The Very Reverend Walter Matthews CH KCVO | |
---|---|
Dean of St Paul's | |
Matthews in 1935 | |
Church | Church of England |
Diocese | London |
In office | 1934–1967 |
Retired | 1967 |
Predecessor | William Ralph Inge |
Successor | Martin Sullivan |
Other post(s) | Dean of Exeter (1931–1934) |
Orders | |
Ordination | 1907 |
Personal details | |
Born | Walter Robert Matthews (1881-09-22)22 September 1881 London, England |
Died | 4 December 1973(1973-12-04) (aged 92) |
Nationality | British |
Denomination | Anglicanism |
Spouse |
Margaret Bryan
(m. 1911; died 1961) |
Walter Robert Matthews CH KCVO (22 September 1881 – 4 December 1973) was an Anglican priest, theologian, and philosopher.
Early life and education
Born on 22 September 1881 in Camberwell, London, to parents Philip Walter Matthews, a banker, and Sophia Alice Self, he was educated at Wilson's School and trained for the priesthood at King's College London.
Ordained ministry
He was ordained deacon in 1907 and priest in 1908 and was a curate at St Mary Abbots' Kensington and St Peter's Regent Square. After that he was a lecturer in and then a professor of theology at King's College London. From 1918 he was also Dean of the college. In 1931 he became an Honorary Chaplain to the King and Dean of Exeter. Then in 1934 he became Dean of St Paul's, a post he held for 33 years. At the time of his appointment, he was president-elect of the Modern Churchmen's Union. He was described by his predecessor, William Ralph Inge, as something of an "Orthodox Modernist".
On 2 June 1940 the term "miracle of Dunkirk" was used for the first time by Matthews in a speech. He was praising the rescue of thousands of British soldiers and their allies from being encircled by the German Army in France.
He died on 4 December 1973.
Published works
Matthews was an author. Among his works:
- Three Sermons on Human Nature and a Dissertation upon the Nature of Virtue. Editor. By Joseph Butler. London: G. Bell and Sons. 1914.
- King's College Lectures on Immortality. Editor. By J. F. Bethune-Baker; A. Caldecott; Hastings Rashdall; Wm. Brown; H. Maurice Relton. London: University of London Press. 1920.
- Studies in Christian Philosophy: Being the Boyle Lectures, 1920. London: Macmillan and Co. 1921.
- God and Evolution. London: Longmans, Green & Co. 1926.
- God in Christian Thought and Experience. 1930.
- The Purpose of God. London: Nisbet. 1935.
- Christ. New York: Macmillan Company. 1939.
- The Foundations of Peace. Eyre and Spottiswoode. 1942.
- The Problem of Christ in the Twentieth Century. 1950.
- Some Christian Words. John Allen and Unwin. 1956.
- Memories and Meanings. London: Hodder and Stoughton. 1969.
- The Year Through Christian Eyes. London: Epworth Press. 1970.
References
Citations
- Sell 2010, pp. 71–72.
- Rayment, Leigh (2015). "Companions of Honour". Leigh Rayment's Peerage Page. Archived from the original on 13 March 2016. Retrieved 11 November 2017.
- Beeson 2004; Owen 2004; Sell 2010, p. 74.
- Sell 2010, p. 69; Owen 2004.
- Crockford's Clerical Directory 1971-72. London, OUP, 1973, p. 636
- ^ Byrne 2010, p. 160.
- "College archives". Archived from the original on 7 October 2011. Retrieved 5 July 2009.
- History of King's College Chapel
- "Chaplain to the King". The Times. No. 45965. 28 October 1931. p. 12, col. E.
- "New Dean of Exeter". The Times. No. 45953. 14 October 1931. p. 12, col. F.
- "Dean to St. Paul's". Time. Vol. 34, no. 23. 1934. Archived from the original on 25 November 2010. Retrieved 11 November 2017.
- ^ Burns 2004, p. 96.
- "Dr W. R. Matthews Former Dean of St Paul's". The Times. No. 58956. 5 December 1973. p. 21, col. F.
- England & Wales, National Probate Calendar 1974, p. 5926
Works cited
- Beeson, Trevor (2004). The Deans. London: SCM Press. ISBN 978-0-334-02987-8.
- Burns, Arthur (2004). "From 1830 to the Present". In Keene, Derek; Burns, Arthur; Saint, Andrew (eds.). St Paul's: The Cathedral Church of London, 604–2004. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-09276-9.
- Byrne, Georgina (2010). Modern Spiritualism and the Church of England, 1850–1939. Studies in Modern British Religious History. Vol. 25. Woodbridge, England: Boydell Press. ISBN 978-1-84383-589-9. ISSN 1464-6625.
- Owen, Huw (2004). "Matthews, Walter Robert (1881–1973)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/31426. ISBN 978-0-19-861412-8.
- Sell, Alan P. F. (2010). Four Philosophical Anglicans: W. G. DeBurgh, W. R. Matthews, O. C. Quick, H. A. Hodges. Eugene, Oregon: Wipf and Stock (published 2015). ISBN 978-1-4982-2008-8.
External links
- Works by or about Walter Matthews at the Internet Archive
- Portraits of Walter Robert Matthews at the National Portrait Gallery, London
Church of England titles | ||
---|---|---|
Preceded byHenry Gamble | Dean of Exeter 1931–1934 |
Succeeded bySpencer Carpenter |
Preceded byWilliam Ralph Inge | Dean of St Paul's 1934–1967 |
Succeeded byMartin Sullivan |
Academic offices | ||
Preceded byAlfred Caldecott | Dean of King's College London 1918–1931 |
Succeeded byRichard Hanson |
Non-profit organization positions | ||
Preceded byWilliam Ralph Inge | President of the Modern Churchmen's Union 1934 – c. 1937 |
Succeeded byCyril Norwood |
- 1881 births
- 1973 deaths
- 20th-century English Anglican priests
- Academics of King's College London
- Alumni of the Theological Department of King's College London
- Anglican philosophers
- Deans of Exeter
- Deans of King's College London
- Deans of St Paul's
- English Anglican theologians
- Fellows of King's College London
- Honorary chaplains to the King
- Knights Commander of the Royal Victorian Order
- Members of the Order of the Companions of Honour
- People educated at Wilson's School, Wallington