The Very Rev Robert Holtby; Very Boring Obit
Hyfler/Rosner
(Filed: 19/03/2003)
The Very Reverend Robert Holtby, who died on March 13 aged 82, was Dean of
Chichester from 1977-89 and had all the gifts required of a cathedral Dean;
he was a scholar, a musician, a fine preacher and a highly competent
administrator.
Before going to Chichester Holtby had spent 10 years at Church House,
Westminster, in charge of the Church of England's educational work as
General Secretary of the National Society and of the newly formed Board of
Education.
The administrative skill which he had demonstrated there proved to be of
particular value when he moved to Chichester. His predecessor, Walter
Hussey, had exercised a remarkable ministry among the leading British
artists of his day and made Chichester Cathedral the foremost location of
contemporary religious art. But he was neither a pastor nor an administrator
and his links with the civic life of Sussex were not strong. Holtby, by dint
of hard work and quiet personal encounter, restored the balance and also put
the cathedral's finances in sound order. The Yorkshireman's combination of a
warm heart, blunt speech and interest in money was just what was needed.
In the realm of education, which Holtby inhabited for a quarter of a
century, his acute mind and determination greatly assisted the Church in its
dealings with government over church schools and colleges of education, and
in its encouraging of the parishes to recognise the importance of religious
education for people of all ages.
Robert Tinsley Holtby was born at Thornton-le-Dale in North Yorkshire on
February 25 1921. He became a chorister at York Minster under Sir Edward
Bairstow and at 13 moved from the choir school to Scarborough College.
He graduated in Modern History from St Edmund Hall, Oxford, and, having felt
drawn to Holy Orders, began his ordination training at Cuddesdon Theological
College. Soon he moved to Cambridge as a choral scholar of King's, where he
read Theology. Simultaneously, he attended Westcott House, Cambridge, and
then became a curate at the Yorkshire parish of Pocklington. This was
followed by four years as an Army chaplain - first with the 14th/20th King's
Hussars at Catterick, and then in Singapore.
On his return to civilian life in 1952 he was for a short time acting
chaplain at King's College, Cambridge, then became Chaplain and Assistant
Master at Malvern College. Two years later he moved to Oxford as Chaplain
and Assistant Master of St Edward's School. In 1957 he was awarded an Oxford
BD.
From 1959-67 Holtby was a Canon Residentiary of Carlisle Cathedral and
Diocesan Director of Education. There was a minor kerfuffle after he
presided over a unilateralist meeting there in 1961, and the Dean and
Chapter then refused permission for a public meeting in favour of Hugh
Gaitskell's policy.
During this period, Holtby also became chairman of Cumberland Council of
Social Service and wrote a book on Daniel Waterland, an important but much
neglected 18th century Anglican theologian. This was published in 1966. In
the same year he also published a monograph on the Carlisle Cathedral
Library and Records and in 1967 a biography of his late father-in-law, Eric
Graham, who had been a notable Bishop of Brechin.
Holtby's appointment to Church House, Westminster, in 1967 came at a
critical point in the Church of England's history. The movement towards
synodical government, due to be implemented in 1970, required the
re-organisation of all the central boards and councils, and none was more
complex than those relating to education. It was Holtby's task, working in
close collaboration with his chairman, Robert Stopford, the then Bishop of
London, to co-ordinate and rationalise the diverse segments of the education
department and at the same time to maintain negotiations with the
government.
After 10 years of hard labour in this field he was ready for a change and,
although he would have made a fine Dean of York, had this post been vacant,
he was more than happy to move to Chichester.
He soon discovered, however, that his powers there were limited and at
various times he had problems with other members of the Chapter, but under
his leadership the cathedral's life was generally strengthened and
developed. Music in particular was raised to new heights of excellence. On
his retirement in 1989, his head was carved above the west porch of the
cathedral.
In 1980 he wrote a popular history of Chichester Cathedral, and in 1988 a
biography of Bishop Stopford. This was followed in 1989 and 1991 with
biographies of Bishop William Otter, a noted Bishop of Chichester in the
1830s, and Eric Milner-White, a distinguished Dean of King's College,
Cambridge, who later became Dean of York. His History of the Minster School,
York came out in 1994.
Holtby became an FSA in 1990 and from 1990-93 was a Visiting Fellow of the
West Sussex Institute of Higher Education. He relaxed with music and, until
his last years, by walking. He also lectured on Swan Hellenic cruises, which
afforded an opportunity for travel and visiting historical sites, which he
relished.
He married, in 1947, Mary Graham, who survives him with their son and two
daughters.
KG
I've always wondered, though, if some guys are "Very" reverend, does that
mean that the others are "not very" reverend? Or are they "pretty"
reverend? Or "just about" reverend?
;-)
KG
"Hyfler/Rosner" <rel...@rcn.com> wrote in message
news:b58p2u$rs3$1...@bob.news.rcn.net...
doc
>Hehe, You nailed it in the Subject line.
>
>I've always wondered, though, if some guys are "Very" reverend, does that
>mean that the others are "not very" reverend? Or are they "pretty"
>reverend? Or "just about" reverend?
>
>;-)
>KG
LOL...The title "very reverend" is, in the Anglican tradition,
reserved for the Dean of a Cathedral or a Canon. An Anglican bishop is
addressed as "The Right Reverend". A Catholic bishop is addressed as
"His Excellency".
PirateJohn
>>mean that the others are "not very" reverend? Or are they "pretty"
>>reverend? Or "just about" reverend?
>>
Is there anything like a Left Reverent? ;)
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