Frederick Donaldson (priest)

Frederick Donaldson
Donaldson at a Church League for Women's Suffrage meeting in Brighton in 1913
Born
Frederick Lewis Donaldson

(1860-09-10)10 September 1860
Ladywood
Died7 October 1953(1953-10-07) (aged 93)
Westminster
OccupationPriest
Spouse
Louise Eagleston
​
(m. 1886)​

Frederick Lewis Donaldson (10 September 1860 – 7 October 1953) was an English Anglican priest, most notably Archdeacon of Westminster from 1937 to 1946.

Life

Donaldson was born in Ladywood, Birmingham, England on 10 September 1860 and educated at Christ Church Cathedral School and Merton College, Oxford, graduating B.A. in 1884. He was ordained Deacon in 1884; and Priest in 1885. While Curate at St Nicholas Cole Abbey he married Louise Eagleston: they had two sons and four daughters. After further curacies in Piccadilly Circus and Hammersmith he was appointed Rector of Nailstone. He was Vicar of St Mark's Church, Leicester from 1896 to 1918; and then of Paston until 1924. He was a Canon of Westminster from 1924 to 1951; Sub-Dean, 1944–1951, Steward, 1927–1931, Treasurer, 1931–1951, and Receiver-General, 1938–1951.

Donaldson was a founder member of the Church Socialist League, and chaired the organisation from 1913 until 1916. He was also an early member of the Christian Social Union, sat on the council of the Industrial Christian Fellowship. He was a leader of a march of unemployed workers from Leicester to London, in 1905. In 1913, Donaldson led a deputation of Church of England clergy to the prime minister, H. H. Asquith, demanding women's suffrage. Being passionate about world peace, he was the president of the London Council for the Prevention of War (1927) and chairman of the League of Clergy for Peace (1931–40).

On 1 April 1925, Donaldson in an address as Canon of Westminster Abbey, listed his "seven social evils" as:

  1. Politics without principle.
  2. Wealth without work.
  3. Pleasure without conscience.
  4. Knowledge without character.
  5. Commerce and industry without morality.
  6. Science without humanity.
  7. Worship without sacrifice.

This list was sent to Mahatma Gandhi, who published a similar version in his weekly newspaper Young India on 22 October 1925.

Animal welfare

Donaldson was an opponent of blood sports. In 1927, he was a member of the League for the Prohibition of Cruel Sports Advisory Committee. He was also a vice-president of the League.

Death

Donaldson died in Westminster on 7 October 1953.

References

  1. 1 2 Ecclesiastical News. The Times (London, England), Thursday, Oct 11, 1951; pg. 8; Issue 52129
  2. ↑ Foster, Joseph (1888–1891). "Donaldson, Rev. Frederick Lewis" . Alumni Oxonienses: the Members of the University of Oxford, 1715–1886. Oxford: James Parker – via Wikisource.
  3. ↑ 'Births, Deaths, Marriages and Obituaries' "Jackson's Oxford Journal" (Oxford, England), Saturday, January 16, 1886; Issue 6930
  4. ↑ PREFERMENTS AND APPOINTMENTS Bristol Mercury and Daily Post (Bristol, England), Thursday, February 7, 1895; Issue 14584
  5. ↑ Crockford's Clerical Directory 1929-30 p361 London: Oxford University Press, 1929
  6. ↑ ‘DONALDSON, Rev. Frederic Lewis’, Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2016; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2014; online edn, April 2014 accessed 15 Oct 2017
  7. ↑ "Deaths: Canon Frederic Lewis Donaldson". Report of the Annual Conference of the Labour Party: 38. 1954.
  8. ↑ "Donaldson, Frederick Lewis (1860–1953), Church of England clergyman and Christian socialist | Oxford Dictionary of National Biography". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/47177. Retrieved 10 March 2019. (Subscription, Wikipedia Library access or UK public library membership required.)
  9. ↑ "Evils of World are Outlined". Archived from the original on 2 April 2017.
  10. ↑ The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi (electronic edition), Vol. 33, pp. 133-134. ISBN 8123007353, ISBN 9788123007359 OCLC 655798065
  11. ↑ "The League for the Prohibition of Cruel Sports". Henry S. Salt Society. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
  12. ↑ "League for the Prohibition of Cruel Sports". Henry S. Salt Foundation. 2024. Archived from the original on 21 July 2024.
  13. ↑ "League for the Prohibition of Cruel Sports" (PDF). Cruel Sports. 8 (5): 40. 1934.