Stretch was consecrated as a bishop in 1895 as the first co-adjutor bishop for the Brisbane diocese. He was the first Australian to become an Anglican bishop in Australia. His consecration service (along with Henry Cooper who was made the coadjutor bishop for Ballarat) was held at St Paul's Cathedral in Melbourne on 9 November 1895 (the consecration was only the second occasion that such a service had happened in Australia at that time).[5]
On Saturday 20 June 1896, he officially opened St Alban's Anglican church in Cunnamulla. Stretch was injured on his way to Cunnamulla, as he shot at a turkey from his buggy, frightening the horses, resulting in a crash with a tree stump. Although he sustained "serious contusions" to his forehead and hand, he was still able to perform the ceremony.[6]
In failing health, Stretch announced his retirement on 24 January 1919 to officially take effect on 30 June 1919, but unofficially retired almost immediately.[8] He died following a stroke on 19 April 1919 in Lindfield, Sydney, survived by his two daughters and four sons.[9][10][11] His body was taken to Christ Church Cathedral in Newcastle, where his funeral service was conducted on Monday 21 April 1919 by John Wright (Archbishop of Sydney). After the funeral, there was a procession through the streets to the railway station. Stretch was buried in the Anglican section of Sandgate Cemetery, Newcastle with the burial service conducted by Archbishop Wright.[12][13]
Two of his sons, John Carlos William and Cliffe Maurice Osmond, were also Anglican clergy.[13]
^ abcCable, K. J., "Stretch, John Francis (Jack) (1855–1919)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, archived from the original on 30 June 2021, retrieved 4 March 2022
^Calendar of Trinity College within the University of Melbourne, 1897, p. 202.
^The Queenslander newspaper - 9 November 1895, p. 903.
^"Queensland". The Queenslander. Vol. L, no. 1080. Queensland, Australia. 4 July 1896. p. 4. Retrieved 4 March 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
^"BISHOP STRETCH". The Newcastle Sun. No. 271. New South Wales, Australia. 3 February 1919. p. 3. Archived from the original on 4 March 2022. Retrieved 4 March 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
^"CATHEDRAL BELLS TOLL". The Sun. No. 838. New South Wales, Australia. 20 April 1919. p. 2. Archived from the original on 4 March 2022. Retrieved 4 March 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
^"BISHOP STRETCH DIED YESTERDAY". Sunday Times. No. 1735. New South Wales, Australia. 20 April 1919. p. 2. Archived from the original on 4 March 2022. Retrieved 4 March 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
^"FAREWELL MESSAGES". The Newcastle Sun. No. 335. New South Wales, Australia. 21 April 1919. p. 5. Archived from the original on 4 March 2022. Retrieved 4 March 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
^ ab"THE FUNERAL". The Newcastle Sun. No. 335. New South Wales, Australia. 21 April 1919. p. 5. Archived from the original on 4 March 2022. Retrieved 4 March 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
