Edward Burbidge

Born in Upper Clapton, London, in August 1839, Edward Burbidge was an English churchman remembered for his work as a liturgical scholar. He was educated at St Catharine’s College, Cambridge, took holy orders, and built a career within the Church of England that combined parish work, teaching, and serious historical study.

Burbidge served in several clerical posts and was associated with theological education, including work at the London College of Divinity. He is especially noted for writing on worship, church practice, and doctrine in a way that aimed to be learned but still useful to ordinary church readers.

Among his better-known books are The Kingdom of Heaven; What is it? and Liturgies and Offices of the Church. Those works reflect the interests that defined his writing: close attention to the language of the Gospels, the history of Christian worship, and the life of the Anglican Church. He died in 1903.