John Octavius Johnston (1 November 1852 – 6 November 1923) was a British

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 theologian.

Life

Johnston was born in

Barnstaple Barnstaple ( or ) is a river-port town and civil parish in the North Devon district of Devon, England. The town lies at the River Taw's lowest crossing point before the Bristol Channel. From the 14th century, it was licensed to export wool from ...

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

, and educated at Barnstaple Grammar School, before studying at

Keble College, Oxford Keble College () is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its main buildings are on Parks Road, opposite the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, University Museum a ...

, from 1874 to 1879. He obtained a second-class degree in Literae Humaniores and a first-class degree in theology, winning the Senior Hall Houghton Greek Testament Prize in 1880. He was ordained as a priest 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, ...

, and was

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 ...

Kidlington Kidlington is a village and civil parish in the Cherwell district of Oxfordshire, England. It is in-between the River Cherwell and Oxford Canal, north of Oxford and south-west of Bicester. It had a population of 13,600 at the 2021 Census. ...

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire ( ; abbreviated ''Oxon'') is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Glouceste ...

from 1879 to 1881. Between 1881 and 1884, he was appointed principal of

St Stephen's House, Oxford St Stephen's House is an external theological college with observer status at the University of Oxford, affiliated with the Church of England. From 2003 to 2023 it was a permanent private hall of the University of Oxford. The college typicall ...

(an Anglican theological college, which is now a

permanent private hall A permanent private hall (PPH) in the University of Oxford is an educational institution within the University. There are four permanent private halls at Oxford, three of which admit undergraduates. They were founded by different Christian denomina ...

of the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

). He was tutor in theology at

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 ...

, from 1883 to 1895, holding in addition between 1885 and 1895 the positions of Merton College chaplain and vicar of

All Saints Church, Oxford All Saints Church is a former church on the north side of the High Street, Oxford, High Street in central Oxford, England, on the corner of Turl Street. It is now the library of Lincoln College, Oxford, Lincoln College. This former church is Gr ...

. In 1895, he was appointed Principal of

Cuddesdon Theological College Ripon College Cuddesdon (RCC) is a Church of England theological college in Cuddesdon, a village outside Oxford, England. The College trains men and women for ministry in the Church of England: stipendiary, non-stipendiary, local ordained and ...

and vicar of the Church of All Saints,

Cuddesdon Cuddesdon is a mainly rural village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Cuddesdon and Denton, in the South Oxfordshire district, in the county of Oxfordshire, England. centred ESE of Oxford. It has the largest Church of England cler ...

, Oxfordshire, leaving in 1913. He was an honorary

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the material accepted as officially written by an author or an ascribed author * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western canon, th ...

Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford Christ Church Cathedral is a cathedral of the Church of England in Oxford, England. It is the seat of the bishop of Oxford and the principal church of the diocese of Oxford. It is also the chapel of Christ Church, Oxford, Christ Church, a colle ...

from 1902 to 1913, and in 1913 became Canon and Chancellor of

Lincoln Cathedral Lincoln Cathedral, also called Lincoln Minster, and formally the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Lincoln, is a Church of England cathedral in Lincoln, England, Lincoln, England. It is the seat of the bishop of Lincoln and is the Mo ...

. He died on 6 November 1923. His obituary in ''The Times'' said that he "exercised no small influence in the Church of England, partly by his books and partly by his work in training ordination candidates." His publications included work on ''Three Anti-Pelagian Treatises of St Augustine'', '' Dr Liddon's Life of Dr Pusey'', ''Dr Pusey's Spiritual Letters'' and ''Life and Letters of H. P. Liddon''. The ''Life of Pusey'', according to his obituary in ''

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 ...

'', was "monumental" and had "practically killed" Liddon to prepare; Johnston completed the work. His one-volume ''Life of Liddon'' was regarded by ''The Times'' as a better tribute to its subject than Liddon's ''Life of Pusey''.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnston, John Octavius 1852 births 1923 deaths 19th-century English Anglican priests 20th-century English Anglican priests Alumni of Keble College, Oxford Principals of St Stephen's House, Oxford People educated at Barnstaple Grammar School Staff of Ripon College Cuddesdon