John Octavius Johnston (1 November 1852 – 6 November 1923) was a British

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

priest and theologian.

Life

Johnston was born in

Barnstaple Barnstaple ( or ) is a river-port town in North Devon, England, at the River Taw's lowest crossing point before the Bristol Channel. From the 14th century, it was licensed to export wool and won great wealth. Later it imported Irish wool, bu ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

, and educated at Barnstaple Grammar School, before studying at

Keble College, Oxford Keble College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its main buildings are on Parks Road, opposite the University Museum and the University Parks. The college is bordered to the north by Keble Road, to th ...

, from 1874 to 1879. He obtained a second-class degree in Literae Humaniores and a first-class degree in theology, winning the Senior Hall Houghton Greek Testament Prize in 1880. He was ordained as a priest 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 ...

, and was

curate 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 ...

Kidlington Kidlington is a major village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Oxfordshire, England, between the River Cherwell and the Oxford Canal, north of Oxford and 7 miles (12 km) south-west of Bicester. It remains officially a village ...

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...

from 1879 to 1881. Between 1881 and 1884, he was appointed principal of

St Stephen's House, Oxford St Stephen's House is an Anglican theological college and one of five permanent private halls of the University of Oxford, England. It will cease to be a permanent private hall in 2023. The college has a very small proportion of undergraduate s ...

(an Anglican theological college, which is now a

permanent private hall A permanent private hall (PPH) in the University of Oxford is an educational institution within the university. There are five permanent private halls at Oxford, four of which admit undergraduates. They were founded by different Christian denomina ...

of the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

). He was tutor in theology at

Merton College, Oxford Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is one of the Colleges of Oxford University, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the ...

, from 1883 to 1895, holding in addition between 1885 and 1895 the positions of Merton College chaplain and vicar of

All Saints Church, Oxford All Saints Church is a former church on the north side of the High Street in central Oxford, England, on the corner of Turl Street. It is now the library of Lincoln College. This former church is Grade I listed. History The original All Saints ...

. In 1895, he was appointed Principal of

Cuddesdon Theological College Ripon College Cuddesdon is a Church of England theological college in Cuddesdon, a village outside Oxford, England. The College trains men and women for ministry in the Church of England: stipendiary, non-stipendiary, local ordained and lay min ...

and vicar of the Church of All Saints,

Cuddesdon Cuddesdon is a mainly rural village in South Oxfordshire centred ESE of Oxford. It has the largest Church of England clergy training centre, Ripon College Cuddesdon. Residents number approximately 430 in Cuddesdon's nucleated village centre a ...

, Oxfordshire, leaving in 1913. He was an honorary

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western ca ...

Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford Christ Church Cathedral is the cathedral of the Anglican diocese of Oxford, which consists of the counties of Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Berkshire. It is also the chapel of Christ Church, a college of the University of Oxford. This dual r ...

from 1902 to 1913, and in 1913 became Canon and Chancellor of

Lincoln Cathedral Lincoln Cathedral, Lincoln Minster, or the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Lincoln and sometimes St Mary's Cathedral, in Lincoln, England, is a Grade I listed cathedral and is the seat of the Anglican Bishop of Lincoln. Constructio ...

. He died on 6 November 1923. His obituary in ''The Times'' said that he "exercised no small influence in the Church of England, partly by his books and partly by his work in training ordination candidates." His publications included work on ''Three Anti-Pelagian Treatises of St Augustine'', '' Dr Liddon's Life of Dr Pusey'', ''Dr Pusey's Spiritual Letters'' and ''Life and Letters of H. P. Liddon''. The ''Life of Pusey'', according to his obituary in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'', was "monumental" and had "practically killed" Liddon to prepare; Johnston completed the work. His one-volume ''Life of Liddon'' was regarded by ''The Times'' as a better tribute to its subject than Liddon's ''Life of Pusey''.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnston, John Octavius 1852 births 1923 deaths 19th-century English Anglican priests 20th-century English Anglican priests Alumni of Keble College, Oxford Principals of St Stephen's House, Oxford People educated at Barnstaple Grammar School Staff of Ripon College Cuddesdon