The Henson Journals

[37]

October 17th, 1914. Carlisle.

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On Saturday, Oct. 17th, we travelled to Carlisle, & stayed with the Rawnsleys till Monday, the 19th, when we returned to Durham. At dinner on Saturday we met Miss Creighton, a sister of the late Bishop of London, and a Presbyterian minister named Falconer. He impressed me very favourably, contrasting tragically with the Dean (Barker) whose conversational extravagances exceeded the bounds of decency. It seemed strangely whimsical that he should be the Dean, & the other a Dissenting minister!

On Sunday, the 18th, I preached twice in the Cathedral, first, at Mattins for the S.P.G.: and then, in the afternoon, at a special service for doctors & nurses. The festival of St Luke was held to be a suitable occasion for a medical function. There were not many doctors, but a large company of nurses in uniform. After service Dr Murray, an old Dunelmian came to tea, & had some conversation with me. He had been physician to Lord Durham, and knew the whole sad history of his marriage, concerning which he told me privately some remarkable circumstances. We lunched with the Dean, and were shown the Deanery, which includes one feature of considerable interest – an old peel tower, which provides the morning room below, the drawing room (with fine painted 15 th century beams) above that, and at the top another room, used as a study. Tait, when Dean, built the present dining room, as well as erected the window in the north transept of the Cathedral to the memory of his children. Before leaving Carlisle I went into the Cathedral, & looked at Paley's monument. The great east window makes a grand show in the light of a sunny morning.

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