William Stephen Rainsford (October 30, 1850 − December 17, 1933) was the rector of St. George's Church in

Stuyvesant Square Stuyvesant Square is the name of both a park and its surrounding neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The park is located between 15th Street, 17th Street, Rutherford Place, and Nathan D. Perlman Place (formerly Livingston ...

in New York from 1883 to 1906.

Early life

He was born in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

to Marcus Rainsford, who was a chaplain in a hospital for the blind. The family moved to

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ga, Dún Dealgan ), meaning "the fort of Dealgan", is the county town (the administrative centre) of County Louth, Ireland. The town is on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the east coast of Ireland. It is h ...

between 1852 and 1865, when his father was appointed vicar of Dundalk by the

Earl of Roden Earl of Roden is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1771 for Robert Jocelyn, 2nd Viscount Jocelyn. This branch of the Jocelyn family descends from the 1st Viscount, prominent Irish lawyer and politician Robert Jocelyn, the s ...

, a leading figure in the

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

Second Reformation The Second Reformation was an evangelical campaign from the 1820s onwards, organised by theological conservatives in the Church of Ireland and Church of England. History Evangelical clergymen were known as "Biblicals" or "New Reformers". The Sec ...

, and then

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when he became incumbent of St. John's Chapel, Belgrave Square. Rainsford attended

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

from 1870 to 1873, and spent time in the south of

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, suspending his studies for health reasons.

Career

When he left France, with

Herbert Watney Herbert Watney (1843–1932) of Buckhold, Pangbourne, Berkshire (now St. Andrew's School) was a nineteenth century London physician, landowner and philanthropist, and a strong supporter of Christian missions. Early life Herbert Watney was born o ...

, and after experience in mission work in the

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, he led a group of 800 people emigrating from the London slums to western Canada. He became a curate at the Parish of St. Giles in

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

in England, and after four years accepted an offer to preach in New York for four months. In 1878, he took a position at St. James's Cathedral in Toronto. W_S_Rainford

In May 1882, the vestry of St. George's Church, which included J. Pierpont Morgan, offered the post of rector to Rainsford; several members of the vestry had heard Rainsford preach when he was in New York. The church was under some stress, because of changes in the local population and a substantial debt of $35,000. After some negotiations he accepted. Rainsford is reported to have said that after a month of his sermons seven of the fourteen families still attending the church had left, but after that point the church's membership grew.

Personal life

Rainsford married Emily Alma Green in London in 1878, and they had three sons: Lawrence, Ralph Stewart, and Kerr. His wife died in 1923, and he remarried, to Harriette Rogers (1870–1963), daughter of

William Evans Rogers William Evans Rogers (April 11, 1846 – March 10, 1913) was an American businessman and railroad executive who married into the Fish family. Early life Rogers was born in Philadelphia on April 11, 1846, to William Evans Rogers, a Philadelphia a ...

and

Susan LeRoy Fish William Evans Rogers (April 11, 1846 – March 10, 1913) was an American businessman and railroad executive who married into the Fish family. Early life Rogers was born in Philadelphia on April 11, 1846, to William Evans Rogers, a Philadelphia a ...

. He died at

Roosevelt Hospital Mount Sinai West, opened in 1871 as Roosevelt Hospital, is affiliated with the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and the Mount Sinai Health System. The 514-bed facility is located in the Midtown West neighborhood of New York City. The fac ...

in New York on December 17, 1933.

Published works

He published several books, including: * ''Sermons Preached In St. George's'' (1887). New York: Dodd, Mead & Company * ''Good Friday Meditation'' (1901). New York: E.P. Dutton & Company * ''Reasonableness of Faith, and Other Addresses'' (1902). New York: Doubleday, Page & Company * ''A'' ''Preacher's Story of His Work'' (1903). Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Outlook Company * ''The Land of the Lion'' (1909). New York: Doubleday, Page & Company * ''The Reasonableness of the Religion of Jesus'' (1913). Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company * ''The Story of a Varied Life: An Autobiography ''(1922). New York: Doubleday, Page & Company

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rainsford, William S. 1850 births 1933 deaths Christian clergy from Dublin (city) Irish emigrants to the United States Alumni of the University of Cambridge