Paul de Labilliere
Paul Fulcrand Delacour de Labillière (22 January 1879 – 28 April 1946) was the second Bishop of Knaresborough from 1934 to 1937; and, subsequently, Dean of Westminster.[1]
Career
Born on 22 January 1879 into a legal family (his father was a Barrister of the Middle Temple)[1] he was educated at Harrow[2] and Merton College, Oxford (where he was later elected an Honorary Fellow, in 1945).[1]
After ordination in 1903 he served a s a curate in Liverpool and Plymouth before his appointment as Chaplain to the Bishop of Durham and then missionary work in South Africa.[1] In South Africa he met and married Ester Morkel, they had a son and a daughter.[3]
He was successively Clerical Superintendent of the Liverpool Scripture Readers, Chaplain of Wadham College, Oxford,[4] Lecturer at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford and Vicar of Christ Church, High Harrogate before a 4-year stint as Suffragan Bishop of Knaresborough and Archdeacon of Leeds.[5]
A quiet[6] but effective priest, his final professional appointment was as Dean of Westminster.[7] He is remembered for a last minute change in the Abbey's Armistice Day service in 1938 after Kristallnacht when he included a prayer for the Jewish people 'in their trouble.' [8]
The Deanery was destroyed in the 1941 Blitz[9] and it is said the King and Queen offered him alternative accommodation at Buckingham Palace but he found a new place to live close to the Abbey.
Dean de Labillière died of a brain haemorrhage on 28 April 1946.[1]
References
- Levens, R.G.C., ed. (1964). Merton College Register 1900-1964. Oxford: Basil Blackwell. p. 353.
- “Who was Who” 1897-1990 London, A & C Black, 1991 ISBN 0-7136-3457-X
- Simpson, Geoff (2015-01-30). The History of the Battle of Britain Fighter Association: Commemorating the Few. ISBN 9781473852310.
- A period interrupted with wartime service as a chaplain to the forces (during which he was mentioned in despatches)
- The Times, Thursday, Nov 22, 1905; pg. 14; Issue 38184; col A Ecclesiastical Intelligence
- He listed his recreation in Who's Who as "silence"
- The Times, Thursday, Nov 18, 1937; pg. 14; Issue 47845; col F The Deanery Of Westminster Appointment Of Bishop Of Knaresborough
- Mazzenga, M. (2009-07-20). American Religious Responses to Kristallnacht. ISBN 9780230623309.
- https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-12905480
| Church of England titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Lucius Smith |
Bishop of Knaresborough 1934 – 1938 |
Succeeded by John Bateman-Champain |
| Preceded by William Foxley Norris |
Dean of Westminster 1938 – 1946 |
Succeeded by Alan Don |
