Rose Josephine Hudson-Wilkin MBE QHE

Rose Hudson-Wilkin was born 19 January 1961 and is a  British Anglican bishop who has served in the Church Army and then  Parish Ministry.

In November 2014, she was priest-in-charge of St Mary-at-Hill, City of  London, until late 2019, 

During her parish role in Hackney, Hudson-Wilkin staged a rooftop  protest on the church with her curate to highlight the need for funds to  repair the building. 

Speaking on Desert Island Discs, she said that with so much development going on in Hackney, she was trying to draw attention to the plight of the church, which had a leaking roof, adding that she wished she could have stayed a little longer on the roof as the protest attracted donations for its repair.

She did this whilst additionally holding the role of Chaplain to the Speaker of the House of Commons, as well as priest vicar at Westminster Abbey and a Chaplain to the Queen – posts she held from 2010 - 2019.

It was her role of Queen's Chaplain that drew wide attention and it wasn’t all positive. 

Rose was the first black female to hold the role and when she was appointed to the Commons some people dismissed it as an act of political correctness rather than celebrating her work and experience. 

In 2012, she was tipped as likely to be one of the first women to become bishops in the Church of England.  On 28 June 2019 she was announced as the next Bishop of Dover, to run the Diocese of Canterbury on behalf of the Archbishop of Canterbury.  As a result, Rose Hudson-Wilkin is, as predicted, the first black woman to become a Church of England Bishop.