Peter Goldsmith Medd (1829 – 25 July 1908) was an English

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 scholar.

Life

Medd was educated at

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

and at

University College, Oxford University College (in full The College of the Great Hall of the University of Oxford, colloquially referred to as "Univ") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It has a claim to being the oldest college of the univer ...

(although he

matriculated Matriculation is the formal process of entering a university, or of becoming eligible to enter by fulfilling certain academic requirements such as a matriculation examination. Australia In Australia, the term "matriculation" is seldom used now. ...

at 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 ...

, aged 18 on 1 March 1848, as a member of St John's College). He obtained his BA degree in 1852 and was appointed as a

Fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

of University College in the same year, holding this position until 1877. He served the college as tutor, dean, librarian, and

bursar A bursar (derived from "bursa", Latin for '' purse'') is a professional administrator in a school or university often with a predominantly financial role. In the United States, bursars usually hold office only at the level of higher education (f ...

. He was a long-serving member of the Council of

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 ...

, having played an active part in the college's foundation. He was an ordained 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 of St John the Baptist, Oxford (1858 to 1867), and later rector of

Barnes, London Barnes () is a district in south London, part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England. It takes up the extreme north-east of the borough, and as such is the closest part of the borough to central London. It is centred west sou ...

(1870 to 1876), and of

North Cerney North Cerney is a village and civil parish in the English county of Gloucestershire, and lies within the Cotswolds, a range of hills designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The village is north of Cirencester within the Churn valley. ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

(1876 onwards). He died in North Cerney after "a long and painful illness" on 25 July 1908. His publications included a book of sermons and an edition of the manuscript of the Greek and Latin Devotions of

Lancelot Andrewes Lancelot Andrewes (155525 September 1626) was an English bishop and scholar, who held high positions in the Church of England during the reigns of Elizabeth I and James I. During the latter's reign, Andrewes served successively as Bishop of Chic ...

. 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 ...

'' described him as "an undoubted authority" upon "all liturgical matters", whose opinion was "frequently sought" by bishops in England and the United States. His

Bampton Lectures The Bampton Lectures at the University of Oxford, England, were founded by a bequest of John Bampton. They have taken place since 1780. They were a series of annual lectures; since the turn of the 20th century they have typically been biennial ...

in 1882, it said, were "distinguished by great learning and an unusual wealth of illustration", although their "style and condensed character prevented them from ever becoming popular". Apart from ecclesiastical matters, he was interested in the promotion of education of women, and was a member of the council of

Cheltenham Ladies' College Cheltenham Ladies' College is an independent boarding and day school for girls aged 11 to 18 in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. Consistently ranked as one of the top all-girls' schools nationally, the school was established in 1853 to pr ...

as the representative of Oxford University. He left a widow and eight children; one of his six sons was the architect,

Henry Medd Henry Alexander Nesbitt Medd OBE FRIBA (21 September 1892 – 26 October 1977), was a British-born architect, whose career was made in India. He is most known for being in the team of architects, team led by Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker, wh ...

Publications (selected)

*1861: ''The Priest to the Altar, or aids to the devout celebration of Holy Communion, chiefly after the ancient English use of Sarum''. London: Henry Frowde; 2nd ed. 1869; 3rd ed. 1879; 4th ed. 1898; 5th ed. 1910 *1865: ''Liber Precum Publicarum Ecclesiae Anglicanae''; a Gulielmo Bright et Petro Goldsmith Medd latine redditus. Londini: Rivington (the ''

Book of Common Prayer The ''Book of Common Prayer'' (BCP) is the name given to a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion and by other Christian churches historically related to Anglicanism. The original book, published in 1549 in the reign ...

'' in Latin); electronic versio
here
3rd ed. 1877

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Medd, Peter 1829 births 1908 deaths Alumni of King's College London Alumni of St John's College, Oxford Alumni of University College, Oxford Fellows of University College, Oxford 19th-century English Anglican priests