Douglas Leslie Bartles-Smith (3 June 1937 – 6 June 2014) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

Anglican

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...

: he was the Archdeacon of Southwark from 1985 to 2004. Douglas Bartles-Smith was son of Leslie Charles and Muriel Rose Bartles-Smith.Article by Toby Neal. He was educated at

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

St Edmund Hall, Oxford St Edmund Hall (sometimes known as The Hall or informally as Teddy Hall) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. The college claims to be "the oldest surviving academic society to house and educate undergraduates in any universit ...

. After

National Service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The ...

as a Second Lieutenant with the Royal Army Service Corps he was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform ...

in 1963. Following a

curacy 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 ...

at St Stephen's, Rochester Row he was Curate in charge of St Michael and All Angels with Emmanuel and All Souls, Camberwell from 1968 to 1972 then its

Vicar A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pre ...

until 1975. He had a further

incumbency The incumbent is the current holder of an office or position, usually in relation to an election. In an election for president, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the office of president before the election, whether seeking re-ele ...

at St Luke, Battersea for a decade before his Archdeacon’s appointment. He was also honorary Chaplain to the Queen from 1996 to 2007. He was an honorary freeman of the

London Borough of Southwark The London Borough of Southwark ( ) in South London forms part of Inner London and is connected by bridges across the River Thames to the City of London and London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It was created in 1965 when three smaller council areas ...

in 2004. After retiring from full-time ministry, Bartles-Smith returned to live in Shrewsbury. He was a writer of several books, the last of which was ''A Royal Church in Shrewsbury: A History of St Mary's Church'' which was posthumously published over six months after his death in 2014. His father had been a

Churchwarden A churchwarden is a lay official in a parish or congregation of the Anglican Communion or Catholic Church, usually working as a part-time volunteer. In the Anglican tradition, holders of these positions are ''ex officio'' members of the parish b ...

at that church where the family worshipped. With David Gerrard, he had co-authored ''Urban Ghetto'' (published 1976), on subject of mission in urban areas, published ''Opportunities for a Strong Church'' in 1993, and in 2007 ''Fighting Fundamentalism: a spiritual autobiography''. He died on 6 June 2014,
Southwark Diocese news website. having been ill with stomach cancer, aged 77.

References

1937 births 2014 deaths People educated at Shrewsbury School Clergy from Shropshire Alumni of St Edmund Hall, Oxford Archdeacons of Southwark Royal Army Service Corps officers 20th-century British Army personnel {{Canterbury-archdeacon-stub