Francis Leader MacCarthy Willis Bund (10 May 1905 – 14 June 1980) was an Anglican cleric and

Chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intellige ...

Dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...

and

Fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the ...

Life

He was born Francis Leader MacCarthy on 10 May 1905 at

Goldington Goldington is an electoral ward within the town of Bedford, Bedfordshire, England. It encompasses much of the historic village and parish of Goldington that was merged with Bedford in 1934, although some parts of the old village are within the n ...

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...

. His father was John Leader MacCarthy, a descendant of the

MacCarthy Reagh The Mac Cárthaigh Riabhach (anglicised ''MacCarthy Reagh'') dynasty are a branch of the MacCarthy dynasty, Kings of Desmond, deriving from the Eóganacht Chaisil sept. History The Mac Cárthaigh Riabhach seated themselves as kings of Carbery ...

family, Princes of Carbery who was a local civil engineer, and his mother was Mary Susanna Willis Bund, the daughter of

John William Willis Bund John William Bund Willis-Bund (8 August 1843 – 7 June 1928) was a British lawyer, legal writer and professor of constitutional law and history at King's College London, a historian who wrote on the Welsh church and other subjects, and a loca ...

, a Worcestershire landowner and historian of the Celtic Church. He adopted the additional surnames of Willis Bund by Royal Licence in 1950 in compliance with a condition set out by his maternal grandfather to allow him to inherit family property in Worcestershire. He was educated at

Bedford Modern School Bedford Modern School (often called BMS) is a Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference independent school in Bedford, England. The school has its origins in The Harpur Trust, born from the endowments left by Sir William Harpur in the s ...

and

Emmanuel College, Cambridge Emmanuel College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1584 by Sir Walter Mildmay, Chancellor of the Exchequer to Elizabeth I. The site on which the college sits was once a priory for Dominican m ...

(BA 1927, MA 1932), and became an assistant master at

Shrewsbury School Shrewsbury School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13 –18) in Shrewsbury. Founded in 1552 by Edward VI by Royal Charter, it was originally a boarding school for boys; girls have been admitted into th ...

. He was appointed Chaplain and Fellow of Balliol in 1945, and after serving as a college

proctor Proctor (a variant of ''procurator'') is a person who takes charge of, or acts for, another. The title is used in England and some other English-speaking countries in three principal contexts: * In law, a proctor is a historical class of lawye ...

also became Dean. In this role he appears to have displayed a great deal of patience and tolerance amidst the growing rebelliousness of student life in the 1960s.

Howard Marks Dennis Howard Marks (13 August 1945 – 10 April 2016) was a Welsh drug smuggler and author who achieved notoriety as an international cannabis smuggler through high-profile court cases. At his peak he claimed to have been smuggling consignme ...

, the notorious user and later smuggler of

cannabis ''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae. The number of species within the genus is disputed. Three species may be recognized: '' Cannabis sativa'', '' C. indica'', and '' C. ruderalis''. Alternativel ...

was an undergraduate at Balliol, and was frequently summoned to see the dean. In his autobiography Marks recalls developing "an enormous liking and respect" for MacCarthy Willis Bund, who interceded on Marks's behalf over drug use with the College's Senior Proctor. Also amongst MacCarthy Willis Bund's charges were J. I. Packer, the Christian theologian, whose studies in philosophy of religion he supervised, and the writer

Ved Mehta Ved Parkash Mehta (21 March 19349 January 2021) was an Indian-born writer who lived and worked mainly in the United States. Blind from an early age, Mehta is best known for an autobiography published in instalments from 1972 to 2004. He wrote fo ...

, who also recalls the dean's tolerant approach to his duties. MacCarthy Willis Bund also became a

All Souls College, Oxford All Souls College (official name: College of the Souls of All the Faithful Departed) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Unique to All Souls, all of its members automatically become fellows (i.e., full members of ...

. He married first, Joan Mildred Elton Carey (died 1948) and secondly, Roberta J. ("Jane") Dalkin (died 2016). His eldest daughter, Alison MacCarthy Willis Bund married the distinguished American academic L. Perry Curtis who became

Emeritus Professor ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

History History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

at Brown University. Francis Leader MacCarthy Willis Bund died in 1980 and was buried at

Combe, Oxfordshire Combe is a village and civil parish about northeast of Witney in Oxfordshire. It is bounded to the south and southwest by the River Evenlode, to the northwest partly by the course of the Akeman Street Roman road and partly by a road parallel w ...

. There is a plaque dedicated to him outside the Old Dean's Room on the library staircase at Balliol.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:MacCarthy Willis Bund, Francis 1906 births 1980 deaths 20th-century English Anglican priests Alumni of Emmanuel College, Cambridge Fellows of All Souls College, Oxford Fellows of Balliol College, Oxford People educated at Bedford Modern School People from Goldington