John Hamilton Maxwell Staniforth

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(23 June 1893 – 26 December 1985), known to his family as Max, was a British soldier, railwayman, radio presenter, clergyman and scholar.

Early life and education

Staniforth born in

Hinderwell Hinderwell is a village and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England which lies within the North York Moors National Park, about a mile from the coast on the A174 road between the towns of Loftus and Whitby. The 2011 UK census states Hinderw ...

, Yorkshire, on 23 June 1893 to

John William Staniforth John William Staniforth (14 November 1863 – 3 January 1927) was a British writer who wrote under the pen-names Stain Cortley, John Andrews and Maxwell Scott. He wrote primarily adventure and detective fiction. His most popular creation was ...

and Mary Jane Dobbin Maxwell. He was named after his maternal great-grandfather, the writer

William Hamilton Maxwell William Hamilton Maxwell (30 June 1792 in Newry, County Down, Ireland – 29 December 1850 in Musselburgh, Scotland) was an Irish novelist, historian and clergyman. Biography Early life and Career Maxwell William Hamilton, son of merchant James ...

. He was educated at Charterhouse and Christ Church, Oxford, where he held a classical scholarship. His intended academic career was foiled by the onset of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Military service

Staniforth served as an infantry officer with the Prince of Wales's Leinster Regiment (Royal Canadians) of the 16th Irish Division on the Western Front from 1914-1918. He was awarded the 1914-15 Star, the

British War Medal The British War Medal is a campaign medal of the United Kingdom which was awarded to officers and men and women of British and Imperial forces for service in the First World War. Two versions of the medal were produced. About 6.5 million were st ...

, and the British Victory Medal. Following his service, he married Ruby Di Stephens in 1922.

Railways

Staniforth became a railwayman on the British railways in

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

, rising to the rank of Assistant Traffic Manager. During his time in Argentina he had a daughter, Rosamund Ann Staniforth, on 4 April 1928; she would go on to marry Charles Edward Byron Du Cane, son of Charles Henry Copley Du Cane, and grandson of

Charles Du Cane Sir Charles Du Cane (5 December 1825 – 25 February 1889) was a British Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party politician and colonial administrator who was a Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament between 1852 and 18 ...

Radio presenter

Staniforth returned from Argentina, and became the first full-time presenter for

Radio Normandy Captain Leonard Frank Plugge (21 September 1889 – 19 February 1981) was a British radio entrepreneur and Conservative Party politician. Early years and political life Plugge was born in Walworth, only son of Frank Plugge (1864–1946), a co ...

(a commercial English-language service) in 1931. In November 1932 he transferred to Radio Toulouse before taking up a position at the International Broadcasting Company headquarters in London. He then left radio to enter the church.

Clerical life

Staniforth took

Holy Orders In certain Christian denominations, holy orders are the ordination, ordained ministries of bishop, priest (presbyter), and deacon, and the sacrament or rite by which candidates are ordained to those orders. Churches recognizing these orders inclu ...

, and spent twenty five years as a parish priest. He was vicar of the Dorset villages of Pentridge and

Sixpenny Handley Sixpenny Handley or Handley is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Sixpenny Handley and Pentridge, in north east Dorset, England, situated on Cranborne Chase north east of Blandford Forum. In the 2011 census the parish ...

from 1952 to 1963. He retired as

Rural Dean In the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion as well as some Lutheran denominations, a rural dean is a member of clergy who presides over a "rural deanery" (often referred to as a deanery); "ruridecanal" is the corresponding adjective ...

Blandford Blandford Forum ( ) is a market town in Dorset, England, on the River Stour, Dorset, River Stour, north-west of Poole. It had a population of 10,355 at the United Kingdom 2021 census, 2021 census. The town is notable for its Georgian archit ...

, in

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

Translation

Staniforth translated Marcus Aurelieus' ''

Meditations ''Meditations'' () is a series of personal writings by Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor from 161–180 AD, recording his private notes to himself and ideas on Stoic philosophy. Composition Marcus Aurelius wrote the 12 books of the ''Meditations'' i ...

'' for

Penguin Classics Penguin Classics is an imprint (trade name), imprint of Penguin Books under which classic works of literature are published in English language, English, Spanish language, Spanish, Portuguese language, Portuguese, and Korean language, Korean amon ...

,Reviewed by "K. G." in ''The Classical Outlook'', vol 43 n6 (1 February 1966) p. 69 and Elizabeth E. Seittelman in ''The Classical World'', vol 59 n3 (1 November 1965) page 88 and later worked on their ''Early Christian Writings''.