Cyril Argentine Alington (22 October 1872 – 16 May 1955) was an English

educationalist Education sciences, also known as education studies or education theory, and traditionally called ''pedagogy'', seek to describe, understand, and prescribe education including education policy. Subfields include comparative education, educationa ...

scholar A scholar is a person who is a researcher or has expertise in an academic discipline. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researcher at a university. An academic usually holds an advanced degree or a termina ...

cleric 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 ...

, and author. He was successively the headmaster of

Shrewsbury School Shrewsbury School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Shrewsbury. Founded in 1552 by Edward VI by royal charter, to replace the town's Saxon collegiate foundations which were disestablished in the sixteenth century, Shrewsb ...

and

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

. He also served as chaplain to King

George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until Death and state funeral of George V, his death in 1936. George w ...

and as Dean of Durham.

Early life

Dr Alington was the second son of the Rev. Henry Giles Alington, an inspector of schools, and his wife Jane Margaret Booth (d. 1910), daughter of Rev. Thomas Willingham Booth. His father came from a long line of clerics, a branch of the landed gentry Alington family of Little Barford Manor House, St Neots,

Huntingdonshire Huntingdonshire (; abbreviated Hunts) is a local government district in Cambridgeshire, England, which was historically a county in its own right. It borders Peterborough to the north, Fenland to the north-east, East Cambridgeshire to the e ...

, and was descended from the Alingtons of Horseheath, an ancient

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfor ...

family, from which also descended the Barons Alington. He was educated at

Marlborough College Marlborough College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English private boarding school) for pupils aged 13 to 18 in Marlborough, Wiltshire, England. It was founded as Marlborough School in 1843 by the Dean of Manchester, George ...

and

Trinity College, Oxford Trinity College (full name: The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity in the University of Oxford, of the foundation of Sir Thomas Pope (Knight)) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in E ...

. He gained a First in Classical Moderations (Latin and Greek) in 1893 and a First in Literae Humaniores (Philosophy and Ancient History) in 1895. He was elected a Fellow of

All Souls College, Oxford All Souls College (official name: The College of All Souls of the Faithful Departed, of Oxford) 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 me ...

in 1896. He was ordained as an Anglican priest in 1901.

Career

Alington's educational career began as a sixth-form master at

in 1896. He moved to Eton College in 1899, but left to become headmaster of Shrewsbury School in 1908. In 1917 he returned to Eton to succeed his brother-in-law, Edward Lyttelton, as headmaster; he remained there until his retirement from teaching in 1933. He served as chairman of the Headmasters' Conference, 1924–25. At Eton, a building which houses much of the English department is now named after him, as is Shrewsbury's school hall. From 1933 to 1951 Alington served as Dean of Durham. He had become a

Doctor of Divinity A Doctor of Divinity (DD or DDiv; ) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity (academic discipline), divinity (i.e., Christian theology and Christian ministry, ministry or other theologies. The term is more common in the Englis ...

at Oxford in 1917 and received other honours: he was chaplain to the King from 1921 until 1933; he was made an Honorary Fellow of Trinity College, Oxford in 1926, and an honorary DCL at

Durham University Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament (UK), Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by r ...

in 1937. He received the freedom of the City of Durham in 1949. He appeared on the cover of ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' magazine on 29 June 1931. "An accomplished classicist, a witty writer especially of light verse, and a priest of orthodox convictions ..."R.W. Pfaff, Montague Rhodes James, Scolar Press 1980, p;260

Marriage and family

In 1904, Alington married Hester Margaret Lyttelton ( CBE; died 1958), the youngest daughter of George Lyttelton, 4th Baron Lyttelton. The couple had four daughters and two sons: * Kathleen Lucy Alington (1908–1938) * Elizabeth Hester Alington (1909–1990), married

Alec Douglas-Home Alexander Frederick Douglas-Home, Baron Home of the Hirsel ( ; 2 July 1903 – 9 October 1995), known as Lord Dunglass from 1918 to 1951 and the Earl of Home from 1951 to 1963, was a British statesman and Conservative Party (UK), Conservative ...

, 14th Earl of Home), British prime minister * Lavinia Sybil Alington (1911–1994), married Sir Roger Mynors, academic and classical scholar * Giles Alington (1914–1956), Dean and Senior Tutor of

University College, Oxford University College, formally The Master and Fellows of the College of the Great Hall of the University commonly called University College in the University of Oxford and colloquially referred to as "Univ", is a Colleges of the University of Oxf ...

* Joan Argentine Alington (1916–2000), married Rev. John Vaughan Wilkes, Master in College and later housemaster at Eton, Warden of Radley College and later vicar of Marlow * Patrick Cyril Waynflete Alington (1920–1943), killed at

Salerno Salerno (, ; ; ) is an ancient city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Campania, southwestern Italy, and is the capital of the namesake province, being the second largest city in the region by number of inhabitants, after Naples. It is located ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Alington died at the age of 82 and was buried at

Durham Cathedral Durham Cathedral, formally the , is a Church of England cathedral in the city of Durham, England. The cathedral is the seat of the bishop of Durham and is the Mother Church#Cathedral, mother church of the diocese of Durham. It also contains the ...

, where there is a memorial in the north

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform ("cross-shaped") cruciform plan, churches, in particular within the Romanesque architecture, Romanesque a ...

Literary works

Alington wrote more than 50 books, including works on religion, biography, history, poetry, and a series of detective novels. He also wrote several popular hymns, including ''Good Christian Men, Rejoice and Sing'' (recently altered to '' Good Christians All, Rejoice and Sing''), ''Ye that know The Lord is gracious'' and ''The Lord of Hosts Our King Shall Be'' which is used as the epigraph to Nevil Shute's novel ''In the Wet''. (Shute was a pupil at Shrewsbury.)

As C A Alington

Fiction

*''Mr Evans – A Cricket-Detective Story'' (1922)
''Through the Shadows''
(1922) *''Strained Relations'' (1922) *'' The Count in Kensington'' (1926) *'' King Harrison & Others'' (1923). King Harrison is a comic opera *'' The Abbot's Cup'' (1930) *'' Crime on the Kennet'' (1939) *'' Ten Crowded Hours'' (1944) *'' Archdeacons Afloat'' (1946) *'' Midnight Wireless'' (1947) *'' Archdeacons Ashore'' (1947) *'' Blackmail in Blankshire'' (1949) *'' Gold and Gaiters'' (1950) *'' The Nabob's Jewel'' (1953) *'' Blessed Blunders'' (1954).

Non-fiction works

''A Schoolmaster's Apology''
(1914)
''Shrewsbury Fables''
(1917)
''Eton Fables''
(1921)
''Twenty Years: Being a Study of the Party System, 1815–1835''
(1921)
''Virgil Aeneid IV-VI''
(1922 – translation of Virgil) *'' Why We Read the Old Testament'' (1924) *'' An Eton Poetry Book'' (1925 – an anthology co-edited with George Lyttelton) *'' More Eton Fables'' (1927)
''Elementary Christianity''
(1927) *'' Doubts and Difficulties'' (1929) *'' Cautionary Catches'' (1931 – verses in Latin and English) *'' Christian Outlines: An Introduction to Religion'' (1932) *'' Final Eton Fables'' (1933) *'' Eton Faces Old and Young'' (1933) *'' Lionel Ford'' (1934) *'' The Fool Hath Said'' (1933) *'' Can We Believe in God?'' (1936) *'' Things Ancient and Modern'' (1936 – autobiographical book on English public schools) *'' The New Testament: A Reader's Guide'' (1938) *'' The Last Crusade'' (1940) *''The Kingdom of God'' (1941) *''Christianity in England: An Historical Sketch'' (1942) *'' Poets at Play'' (1942) *'' In Shabby Streets and Other Verses'' (1942) *'' Edward Lyttelton: An Appreciation'' (1943) *'' Good News'' (1945); *'' Europe: A Personal and Political Survey'' (1946) *'' The Life Everlasting'' (1947) *'' Durham Cathedral: The Story of a Thousand Years'' (1948)
''Sense and Non-sense''
(1949) *'' A Dean's Apology: A Semi-religious Autobiography'' (1952)

Non-fiction articles

*''Apostle of Germany''. Daily Telegraph, 1937 *''Is It Wrong to Pray – for Success, for Wealth, for Victory?''. Answers, 1938

Poetry

*''To C. A. L.''. (c. 1916); anthologized in '' The Muse in Arms'' *''The King: A Psalm of Thanksgiving''. (1929). Written for the thanksgiving service for the recovery of

King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. George was born during the reign of his pa ...

for which it was set to music by Henry Walford Davies *''To the School at War''. (London) Times, 19 December 1914 *''Qui Laborat Orat''. (London) Sunday Times, 11 January 1942 *''The Trust''. The Methodist, 16 June 1945

References

The New Standard Encyclopedia and World Atlas 1932

Bibliography

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from History of the British Isles, British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') ...

*''Burke's Landed Gentry'', edited by Hugh Montgomery-Massingberd, 18th edition, London, 1972, volume 3, p. 11. {{DEFAULTSORT:Alington, Cyril 1872 births 1955 deaths People educated at Marlborough College Alumni of Trinity College, Oxford English hymnwriters English crime fiction writers English essayists Schoolteachers from Suffolk Deans of Durham Burials in County Durham Fellows of All Souls College, Oxford Head Masters of Eton College Headmasters of Shrewsbury School Teachers at Radley College Writers of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction British chaplains Honorary chaplains to the King