The Diocese of Lucknow was established in 1983 . Bishop Johnson, to whom our Church owes so much, had long felt that the growing Missions of the Church Missionary Society and the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel and the big military and civil stations in this region required the care of a whole-time Bishop, and not the occasional flying visits of a hard-worked Bishop of Calcutta. And so for some years he carefully laid his plans for the new diocese and, with the assistance of Bishop Wilkinson of North and Central Europe, built up an endowment for the future Bishop's salary. To Allahabad, the capital of the United Provinces, which was to be the headquarters of the new diocese, he sent some of his ablest Chaplains, such as Brook Deedes, after wards Archdeacon of Hampstead, Oscar D. Watkins, afterwards Archdeacon of Lucknow, and author of a learned treatise on Matrimony; Scobell, Stephenson, and Hardy.

Long before the idea of this new diocese had been worked out, the Church Committee of Cannington, a newly planned residential quarter of Allahabad, had decided to build a really handsome Church in this quarter of the station, and had employed Mr. (afterwards Sir) W. Emerson, the well-known architect, to prepare its plans. Then as money came in more plentifully and the idea of a diocese materialized, the early plans were considerably modified and enlarged, so as to prepare the way for the Cathedral Church of the Diocese.

Then came a further development. A wealthy American, Mr. A.C.P. Dodge, came on a visit to India one cold weather, accompanied by his wife. While at Allahabad she was taken dangerously ill with small-pox, and during her illness, which terminated fatally, was attended constantly by the Rev. W. H. Brennan, then Railway Chaplain at Allahabad. Stricken with grief and touched by the sympathy of Mr. Brennan, who had allowed the body to remain in one of the schools previous to burial, Mr. Dodge on his return to America sent Bishop Johnson a large sum of money as a memorial to his wife. Of the sum which Mr. Dodge gave to the Bishop of Calcutta, half was ear-marked for the Allahabad Cathedral building fund and half to form an endowment to provide grants towards the salaries of two clergymen, one to minister to Europeans and the other to Indians. That portion which was assigned to the building fund covered the cost of two transepts and the beautiful Choir.

While Sir W. Emerson's full design has not yet been completed, and a portion of the nave at the west end with two beautiful western tower shave still to be built, this Cathedral is certainly our handsomest in India. Grouped round it are various Church buildings: the Bishop's House, originally built for a Clergy House: two houses for Cathedral Clergy; a Girls' School, called appropriately after Bishop Johnson; and a house which is the head quarters of the Women's Diocesan Association.

To many people it may seem strange that the Cathedral of the Diocese is at Allahabad, while the title of the diocese is taken from Lucknow. This anomaly arises from the fact that Allahabad was situated within the legally defined territories of the original

Diocese of Calcutta (foundedin1815), and therefore a title for the new diocese had to be found in a region which lay outside this area. As Lucknow, the capital of the Northern Province of Oudh, never was in the Calcutta Diocese, having been annexed about 1857, this historic city of Lucknow has given its name to the Diocese of the United Provinces.

The first Bishop of Lucknow, the Right Rev. Alfred Clifford, was consecrated in St. Paul's Cathedral, Calcutta, on Sunday, January 25, 1893. He had been for many years a distinguished missionary of the Church Missionary Society, part of which time he acted as Secretary in Calcutta.

The Bishop of Lucknow was the Ordinary of the Anglican Diocese of Lucknow from its inception in 1893 until the foundation of the Church in India, Pakistan, Burma and Ceylon in 1927 and its consequent merger with other Protestant Churches to form the Church of North India in 1970; and since then head of one of the united church's biggest dioceses .

Bishops:

Late Rt. Rev. Lord Alfred Clifford 1893–1910

Late Most. Rev. Lord George Westcott 1910–1928

Late Rt. Rev. Lord Charles Saunders 1928–1938

Late Rt. Rev. Lord Sydney Bill 1939–1947

Late Rt. Rev. Lord Christopher Robinson 1947–1962

Church of North India

Late Rt. Rev. Lord Joseph Amritanand 1962–1970

From 1970 onwards the Bishops list is mentioned in Personnel-Our Bishops.

Book References:-A History of the Church of England in India

Since the Early Days of the East India Company

By Eyre Chatterton

Bishop of Nagpur

London

History of C.M.S.; History of Cawnpore Mission, S.P.O.; Memoirs of Daniel Corrie; C.M.S. Century of Work in Meerut; Centenary C.M.S. Work, Benares