Canon Percy Holbrook MA (July 1859 – 31 July 1946) was born in
Reading, Berkshire
Reading ( ) is a town and borough in Berkshire, Southeast England, southeast England. Located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the rivers River Thames, Thames and River Kennet, Kennet, the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 mot ...
, England, the son of a silk mercer or
draper
Draper was originally a term for a retailer or wholesaler of cloth that was mainly for clothing. A draper may additionally operate as a cloth merchant or a haberdasher.
History
Drapers were an important trade guild during the medieval period, ...
. He was vicar of the
Church of St Mark, Old Leeds Road,
Huddersfield
Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...
, and
Holy Trinity Church, Trinity Square
Holy Trinity Church, Nottingham was a Church of England church in Nottingham from 1841 to 1958.
History
It was designed by the architect Henry Isaac Stevens.
It was a church in the early English style, dedicated to the Holy Trinity, was conse ...
,
Nottingham
Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...
, and was Hon. Canon of
Woodborough in
Southwark Cathedral
Southwark Cathedral ( ) or The Cathedral and Collegiate Church of St Saviour and St Mary Overie, Southwark, London, lies on the south bank of the River Thames close to London Bridge. It is the mother church of the Anglican Diocese of Southwar ...
.
During his working life he chaired and supported numerous church and charitable organisations. The ''Nottingham Post'' said of him that he "had original ideas and courage to express them,"
and that "he endeared himself to successive generations of parishioners and citizens ... He was an eloquent preacher, a wise and gentle counsellor, and an understanding friend."
Background
He was the fourth child of Charles Holbrook (born 1820), a silk mercer in
Reading
Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch.
For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spelling ...
, in 1861 employing five men, three women and two boys. His mother was Mary Ann Maddison (born 1823). He was born in Reading in July 1859, and attended
Reading School
Reading School is a grammar school for boys with academy status in the English town of Reading, the county of Berkshire. It traces its history back to the school of Reading Abbey and is, thus, one of the oldest schools in England. There are no ...
.
[''Nottingham Evening Post'', Wednesday 31 July 1946 p4: "Canon Holbrook, true pastor of Church dies at 87"]
/ref> In the 1881 Census he is with his parents and siblings at 17 Eldon Square, Reading. His father at age 61 is a master draper employing six men, two boys and thirty-seven females. His two brothers are a draper and solicitor's articled clerk, and Percy at age 21 is an Oxford undergraduate. He gained his 4th class BA in modern history from Merton College, Oxford 1883, and his MA in 1886. He was ordained deacon in 1883, and priest in 1885 by the Bishop of London
A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution.
In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...
.
Incumbencies
Islington
He was curate of St Mary or St Mark Tollington, Islington 1883–1887, and junior curate of St Peter's Church, Huddersfield 1887–1889.
Huddersfield
He was vicar of St Mark, Leeds Road, from Nov 1888 to December 1891.[''Yorkshire Gazette'', Saturday 10 November 1888, p4: "The Rev. Percy Holbrook"]
/ref>[''Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser'', Saturday 31 December 1887 p16: "Ecclesiastical intelligence"]
/ref> He was inducted into the post on 10 January 1889 by the Bishop of Wakefield
The Bishop of Wakefield is an Episcopal polity, episcopal title which takes its name after the City status in the United Kingdom, city of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England. The title was first created for a Diocese, diocesan Anglican minist ...
. In 1890 his patrons were the Trustees, the first charge on the church expenses fund was £50, his ecclesiastical commission was £120 and other sources of income were £30. Gross income was £209, and the parish population was 4,500.[''Crockford's Clerical Directory'' (1890), Oxford] On Wednesday 20 February 1889 he attended the opening celebrations of a four-day bazaar in Huddersfield Town Hall to raise money for the St Paul's Day Schools. On Sunday 17 May 1891 he preached at the anniversary services of St John's, Golcar
Golcar (pronounced 'Go Car' or 'Golker') is a village on a hillside crest above the Colne Valley in West Yorkshire, England, west of Huddersfield, and just north of the River Colne and the Huddersfield Narrow Canal.
The 2021 population censu ...
. On 31 May 1891 he preached a sermon at St George's, Brockholes, on the occasion of the opening of a new organ and vestry. The United Kingdom Census 1891 finds him single, describing himself as vicar of St Mark's, and boarding at 28 George Street, Huddersfield, at the house of Annie Plowright, a widow.
Nottingham
He was vicar of Holy Trinity Church, Trinity Square
Holy Trinity Church, Nottingham was a Church of England church in Nottingham from 1841 to 1958.
History
It was designed by the architect Henry Isaac Stevens.
It was a church in the early English style, dedicated to the Holy Trinity, was conse ...
, Nottingham from 1892 until at least 1933 when he retired, having effectively served there for 42 years. The United Kingdom Census 1901
The United Kingdom Census 1901 was the 11th nationwide census conducted in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and was done on 31st March 1901 "relating to the persons returned as living at midnight on Sunday, March 31st".
The total p ...
finds him still single, at 22 Arboretum St, Nottingham, describing himself as a clergyman (Church of England), and living with a housekeeper and servant. He was apparently an Evangelical
Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual expe ...
, since ''St James Gazette'' said on his acceptance of the post that Holy Trinity was the "stronghold of the Evangelical Party in that town." In Nottingham he held a number of public positions, including the following. He was chairman of Nottingham's Archdeaconal Committee of the C.E.T.S. and a member of the Nottingham Church Day Schools' Association. He was a member of the Nottingham Church Schools' Council, and also the chairman of the Southern District of the Nottingham Federation of Sunday School Teachers. He was chairman of the Nottingham Church Reading Society, the Nottingham branch of the Waifs and Strays Society, and the Nottingham branch of the Colonial and Continental Church Society
Church Society is a conservative, evangelical Anglican organisation and registered charity formed in 1950 by the merger of the Anglican Church Association (founded 1865) and National Church League (founded 1906 by amalgamation of two earlier bodi ...
.[''Nottingham Evening Post'', Wednesday 31 July 1946 p4: "Canon Holbrook, true pastor of church, dies t 87"]
/ref>
Canon
He was Hon. Canon of Woodborough in Southwark Cathedral
Southwark Cathedral ( ) or The Cathedral and Collegiate Church of St Saviour and St Mary Overie, Southwark, London, lies on the south bank of the River Thames close to London Bridge. It is the mother church of the Anglican Diocese of Southwar ...
from 1911, and proctor in convocation at Southwark from 1912.[''Crockford's Clerical Directory'' (1931), Oxford vol3c p19] During his career he was at one time chairman of the Diocesan Church of England Temperance Society
The temperance movement is a social movement promoting temperance or complete abstinence from consumption of alcoholic beverages. Participants in the movement typically criticize alcohol intoxication or promote teetotalism, and its leaders empha ...
, and for a time he was chaplain of Southwell Clergy House.
Retirement and obituary
On his retirement, Henry Mosley, Bishop of Southwell and Nottingham, said of Holbrook: "There was no man in the diocese more beloved than the Canon, not only because of the years of faithful service he had given to the parish of Holy Trinity with St Mark's and to the city of Nottingham, but because he had embodied in himself and his ministry the real characteristics of a true pastor of the Church." The ''Nottingham Post'' said: "Up to, and indeed after his retirement, Canon Holbrook had original ideas and courage to express them."
The 1911 Census finds him still single at age 51, at the same address which was possibly Holy Trinity's vicarage, since it had eight rooms. He had the same two servants living with him. He died on Wednesday 31 July 1946 at a nursing home in West Bridgford
West Bridgford is a town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Rushcliffe in the county of Nottinghamshire, England. It lies immediately south of the city of Nottingham, from which the River Trent divides it. Forming part of the Not ...
.[ Deaths Sep 1946: Holbrook Percy 87 Basford vol3c p19] The ''Nottingham Evening Post'' said that "he endeared himself to successive generations of parishioners and citizens ... He was an eloquent preacher, a wise and gentle counsellor, and an understanding friend."
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Holbrook, Percy
1859 births
1946 deaths
20th-century English Anglican priests
Clergy from Reading, Berkshire
Canons (priests)
Alumni of the University of Oxford
People educated at Reading School
Clergy from Nottingham