Bessie Dorrington Bangay (29 June 1889 – 25 March 1987) was an English church worker. At the time of her death, she was the last of the original cohort of

Bishop's messenger A bishop's messenger was a woman appointed a lay reader by the Church of England during the First World War due to the shortage of male clergy. Messengers were first appointed in 1917 in many dioceses of the Church of England. Meanwhile, women were ...

s in the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

, licensed during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Early life

Bangay was born in 1889 in

Lyme Regis Lyme Regis is a town in west Dorset, England, west of Dorchester and east of Exeter. Sometimes dubbed the "Pearl of Dorset", it lies by the English Channel at the Dorset–Devon border. It has noted fossils in cliffs and beaches on the Herita ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...

, the daughter of Richard Bangay and Agnes Dorrington Bangay. She had a twin sister, Evelyn, known as Evie, and four older siblings. Her parents were from Norfolk; her father was a doctor and a socialist, who gave popular science lectures and built an observatory on his property.

Career

Bangay and her twin sister moved to

Chesham Chesham (, , or ) is a market town and civil parish in Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordsh ...

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...

in 1910, and Bessie started to teach

Sunday school A Sunday school is an educational institution, usually (but not always) Christian in character. Other religions including Buddhism, Islam, and Judaism have also organised Sunday schools in their temples and mosques, particularly in the West. Su ...

at St George's Church,

Tyler's Hill Tylers Hill is a hamlet in the civil parish of Latimer and Ley Hill, in the Buckinghamshire district, in the ceremonial county of Buckinghamshire, England. It is located to the east of Chesham, near Botley. The name is derived from the historic t ...

Ley Hill Ley Hill is a Chiltern village on the Buckinghamshire/ Hertfordshire border in south-east England, near the town of Chesham. It is part of the civil parish of Latimer and Ley Hill, and comes under Chiltern District Council in the County of Buc ...

. In 1917, during a wartime shortage of male church leaders, she was licensed by the

Bishop of Oxford The Bishop of Oxford is the diocesan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Oxford in the Province of Canterbury; his seat is at Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford. The current bishop is Steven Croft, following the confirmation of his electio ...

, as one of 22 women who began the Diocesan Order of Women's Messengers, female

lay reader In Anglicanism, a licensed lay minister (LLM) or lay reader (in some jurisdictions simply reader) is a person authorised by a bishop to lead certain services of worship (or parts of the service), to preach and to carry out pastoral and teaching f ...

s in the Church of England. She led St George's Church during the war, and afterwards. She took charge of the Sunday school when it resumed in 1919, and set up a ladies' cricket team, as well as groups for girls, young wives, mothers, and senior citizens. She was also in charge of the church's annual

Nativity play A Nativity play or Christmas pageant is a play which recounts the story of the Nativity of Jesus. It is usually performed at Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, obse ...

. She also began a branch congregation at a pub in nearby

Lye Green Lye Green is a hamlet (place), hamlet in the civil parish of Chesham in Buckinghamshire, England. It is located north east of Chesham. Lycrome Road runs through the centre of the hamlet, from the A416 in the east to the B4505 in the west. The ha ...

in the 1930s, and continued to run the "pub church" until 1963. Bangay founded the Ley Hill

Women's Institute The Women's Institute (WI) is a community-based organisation for women in the United Kingdom, Canada, South Africa and New Zealand. The movement was founded in Stoney Creek, Ontario, Canada, by Erland and Janet Lee with Adelaide Hoodless being th ...

, and was a member of the Chiltern Arts Society. She attended the National School for Religious Drama in 1955.

Personal life

Bangay and her sister lived together most of their lives, and were enthusiastic gardeners. They raised prize-winning poultry and enjoyed bicycling. Bessie Bangay died in 1987, aged 97 years, and was the long-serving and last remaining of the original Bishop's Messengers in England. Her grave is in St George's churchyard; Evie Bangay died within the year, and is buried with Bessie. There is a church window commemorating Bessie Bangay's long tenure of leadership. The sisters left money to the church, used to establish meeting space known as "the Bangay Rooms".

References

External links

* *Sheila Hart and Neil Rees,
The Church by the Woods
' (Latimer & Ley Hill Parish Council), a church history booklet, based in part on Bessie Bangay's memoirs. {{DEFAULTSORT:Bangay, Bessie 1889 births 1987 deaths English twins Anglican lay readers British women in World War I People from Lyme Regis