The Henson Journals
Wed 6 November 1929
Volume 48, Pages 429 to 430
[429]
Wednesday, November 6th, 1929.
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I paid the contractor a further sum of £250 on account of the Dilapidations on the Castle. This makes £500 on his contract, and £144 for the extra work, =£544. The Dean of Westminster acknowledges on a postcard the copy of the 'Bishoprick', which I sent him. He "appreciates it very highly".
The two Archdeacons arrived at 11 a.m. and sate in conference with me until 1 p.m. when we all lunched. After this, they took their departure. This is an experiment in administering the diocese viz. a monthly conference of the Bishop & Archdeacons.
The Bishop of Southwark sends me his charge. He adds the following:
'I admire the perseverance with which you are bearing your witness. I doubt if you will convert the Church to the necessity of Disestablishment, but I believe you will arouse many to a sense of the intolerable nature of the situation we have been placed in by Parliament.'
This perhaps is worth something.
[430]
Pattison and I motored to Winlaton, where I instituted the Revd. Walter Brain to the Rectory. As Cecil could not attend I myself administered the Declaration of Assent, and the Oaths. In my address I made illusion to the unsatisfactory state of the parish, which had come about through the inability of the late Vicar, an octogenarian, to carry so heavy a burden. The Rector had forgotten the key, so we had to stand in the open, while a maid was found who had the key to the back–entrance! I gave Jackson, who, as Rural Dean, had carried out the induction of the Rector, a lift back to Chester–Le–Street. We got back to the Castle at 9.30 p.m.
I quoted in my address a description of the people of Winlaton in the early XIXth century: –
"They are hospitable & kind to strangers: & while the morality of the bulk is not below that of their neighbours, the villagers generally have a singularly unhappy reputation for being great adepts at boxing, gaming, & general mischief–making; while as poachers, the neighbouring squirrely (?) declare them to be unequalled in the kingdom".