Vincent Stuckey Stratton Coles (27 March 1845 – 9 June 1929) was an

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, who served as Principal of

Pusey House, Oxford Pusey House is an Anglican religious institution located on St Giles', Oxford, United Kingdom, immediately to the south of Pusey Street. It is firmly rooted in the Anglo-Catholic Prayer Book tradition of the Church of England, and was founded ...

from 1897 to 1909.

Life

He was born at

Shepton Beauchamp Shepton Beauchamp is a village and civil parish, from Barrington and north east of Ilminster between the Blackdown Hills and the Somerset Levels in the South Somerset district of Somerset, England. History The first part of the name of the vil ...

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

where his father 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 ...

. His maternal grandfather was

Vincent Stuckey Vincent Stuckey (24 March 1771 - 8 May 1845) was a merchant and banker of Somerset and Gloucestershire whose note-issue in his heyday was the largest in England and Wales except for the Bank of England itself. Early life Stuckey was born at Lang ...

, a Somerset banker. Coles was educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

before studying 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 ...

as a member of

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the f ...

, where he obtained a third-class degree. He proceeded to

Cuddesdon Theological College Ripon College Cuddesdon is a Church of England theological college in Cuddesdon, a village outside Oxford, England. The College trains men and women for ministry in the Church of England: stipendiary, non-stipendiary, local ordained and lay min ...

, was ordained as a 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 assistant

curate 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 ...

Wantage Wantage () is a historic market town and civil parish in Oxfordshire, England. Although within the boundaries of the historic county of Berkshire, it has been administered as part of the Vale of White Horse district of Oxfordshire since 1974. T ...

(at that time in the county of

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

) from 1869 until his appointment as rector of Shepton Beauchamp in 1872. When

was founded in 1884, he left Somerset to become one of its three librarians, later serving as chaplain (1885 onwards) then Principal (1897 to 1909). He also served as curate at Shepton Beauchamp from 1886 to 1897. From 1910 to 1920, he was Warden of the Sisterhood of the Epiphany in

Truro Truro (; kw, Truru) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Cornwall, England. It is Cornwall's county town, sole city and centre for administration, leisure and retail trading. Its ...

, Cornwall. He was an honorary

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 ...

of Christ Church from 1913. His publications consisted of some sermons, meditations and lectures. He died on 9 June 1929. He was the author of three hymns "O Shepherd of the sheep", "Ye who own the faith of Jesus", and "We pray thee, heavenly Father" (nos. 190, 218 & 334 in ''The English Hymnal'').''The English Hymnal''. London: Oxford University Press, 1907 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 ...

'' said that he had a "kindly humorous understanding of young men" and "exercised a wide influence in the University", with many people across the world, both clergy and laity, owing much to his guidance.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coles, Vincent 1845 births 1929 deaths People educated at Eton College Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford 19th-century English Anglican priests 20th-century English Anglican priests Clergy of Pusey House, Oxford