Frederick Donaldson at a Church League for Women's Suffrage meeting in Brighton in 1913 Frederic Lewis Donaldson (born Ladywood 10 September 1860; died Westminster 7 October 1953) was an

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

priest, most notably Archdeacon of Westminster from 1937 to 1946.

Life

In 1885 Donaldson was educated at Christ Church Cathedral School and

Merton College, Oxford Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is one of the Colleges of Oxford University, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the ...

, graduating B.A. in 1884. He was ordained Deacon in 1884; and Priest in 1885. While

Curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'') ''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 w ...

at St Nicholas Cole Abbey he married Louise Eagleston: they had two sons and four daughters. After further curacies in Piccadilly Circus and

Hammersmith Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. ...

he was appointed

Rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

Nailstone Nailstone is a village and civil parish in the Hinckley and Bosworth district of Leicestershire, England, situated to the west of Leicester and north-east of Market Bosworth. According to the 2001 census the parish had a population of 521, ...

. He was Vicar of

St Mark's Church, Leicester St Mark's Church, Leicester is a Grade II* listed former parish church in the Church of England in Leicester, Leicestershire. History The foundation stone was laid in 1870 by the Bishop of Peterborough. The church was the gift of William Perry- ...

from 1896 to 1918; and then of Paston until 1924. He was a Canon of Westminster from 1924 to 1951;

Sub-Dean {{Unreferenced, date=June 2019 A sub-dean is a person who acts as an assistant to a dean either in church circuit as a priest or minister or an academic institution. They are, however, not a vice-dean. A vice-dean is a person who can deputize a de ...

, 1944–1951,

Steward Steward may refer to: Positions or roles * Steward (office), a representative of a monarch * Steward (Methodism), a leader in a congregation and/or district * Steward, a person responsible for supplies of food to a college, club, or other ins ...

, 1927–1931, Treasurer, 1931–1951, and Receiver-General, 1938–1951. Donaldson was a founder member of the Church Socialist League, and chaired the organisation from 1913 until 1916. He was also an early member of the Christian Social Union, sat on the council of the Industrial Christian Fellowship. He was a leader of a march of unemployed workers from Leicester to London, in 1905. In 1913, Donaldson led a deputation of Church of England clergy to the prime minister, H. H. Asquith, demanding women's suffrage. Being passionate about world peace, he was the president of the London Council for the Prevention of War (1927) and chairman of the League of Clergy for Peace (1931–40).

References

19th-century English Anglican priests 20th-century English Anglican priests 1860 births People from Ladywood People educated at Christ Church Cathedral School Alumni of Merton College, Oxford 1953 deaths Archdeacons of Westminster {{Canterbury-archdeacon-stub