STRONG CLERICAL TRADITION

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29228, 11 June 1960, Page 15

STRONG CLERICAL TRADITION

Eighth Generation In Holy Orders

“The Press" Special Service WELLINGTON. June 10. The vicar-elect of St. Mark’s Church, Wellington, the Rev. Matthew Calder, bears an unusual distinction in that he is the eighth generation of his family to be ordained priest in the Church of England. Families with a strong clerical tradition are not uncommon in England, but eight generations are believed to constitute a record in New Zealand.

The first of the family to take Holy Orders was ordained about 1750, and the line was extended to New Zealand in 1875 by the arrival of Mr Calder’s grandfather, Archdeacon William Calder, who was for 35 years vicar of Ponsonby, and for many years Archdeacon of Auckland. His son, the new vicar’s father, was the Rev. Jasper Calder, MB.E., who was Auckland’s City Missioner.

The Rev. Matthew Calder was educated at King’s College, Auckland, and pursued his theological studies in Australia. He is a graduate of the Australian College of Theology. After curacies at Te Awamutu, and St. John’s Cathedral, Napier, Mr Calder was vicar pf Taradale for five years transferring to Waipawa in 1949.