Jeffrey John Seagrief Watson (29 April 1939 - 28 January 2021) was a

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 particu ...

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 ...

. He was

Archdeacon of Ely The Archdeacon of Cambridge is a senior ecclesiastical officer in the Diocese of Ely. The archdeacon is responsible for some clergy discipline and pastoral care in the Archdeaconry of Cambridge. The archdeaconry has existed, as the Archdeaconry of ...

from 1993 to 2004. Watson was educated at

University College School ("Slowly but surely") , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent day school , religion = , president = , head_label = Headmaster , head = Mark Beard , r_head_label = , r_hea ...

and

Emmanuel College, Cambridge Emmanuel College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1584 by Sir Walter Mildmay, Chancellor of the Exchequer to Elizabeth I. The site on which the college sits was once a priory for Dominican mon ...

. He trained for ordination at

Clifton Theological College Trinity College, Bristol is an evangelical Anglican theological college located in Stoke Bishop, Bristol, England. It offers a range of full-time and part-time taught undergraduate and postgraduate courses which are validated by the University o ...

, and was ordained deacon in 1965 and priest in 1966. After

curacies 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 Christ Church,

Beckenham Beckenham () is a town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley, in Greater London. Until 1965 it was part of the historic county of Kent. It is located south-east of Charing Cross, situated north of Elmers End and E ...

(1965–69) and St Jude's,

Southsea Southsea is a seaside resort and a geographic area of Portsmouth, Portsea Island in England. Southsea is located 1.8 miles (2.8 km) to the south of Portsmouth's inner city-centre. Southsea is not a separate town as all of Portsea Island's s ...

(1969–71) he held incumbencies at

Christ Church, Winchester Christ Church, Winchester is a Church of England parish church in Winchester, England. There are approximately 475 members on the electoral roll. It is also in partnership with the diocese of Muhubura and with St Nicholas Church in Kalerwe, Kam ...

(1971–81), and Holy Saviour,

Bitterne Bitterne is an eastern suburb and ward of Southampton, England. Bitterne derives its name not from the similarly named bird, the bittern, but probably from the bend in the River Itchen; the Old English words ''byht'' and ''ærn'' together mean ...

(1981–93). In 1993 he became the Archdeacon of Ely, a position he held for 11 years. He died in 2021, aged 81, from an infection.

References

1939 births People educated at University College School Alumni of Emmanuel College, Cambridge Archdeacons of Ely 2021 deaths {{Canterbury-archdeacon-stub