HE was dubbed "The Improbable Bishop"; a working class Lancashire lad who on his appointment to the see of Durham went to Buckingham Palace to pay homage to the Queen wearing, it is said, a cloth cap.

He was a man whose life started out in an unpretentious red brick terraced house in Bolton, but ended with him being buried in the splendour of the palace of the Prince Bishops of Durham, Auckland Castle.

He came under fire from the Church of England for forthright and outspoken opinions, yet his enthusiasm, friendlessness, and down-to-earth approach to life endeared him to the people of the North-East.

Today, (January 31) marks the centenary of the birth of probably Durham’s most progressive and best loved bishop: Ian Ramsey. He only held the role for six short years from 1966, but 42 years after his death, "Everybody’s Bishop", as Ramsey was known across Durham, is still remembered with deep affection by those whose lives he touched.

Now researchers at Ramsey’s former home at Auckland Castle are hoping to collect those memories as they seek to build up a picture of the real lives and passions of Durham’s bishops. They are appealing for people who knew or met him to come forward with their stories, recollections, photographs and films.

Clare Baron, assistant curator at Auckland Castle, says: “There will be many hundreds of people around still who both knew and met him. We know Ramsey’s official story, but we want to find out more about those unguarded moments when he took a step back from the religious politics and went out into the community visiting schools, pit villages, social clubs, factories and fetes.

“He was a man with boundless energy and a fertile mind who found it extremely difficult to turn down a request for help, which many claim contributed to his death from a heart attack at the age of only 57.

“We would love to hear from them with their memories, no matter how big or small, be they a miner, housewife, student, shop worker or parishioner.”

The call is part of a project to record the history of Auckland Castle, the town of Bishop Auckland and the Bishop of Durham, within living memory. It is hoped the results will play an important part in the development of new interpretation for the castle in 2018.

After his death, the Reverend Jeremy Martineau, his industrial advisor, wrote: “He was humorous, friendly, genuine, spiritual, intellectual, and fully human. Even dictating these words about him brings back important memories and touches deep emotions. I felt very angry indeed with God for his untimely death.”

The General Secretary of the National Union of Mineworkers for the Durham area wrote: “His popularity with working people was undoubtedly founded upon his ability to understand them and their problems, and miners in particular will remember his courageous advocacy of their cause over the years.”

His popularity probably owes much to his ordinary upbringing. He grew up in Lancashire at a time when the decline of the cotton industry had brought widespread unemployment and poverty.

In his teens, Ramsey won a scholarship to Cambridge to study mathematics but became ill with tuberculosis. He spent eight months in hospital, and as he recovered, he pondered why his life had been spared. This led him to become ordained in 1940, but he spent most of his career as an academic, culminating with his appointment as professor of the philosophy of the Christian religion at Oxford University. Here he used his background to take the lead in debating moral questions, such as doctors’ decisions about life and death, abortion and suicide.

In 1966 came the unexpected call to be Bishop of Durham.

It was a job he took to like a duck to water. His training in philosophy made him a leading figure in the moral debates of the 1960s and early 1970s, focussing especially on the interface between medicine, religion and the law.

He also took on a heavy load of national responsibilities, including commissions on broadcasting and religious education.

In the House of Lords he spoke out on racial equality and the need to create a new spirit in industry.

Throughout he never lost his Lancashire accent.

He died after a heart attack at Broadcasting House, London, and his ashes, along with those of his wife Margretta (Margaret), who died in 1997, are buried in the medieval St Peter’s Chapel at Auckland Castle.

Professor Basil Mitchell, who gave the address at Ramsey’s memorial service at Oxford shortly after his death, said: “No one ever looked or sounded less like a bishop or even a professor, so that from the start people were able to set aside their preconceptions and see and hear the man; finding that he would listen to what they had to say.”

Today, Auckland Castle still bears many reminders of "The Improbable Bishop", including an incomplete portrait of him which hangs among both his predecessors and successors in the Throne Room at Auckland Castle.

“Sadly Ramsey died before the portrait could be finished,” Clare Baron explains. “There are many who would say his life’s work was left unfinished too.

“But with the public’s help, and the support of Ian’s family, we hope we can build up a more complete picture of this extraordinary man.”

Anyone with memories, stories, films or photographs of Ian Ramsey from his time as Bishop of Durham is asked to contact Georgina Ascroft on 01388-743750 or email: Georgina.ascroft@aucklandcastle.org