Stepney from 1992 to 1995 and Bishop of London from 1995 to 2017. He was sworn of the Privy Council in the same year he became Bishop of London, having been Gresham Professor of Divinity from 1987 to 1992. In October 2017, Chartres was created a life peer, and now sits as a crossbencher in the House of Lords, previously sitting as a Lord Spiritual.

Life

Early life

Chartres was born at Ware, Hertfordshire, to Richard Arthur Carew Chartres and Charlotte, daughter of William Day, of London; the Chartres family were Irish gentry of Huguenot origin. He was educated at Hertford Grammar School (now Richard Hale School) and Trinity College, Cambridge (MA), where he read history before pursuing religious studies at Cuddesdon and Lincoln Theological Colleges.

He has spoken of his great-uncle, John Chartres, "called [the] 'Mystery Man of the Treaty' was a member of Sinn Féin and a Protestant civil servant. He was also undoubtedly a gun runner for Michael Collins".

Early ordained ministry

Chartres was ordained in the Church of England as a deacon in 1973 and as a priest in 1974. He served his curacy at St Andrew's Church, Bedford in the Diocese of St Albans. In 1975, he became domestic chaplain to Robert Runcie, then Bishop of St Albans; he continued in the role when Runcie became Archbishop of Canterbury. Then, in 1984, he joined St Stephen's Church, Rochester Row, in the Diocese of London, as its priest-in-charge. He was made its vicar in 1986, and continued to lead the parish until he was made a bishop in 1992.

He received a Lambeth Bachelor of Divinity degree and holds honorary doctorates from Brunel University, City University London, London Metropolitan University, St. Mary's University College, and London Guildhall University.

Gresham professor

From 1987 to 1992, he was a Professor of Divinity at Gresham College in London. Based on a three-part lecture series, given in May 1992, he published A Brief History of Gresham College 1597–1997. During the first lecture of the original lecture series he referred to the college as a "magical island like Atlantis" disappearing and re-emerging from the sea. This was a reference both to the Invisible College and Francis Bacon's New Atlantis.

Other Gresham lectures by Chartres covered the Shroud of Turin (November 1988) and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem (December 1989) when he spoke about the "Gresham Jerusalem Project" as well as on prayer (1991).

Bishop

On 15 May 1992, Chartres was nominated area Bishop of Stepney. He was consecrated as bishop on 22 May 1992 at St Paul's Cathedral, by George Carey, Archbishop of Canterbury.

In November 1995, Chartres was enthroned as the Bishop of London, also becoming Prelate of the Order of the British Empire, Dean of the Chapels Royal and a Privy Counsellor. In 1997 he was appointed a Chaplain of the Most Venerable Order of Saint John (ChStJ). An Honorary Bencher of the Middle Temple since 1998, he is a Liveryman of the Worshipful Companies of Merchant Taylors and of Drapers, and has been admitted as an Honorary Freeman of the Grocers', Vintners', Weavers' and the Woolmen's Companies.

In 1997, Chartres was one of the executors of the will of Diana, Princess of Wales, and delivered an address at her memorial service in 2007. He confirmed both the Prince and Princess of Wales. On 12 September 2009 he presided at the marriage of Lord Frederick Windsor to actress Sophie Winkleman at the Chapel Royal in Hampton Court Palace.

Chartres was embroiled in controversy over his appointment of Martin Sargeant as Head of Operations working out of Chartres’ office at the Old Deanery. Sargeant was convicted in 2022 of defrauding the Church of England of £5.2 million pounds. He had already served a prison sentence for theft prior to his appointment.(Church Times and Diocese of London)

NEW ISLINGTON & HACKNEY HOUSING ASSOCIATION: another controversy arose over Chartres’ role as President - see NIHHA AGM report circulating in March 1997 noting the presence of the Duke of Gloucester,Patron, Chartres, President, and Christopher Chope MP. In March 1997,NIHHA tenants were sent NIHHA letters demanding payment of arrears. One such tenant, Hugh Sinclair M.A. Oxon in Jurisprudence, affirmed (2.11.24) that he received one of these letters. On Monday 10th March 1997, Sinclair wrote to Chartres, enclosing a cheque for the non-existent arrears. Sinclair claimed that the demand for arrears was fraudulent. 0n Friday 14.3.97, Sinclair was told by Father Gillean Craig, Chair of Governors of St Paul’s Primary School London, that writing to Chartres was a disciplinary matter for the Governors to consider. But on Saturday 15.3.97, Sinclair affirms that he received a letter from Chartres returning the cheque, and 3 letters from NIHHA confirming to all tenants that all arrears claims had been withdrawn. The arrears claims had been sent out in error and the Rent Roll lost. Around January 2002, the tenant of Flat 3 St George’s in the East Church E1OBH [Father Gillean Craig then Rector] was Martin Sargeant, convicted in 2022 of stealing £5.2 million. (Source:Wikipedia entry for the Diocese of London under the Heading Fraud.)

Chartres is the founder and chairman of the trustees of the St Ethelburga's Centre for Reconciliation and Peace. He is also a trustee of Coexist, sitting on the advisory council of the Tony Blair Faith Foundation. In October 2005, he joined Marianne Suhr at St Giles in the Fields, London WC2, to launch a new maintenance project for the capital's historic churches.

In January 2006, Chartres was criticised by the media for his decision to spend Easter on a cruise ship giving lectures on theology rather than attend the services at St Paul's Cathedral. At the time, Chartres was on a two-month sabbatical, his first in 33 years. He preached the sermon at the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton on 29 April 2011. In 2013, Chartres led the funeral service of Baroness Thatcher, with whom he had a close friendship.

Chartres oversaw the Church of England's relations with the Eastern Orthodox churches, representing the Church of England at the funeral of Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow of the Russian Orthodox Church and the enthronement of his successor, Kirill I, at Saint Basil's Cathedral.

On 19 July 2016, it was announced that Chartres was to retire as Bishop of London effective from Shrove Tuesday, 28 February 2017, but remain as Dean of the Chapels Royal until the next Bishop of London took post. He retired as dean following his 72nd birthday in July 2019, being succeeded by Dame Sarah Mullally.

Green issues

Since its launch in 2006, Chartres has led the Church of England's "shrinking the footprint" campaign, aimed at cutting 80% of the Church's carbon emissions by 2050. In the launch and subsequently, Chartres criticised pollution of the planet by people going on holidays by plane. Michael O'Leary, boss of the low-cost airline Ryanair, responded that "the Bishop of London has got empty churches – presumably if no one went on holidays perhaps they might turn up and listen to his sermons. God bless the Bishop!" Also, after criticism that his taking flights for "diocese work" as well as retaining a chauffeur-driven car were against the ideals of this campaign, he pledged not to fly for a year.

In October 2008, the Independent on Sunday named Chartres as number 75 of the top 100 environmentalists in Britain on their "Green List".

Patronage

Lord Chartres serves as an ambassador for wildlife charity WWF and as a patron of various other organisations, including:

• The Burgon Society for the study of academical dress (also a Fellow)
• The Fellowship of Saint Alban and Saint Sergius
• The Georgian Group
• The National Churches Trust
• Paintings in Hospitals, a charity that provides art for health and social care in England, Wales and Northern Ireland
• The Prayer Book Society of England (Ecclesiastical Patron)
• Prospex, a charity which works with young people in North London
• St Paul's Theological Centre
• The Tower Hamlets Friends & Neighbours, a charity which works with older people in East London
• The Westminster Theological Centre
• The Choral Foundation, Hampton Court Palace
• The Nigerian Chaplaincy
• Honorary Chaplain to the Brigade of Gurkhas

Personal life

In 1982, Chartres married Caroline (eldest daughter of Sir Alan McLintock), then a freelance writer and now the commissioning editor of a publishing house, with whom he has four children: Alexander, Sophie, Louis and Clio.

Lord Chartres is a member of the Garrick Club in London.

In 2023 he became a vice president of the National Churches Trust.

Honours and awards

Appointed a Chaplain of the Order of St John in 1997, and a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (KCVO) in the 2009 Queen's Birthday Honours, Chartres was promoted Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (GCVO) on his retirement as Dean of the Chapels Royal on 11 July 2019: as is customary for Church of England clergy who receive the accolade of the realm, Chartres never used the honorific prefix of "Sir".

On 12 October 2017, it was announced that Chartres would be created a life peer, to sit on the crossbenches in the House of Lords, having previously sat on the Bishops' bench. Taking the title of Baron Chartres, of Wilton in the County of Wiltshire, he was introduced to the Upper House as a Lord Temporal on 7 November 2017.

Lord Chartres played a leading role in the Coronation of Charles III and Camilla, carrying the Queen's Ring and presenting the Queen's Sceptre for blessing.

Honours

• : Life Peer - 2017
• : Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (GCVO) - 2019
  • KCVO - 2009
• : Chaplain of the Order of St John (ChStJ) - 1997.

Honorary degrees

• Honorary DD degree from Queen Mary and Westfield College, London
• Honorary DD degree from City University London: 19 May 1999
• Honorary DD degree from Brunel University: 1999
• Honorary DD degree from St. Mary's University College, Surrey
• Honorary DLitt degree from London Guildhall University
• Honorary DD degree from King's College London: 3 November 2010
• Honorary DD degree from Nashotah House: 2018.

Fellowships

• Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London: 1999
• Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge: 2017
• Visiting Fellow of Nuffield College, Oxford
• Honorary Fellow of King's College, Cambridge
• Honorary Fellow of St. John's College, Cambridge.

Styles

• The Reverend Richard Chartres (1973–1986)
• The Reverend Professor Richard Chartres (1986–1992)
• The Right Reverend Richard Chartres (1992–1995)
• The Right Reverend and Right Honourable Richard Chartres (1995–2010)
• The Right Reverend and Right Honourable Richard Chartres, Lord Bishop of London KCVO (2010–2017)
• The Right Reverend and Right Honourable the Lord Chartres KCVO (2017–2019)
• The Right Reverend and Right Honourable the Lord Chartres GCVO (2019–present)

External links

• Biography on the Diocese of London's website
• Interview at the World Economic Forum 2011 about faith and climate change
• Information on the Debrett's People of Today website
• Information on the British Parliament website