Edward Girdlestone (6 September 1805 – 4 December 1884) was an English cleric, who became known as "The Agricultural Labourers' Friend" for his activism of the late 1860s and early 1870s.
Life
He was the youngest son of Samuel Rainbow Girdlestone, a chancery barrister, born in London 6 September 1805, and younger brother of
Charles Girdlestone
Charles Girdlestone (1797–1881) was an English clergyman and biblical commentator.
Life
The second son of Samuel Rainbow Girdlestone, a chancery barrister, was born in London in March 1797; Edward Girdlestone, canon of Bristol, was his younger ...
. He matriculated at Balliol College, Oxford, 10 June 1822, and in 1823 was admitted a scholar of his college, became B.A. in 1826, M.A. in 1829, and was ordained to the curacy of Deane, Lancashire, in 1828. Having taken priest's orders he became vicar of Deane in 1830.
conferred on Girdlestone in 1854 the place of canon residentiary of
Bristol Cathedral
Bristol Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, is a Church of England cathedral in the city of Bristol, England. It is the seat of the Bishop of Bristol. The cathedral was originally an abbey dedicated to St ...
, and he consequently succeeded to the vicarage of St. Nicholas with St. Leonard, Bristol, in 1855. He resigned it in 1858 for the vicarage of
Wapley
Wapley is a rural village in South Gloucestershire
South Gloucestershire is a unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire, South West England. Towns in the area include Yate, Chipping Sodbury, Kingswood, Thornbur ...
with
Codrington, Gloucestershire. In 1862 he became vicar of
Halberton
Halberton is a village and civil parish in Devon, England. It is situated between the historic market towns of Tiverton, Devon, Tiverton and Cullompton. The Grand Western Canal runs around to the north and west of the village.
The large parish ...
, Devon, and ultimately in March 1872 vicar of
Olveston
Olveston is a small village and larger parish in South Gloucestershire, England. The parish comprises the villages of Olveston and Tockington, and the hamlets of Old Down, Ingst and Awkley. The civil parish population at the 2011 census wa ...
, near Almondsbury, Bristol.
At Halberton, Girdlestone saw rural deprivation.
In 1867 he became active on behalf of agricultural labourers, and at a meeting of the
British Association
The British Science Association (BSA) is a charity and learned society founded in 1831 to aid in the promotion and development of science. Until 2009 it was known as the British Association for the Advancement of Science (BA). The current Chief ...
at Norwich in 1868 he proposed an agricultural labourers'
trade union
A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...
. He spoke and organised on behalf of this project. He helped 600 agricultural families move from the west of England, where work was scarce and poorly paid, to the north.
On a journey to visit
Sandringham House
Sandringham House is a country house in the parish of Sandringham, Norfolk, England. It is one of the royal residences of Charles III, whose grandfather, George VI, and great-grandfather, George V, both died there. The house stands in a est ...
, Girdlestone fell ill, and he died in the canon's house, Bristol, 4 December 1884. He was buried in the graveyard of Bristol Cathedral, on 9 December.
The noted Historian
W. G. Hoskins
William George Hoskins (22 May 1908 – 11 January 1992) was an English local historian who founded the first university department of English Local History. His great contribution to the study of history was in the field of landscape history. ...
lamented the lack of notice given to Canon Girdlestones achievements. In a section on the plight of farm labourers in Devon in the 19th century, having noted the usual attitude of the foxhunting "squarsons" He writes "Yet these are the men the sentimentalists perpetually write about. Rarely does one see the name Canon Girdlestone mentioned. For everyone in Devon who has heard his name, there must be a hundred who know the name of the futile Parson
Jack Russell (priest)
John "Jack" Russell (21 December 1795 – 28 April 1883), was an English parson, enthusiastic follower of country sports - particularly fox hunting - and dog breeder, and known as "The Sporting Parson".
Russell developed the Jack Russell Terrie ...
and the infamous
John Froude
The Reverend John Froude II (17779 September 1852) of Knowstone and East Anstey, both in Devon, England, Rector (ecclesiastical), Rector of Molland-cum-Knowstone, in Devon, was an extreme and notorious example of the "hunting parson", a phenomen ...
of Knowstone."
Works
Girdlestone was the author of:
*''Sermons'', 1843, etc., eight pamphlets.
*''The Committee of Council on Education, an imaginary Enemy, a real Friend'', 1850.
*''G. Marsh, the Martyr of Deane'', 1851.
*''Sermons on Romanism and Tractarianism'', 1851.
*''The Education Question'', 1852.
*''Apostolical Succession neither proved matter of fact nor revealed in the Bible nor the Doctrine of the Church of England'', 1857.
*''Reflected Truth, or the Image of God lost in Adam restored in Jesus Christ'', 1859.
*''Remarks on "Essays and Reviews"'', 1861.
*''Revelation and Reason'', a lecture, 1883.
Family
Girdlestone married in 1832 Mary, eldest daughter of Thomas Ridgway of Wallsuches, in Deane parish.
They had seven sons and four daughters.
They included:
*Charles Edward Ridgway (born 1839), Indian Civil Service.
*Henry, second son, died 1865 at sea, age 23.
*Frederick Kennedy Wilson, fourth son, barrister.
*Mariden, youngest daughter, married 1871 Henry Dalzell Nourse, barrister.
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Notes
External links
;Attribution
{{DEFAULTSORT:Girdlestone, Edward
1805 births
1884 deaths
19th-century English Anglican priests
English writers
Evangelical Anglican clergy