William Wheeler

William Gordon Wheeler (5 May 1910 - 21 February 1998) was an English prelate and the bishop emeritus of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Leeds. Wheeler had served as the seventh Roman Catholic Bishop of Leeds, being succeeded by David Konstant. Before that, he served as coadjutor bishop of the Diocese of Middlesbrough and as Titular Bishop of Theudalis. Early life Wheeler was born on 5 May 1910 in Saddleworth in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England, to Frederick (1880–1971) and Marjorie Wheeler (1881–1938). From 1924 to 1929, he was educated at Manchester Grammar School, then an all-boys free grammar school in Manchester. He studied history at University College, Oxford, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in 1932. He was strongly influenced by the Anglo-Catholic tradition of the church in Worsley which he attended during his time at the grammar school. Career Church of England From 1932 to 1933, Wheeler trained for holy orders in the Church of England at St Stephen's House, Oxford. He was ordained as a deacon in December 1933 by George Bell, Bishop of Chichester, and as an Anglican priest in December 1934 by Edmund Pearce, Bishop of Bristol. He began his ministry as a curate at St Bartholomew's Church, Brighton in 1933, and then at St Mary and All Saints, Chesterfield in 1934. He was an assistant chaplain at Lancing College, then an all-boys public boarding school in 1935.