Edward White Benson

Edward White Benson

Edward White Benson (1829–1896) was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1883 until his death.

Benson was educated at King Edward's School, Birmingham and Trinity College, Cambridge. He was a schoolmaster at Rugby School and later Headmaster of Wellington College before becoming Bishop of Truro (where he deved the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols) and then Archbishop of Canterbury. A story he told to Henry James became the basis of James's ghost story, The Turn of the Screw, which was later adapted as an opera by Benjamin Britten.

Benson's wife, Mary Sidgwick, known as Minnie, was lesbian, and lived, after Edward’s death, with Lucy Tait, the daughter of her husband’s predecessor as Archbishop. Edward and Minnie had six children, none of whom married, and four of whom are thought to have been gay:

• E F Benson, who wrote the words to "Land of Hope and Glory"
• R H Benson, priest, author, and friend of Frederick Rolfe.