John Hamilton Maxwell Staniforth

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 ...

(23 June 1893 – 26 December 1985), known to his family as Max, was a British soldier, railwayman, radio presenter, clergyman and scholar.

Early life and education

Staniforth born in

Hinderwell Hinderwell is a village and civil parish in the Scarborough (borough), Scarborough district of North Yorkshire, England which lies within the North York Moors National Park, about a mile from the coast on the A174 road between the towns of Loft ...

, Yorkshire, on 23 June 1893 to

John William Staniforth John William Staniforth (14 November 1863 – 3 January 1927) was a British writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary ...

and Mary Jane Dobbin Maxwell. He was named after his maternal great-grandfather, the writer

William Hamilton Maxwell William Hamilton Maxwell (30 June 1792 in Newry, County Down, Ireland – 29 December 1850 in Musselburgh, Scotland) was an Irish novelist. He was educated at Trinity College, Dublin. He claimed to have entered the British Army and seen service ...

. He was educated at

Charterhouse Charterhouse may refer to: * Charterhouse (monastery), of the Carthusian religious order Charterhouse may also refer to: Places * The Charterhouse, Coventry, a former monastery * Charterhouse School, an English public school in Surrey London ...

and Christ Church, Oxford, where he held a classical scholarship. His intended academic career was foiled by the onset of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Military service

Staniforth served as an infantry officer with the

Prince of Wales's Leinster Regiment (Royal Canadians) The Prince of Wales's Leinster Regiment (Royal Canadians) was an infantry regiment of the line in the British Army, formed in 1881 by the amalgamation of the 100th (Prince of Wales's Royal Canadian) Regiment of Foot and the 109th Regiment of Foot ...

of the 16th Irish Division on the Western Front from 1914-1918. He was awarded the 1914-15 Star, the

British War Medal The British War Medal is a campaign medal of the United Kingdom which was awarded to officers and men of British and Imperial forces for service in the First World War. Two versions of the medal were produced. About 6.5 million were struck in si ...

, and the British Victory Medal. Following his service, he married Ruby Di Stephens in 1922.

Railways

Staniforth became a railwayman on the British railways in

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

, rising to the rank of Assistant Traffic Manager. During his time in Argentina he had a daughter, Rosamund Ann Staniforth, on 4 April 1928; she would go on to marry Charles Edward Byron Du Cane, son of Charles Henry Copley Du Cane, and grandson of

Charles Du Cane Sir Charles Du Cane (5 December 1825 – 25 February 1889) was a British Conservative Party politician and colonial administrator who was a Member of Parliament between 1852 and 1854 and Governor of Tasmania from 1868 to 1874. Du Cane was born ...

Radio presenter

Staniforth returned from Argentina, and became the first full-time presenter for

Radio Normandy Captain Leonard Frank Plugge (21 September 1889 – 19 February 1981) was a British radio entrepreneur and Conservative Party politician. Early years and political life Plugge was born at Walworth, only son of Frank Plugge (1864–1946), a co ...

(a commercial English-language service) in 1931. In November 1932 he transferred to Radio Toulouse before taking up a position at the

International Broadcasting Company Captain Leonard Frank Plugge (21 September 1889 – 19 February 1981) was a British radio entrepreneur and Conservative Party politician. Early years and political life Plugge was born at Walworth, only son of Frank Plugge (1864–1946), a co ...

headquarters in London. He then left radio to enter the church.

Clerical life

Staniforth took Holy Orders, and spent twenty five years as a parish priest. He was vicar of the Dorset villages of

Pentridge Pentridge is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Sixpenny Handley and Pentridge, in the English county of Dorset, lying in the north-east of the county within the East Dorset administrative district. It is situated on the ed ...

and

Sixpenny Handley Sixpenny Handley or Handley is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Sixpenny Handley and Pentridge, in north east Dorset, England, situated on Cranborne Chase ten miles (16 km) north east of Blandford Forum. In the 2 ...

from 1952 to 1963. He retired as

Rural Dean In the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion as well as some Lutheran denominations, a rural dean is a member of clergy who presides over a "rural deanery" (often referred to as a deanery); "ruridecanal" is the corresponding adjective. ...

Blandford Blandford Forum ( ), commonly Blandford, is a market town in Dorset, England, sited by the River Stour about northwest of Poole. It was the administrative headquarters of North Dorset District until April 2019, when this was abolished and ...

, in

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...

Translation

Staniforth translated Marcus Aurelieus' ''

Meditations ''Meditations'' () is a series of personal writings by Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor from AD 161 to 180, recording his private notes to himself and ideas on Stoic philosophy. Marcus Aurelius wrote the 12 books of the ''Meditations'' in Koine ...

'' for

Penguin Classics Penguin Classics is an imprint of Penguin Books under which classic works of literature are published in English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Korean among other languages. Literary critics see books in this series as important members of the Western ...

,Reviewed by "K. G." in ''The Classical Outlook'', vol 43 n6 (1 February 1966) p. 69 and Elizabeth E. Seittelman in ''The Classical World'', vol 59 n3 (1 November 1965) page 88 and later worked on their ''Early Christian Writings''.