George Carey
George Leonard Carey was born 13th November 1935 in the East End of London. He failed his eleven plus and attended Bifrons Secondary Modern School, Barking, before leaving at the age of 15. He worked for the London Electricity Board as an office boy, before doing his National Service at 18 in the RAF, during which he served in Iraq.
He became a Christian at 17, when he attended church with his friends, 'I had a conversion experience which was very real…there were no blinding lights, simply a quiet conviction I had found something'.
During National Service, he decided to seek ordination and after his discharge he studied intensively, gaining 6 O levels and 3 A levels in 15 months. He attended King’s College, London and graduated in 1962 with a Bachelor of Divinity.
He was then ordained and went as curate to St. Mary’s Islington. In 1975, he became vicar of St Nicholas Church, Durham and within 2 years, had trebled the congregation. He later wrote a book on his experiences there, called The Church in the Market Place.
In 1982 he was appointed as Principal of Trinity College, Bristol.
He was appointed as Bishop of Bath and Wells in 1988.
In 1991, he was appointed 103rd Archbishop of Canterbury and remained in the post until 2002. He was the first modern holder not to have attended Oxford or Cambridge University.
As Archbishop, he was active in inter-faith work, working for better relations with Muslims.
His time as Archbishop saw the Church of England allow the ordination of women priests.
His memoirs are published (the first Archbishop of Canterbury to do so) entitled, Know the Truth.
Lady Carey
Eileen Carey was born 21st November 1938 to Scottish parents in a working class town in SE England. They had moved down from Scotland in the search for work, her father having been a farming labourer, with no formal training. She was educated at SE County Technical College in Barking, Essex.
She made a personal commitment to God on hearing the American evangelist Billy Grham on his speaking tours of 1954 and 56.
On leaving school she completed a qualification in Nursery Nursing and a SRN at West London Hospital. Meanwhile, she had met George Carey at her local church and became engaged in 1957.
She later worked in the Radiotherapy Unit at Mount Vernon Hospital, Northwood and continued to work part-time for most of her married life, until called to be the full-time partner of the Archbishop of Canterbury!
Lady Carey shares in the charitable work carried out by Lord Carey, travelling with him and participating actively in events and celebrations. She writes, 'If I am obedient, God can use me. For that I am daily thankful.'