A NORTH-East priest has been named the Church of England’s second female bishop – and completed the Church’s first husband and wife bishop team.

The Reverend Canon Alison White, who studied and trained in Durham and served in Chester-le-Street, will become Bishop of Hull and move to East Yorkshire later this year.

But it will mean a 150-mile commute for her husband of 30 years, the Right Rev Frank White, who will continue in his role as assistant Bishop of Newcastle.

Rev Canon White, 58, said: “You may have noticed that I am married to a bishop. This may seem excessive!

“You would think that one in a family is enough. Believe me, this had crossed our minds.”

But she added that both she and her husband had given careful consideration to their commitments.

The CofE consecrated its first woman bishop, Libby Lane, in January, despite large parts of the church remaining opposed to the historic shift.

Rev Canon White said she knew Bishop Lane and was hoping to swap notes with her.

She added that she couldn’t wait to be “part of loving God and growing the Church in this great part of Yorkshire”.

The Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, said it was a joyous day and praised Rev Canon White as a person of real godliness and wisdom.

Having studied English at Durham University, she trained for the Church at Durham and served in Chester-le-Street, becoming a deaconess in 1987, a deacon in 1987 and a priest in 1994 – being numbered among the first group in the Durham Diocese.

She held various posts in the Durham Diocese and spent five years in Peterborough before returning to the North-East in 2011 and is currently priest-in-charge at Riding Mill, Northumberland, and an adviser on spirituality and spiritual direction for the Newcastle Diocese.

Rev Canon White will be consecrated Bishop of Hull at York Minster on Friday, July 3.

She said she was absolutely excited at her new role and really excited about moving to Hull, adding that, with the city gearing up to be UK City of Culture in 2017, it was the “perfect time”.

She succeeds the Rt Rev Richard Frith, who became Bishop of Hereford last November.