J. Chandler of St Leonards-on-Sea and was educated at Marlborough and University College, Oxford,[3] and ordained in 1883.

[4] He began his career as Chaplain to Brasenose College, Oxford, where he was also tutor and elected a Fellow.

[5] He was Rector of All Saints Church, Poplar, London, from 1891 until late 1901 when he was appointed to the episcopate.

In November 1901 he received the honorary degree Doctor of Divinity from the University of Oxford.

The proposal aroused some support and some opposition and was adopted in some churches though it never received episcopal approval; its provisional nature was the reason for terming it the "Interim" rite.