Vicars of Thursley
Updated: Aug 17
When preparing for the Wedding Belles exhibition (see separate entry) in 2008, this list of the vicars of St Michael and All Angels was compiled to coincide with the dates covered by the exhibition.
To this distinguished list must be added:
2010 John Jeremy Page
2020 Hannah Thérèse Moore
Work in progress, so this is just the beginning of entries about our vicars:
John Flutter Chandler (1815 - 1837)
The Reverend John Flutter Chandler (1762–1837) was an English clergyman who served as the long-standing vicar of Witley in Surrey. He lived at Witley Manor and was the father of the noted hymn writer and clergyman John Chandler.
John Chandler (1837 - 1852)
John Chandler (16 June 1806 – 1 July 1876) was an English clergyman and translator of Latin hymns, and the compiler of The Hymns of the Primitive Church. He was born at Witley Manor near Godalming in Surrey, where his father (John Flutter Chandler, died 1837) was the vicar of Witley. Educated at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, he obtained his BA in 1827 and MA in 1830. He became curate of Witley and succeeded his father as vicar in 1839, remaining there until his death. He married Caroline Mary Brownlow in 1841.
William Francklin (1852 - 1857)
Henry Brancker, 1857 - 1886
The Reverend Henry Brancker was born in Lancashire in 1817 and died, aged 90, in February 1908. He donated three bells to All Saints’ in 1892 and, in 1895, gave the pulpit as a thank offering for his Golden Wedding. When his wife died in 1916 she left a legacy to the church. The Rev. Brancker was one time Vicar of Thursley in Surrey, but lived in retirement at 92, Hill Road, Wimbledon. On his death he was interred in the churchyard of S. Michael’s & All Angels, Thursley. His wife Ellen is buried with him.
Revd Henry Brancker and Mrs Brancker
In 1868, the new vicar, Reverend Henry Brancker, commissioned the construction of a Teacher’s Residence, currently the office and caretaker’s flat, along with a slight extension of the classrooms. He used the services of a well-known local architect to design it, John Wornham Penfold who is now best remembered as the designer in 1866 of the original hexagonal post box, better known as “The Penfold”. For his work, he received £17.10 and the total cost of building the master’s residence came to £364.90. Throughout his life Penfold regularly returned to his native Haslemere. He surveyed the local area, rebuilt and expanded Haslemere parish church and surrounds, and designed other local buildings. Amongst them our village hall in 1866 and also part of our church of St Michael in 1883. (A copy of his work can be seen in the book “Witley and Thursley Parish Churches”).
Francis Harcourt Gooch, 1886-1901
Alfred Perceval Pott 1901 - 1907
Edgar Torr Hudson, 1907 - 1914
In 1911, Edgar T. Hudson, vicar of Thursley, applied for a grant from the National Society to enlarge the school. The society sent H. W. Burrows, its own architect, to work on the project. Following his survey, it was strongly recommended to carry out some structural alterations to bring the building up to modern standards. His plans included a new classroom for 40 children (probably the North Hall), a new class for girls and infants, rebuilding or altering the offices, the addition of dormer windows in the large school and a better system of ventilation. The cost of the alterations was estimated at £465 and Edgar Hudson managed to raise some of the money through a fund scheme carried out in the parish. The school was already being used for some social activities, but with an enlarged room it became a better place for parochial gatherings such as choir practices, concerts, plays, meetings, and so on. Throughout the years, the school served as a place for education and a place to bring the community together through its social events. After the school closed in 1959 it was decided to use the building as a community hall and money was raised by selling The Institute (now Prospect Cottage) and the site next to the Three Horseshoes Pub on which stood the old wooden village hall.
Charles Kaye Watson, 1914 - 1918
C K Watson was vicar of Thursley throughout the First World War. Here is a letter to parishioners that was in the Parish Magazine:
Addison James Wheeler, 1925 - 1932
From Durham University
The Addison Wheeler Fellowships are funded by a bequest from Addison James Wheeler, who died in 1967 at the age of eighty-five. Having read Theology at Durham University, Wheeler became a schoolmaster and afterwards took Holy Orders. Ill health prevented him from achieving his ambition of a career in scientific research. During his lifetime this remarkable man devoted himself to building up sufficient capital to support young scholars, whom he hoped would be able to make a significant contribution to knowledge that he himself had been unable to achieve.
As reported above, the Vicarage suffered a terrible fire in 1930. Unfortunately some church records were destroyed in the blaze as the vicar had taken them home having removed them from the church safe. Revd Wheeler was responsible for uncovering the 12th Century sedile (a group of stone seats for clergy in the south chancel wall of a church, usually three in number and often canopied and decorated, OED) in the church and for discovering in 1927 the Saxon windows in the chancel. After the fire, the Revd Wheeler bought the Haybarn field at Smallbrook Farm and converted a yard and barn used for the cattle and known as "The Hovel" into a bungalow, which then got rebuilt by Paul Wedge. Sadly, the Revd Wheeler could not stay due to his asthma induced by the cattle. He had to sell and move away. He and his wife divorced and he left the ministry. Mary Bennett said that he ran off with his ward. He was vicar of Thursley from 1925 - 1932.
H Gordon French, 1932-1959
Dedication of Mothers' Union Banner
Memories of H Gordon French
Kenneth Mathews, 1968 -1977
This memoir of Revd A K Mathews, OBE, DSC, was based largely on an obituary in The Daily Telegraph and an article in the Thursley Parish Magazine of February 1993. It also appears in The Lives of the People of Thursley, published by the History of Thursley Society, which can be found on this website. Not mentioned in the article is that he was the progenitor of the Thursley Harvest Supper in 1972 which has recently been resurrected.
The complete article can be downloaded from this pdf:
A John Stephens, 1977 - 1983
From the Church Times:
STEPHENS. — On 13 October, the Revd (Archibald) John Stephens: CMS Missionary (1950-52); Manager and Chaplain of Ado-Ekiti Hospital (1950-55); Priest-in-Charge of CMS Training Centre, Akure (1955-56); E.T.C., St John’s College, Owo (1956-59); Principal of Bishop Phillips Hall, Owo (1958-60); Hon. Can of St Stephen’s Cathedral, Ondo-Benin (1957-71); Assistant Curate, of Christ Church and St Mary, Swindon (1968-70); Hon. Canon of Owerri since 1971; Curate-in-Charge of Ash Vale Conventional District (1971-72); Vicar of St Mary’s, Ash Vale (1972-77); Priest-in-Charge of Thursley (1977-82); aged 100.
Order of Service for the Revd Stevens is complete in the pdf below:
William David Lang 1992 - 2010
John Jeremy Page 2010-2020
Hannah Thérèse Moore 2020 -
Here is a complete list of Rectors, Vicars and Patrons from a photograph taken in the Church:
