SOME ENGLISH PARSONS

Evening Star, Issue 23123, 24 November 1938, Page 1

SOME ENGLISH PARSONS

THEIR GREAT SACRIFICES “ Pittance Parsons,” who must keep up appearances at all costs, even to the point of secret starvation, have a staunch champion in the Marchioness of Townsend, of Raynham Hall, Fakenham, Norfolk. ‘‘ Poverty among country parsons is far greater than anyone realises,” she said to a ‘ Sunday Express ’ representative. “ Their position is all the harder because they must keep their plight a secret, and actually give away wbat little money they have to spare to the poor of the parish. “ On one occasion I paid the fine of a parson’s son who was caught poaching. His family was without any food in the house. The boy had gone out, at his wits’ end, to try to get some food. “ On another occasion a parson and his family had to let their furniture go, piece by piece, to make ends meet. Thev came to me in desperation. Their furniture was on the hire purchase, and was all to be taken the next day if they could not find £2O. I gave them the cheque. “ I (have for the pas't 15 months been looking for a minister for a living on my estate. The salary is under £3OO a year. “ The house has 20 rooms, no bathroom, no electric light, a huge garden, and stabling; £6OO would be needed to make it habitable. “It is a tragic state of affairs when the man who ranks next to the squire in country districts must out of his miserable pittance give, and give generously, to the poor, while his own family are in need of the bare noeessiites of life. “He must watch his wife, once a charming, light-hearted girl, change into housemaid, drudge, nursemaid, gardener, and scrubbing maid, all rolled into one. '

“ I should like to see the average country parson running a car, educating his children without constant sacrifices from himself and his wife, able to afford a maid, and to live in reasonable comfort. “ When I once said tins to a certain well-known bishop, he said; * I don’t approve of parsons going to cinemas and getting about the country too much. They are better staying at home looking after their flock.’ - “ But a bishop is not forced to make ends meet on little over a couple of hundred a year—and he probably doesn’t know what it is like to see his children going hungry. “ The very nature of their calling prevents the clergy complaining. I wish they would complain. Then I think we might persuade the church to do its duty and look after its parsons and their widows adequately. “ I am of the opinion that any living under £4OO for a married man with a large vicarage and a garden to keep up should be subsidised by a grant from ecclesiastical funds,”