John Comper
Encyclopedia
Reverend John Comper was an Anglican Priest
from Sussex
, England
who served in the Episcopal Church
in Scotland. PM
He was an Episcopalian cleric who dedicated his life to helping the street children and prostitutes of Victorian Aberdeen is to be made the equivalent of a saint by his Church, exactly a century after his death. Father John Comper is to be declared a 'Hero of the Faith' by the Scottish Episcopal Church - the greatest honour the Church can bestow.
in Sussex, on 1 October 1823, where his father farmed a smallholding. John was the youngest of a family of seven.
The family name “Comper” is a French surname possibly from Brittany; the Comper forbears being probably sixteenth century Huguenot
refugees though this is disputed by Anthony Symondson who argues the family is more likely of Norman origin.
From his earliest years he was very interested in matters spiritual, and fascinated by the liturgy
, which he studied throughout his life. At the age of 24 he completed training as a student teacher at a college in Chichester
. He was aware that without a university degree he would never be accepted for the priesthood in England, and therefore he turned his attention to Scotland, where the Scottish Episcopal Church
was in need of clergy.
. He was already an adherent to the principles of the Oxford Movement
. He moved from Kirriemuir to Crieff
to take part in the educational work at St Margaret’s College which had been started by the Revd Alexander Lendrum, embarking on a special course of study in preparation for Holy Orders. On Tuesday 10 December 1850, St Ninian's Cathedral, Perth
was consecrated and on Wednesday 11 December, John Comper was ordained Deacon in the Cathedral by Bishop Alexander Penrose Forbes
on behalf of the aged Diocesan Patrick Torry, then in his 43rd year of his prelacy. He was ordained at Crieff prior to his appointment at Nairn
.
Thereafter, Comper, after early beginnings in Crieff, moved around the north of Scotland. His first appointment in Nairn was to take charge of a new Mission raised to mitigate the effects of a schism that had arisen within the newly formed congregation of St Ninian’s Church built in 1845. This congregation in refusing to accept the authority of the Bishop became an English Episcopal Chapel. Comper also opened a school in Nairn and his success soon drew the attention of the Episcopal authorities.
Bishop Robert Eden
, newly consecrated in Edinburgh on 9 March 1851, recruited Comper, a highly efficient Mission priest, to take services in an upper room in Nairn, before appointing him as Diocesan Mission Priest for the Moray Diocese
and as Bishop’s Chaplain. Whilst based in Inverness
John Comper opened another day school and a chapel, now represented by St Andrew’s Cathedral
. Comper was also put in charge of the newly created Mission at Cromarty
before returning to the Brechin Diocese moving to fill the vacancy at Stonehaven
in 1857.
He took charge of the ancient congregation that originally met at the Tolbooth
, but had removed long since the Jacobite rebellion
of 1745 and Duke of Cumberland’s occupation of the Chapel as a stable for his horses, to the Stonehaven High Street site. This was the meeting house, which was demolished on Cumberland’s orders in 1746. Services were then held clandestinely for some years in a house in the High Street. Later a “Qualified” Chapel was built in Cameron Street, the two congregations as yet existing as separate entities. The Qualified Congregation joined the Scottish Episcopal Church
in 1803, but it took a further twelve years for them to amalgamate in a union. Whereupon in 1815 they removed back into the old Qualified Chapel once again, this time as a full-fledged congregation of the Scottish Episcopal Church
. It was in this building that John Comper ministered to them from 1857 to 1861.
Whilst Comper worked in Stonehaven, there was “ecclesiastical” trouble North and South. In Aberdeen, Patrick Cheyne, was being prosecuted by Bishop Thomas George Suther
for his “Six Sermons” and Bishop Alexander Forbes
was then under prosecution from the Episcopal College of Bishops for like ideas in Comper’s own Diocese. It was during this time that the Rev. Frederick G Lee had absconded from St John’s Episcopal Church in Aberdeen , and Comper was pressured to take the post. The Patrons of St John’s, Dr George Grub
and Dr George Ogilvie beseeched Comper to come to Aberdeen
. Comper however, bided his time, only leaving the Brechin Diocese when his Diocesan was out of trouble, and not making further waves by leaving his charge vacant. But the ecclesiastical atmosphere of Aberdeen had not yet discharged all its disturbing elements.
Thomas George Suther was by this time surer of his ground, and began a tirade against Comper. His biographer, “LTA”, gives a risible account of the situation thus: “Comper’s first act was to initiate the partial use of the Scottish Communion Office — the date being shortly before the General Synod
of 1863, and an appeal against Bishop Suther’s attempted objections was successful. Here and in another question of ceremonial Dr Grub’s unrivalled historical knowledge and genuine Churchmanship were of greatest value”. Grub’s genial humour and keen appreciation of a joke came out in the account he gave of the Bishop who bade his presbyter, like a naughty boy, “take off his vestments and put out his lights.” In the end the lights were saved, but the vestments surrendered.
Two significant events took place during the first years of John Comper’s incumbency at St John’s. Firstly, a day school
was built and dedicated to Revd Patrick Cheyne’s forty years association with St John’s. Secondly, in the year 1863 the first sister arrived from St Margaret’s, East Grinstead
, the foundress of St Margaret’s Convent, 17 Spital, Aberdeen (closed in 2003).
. Wright describes the unwholesome scene as follows: “The whole area enjoyed an evil reputation. No one ventured out after dark. It was bad enough making your way to church through wet washings, but you also had to hold your nose to prevent smelling the fish barrows parked along one side of the Gallowgate. Often rats were scavenging in the barrows.” From St Margaret’s emanated the Mission at St Clement’s-on-the-Quay, which eventually became an independent congregation erecting a church on the quayside with money bequeathed by Sir George Reid’s widow, Margaret Best, one of Comper’s ardent admirers.
His work commenced in 1867, and John Comper became the chief motivator in the organisation, eventually raising the Episcopal charge in 1870 dedicated to St Margaret of Scotland. Comper is to be remembered as the first clergyman in Aberdeen to organise a congregation social meeting, which he called a “Refection”. His other memorable project, apart from St Margaret’s and its Convent was his work for Foreign Aid, which banded together many of the Church’s Women’s Organisations in common cause.
A Kenspeckle figure in Aberdeen city and a veteran clergyman of the Aberdeen Diocese, he enjoyed meritorious respect from all classes of the population.
on Monday 27 July 1903, where he had gone with his wife, Ellen Taylor. Coincidentally, it was the first visit he had made to the park as he had been tempted to enjoy the fine weather Aberdeen was experiencing at that time. The Press & Journal
wrote, “He sat in the park and expressed his admiration for all that he saw, saying how surprised he was that the vicinity of Aberdeen contained a place of such varied beauty. He then went to the refreshment room to get some strawberries for his wife and on his return to the bench where she was seated he was observed to stagger and fall. In a short time he was found to be dead. During the morning we understand he had been in his usual health but complained of drowsiness; otherwise his condition had excited no remark. He was never very strong in health, but was able by an annual tour on the Continent to maintain himself in comparative vigour.”
, signed all his painted glass windows with a wild strawberry, the leaves and stems entwining the date of execution. The first window to be so signed was his father’s own memorial in St Margaret’s
, Gallowgate, Aberdeen, in 1908. Mrs Ellen Comper died on 10 June 1908.
John Ninian Comper born in 1864, was to become one of the greatest church architects of the twentieth century, being knighted in 1950 at the age of 84. Ninian's son, Nicholas Comper
, became an aeronautical engineer who designed the Comper Swift
.
Priest
A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...
from Sussex
Sussex
Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
who served in the Episcopal Church
Scottish Episcopal Church
The Scottish Episcopal Church is a Christian church in Scotland, consisting of seven dioceses. Since the 17th century, it has had an identity distinct from the presbyterian Church of Scotland....
in Scotland. PM
He was an Episcopalian cleric who dedicated his life to helping the street children and prostitutes of Victorian Aberdeen is to be made the equivalent of a saint by his Church, exactly a century after his death. Father John Comper is to be declared a 'Hero of the Faith' by the Scottish Episcopal Church - the greatest honour the Church can bestow.
Origins
John Comper was born in PulboroughPulborough
Pulborough is a large village and civil parish in the Horsham district of West Sussex, England, with some 5,000 inhabitants. It is located almost centrally within West Sussex and is south west of London. It is at the junction of the north-south A29 and the east-west roads.The village is near the...
in Sussex, on 1 October 1823, where his father farmed a smallholding. John was the youngest of a family of seven.
The family name “Comper” is a French surname possibly from Brittany; the Comper forbears being probably sixteenth century Huguenot
Huguenot
The Huguenots were members of the Protestant Reformed Church of France during the 16th and 17th centuries. Since the 17th century, people who formerly would have been called Huguenots have instead simply been called French Protestants, a title suggested by their German co-religionists, the...
refugees though this is disputed by Anthony Symondson who argues the family is more likely of Norman origin.
From his earliest years he was very interested in matters spiritual, and fascinated by the liturgy
Liturgy
Liturgy is either the customary public worship done by a specific religious group, according to its particular traditions or a more precise term that distinguishes between those religious groups who believe their ritual requires the "people" to do the "work" of responding to the priest, and those...
, which he studied throughout his life. At the age of 24 he completed training as a student teacher at a college in Chichester
Chichester
Chichester is a cathedral city in West Sussex, within the historic County of Sussex, South-East England. It has a long history as a settlement; its Roman past and its subsequent importance in Anglo-Saxon times are only its beginnings...
. He was aware that without a university degree he would never be accepted for the priesthood in England, and therefore he turned his attention to Scotland, where the Scottish Episcopal Church
Scottish Episcopal Church
The Scottish Episcopal Church is a Christian church in Scotland, consisting of seven dioceses. Since the 17th century, it has had an identity distinct from the presbyterian Church of Scotland....
was in need of clergy.
Career
He began ecclesiastical life as a lay reader at a church school in KirriemuirKirriemuir
Kirriemuir, sometimes called Kirrie, is a burgh in Angus, Scotland.-History:The history of Kirriemuir extends to the early historical period and it appears to have been a centre of some ecclesiastical importance...
. He was already an adherent to the principles of the Oxford Movement
Oxford Movement
The Oxford Movement was a movement of High Church Anglicans, eventually developing into Anglo-Catholicism. The movement, whose members were often associated with the University of Oxford, argued for the reinstatement of lost Christian traditions of faith and their inclusion into Anglican liturgy...
. He moved from Kirriemuir to Crieff
Crieff
Crieff is a market town in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. It lies on the A85 road between Perth and Crianlarich and also lies on the A822 between Greenloaning and Aberfeldy. The A822 joins onto the A823 which leads to Dunfermline....
to take part in the educational work at St Margaret’s College which had been started by the Revd Alexander Lendrum, embarking on a special course of study in preparation for Holy Orders. On Tuesday 10 December 1850, St Ninian's Cathedral, Perth
St Ninian's Cathedral, Perth
St Ninian's Cathedral or the Cathedral Church of St Ninian is a cathedral of the Scottish Episcopal Church in the Royal burgh of Perth. It is the see of the Anglican Bishop of St Andrews, Dunkeld and Dunblane, who is the ordinary of the Diocese of St Andrews, Dunkeld and Dunblane.-History:The...
was consecrated and on Wednesday 11 December, John Comper was ordained Deacon in the Cathedral by Bishop Alexander Penrose Forbes
Alexander Penrose Forbes
Alexander Penrose Forbes , Scottish divine, was born at Edinburgh.He was the second son of John Hay Forbes, Lord Medwyn, a judge of the court of session, and grandson of Sir William Forbes of Pitsligo. He studied first at the Edinburgh Academy, then for two years under the Rev. Thomas Dale...
on behalf of the aged Diocesan Patrick Torry, then in his 43rd year of his prelacy. He was ordained at Crieff prior to his appointment at Nairn
Nairn
Nairn is a town and former burgh in the Highland council area of Scotland. It is an ancient fishing port and market town around east of Inverness...
.
Thereafter, Comper, after early beginnings in Crieff, moved around the north of Scotland. His first appointment in Nairn was to take charge of a new Mission raised to mitigate the effects of a schism that had arisen within the newly formed congregation of St Ninian’s Church built in 1845. This congregation in refusing to accept the authority of the Bishop became an English Episcopal Chapel. Comper also opened a school in Nairn and his success soon drew the attention of the Episcopal authorities.
Bishop Robert Eden
Robert Eden (bishop)
Robert Eden , was Bishop of Moray, Ross and Caithness.Eden, the third son of Sir Frederick Morton Eden, was born 2 September 1804 and educated at Westminster School and Christ Church, Oxford. He took a third class in classics in 1826 and proceeded B.A. in 1827...
, newly consecrated in Edinburgh on 9 March 1851, recruited Comper, a highly efficient Mission priest, to take services in an upper room in Nairn, before appointing him as Diocesan Mission Priest for the Moray Diocese
Diocese of Moray, Ross and Caithness
The Diocese of Moray, Ross and Caithness is one of the seven dioceses of the Scottish Episcopal Church. It covers Caithness and Sutherland , mainland Ross and Cromarty , and mainland Inverness-shire, Nairnshire, Moray and Banffshire . The diocesan centre is St. Andrew's Cathedral in Inverness...
and as Bishop’s Chaplain. Whilst based in Inverness
Inverness
Inverness is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for the Highland council area, and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands of Scotland...
John Comper opened another day school and a chapel, now represented by St Andrew’s Cathedral
Inverness Cathedral
Inverness Cathedral , also known as the Cathedral Church of Saint Andrew is a cathedral of the Scottish Episcopal Church situated in the city of Inverness in Scotland...
. Comper was also put in charge of the newly created Mission at Cromarty
Cromarty
The Royal Burgh of Cromarty is a burgh in Ross and Cromarty, Highland, Scotland.-History:It was previously the county town of the former county of Cromartyshire...
before returning to the Brechin Diocese moving to fill the vacancy at Stonehaven
Stonehaven
Stonehaven is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It lies on Scotland's northeast coast and had a population of 9,577 in 2001 census.Stonehaven, county town of Kincardineshire, grew around an Iron Age fishing village, now the "Auld Toon" , and expanded inland from the seaside...
in 1857.
He took charge of the ancient congregation that originally met at the Tolbooth
Stonehaven Tolbooth
The Stonehaven Tolbooth is a late 16th century stone building originally used as a courthouse and a prison in the town of Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire, Scotland...
, but had removed long since the Jacobite rebellion
Jacobite rising
The Jacobite Risings were a series of uprisings, rebellions, and wars in Great Britain and Ireland occurring between 1688 and 1746. The uprisings were aimed at returning James VII of Scotland and II of England, and later his descendants of the House of Stuart, to the throne after he was deposed by...
of 1745 and Duke of Cumberland’s occupation of the Chapel as a stable for his horses, to the Stonehaven High Street site. This was the meeting house, which was demolished on Cumberland’s orders in 1746. Services were then held clandestinely for some years in a house in the High Street. Later a “Qualified” Chapel was built in Cameron Street, the two congregations as yet existing as separate entities. The Qualified Congregation joined the Scottish Episcopal Church
Scottish Episcopal Church
The Scottish Episcopal Church is a Christian church in Scotland, consisting of seven dioceses. Since the 17th century, it has had an identity distinct from the presbyterian Church of Scotland....
in 1803, but it took a further twelve years for them to amalgamate in a union. Whereupon in 1815 they removed back into the old Qualified Chapel once again, this time as a full-fledged congregation of the Scottish Episcopal Church
Scottish Episcopal Church
The Scottish Episcopal Church is a Christian church in Scotland, consisting of seven dioceses. Since the 17th century, it has had an identity distinct from the presbyterian Church of Scotland....
. It was in this building that John Comper ministered to them from 1857 to 1861.
Whilst Comper worked in Stonehaven, there was “ecclesiastical” trouble North and South. In Aberdeen, Patrick Cheyne, was being prosecuted by Bishop Thomas George Suther
Thomas George Suther
Thomas George Spink Suther was the Scottish Episcopalian bishop of Aberdeen from 1857–1865 and bishop of Aberdeen and Orkney from 1865 to 1883....
for his “Six Sermons” and Bishop Alexander Forbes
Alexander Penrose Forbes
Alexander Penrose Forbes , Scottish divine, was born at Edinburgh.He was the second son of John Hay Forbes, Lord Medwyn, a judge of the court of session, and grandson of Sir William Forbes of Pitsligo. He studied first at the Edinburgh Academy, then for two years under the Rev. Thomas Dale...
was then under prosecution from the Episcopal College of Bishops for like ideas in Comper’s own Diocese. It was during this time that the Rev. Frederick G Lee had absconded from St John’s Episcopal Church in Aberdeen , and Comper was pressured to take the post. The Patrons of St John’s, Dr George Grub
George Grub
George Grub was a Scottish church historian.He was born in Old Aberdeen, and educated at King's College there. He studied law, and was admitted in 1836 to the Society of Advocates, Aberdeen, of which he was librarian from 1841 until his death. He was appointed Lecturer on Scots Law in Marischal...
and Dr George Ogilvie beseeched Comper to come to Aberdeen
Aberdeen
Aberdeen is Scotland's third most populous city, one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas and the United Kingdom's 25th most populous city, with an official population estimate of ....
. Comper however, bided his time, only leaving the Brechin Diocese when his Diocesan was out of trouble, and not making further waves by leaving his charge vacant. But the ecclesiastical atmosphere of Aberdeen had not yet discharged all its disturbing elements.
Thomas George Suther was by this time surer of his ground, and began a tirade against Comper. His biographer, “LTA”, gives a risible account of the situation thus: “Comper’s first act was to initiate the partial use of the Scottish Communion Office — the date being shortly before the General Synod
General Synod
-Church of England:In the Church of England, the General Synod, which was established in 1970 , is the legislative body of the Church.-Episcopal Church of the United States:...
of 1863, and an appeal against Bishop Suther’s attempted objections was successful. Here and in another question of ceremonial Dr Grub’s unrivalled historical knowledge and genuine Churchmanship were of greatest value”. Grub’s genial humour and keen appreciation of a joke came out in the account he gave of the Bishop who bade his presbyter, like a naughty boy, “take off his vestments and put out his lights.” In the end the lights were saved, but the vestments surrendered.
Two significant events took place during the first years of John Comper’s incumbency at St John’s. Firstly, a day school
Day school
A day school—as opposed to a boarding school—is an institution where children are given educational instruction during the day and after which children/teens return to their homes...
was built and dedicated to Revd Patrick Cheyne’s forty years association with St John’s. Secondly, in the year 1863 the first sister arrived from St Margaret’s, East Grinstead
Society of Saint Margaret
The Society of Saint Margaret is an order of women in the Anglican Church. The Sisters of St. Margaret were founded in 1855 by Dr. John Mason Neale at Rotherfield, England. As their numbers increased, they moved into their first convent, Saint Margaret's in East Grinstead, Sussex...
, the foundress of St Margaret’s Convent, 17 Spital, Aberdeen (closed in 2003).
The Gallowgate mission
Comper was more interested in the welfare of the poor, and resigned the charge at St John’s in 1870 to spend more time in his new mission he founded located in the Gallowgate slums in AberdeenAberdeen
Aberdeen is Scotland's third most populous city, one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas and the United Kingdom's 25th most populous city, with an official population estimate of ....
. Wright describes the unwholesome scene as follows: “The whole area enjoyed an evil reputation. No one ventured out after dark. It was bad enough making your way to church through wet washings, but you also had to hold your nose to prevent smelling the fish barrows parked along one side of the Gallowgate. Often rats were scavenging in the barrows.” From St Margaret’s emanated the Mission at St Clement’s-on-the-Quay, which eventually became an independent congregation erecting a church on the quayside with money bequeathed by Sir George Reid’s widow, Margaret Best, one of Comper’s ardent admirers.
His work commenced in 1867, and John Comper became the chief motivator in the organisation, eventually raising the Episcopal charge in 1870 dedicated to St Margaret of Scotland. Comper is to be remembered as the first clergyman in Aberdeen to organise a congregation social meeting, which he called a “Refection”. His other memorable project, apart from St Margaret’s and its Convent was his work for Foreign Aid, which banded together many of the Church’s Women’s Organisations in common cause.
A Kenspeckle figure in Aberdeen city and a veteran clergyman of the Aberdeen Diocese, he enjoyed meritorious respect from all classes of the population.
Death
The Revd John Comper died suddenly in the Duthie ParkDuthie Park
Duthie park, situated in Aberdeen, Scotland, by the banks of the River Dee, comprises of land gifted to the council in 1881 by Lady Elizabeth Duthie of Ruthrieston, in memory of her uncle and of her brother...
on Monday 27 July 1903, where he had gone with his wife, Ellen Taylor. Coincidentally, it was the first visit he had made to the park as he had been tempted to enjoy the fine weather Aberdeen was experiencing at that time. The Press & Journal
Press and Journal (Scotland)
The Press and Journal, often called the P&J, is a daily regional newspaper serving the northern counties of Scotland including the cities of Aberdeen and Inverness...
wrote, “He sat in the park and expressed his admiration for all that he saw, saying how surprised he was that the vicinity of Aberdeen contained a place of such varied beauty. He then went to the refreshment room to get some strawberries for his wife and on his return to the bench where she was seated he was observed to stagger and fall. In a short time he was found to be dead. During the morning we understand he had been in his usual health but complained of drowsiness; otherwise his condition had excited no remark. He was never very strong in health, but was able by an annual tour on the Continent to maintain himself in comparative vigour.”
Family
Anthony Symondson, tells the story that thereafter his son Ninian ComperNinian Comper
Sir John Ninian Comper was a Scottish-born architect. He was one of the last of the great Gothic Revival architects, noted for his churches and their furnishings...
, signed all his painted glass windows with a wild strawberry, the leaves and stems entwining the date of execution. The first window to be so signed was his father’s own memorial in St Margaret’s
St Margaret of Scotland, Aberdeen
St Margaret of Scotland — also known as St Margaret's, Gallowgate — is a Scottish Episcopal Church, in Aberdeen, Scotland.-History:The Gallowgate was one of the poorer areas of Aberdeen and in the mid-19th Century consisted of a large area of slums...
, Gallowgate, Aberdeen, in 1908. Mrs Ellen Comper died on 10 June 1908.
John Ninian Comper born in 1864, was to become one of the greatest church architects of the twentieth century, being knighted in 1950 at the age of 84. Ninian's son, Nicholas Comper
Nicholas Comper
Nicholas Comper was an English aviator and aircraft designer, whose most notable success was the 1930s Comper Swift monoplane racer.-Early life:...
, became an aeronautical engineer who designed the Comper Swift
Comper Swift
-See also:-References:*Boughton, Terence. 1963. The Story of The British Light Aeroplane. John Murray*Meaden, Jack & Fillmore, Malcolm. . The Comper Lightplanes. Air-Britain Archive . Air-Britain. ISSN 02624923...
.