Geoffrey Anketell Studdert Kennedy (27 June 1883 – 8 March 1929) was an English

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of t ...

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...

and

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or w ...

. He was nicknamed "Woodbine Willie" during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

for giving Woodbine cigarettes to the soldiers he met, as well as spiritual aid to injured and dying soldiers.

Early life

Born in

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popul ...

, England, on 27 June 1883, Studdert Kennedy was the seventh of nine children born to Jeanette Anketell and William Studdert Kennedy, vicar of St Mary's, Quarry Hill in Leeds. His father William Studdert Kennedy was born in

Blackrock BlackRock, Inc. is an American multi-national investment company based in New York City. Founded in 1988, initially as a risk management and fixed income institutional asset manager, BlackRock is the world's largest asset manager, with trill ...

, County Dublin, Ireland, in 1826. Geoffrey's paternal grandfather, Robert Mitchell Kennedy, was

Dean of Clonfert The Dean of Killaloe is based at the Cathedral Church of St Flannan in Killaloe in the united diocese of Limerick, Killaloe and Ardfert within the Church of Ireland. The Dean of Killaloe is also Dean of St Brendans, Clonfert, Dean of Kilfenora, ...

in County Galway, Ireland from 1850 until his death in 1864. One of Geoffrey's brothers was Hugh A. Studdert Kennedy, a biographer of American religious leader

Mary Baker Eddy Mary Baker Eddy (July 16, 1821 – December 3, 1910) was an American religious leader and author who founded The Church of Christ, Scientist, in New England in 1879. She also founded ''The Christian Science Monitor'', a Pulitzer Prize-winning se ...

. Because of his Irish forefathers, Geoffrey always maintained he was an Irishman. He was educated at

Leeds Grammar School Leeds Grammar School was an independent school founded 1552 in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Originally a male-only school, in August 2005 it merged with Leeds Girls' High School to form The Grammar School at Leeds. The two schools physicall ...

and

Trinity College, Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

, where he gained a degree in

classics Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

and

divinity Divinity or the divine are things that are either related to, devoted to, or proceeding from a deity.divine< ...

in 1904. After a year's training at Ripon Clergy College, he became a

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'') ''of souls'' of a parish. In this sense, "curate" means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy ...

at St Andrew's Church,

Rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

, and then, in 1914, the vicar of St. Paul's,

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engla ...

Military career

On the outbreak of

, Studdert Kennedy volunteered as a chaplain to the army on the

Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to: Military frontiers * Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (Russian Empire), a maj ...

, where he gained the

nickname A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...

"Woodbine Willie". In 1917, he was awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC ...

at Messines Ridge after running into

no man's land No man's land is waste or unowned land or an uninhabited or desolate area that may be under dispute between parties who leave it unoccupied out of fear or uncertainty. The term was originally used to define a contested territory or a dump ...

to help the wounded during an attack on the German frontline. During the war he supported the British military effort with enthusiasm. Attached to a bayonet-training service, chaplain Kennedy toured with boxers and wrestlers to give morale-boosting speeches about the usefulness of the bayonet. One of his inspirational speeches is vividly described by A. S. Bullock as "the most extraordinary talk I ever heard'. Bullock notes that the listeners 'were a very rough, tough lot, but they sat spellbound", and quotes a section of the speech, at the end of which "everybody sprang to their feet and cheered him to the echo". He wrote a number of poems about his experiences, and these appeared in the books ''Rough Rhymes of a Padre'' (1918), and ''More Rough Rhymes'' (1919), among others. An anthology of his works was published under the title ''The Unutterable Beauty''.

Later life

After the war, Studdert Kennedy was given charge of

St Edmund, King and Martyr St Edmund, King and Martyr, is an Anglican church in Lombard Street, in the City of London, dedicated to St Edmund the Martyr. Since 2001 it houses the London Centre for Spirituality, now (2017) renamed the London Centre for Spiritual Directi ...

Lombard Street, London Lombard Street () is a street notable for its connections with the City of London's merchant, banking and insurance industries, stretching back to medieval times. From Bank junction, where nine streets converge by the Bank of England, Lombard ...

. Having been converted to

Christian socialism Christian socialism is a religious and political philosophy that blends Christianity and socialism, endorsing left-wing politics and socialist economics on the basis of the Bible and the teachings of Jesus. Many Christian socialists believe capi ...

and

pacifism Pacifism is the opposition or resistance to war, militarism (including conscription and mandatory military service) or violence. Pacifists generally reject theories of Just War. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace camp ...

during the war, he wrote ''Lies'' (1919), ''Democracy and the Dog-Collar'' (1921) (featuring such chapters as "The Church Is Not a Movement but a Mob", "Capitalism is Nothing But Greed, Grab, and Profit-Mongering" and "So-Called Religious Education Worse than Useless"), ''Food for the Fed Up'' (1921), ''The Wicket Gate'' (1923), and ''The Word and the Work'' (1925). He moved to work for the Industrial Christian Fellowship, for whom he went on speaking tours of Britain. His appointment as missioner for ICF released him from routine clerical duties to become an outspoken advocate for the working classes. One of his celebrated quotes was: "If finding God in our churches leads to us losing Him in our factories, then better we tear down those churches for God must hate the sight of them." It was on one of these tours that he was taken ill with the flu, which was complicated by his weak lungs. He died in

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

on 8 March 1929, exhausted at the age of 45. His funeral took place in Worcester, to which First World War veterans and poor working people flocked to pay their respects. The

Dean of Westminster The Dean of Westminster is the head of the chapter at Westminster Abbey. Due to the Abbey's status as a Royal Peculiar, the dean answers directly to the British monarch (not to the Bishop of London as ordinary, nor to the Archbishop of Canterbu ...

refused burial at

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...

, because he said Studdert Kennedy was a "socialist", even though he had distrusted most politicians and had refused to join any political party.

Honours and legacy

Honours

Studdert Kennedy was awarded the

(MC) during

. His citation read: The

Museum of Army Chaplaincy The Royal Army Chaplains' Museum (formerly the Museum of Army Chaplaincy) tells the story of British Army chaplaincy from earliest times to the present day, with the help of archive material and historical relics from several centuries. Its coll ...

at Amport House, Hampshire, also honours Kennedy with a large display about his life. In February 2013,

John Packer John Richard Packer (born 10 October 1946) is a retired British Anglican bishop. He was the only Bishop of Ripon and Leeds, serving from the renaming of the diocese from Ripon in 2000 to his 2014 retirement (prior to his former diocese's merge ...

Bishop of Ripon and Leeds The Bishop of Ripon was a diocesan bishop's title which took its name after the city of Ripon in North Yorkshire, England. History Though one ancient Bishop of Ripon is known, the modern see of Ripon was established in 1836 from parts of th ...

unveiled a

commemorative plaque A commemorative plaque, or simply plaque, or in other places referred to as a historical marker, historic marker, or historic plaque, is a plate of metal, ceramic, stone, wood, or other material, typically attached to a wall, stone, or other ...

Ripon Ripon () is a cathedral city in the Borough of Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England. The city is located at the confluence of two tributaries of the River Ure, the Laver and Skell. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, the ...

, North Yorkshire, to honour the Ripon Clergy College and Studdert Kennedy. Studdert Kennedy is commemorated with a

feast day The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context do ...

(

Commemoration Commemoration may refer to: *Commemoration (Anglicanism), a religious observance in Churches of the Anglican Communion *Commemoration (liturgy) In the Latin liturgical rites of the Catholic Church, a commemoration is the recital, within the Li ...

) on the

liturgical calendar The liturgical year, also called the church year, Christian year or kalendar, consists of the cycle of liturgical seasons in Christian churches that determines when feast days, including celebrations of saints, are to be observed, and which ...

of the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Brit ...

on 8 March.

Legacy

He wrote the poem ''Roses in December'', which

J.M. Barrie Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet, (; 9 May 1860 19 June 1937) was a Scottish novelist and playwright, best remembered as the creator of Peter Pan. He was born and educated in Scotland and then moved to London, where he wrote several succe ...

quoted in his rectorial address to the

University of St. Andrews (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...

entitled ''Courage'' in 1922, and often misattributed to Barrie. ''War! Lies! And a Packet of Fags!'' is a play by

David Gooderson David Gooderson (born 24 February 1941) is an English actor who has appeared in several television roles. Career As well as portraying Davros, creator of the Daleks in the ''Doctor Who'' serial ''Destiny of the Daleks'', he appeared in e ...

about the Great War and its aftermath—the story of "Woodbine Willie". The play is based on extensive research into the life of Studdert Kennedy, including meetings with members of his family, and a detailed study of the background of the period. He is mentioned in the

Divine Comedy The ''Divine Comedy'' ( it, Divina Commedia ) is an Italian narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun 1308 and completed in around 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature a ...

song "Absent Friends": "Woodbine Willie couldn't rest until he'd/given every bloke a final smoke/before the killing," and in ''

Finnegans Wake ''Finnegans Wake'' is a novel by Irish writer James Joyce. It is well known for its experimental style and reputation as one of the most difficult works of fiction in the Western canon. It has been called "a work of fiction which combines a bod ...

'' by Irish author

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the Modernism, modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important ...

: "tsingirillies' zyngarettes, while Woodbine Willie, so popiular with the poppyrossies" (351).

Venerable The Venerable (''venerabilis'' in Latin) is a style, a title, or an epithet which is used in some Western Christian churches, or it is a translation of similar terms for clerics in Eastern Orthodoxy and monastics in Buddhism. Christianity Cat ...

Archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdio ...

Fulton J. Sheen quoted Studdert Kennedy's 1918 poem "Indifference" (from the collection called "Rough Rhymes of a Padre") when Sheen spoke publicly about the need for enthusiasm in all of one's life. Studdert Kennedy "wrote this poem during what was called ‘the great disillusion’ of the 1920s". Sheen's point was that the "world is suffering from indifference" as "apathy, not caring." Sheen noted that he wondered if Jesus Christ "did not suffer more from our indifference than he did from the crucifixion." To make his point he recited Studdert Kennedy's poem
Indifference
" His son was the psychologist and linguist Michael Studdert-Kennedy.

Works

;Poetry * 1918
''Rough Rhymes of a Padre: by "Woodbine Willie"''
London: Hodder and Stoughton * 1919
''More Rough Rhymes of a Padre''
London: Hodder and Stoughton * 1920
''Peace Rhymes of a Padre''
London: Hodder and Stoughton * 1922: ''Songs of Faith and Doubt.'' London: Hodder and Stoughton * 1924: '' The Sorrows of God and Other Poems'' (anthology) R.R. Smith, New York * 1925: Lighten Our Darkness: Some Less Rough Rhymes of a Padre * 1927
''The Unutterable Beauty: the collected poetry of G. A. Studdert Kennedy''
(anthology). London: Hodder and Stoughton * 1928
''I Believe: Sermons on the Apostle's Creed''
First published as ''Food for the Fed-up'' (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1921). * 1929: ''Rhymes. selection from "Rough Rhymes. "More Rough Rhymes" and "Peace Rhymes."' (anthology). London: Hodder and Stoughtonn ;Books * 1918
''Rough Talks by a Padre delivered to officers and men of the B.E.F.''
London: Hodder and Stoughton * 1918
''The Hardest Part''
London: Hodder and Stoughton * 1918: ''God and the Sacrament: a reprint of a chapter of the author's book entitled The Hardest Part''. London: Hodder and Stoughton * 1919
Aren't All the Best Chaps Christians?''
London: Hodder and Stoughton * 1919: '' Lies''. London: Hodder and Stoughton * 1921: '' Democracy and the Dog Collar''. London: Hodder and Stoughton * 1921
''Food for the Fed Up (US I Believe; sermons on the Apostles' creed)''
London: Hodder and Stoughton * 1923:
The Wicket Gate:
or plain bread''. London: Hodder and Stoughton * 1926: ''The Word and the Work''. London: Longmans * 192
''I Pronounce Them: a story of man and wife''
– a novel. New York: George H Doran * 1928: ''The Warrior the Woman and the Christ: a study of the leadership of Christ''. London: Wyman and Sons * 1928: ''Environment.'' E. Benn (32 pages) * 1932
''The New Man in Christ''
London: Hodder and Stoughton * 1932:
When We Pray: a method of prayer taught by G.A. Studdert Kennedy
'. Hodder and Stoughton. Written by Ronald Sinclair * 193?: ''Meaning of the Real Presence''. (5 pages reprinted from) The Witness, NY ;Anthologies * 1947: ''The best of G.A. Studdert-Kennedy (Woodbine Willy) : selected from his writings by a friend''. Hodder and Stoughton * 2008

By Geoffrey Studdert Kennedy & Kerry Walters (editor). Lutterworth Press

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kennedy, Geoffrey Anketell Studdert 1883 births 1929 deaths 20th-century English male writers 20th-century English Anglican priests 20th-century English poets Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Anglican pacifists Anglican poets Anglican saints Anglican socialists British Army personnel of World War I English Christian pacifists English Christian socialists English male poets English World War I poets People educated at Leeds Grammar School Clergy from Leeds Recipients of the Military Cross Royal Army Chaplains' Department officers World War I chaplains Military personnel from Leeds