Blanch, Stuart

Blanch, Stuart (1918-1994), was archbishop of York from 1975 to 1983. He had served as bishop of Liverpool from 1966 to 1975. He received a life peerage in 1983 and became Baron Blanch.

Stuart Yarworth Blanch was born on Feb. 2, 1918, in Blakeney, Gloucestershire, England. He was educated at Alleyns School, in Dulwich, south London. Blanch began work for an insurance firm in 1936. During World War II (1939-1945), he served in the Royal Air Force as a navigator. After the war, Blanch studied theology at Oxford University. He became curate of Highfield, Oxford, in 1949. Blanch remained in Oxfordshire as a vicar and academic until 1960, when he left to serve as oriel canon of Rochester Cathedral from 1960 to 1966. Blanch died on June 3, 1994.