Walter Knight-Adkin

The Very Reverend Walter Kenrick Knight-Adkin CB OBE DL (17 August 1880 – 24 May 1957) was an eminent Anglican priest in the first half of the 20th Century.[1]

Very Reverend Walter Kenrick Knight-Adkin CB OBE DL KHCh RN
Archdeacon of the Royal Navy
Appointed	Chaplain of the Fleet Honorary Chaplain to the King Dean of Gibraltar
In office	1929–1933 1929–1933 1933–1941
Orders
Ordination	June 1908, St Paul's Cathedral, London
Personal details
Born	(1880-08-17)August 17, 1880 Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England
Died	May 24, 1957(1957-05-24) (aged 67) Bristol, Gloucestershire, England
Nationality	British
Denomination	Church of England
Parents	Rev Harry Kenrick Adkin (1851–1927) Georgina Elizabeth Knight (1849–1930)
Spouse	Elizabeth Cuff Napier (1891–1984)
Children	Peter Napier Knight-Adkin (1917–1918)
Occupation	Naval chaplain
Education	Cheltenham College
Alma mater	St Edmund Hall, Oxford Wells Theological College

Ecclesiastical career

Born in Cheltenham, Knight-Adkin was educated at Cheltenham College and St Edmund Hall, Oxford.[2] He did his pastoral training at Wells Theological College. Ordained in June 1908 at St Paul's Cathedral in London, he was a Curate at Kentish Town before commencing a long period of service on 31 April 1910[3] as a Chaplain with the Royal Navy rising to become Chaplain of the Fleet[4] from 1929 to 1933, after which he was Dean of Gibraltar.[5] Evacuated to England in 1941 due to illness, he became civilian Vicar of Sparkwell then Chaplain to the Lord Mayor of Bristol at St Mark`s Church, College Green.

He was awarded the OBE in 1919 and appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath in 1932. On 25 January 1929 he was appointed as Honorary Chaplain to HM King George V.[6] He was an Honorary Canon of Portsmouth Cathedral[7] and was appointed Deputy Lieutenant of Gloucester and of Bristol on 3 June 1950.[8]

Family

Knight-Adkin was the second son of the Rev Harry Kenrick Knight-Adkin (1851–1928) and Georgina Elizabeth Knight (1849–1930). He was born in Cheltenham on 17 August 1880.[9]

He married Elizabeth Cuff Napier (1891–1984) at St. Andrew's-by-the-Green, Glasgow on 20 December 1915. His bride was the daughter of Colonel Alexander Napier RAMC. They had one child, Peter Napier Knight-Adkin, who died at Portsmouth in 1918.

Walter died at his home at 17 Miles Road, Bristol on 24 May 1957.[9] His wife was to live a further 27 years.[10]

His elder brother was the war poet James Harry Knight-Adkin. His younger brother, Frederick John Knight-Adkin, after a period working as a journalist and author in New York, emigrated to Argentina where he became a successful cattle rancher. He had two sisters, Georgina Noel Knight-Adkin, a photographer in Bristol, and Violet Doris Knight-Adkin who died at the age of 19.[11]

Naval career

• 1910 HMS Lancaster
• 1912 HMS Victory
• 1913 HMS Conqueror
• 1916 HMS Victory
• 1919 HMS Revenge
• 1920 RN College Dartmouth
• 1923 HMS Queen Elizabeth
• 1924 HMS Victory
• 1929 Royal Naval College, Greenwich[12]

References

1. Role overseas at the Wayback Machine (archived 30 July 2009)
2. "Who was Who" 1897-1990 London, A & C Black, 1991 ISBN 0-7136-3457-X
3. "No. 28475". The London Gazette. 14 March 1911. p. 2148.
4. With the title of Archdeacon of the Royal Navy
5. Deans of Gibraltar
6. "No. 33506". The London Gazette. 14 June 1929. p. 3943.
7. "Rev. W. K. Knightadkin." Times [London, England] 27 May 1957
8. "No. 38963". The London Gazette. 7 July 1950. p. 3512.
9. The Times, Monday, 27 May 1957; pg. 14; Issue 53851; col E
10. The Times, Wednesday, 21 Nov 1984; pg. 34; Issue 61992; col A Deaths:Elizabeth Cuff Knight-Adkin
11. http://www.greywall.demon.co.uk/genealogy/WynnHall/james.html
12. Navy List

Church of England titles
Preceded by Robert McKew	Chaplain of the Fleet 1929–1933	Succeeded by Charles Peshall
Preceded by Robert McKew	Honorary Chaplain to the King 1929 – 1933	Succeeded by Charles Peshall
Preceded by Geoffrey Hodgson Warde	Dean of Gibraltar 1933 – 1941	Succeeded by William Ashley-Brown