
Walter Farquhar Hook (13 March 1798 – 20 October 1875), known to his contemporaries as Dr Hook, was an eminent
Victorian churchman.
He was the
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
Leeds
Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...
responsible for the construction of the current
Leeds Minster
Leeds Minster, also known as the Minster and Parish Church of Saint Peter-at-Leeds (formerly Leeds Parish Church), is the minster church of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It stands on the site of the oldest church in the city and is of architec ...
and for many ecclesiastical and social improvements to the city in the mid-nineteenth century. His achievements, as a
High Church
A ''high church'' is a Christian Church whose beliefs and practices of Christian ecclesiology, Christian liturgy, liturgy, and Christian theology, theology emphasize "ritual, priestly authority, ndsacraments," and a standard liturgy. Although ...
man and
Tractarian in a
non-conformist city are remarkable. Later in life, he became
Dean of Chichester.
Biography
Early life
Hook was born the son of
James Hook, FRS and his wife Anne Farquhar, daughter of
Sir Walter Farquhar MD, in London on 13 March 1798, and educated first at
Blundell's School
Blundell's School is an Private schools in the United Kingdom, independent co-educational boarding school, boarding and Day school, day school in the English Public School (United Kingdom), public school tradition, located in Tiverton, Devon, T ...
in
Tiverton, Devon
Tiverton ( ) is a town and civil parish in Devon, England, and the commercial and administrative centre of the Mid Devon district. The population in 2019 was 20,587.
History Early history
The town's name is conjectured to derive from "Twy-for ...
, then
Winchester College
Winchester College is an English Public school (United Kingdom), public school (a long-established fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) with some provision for day school, day attendees, in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It wa ...
, and
Christ Church, Oxford
Christ Church (, the temple or house, ''wikt:aedes, ædes'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by Henry V ...
, where he graduated in 1821. He obtained his MA in 1824, and his BD and
DD in 1837. On taking
Holy Orders
In certain Christian denominations, holy orders are the ordination, ordained ministries of bishop, priest (presbyter), and deacon, and the sacrament or rite by which candidates are ordained to those orders. Churches recognizing these orders inclu ...
in 1822, he served first as a curate at his father's church,
St Mildred's Church, Whippingham
St Mildred's Church, Whippingham is the Church of England parish church of the village of Whippingham, Isle of Wight.
History
The village of Whippingham, and St Mildred's Church as its parish church, are best known for their connections wi ...
on the
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight (Help:IPA/English, /waɪt/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''WYTE'') is an island off the south coast of England which, together with its surrounding uninhabited islets and Skerry, skerries, is also a ceremonial county. T ...
, later as vicar at
St Mary's Church, Moseley, Birmingham, and, in 1828, vicar of the
Holy Trinity Church, Coventry. He married Anna Delicia, (1811 – 5 April 1871) daughter of Dr
John Johnstone of
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...
on 4 June 1829 and they had several children.
One daughter, Charlotte Jane Hook, married
William Stephens, who went on to be
Dean on Winchester from 1895 to 1902.
Leeds
His support for the ideals of the
Tractarians exposed him to considerable criticism, but his "simple manly character and zealous devotion to parochial work gained him the support of widely divergent classes", according to the 1911 ''
Encyclopædia Britannica
The is a general knowledge, general-knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It has been published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. since 1768, although the company has changed ownership seven times. The 2010 version of the 15th edition, ...
''.
Leeds invited him to be its Vicar in 1837. The city was expanding as one of the seats of the early
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution, sometimes divided into the First Industrial Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution, was a transitional period of the global economy toward more widespread, efficient and stable manufacturing processes, succee ...
, in which non-conformists played a large part. The established church in the city was a minority denomination and
dissenters
A dissenter (from the Latin , 'to disagree') is one who dissents (disagrees) in matters of opinion, belief, etc. Dissent may include political opposition to decrees, ideas or doctrines and it may include opposition to those things or the fiat of ...
were even elected as churchwardens. In 1842 the elections produced a slate of
Chartist churchwardens.
Hook rebuilt his church, using the
church rate
The church rate was a tax formerly levied in each parish in England and Ireland for the benefit of the parish church. The rates were used to meet the costs of carrying on divine service, repairing the fabric of the church and paying the salaries of ...
levied by the city authorities; this was in the face of objections from non-conformists. He went on to drive through the division of Leeds into 21 parishes, each with its own church. He accepted a reduction in his income and moved to a smaller parsonage, under a deal meaning that ground-floor seats of parish churches in Leeds were bought by the
Ecclesiastical Commissioners
The Ecclesiastical Commissioners were, in England and Wales, a body corporate, whose full title was Ecclesiastical and Church Estates Commissioners for England. The commissioners were authorised to determine the distribution of revenues of the Ch ...
, rather than allowing
pew rentals
Hook fostered the building and support of some 30 schools. His interest in the education of children was contentious at the time, before the
Education Acts of the late nineteenth century. His insistence on the necessity of education, and the duty of society to provide it, to some extent, was not what some of his richest parishioners believed.
The minster remains as a physical legacy of Hook's work, being a significant early High Church
Gothic revival
Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...
design.
Chichester
Hook left Leeds to take up the
Deanery of Chichester in 1859.
[ He was appointed honorary ]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 ...
of the Chichester-based 1st Administrative Battalion, Sussex Rifle Volunteer Corps, on 13 August 1864. He died 20 October 1875 and was buried in Mid Lavant, a small village near Chichester.[
]
Honours
He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society
Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...
in 1862 as someone "Eminent as a Divine. Author of the Lives of the Archbishops of Canterbury, of The Ecclesiastical Biography, Church Dictionary & several other works."
A memorial to Hook was built in the Leeds Parish Church, and in 1903 a statue was erected to him in City Square
A town square (or public square, urban square, city square or simply square), also called a plaza or piazza, is an open public space commonly found in the heart of a traditional town or city, and which is used for community gatherings. Rel ...
, in the company of a select few other leading fathers of the city. What is now All Souls' Church, Blackman Lane in Leeds was built by public subscription as the Hook Memorial.[''A Handbook to the Buildings of the Hook Memorial Leeds'' (1893) The Church Lodge, 26 Blackman Lane (Leeds), transcribed and republished 2011 by All Souls Church, Leeds]
His son in law William Stephens dedicated his 1896 book ''Memorials of the South Saxon See and Cathedral Church of Winchester'' to his memory.
Writings
*1842: ''Church Dictionary'' (often reprinted)
*1845: ''Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Biography''. 8 vols. 1845–1852
*1860: ''Lives of the Archbishops of Canterbury''. 12 vols. 1860–1876
References
Sources
''Leodis: Leeds''
* Stephens, W. R. W. (1878) ''The Life and Letters of Walter Farquhar Hook''. 2 vols. London: Richard Bentley & Son
* Obituary of Dean Hook, ''The Times'', Thursday, 21 October 1875; p. 8; Issue 28452; col F
Further reading
* Stranks, C. J. (1954) ''Dean Hook''. London: A. R. Mowbray
* Harry Dalton Anglican Resurgence under W.F.Hook in Early Victorian Leeds
External links
*
Bibliographic directory
from Project Canterbury
Project Canterbury (sometimes abbreviated as PC) is an online archive of material related to the history of Anglicanism. It was founded by Richard Mammana, Jr. in 1999 with a grant from Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Frank T. Griswold, and is ...
The Life and Letters of Walter Farquhar Hook
1878 book from Windows Live Search Books
Leeds Parish Church
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hook, Walter Farquhar
1798 births
1875 deaths
Clergy from London
People educated at Blundell's School
People educated at Winchester College
Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford
English Anglo-Catholics
Members of the Canterbury Association
Deans of Chichester
Fellows of the Royal Society
Anglo-Catholic clergy
19th-century English Anglican priests
Anglo-Catholic writers
19th-century Anglican theologians
Sacramental theology