George Gresley Perry (1820–1897) was an English churchman and academic, known as a church historian and

Archdeacon of Stow The Archdeacon of Stow and Lindsey is a senior ecclesiastical officer in the Church of England Diocese of Lincoln. History The Archdeaconry of Stow is an ancient division of Lincoln diocese; the first archdeacons are recorded from around 1092 (t ...

Life

Born at

Churchill, Somerset Churchill is a village and civil parish in the unitary authority of North Somerset, part of the ceremonial county of Somerset. It is located on the western edge of the Mendip Hills, about east of Weston-super-Mare, and about southwest of Br ...

, he was the twelfth and youngest child of William Perry, a friend and neighbour of

Hannah More Hannah More (2 February 1745 – 7 September 1833) was an English religious writer, philanthropist, poet and playwright in the circle of Johnson, Reynolds and Garrick, who wrote on moral and religious subjects. Born in Bristol, she taught at a ...

. He was educated at Ilminster under the Rev. John Allen, and in 1837 he won a scholarship on the Bath and Wells foundation at

Corpus Christi College, Oxford Corpus Christi College (formally, Corpus Christi College in the University of Oxford; informally abbreviated as Corpus or CCC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1517, it is the 12t ...

. In 1840 he graduated B.A. with a second class in '' literae humaniores'', and obtained the Wells fellowship at Lincoln College, Oxford with the support of Mark Pattison. He graduated M.A. in 1843, and was ordained 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 elect ...

, as deacon in 1844 and priest in 1845. Perry held for a short time, first, the curacy of

Wick Wick most often refers to: * Capillary action ("wicking") ** Candle wick, the cord used in a candle or oil lamp ** Solder wick, a copper-braided wire used to desolder electronic contacts Wick or WICK may also refer to: Places and placename ...

on the coast of Somerset, and then that of Combe Florey. In 1847 he returned to Oxford as college tutor at Lincoln, a post he held until 1852. During the last year of his fellowship he supported Pattison in the contest to become Rector of the college. In 1852 Perry accepted the college living of

Waddington, Lincolnshire Waddington is a village and civil parish in the North Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England, situated approximately south of Lincoln on the A607 Grantham Road. The village is known for its association with RAF Waddington. At the 2001 Ce ...

, where he remained for the rest of his life. In 1861 Bishop Jackson made him a non-residentiary canon and rural dean of Longoboby; from 1867 to 1893 he was a proctor in convocation. In 1894 Bishop King appointed him to the archdeaconry of Stow, which he held until his death. Perry died on 10 February 1897, and was buried in Waddington churchyard. A tablet to his memory in Waddington church and a window in the chapter house of Lincoln Cathedral were erected by subscription.

Works

Perry's ''History of 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 Britai ...

'', (3 vols. 1860–4) included the neglected 18th century. In 1868 he published for the S.P.C.K. short ''Lives'' of

Henry Hammond Henry Hammond (18 August 1605 – 25 April 1660) was an English churchman, who supported the Royalist cause during the English Civil War. Early life He was born at Chertsey in Surrey on 18 August 1605, the youngest son of John Hammond (c. 155 ...

and

Robert Boyle Robert Boyle (; 25 January 1627 – 31 December 1691) was an Anglo-Irish natural philosopher, chemist, physicist, alchemist and inventor. Boyle is largely regarded today as the first modern chemist, and therefore one of the founders of ...

. His major works were ''Life of Bishop Grosseteste'' (1872), ''Life of St. Hugh of Avalon,

Bishop of Lincoln The Bishop of Lincoln is the ordinary (diocesan bishop) of the Church of England Diocese of Lincoln in the Province of Canterbury. The present diocese covers the county of Lincolnshire and the unitary authority areas of North Lincolnshire and ...

'' (1879), and ''History of the

Reformation in England The English Reformation took place in 16th-century England when the Church of England broke away from the authority of the pope and the Catholic Church. These events were part of the wider European Protestant Reformation, a religious and po ...

'', written for the "Epochs of Church History'" series edited by

Mandell Creighton Mandell Creighton (; 5 July 1843 – 14 January 1901) was a British historian and a bishop of the Church of England. A scholar of the Renaissance papacy, Creighton was the first occupant of the Dixie Chair of Ecclesiastical History at the ...

. The Grosseteste biography has been called a popular and Protestant view. Among Perry's other works were: * ''The Bishop's Daughter'', 1860; * ''Vox Ecclesiae Anglicanae'', 1868, extracts from English theologians; * ''History of the

Crusades The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were ...

'', no date; * ''Victor, a Story of the

Diocletian Persecution The Diocletianic or Great Persecution was the last and most severe persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire. In 303, the emperors Diocletian, Maximian, Galerius, and Constantius issued a series of edicts rescinding Christians' legal rights ...

'', no date; * '' Croyland Abbey'', no date. * ''The Student's English Church History'', (3 vols. the Second Period (1509-1717) appearing in 1878, the First Period (596-1509) in 1881, and the Third Period (1717-1884) in 1887. Perry also wrote for periodicals and the '' Dictionary of National Biography''. He left two posthumous works. One was the '' Diocesan History of Lincoln'' (1897), for the S.P.C.K, which he took up after the death of Edmund Venables. The other was the ''Lives of the

Bishops of Lincoln The Bishop of Lincoln is the ordinary (diocesan bishop) of the Church of England Diocese of Lincoln in the Province of Canterbury. The present diocese covers the county of Lincolnshire and the unitary authority areas of North Lincolnshire and ...

from Remigius to

Wordsworth William Wordsworth (7 April 177023 April 1850) was an English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication ''Lyrical Ballads'' (1798). Wordsworth's '' ...

'', with John Henry Overton.

Family

In October 1852 Parry married Eliza Salmon, sister of

George Salmon George Salmon FBA FRS FRSE (25 September 1819 – 22 January 1904) was a distinguished and influential Irish mathematician and Anglican theologian. After working in algebraic geometry for two decades, Salmon devoted the last forty years of his ...

; she died in 1877. They had three sons and four daughters.

Notes

References

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Perry, George Gresley 1820 births 1897 deaths 19th-century English Anglican priests Archdeacons of Stow Fellows of Lincoln College, Oxford 19th-century English historians English biographers Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Oxford People from North Somerset (district)