Bishop Simon Barrington-Ward (1950) 1930-2020

It is with the deepest regret that the College announces the death of our much-loved Honorary Fellow and Honorary Assistant Chaplain, Simon Barrington-Ward, former Bishop of Coventry. Throughout a seventy-year association with the College, Bishop Simon was respected and admired for his intellect and his practical spirituality; and loved, too, for his warmth and his genuine interest in others. A significant presence in the College since the 1950s, Simon often recalled his time as a very junior Fellow, when he became friends with C S Lewis, then perhaps the College’s most distinguished resident. Simon continued to bring his kindness, wit, acuity and cheerfulness to the community; and when he returned to Magdalene in retirement, he found a new generation of friends – as well as many of his old colleagues and companions.

The Rt Revd Simon Barrington-Ward KCMG came to Magdalene as an undergraduate in 1950 and graduated in 1953. Following ordination in the Church of England, he returned to the College as Chaplain 1956-60 and again as Dean of Chapel and Fellow 1963-69. He was Bishop of Coventry 1985-97 and Prelate of the Order of St Michael and St George 1989-2005. He became an Honorary Fellow of Magdalene in 1987. Following his retirement from Coventry, Bishop Barrington-Ward returned to Cambridge and became an Honorary Assistant Bishop in the Diocese of Ely and Honorary Assistant Chaplain of Magdalene. He was made a Knight Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) in 2001.