Thomas Ashworth Goss 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 ...

. He was born on 27 July 1912 and educated at Shardlow Hall,

Aldenham Aldenham is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the borough of Hertsmere in Hertfordshire, England. The parish includes Radlett and Letchmore Heath as well as Aldenham village itself. The village of Aldenham lies north-eas ...

and the

University of St Andrews The University of St Andrews (, ; abbreviated as St And in post-nominals) is a public university in St Andrews, Scotland. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and, f ...

. 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 1938 and began his ecclesiastical career with a

curacy 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 ass ...

at Frodingham, after which he became a

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intellige ...

in the

Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve The Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (RAFVR) was established in 1936 to support the preparedness of the U.K. Royal Air Force (RAF) in the event of another war. The Air Ministry intended it to form a supplement to the Royal Auxiliary Air Force ( ...

. He was a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...

from 1942 to 1945. When peace returned he became

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 ...

of Sutton Le Marsh until 1951, when he returned to the RAF, serving until 1967. An

Honorary Chaplain to the Queen An Honorary Chaplain to the King is a member of the clergy within the United Kingdom who, through long and distinguished service, is appointed to minister to the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, monarch of the United Kingdom. When the reigning mona ...

, he was

Dean of Jersey The Dean of Jersey is the leader of the Church of England in Jersey. He is ex officio a member of the States of Jersey, although since the constitutional reforms of 1948 the Dean may not take part in parliamentary votes. The Dean acts as the chap ...

from 1971 to 1985.Societe Jersaise
/ref> He died on 10 December 1997.

Notes and references

1912 births 1997 deaths People educated at Shardlow Hall People educated at Aldenham School Alumni of the University of St Andrews Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War II Deans of Jersey Honorary chaplains to the King World War II chaplains Royal Air Force chaplains {{ChurchofEngland-dean-stub