Vicars of Derry Hill 1840 to 1976

 Stafford Brown was born on 27th November 1814 in Pulteney Street Bath. After graduating from Cambridge, Stafford was ordained in December 1837 in Farnham Surrey. Rev Brown became the first vicar of Derry Hill in 1840 when the doors of Christ Church first opened.

In his diary, Rev Brown noted that life was very hard in 1830's Derry Hill and that he was determined to see Christ Church built and the light brought to those of the village.  Rev Brown moved to Westbury, Wiltshire in 1845 – replaced at Derry Hill by the Rev John Lowder. Rev Brown died two years later aged just 33.

 Revered John Lowder was the 2nd vicar of Derry Hill and Studley from 1845 to 1848. He had formally been curate at Christian Malford. 

He was ordained and then married Lucy Windsor on 1 September 1840 at St Swithin's Walcot near Bath. They had 5 children - at least one was born at Derry Hill. 

With much excitement the Reverend was appointed Chaplain of Shanghai in China in 1848 (see photo of the English Church in Shanghai in 1848). The family moved lock stock and barrel to the other side of the world with the best wishes of the people of Derry Hill and a Studley.  

Within a few months Reverend Lowder was dead aged 39. He died when bathing in the sea off the Island of Poo Too. His body was found 5 days later.

 The 3rd vicar of Derry Hill was the Rev Boulton Brander (1848 to 1856). He published the sermon he preached at the funeral of the 3rd Lord Lansdowne which is available to read on the internet (of its time and hard going). The service was held at Christ Church before the internment in Bowood mausoleum. The Rev Brander left the village in 1856 and spent the rest of his life in Yorkshire. 

 The Reverend Henry Fletcher was the 4th vicar of Christ Church in Derry Hill. He served for 15 years from 1856 to 1871. Henry was born in Edinburgh in 1822 and died in Oxford in 1914. He married Charlotte and they had 5 children (3 born in Derry Hill). Rev Fletcher led the mass emigration of c.60 people from Derry Hill and Studley to Quebec in 1871 on the steamship Medway. He is buried in Oxford. 

 The 5th Vicar of Derry Hill was Rev William Henry Hitchcock. Born in Wendover in 1832, he was Vicar of Derry Hill from 1871 to 1889. On his retirement he said "the 17 and a half years he had spent at Derry Hill had been happily spent". Of his wife, he referred to how "Mrs Hitchcock had presided at the organ as a labour of love notwithstanding the tie of 3 or even 4 services of a Sunday".  Rev Hitchcock died in 1900 and is buried in Tarrant Gunville in Dorset. 

Alfred Lovell Scott was the 6th Vicar of Derry Hill (1889 to 1925). Alfred was one of 7 children and was born in Natal South Africa in 1854. 

He died in St Leonard’s-on-Sea in 1940. On 25th June 1889 he married Miriam Vincent at St Stephens Lewisham. The processional cross was presented to the church in memory of Alfred.

They had two children - Durrent and Miriam. Durrent joined the Canadian forces in WW2, eventually settling in British Columbia. He passed away in June 1978.

Rev Scott was instrumental in many families across the village - Lansdowne, Lysley, Angell, Hervey. It would be great to find a photo of Alfred.

The 7th vicar was Francis (Frank) Parker Crosse (Military Cross) was born in 1897. He was a British soldier and Church of England clergyman who became Dean of Grahamstown in South Africa, and was styled The Very Reverend Frank Crosse.  

He was educated at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, early in the First World War Crosse was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the South Staffordshire Regiment and in 1916 was awarded the Military Cross for conspicuous gallantry.

 After the war he trained for the priesthood at Lincoln Theological College, was ordained deacon in 1923 and after a curacy in Bolsover he was vicar at Derry Hill, then at Branksome. And was later Rector of Barlborough and Morton. In 1934 he was appointed as Dean of Grahamstown Cathedral, also becoming its Archdeacon and Rural Dean. He died on March 15th 1979 aged 81.

The 8th vicar was Reverend Pendennis John Hayes 1931 to 1937.  Born in Paddington, Middlesex, England on 8 July 1893 to James Charles Hayes and Mary Lydia Agnes Gough. Pendennis John Hayes married Margaret Olivia Bawden. 

In 1937 the lectern in Christ Church that had recently been given by Lady Lansdowne in memory of her husband was dedicated on a December Sunday morning by the Rev Hayes. He said "that this generation had no need of a memorial to remember one who had worshipped with them, read the lessons and had become to them a very true friend. He was very pleased that the succeeding generation would have some memorial to remind them of such a kindly gentleman". 

Rev Pendennis Hayes passed away on 24 Jan 1972 in Wiltshire, England, United Kingdom. 

 The 9th Vicar of Derry Hill was Rev Palmer 1937 to 1945. A time of huge change in the village. The Home Guard mobilised to protect the village from attack. There is the story of oil drums buried half way down Old Derry Hill by the Home Guard that could be filled with petrol and set alight to help repel German attack from Chippenham direction. 

10th vicar of Derry Hill was Lionel Borradaile Bell (1945 to 1949).

Lionel was born in Pretoria South Africa on 11th January 1890 to Adam Borradaile Bell and Jane Anderson. Lionel married Alice Dorothy Chadwick in London in 1930. They had 5 children - Evelyn, Allan, William, Douglas and Louise.

Lionel and Alice left Derry Hill in 1949 to settle in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) - selling lock stock and barrel in a sale at the vicarage. In Rhodesia they started the Borradaile Trust - a non-sectarian, non-racial, and non-denominational organisation to look after the elderly founded on Anglican tradition, and run on Christian principles. Today their legacy is thriving in Marondera (a small town just outside Harare).

Lionel passed away in Marondera on 22nd February 1965.

 11th vicar of Derry Hill was the Rev Leslie W G Hudson - 1950 to 1969. 

Rev Leslie was central to the goings on across Derry Hill and Studley for 19 and a half years. 

He and his wife Gwen left Derry Hill for Dorset in November 1969. Gwen died in 1981. In 1983 the Rev Leslie married Doreen Taylor - the owner of the Cricket Saint Thomas estate (the location of to the Manor Born) near Chard. 

Rev Leslie was born in 1911 and died in 1994. 

 12th Vicar of Derry Hill was Rev Charles Brinkworth. 

Charles was born in 1909 in Gloucestershire and was ordained in 1936. He was an RAF Chaplin during the war and became the vicar of Preston Candover near Winchester in 1947. Charles was married with one son (also a priest) and a daughter. 

He and his wife Gladys came to Derry Hill in 1969. He and his wife retired to Leatherhead in 1976. 

Rev Charles passed away in 1979.