Geoffrey Tattersall, Church of England General Synod leader, dies at 77

By Michael Gryboski, Mainline Church Editor Friday, January 10, 2025

Geoffrey Tattersall, chair of the Church of England General Synod and former diocesan chancellor, giving remarks at the General Synod in September 2020. | Screengrab/YouTube/The Church of England

Geoffrey Tattersall, a former Church of England General Synod chair, diocesan chancellor and appeals court judge, has died. He was 77.

The Church of England Diocese of Sodor and Man announced Monday that Tattersall died on Sunday, identified as the Eve of the Feast of the Epiphany.

“Geoffrey was a remarkable man with a profound legal wisdom who put this to good use here on the Island as Vicar General to the Diocese from 2015-2019 and as Island’s former Judge of Appeal from 1997-2017,” stated the diocese.

“Geoffrey was a much valued and thoughtful member of the General Synod of the Church of England. With his ready wit and relaxed manner he was a fair and popular chair in Synod debates, most memorably last year at the debate allowing the blessing of same sex couples.”

Bishop Martyn Snow of the Diocese of Leicester gave his condolences in a statement published Tuesday by the Church of England, commending Tattersall’s work amid the “Living in Love and Faith” document, which centered on whether the denomination should bless same-sex unions.

“Geoffrey’s chairing of Synod debates, including LLF, with humor and integrity, greatly aided our discernment,” stated Snow. “His gift was to foster good-natured debate, even in moments of deep difference. May he rest in peace and rise in glory."

Bishop David Walker of the Diocese of Manchester was also quoted in the statement noting that Tattersall “served the Church of England from parish to national level with great distinction. His wise judgement and gentle humor from the chair defused many a tricky session of the General Synod.”

Born in 1947 in Lancashire, England, Tattersall was called to the legal profession in 1970 and later appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1992, serving as the Judge of Appeal for the Isle of Man from 1997 and 2017.

At Tattersall’s retirement ceremony in September 2017, Judge David Doyle gave remarks in which he said the retiring judge “has made an outstanding contribution to the development of Manx law and jurisprudence at appellate level over all those years.”

“In addition to his ability to deal with a very wide range of appeals, what Geoffrey possessed was an overriding sense of fairness and a desire to treat all those who came before the appeal court with great courtesy and patience,” Doyle added.

“Geoffrey has been a good friend to the Island for many years and has, in his own remarkable way, made an impressive contribution to this yindyssagh, this wonderful Island, and we should acknowledge that and thank him for it.”

In 1995, Tattersall was elected a member of the General Synod, which he would eventually chair. He also served as chancellor for the dioceses of Manchester and Carlisle and chaired the Clergy Disciplinary Tribunal.

He is survived by his wife, Hazel, three adult children and their families.