Death of the Golden-Tongued Magee
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1891: It was on this day that William Connor Magee, Bishop of Peterborough from 1868 to 1891, passed away. In 1884, the editors of Contemporary Pulpit asked readers to send in lists of the 'greatest living English-speaking Protestant preachers'. Approximately 350 ballots were returned, and the results were printed in both Contemporary Pulpit and the 4 October issue of The Spectator. William Connor Magee was ranked seventh. He was a vibrant speaker who gave his oratory full rein; so much so that he was described by Punch in 1886 as the 'golden-tongued Magee'. He was also respectful of other Christian beliefs of the time, - referring to Revd Thomas Barrass, the leader of the Baptist congregations in Peterborough, as the 'non-conformist Bishop of Peterborough'. He once caused a national stir when, at the height of the temperance debate, he made a speech in the House of Lords stating that 'it would be better that England should be free than that England should be compulsorily sober'. For quite some time after this, however, he was frequently misquoted as the bishop who said that it was OK to get drunk! (Carnell, Geoffrey, The Bishops of Peterborough, RJL Smith & Associates, 1993)
Taken from The Peterborough Book of Days by Brian Jones, The History Press, 2014.