John Percival (bishop)
Encyclopedia
Clifton College
Clifton College is a co-educational independent school in Clifton, Bristol, England, founded in 1862. In its early years it was notable for emphasising science in the curriculum, and for being less concerned with social elitism, e.g. by admitting day-boys on equal terms and providing a dedicated...
, where he made his reptutation as a great educator. In his 17 years at Clifton numbers rose from 62 to 680. He accepted the Presidency of Trinity College, Oxford
Trinity College, Oxford
The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity in the University of Oxford, of the foundation of Sir Thomas Pope , or Trinity College for short, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It stands on Broad Street, next door to Balliol College and Blackwells bookshop,...
to recover from his exhaustive years at Clifton. It was from Trinity that he went to Rugby to become Headmaster of Rugby School
Rugby School
Rugby School is a co-educational day and boarding school located in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire, England. It is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain.-History:...
before becoming Bishop of Hereford
Bishop of Hereford
The Bishop of Hereford is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Hereford in the Province of Canterbury.The see is in the City of Hereford where the seat is located at the Cathedral Church of Saint Mary and Saint Ethelbert which was founded as a cathedral in 676.The Bishop's residence is...
.
Early life
Percival was born in Brough SowerbyBrough Sowerby
Brough Sowerby is a village and civil parish in the Eden district of Cumbria, England. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 127. The village is near the River Belah....
, near Kirkby Stephen
Kirkby Stephen
Kirkby Stephen is a civil parish and small market town in Cumbria, in North West England which historically, is part of Westmorland. The town is located on the A685, surrounded by sparsely populated hill country, and about from the two nearest larger towns, Kendal and Penrith...
, Westmorland
Westmorland
Westmorland is an area of North West England and one of the 39 historic counties of England. It formed an administrative county from 1889 to 1974, after which the entirety of the county was absorbed into the new county of Cumbria.-Early history:...
, 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...
, and was brought up on his uncle's farm after the death of his mother when he was very young. He was educated at Appleby
Appleby-in-Westmorland
Appleby-in-Westmorland is a town and civil parish in Cumbria, in North West England. It is situated within a loop of the River Eden and has a population of approximately 2,500. It is in the historic county of Westmorland, of which it was the county town. The town's name was simply Appleby, until...
grammar school
Grammar school
A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and some other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching classical languages but more recently an academically-oriented secondary school.The original purpose of mediaeval...
, before winning a scholarship to The Queen's College, Oxford
The Queen's College, Oxford
The Queen's College, founded 1341, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Queen's is centrally situated on the High Street, and is renowned for its 18th-century architecture...
in 1854. He obtained first-class degrees in classics
Literae Humaniores
Literae Humaniores is the name given to an undergraduate course focused on Classics at Oxford and some other universities.The Latin name means literally "more humane letters", but is perhaps better rendered as "Advanced Studies", since humaniores has the sense of "more refined" or "more learned",...
and mathematics and was elected to a fellowship by the college in 1858. Recuperating from overwork in Pau, France in the following winter, he met Louisa Holland, whom he married in 1862. Together they had eight children, six of whom survived to adulthood. The most notable of their children was Launcelot Jefferson Percival
Launcelot Percival
Launcelot Jefferson Percival KVCO was an Anglican priest who in addition to various parish posts served in the Ecclesiastical Households of Queen Victoria, King Edward VII, King George V, King Edward VIII and King George VI....
who was an international rugby player, and later Deputy Clerk of the Closet
Deputy Clerk of the Closet
The Deputy Clerk of the Closet is the Domestic Chaplain to the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. The office was created in 1677. Since 1931, the Deputy Clerk is also the sub-dean of the Chapel Royal...
to King George VI
George VI of the United Kingdom
George VI was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death...
.
Career in education
He was ordained deacon in 1860 and was offered a position as a master at Rugby SchoolRugby School
Rugby School is a co-educational day and boarding school located in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire, England. It is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain.-History:...
by the headmaster, Frederick Temple
Frederick Temple
Frederick Temple was an English academic, teacher, churchman and Archbishop of Canterbury from 1896 until his death.-Early life:...
. In 1862, Percival was appointed the first headmaster of Clifton College
Clifton College
Clifton College is a co-educational independent school in Clifton, Bristol, England, founded in 1862. In its early years it was notable for emphasising science in the curriculum, and for being less concerned with social elitism, e.g. by admitting day-boys on equal terms and providing a dedicated...
in Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
, on Temple's recommendation. Percival made this new school into a leading public school and he was also involved with other educational work in the city, helping to found Clifton High School for Girls
Clifton High School (Bristol)
Clifton High School is an independent school in Clifton, Bristol, England, founded as Clifton High School for Girls in 1877 by visionaries including John Percival, the first Headmaster of Clifton College...
and University College, Bristol
University of Bristol
The University of Bristol is a public research university located in Bristol, United Kingdom. One of the so-called "red brick" universities, it received its Royal Charter in 1909, although its predecessor institution, University College, Bristol, had been in existence since 1876.The University is...
(both established in 1877).
Percival became President of Trinity College, Oxford
Trinity College, Oxford
The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity in the University of Oxford, of the foundation of Sir Thomas Pope , or Trinity College for short, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It stands on Broad Street, next door to Balliol College and Blackwells bookshop,...
in January 1879. Although he was not always happy as a college head, he was involved in the wider work of the university, chairing the committee that established Somerville Hall
Somerville College, Oxford
Somerville College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England, and was one of the first women's colleges to be founded there...
in 1879 and promoting the university's adult education work.
In May 1887, Percival became headmaster of Rugby School
Rugby School
Rugby School is a co-educational day and boarding school located in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire, England. It is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain.-History:...
. During his time as headmaster, he pursued a vigorous moral crusade. His leadership soon improved the prestige of the school. He attacked "idleness" and "loafing" and, concerned about "impurity", insisted that boys' football shorts should be worn below the knee and secured with elastic. He acquired the nickname
Nickname
A nickname is "a usually familiar or humorous but sometimes pointed or cruel name given to a person or place, as a supposedly appropriate replacement for or addition to the proper name.", or a name similar in origin and pronunciation from the original name....
"Percival of the knees" as a result.
In 1888, Percival's appointment of Marie Bethell Beauclerc
Marie Bethell Beauclerc
Marie Bethell Beauclerc was a pioneer in the teaching of Pitman's shorthand and typing in Birmingham, England. In 1888 she was the first woman to be appointed as a teacher in an English boys' public school. The school was Rugby...
to teach shorthand to classes of one hundred boys was the first appointment of a female teacher in an English boys' public school and the first time shorthand had been taught in any such school.
Bishop of Hereford
Lord RoseberyArchibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery
Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery, KG, PC was a British Liberal statesman and Prime Minister. Between the death of his father, in 1851, and the death of his grandfather, the 4th Earl, in 1868, he was known by the courtesy title of Lord Dalmeny.Rosebery was a Liberal Imperialist who...
, the Prime Minister, nominated Percival to be Bishop of Hereford
Bishop of Hereford
The Bishop of Hereford is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Hereford in the Province of Canterbury.The see is in the City of Hereford where the seat is located at the Cathedral Church of Saint Mary and Saint Ethelbert which was founded as a cathedral in 676.The Bishop's residence is...
in January 1895. Whilst Queen Victoria was opposed to the idea, since Percival was known to favour the disestablishment of the Church in Wales
Church in Wales
The Church in Wales is the Anglican church in Wales, composed of six dioceses.As with the primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church, the Archbishop of Wales serves concurrently as one of the six diocesan bishops. The current archbishop is Barry Morgan, the Bishop of Llandaff.In contrast to the...
, Rosebery prevailed. The Congé d'élire
Congé d'élire
Congé d'Elire a licence from the Crown in England issued under the great seal to the dean and chapter of the cathedral church of the diocese, authorizing them to elect a bishop or archbishop, as the case may be, upon the vacancy of any episcopal or archi-episcopal see in England.-History and...
authorising Percival's appointment passed the Great Seal of the Realm
Great Seal of the Realm
The Great Seal of the Realm or Great Seal of the United Kingdom is a seal that is used to symbolise the Sovereign's approval of important state documents...
on 18 February 1895.
Percival's time in Hereford was affected by the death of his wife in 1896, although he remarried in 1899. He had difficulties in administering the large rural diocese and his radical political views were often unpopular. Graham Neville characterises him as a 'Low-church Political Liberal'; in 1901 he publicly criticised the conditions and loss of life in the Concentration Camps of the Second Boer War
Second Boer War
The Second Boer War was fought from 11 October 1899 until 31 May 1902 between the British Empire and the Afrikaans-speaking Dutch settlers of two independent Boer republics, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State...
. He attracted criticism (including an excommunication by Frank Weston, the bishop of Zanzibar) when he invited nonconformists to take holy communion at Hereford Cathedral
Hereford Cathedral
The current Hereford Cathedral, located at Hereford in England, dates from 1079. Its most famous treasure is Mappa Mundi, a mediæval map of the world dating from the 13th century. The cathedral is a Grade I listed building.-Origins:...
to mark the coronation
Coronation of the British monarch
The coronation of the British monarch is a ceremony in which the monarch of the United Kingdom is formally crowned and invested with regalia...
of George V
George V of the United Kingdom
George V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 through the First World War until his death in 1936....
. He had more success on a national level, championing the cause of adult education in particular – he chaired the first meeting of the Workers' Educational Association
Workers' Educational Association
The Workers’ Educational Association seeks to provide access to education and lifelong learning for adults from all backgrounds, and in particular those who have previously missed out on education. The International Federation of Workers Education Associations has consultative status to UNESCO...
in 1903. Percival hoped for the Archbishopric of York
Archbishop of York
The Archbishop of York is a high-ranking cleric in the Church of England, second only to the Archbishop of Canterbury. He is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of York and metropolitan of the Province of York, which covers the northern portion of England as well as the Isle of Man...
; indeed felt that it had been promised him, but was disappointed when Cosmo Gordon Lang was given the post in 1909.
He retired to Oxford in 1917 and died the following year. He was buried in the chapel crypt of Clifton College.
A house (internal division) of Cardiff High School for Boys was named in his honour.