![Portrait of James Welldon](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fb/Portrait_of_James_Welldon.jpg)
James Edward Cowell Welldon (25 April 1854 – 17 June 1937) was an English
clergyman
Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...
and scholar. He was
Bishop of Calcutta from 1898 to 1902,
Dean of Manchester
The Dean of Manchester is based in Manchester, England and is the head of the Chapter of Manchester Cathedral. The current dean is Rogers Govender MBE.
List of deans
*1840–1847 William Herbert
*1847–1872 George Bowers
*1872–1883 Benj ...
from 1906 to 1918, and
Dean of Durham
The Dean of Durham is the "head" (''primus inter pares'' – first among equals) and chair of the Chapter, the ruling body of Durham Cathedral. The dean and chapter are based at the ''Cathedral Church of Christ, Blessed Mary the Virgin and St Cu ...
from 1918 to 1933.
Early life
Welldon was born in 1854 in
Tonbridge
Tonbridge ( ) is a market town in Kent, England, on the River Medway, north of Royal Tunbridge Wells, south west of Maidstone and south east of London. In the administrative borough of Tonbridge and Malling, it had an estimated populat ...
,
Kent
Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
, the son of Edward Ind Welldon, the Second Master of
Tonbridge School
(God Giveth the Increase)
, established =
, closed =
, type = Public schoolIndependent day and boarding
, religion =
, president =
, head_label ...
, and nephew of James Ind Welldon, Headmaster of Tonbridge. He was educated at
Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England.
Eton may also refer to:
Places
*Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England
* Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States
* Éton, a commune in the Meuse dep ...
and was named the Newcastle scholar in 1873. He went on to
King's College, Cambridge
King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the cit ...
where he was academically prominent, becoming the Bell scholar in 1874 and the Browne's medallist in 1875 and 1876. In 1877, as well as gaining his
BA degree, he was the senior classical and senior chancellor's medallist. He became a fellow in 1878 and in 1880 gained his
MA degree.
[Ormiston, T. L., (1926), ''Dulwich College Register'', page 53, (J J Keliher & Co Ltd: London)]
Sporting achievements
He had a reputation at Eton in both the college's
Wall Game and
Field Game and became school captain. After school, he played as
full-back in
association football
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
with the
Old Etonians F.C.
The Old Etonians Association Football Club is an English association football club whose players are alumni of Eton College, in Eton, Berkshire.
Having been a member of The Football Association and played several editions of the FA Cup, Old ...
and took part in the first match (score 1–1 draw) of the
1876 FA Cup Final at Kennington Oval, which they ultimately lost after a replay to
Wanderers when his place in team was taken by
Edgar Lubbock
Edgar Lubbock LLB (22 February 1847 – 9 September 1907) was an English amateur footballer who twice won the FA Cup and played first-class cricket. He later became a partner in the Whitbread Brewery, a Director and Deputy Governor of the Ban ...
. He also played for
Upton Park and
Hertfordshire Rangers and in representative matches for
Essex
Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...
and
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
.
Career
![James Edward Cowell Welldon Vanity Fair 17 November 1898](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7d/James_Edward_Cowell_Welldon_Vanity_Fair_17_November_1898.jpg)
In May 1883, Welldon was appointed master of
Dulwich College
Dulwich College is a 2–19 Independent school (United Kingdom), independent, Day school, day and boarding school for Single-sex education, boys in Dulwich, London, England. As a Public school (United Kingdom), public school, it began as the Col ...
. In the short time he held this position he did much for the college, including the creation and institution of its school song ''Pueri Alleynienses'' which is still in use today. He resigned in July 1885 to take up the position of headmaster of
Harrow School, which he held from 1885 to 1898.
He was disliked by many of the masters as an autocratic administrator, but was more popular with the boys, by whom he was known as "the Porker."
[
While at Harrow he also accepted a number of clerical positions, having been ordained as a ]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 1883 and as a priest
A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...
in 1885, including the select preacher before Cambridge University
The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ...
(in 1885, 1888, and 1893) and the select preacher before 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 ...
in 1886 and 1887. He was honorary chaplain to Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...
from 1888 to 1892, and Chaplain in Ordinary from 1892 to 1898. He was the Hulsean Lecturer
The Hulsean Lectures were established from an endowment made by John Hulse to the University of Cambridge in 1790. At present, they consist of a series of four to eight lectures given by a university graduate on some branch of Christian theology.
...
at Cambridge in 1897. In 1898, he became a Doctor of Divinity.
After leaving Harrow, Welldon was appointed Bishop of Calcutta in 1898. As bishop, then metropolitan of 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 ...
, he excluded Scottish chaplains and troops from the use of garrison churches in India because they had not received episcopal consecration, an action for which he was criticised by Robert Herbert Story
Robert Herbert Story (28 January 1835 – 13 January 1907) was a Scottish divine and Principal of the University of Glasgow. He attained the highest position in the Scottish church as Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland ...
. He remained diocesan until early 1902 when he resigned owing to ill health and disagreement with the Viceroy
A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the French word ''roy'', meaning " ...
, Lord Curzon
George Nathaniel Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston, (11 January 1859 – 20 March 1925), styled Lord Curzon of Kedleston between 1898 and 1911 and then Earl Curzon of Kedleston between 1911 and 1921, was a British Conservative statesman ...
. He returned to England to become a canon of Westminster, and was installed as such on 8 March 1902. He served in Westminster until 1906. In late 1902 he visited South Africa. From 1906 to 1918 he was Dean of Manchester
The Dean of Manchester is based in Manchester, England and is the head of the Chapter of Manchester Cathedral. The current dean is Rogers Govender MBE.
List of deans
*1840–1847 William Herbert
*1847–1872 George Bowers
*1872–1883 Benj ...
and from 1918 of Durham Durham most commonly refers to:
*Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham
*County Durham, an English county
* Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States
*Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...
. He had a strained relationship with the Bishop of Durham, Hensley Henson, who described him as "a man who could neither speak with effect nor be silent with dignity".
Private life
Welldon became an Officer d'académie in 1898. He was a member of the Athenaeum
Athenaeum may refer to:
Books and periodicals
* ''Athenaeum'' (German magazine), a journal of German Romanticism, established 1798
* ''Athenaeum'' (British magazine), a weekly London literary magazine 1828–1921
* ''The Athenaeum'' (Acadia U ...
, a senior Freemason (Past Grand Chaplain), and a keen proponent of British imperialism.[ He was a lifelong bachelor, and for nearly fifty years had the close companionship of a manservant, Edward Hudson Perkins, from whose death in 1932 Welldon never recovered.][J. W. S. Tomlin]
"Welldon, James Edward Cowell (1854–1937)"
rev. M. C. Curthoys, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004, accessed 26 December 2010 Welldon died at Sevenoaks
Sevenoaks is a town in Kent with a population of 29,506 situated south-east of London, England. Also classified as a civil parish, Sevenoaks is served by a commuter main line railway into London. Sevenoaks is from Charing Cross, the traditio ...
, Kent, on 17 June 1937 aged eighty-three.
E.M Forster's poem
E.M. Forster
Edward Morgan Forster (1 January 1879 – 7 June 1970) was an English author, best known for his novels, particularly '' A Room with a View'' (1908), ''Howards End'' (1910), and ''A Passage to India'' (1924). He also wrote numerous short stor ...
wrote a satirical poem regarding Bishop Welldon after the bishop criticised Labour M.Ps for 'vulgar profanity':
Screen portrayal
Welldon, as Headmaster of Harrow who accepted Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...
into the school, was portrayed by Jack Hawkins
John Edward Hawkins, CBE (14 September 1910 – 18 July 1973) was an English actor who worked on stage and in film from the 1930s until the 1970s. One of the most popular British film stars of the 1950s, he was known for his portrayal of mil ...
in the film ''Young Winston
''Young Winston'' is a 1972 British biographical adventure drama war film covering the early years of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, based in particular on his 1930 book, ''My Early Life''. The first part of the film covers Churchill' ...
'' (1972).
Publications
Welldon was the author of a number of works including:
* Translation of Aristotle
Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of ph ...
's ''Politics
Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that stud ...
'' (1883).[Richard Aldrich and Peter Gordon, (1989), ''Dictionary of British Educationists'', p. 258 (Routledge: London).]
* Translation of '' Rhetoric'' (1886).
* Translation of ''Ethics
Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concer ...
'' (1892).
* ''Gerald Eversley's Friendship'' (1895).
* ''The Hope of Immortality'' (1898).
* ''Harvest Home: A Sheaf of Sermons'' (1900).
* ''Patriotic Song'' (1901).
* ''The Consecration of the State'' (1902).
* ''The Revelation of the Holy Spirit'' (1902).
* ''Recollections and Reflections'' (1915).
* ''Religion and Reconstruction'' (1918).
* ''The Greek Orthodox Church. By Rev. Constantine Callinicos, Preface by the Right Rev. J.E.C. Welldon, 1918''.
* ''The Nature of Immortality'' in ''Life After Death According to Christianity and Spiritualism.'' Sir James Marchant, Ed. (1925).
* ''The English Church'' (1926).
* ''The Church and the World'' (1932).
* ''Forty Years On'' (1935)
Notes
References
* Lyttelton, George, and Rupert Hart-Davis (1978). ''The Lyttelton/Hart-Davis Letters
The Lyttelton/Hart-Davis Letters are a correspondence between two literary Englishmen, George Lyttelton (1883–1962) and Rupert Hart-Davis (1907–99), written between 1955 and Lyttelton's death, and published by Hart-Davis in six volumes betwee ...
'', Volume I (1955-6 letters). London: John Murray.
*
External links
*
Works by James Welldon
at Hathi Trust
HathiTrust Digital Library is a large-scale collaborative repository of digital content from research libraries including content digitized via Google Books and the Internet Archive digitization initiatives, as well as content digitized locally ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Welldon, James Edward Cowell
1854 births
1937 deaths
People from Tonbridge
People educated at Eton College
Alumni of King's College, Cambridge
Old Etonians F.C. players
English chaplains
Chaplains-in-Ordinary
Anglican bishops of Calcutta
19th-century Anglican bishops in Asia
20th-century Anglican bishops in Asia
Deans of Durham
Deans of Manchester
Church of England deans
English educational theorists
Masters of Dulwich College
Head Masters of Harrow School
Canons of Westminster
Upton Park F.C. players
Association football fullbacks
Presidents of the Cambridge Union
English footballers
FA Cup Final players