Percy Dearmer
27 February 1867—29 May 1936
PERCY DEARMER, D.D., was educated at Westminster School, abroad, and at Christ Church, Oxford, and from 1901 to 1915 was vicar of St. Mary the Virgin, Primrose Hill. He was secretary of the London branch of the Christian Social Union, 1891–1912, and is chairman of the League of Arts. After much service abroad during the War, he became in 1919 Professor of Ecclesiastical Art in King’s College, London, and Lecturer in Art, and in 1931 canon of Westminster. Among his publications are: The Parson’s Handbook; The Sanctuary; Body and Soul; Highways and Byways in Normandy; The English Carol Book (with Martin Shaw); The Art of Public Worship; The Power of the Spirit; The Legend of Hell. He was secretary of the Committee that prepared the English Hymnal, and acted as editor of that epoch-making book; he edited also Songs of Praise (1925 and 1931), with the cooperation, in the music, of R. Vaughan Williams and Martin Shaw, and the present handbook.
by PERCY DEARMER
Songs of Praise Discussed (1933)
DR. PERCY DEARMER, Canon of Westminster Abbey and author, died suddenly in London last night. Canon Donaldson said today that Dr. Dearmer had had heart trouble. “He was ill from time to time, but in the intervening periods he seemed to be quite all right,” said Canon Donaldson. “The end came quite suddenly. I understand that Canon Dearmer was found sitting in his chair, probably by one of the maids. Mrs. Dearmer and her daughter, who were at Oxford, were at once summoned.”
Dr. Dearmer, Canon of Westminster since 1931, was 69, and had been a leading personality in the Church of England for many years. A learned theologian as well as an authority on art, music, and languages, he had written more than 50 books on such diverse subjects as carols and hymns, the lives of the saints, Gothic architecture, and Russian literature.
Always an outspoken preacher, he did not hesitate to repeat from the pulpit in Westminster Abbey last year Kitchener’s phrase, “a damned lie,” in reference to the suggestion that General Gordon, of Khartum, was a brandy drinker. That the Bible was the worst-printed book in the world, was one of Dr. Dearmer’s sayings. Another was that if a person were ill in pain without hope of recovery, it would be better to end that person’s life peacefully and painlessly. A few years ago he preached a sermon in Westminster Abbey advocating birth control, and in 1931 he criticised base films as a peril to youth. Public houses should be open, and pleasant places, where refreshments of all kinds could be obtained, he said in another Abbey sermon. “The public house cannot be abolished, but it can be reformed,” he explained. He attacked sweepstakes as a method of raising money for hospitals.
With Dr. Maude Royden he started services which attracted large congregations at the Guildhouse, Eccleston-square, from 1920 to 1924. He was a recognized authority on modern social questions.
His church career was centred in London, where he was born. He was educated at Westminster School, Oxford University, and abroad, and after holding several London curacies from 1891 to 1901, became Vicar of St. Mary’s, Primrose Hill, where he remained until 1915. Then he went to Serbia as chaplain to the British Red Cross, being decorated with the Serbian Red Cross. Afterwards he took part in Y.M.C.A. work in France and India and visited Japan and the United States towards the end of the war.
In 1919, he became lecturer in art and Professor of Ecclesiastical Art at King’s College, London, and occupied these posts at his death. After his long connection with the Guildhouse he became attached to Holy Trinity Sloane-square, from 1924–1930, and later to Chelsea Parish Church until he went to Westminster. Dr. Dearmer’s first wife, formerly Miss Mabel White, died in Serbia in 1915. He married in 1916, Miss Nancy Knowles, of Bolton.
To many who knew little of his personal mission, Dr. Dearmer will be remembered for his work in the production of modern hymn books. In 1906 he edited the English Hymnal, now largely used by churches all over the world, in which several of his own compositions were included. His musical editorship also included the selection of hymns suitable for singing by children.
Dr. Dearmer played an active part in instituting the Two Minutes’ Silence on Armistice Day. It is understood that he mentioned the matter to a member of the Government, and it was later carried into effect.
Evening Standard
London, 30 May 1936
Featured Hymns:
He who would valiant be
Let all mortal flesh keep silence
see also:
Collections of Hymns:
The English Hymnal (1906, rev. 1933)
Songs of Praise
1st ed. (1925)
Enlarged (1931)
Discussed (1933)
Oxford Book of Carols (1928)
Additional Works:
The Parson’s Handbook (1899; 12 eds.): Archive.org
Archives & Manuscripts:
British Library, Archives & Manuscripts: https://www.bl.uk/
Church of England Record Centre (Lambeth Palace Library): https://lambethpalacelibrary.org/
Oxford University Press: https://global.oup.com/uk/archives/index.html
British National Archives: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/c/F31206
Related Resources:
Mabel Dearmer, Letters from a Field Hospital (1915): Archive.org
Nan Dearmer, The Life of Percy Dearmer (London: Jonathan Cape, 1940).
Erik Routley, “Percy Dearmer, Hymnologist,” HSGBI Bulletin, vol. 6, no. 9 (Winter 1967), pp. 169–186: Website
Donald Gray, Percy Dearmer, A Parson’s Pilgrimage (Norwich: Canterbury Press, 2000).
Alan Luff, The Wit and Wisdom of Percy Dearmer, 1867–1936, Hymn Society Occasional Paper, Second Series, No. 7 (HSGBI, 2006).
F.R. Southwell, F.R. Barry & Donald Gray, “Percy Dearmer (1867–1936),” Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (23 Sept. 2004): ODNB
“Percy Dearmer,” St. Mary’s Primrose Hill, London: https://www.stmarysprimrosehill.com/percy-dearmer
J.R. Watson, “Percy Dearmer,” Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnology: http://www.hymnology.co.uk/p/percy-dearmer
“Percy Dearmer,” Hymnary.org: https://hymnary.org/person/Dearmer_P