William Ayerst (1830–1904) was an English clergyman and missionary. He was born at Dantzig on 16 March 1830, the eldest son of William Ayerst, vicar of

Egerton, Kent Egerton is a village and civil parish in the Ashford District of Kent, England. The village is on the Greensand Ridge 9 miles (14.4 km) north of Ashford and stretches three miles south into a lower plain towards the West Stour. The parish ...

. He studied 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 ...

from 1847–9, and graduated from

Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Gonville and Caius College, often referred to simply as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and one of th ...

with a B.A. in 1853, and an M.A. in 1856. After being ordained as a deacon in 1853 and priest in 1854, he was appointed to All Saints, Gordon Square (1853–5), St Paul's, Lisson Grove (1855–7), and

St Giles in the Fields St Giles in the Fields is the Anglican parish church of the St Giles district of London. It stands within the London Borough of Camden and belongs to the Diocese of London. The church, named for St Giles the Hermit, began as a monastery and ...

(1857–9). He departed England to serve as rector of St Paul's School,

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

, India. In 1861 he was appointed to a chaplaincy on the Bengal ecclesiastical establishment and was senior chaplain with the

Khyber field force Khyber (خیبر درہ) may refer to: Places * Khyber Pass, a mountain pass that links Afghanistan and Pakistan * Khyber District, a district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan * Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a province of Pakistan *Khaybar, an oasis in Sau ...

from 1879 to 1881, for which he was awarded the Afghanistan Medal. After returning to England he was briefly principal of the

London Society for Promoting Christianity amongst the Jews The Church's Ministry Among Jewish People (CMJ) (formerly the London Jews' Society and the London Society for Promoting Christianity Amongst the Jews) is an Anglican missionary society founded in 1809. History The society began in the early 19th ...

's missionary college and minister of the Jews' Episcopal Chapel at

Cambridge Heath Cambridge Heath is an urban area of Bethnal Green in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, approximately north east of Charing Cross. It is named after a former heath in the East End of London. The northern boundary is formed by the Regent's Can ...

, before being appointed vicar of

Hungarton Hungarton (or Hungerton) is a small village and civil parish in the Harborough district, in the county of Leicestershire, England, about north-east of Leicester and south-west of Melton Mowbray. The population of the civil parish was 269 at ...

with Twyford and Thorpe Satchville, in Leicestershire, in 1882. In 1884 he opened a hostel, Ayerst Hall, in Cambridge to assist poorer men with their education, and was curate of

Newton Newton most commonly refers to: * Isaac Newton (1642–1726/1727), English scientist * Newton (unit), SI unit of force named after Isaac Newton Newton may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Newton'' (film), a 2017 Indian film * Newton ( ...

, Cambridgeshire, from 1888 to 1890. Supporters of the deposed Bishop of

Natal NATAL or Natal may refer to: Places * Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, a city in Brazil * Natal, South Africa (disambiguation), a region in South Africa ** Natalia Republic, a former country (1839–1843) ** Colony of Natal, a former British colony ( ...

John Colenso John William Colenso (24 January 1814 – 20 June 1883) was a Cornish cleric and mathematician, defender of the Zulu and biblical scholar, who served as the first Bishop of Natal. He was a scholar of the Zulu language. In his role as an Angl ...

(died 1883) offered the bishopric to Ayerst. Attempts were made to obtain consecration but this was definitely refused by the Archbishop of Canterbury,

Edward White Benson Edward White Benson (14 July 1829 – 11 October 1896) was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1883 until his death. Before this, he was the first Bishop of Truro, serving from 1877 to 1883, and began construction of Truro Cathedral. He was previousl ...

on 21 October 1891. During his later years Ayerst lived quietly in London, where he died on 6 April 1904.

Notable students of Ayerst Hall

A later vicar of St James,

Newton-in-the-Isle __NOTOC__ Newton-in-the-Isle is a village and civil parish in the Fenland District of the Isle of Ely, Cambridgeshire, England, The village is to the north of Wisbech. History The "Isle" in Newton-in-the-Isle refers to the Isle of Ely. The vi ...

, (1935–1942) was Walter William Covey-Crump, a former student of Ayerst Hall.

References

External links

* English Anglican missionaries 19th-century English Anglican priests 1830 births 1904 deaths Alumni of King's College London Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge British people in colonial India Anglican missionaries in India Missionary educators {{UK-reli-bio-stub