19th century

The area today known as Myanmar was in 1877 part of the British Indian Empire, and known as Burma. It was decided that the area of Southern Burma required a more substantial ecclesiastical presence than the Bishop of Calcutta could provide. For decades the American baptist, Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (SPG) and Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (SPCK) missionaries had been making inroads among the Burmese and Karenni peoples. In recognition of this, the Diocese of Winchester created an Endowment Fund for the establishment of a bishopric in Burma; the diocese itself contributed £10,000. The SPG, SPCK. and the Colonial Bishoprics' Fund together contributed £10,000 to the creation of the diocese. Therefore in 1877 the diocese of Rangoon, subject to the diocese of Calcutta was established by Letters Patent. Jonathan Holt Titcomb, a parish priest in Winchester diocese, was elected the first Bishop of Rangoon and so appointed on 17 December 1877.

Early 20th century

At first the diocese encompassed only the southern half of Burma, but was later extended to cover the whole of the country. The Bishop was formerly appointed by the monarch on the advice of the Secretary of State for India. However, in 1927 in response to growing agitation on the part of the bishops in India the British Parliament passed legislation to bring to an end the Church of England's jurisdiction over the church in India. Consequently, the Diocese of Rangoon became a major part of the new, autonomous Church of India, Burma and Ceylon. Covering the entirety of Burma, the diocese was in effect the Church of Burma. In Burma, the Bishop was permitted to title himself as head of the Church of Burma.

Late 20th century

The Bishop continued to assume his duties in Burma after the independence of that country in 1948. There were eight Bishops of Rangoon before the Church of Burma became autocephalous. However, in 1966 the Burmese government forced all Western missionaries to leave, including the then-bishop V.G. Shearburn. His assistant bishop, Francis Ah Mya was appointed Bishop in his place. In 1970, the Church of Burma, hitherto part of the Church of India, Pakistan, Burma and Ceylon (the then-current incarnation of the 1927 creation) became the Anglican Church of the Province of Burma (later of Myanmar), and the See of Rangoon was permanently attached to (and held ex officio with) the elected Primatial and Metropolitan archepiscopal See.

Rangoon became an autonomous province independent of the Province of India, Pakistan, Burma and Cylone, with Ah Mya as its first archbishop;^[1]