William Coleridge

He was the only son of Luke Herman Coleridge of Thorverton, Devonshire, and his wife, Sarah, the third daughter of Richard Hart of Exeter.

He entered as a commoner of Christ Church, Oxford, under Cyril Jackson, and was noticed for his 'earnest application and sweetness of manners.'

During his enrollment on 29 January 1829 the streets of Bridgetown, Barbados, from Trafalgar Square to St. Michael’s Cathedral were lined with the four companies of the Royal Militia presided over by Major George Walrond (co-heir to the Barony of Welles).

In his first charge (delivered in 1830) the bishop noted an improvement, especially in the condition of the black population, who had now almost entirely abandoned such customs as the howlings over the dead and the offering of food at graves.

In a charge delivered in July 1838, just before the legal emancipation of the slaves in the West Indian colonies, he states that the black residents 'flock to the churches and chapels,' and are 'civil in their behaviour' and 'decent in their appearance.'

The large diocese was then divided, the three archdeaconries of Barbados, Antigua, and Guiana being erected into separate sees.

[1] On the establishment of St. Augustine's Missionary College at Canterbury, Coleridge was induced to become the first warden, and held the office till his death, which took place very suddenly, 21 December 1849, at his seat of Salston, Ottery St.