Henry Parry Liddon : correspondence on church and faith

• Main Author: Orford, Barry Antony
• Published: Bangor University 2000
• Subjects: 100; Anglican
• Online Access: https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.364553

Henry Parry Liddon (1829-90) was one of the outstanding British Anglican Churchmen in the second half of the Nineteenth Century. His greatest contemporary fame was as a preacher, notably in St Paul's Cathedral, but he was also a learned theologian and a distinguished Bampton Lecturer. He was the close friend and biographer of the famous Tractarian leader, E. B. Pusey, as well as being acquainted with most of the leading religious and political figures of his day. However, since Liddon's death little attention has been paid to him. This biographical study examines certain aspects of Liddon's life and career through the medium of his correspondence, the greater part of which has been ignored by scholars. The core material is his letters written over a twenty-six years period to his friend Charles Lindley Wood (1839-1934), Second Viscount Halifax and influential High Church layman. This is supplemented by quotation from letters of Lid~on's to other correspondents, notably those written to the Revd Reginald Porter which are used in Chapter 2 to provide contrast with the letters quoted in the bulk of the thesis. Considerable use is also made of Liddon's private diaries. An introductory chapter sketches Liddon's life and background. The succeeding chapters explore through Liddon's correspondence his approach to theological matters, his attitude to the state of the Church of England in general and his views on that Church's leaders. Particular attention is paid to his opinions on, and participation in, the controversies surrounding the Athanasian Creed, the disestablishment of the Irish Church and attempts to refonn its Prayer Book, and the issue of Ritualism. This last mentioned subject involves examination of the Public Worship Regulation Act and the prosecutions of clergy which followed it. A concluding chapter assesses Liddon as a man, and also his place in the Victorian Church. The study is an original work based on primary sources, many of which have not previously been examined or utilised by writers on the Church of England in the Victorian era.