David Hand

For the animator, see David Hand (animator). For the statistician, see David Hand (statistician).

Grand Chief the Most Reverend Geoffrey David Hand KBE GCL (11 May 1918- 6 April 2006) was the first Anglican Archbishop of Papua New Guinea.

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Childhood and education

Gresham's

Archbishop Hand was born in 1918 at Clermont, Queensland, Australia, where his English father, the Reverend William Thomas Hand, was the Rector of Clermont.^[1] He had two older brothers, Peter and Eustace, both of whom also became priests.^[1] When he was four, the family returned to England, his father taking up a country parish in Tatterford, Norfolk; David Hand grew up there and was educated at Gresham's School, Holt (where he was an organ scholar) from 1932 to 1937, and then at Oriel College, Oxford, from 1938 to 1941, when he took a degree in history before training for the ministry at Ripon Theological College, Cuddesdon (1941–1942).^[1]

Career

Ordained a deacon in 1942, Hand became a curate at Heckmondwike in Yorkshire in the north of England and was ordained a priest in 1943. He stayed at Heckmondwike until 1946, when he was inspired to go out to Papua New Guinea by the life and death of the Reverend Vivian Redlich, a missionary killed there during World War II.

He arrived in Papua New Guinea in 1946^[2] and spent sixty of his eighty-seven years there.^[1] When he became a bishop in 1950, he was the youngest bishop in the Anglican communion, aged only thirty-two.^[2]

An eccentric, his usual outfit was a loose shirt, shorts, sensible shoes, and a wooden cross.^[1] On meeting an Australian journalist in 1972, Hand told him "The secret of life in the tropics is Johnson's Baby Powder, lots of it."^[1] He could, though, dress more grandly. During a visit, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh took him for a member of the Roman Catholic hierarchy. Hand said he was "Church of England", but Philip asked: "Are you sure?"^[1]

Hand was one of the very few bishops of the modern world who had walked through equatorial jungle and climbed mountains to find people who had never before had contact with the outside world. In pursuit of publicity to gain support for his diocese, he employed a press officer, Susan Young, who smoked cheroots and flew a plane.^[1]

Independence

When Papua New Guinea gained its independence from Australia in September 1975, Hand was the first European to apply for citizenship.^[1] He received honours as varied as a knighthood from H.M. the Queen, the highest rank (Grand Companion) in Papua New Guinea's Order of the Logohu, and the title of Chief of the Orokaiva tribe.^[2]

Hand ended his time as Archbishop in 1983, at the retirement age of sixty-five,^[2], and was succeeded by George Ambo.^[3] He then spent two years as the parish priest of his childhood village of Tatterford in Norfolk, where he was still remembered. However, he missed Papua New Guinea and returned, settling in Port Moresby,^[2] where he wrote his memoirs (and a newspaper column) and headed the local censorship board. He never married,^[2] remaining a celibate Anglo-Catholic missionary like Trevor Huddleston, in the tradition of the Oxford Movement.^[1] When he died in Port Moresby in 2006, he was buried at the Cathedral of the Resurrection, Popondetta. His funeral was delayed, as his coffin was found to be too big for his grave.^[1]

Summary of Career

Papua New Guinea

• Ordained deacon 1942
• Curate at Heckmondwike in Yorkshire 1942-1946
• Priest 1943
• Missioner, Diocese of New Guinea 1946-1950
• Priest-in-charge, Sefoa 1947-1948
• Priest-in-charge, Sangara 1948-1950
• Archdeacon of North New Guinea 1950-1965
• Bishop Coadjutor of New Guinea 1950-1963
• Bishop of New Guinea 1963-1975
• Bishop of Papua New Guinea 1975-1977
• Bishop of Port Moresby 1977-1983
• Archbishop of Papua New Guinea 1977-1983
• Priest-in-charge, East with West Rudham, Houghton next Harpley, Syderstone, Tatterford and Tattersett 1983-1985

Honours

The Order of the Logohu

• Commander of the Order of the British Empire, 1975^[2]
• Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire, 1984^[2]
• Grand Companion of the Order of the Logohu, 2005^[2]
• Chief of the Orokaiva tribe of Oro Province

Autobiography

• Modawa: Papua New Guinea and Me 1946-2002, by Archbishop David Hand (Salpress, Port Moresby, 2002)

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k} God's colourful and inspirational soldier Obituary at the Sydney Morning Herald, 28 April 2006 (accessed 21 October 2007)
2. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i} Obituary at Papua New Guinea Association (accessed 21 October 2007)
3. ^ "Ambo a man of two worlds", Post Courier, July 11, 2008

• Obituary in 'The Guardian' newspaper of London
• Obituary at Church of Papua New Guinea web site
• The Niugini Liturgy prepared and published by David Hand

Persondata
Name	Hand, David
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1918
Place of birth
Date of death	2006
Place of death