The Henson Journals

[56]

Friday, June 1st, 1928.

Before going to bed last night I wrote the names of the candidates in the Bibles and Greek Testament which I shall give them when they are being ordained. There are 10 of them, and only one is to be made a deacon. This 'touches bottom' in the matter of Trinity Ordinations. Their parentage is illuminating:

1. Ainsworth, son of a 'retired commercial traveller'.

2. Talbot " " clergyman.

3. Neill " " clergyman (missionary,)

4. Heaver " "solicitor.

5. Pattinson " " engine man.

6. Dobbie " " small shop keeper.

7. Linnell " " solicitor.

8. Baxter " " 'working farm foreman'.

9. Cross " " medical practitioner.

10. Holmes " "clergyman.

All have degrees except Dobbie and Linnell. Heaver is the only Oxford man. Talbot, Neill and Baxter are from Cambridge. Ainsworth, Pattinson, Cross and Holme have Durham degrees. There is no artisan bred man in the list, except perhaps Baxter: & no less than three sons of clergymen.

[57]

Happily the weather is again brilliant, though its fineness is mitigated by a restless wind.

I celebrated the Holy Communion in the Chapel at 8.15 a.m. when all the candidates communicated. I attended matins at 10.45 a.m., & then handed the men over to my Suffragan. Mr Jackson, the layman brother of the Rector of Chester–le–Street, came to lunch. He will shortly retire on a pension, and desires to devote the remainder of his life to assisting the clergy, as a volunteer clergyman. The difficulty of finding a 'title', which would both satisfy the canon, & suffice for his purpose, is considerable. I wrote to my Chancellor, who was ordained to the Dioconate with a similar intention, & he sent me a copy of the letters of Orders which he received from the late Bishop of Gloucester (Gibson) when he was made a deacon in 1925:–

"We do grant to our license & authority to perform the office of a Diocesan Chaplain within our Diocese and jurisdiction, in reading the Common prayers, preaching the Word of God, & performing other Ecclesiastical Duties belonging to the said office" sc.

As the office of "Diocesan Chaplain" is unknown to the law, it is difficult to appraise the practical value of this license: the consent of the incumbents to the said Chaplain's ministrations is not stated as requisite.

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