The Henson Journals
Sat 27 March 1926
Volume 40, Page 193
[193]
Saturday, March 27th, 1926.
MrWilliams, the Vicar of Sadberge, came to see me with reference to the complaint about the behavior of Boy Scouts and Choir boys in his parish. He gave me a reasonable explanation of the episode, and made it abundantly clear that the complainant was a factious & untrustworthy person. I promised to deal with the creature suitably. Mr Williams stayed to lunch. Philip Strong went off after lunch. Ella took him as far as Durham in the car. Mr Peter Lawrence Richardson a young man of 22, who is learning to be a mining engineer at Ferryhill, & is the brother–in–law of Hugh Lyon, came for the week–end. He walked round the Park with me, & pleased me much by the candour and intelligence of his conversation.
An architect brought plans of the proposed Vicarage of Washington which I approved and signed.
Mr Parry Evans came to see me with respect to the request which I had received from the Auckland (S. Andrew) Parish Council to receive a deputation on the subject of a new Churchyard. He made it plain that the project is not reasonable. I said that I should refuse to receive a deputation.
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I finished my annotations on my speech in the House of Lords, and sent them with the speech itself to the Bishop of Jarrow for the next issue of the Bishoprick. This, and the large amount of letter writing which I have done, form the whole output of the week. And the record of reading is small. Yet a quarter of the year has slipped away already.
The Rural Dean's report of Watts's language at the Ruri–deaconal Conference is disconcerting. He spoke with gross impropriety, openly declaring his contempt for diocesan regulations, and expressing his intention of doing what he liked in spite of them. And all this in the presence of a number of lay–readers! He is said to have declared on another occasion that he would sooner give up his Orders than leave the Labour Party. I think the foolish fellow's head has been completely turned [since he had Miss Ishbell Macdonald staying in his house.] Yet it is not many months since he told me that he had found his association with Labour unhelpful to his work, and had made up his mind to give up politics. I suspect that he is more enslaved than he knew.