Lancelot Ridley Phelps (1853 - 1936)

Born 3 Nov 1853 in Sevenoaks, Kent, England

Ancestors

Died 16 Dec 1936 at age 83 in Oxford, Oxfordshire, England

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Biography

Lancelot Ridley Phelps was born in Dartford Kent on 3 Nov 1853 ^[1] and was christened at Ridley on 11 Dec 1853 ^[2]

He ws the youngest child of Thomas Prankerd Phelps (1814-abt.1903) and Laura (Hart Dyke) Phelps (-1900)

The census of 1871 found him aged 17 as a boarder at Charterhouse School ^[3]

In 1881 he was at home with his parents at Ridley Rectory and his occupation as 'Clerk in Holy Orders' and 'Fellow of Oriel College (Oxford) ^[4]

He was Provost of Oriel College, Oxford, from 1914 until 1929 ^[5]

He died at Oxford on 16 Dec 1936 ^{[6] [7]}

The January 1937 edition of The Oriel Record was dedicated to him in The Provost's Notes and in a lengthy obituary:

The Provost's Notes - The Christmas season has been overshadowed for us all by the death of Dr Phelps. Scholar 1871-77, Fellow 1877-1914, Provost 1914-29, Honorary Fellow 1929-36., he had a longer and more intimate connexion with the College than anyone since Hawkins; and his connexion was more complete than that of Hawkins, who was an undergraduate of another College. To all living Orielenses Phelps was the completest epitome of all that the college stands for, and his death will be felt to be the end of an epoch in its history. The letters I have received ^[8] show most clearly - what we all knew already - with what affection he was regarded by many generations of Orielenses. ...His truest monument will be in the hearts of his pupils and friends ^[9]

Obituary 'LRP' 'He was a character carved in the round...and stood out sharp and firm in any company. His striking appearance and distinguished bearing marked him as an outstanding figure, but his true distinction was always in himself. ...he was, in more than a convential sense, the very life and soul of the College. Indeed it is hardly too much to say that for generation after generation of Oriel men, Phelps was the College. His personality was incarnate in it so that Oriel and Phelps were correlative. He did not suffer fools gladly. Moreover, there was always about him - it is perhaps part of what we mean by 'greatness' - a certain sense of distance and austerity, an impression of some depths below the surface which made him formidable to the inexperienced. The S.C.R. was his proper throne-room. There he was magisterial in his touch. Conversation, he held, is a fine art and he knew he could practise it like few others. You used to watch him manoeuvre for his opening, gathering all the cards into his own hands; and then, what was the rigour of the game, what mastership, what brilliance, what sword-play! He was known for his work on the Royal Commission on the Poor Law (of which he was a signaturay). He was an Alderman of the City of Oxford. He remained a cleric of the old-fashioned type, far more lay than clergy are now...a true Pastor with quiet, deep, reticent Christian convictions. He was a lover of life and his finest mastery was in the art of living. Mr 'Greatheart' passed over in the 83rd year of his age, having entered Oriel as an undergraduate during Mr Gladstone's first majority, and having given his whole life to its service. ^[10]

He did not marry and had no issue.

Sources

• Dorothy G Meager, History of Ash and Ridley from Earliest Records to 1957, page 109, https://www.kentarchaeology.org.uk/Research/01/ANR/05/38/b.htm

1. ↑ "England and Wales Birth Registration Index, 1837-2008," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2NCC-DJ5 : 1 October 2014), Lancelot Ridley Phelps, 1853; from "England & Wales Births, 1837-2006," database, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : 2012); citing Birth Registration, Dartford, Kent, England, citing General Register Office, Southport, England.
2. ↑ "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:J32Q-85X : 5 February 2023), Lancelot Ridley Phelps, 1853.
3. ↑ "England and Wales Census, 1871", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VBDK-T8X : 29 June 2022), Launcelot Ridley Phelps, 1871
4. ↑ "England and Wales Census, 1881", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q27W-3YRT : Sun Nov 12 22:21:23 UTC 2023), Entry for Thomas P Phelps and Laure Phelps, 1881.
5. ↑ Wikipedia Contributors, Lancelot Phelps (Priest)https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lancelot_Phelps_(priest)&oldid=966407824, accessed 27 Nov 2023.
6. ↑ "England and Wales, National Index of Wills and Administrations, 1858-1957," , FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QPLX-XTZ3 : 17 September 2018), Lancelot Ridley Phelps, 18 Feb 1937; citing Probate, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom, Her Majesty's Stationery Office, Great Britain.; FHL microfilm
7. ↑ "England and Wales Death Registration Index 1837-2007", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVHL-QNRJ : 3 November 2021), Lancelot R Phelps, 1936.
8. ↑ Letters now in the possession of his great great nephew, Paul Parkin
9. ↑ The Oriel Record, January 1937, Oxford: The Holywell Press, 1937, 157.
10. ↑ The Oriel Record, Jan 1937, Oxford: The Holywell Press, 1937, pp160-166.