Alan Campbell Don (3 January 1885 – 3 May 1966) was a trustee of the

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, editor of the Scottish Episcopal Church's 1929 '' Scottish Prayer Book'',

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a Minister (Christianity), minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a laity, lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secularity, secular institution (such as a hosp ...

and secretary to Cosmo Lang,

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...

, from 1931 to 1941, Chaplain to the Speaker of the House of Commons from 1936 to 1946 and Dean of Westminster from 1946 to 1959.

Early life and ordained ministry

Born into a manufacturing

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

family, the son of Robert Bogle Don and Lucy Flora Campbell, he was educated at Rugby and

Magdalen College, Oxford Magdalen College (, ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by William of Waynflete. Today, it is the fourth wealthiest college, with a financial endowment of £332.1 million as of 2019 and one of the s ...

. Deciding the family business was not for him, studied for ordination at Cuddesdon College before becoming a

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'') ''of souls'' of a parish. In this sense, "curate" means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy w ...

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followed by an incumbency in Yorkshire. There then followed a 10-year period as provost of St. Paul's Scottish Episcopal (Anglican) Cathedral in his native city. In 1927 he commissioned Dundee architect

Patrick Thoms Patrick Hill Thoms FRIBA ARIAS (1873–1946) was a 20th-century Scottish architect, based in eastern Scotland. Life He was born on 27 September 1873 in Kilmacolm the son of Thomas Smith Thoms from a family of Angus farmers and solicitors. ...

to design his house. From 1931 until 1941 he was secretary to

Cosmo Gordon Lang William Cosmo Gordon Lang, 1st Baron Lang of Lambeth, (31 October 1864 – 5 December 1945) was a Scottish Anglican prelate who served as Archbishop of York (1908–1928) and Archbishop of Canterbury (1928–1942). His elevation to Archbishop ...

and became a

to King George V. Already the Speaker's chaplain in 1941 he became a canon of Westminster Abbey as

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

of St. Margaret's, Westminster, commonly called "the parish church of the House of Commons". His brother was Air Vice Marshal

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Dean of Westminster

This was followed in 1946 by elevation to the post of Dean of Westminster, a post he was to hold for 13 years, a period which included the Queen's Coronation One other event in his time as Dean was the theft of the Stone of Scone just prior to the Coronation. As a Scot, Don felt this theft acutely and was important to the return of the Coronation Stone to Westminster.

Retirement

He retired to Canterbury where, although he was married, he and his wife met only once a week for lunch. He died on 3 May 1966.''Westminster Abbey. Alan Campbell Don KCVO DD, dean of Westminster 1946–1959. Wednesday, 1 June 1966, 12 noon''. Lambeth Palace Library

Arms

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Don, Alan Campbell 20th-century Scottish Episcopalian priests 1885 births People educated at Rugby School Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford Deans of Westminster 1966 deaths Honorary Chaplains to the Queen Canons of Westminster Provosts of St Paul's Cathedral, Dundee Place of death missing People from Dundee