FAMOUS RECTOR.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 274, 18 November 1936, Page 3

FAMOUS RECTOR.

CANON E. S. SAVAGE. ARRIVAL BY RANGITATA. A DISTINGUISHED CAREER. "As honorary chaplain to the Butchers' Company, Smithfield, London, I see daily thousands of carcases of Canterbury lamb. I have now come to New Zealand to see more Canterbury lamb —but on your pastures." This was one of the reasons given on the Rangitata this morning by Canon Edwin Sidney Savage, rector of St. Bartholomew the Great, Smithfield, for making a holiday visit to the Dominion. Canon Savage said as a rule he spent the English winter in Switzerland, but he had decided this year to journey to New Zealand. The length of his stay is indefinite, but he plans to see all he can. of New Zealand and, in particular, to visit sheep stations. This is Canon Savage's first visit prop'er to New Zealand, although he pr.ssed through Auckland some years ago when travelling from Vancouver to Australia. He had seen a good deal of station life in Australia and was proud of the fact that he had assisted to dip 10,000 sheep on a friend's station in the Commonwealth. Canon Savage's vigour and energy belies his age, 74 years. A distinguished and varied career has been the lot of Canon Savage. In addition to a noted ecclesiastical life, he did valuable travelling work during and after the Great War, and is the author of several publications. He travelled in war work through France, Italy, Salonika and other war zones, and through the United States, Canada, South America and South Africa for the Serbian Red Cross and on behalf of the orphans of Serbian priests. Notable Decorations. Canon Savage was also commissioner for the Y.M.C.A. in the Mediterranean, and was a member of the International Commission to report on the Bulgarian atrocities. He was created, a major in the Royal Serbian Army by King Peter. Among his decorations are the Order of the Golden Cross and the Double Chain by the Holy Orthodox Church. He is the author of "Record of Hexham Abbey" and "Rahere: Yesterday and Today," and has contributed to many magazines of standing. His hobbies include ski-ing, golf and motoring. Besides being honorary chaplain to the Butchers' Company, he is honorary chaplain to the Makers of Playing Cards Company. Rector of St. Bartholomew the Great since 1929, Canon Savage spoke with great pride of that great church, the oldest parish church in London and one of the glories of English architecture. The church was founded by King Henry I. in 1120, and a good deal of money had been spent on its restoration. Canon Savage recalled that during the war the parish suffered considerably from Zeppelin raids. As the post office was on one side of the church and the Smithfield market on the other, the parish had been bombed. Some of his parishioners had been killed by the bombs and 1400 windows had been broken in the adjacent St. Bartholomew's Hospital. The explosions had also weakened the stability of the grand Norman architecture.

The Storied Past. Ravages by the death watch beetle had necessitated further renovations to the church. He mentioned that the house ill which he lived had been condemned seven years ago, but had been renovated, and was now one of the moot beautiful little buildings in London. Dipping into the storied past, Canon Savage recalled that up until about 1700 the Cloth .Fair, the oldest fair in England, had been held at St. Bartholomew's.

From IS9S to 191S Canon Savage was rector of Hexham Abbey, and he spoke of the restoration work he ha-J effected there and of the rich history of the Abbey. St. Wilfrid, the greatest ccclesiast the English church had known, had been bishop and abbot there, as had Cuthbert, "the sweetest faint." The Venerable Bede, of Jarrow, had also been ordained there.

Canon Savage left Auckland to-day for Rotorua, where he will spend some time fishing.