Promotion to the Episcopate came in 1912 following his election as the first bishop of Kimberley and Kuruman, a vast, newly established diocese, 305000 sqmi in extent, carved out of the existing Diocese of Bloemfontein, with a portion from the Diocese of Cape Town, and half of Bechuanaland Protectorate which had until then been administered as part of the Diocese of Mashonaland (Southern Rhodesia).