ST. MICHAEL'S, CHRISTCHURCH.

Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 13719, 28 April 1910, Page 2

ST. MICHAEL'S, CHRISTCHURCH.

THE NEW VICAR

(from otto own correspoxdest.)

LONDON, March 18

The gentleman selected by the Bishop cf London to succeed Bishop Averill in the ricarship of St. Cliristchurch, is the Rer. Harry Danvin Burton. Hie parkli is to be congratulated in securing a most suitable head. Mr Burton is by nature an organiser and a worker. In the course of the next two j months he will relino.uish the duties of Diocesan Missioner of St. Albans, which he has held since 1892. Ho will leave behind him there a striking monument ! to tho hard work he has achieved in' the diocese. Educated at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, and in theology at Lichfield College, Mr Burton was ordained deacon in 1881 (in which year he became curate of Alrewas, Lichfield), and priest in 188*2. From 1881-3 he was | curate of St. James's, "vVcdnesbury, : from tho latter year to 1886 of Chelms- j ford, Essex. Then he came to St. j James's, Enfield Highway, north London, where he wa.s also chaplain of the j Royal Small Arms Factory. Three ! years later he became curate of Carshalton, in Surrey, a position ho held until being appointed diocesan missioner in St. Albans in 1892. The new field gave him scope for his great energy. In addition to carrying out the routine duties of the mission, he set to work to organise a new rairish in tho northerji part of the old-fashioned town of St. Albans. With a population of about 2600 to draw from, the parish of St. Saviour's' is now thoroughly established. A fine new church and vicarage have been built. From 1895 to the end of last year about £1,"i,.*50a was raised in the mri&h for the building fund, more than" that sum having been expended in the erection of the church. Mr Burton was licensed to officiate in his new parish in 1897, and in 1905 lie was appointed wrmanent curate. It ,is a splendid * evidence of his organising ability, not merely in tho church itself, but also in the various activities of the congregation. There are a Mothers' Union, a branch oi the Girls' Friendly Society, a Church of England Men's Society," guilds, rarish nursing organisa- : tion, Sunday schools, and district visitors. Typical of the character of tho work donein the parish is tho laundry, which stands on a section close to the church. This was established about five years asjo, as a means of regenerating unfortunate girls. It is not a home in tho accented sense. The girls are paid wages "for their work, but they "live in"" and are somewhat more strictly su_ervisod than would be the case but for their records. Tho laundry is now paving its way. In 1897 Mr Burton was chaplain to tho Bishop of Colchester. A rifle and bandoliers recall tho <lays he spent in South Africa during tho war, in which he served as Chaplain to tho Forces. He returned to the veldt a year or two later on a special mission, and gained there a knowledge of the open life which will doubtless give him some useful preconceptions of the time before him in New Zealand.

In arroearance Mt Burton is not unlike the "new Archbishop of York, whose pioneering character he also enjoys in a marked degree. „ Tall, spare of frame, dark and cleanshaven, Mr Burton's appearance Is suggestive of energy and hard work. Though so actively engaged since his student days, he has managed to find some timo for literature. He was the joint author in 1890 of "Paul Nugent," a book which ho followed up with "No Compromise" in 1891, and "Led On" in 1894. Ho has a family of six daughters, tho eldest of whom is studying at Oxford, whore she expects to graduate this year.