Walter Matthews (priest)

The Very Reverend

Walter Matthews

CH KCVO
The Very Reverend; Walter Matthews; CH KCVO
Dean of St Paul's
	Matthews in 1935
Church	Church of England
Diocese	London
In office	1934–1967
Retired	1967
Predecessor	William Ralph Inge
Successor	Martin Sullivan
Other post(s)	Dean of Exeter (1931–1934)
Orders
Ordination	1907
Personal details
Born	Walter Robert Matthews; 22 September 1881; London, England
Died	4 December 1973 (aged 92)
Nationality	British
Denomination	Anglicanism
Spouse	Margaret Bryan (m. 1911; died 1961)

Walter Robert Matthews CH KCVO^[2] (22 September 1881 – 4 December 1973) was an Anglican priest, theologian, and philosopher.^[3]

Early life and education

Born on 22 September 1881 in Camberwell, London, to parents Philip Walter Matthews, a banker, and Sophia Alice Self, he was educated at Wilson's School^[4] and trained for the priesthood at King's College London.

Ordained ministry

He was ordained deacon in 1907 and priest in 1908^[5] and was a curate at St Mary Abbots' Kensington and St Peter's Regent Square. After that he was a lecturer in and then a professor of theology at King's College London.^[6]^[7] From 1918 he was also Dean of the college.^[6]^[8] In 1931 he became an Honorary Chaplain to the King^[9] and Dean of Exeter.^[6]^[10] Then in 1934 he became Dean of St Paul's,^[6]^[11] a post he held for 33 years. At the time of his appointment, he was president-elect of the Modern Churchmen's Union.^[12] He was described by his predecessor, William Ralph Inge, as something of an "Orthodox Modernist".^[12]

On 2 June 1940 the term "miracle of Dunkirk" was used for the first time by Matthews in a speech. He was praising the rescue of thousands of British soldiers and their allies from being encircled by the German Army in France.

He died on 4 December 1973.^[13]^[14]

Published works

Matthews was an author. Among his works:

Three Sermons on Human Nature and a Dissertation upon the Nature of Virtue. Editor. By Joseph Butler. London: G. Bell and Sons. 1914.
King's College Lectures on Immortality. Editor. By J. F. Bethune-Baker; A. Caldecott; Hastings Rashdall; Wm. Brown; H. Maurice Relton. London: University of London Press. 1920.
Studies in Christian Philosophy: Being the Boyle Lectures, 1920. London: Macmillan and Co. 1921.
God and Evolution. London: Longmans, Green & Co. 1926.
The Purpose of God. London: Nisbet. 1935.
Christ. New York: Macmillan Company. 1939.
The Foundations of Peace. Eyre and Spottiswoode. 1942.
Some Christian Words. John Allen and Unwin. 1956.
Memories and Meanings. London: Hodder and Stoughton. 1969.
The Year Through Christian Eyes. London: Epworth Press. 1970.

References

Citations

^ Sell 2010, pp. 71–72.
^ Rayment, Leigh (2015). "Companions of Honour". Leigh Rayment's Peerage Page. Archived from the original on 13 March 2016. Retrieved 11 November 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
^ Beeson 2004; Owen 2004; Sell 2010, p. 74.
^ Sell 2010, p. 69; Owen 2004.
^ Crockford's Clerical Directory 1971-72. London, OUP, 1973, p. 636
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Byrne 2010, p. 160.
^ "College archives". Archived from the original on 7 October 2011. Retrieved 5 July 2009.
^ History of King's College Chapel^{[dead link]}
^ "Chaplain to the King". The Times. No. 45965. 28 October 1931. p. 12, col. E.
^ "New Dean of Exeter". The Times. No. 45953. 14 October 1931. p. 12, col. F.
^ "Dean to St. Paul's". Time. Vol. 34, no. 23. 1934. Archived from the original on 25 November 2010. Retrieved 11 November 2017.
^ ^a ^b Burns 2004, p. 96.
^ "Dr W. R. Matthews Former Dean of St Paul's". The Times. No. 58956. 5 December 1973. p. 21, col. F.
^ England & Wales, National Probate Calendar 1974, p. 5926

Works cited

Beeson, Trevor (2004). The Deans. London: SCM Press. ISBN 978-0-334-02987-8.
Burns, Arthur (2004). "From 1830 to the Present". In Keene, Derek; Burns, Arthur; Saint, Andrew (eds.). St Paul's: The Cathedral Church of London, 604–2004. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-09276-9.
Byrne, Georgina (2010). Modern Spiritualism and the Church of England, 1850–1939. Studies in Modern British Religious History. Vol. 25. Woodbridge, England: Boydell Press. ISBN 978-1-84383-589-9. ISSN 1464-6625.
Owen, Huw (2004). "Matthews, Walter Robert (1881–1973)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/31426. ISBN 978-0-19-861412-8.
Sell, Alan P. F. (2010). Four Philosophical Anglicans: W. G. DeBurgh, W. R. Matthews, O. C. Quick, H. A. Hodges. Eugene, Oregon: Wipf and Stock (published 2015). ISBN 978-1-4982-2008-8.

External links

Church of England titles
Preceded by Henry Gamble	Dean of Exeter 1931–1934	Succeeded by Spencer Carpenter
Preceded by William Ralph Inge	Dean of St Paul's 1934–1967	Succeeded by Martin Sullivan
Academic offices
Preceded by Alfred Caldecott	Dean of King's College London 1918–1931	Succeeded by Richard Hanson
Non-profit organization positions
Preceded by William Ralph Inge	President of the Modern Churchmen's Union 1934 – c. 1937	Succeeded by Cyril Norwood

[FOOTNOTESell201071–72-1] Sell 2010, pp. 71–72.

[2] Rayment, Leigh (2015). "Companions of Honour". Leigh Rayment's Peerage Page. Archived from the original on 13 March 2016. Retrieved 11 November 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)

[FOOTNOTEBeeson2004Owen2004Sell201074-3] Beeson 2004; Owen 2004; Sell 2010, p. 74.

[FOOTNOTESell201069Owen2004-4] Sell 2010, p. 69; Owen 2004.

[5] Crockford's Clerical Directory 1971-72. London, OUP, 1973, p. 636

[FOOTNOTEByrne2010160-6] Byrne 2010, p. 160.

[7] "College archives". Archived from the original on 7 October 2011. Retrieved 5 July 2009.

[8] History of King's College Chapel^{[dead link]}

[9] "Chaplain to the King". The Times. No. 45965. 28 October 1931. p. 12, col. E.

[10] "New Dean of Exeter". The Times. No. 45953. 14 October 1931. p. 12, col. F.

[11] "Dean to St. Paul's". Time. Vol. 34, no. 23. 1934. Archived from the original on 25 November 2010. Retrieved 11 November 2017.

[FOOTNOTEBurns200496-12] Burns 2004, p. 96.

[13] "Dr W. R. Matthews Former Dean of St Paul's". The Times. No. 58956. 5 December 1973. p. 21, col. F.

[14] England & Wales, National Probate Calendar 1974, p. 5926

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

v t e Deans of Exeter
High Medieval	Serlo Roger de Wynkleigh William de Stanwey Roger de Toriz John Noble John Pycot Andrew de Kilkenny
Late Medieval	Henry de Somerset Thomas de Lechlade Bartholomew de Sancto Laurentio Richard de Coleton Richard de Braylegh Reginald de Bugwell Robert Sumpter Thomas Walkyngton Ralph Tregrision Stephen Payn John Cobethorn John Hals Henry Webber Peter Courtenay Lionel Woodville John Arundel
Early modern	Edward Willoughby Thomas Hobbes John Vesey Richard Pace Reginald Pole Simon Haynes James Haddon Thomas Reynolds Gregory Dodds George Carew Stephen Townesend Matthew Sutcliffe William Peterson Seth Ward Edward Young George Cary Richard Annesley William Wake Lancelot Blackburne Edward Trelawney John Gilbert Alured Clarke William Holmes Charles Lyttleton Jeremiah Milles William Buller Charles Harward
Late modern	Charles Talbot George Gordon John Garnett Whittington Landon Thomas Lowe Charles Ellicott The Viscount Midleton Archibald Boyd Benjamin Cowie Alfred Earle Henry Gamble Walter Matthews Spencer Carpenter Alexander Wallace Marcus Knight Clifford Chapman Richard Eyre Keith Jones Jonathan Meyrick Jonathan Draper

Authority control databases
International	ISNI VIAF FAST WorldCat
National	Germany United States France BnF data Czech Republic Netherlands Israel
People	Trove
Other	IdRef SNAC