Richard William Church (25 April 1815 – 6 December 1890) was an English cleric and writer, known latterly as Dean Church. He was a close friend of

John Henry Newman John Henry Newman (21 February 1801 – 11 August 1890) was an English Catholic theologian, academic, philosopher, historian, writer, and poet. He was previously an Anglican priest and after his conversion became a cardinal. He was an ...

and allied with the

Tractarian The Oxford Movement was a theological movement of high-church members of the Church of England which began in the 1830s and eventually developed into Anglo-Catholicism. The movement, whose original devotees were mostly associated with the Uni ...

movement. Later he moved from Oxford academic life to some prominence in 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, ...

Life

Richard William was the eldest of three sons of John Dearman Church, a wine merchant, and his wife Bromley Caroline Metzener (died 1845). His grandfather Matthew Church, a merchant of Cork, and his wife, were

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

s, and John was not baptised into the

until his marriage in 1814. His uncle, General Sir Richard Church (1784–1873), achieved fame as a liberator of Greece. The family moved in 1818 to

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

. After his father's death in 1828, his mother settled in

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

and he was sent to a strict evangelical school at Redland,

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

. He was admitted in 1832 to

Wadham College Wadham College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is located in the centre of Oxford, at the intersection of Broad Street and Parks Road. Wadham College was founded in 1610 by Dorothy Wadham, a ...

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 ...

, and took first-class honours in 1836. His mother, meanwhile, was remarried to Thomas Crokat, a widowed Englishman of Leghorn. In 1838, Church was elected fellow of

Oriel College Oriel College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Located in Oriel Square, the college has the distinction of being the oldest royal foundation in Oxford (a title formerly claimed by University College, ...

. One of his contemporaries, Richard Mitchell, commented on his election: "There is such a moral beauty about Church that they could not help taking him." He was appointed a tutor of Oriel in 1839 and ordained the same year. He was a close friend of

in this period and allied to the

movement. In 1841,

Tract 90 ''Remarks on Certain Passages in the Thirty-Nine Articles'', better known as Tract 90, was a theological pamphlet written by the English theologian and churchman John Henry Newman and published 25 January 1841. It is the most famous and the most c ...

of ''

Tracts for the Times The Tracts for the Times were a series of 90 theological publications, varying in length from a few pages to book-length, produced by members of the English Oxford Movement, an Anglo-Catholic revival group, from 1833 to 1841. There were about a do ...

'' appeared and Church resigned his tutorship. From 1844 to 1845, Church was a junior proctor, and in that capacity and in concert with his senior colleague, vetoed a proposal to censure Tracts publicly. In 1846, with others, he started ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' newspaper and he was an early contributor to ''The Saturday Review''. In 1850, he became engaged to H. F. Bennett, of a

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

shire family, a niece of

George Moberly George Moberly (10 October 1803 – 6 July 1885) was an English cleric who was headmaster of Winchester College, and then served as Bishop of Salisbury from 1869 until his death. Life He was born in St Petersburg, Russian Empire in 1803, the s ...

Bishop of Salisbury The Bishop of Salisbury is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of Salisbury in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers much of the counties of Wiltshire and Dorset. The Episcopal see, see is in the Salisbur ...

. After again holding the tutorship of Oriel, he accepted in 1858 the small living of

Whatley Whatley may refer to: Places * Whatley, Alabama, a place in the United States * Whatley, Mendip, in the district of Mendip, Somerset, England * Whatley, South Somerset, in the district of South Somerset, Somerset, England People * Whatley (surname ...

in Somerset near

Frome Frome ( ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, on uneven high ground at the eastern end of the Mendip Hills and on the River Frome, south of Bath. The population of the parish was 28,559 in 2021. Frome was one of the largest tow ...

and was married the following year. He was said to be a diligent parish priest and a serious student, who contributed largely to current literature.

Dean of St Paul's

In 1869, Church declined a canonry at Worcester, but in 1871 accepted reluctantly (calling it "a sacrifice ''en pure perte''"), the deanery of St Paul's, to which he was nominated by

W. E. Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British politican, starting as Conservative MP for Newark and later becoming the leader of the Liberal Party. In a career lasting over 60 years, he was Prime Minister ...

. There his task was complicated: #Restoration of the cathedral, #Adjustment of the question of the cathedral revenues with the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, #Reorganization of a conservative cathedral staff with anomalous vested rights. Church intended on his appointment "that St Paul's should waken up from its long slumber". The first year he spent there, writes one of his friends, was one of "misery" for a man who loved study and hated pomp and business. But he worked tactfully. Though of unimpressive stature and monotonous, he had a strong influence. He was a

High Church A ''high church'' is a Christian Church whose beliefs and practices of Christian ecclesiology, Christian liturgy, liturgy, and Christian theology, theology emphasize "ritual, priestly authority, ndsacraments," and a standard liturgy. Although ...

man, but of a rational type, and with an enthusiasm for religious liberty. He said of the Church of England that there was "no more glorious church in Christendom than this inconsistent English Church". He was regarded in 1882 as a possible successor to Archbishop Tait, but his health made it out of the question. While Dean of St Paul's, he was a patron of Saint Martin's League for letter carriers.

Death

In 1888, Church's only son Frederick John died. Thereafter his own health declined. He appeared for the last time in public at the funeral of

Henry Parry Liddon Henry Parry Liddon (20 August 1829 – 9 September 1890), usually cited as H. P. Liddon, was an English Anglican theologian. From 1870 to 1882, he was Dean Ireland's Professor of the Exegesis of Holy Scripture at the University of Oxford. ...

on 9 September 1890. Church himself died on 6 December 1890, at

Dover Dover ( ) is a town and major ferry port in Kent, southeast England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies southeast of Canterbury and east of Maidstone. ...

. He was buried at Whatley.

Works

The dean's chief published works are ''Life of

St Anselm Anselm of Canterbury OSB (; 1033/4–1109), also known as (, ) after his birthplace and () after his monastery, was an Italian Benedictine monk, abbot, philosopher, and theologian of the Catholic Church, who served as Archbishop of Canterb ...

'' (1870), lives of

Spenser Spenser is an alternative spelling of the British surname Spencer. It may refer to: Geographical places with the name Spenser: * Spenser Mountains, a range in the northern part of South Island, New Zealand People with the surname Spenser: * Dav ...

(1879) and

Bacon Bacon is a type of Curing (food preservation), salt-cured pork made from various cuts of meat, cuts, typically the pork belly, belly or less fatty parts of the back. It is eaten as a side dish (particularly in breakfasts), used as a central in ...

(1884) in Macmillan's "Men of Letters" series, ''Dante: an Essay'' (1878), ''The

Oxford Movement The Oxford Movement was a theological movement of high-church members of the Church of England which began in the 1830s and eventually developed into Anglo-Catholicism. The movement, whose original devotees were mostly associated with the Un ...

'' (1891), and many other volumes of essays and sermons. His ''Dante: an Essay'' included an English version of Dante's '' De monarchia,'' translated by his son Frederick.Church, Frederick John (1854–1888)
WorldCat Identities. A collection of Church's journalistic articles was published in 1897 as ''Occasional Papers''. His style is lucid but austere. He stated that he had never studied style as such, but had acquired it by the exercise of translation from classical languages, and that he took care in his choice of verbs rather than in his use of adjectives.

Notes

References

* Attribution * * Endnotes: ** – biography by his daughter **

External links

* * *

at

Project Canterbury Project Canterbury (sometimes abbreviated as PC) is an online archive of material related to the history of Anglicanism. It was founded by Richard Mammana, Jr. in 1999 with a grant from Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Frank T. Griswold, and is ...

R. W. Church collection, 1877
at Pitts Theology Library,

Candler School of Theology Candler School of Theology is one of seven graduate schools at Emory University, located in Atlanta metropolitan area, metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. A university-based school of theology, Candler educates Minister (Christi ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Church, Richard William 1815 births 1890 deaths Deans of St Paul's English Anglo-Catholics Anglo-Catholic writers Anglo-Catholic clergy 19th-century English Anglican priests Fellows of Oriel College, Oxford Alumni of Wadham College, Oxford Clergy from Lisbon Writers from Lisbon Christian hagiographers 19th-century Anglican theologians