James Wentworth Leigh (22 January 1838 – 5 January 1923) was an

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 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 the last decade of the 19th century and the first two of the 20th. He was a very active

Freemason Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

, an enthusiastic temperance campaigner, and an ardent

social reformer Reformism is a type of social movement that aims to bring a social or also a political system closer to the community's ideal. A reform movement is distinguished from more radical social movements such as revolutionary movements which reject t ...

Early life

Born at

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

and brought up at Stoneleigh Abbey,

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Ox ...

in a noble family (his father was Chandos Leigh, 1st Baron Leigh from 1839), he was educated at Harrow and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

. At the age of sixteen, he attempted to enlist in the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

to serve in the

Crimean War The Crimean War was fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, the Second French Empire, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont fro ...

and after leaving university went on a tour with three friends of Egypt, Palestine and Constantinople before studying for ministry 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, ...

at Wells Theological College.

Career

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 ...

in 1862 and became

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 ...

of St

John the Baptist John the Baptist ( – ) was a Jewish preacher active in the area of the Jordan River in the early first century AD. He is also known as Saint John the Forerunner in Eastern Orthodoxy and Oriental Orthodoxy, John the Immerser in some Baptist ...

Bromsgrove Bromsgrove is a town in Worcestershire, England, about north-east of Worcester and south-west of Birmingham city centre. It had a population of 34,755 in at the 2021 census. It gives its name to the wider Bromsgrove District, of which it is ...

. Two years later he was appointed

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 ...

Stoneleigh, Warwickshire Stoneleigh, or Stoneleigh-in-Arden, is a small village in Warwickshire, England, on the River Sowe, situated 4.5 miles (7.25 km) south of Coventry and 5.5 miles (9 km) north of Leamington Spa. The population taken at t ...

. Later, he held incumbencies at All Saints Leamington and

St Mary's, Bryanston Square St Mary's, Bryanston Square, is a Church of England church dedicated to the Virgin Mary on Wyndham Place, Bryanston Square, London. A related Church of England primary school which was founded next to it bears the same name. History St Mary's, ...

. In 1894''New Dean of Hereford The Rev. the Hon. James Wentworth Leigh''

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 ...

Wednesday, Apr 04, 1894; pg. 10; Issue 34229; col C he was appointed to the

Deanery A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, the Evangelical Church in Germany, and the Church of Norway. A deanery is either the jurisdiction or residence of ...

Hereford Cathedral Hereford Cathedral, formally the , is a Church of England cathedral in Hereford, England. It is the seat of the bishop of Hereford and the principal church of the diocese of Hereford. The cathedral is a grade I listed building. A place of wors ...

and retired in 1919. In 1920, he served as President of the

National Temperance League (Great Britain) The National Temperance League was a British organisation established in June 1856, through an amalgamation of two others: the National Temperance Society and the London Temperance League. Its Presidents included Samuel Bowly, Edward Long Fox (physi ...

Freemasonry

He was an active and zealous

, who rose to very senior rank within the organisation. Having risen through the ranks of his lodge, and his Provincial Grand Lodge, and attained appointment as an officer of the

United Grand Lodge of England The United Grand Lodge of England (UGLE) is the governing Masonic lodge for the majority of freemasons in England, Wales, and the Commonwealth of Nations. Claiming descent from the Masonic Grand Lodge formed 24 June 1717 at the Goose & Gridiron ...

, in 1899 he was granted the honorary rank of Past Grand Chaplain, the most senior clerical appointment in Freemasonry. In 1906 he received a patent to act as

Provincial Grand Master Provincial Grand Master (abbreviated PGM or PrGM), sometimes called District Grand Master or Metropolitan Grand Master, is a fraternal office held by the head of a Provincial Grand Lodge, who is directly appointed by the organisation's Grand Maste ...

of Herefordshire, taking sole charge of all lodges in that county.

Personal life

He died in January 1923 aged 84.

Notes

External links

St Johns Church Bromsgrove
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leigh, Wentworth 1838 births 1923 deaths People educated at Harrow School Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge 19th-century English Anglican priests 20th-century English Anglican priests Church of England deans Deans of Hereford Younger sons of barons English cricketers Gentlemen of Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers