Eric James Bodington 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 and author in the early decades of the twentieth century. Born on 17 December 1862, he was educated at

Brasenose College, Oxford Brasenose College (BNC) is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It began as Brasenose Hall in the 13th century, before being founded as a college in 1509. The l ...

and

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 ...

in 1886. After a

curacy 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 ass ...

at St George, Fordington he was rector of Christ Church,

Burgersdorp Burgersdorp is a medium-sized town in Walter Sisulu in the Joe Gqabi District Municipality of the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. In 1869 a Theological Seminary was established here by the '' Gereformeerde Kerk'', but in 1905 it was mov ...

, South Africa and then

Warden A warden is a custodian, defender, or guardian. Warden is often used in the sense of a watchman or guardian, as in a prison warden. It can also refer to a chief or head official, as in the Warden of the Mint. ''Warden'' is etymologically ident ...

of St Peter's Home,

Grahamstown Makhanda, formerly known as Grahamstown, is a town of about 75,000 people in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is situated about northeast of Gqeberha and southwest of East London. It is the largest town in the Makana Local Mun ...

. Returning to England in 1894 he held incumbencies at

Osmington Osmington is a village and civil parish within Dorset, England, situated on the Jurassic Coast north-east of Weymouth. In the 2011 census the parish—which includes the small settlements of Upton, Ringstead and Osmington Mills—had a pop ...

Potterne Potterne is a village and civil parish in the county of Wiltshire, England. The village is south of Devizes and lies on the A360 which links Devizes to Salisbury. The civil parish includes the hamlet of Potterne Wick. History There is evide ...

and

Calne Calne () is a town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Wiltshire, southwestern England,OS Explorer Map 156, Chippenham and Bradford-on-Avon Scale: 1:25 000.Publisher: Ordnance Survey A2 edition (2007). at the northwestern extremity ...

. He was

Archdeacon of Wilts The Archdeacon of Wilts (or Wiltshire) is a senior cleric in the Diocese of Salisbury, England. The archdeacon is responsible for the disciplinary supervision of the clergy in five deaneries: Marlborough, Pewsey, Calne, Bradford and Devizes. Lou ...

from 1912 to 1927; and of

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

from 1927 until his death on 25 October 1929, during which latter time he was also a

Canon Residentiary Canon () is a Christian title usually used to refer to a member of certain bodies in subject to an ecclesiastical rule. Originally, a canon was a cleric living with others in a clergy house or, later, in one of the houses within the precinct of ...

Salisbury Cathedral Salisbury Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is an Church of England, Anglican cathedral in the city of Salisbury, England. The cathedral is regarded as one of the leading examples of Early English architecture, ...

. Works by Bodington include "God and Ourselves" (1890); "A Short History and Exposition of the Apostles' Creed and of the first eight of the thirty-nine Articles of Religion" (1893); "A History of Devizes" (1903); and "God with us" (1923). His scholarly contributions include a transcription of the 1649–1650 ''Church Survey in Wilts'', in several volumes of the

Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine ''Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine'' is a county journal published by the Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Society (WANHS), based in Devizes, England. It has been published almost annually since 1854 and is distr ...

, 1918 onwards.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bodington, Eric James 1862 births Alumni of Brasenose College, Oxford Archdeacons of Dorset 1929 deaths