Frederick Lewis Donaldson (10 September 1860 – 7 October 1953) was an English

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, most notably

Archdeacon of Westminster The Archdeacon of Westminster is a senior ecclesiastical officer within the Chapter of the Royal Peculiar of Westminster Abbey in London. The holder of the post oversees relationships with the twenty-four parishes of which the Dean and Chapter ...

from 1937 to 1946.''Ecclesiastical News.''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

(London, England), Thursday, Oct 11, 1951; pg. 8; Issue 52129

Life

Donaldson was born in

Ladywood Ladywood is an inner-city district next to central Birmingham. Historically in Warwickshire, in June 2004, Birmingham City Council conducted a citywide "Ward Boundary Revision" to round-up the 39 Birmingham wards to 40. As a result of this, La ...

, Birmingham, England on 10 September 1860 and educated at

Christ Church Cathedral School Christ Church Cathedral School is an independent preparatory school for boys in Oxford, England. It is one of three choral foundation schools in the city and educates choristers of Christ Church Cathedral, and the Chapels of Worcester College ...

and

Merton College, Oxford Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 126 ...

, graduating B.A. in 1884. He was

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 ...

Deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian denominations, such as the Cathol ...

in 1884; and

Priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

in 1885. While

Curate 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 as ...

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

Piccadilly Circus Piccadilly Circus is a road junction and public space of London's West End of London, West End in the City of Westminster. It was built in 1819 to connect Regent Street with Piccadilly. In this context, a ''List of road junctions in the Unite ...

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. It ...

he was appointed Rector of

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, re ...

. He was

Vicar A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English p ...

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

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from 1924 to 1951; Sub-Dean, 1944–1951, Steward, 1927–1931,

Treasurer A treasurer is a person responsible for the financial operations of a government, business, or other organization. Government The treasury of a country is the department responsible for the country's economy, finance and revenue. The treasure ...

, 1931–1951, and

Receiver-General A receiver general (or receiver-general) is an officer responsible for accepting payments on behalf of a government, and for making payments to a government on behalf of other parties. See also * Treasurer * Receiver General for Canada * Recei ...

, 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). On 1 April 1925, Donaldson in an address as Canon of Westminster Abbey, listed his "seven social evils" as: * Politics without principle. * Wealth without work. * Pleasure without conscience. * Knowledge without character. * Commerce and industry without morality. * Science without humanity. * Worship without sacrifice. This list was sent to

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethics, political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful Indian ...

, who published a similar version in his weekly newspaper ''

Young India ''Young India'' was a book written by Lala Lajpat Rai in 1916 and later published by Mahatma Gandhi from 1919 to 1931. It was also the basis for Lala Lajpat Rai's contribution to the final edition of The Seven Arts in Oct 2017. Through this wo ...

'' on 22 October 1925.

Animal welfare

Donaldson was an opponent of

blood sport A blood sport or bloodsport is a category of sport or entertainment that involves bloodshed. Common examples of the former include combat sports such as cockfighting and dog fighting, and some forms of hunting and fishing. Activities charact ...

s. In 1927, he was a member of the

League for the Prohibition of Cruel Sports The League Against Cruel Sports, formerly known as the League for the Prohibition of Cruel Sports, is a UK-based animal welfare charity which campaigns to stop blood sports such as fox hunting, hare and deer hunting; game bird shooting; and anim ...

Advisory Committee. He was also a vice-president of the League.

Death

Donaldson died in

on 7 October 1953.

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 Anti-hunting activists English animal welfare workers {{Canterbury-archdeacon-19C-stub