Cyril Argentine Alington (22 October 1872 – 16 May 1955) was an English

educationalist Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Vari ...

scholar A scholar is a person who pursues academic and intellectual activities, particularly academics who apply their intellectualism into expertise in an area of study. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researc ...

cleric Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

, and author. He was successively the headmaster of

Shrewsbury School Shrewsbury School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13 –18) in Shrewsbury. Founded in 1552 by Edward VI by Royal Charter, it was originally a boarding school for boys; girls have been admitted into ...

and

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, ...

. He also served as chaplain to

King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Qu ...

and as

Dean of Durham The Dean of Durham is the "head" (''primus inter pares'' – first among equals) and chair of the Chapter, the ruling body of Durham Cathedral. The dean and chapter are based at the ''Cathedral Church of Christ, Blessed Mary the Virgin and St Cu ...

Early life

Dr Alington was the second son of the Rev. Henry Giles Alington, an inspector of schools, and his wife Jane Margaret Booth (d. 1910), daughter of Rev. Thomas Willingham Booth. His father came from a long line of clerics, a branch of the landed gentry Alington family of

Little Barford Little Barford is a hamlet and civil parish in the Borough of Bedford in Bedfordshire, England about northeast of the county town of Bedford. The 2011 census combines other data for Little Barford with Wyboston, Chawston and Colesden civil par ...

Manor House, St Neots,

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, and was descended from the Alingtons of Horseheath, an ancient

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the ...

family, from which also descended the Barons Alington. He was educated at Marlborough College and

Trinity College, Oxford (That which you wish to be secret, tell to nobody) , named_for = The Holy Trinity , established = , sister_college = Churchill College, Cambridge , president = Dame Hilary Boulding , location = Broad Street, Oxford OX1 3BH , coordinates ...

. He gained a First in Classical Moderations (Latin and Greek) in 1893 and a First in Literae Humaniores (Philosophy and Ancient History) in 1895. He was elected a Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford in 1896. He was ordained as an Anglican priest in 1901.

Career

Alington's educational career began as a sixth-form master at Marlborough College in 1896. He moved to Eton College in 1899, but left to become headmaster of Shrewsbury School in 1908. In 1917 he returned to Eton to succeed his brother-in-law, Edward Lyttelton, as headmaster; he remained there until his retirement from teaching in 1933. He served as chairman of the

Headmasters' Conference The Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference (HMC) is an association of the head teachers of 361 independent schools (both boarding schools and day schools), some traditionally described as public schools. 298 Members are based in the Uni ...

, 1924–25. At Eton, a building which houses much of the English department is now named after him, as is Shrewsbury's school hall. From 1933 to 1951 Alington served as Dean of Durham. He had become a Doctor of Divinity at Oxford in 1917 and received other honours: he was chaplain to the King from 1921 until 1933; he was made an Honorary Fellow of Trinity College, Oxford in 1926, and an honorary DCL at Durham University in 1937. He received the freedom of the City of Durham in 1949. He appeared on the cover of ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...

'' magazine on 29 June 1931. "An accomplished classicist, a witty writer especially of light verse, and a priest of orthodox convictions ..."R.W. Pfaff, Montague Rhodes James, Scolar Press 1980, p;260

Marriage and family

In 1904, Alington married Hester Margaret Lyttelton (

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

; died 1958), the youngest daughter of

George Lyttelton, 4th Baron Lyttelton George William Lyttelton, 4th Baron Lyttelton, 4th Baron Westcote, (31 March 1817 – 19 April 1876) was an English aristocrat and Conservative politician from the Lyttelton family. He was chairman of the Canterbury Association, which encourag ...

. The couple had four daughters and two sons: * Kathleen Lucy Alington (1908–1938) * Elizabeth Hester Alington (1909–1990), married Sir Alec Douglas-Home, 14th Earl of Home), British prime minister * Lavinia Sybil Alington (1911–1994), married Sir Roger Mynors, academic and classical scholar * Giles Alington (1914–1956), Dean and Senior Tutor of

University College, Oxford University College (in full The College of the Great Hall of the University of Oxford, colloquially referred to as "Univ") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It has a claim to being the oldest college of the unive ...

* Joan Argentine Alington (1916–2000), married Rev.

John Vaughan Wilkes John Comyn Vaughan Wilkes (30 March 1902 – 24 January 1986) was an English educationalist, who was Warden of Radley College and an Anglican priest. Wilkes was born in Eastbourne, the eldest son of Lewis Chitty Vaughan Wilkes and his wife Ci ...

, Master in College and later housemaster at Eton, Warden of

Radley College Radley College, formally St Peter's College, Radley, is a public school (independent boarding school for boys) near Radley, Oxfordshire, England, which was founded in 1847. The school covers including playing fields, a golf course, a lake, an ...

and later vicar of Marlow * Patrick Cyril Waynflete Alington (1920–1943), killed at Salerno in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

Alington died at the age of 82 and was buried at Durham Cathedral, where there is a memorial in the north

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform ("cross-shaped") building wi ...

Literary works

Alington wrote more than 50 books, including works on religion, biography, history, poetry, and a series of detective novels. He also wrote several popular hymns, including ''Good Christian Men, Rejoice and Sing'' (recently altered to '' Good Christians All, Rejoice and Sing''), ''Ye that know The Lord is gracious'' and ''The Lord of Hosts Our King Shall Be'' which is used as the epigraph to

Nevil Shute Nevil Shute Norway (17 January 189912 January 1960) was an English novelist and aeronautical engineer who spent his later years in Australia. He used his full name in his engineering career and Nevil Shute as his pen name, in order to protect ...

's novel ''In the Wet''. (Shute was a pupil at Shrewsbury.)

As C A Alington

Fiction

*'' Mr Evans - A Cricket-Detective Story'' (1922) *''Through the Shadows'' (1922) *''Strained Relations'' (1922) *'' The Count in Kensington'' (1926) *'' King Harrison & Others'' (1923). King Harrison is a comic opera *'' The Abbot's Cup'' (1930) *'' Crime on the Kennet'' (1939) *'' Ten Crowded Hours'' (1944) *'' Archdeacons Afloat'' (1946) *'' Midnight Wireless'' (1947) *'' Archdeacons Ashore'' (1947) *'' Blackmail in Blankshire'' (1949) *'' Gold and Gaiters'' (1950) *'' The Nabob's Jewel'' (1953) *'' Blessed Blunders'' (1954).

Non-fiction works

*'' A Schoolmaster's Apology'' (1914) *'' Shrewsbury Fables'' (1917) *'' Eton Fables'' (1921) *'' Twenty Years: Being a Study of the Party System, 1815–1835'' (1921) *'' Virgil Aeneid IV-VI'' (1922 – translation of Virgil) *'' Why We Read the Old Testament'' (1924) *'' An Eton Poetry Book'' (1925 – an anthology co-edited with George Lyttelton) *'' More Eton Fables'' (1927) *'' Elementary Christianity'' (1927) *'' Doubts and Difficulties'' (1929) *'' Cautionary Catches'' (1931 – verses in Latin and English) *'' Christian Outlines: An Introduction to Religion'' (1932) *'' Final Eton Fables'' (1933) *'' Eton Faces Old and Young'' (1933) *''

Lionel Ford Lionel George Bridges Justice Ford (3 September 1865 – 27 March 1932) was an Anglican priest who served as Dean of York after two headmasterships at notable English independent schools. Biography Ford was born in Paddington, London, the son ...

'' (1934) *'' The Fool Hath Said'' (1933) *'' Can We Believe in God?'' (1936) *'' Things Ancient and Modern'' (1936 – autobiographical book on English public schools) *'' The New Testament: A Reader's Guide'' (1938) *''

The Last Crusade The Last Crusade is an out-of-print collectible card game originally published in December 1995 by Virginia-based Chameleon Eclectic Entertainment until the company closed in early 1999, at which time Pinnacle Entertainment Group took over produc ...

'' (1940) *''The Kingdom of God'' (1941) *'' Christianity in England: An Historical Sketch'' (1942) *'' Poets at Play'' (1942) *'' In Shabby Streets and Other Verses'' (1942) *'' Edward Lyttelton: An Appreciation'' (1943) *'' Good News'' (1945); *'' Europe: A Personal and Political Survey'' (1946) *'' The Life Everlasting'' (1947) *'' Durham Cathedral: The Story of a Thousand Years'' (1948) *'' Sense and Non-sense'' (1949) *'' A Dean's Apology: A Semi-religious Autobiography'' (1952)

Non-fiction articles

*''Apostle of Germany''. Daily Telegraph, 1937 *''Is It Wrong to Pray - for Success, for Wealth, for Victory?''. Answers, 1938

Poetry

*''To C. A. L.''. (c. 1916); anthologized in '' The Muse in Arms'' *''The King: A Psalm of Thanksgiving''. (1929). Written for the thanksgiving service for the recovery of

for which it was set to music by

Henry Walford Davies Sir Henry Walford Davies (6 September 1869 – 11 March 1941) was an English composer, organist, and educator who held the title Master of the King's Music from 1934 until 1941. He served with the Royal Air Force during the First World War, du ...

*''To the School at War''. (London) Times, 19 December 1914 *''Qui Laborat Orat''. (London) Sunday Times, 11 January 1942 *''The Trust''. The Methodist, 16 June 1945

References

The New Standard Encyclopedia and World Atlas 1932

Bibliography

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

*''Burke's Landed Gentry'', edited by Hugh Montgomery-Massingberd, 18th edition, London, 1972, volume 3, p. 11. {{DEFAULTSORT:Alington, Cyril 1872 births 1955 deaths People educated at Marlborough College Alumni of Trinity College, Oxford English hymnwriters English crime fiction writers English essayists Schoolteachers from Suffolk Deans of Durham Burials in County Durham Fellows of All Souls College, Oxford Head Masters of Eton College Headmasters of Shrewsbury School