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The Revd Dr George Henry Somerset Walpole,
MA, DD.
1854 - 1929
Vicar of Parnell 1882 - 1889
 Dr Walpole was a man of intellect and learning who had a reputation for
sound, though conservative teaching, the capacity for hard work, unwavering
dedication to his calling, and the ability to communicate his ideas successfully
to anyone, whether educated or uneducated. Despite his acceptance of the
incumbency of St Mary's at the age of 28, which could have been seen as
consigning himself to oblivion in the outposts of Empire, he went on to have an
illustrious career in the Church of England.
He later wrote in praise of the experience, expressing the wish that
all clergy should experience time in the colonies or on overseas missions
without the trappings of England. He went on to achieve powerful positions
within the Episcopal Church and the Church of England.
Born in Newark-on-Trent, Dr Walpole was educated at Kings Lynn Grammar
School before going up to Trinity College, Cambridge, where in 1877 he gained 1st
Class Honours in the Theological Tripos.
Ordained in 1878, he was appointed Priest-Vicar, and later Succentor of the
Cathedral of Truro, Cornwall, and was a tutor at the Truro theological college.
He established a number of different support and social organisations, and in
order to encourage people to come out of the pubs on Christams Eve he suggested
to his Bishop that carol services be held. Out of it grew the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols, a
delightful service held in the evening of the fourth Sunday in Advent.
On appointment as Vicar of (Old) St Marys Church the Revd Walpole married
Mildred Barham on 12th September 1882, leaving almost immediately for Auckland,
where he began to establish equivalents to many of the organisations which he
had been instrumental in setting up in Cornwall. During his incumbency he was also intensively involved with the building (1883 - 1887) and consecration (1888) of the first section of the present St Mary's Church. In 1887 the Bishop, William Garden Cowie, announced that the church would become the Cathedral.
From 1884 to 1886 Dr Walpole was
concurrently Honorary Warden of St John's College when it was situated in Parnell.
In 1889 Dr Walpole was offered the prestigious Chair of Systematic Theology
in the General Theological Seminary of New York at the huge annual salary for
that day of £1000 ($2000), and seven years later became Principal of St Bede's
College, Durham, holding the post until 1903, when he became Rector of Lambeth,
and in 1906, an Honorary Canon of Southwark Cathedral, which positions he held
until 1910.
On 24th June 1910 at the conclusion of the World Missionary Conference held
in Auckland, attended by Dr Walpole and other clergy from all over the world, he
was consecrated Bishop of Edinburgh. Eleven consecrating Bishops participated, 6
from Scottish Sees, 1 English, and 1 each from Ireland, Sweden, the Philippines
and Hankow. The sermon was given by the Revd Dr A.J. Mason, Vice-Chancellor of
Cambridge University.
Publications:
The Rt Revd Dr Walpole left a substantial body of work written between 1896 and 1926. Internet searches show that The Gospel of Hope: A Message of Comfort for the Sorrowing (Robert Scott, London 1916) is still well regarded and sought after.
Sir Hugh Seymour Walpole
Novelist, critic and dramatist, Hugh was born in Auckland on 13th
March 1884 while his father was Vicar of St Mary's. He tried, but did not manage
to settle into clerical life, and served with the Russian Red Cross in World War
I (1914 - 1918). He was admitted to the Order of St. George, Russia's highest award for bravery, while
rescuing a wounded man under fire. Knighted in 1938, he died three years later on 1st June 1941 of a heart attack while engaged in voluntary war work
.
Acknowledgements: Images provided by St Mark's Library, General Theological Seminary, New York. Some biographical data is from Blain's Biographical Directory of the Clergy of the South Pacific, and is used with permission.
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