Rev. Peter Hempson Ditchfield,
FSA (1854–1930) was a
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 ...
priest, an historian and a prolific author.
He is notable for having co-edited three Berkshire volumes of the ''
Victoria County History
The Victoria History of the Counties of England, commonly known as the Victoria County History or the VCH, is an English history project which began in 1899 with the aim of creating an encyclopaedic history of each of the historic counties of En ...
'' which were published between 1907 and 1924.
Life
Ditchfield was born in
Westhoughton
Westhoughton ( ) is a town and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, southwest of Bolton, east of Wigan and northwest of Manchester.[Clitheroe Royal Grammar School
; "Founded on Rock"
, established =
, closed =
, type = Grammar school;Academy
, religious_affiliation =
, president =
, head_label = Headteacher
, head = James Keulemans
, r_head_label = Deputy He ...]
and studied at
Oriel College, Oxford.
[ He was ordained ]deacon
A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Chur ...
in 1878 and priest in 1879.[ Ditchfield served his title as curate of St Michael's parish church, Sandhurst until 1880, followed by a second curacy at Christ Church, Reading, Berkshire.][
Ditchfield was appointed Rector of ]Barkham
Barkham is a village and civil parish in the borough of Wokingham in Berkshire, England, located around southwest of the town of Wokingham.
Geography
The old part of Barkham is the small settlement by the parish church and is close to Barkha ...
in 1886: a post that he held until his death.[ From 1886 until 1903 Ditchfield was Inspector of Schools for the ]Diocese of Oxford
The Diocese of Oxford is a Church of England diocese that forms part of the Province of Canterbury. The diocese is led by the Bishop of Oxford (currently Steven Croft), and the bishop's seat is at Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford. It contain ...
.[
In 1898 Ditchfield married the daughter of Charles Smith of Ravenswood, Berkshire.][
Ditchfield was an historian and a prolific author.][ He also co-edited with W.H. Page three Berkshire volumes of the '']Victoria County History
The Victoria History of the Counties of England, commonly known as the Victoria County History or the VCH, is an English history project which began in 1899 with the aim of creating an encyclopaedic history of each of the historic counties of En ...
'', which were published in 1907, 1923 and 1924.
Ditchfield was Secretary of the Berkshire Archaeological Society for 38 years until 1929, when he became its president.[ He edited the ''Berks, Bucks and Oxon Archaeological Journal'' from 1897 until his death.][
Ditchfield was a Freemason.][ He was Grand Chaplain of the Freemasons of England in 1917 and of the Mark Masons in 1918.][
]
References
Selected works
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
External links
*
*
*
Berkshire Archaeological Society
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ditchfield, Peter
1854 births
1930 deaths
Alumni of Oriel College, Oxford
19th-century English Anglican priests
20th-century English Anglican priests
English local historians
19th-century English historians
British medievalists
Historians of the British Isles
People from Westhoughton
English male non-fiction writers
Contributors to the Victoria County History
People educated at Clitheroe Royal Grammar School
20th-century English historians