Memorial to Alfred Charles Eustace Jarvis

Alfred Charles Eustace Jarvis (14 November 1876 – 26 March 1957) was an eminent

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

priest in the 20th century.

Early life, family and education

He was born in Bournemouth in 1876. His parentage is unclear. In 1915, in

Gallipoli The Gallipoli Peninsula (; ; ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles strait to the east. Gallipoli is the Italian form of the Greek name (), meaning ' ...

, he told the Bishop of Fukien that he was the son of Dr. Birdwood, brother of Lt-General

William Birdwood Field marshal (United Kingdom), Field Marshal William Riddell Birdwood, 1st Baron Birdwood (13 September 1865 – 17 May 1951), was a British Army officer. He saw active service in the Second Boer War on the staff of Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl ...

, GOC Australian and NZ Army Corps, and that Dr. Birdwood’s second wife had refused to accept him, so he had been adopted. He began work as an apprentice in a furniture store and served as a soldier in the

Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic an ...

. He studied at Handsworth Theological College

Career

Jarvis was a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

minister from 1901 to 1908 when he was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

into the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

. He was initially a

Curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' () 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 who are as ...

at All Saints,

South Lambeth Lambeth () is a district in South London, England, which today also gives its name to the (much larger) London Borough of Lambeth. Lambeth itself was an ancient parish in the county of Surrey. It is situated 1 mile (1.6 km) south of Charin ...

. In 1909, he joined the Army Chaplain’s Department. His promotion in the Great War was rapid. In 1915, he was Principal Chaplain Mediterranean Expeditionary Force and from 1917 to 1919 Principal Chaplain Mesopotamia. In these four years, he won the Military Cross, was 3 times Mentioned in Despatches, was awarded the Serbian Order of the White Eagle and became a CMG He had served in Gallipoli, Salonika and Egypt as well as in the campaign leading to the capture of Baghdad. One of Jarvis’s strengths was his administrative ability. In Egypt and in Mesopotamia he had prepared Reports reorganising the Chaplain its as new camps and outposts appeared. After the war he was Assistant Chaplain-General, Northern Command from 1920 to 1925 and

Chaplain-General The chaplain general is a senior chaplain in non-church organisations, such as the British and Canadian armies, and is responsible for the supervision of chaplains conducting religious services and ceremonies, representing the Christian faith in ...

to the

Forces In physics, a force is an influence that can cause an object to change its velocity unless counterbalanced by other forces. In mechanics, force makes ideas like 'pushing' or 'pulling' mathematically precise. Because the magnitude and directi ...

until 1931; and also

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 ...

of the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic citadel and castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamle ...

from 1927. He was

Provost Provost may refer to: Officials Ecclesiastic * Provost (religion), a high-ranking church official * Prince-provost, a high-ranking church official Government * Provost (civil), an officer of local government, including the equivalent ...

and

Vicar A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English p ...

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

from 1931 to 1948; and also

Archdeacon of Sheffield The Archdeacon of Sheffield and Rotherham is a senior ecclesiastical officer within the Diocese of Sheffield (Church of England), responsible for the disciplinary supervision of the clergy within the six area deaneries. History On 18 April 1884 t ...

for two spells (1931 to 1933, and 1934 to 1938) and

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 ...

for one (1939–1942). He was an Honorary Chaplain to two Kings and a Chaplain of the

Order of St John of Jerusalem The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), is a Catholic military order. It was founded in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century and had headquarters there u ...

Demise

Jarvis died on 26 March 1957. There is a memorial plaque in Sheffield Cathedral.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jarvis, Alfred Charles Eustace 1876 births Clergy from Bournemouth 20th-century English Anglican priests Recipients of the Military Cross Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Chaplains General to the Forces Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Honorary chaplains to the King Archdeacons of Sheffield Provosts and Deans of Sheffield Holders of a Lambeth degree 1957 deaths World War I chaplains British Army personnel of World War I Military personnel from Bournemouth