William Purcell Witcutt
Encyclopedia
William Purcell Witcutt (c. 1910 - c. 1970s) was a notable British religious minister, folklorist and author.
Witcutt was the son of a Staffordshire
merchant tailor
. He studied law at The University of Birmingham, England, and around 1928 his interest in G.K. Chesterton's anti-industrial theory of Distributism
led him to become a prominent contributor to Chesterton's G. K.'s Weekly
publication, where he was a strong critic of the theory of the Leisure State. His interest in Distributism continued into the 1930s, as evidence by his article "William Morris: distributist" in American Review in 1934 (II, pp. 311-15), and he appears to have been a Distributist at least until around the outbreak of war in 1939. His 46-page pamphlet The Dying Lands: a fifty years' plan for the distressed areas appeared under the imprint of the Distributist League of London in 1937, and offered a radical agrarian solution to the problem of mass unemployment. This line of thought eventually led him into the Roman Catholic church, and on converting to Catholicism
-sometime in the early 1930s - he obtained a dispensation to void the usual two-year probationary period, immediately undertaking a seven-year seminary training at New Oscott
to become a Catholic priest. On graduating he was sent to serve in a slum
parish in nearby Birmingham. He tells in his spiritual autobiography Return to Reality (1954), of how his lecture on The Reformation and the corrupt nature of many medieval Catholic priests inadvertently led to his being 'banished' to serve in the most remote parts of the diocese. He thus became a parish priest in the humble rural town and hinterlands of Leek in North Staffordshire
, and then during the Second World War also served at St. Annes, Wappenbury
in Warwickshire
. He eventually converted back to the Church of England, which was a notable and controversy-stirring move at the time - his re-conversion even merited an article in the American Time magazine ("To Rome & Return", Time 4 July 1955). He then became a high-church Anglican curate in the working class area of East Ham
, London, and later on served as the Rector of Foulness Island a short while after it had been badly affected by the great North Sea Flood.
, including:
During the war he encountered Ukrainian refugeees, and this resulted in the scholarly article "Mortuary Beliefs and Practices Among the Galician Ukrainians", published in Folklore (Vol.57. No. 2., June 1946).
Witcutt is notable for undertaking one of the first applications of the theories of Jung
to visionary English literature. His book Blake, a psychological study examined the works of William Blake
via the theory of Jungian archetypes. Witcutt corresponded with Jung on the matter.
Other works by Witcutt include:
Witcutt also published a psychological study of Keats in The Dublin Review.
Witcutt was the son of a Staffordshire
Staffordshire
Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...
merchant tailor
Tailor
A tailor is a person who makes, repairs, or alters clothing professionally, especially suits and men's clothing.Although the term dates to the thirteenth century, tailor took on its modern sense in the late eighteenth century, and now refers to makers of men's and women's suits, coats, trousers,...
. He studied law at The University of Birmingham, England, and around 1928 his interest in G.K. Chesterton's anti-industrial theory of Distributism
Distributism
Distributism is a third-way economic philosophy formulated by such Catholic thinkers as G. K...
led him to become a prominent contributor to Chesterton's G. K.'s Weekly
G. K.'s Weekly
G. K.'s Weekly was a British publication founded in 1925 by G. K. Chesterton, continuing until his death in 1936. It contained much of his later journalism, and extracts from it were published as The Outline of Sanity....
publication, where he was a strong critic of the theory of the Leisure State. His interest in Distributism continued into the 1930s, as evidence by his article "William Morris: distributist" in American Review in 1934 (II, pp. 311-15), and he appears to have been a Distributist at least until around the outbreak of war in 1939. His 46-page pamphlet The Dying Lands: a fifty years' plan for the distressed areas appeared under the imprint of the Distributist League of London in 1937, and offered a radical agrarian solution to the problem of mass unemployment. This line of thought eventually led him into the Roman Catholic church, and on converting to Catholicism
Catholicism
Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....
-sometime in the early 1930s - he obtained a dispensation to void the usual two-year probationary period, immediately undertaking a seven-year seminary training at New Oscott
New Oscott
New Oscott is an area of Birmingham, England.It was named after the Oscott area of Birmingham, when St. Mary's College, the Roman Catholic seminary, moved from that site to the new one. The original then became known as Old Oscott....
to become a Catholic priest. On graduating he was sent to serve in a slum
Slum
A slum, as defined by United Nations agency UN-HABITAT, is a run-down area of a city characterized by substandard housing and squalor and lacking in tenure security. According to the United Nations, the percentage of urban dwellers living in slums decreased from 47 percent to 37 percent in the...
parish in nearby Birmingham. He tells in his spiritual autobiography Return to Reality (1954), of how his lecture on The Reformation and the corrupt nature of many medieval Catholic priests inadvertently led to his being 'banished' to serve in the most remote parts of the diocese. He thus became a parish priest in the humble rural town and hinterlands of Leek in North Staffordshire
North Staffordshire
North Staffordshire describes an area of Staffordshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It contains the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire Moorlands and the City of Stoke-on-Trent. The Stoke and Newcastle areas make up The Potteries Urban Area, whilst the Moorlands are largely...
, and then during the Second World War also served at St. Annes, Wappenbury
Wappenbury
Wappenbury is a village and civil parish in the English county of Warwickshire.Located on the north bank of the River Leam Wappenbury is almost entirely inside the ramparts of an Iron Age hill fort. The nearest town is Leamington Spa, some four miles to the south west of Wappenbury. During the...
in Warwickshire
Warwickshire
Warwickshire is a landlocked non-metropolitan county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, although the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare...
. He eventually converted back to the Church of England, which was a notable and controversy-stirring move at the time - his re-conversion even merited an article in the American Time magazine ("To Rome & Return", Time 4 July 1955). He then became a high-church Anglican curate in the working class area of East Ham
East Ham
East Ham is a suburban district of London, England, and part of the London Borough of Newham. It is a built-up district located 8 miles east-northeast of Charing Cross...
, London, and later on served as the Rector of Foulness Island a short while after it had been badly affected by the great North Sea Flood.
Works
During the war Witcutt wrote up and published his notes on folklore in the fringe areas of the West MidlandsWest Midlands (county)
The West Midlands is a metropolitan county in western central England with a 2009 estimated population of 2,638,700. It came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972, formed from parts of Staffordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire. The...
, including:
- "Notes on Staffordshire Folklore" (Folklore, Vol.53, No.2, June 1942, pp. 126–127);
- "The Horsley Legend" (Folklore, Vol.55, No.2, June 1944, pp. 73–75);
- "The Black Dog" (Folklore, Vol.53, 1942, p. 167).
During the war he encountered Ukrainian refugeees, and this resulted in the scholarly article "Mortuary Beliefs and Practices Among the Galician Ukrainians", published in Folklore (Vol.57. No. 2., June 1946).
Witcutt is notable for undertaking one of the first applications of the theories of Jung
Jung
Carl Jung was a Swiss psychiatrist, an influential thinker and the founder of analytical psychology.Jung may also refer to:* Jung * JUNG, Java Universal Network/Graph Framework-See also:...
to visionary English literature. His book Blake, a psychological study examined the works of William Blake
William Blake
William Blake was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his lifetime, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of both the poetry and visual arts of the Romantic Age...
via the theory of Jungian archetypes. Witcutt corresponded with Jung on the matter.
Other works by Witcutt include:
- Catholic Thought And Modern Psychology;
- Child in Paradise (a study of the role of fantasy in childhood);
- an early critical study of D.H. Lawrence, The Cult of D.H. Lawrence.
Witcutt also published a psychological study of Keats in The Dublin Review.
External links
- W.P. Witcutt's book Blake : a Psychological Study is available on Archive.org
- "Valley of the Phantoms". This is Witcutt's short personal account of discovering the folklore of North Staffordshire.
- "To Rome & Return" Time magazine article on Witcutt, 4 July 1955.