Trevor Randall Beeson (born 2 March 1926) was

Dean of Winchester The Dean of Winchester is the head of the Chapter of Winchester Cathedral in the city of Winchester, England, in the Diocese of Winchester. Appointment is by the Crown. The first incumbent was the last Prior, William Kingsmill, Catherine Ogl ...

in the last two decades of the 20th century. He is also an ecclesiastical obituarist. Beeson was educated at King's College London, studied theology at St Boniface College, Warminster, and 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 ...

in 1952.BEESON, Very Rev. Trevor Randall
Who's Who 2012, A & C Black, 2012; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2011, accessed 29 March 2012 He began his career with 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 ...

Leadgate, County Durham Leadgate is a village in County Durham, in England. It is situated to the north-east of Consett. The Roman road Dere Street runs straight through the middle of Leadgate, today this is known as Durham Road and the B6309. The place-name 'Lead ...

, after which he was

priest in charge A priest in charge or priest-in-charge (previously also curate-in-charge) in the Church of England is a priest in charge of a parish who is not its incumbent. Such priests are not legally responsible for the churches and glebe, but simply hold a ...

of St Chad, Stockton-on-Tees and then on the staff of

St Martin-in-the-Fields St Martin-in-the-Fields is a Church of England parish church at the north-east corner of Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, London. It is dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours. There has been a church on the site since at least the mediev ...

Trafalgar Square Trafalgar Square ( ) is a public square in the City of Westminster, Central London, laid out in the early 19th century around the area formerly known as Charing Cross. At its centre is a high column bearing a statue of Admiral Nelson comm ...

. Following this he was

Vicar A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pre ...

Ware, Hertfordshire Ware is a town in Hertfordshire, England close to the county town of Hertford. It is also a civil parish in East Hertfordshire district. Location The town lies on the north–south A10 road which is partly shared with the east–west A414 (fo ...

and

Canon Treasurer According to both Catholic and Anglican canon law, a cathedral chapter is a college of clerics ( chapter) formed to advise a bishop and, in the case of a vacancy of the episcopal see in some countries, to govern the diocese during the vacancy. In ...

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 ...

. He served as

Chaplain to the Speaker of the House of Commons The Chaplain to the Speaker of the House of Commons, also known as the Speaker's Chaplain, is a Church of England priest who officiates at services held at the Palace of Westminster and its associated chapel, St Mary Undercroft. The Chaplain ...

from 1982 to 1987, before his elevation to the Deanery. In retirement Beeson has written a book about his fellow Deans. In 1976 the Archbishop of Canterbury conferred on Beeson the

Lambeth degree A Lambeth degree is an academic degree conferred by the Archbishop of Canterbury under the authority of the Ecclesiastical Licences Act 1533 (25 Hen VIII c 21) (Eng) as successor of the papal legate in England. The degrees conferred most commonl ...

of Master of Arts. He was appointed OBE in the

1997 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1997 were appointments by most of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, and honorary ones to citizens of other countri ...

"for services to the Church of England, particularly as Dean of Winchester Cathedral."Supplement to the London Gazette, 1 December 1996
/ref> He was awarded an honorary

DLitt Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Litt.D., Latin: ' or ') is a terminal degree in the humanities that, depending on the country, is a higher doctorate after the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree or equivalent to a higher doctorate, such as the Doctor ...

degree by

Southampton University , mottoeng = The Heights Yield to Endeavour , type = Public research university , established = 1862 – Hartley Institution1902 – Hartley University College1913 – Southampton University Coll ...

in 1999.

Publications

* ''New Area Mission: The parish in the new housing estates'' (Star Books series), A.R. Mowbray & Co., London, 1963. * ''The ministry in new areas'', Prism pamphlet no.11, London, 1964. * ''Partnership in ministry'' (ed.), A.R. Mowbray & Co., London, 1964. * ''Worship in a united church'' (with Robin Sharp), Star Books for Anglican-Methodist Reunion, second series, no.7, A.R. Mowbray, Oxford, 1964. * ''New Area Ministry'' (Church's Ministry Series no.2), Church Information Office, Westminster, 1965. * ''The world is the agenda:'' report of a conference of the World Council of Churches Western European Working Group on The Missionary Structure of the Congregation 25–28 April 1966, Parish & People, London, 1966. * ''An eye for an ear'',

SCM Press SCM Press is a British publisher of theology, originally linked to the Student Christian Movement. The company was purchased by Hymns Ancient and Modern in 1997. In 2018 ''Church Times'' reported that 100 titles from SCM Press and Canterbury ...

, 1972. * ''The Church of England in Crisis'', Davis-Poynter, London, 1973. * ''Discretion and valour: religious conditions in Eastern Europe'' (written with the advice and assistance of the British Council of Churches Working Party on Religious Conditions in Eastern Europe), with a foreword by Sir John Lawrence, William Collins Sons & Co., Glasgow, for the British Council of Churches, 1974. * ''Pioneering on the Christian Frontier'' (Audenshaw Papers no.50), Audenshaw Foundation, Manchester, 1975. * ''To publish or not to publish?'' (Audenshaw Papers no.51), Audenshaw Foundation, Manchester, 1975. * ''Christians and socialism'' (Audenshaw Papers no.55), Audenshaw Foundation, Manchester, 1976. * ''Britain today and tomorrow'', Collins, London, 1978. * ''Westminster Abbey'', FISA, London, 1981. * ''Discretion and valour: religious conditions in Russia and eastern Europe'' (revised edition of 1974 publication), Fount Paperbacks, London, 1982. * ''A vision of hope: the churches and change in Latin America'' (ed. with Jenny Pearce), Collins, London, 1984. * ''A dean's diary: Winchester, 1987-1996'', SCM Press, 1997. * ''Window on Westminster: a Canon's diary'', 1976–1987, SCM Press, 1998. * ''Rebels and reformers: Christian renewal in the twentieth century'', SCM Press, 1999. * ''The bishops'', SCM Press, 2002. * ''Priests And Prelates: The Daily Telegraph Clerical Obituaries'' (ed. & intro), Continuum, 2002. (new editions 2004, , and 2006, ) * ''The deans'', SCM Press, 2004. * ''The canons: cathedral close encounters'', SCM Press, 2006. * ''Round the Church in 50 years: a personal journey'', SCM Press, 2007. * ''In tuneful accord: the church musicians'', SCM Press, 2009. * ''The church's folk songs: from Hymns Ancient & Modern to Common Prayer 1861-2011'', Canterbury Press, 2011. * ''The Church's other half: women's ministry'', SCM Press, 2011.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beeson, Trevor Randall 1926 births Living people Alumni of King's College London Associates of King's College London Fellows of King's College London Holders of a Lambeth degree Officers of the Order of the British Empire Deans of Winchester Canons of Westminster