Peter Frederick (Charles) Anson (22 August 1889 – 10 July 1975) was an English non-fiction writer on religious matters and architectural and maritime subjects. He spent time as an Anglican Benedictine monk before converting to

Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

Biography

Peter Anson was born Frederick Charles Anson in

Southsea Southsea is a seaside resort and a geographic area of Portsmouth, Portsea Island in the ceremonial county of Hampshire, England. Southsea is located 1.8 miles (2.8 km) to the south of Portsmouth's inner city-centre. Southsea began as a f ...

on 22 August 1889, the son of

Charles Eustace Anson Admiral Charles Eustace Anson, CB, MVO (3 December 1859 – 28 April 1940) was a Royal Navy officer. A member of the Anson family, Charles Eustace Anson was the son of the Rev Frederick Anson, Canon of Windsor, and of the Hon Caroline Maria, d ...

(1858–1940), later a rear-admiral (son of Frederick Anson, Canon of Windsor and Caroline Maria, daughter of George Venables-Vernon, 5th Baron Vernon), and his wife, (Maria) Evelyn, née Ross (1863–1904). His brother was the electrical engineer Horatio St George Anson. He was educated at Wixenford School until the age of almost 15. His father's

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

had a history of prominence in the Anglican Church. Michael Yelton: "Anson, Peter Frederick", ''

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from History of the British Isles, British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') ...

'' (Oxford, UK: OUP, 2007) Retrieved 17 May 2018.] Anson converted to Roman Catholicism on 5 March 1913. In doing so, he followed the example of the members of the Anglican Benedictine monastery on

Caldey Island Caldey Island (Welsh language, Welsh:''Ynys Bŷr'') is a small island near Tenby, Pembrokeshire, Wales, less than off the coast. With a recorded history going back over 1,500 years, it is one of the holy islands of Britain. A number of trad ...

(Ynys Bŷr),

Pembrokeshire Pembrokeshire ( ; ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. It is bordered by Carmarthenshire to the east, Ceredigion to the northeast, and otherwise by the sea. Haverfordwest is the largest town and ...

, Wales, under Aelred Carlyle, of which he had been one since 1910. He was received into the Third Order of the

Franciscans The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor being the largest conte ...

in 1922, adopting the name Peter. Anson was the author of some 40 books, many of them on religious subjects, and one of them a biography of Aelred Carlyle, who founded the first regular Anglican Community of Benedictines. He was also an accomplished artist.The Peter Anson Collections. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
/ref> In 1936, Anson moved to the north-east of Scotland, his mother's country of origin, living at Macduff,

Banffshire Banffshire (; ; ) is a historic county in Scotland. The county town is Banff, although the largest settlement is Buckie to the west. The historic county ceased to be used for local government purposes in 1975. Since 1996 the area has been spli ...

from 1937 to 1952, and becoming involved in the early activities of

Scottish nationalism Scottish nationalism promotes the idea that the Scottish people form a cohesive nation and Scottish national identity, national identity. Scottish nationalism began to shape from 1853 with the National Association for the Vindication of Scottis ...

. His acquaintance there included Neil M. Gunn and

Compton Mackenzie Sir Edward Montague Compton Mackenzie, (17 January 1883 – 30 November 1972) was a Scottish writer of fiction, biography, histories and a memoir, as well as a cultural commentator, raconteur and lifelong Scottish nationalist. He was one of t ...

Selected bibliography

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References

External links

General information on Peter Anson
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anson, Peter 1889 births 1975 deaths English Roman Catholics Converts to Roman Catholicism from Anglicanism People educated at Wixenford School English Anglicans Anglican monks People from Macduff, Aberdeenshire