Southwell was born in 1860, sixth son of Thomas Martin Southwell, of Woodlands Hall,
Bridgnorth, Shropshire, and educated at
Charterhouse and
Magdalen College, Oxford, he held
curacies at
Ellesmere, Shropshire (1885-88), St Clement's in
Bournemouth (1888-91) and St Nicolas in
Guildford (1891-92); then
incumbencies at
Chetton, Shropshire (1892-95) and
Bodmin, Cornwall (1895-1903) before becoming a
Canon Residentiary of
Chichester Cathedral. While in Cornwall, he held commission as an Acting Chaplain of the Forces with the
Volunteer Force from 1895 to 1903 and undertook active service during the
Boer War in South Africa in 1900. He was awarded the
Volunteer Decoration in 1906 and became commissioned as a Chaplain in the newly formed
Territorial Army in 1908. Already
Archdeacon of Lewes and a
Canon Residentiary of
Chichester Cathedral since 1911, he was also appointed to the
episcopate in 1920 and held the suffragan See of Lewes office for six years. He was consecrated into bishop's orders on
St John the Baptist's Day 1920 (24 June), by
Randall Davidson,
Archbishop of Canterbury, at
St Paul's Cathedral. He resigned his Archdeaconry in 1923, his See in 1926, and his canonry in 1935. At his death, he was
Canon Precentor of Chichester Cathedral and
Provost of
Lancing College, and had been an
Assistant Bishop of Chichester since 1930. his son having predeceased him during the First World War. He was buried in the churchyard at nearby Rumbaldswyke on 13 March, on the same day as a requiem service was held at St Mary's Church in his native Bridgnorth. A fund initiated after his death yielded enough contributions to provide a memorial, which can be seen at St Cuthman
Whitehawk in
Brighton. Southwell was a very prominent
Freemason, initiated in the
Apollo University Lodge, Oxford, in 1880. He was appointed as Grand Chaplain of the
United Grand Lodge of England in 1913. ==References==