Percy Dearmer, was an English priest and liturgist best known as the author of The Parson's Handbook

The Parson's Handbook

The Parson's Handbook is a book by Percy Dearmer, first published in 1899, that was fundamental to the development of liturgy in the Church of England and throughout the Anglican Communion....

, a liturgical manual for Anglican clergy. A lifelong socialist, he was an early advocate of the public ministry of women (but not their ordination to the priesthood) and concerned with social justice

Social justice

Social justice generally refers to the idea of creating a society or institution that is based on the principles of equality and solidarity, that understands and values human rights, and that recognizes the dignity of every human being. The term and modern concept of "social justice" was coined by...

. Dearmer also had a strong influence on the music of the church and, with Ralph Vaughan Williams

Ralph Vaughan Williams

Ralph Vaughan Williams OM was an English composer of symphonies, chamber music, opera, choral music, and film scores. He was also a collector of English folk music and song: this activity both influenced his editorial approach to the English Hymnal, beginning in 1904, in which he included many...

 and Martin Shaw

Martin Shaw (composer)

Martin Edward Fallas Shaw OBE, FRCM, DMus was an English composer, conductor and theatre producer...

, is credited with the revival and spread of traditional and medieval English musical forms.

Education and ordination

Born in Kilburn, Middlesex, to an artistic family—his father, Thomas Dearmer, was an artist and drawing instructor. Dearmer attended Streatham School and Westminster School

Westminster School

The Royal College of St. Peter in Westminster, almost always known as Westminster School, is one of Britain's leading independent schools, with the highest Oxford and Cambridge acceptance rate of any secondary school or college in Britain...

 (1880–1881), before moving on to a boarding school in Switzerland. From 1886 to 1889 he read modern history at Christ Church, Oxford

Christ Church, Oxford

Christ Church or house of Christ, and thus sometimes known as The House), is one of the largest constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England...

, receiving his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1890.

Dearmer was ordained to the diaconate in 1891 and to the priesthood in 1892 at Rochester Cathedral

Rochester Cathedral

Rochester Cathedral, or the Cathedral Church of Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary, is a Norman church in Rochester, Kent. The bishopric is second oldest in England after Canterbury...

. On 26 May of that year, Dearmer married 19 year old Jessie Mabel Prichard White (1872–1915), the daughter of Surgeon-Major William White. She was a writer (known as Mabel Dearmer) of novels and plays. She died in 1915 while serving with an ambulance unit in Serbia.

They had two sons, both of whom served in World War I. The elder, Geoffrey

Geoffrey Dearmer

Geoffrey Dearmer LVO was a British poet. He was the son of Anglican liturgist and hymnologist Percy Dearmer.During World War I, Dearmer was commissioned and served with the London Regiment at Gallipoli and on the Western Front. Many of his poems dealt with the overall brutality of war and...

, lived to the age of 103, one of the oldest surviving war poets. The younger, Christopher, died in 1915 of wounds received in battle.

The Parson's Handbook and vicarage at St Mary's

Dearmer's liturgical leanings were the product of a late Victorian debate among advocates of Ritualism in the Church of England

Church of England

The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...

. Although theoretically in agreement about a return to more Catholic forms of worship, High Churchmen

High church

The term "High Church" refers to beliefs and practices of ecclesiology, liturgy and theology, generally with an emphasis on formality, and resistance to "modernization." Although used in connection with various Christian traditions, the term has traditionally been principally associated with the...

 argued over whether these forms should be appropriated from post-Tridentine Roman Catholic practices or revived from the traditions of a pre-Reformation "English Use

Sarum Rite

The Sarum Rite was a variant of the Roman Rite widely used for the ordering of Christian public worship, including the Mass and the Divine Office...

" rite. Dearmer's views fell very much on the side of the latter.

Active in the burgeoning Alcuin Club

Alcuin Club

The Alcuin Club is an Anglican organization devoted to preserving or restoring church ceremony, arrangement, ornament and practice in an orthodox manner. It was founded in 1897, with its first publication, English Altars by W. H. St. John Hope, appearing in 1899. The Club is dedicated to the Book...

, Dearmer became the spokesman for a movement with the publication his most influential work, The Parson's Handbook. In this book his intention was to establish sound Anglo-Catholic liturgical practices in the native English tradition which were also in full accord with the rites and rubrics of the Book of Common Prayer

Book of Common Prayer

The Book of Common Prayer is the short title of a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion, as well as by the Continuing Anglican, "Anglican realignment" and other Anglican churches. The original book, published in 1549 , in the reign of Edward VI, was a product of the English...

 and the canons

Canon law

Canon law is the body of laws & regulations made or adopted by ecclesiastical authority, for the government of the Christian organization and its members. It is the internal ecclesiastical law governing the Catholic Church , the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox churches, and the Anglican Communion of...

 that govern its use, and therefore safe from attack by Evangelicals who opposed such practices. Such adherence to the letter was considered necessary in an environment where conservatives such as John Kensit

John Kensit

John Kensit was an English religious leader and polemicist.In 1889 he founded the Protestant Truth Society to oppose what he saw as the excessive influence of the Oxford Movement on the Church of England, despite the Public Worship Regulation Act 1874.Kensit died in October 1902, of pneumonia and...

 had been leading demonstrations, interruptions of services and legal battles against practices of Ritualism and sacerdotalism, both of which they saw as "popery".

The Parson's Handbook

The Parson's Handbook

The Parson's Handbook is a book by Percy Dearmer, first published in 1899, that was fundamental to the development of liturgy in the Church of England and throughout the Anglican Communion....

is concerned with general principles of ritual and ceremonial, but the emphasis is squarely on the side of art and beauty in worship. Dearmer states in the introduction that his goal is to help in "remedying the lamentable confusion, lawlessness, and vulgarity which are conspicuous in the Church at this time". What follows is an exhaustive delineation, sparing no detail, of the young priest's ideas on how liturgy can be conducted in a proper Catholic and English manner.

In 1901, after serving four curacies, Dearmer was appointed the third vicar of London church St Mary-the-Virgin, Primrose Hill

Primrose Hill

Primrose Hill is a hill of located on the north side of Regent's Park in London, England, and also the name for the surrounding district. The hill has a clear view of central London to the south-east, as well as Belsize Park and Hampstead to the north...

, where he remained until 1915. He used the church as a sort of practical laboratory for the principles he had outlined, revising the book several times during his tenure.

In 1912 Dearmer was instrumental in founding the Warham Guild, a sort of practical arm of the Alcuin Club / Parson's Handbook movement, to carry out "the making of all the 'Ornaments of the Church and of the Ministers thereof' according to the standard of the Ornaments Rubric, and under fair conditions of labour". It is an indication of the founders' outlook, emphasis and commitment to the English Use that it was named for the last Archbishop of Canterbury before the break with Rome. Dearmer served as lifelong head of the Warham Guild's advisory committee.

Hymnology

Working with renowned composer Ralph Vaughan Williams

Ralph Vaughan Williams

Ralph Vaughan Williams OM was an English composer of symphonies, chamber music, opera, choral music, and film scores. He was also a collector of English folk music and song: this activity both influenced his editorial approach to the English Hymnal, beginning in 1904, in which he included many...

 and as musical editor, Dearmer published The English Hymnal

English Hymnal

The English Hymnal was published in 1906 for the Church of England under the editorship of Percy Dearmer and Ralph Vaughan Williams. The preface to the hymnal began with the statement, "A collection of the best hymns in the English language." Much of the contents was used for the first time at St...

in 1906. He again worked with Vaughan Williams and Martin Shaw

Martin Shaw (composer)

Martin Edward Fallas Shaw OBE, FRCM, DMus was an English composer, conductor and theatre producer...

 to produce Songs of Praise

Songs of Praise (hymnal)

Songs of Praise is a 1925 hymnal compiled by Percy Dearmer, Martin Shaw and Ralph Vaughan Williams. The popular English Hymnal of 1906 was considered too 'High church' by many people, and a new book, on broader lines was indicated. It was initially to be called 'Songs of the Spirit' but in the...

(1926) and The Oxford Book of Carols

Oxford Book of Carols

The Oxford Book of Carols was published in 1928 by Oxford University Press. Its influence derives from its anthologists Percy Dearmer, Martin Shaw and Ralph Vaughan Williams and their choice of carol tunes, provision of new words for old tunes and the continuing reinvigoration of English church...

(1928). These hymnals have been credited with reintroducing many elements of traditional and medieval English music into the Church of England, as well as carrying that influence well beyond the walls of the church.

In 1931 an enlarged edition of Songs of Praise was published. It is notable for the first appearance of the song Morning Has Broken

Morning Has Broken

"Morning Has Broken" is a popular and well-known Christian hymn first published in 1931. It has words by English author Eleanor Farjeon and is set to a traditional Gaelic tune known as "Bunessan" . It is often sung in children's services...

, commissioned from noted children's author Eleanor Farjeon

Eleanor Farjeon

Eleanor Farjeon was an English author of children's stories and plays, poetry, biography, history and satire. Many of her works had charming illustrations by Edward Ardizzone. Some of her correspondence has also been published...

. The song, later popularised by Cat Stevens

Cat Stevens

Yusuf Islam , commonly known by his former stage name Cat Stevens, is an English singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, educator, philanthropist, and prominent convert to Islam....

, was written by Farjeon to be sung with the traditional Gaelic tune Bunessan

Bunessan

Bunessan is a small village on the Ross of Mull in the south of the island of Mull, on the west coast of Scotland...

.

Later years

For the fifteen years following his tenure as vicar at St Mary's, Dearmer served in no official ecclesiastical posts, preferring instead to focus on his writing, volunteerism and effecting social change. During World War I he served as chaplain to the British Red Cross

British Red Cross

The British Red Cross Society is the United Kingdom branch of the worldwide impartial humanitarian organisation the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. The society was formed in 1870, and is a registered charity with over 31,000 volunteers and 2,600 staff. At the heart of their work...

 ambulance unit in Serbia, where his wife died of enteric fever in 1915. In 1916 he worked with the Young Men's Christian Association

YMCA

The Young Men's Christian Association is a worldwide organization of more than 45 million members from 125 national federations affiliated through the World Alliance of YMCAs...

 in France and, in 1916 and 1917, with the Mission of Help in India. Dearmer married his second wife, Nancy Knowles, on August 19, 1916. They had two daughters and a son, Antony, who died in RAF

Royal Air Force

The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...

 service in 1943.

Politically, Dearmer was an avowed socialist, serving as secretary of the Christian Social Union from 1891 to 1912. He underscored these values by including a "Litany of Labour" in his 1930 manual for communicants, The Sanctuary. After being appointed a canon

Canon (priest)

A canon is a priest or minister who is a member of certain bodies of the Christian clergy subject to an ecclesiastical rule ....

 of Westminster Abbey

Westminster Abbey

The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...

 in 1931 he ran a canteen for the unemployed out of it.

In addition to his writings, volunteer efforts and work with the church, Dearmer served as professor of ecclesiastical art at King's College London

King's College London

King's College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the federal University of London. King's has a claim to being the third oldest university in England, having been founded by King George IV and the Duke of Wellington in 1829, and...

 from 1919 until his sudden death of coronary thrombosis on May 29, 1936. His ashes are interred in the Great Cloister at Westminster Abbey.

Works written or edited by Dearmer

• Christian Socialism and Practical Christianity. London: The Clarion, Ltd., 1897.
• The Parson's Handbook. London: Grant Richards, 1899.
• The Cathedral Church of Wells: A Description of Its Fabric and a Brief History of the Episcopal See. London: G. Bell and Sons, 1899.
• The Cathedral Church of Oxford: A Description of Its Fabric and a Brief History of the Episcopal See. London: G. Bell and Sons, 1899.
• The Little Lives of the Saints. London: Wells, Gardner, Darton and Co., 1900.
• Highways and Byways in Normandy. Macmillan, 1900.
• The English Liturgy. 1903.
• The English Hymnal. 1906. (General editor.)
• The Training of a Christian According to the Prayer Book and Canons. London: A.R. Mowbray, 1906.
• Socialism and Christianity. London: The Fabian Society, 1907.
• The Ornaments of the Ministers. London: A.R. Mowbray, 1908.
• Socialism and Religion. London: A.C. Fifield, 1908.
• The Reform of the Poor Law. London: A.R. Mowbray, 1908.
• Body and Soul: An Enquiry into the Effect of Religion on Health. New York: E.P. Dutton, 1909.
• Everyman's History of the English Church. London: Mowbray, 1909.
• Fifty Pictures of Gothic Altars. London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1910.
• The Church and Social Questions. London: A.R. Mowbray, 1910.
• The Prayer Book: What It Is and How We Should Use It. London: A.R. Mowbray, 1910.
• Reunion and Rome. London: A.R. Mowbray, 1911.
• Is "Ritual" Right? London: A.R. Mowbray, 1911.
• The Dragon of Wessex: A Story of the Days of Alfred. London: A.R. Mowbray; Milwaukee: The Young Churchman Co., 1911.
• Everyman's History of the Prayer Book. London: Mowbray, 1912.
• Illustrations of the Liturgy, being Thirteen Drawings of the Celebration of the Holy Communion in a Parish Church, by Clement O. Skilbeck. Milwaukee: The Young Churchman, 1912.
• The English Carol Book (with Martin Shaw). 1913.
• False Gods. London: A.R. Mowbray, 1914.
• Russia and Britain. Oxford University Press, 1915.
• Patriotism and Fellowship. London: Smith, Elder, 1917.
• The Art of Public Worship. Bohlen Lectures, 1919.
• The English Carol Book (with Martin Shaw), 2nd ed. 1919.
• The Power of the Spirit. Oxford University Press, 1919.
• The Communion of Saints. London: A.R. Mowbray, 1919.
• The Church at Prayer and the World Outside. London: James Clarke, 1923.
• Eight Preparations for Communion. London: SPCK, 1923.
• Songs of Praise (with Martin Shaw and Ralph Vaughan Williams). Oxford University Press, 1925.
• The Two Duties of a Christian: For the Use of Enquirers and Teachers. Cambridge: W. Heffer and Sons, 1925.
• The Lord's Prayer and the Sacraments: For the Use of Enquirers and Teachers. Cambridge: W. Heffer and Sons, 1925.
• Belief in God and in Jesus Christ. London: SPCK, 1927.
• The Truth about Fasting: With Special Reference to Fasting Communion. London: Rivingtons, 1928.
• The Sin Obsession. London: E. Benn, 1928.
• The Oxford Book of Carols (with Martin Shaw and Ralph Vaughan Williams). Oxford University Press, 1928.
• The Resurrection, the Spirit, and the Church. Cambridge: W. Heffer, 1928.
• The Legend of Hell: An Examination of the Idea of Everlasting Punishment. London: Cassell, 1929.
• The Communion Service in History. London: Church Assembly, 1929.
• The Eastern Origins of Christian Art and Their Reaction upon History. London: Sampson Low, Marston and Co., 1929.
• The Sanctuary, A Book for Communicants, London: Rivingtons, 1930.
• The Urgency of Church Art: "Spiritual Truth Conveyed by Means of the Outward". London: 1930.
• The Escape from Idolatry. London: Ernest Benn, 1930.
• Some English Altars. Introductory Note by Percy Dearmer. London: Warham Guild, 1930-1944?
• Songs of Praise Enlarged Edition (with Martin Shaw and Ralph Vaughan Williams) Oxford University Press, 1931.
• The Server's Handbook, 3rd ed. Oxford University Press, 1932.
• Christianity and the Crisis. London: Gollancz, 1933.
• Songs of Praise Discussed, A Handbook to the Best-known Hymns and to Others Recently Introduced (with Archibald Jacob) Oxford University Press 1933
• Our National Church. London: Nisbet and Co., 1934.
• Christianity as a New Religion. London: Lindsey Press, 1935.
• Man and His Maker: Science, Religion and the Old Problems. London: SCM Press, 1936.