Vernon Faithfull Storr (4 December 1869 – 25 October 1940) was an Anglican priest, most notably

Archdeacon of Westminster The Archdeacon of Westminster is a senior ecclesiastical officer within the Chapter of the Royal Peculiar of Westminster Abbey in London. The holder of the post oversees relationships with the twenty-four parishes of which the Dean and Chapter ar ...

from 1931 to 1936.

Early life and education

The son of Edward Storr (1840–1878),

Indian Civil Service The Indian Civil Service (ICS), officially known as the Imperial Civil Service, was the higher civil service of the British Empire in India during British rule in the period between 1858 and 1947. Its members ruled over more than 300 million p ...

(a descendant of the

goldsmith A goldsmith is a metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Nowadays they mainly specialize in jewelry-making but historically, goldsmiths have also made silverware, platters, goblets, decorative and servicea ...

and

silversmith A silversmith is a metalworker who crafts objects from silver. The terms ''silversmith'' and ''goldsmith'' are not exactly synonyms as the techniques, training, history, and guilds are or were largely the same but the end product may vary grea ...

Paul Storr Paul Storr (baptised 28 October 1770 in London – 18 March 1844 in London) was an English goldsmith and silversmith working in the Neoclassical style, Neoclassical and other styles during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Hi ...

, through which his cousins included Rev. Frank Utterton, Archdeacon of Surrey from 1906 to 1908, the obstetrician Sir Francis Champneys, 1st Baronet and his brothers

Basil Champneys Basil Champneys (17 September 1842 – 5 April 1935) was an English architect and author whose most notable buildings include Manchester's John Rylands Library, Somerville College Library (Oxford), Newnham College, Cambridge, Lady Margaret Hal ...

and

Weldon Champneys Weldon Champneys (26 August 1839''London, England, Church of England Births and Baptisms, 1813–1917'' – 9 May 1892) was an English clergyman and rower who twice won Silver Goblets at Henley Royal Regatta. Champneys was born in Whitechapel ...

, the artists

Rex Whistler Reginald John "Rex" Whistler (24 June 190518 July 1944) was a British artist, who painted murals and society portraits, and designed theatrical costumes. He was killed in action in Normandy in World War II. Whistler was the brother of poet and ...

and

Laurence Whistler Sir Alan Charles Laurence Whistler (21 January 1912 – 19 December 2000) was a British glass engraver and poet. He was both the first President of the British Guild of Glass Engravers and the first recipient of the Queen's Gold Medal for Po ...

, and the academic Michael Lindsay, 2nd Baron Lindsay of Birker) and Emily Mary (née Faithfull), Storr was born at Madras. He was educated at

Clifton College ''The spirit nourishes within'' , established = 160 years ago , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent boarding and day school , religion = Christian , president = , head_label = Head of College , hea ...

and

The Queen's College, Oxford The Queen's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford, England. The college was founded in 1341 by Robert de Eglesfield in honour of Philippa of Hainault. It is distinguished by its predominantly neoclassical architecture, ...

- he was the Aubrey Moore Student in 1893. Storr was 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 ...

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 unive ...

, from 1895 to 1899; and then again from 1905 to 1913.

Ordained ministry

Storr was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform ...

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 1900, and priest in 1901. His first post was a

curacy 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 ...

in Haslemere. He was

Rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

of Bramshott from 1902 to 1905; and of Headbourne Worthy from 1905 to 1910. He was a Canon Residentiary at

Winchester Cathedral The Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity,Historic England. "Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity (1095509)". ''National Heritage List for England''. Retrieved 8 September 2014. Saint Peter, Saint Paul and Saint Swithun, commonly known as Winches ...

from 1910 to 1916;

of Bentley from 1916 to 1921; and a

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 ...

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...

from 1921. Additionally in 1936 he became

St Margaret's, Westminster The Church of St Margaret, Westminster Abbey, is in the grounds of Westminster Abbey on Parliament Square, London, England. It is dedicated to Margaret of Antioch, and forms part of a single World Heritage Site with the Palace of Westminster ...

and Sub-Dean of the abbey.

Theistic evolution

Vernon Storr was an advocate of

theistic evolution Theistic evolution (also known as theistic evolutionism or God-guided evolution) is a theological view that God creates through laws of nature. Its religious teachings are fully compatible with the findings of modern science, including biological ...

. In 1940, he wrote:

"There need be no opposition between evolution and theism. The old argument from Design, as Paley stated it, is undoubtedly dead; but evolution is not the enemy of design, but requires design for its adequate explanation."

Selected works

Carnegie was an author. Amongst others he wrote:

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...

web site. Retrieved 17:05

GMT Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is the mean solar time at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London, counted from midnight. At different times in the past, it has been calculated in different ways, including being calculated from noon; as a cons ...

Sunday 14 October 2017
''Development and Divine Purpose''
1906
''The Development of English Theology in the 19th Century, 1800–1860''
1913
''Christianity and Immortality''
1918
''The Problem of the Cross''
1919
''The Argument from Design''
1920 * ''The Missionary Genius of the Bible'', 1924 * ''The Living God'', 1925 * ''From Abraham to Christ'',1927) * ''Freedom and Tradition'', 1940

References

External links

GeniSon's obituary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Storr, Vernon 1869 births 1940 deaths 20th-century English Anglican priests Alumni of The Queen's College, Oxford Archdeacons of Westminster Christian clergy from Chennai Fellows of University College, Oxford People educated at Clifton College Theistic evolutionists