Charles Abdy Marcon (22 September 1853 – 7 February 1953) was an English

clergy Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

man, Master of Marcon's Hall, a private hall of

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

, from 1891 to 1918, then from 1918

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 ...

Kennington Kennington is a district in south London, England. It is mainly within the London Borough of Lambeth, running along the boundary with the London Borough of Southwark, a boundary which can be discerned from the early medieval period between th ...

in south London.

Early life

Marcon was the third son of the Rev. Walter Marcon, Rector of Edgefield,

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

, a

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...

er who in his youth had played for Eton and

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

. Born at Edgefield, he was educated at

Gresham's School Gresham's School is a private school (English fee-charging boarding and day school) in Holt, Norfolk, England, one of the top thirty International Baccalaureate schools in England. The school was founded in 1555 by Sir John Gresham as a f ...

, Holt, and

Charsley's Hall Charsley's Hall was a private hall of the University of Oxford. After 1891 it was renamed as Marcon's Hall. The hall was established in 1862 by William Henry Charsley, formerly of Christ Church, under the university statute ''De Aulis Priva ...

, matriculating on 14 January 1874 at the age of twenty and graduating BA in 1878, MA in 1882.'MARCON, Charles Abdy', in ''

Crockford's Clerical Directory ''Crockford's Clerical Directory'' (''Crockford'') is the authoritative directory of Anglican clergy and churches in Great Britain and Ireland, containing details of English, Welsh, Scottish and Irish benefices and churches, and biographies of aro ...

'' (1930)'Marcon, Rev. Charles Abdy, M.A.' in ''

Who's Who A Who's Who (or Who Is Who) is a reference work consisting of biographical entries of notable people in a particular field. The oldest and best-known is the annual publication ''Who's Who (UK), Who's Who'', a reference work on contemporary promin ...

'', vol. 60 (1908)

Career

Marcon was ordained a

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian denominations, such as the Cathol ...

of 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, ...

in 1886 and served as

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 ...

South Hinksey South Hinksey is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish just over south of the centre of Oxford. The parish includes the residential area of Hinksey Hill about south of the village. Geography The Oxford ring road, Southern By- ...

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

, from 1886 until 1899. In 1891 he took over as Master of Charsley's Hall, Oxford from

William Henry Charsley William Henry Charsley (1820 – 2 November 1900) was an English academic, Master of Charsley's Hall, Oxford from 1862 to 1891. Born at Beaconsfield in 1820, Charsley matriculated at Christ Church, Oxford, but left after being blinded in an acci ...

, reopening it as Marcon's Hall in 1892. He remained as Master until 1918.''Oxford University Gazette'', vol. 21 (1891
p. 559
/ref> In 1892 Marcon was admitted as a senior member of St Mary Hall and was ordained a

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 deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

in 1895. In 1903 he was elected to Oriel and in 1909 was appointed as chaplain of H. M. Prison Oxford. On giving up Marcon's Hall in 1918 he took up a Church of England

benefice A benefice () or living is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The Roman Empire used the Latin term as a benefit to an individual from the Empire for services rendered. Its use was adopted by ...

Private life

On 18 September 1884, at St Philip's Church,

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...

, Marcon married Sophia Wyndham Winter, the elder daughter of J. J. Winter JP of Heigham House, Norwich, and they had one son, Charles Sholto Wyndham Marcon (1890–1959), and two daughters, including Constance Margaret Marcon.Announcement under HEADING 'GOLDEN WEDDING' in 'Marriages' column of ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'', issue 46862 dated 18 September 1934, p. 1, col. A Their son, known as Sholto Marcon, was an international

hockey ''Hockey'' is a family of List of stick sports, stick sports where two opposing teams use hockey sticks to propel a ball or disk into a goal. There are many types of hockey, and the individual sports vary in rules, numbers of players, apparel, ...

player who won an

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...

Gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

representing

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

at the

1920 Summer Olympics The 1920 Summer Olympics (; ; ), officially known as the Games of the VII Olympiad (; ; ) and commonly known as Antwerp 1920 (; Dutch language, Dutch and German language, German: ''Antwerpen 1920''), were an international multi-sport event held i ...

. In ''

'' Marcon gave his recreations as

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

, hockey,

lawn tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

, and

bicycling Cycling, also known as bicycling or biking, is the activity of riding a bicycle or other types of bicycle pedal, pedal-driven human-powered vehicles such as balance bikes, unicycles, tricycles, and quadricycles. Cycling is practised around the ...

. On 18 September 1934, Mr and Mrs Charles Abdy Marcon celebrated their golden wedding anniversary. They were then living at 256,

Iffley Road Iffley Road is a major arterial road in Oxford, England. It leads from the Plain, near Magdalen Bridge, southeast towards the village of Iffley. While it becomes Henley Avenue at Iffley Turn, and then Rose Hill, the whole stretch from the ri ...

, Oxford. In 1947 Marcon attended a luncheon in Oxford to inaugurate the Friends of Pusey House and was welcomed by the Principal of

Pusey House Pusey House () is an Anglican religious institution and charitable incorporated organisation located on St Giles', Oxford, United Kingdom, immediately to the south of Pusey Street. It is firmly rooted in the Anglo-Catholic Book of Common Praye ...

as one who had known Dr Edward Pusey (1800–1882).''"Friends of Pusey House" Inauguration at Oxford'', in ''The Times'' issue 50776 dated 2 June 1947, p. 8, col. D

Selected publications

*''Oxford Questions in Arithmetic and Algebra'' (ed.)

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marcon, Charles Abdy 1853 births 1953 deaths People from South Hinksey 20th-century English Anglican priests People educated at Gresham's School People from North Norfolk (district) Alumni of Charsley's Hall, Oxford Masters of private halls of the University of Oxford