William Grant Broughton

William Grant Broughton (22 May 1788 – 20 February 1853) was a British-born Anglican clergyman who served as the first and only Bishop of Australia. Broughton was born in London and began his career as a clerk at the East India Company, before graduating from Cambridge University and being ordained as a priest in 1818. He was appointed Archdeacon of the Colony of New South Wales and arrived in Australia in 1829. Upon the establishment of the Diocese of Australia in 1836, he was installed as the first Bishop of Australia.

Broughton is known for his opposition to the education reforms proposed by the Governor of New South Wales Richard Bourke in 1831, modelled on the Irish National schools system. Broughton opposed moves towards religious equality and state-supported schooling, suspicious of the growing recognition and presence of the Catholic and Presbyterian churches in Australia. He believed that the Church of England should continue to enjoy special privileges as a semi-official religion within the colony. He established a number of Anglican educational institutions, including The King's School, Parramatta, and helped to expand the church's presence after the passage of the Church Act of 1836 by dedicating new church buildings, supporting the establishment of new Dioceses in Oceania, and recruiting a substantial pool of new clergy.

Broughton was a high churchman who was sceptical of liberalism and the growing movement towards Catholic emancipation. He served on the New South Wales Executive Council and Legislative Council, where he played a significant role in the economic management of the colony. He was known for his conservatism and for his defence of the Church of England's special status within the growing colony.