Walter Robert Matthews CH KCVO[2] (22 September 1881 – 4 December 1973) was an Anglican priest, theologian, and philosopher.[3]
Walter Matthews | |
|---|---|
| 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 22 September 1881 London, England |
| Died | 4 December 1973 (aged 92) |
| Nationality | British |
| Denomination | Anglicanism |
| Spouse |
Margaret Bryan
(m. 1911; died 1961) |
Early life and education
editBorn 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[4] and trained for the priesthood at King's College London.
Ordained ministry
editHe was ordained deacon in 1907 and priest in 1908[5] 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.[6][7] From 1918 he was also Dean of the college.[6][8] In 1931 he became an Honorary Chaplain to the King[9] and Dean of Exeter.[6][10] Then in 1934 he became Dean of St Paul's,[6][11] a post he held for 33 years. At the time of his appointment, he was president-elect of the Modern Churchmen's Union.[12] He was described by his predecessor, William Ralph Inge, as something of an "Orthodox Modernist".[12]
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.
Published works
editMatthews 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.
- The Purpose of God. London: Nisbet. 1935.
- Christ. New York: Macmillan Company. 1939.
- The Foundations of Peace. Eyre and Spottiswoode. 1942.
- 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
editCitations
edit- ^ 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.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ 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
- ^ a b c d Byrne 2010, p. 160.
- ^ "College archives". Archived from the original on 7 October 2011. Retrieved 5 July 2009.
- ^ History of King's College Chapel[dead link]
- ^ "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.
- ^ a b 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
edit- 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.
