Windsor Roberts (1898–1962) was an Able Seaman towards the end of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

who later served as parish priest in naval Bristol and parts of the Portsmouth conurbation, particularly during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and finally served as Archdeacon of Dorking from 1957 until his death.

Birth and early life

Windsor Roberts was born in

Pontnewynydd Pontnewynydd is a predominantly working class suburb of Pontypool, Torfaen, in Wales. It should not be confused with Pontnewydd in nearby Cwmbran. Location It lies in between Pontypool to the south and Snatchwood to the north. The area of Tor ...

in Monmouthshire on 4 May 1898, the son of John Wesley Roberts and his wife, Mary Jane Jones. When the census of Wales was taken in 1901 his father was described as an underground labourer living at 49, Hanbury Road there with his wife, four daughters and three-year-old son. He was educated at West Monmouth School, after which he was briefly employed as a pupil teacher. He joined the Armed Forces on 29 May 1916, engaging himself to serve three years in the Wales Division,

Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family or royalty Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Roya ...

. He was mustered as an

Ordinary Seaman __NOTOC__ An ordinary seaman (OS) is a member of the deck department of a ship. The position is an apprenticeship to become an able seaman, and has been for centuries. In modern times, an OS is required to work on a ship for a specific amount ...

aboard HMS ''Victory'' ''VI'', shore establishment, Portsmouth, on 6 November 1916, advanced to

Able Seaman An able seaman (AB) is a seaman and member of the deck department of a merchant ship with more than two years' experience at sea and considered "well acquainted with his duty". An AB may work as a watchstander, a day worker, or a combination ...

on 6 February 1917 and transferred to HMS ''President'' (shore establishment), London on 1 July 1917, being mustered for duty at Western

Rhyl Rhyl (; , ) is a seaside town and community in Denbighshire in Wales. The town lies on the coast of North Wales, at the mouth of the River Clwyd. To the west is Kinmel Bay and Towyn, to the east Prestatyn, and to the south-east Rhuddlan ...

Wireless Telegraphy Station. He was re-mustered as a

telegraphist A telegraphist (British English), telegrapher (American English), or telegraph operator is a person who uses a telegraph key to send and receive Morse code messages in a telegraphy system. These messages, also called telegrams, can be transmitte ...

on 10 January 1918. He joined HMS ''Teutonic'' on 1 September 1918, serving on convoy escort and troop transport in the

North Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for ...

for two months and in merchant duties and manoeuvres after the peace of 11 November 1918 before being discharged to shore on demobilisation on 4 February 1919.

Professional career

The

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

being over and his naval service having ended, Roberts went up to

St John's College, Durham St John's College is one of the Colleges of Durham University#Types of College, recognised colleges of Durham University. The college was established in 1909 as a Church of England theological college and became a full constituent college of th ...

, to train for the

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 ...

ministry, graduating BA in 1922. He was made a

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian denominations, such as the Cathol ...

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, ...

by the

Bishop of Bristol The Bishop of Bristol heads the Church of England Diocese of Bristol in the Province of Canterbury, in England. The present diocese covers parts of the counties of Somerset and Gloucestershire together with a small area of Wiltshire. The see ...

, Dr.

George Nickson George Nickson (9 May 1864 – 23 February 1949) was an Anglican bishop. Nickson was born on 9 May 1864 and educated at Trinity College, Dublin and Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. He was ordained in 1889. His first post was as a curate at Holy ...

, with a title to St. Paul's, Bedminster, on 17 December 1922. He served as

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 ...

there, 1922–1926. 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 ...

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 ...

by the Bishop in

Bristol Cathedral Bristol Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, is a Church of England cathedral in the city of Bristol, England. It is the seat of the Bishop of Bristol. The cathedral was originally an abbey dedicated to St ...

on 23 December 1923. In 1926 he was appointed curate of the Temple Church (“Holy Cross”) in the city of

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

, then - in 1928 - moved to St. Mary's,

Portsea, Portsmouth Portsea Island is a flat and low-lying natural island in area, just off the southern coast of Hampshire in England. The island contains the majority of the city of Portsmouth. Portsea Island has the third-largest population of all the i ...

. He was successfully nominated by the Vicar of Portsea to the Bishop of Portsmouth for the vacant

benefice A benefice () or living is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The Roman Empire used the Latin term as a benefit to an individual from the Empire for services rendered. Its use was adopted by ...

of St. James's, Milton in Portsmouth in January 1931, and remained as vicar there until 1947. He was appointed as Rector of

Alverstoke Alverstoke is a village in the borough of Gosport, on the south coast of Hampshire, England. It stretches east–west from Fort Blockhouse, Haslar to Browndown Battery, and is centred east of the shore of Stokes Bay and near the head of a cree ...

by Portsmouth Harbour in April 1947. He served as Surrogate, 1931–1957, and as a

Proctor Proctor (a variant of ''wikt:procurator, procurator'') is a person who takes charge of, or acts for, another. The title is used in England and some other English-speaking countries in three principal contexts: # In law, a proctor is a historica ...

(representative) in

Convocation A convocation (from the Latin ''wikt:convocare, convocare'' meaning "to call/come together", a translation of the Ancient Greek, Greek wikt:ἐκκλησία, ἐκκλησία ''ekklēsia'') is a group of people formally assembled for a specia ...

, 1945–1957, in and for that diocese, meanwhile appointed 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 ...

Portsmouth Cathedral The Cathedral Church of St Thomas of Canterbury, commonly known as Portsmouth Cathedral, is an Anglican cathedral church in the centre of Old Portsmouth in Portsmouth, England. Since 1935 the historic church has been the cathedral of the Dioc ...

in 1947 and serving as

Commissary A commissary is a government official charged with oversight or an ecclesiastical official who exercises in special circumstances the jurisdiction of a bishop. In many countries, the term is used as an administrative or police title. It often c ...

in England for the

Bishop of Uganda The Anglican dioceses of Buganda are the Anglican Communion, Anglican presence in the Central Region, Uganda (equivalent to the old Buganda kingdom); they are part of the Church of Uganda. The remaining dioceses of the Church are in the areas Angli ...

, the Right Reverend Leslie Wilfrid Brown, 1953–1959, and as

Rural Dean In the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion as well as some Lutheran denominations, a rural dean is a member of clergy who presides over a "rural deanery" (often referred to as a deanery); "ruridecanal" is the corresponding adjective ...

of Alverstoke, 1954–1957.

Archdeacon of Dorking

Roberts was recruited to serve as Archdeacon of Dorking by an old friend, Ivor Watkins, the newly appointed

Bishop of Guildford The Bishop of Guildford is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Guildford in the Province of Canterbury. The title had first appeared as a suffragan see in the Diocese of Winchester in 1874. The Bishop suffragan of Guildford assi ...

, and appointed as such in March 1957. Having moved to the diocese of Guildford, he was appointed as Rector of Bisley in April 1957. He became an

Examining 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, intelligenc ...

to the new Bishop of Guildford, the Right Reverend

George Reindorp George Edmund Reindorp (11 December 1911 – 20 April 1990) was an Anglican bishop. He was the 5th Bishop of Guildford in the Church of England and subsequently the 75th Bishop of Salisbury. Reindorp was educated at Felsted School and Trinity ...

, in July 1961.

Death

Windsor Roberts died in the Milford Chest Hospital in

Milford, Surrey Milford is a village in the civil parishes in England, civil parish of Witley and Milford south west of Godalming in Surrey, England. It was a small village in the early medieval period — it grew significantly after the building of the Por ...

on 23 December 1962. A memorial service was held for him in

Guildford Cathedral The Cathedral Church of the Holy Spirit, Guildford, commonly known as Guildford Cathedral, is the Anglican cathedral in Guildford, Surrey, England. Richard Onslow, 5th Earl of Onslow, Earl Onslow donated the first of land on which the cathedral ...

on 14 January 1963.''The Times'' (Tue 15 Jan 1963) p10. Roberts, who never married, was survived by his six sisters: Misses Blodwen, Sarah, Greta, Gladys and Gwen Roberts and Mrs F. Hayward.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, Windsor 1898 births People educated at West Monmouth School Archdeacons of Dorking 1962 deaths Alumni of St John's College, Durham Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War I Royal Navy sailors