Leslie Vining

Leslie Gordon Vining (1885 – 4 March 1955) was an English Anglican Bishop and the first Archbishop of the Church of the Province of West Africa, from 1951 to 1955.

He attended Emmanuel College, Cambridge and completed his studies in 1910. He started out as an assistant curate at St. Gabriel's, Bishopwearmouth and later chaplain to British forces during World War I. After the war, he became the Vicar of St. Alban’s, Westbury Park, Bristol in 1918. He was at the post for the next 20 years. In 1938, he was transferred to Nigeria as an Assistant Bishop of the Niger succeeding Bishop Gelsthorpe. Vining was appointed the Bishop of Lagos in 1940 after the resignation of F.M. Jones. While in Nigeria, he established a training school for religious teachers. He also tried to be a bridge builder, reaching out to the Lagos Islamic community. He was the first Archbishop of the newly created Church of the Province of West Africa, at his inauguration on 17 April 1951. He died at sea on his way to England on 4 March 1955. He was buried in Freetown, Sierra Leone.