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{{Short description|Australian Anglican bishop}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}}
{{Use Australian English|date=March 2022}}
[[File:Bishop Jack Stretch on his consecration as Anglican Bishop of Newcastle, 1906.jpg|thumb|Bishop Jack Stretch on his consecration as Anglican Bishop of Newcastle, 1906]]
'''John Francis Stretch''' (28 January 1855 – 19 April 1919) was an Australian [[Anglican]] [[bishop]].<ref>''[[Who's Who|Who Was Who]] 1897-1990'' London, [[A & C Black]], 1991 {{ISBN|0-7136-3457-X}}</ref><ref name="adb">{{Citation |last=Cable |first=K. J. |title=Stretch, John Francis (Jack) (1855–1919) |url=https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/stretch-john-francis-jack-8699 |work=Australian Dictionary of Biography |place=Canberra |publisher=National Centre of Biography, Australian National University |language=en |access-date=2022-03-04 |archive-date=30 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210630080141/https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/stretch-john-francis-jack-8699 |url-status=live }}</ref>

== Early life ==
[[File:Portrait of Bishop Stretch of Newcastle sitting on a porch, Dubbo Region, New South Wales, circa 1910.jpg|thumb|Bishop Stretch of Newcastle sitting on a porch, Dubbo Region, New South Wales, circa 1910]]
Stretch was born in [[Geelong]], [[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]], the son of Reverend John Cliffe Theodore Stretch and his wife Frances (née Heath). He was educated at [[Geelong Church of England Grammar School]]. On 2 July 1872, he was the first student to enrol in [[Trinity College, Melbourne]], which was the first residential college of the [[University of Melbourne]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=The personal papers of Canon Carlos Stretch, son of Bishop John Francis Stretch |url=http://www.newcastle.edu.au/service/archives/archives/pdf/canoncarlosstretch.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080811064357/http://www.newcastle.edu.au/service/archives/archives/pdf/canoncarlosstretch.pdf |archive-date=11 August 2008 |access-date=29 October 2008}}</ref><ref>''Calendar of Trinity College within the University of Melbourne'', 1897, p. 202.</ref> He graduated BA in 1874 and LLB in 1887.<ref name="adb" />

== Religious life ==
Ordained in 1878, he began his ordained ministry as a [[curate]] in Geelong. In 1892, Stretch became [[vicar]] of [[St Andrew's Church, Brighton]], [[Melbourne]] having previously served as incumbent of Holy Trinity Church in [[Maldon, Victoria|Maldon]] and St Mark's Church in [[Fitzroy, Victoria|Fitzroy]]. He was appointed to be [[Dean (religion)|Dean]] of [[Anglican Diocese of Ballarat|Ballarat]] in 1894.<ref name="adb" />

Stretch was consecrated as a bishop in 1895 as the first co-adjutor bishop for the [[Anglican Diocese of Brisbane|Brisbane diocese]]. He was the first Australian to become an Anglican bishop in Australia. His consecration service (along with [[Henry Cooper (bishop)|Henry Cooper]] who was made the coadjutor bishop for Ballarat) was held at [[St Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne|St Paul's Cathedral]] in Melbourne on 9 November 1895 (the consecration was only the second occasion that such a service had happened in Australia at that time).<ref>''The Queenslander'' newspaper - 9 November 1895, p. 903.</ref>

On Saturday 20 June 1896, he officially opened St Alban's Anglican church in [[Cunnamulla]]. Stretch was injured on his way to Cunnamulla, as he shot at a turkey from his [[Horse and buggy|buggy]], frightening the horses, resulting in a crash with a tree stump. Although he sustained "serious contusions" to his forehead and hand, he was still able to perform the ceremony.<ref>{{cite news |date=4 July 1896 |title=Queensland |volume=L |page=4 |newspaper=[[The Queenslander]] |issue=1080 |location=Queensland, Australia |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article20449625 |via=National Library of Australia |accessdate=4 March 2022}}</ref>

In 1906 he was made the [[Anglican Bishop of Newcastle (Australia)|Bishop of Newcastle]] in [[New South Wales]].<ref>[http://www.angdon.com/history/ Diocesan history] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090429002951/http://www.angdon.com/history/ |date=April 29, 2009 }}</ref>

== Later life ==
In failing health, Stretch announced his retirement on 24 January 1919 to officially take effect on 30 June 1919, but unofficially retired almost immediately.<ref>{{cite news |date=3 February 1919 |title=BISHOP STRETCH |page=3 |newspaper=[[The Newcastle Sun]] |issue=271 |location=New South Wales, Australia |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article159367001 |via=National Library of Australia |accessdate=4 March 2022 |archive-date=4 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220304054527/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/159367001 |url-status=live }}</ref> He died following a [[stroke]] on 19 April 1919 in [[Lindfield, New South Wales|Lindfield]], [[Sydney]], survived by his two daughters and four sons.<ref>{{cite news |date=20 April 1919 |title=CATHEDRAL BELLS TOLL |page=2 |newspaper=[[The Sun (Sydney)|The Sun]] |issue=838 |location=New South Wales, Australia |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article221448625 |via=National Library of Australia |accessdate=4 March 2022 |archive-date=4 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220304054516/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/221448625 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=20 April 1919 |title=BISHOP STRETCH DIED YESTERDAY |page=2 |newspaper=[[The Sunday Times (Sydney)|Sunday Times]] |issue=1735 |location=New South Wales, Australia |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article123230358 |via=National Library of Australia |accessdate=4 March 2022 |archive-date=4 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220304054516/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/123230358 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=21 April 1919 |title=FAREWELL MESSAGES |page=5 |newspaper=[[The Newcastle Sun]] |issue=335 |location=New South Wales, Australia |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article159375429 |via=National Library of Australia |accessdate=4 March 2022 |archive-date=4 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220304054522/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/159375429 |url-status=live }}</ref> His body was taken to [[Christ Church Cathedral, Newcastle|Christ Church Cathedral]] in Newcastle, where his funeral service was conducted on Monday 21 April 1919 by [[John Wright (Archbishop of Sydney)]]. After the funeral, there was a procession through the streets to the railway station. Stretch was buried in the Anglican section of [[Sandgate Cemetery]], [[Newcastle, New South Wales|Newcastle]] with the burial service conducted by Archbishop Wright.<ref>{{cite news |date=21 April 1919 |title=DEATH OF BISHOP STRETCH |page=4 |newspaper=[[Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate]] |issue=13,870 |location=New South Wales, Australia |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article139652494 |via=National Library of Australia |accessdate=4 March 2022 |archive-date=4 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220304054522/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/139652494 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":1">{{cite news |date=21 April 1919 |title=THE FUNERAL |page=5 |newspaper=[[The Newcastle Sun]] |issue=335 |location=New South Wales, Australia |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article159375423 |via=National Library of Australia |accessdate=4 March 2022 |archive-date=4 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220304054515/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/159375423 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Two of his sons, John Carlos William and Cliffe Maurice Osmond, were also Anglican clergy.<ref name=":1" />

==References==
{{commons category|Jack Stretch}}
<references/>

{{Bishops of Newcastle (Australia)}}
{{Deans of Newcastle (Australia)}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stretch, Jack}}
[[Category:1855 births]]
[[Category:People educated at Trinity College (University of Melbourne)]]
[[Category:People educated at Geelong Grammar School]]
[[Category:University of Melbourne alumni]]
[[Category:20th-century Anglican bishops in Australia]]
[[Category:Deans of Ballarat]]
[[Category:Anglican bishops of Newcastle (Australia)]]
[[Category:1919 deaths]]
}

Jack Stretch - Revision history

imported>Atremari: Added short description