Henry Major

Major was born on 28 July 1871 in Plymouth, Devon, England.[1] His parents were Mary Ursula (née Alves) and Henry Daniel Major, an Admiralty clerk.[2] In 1878, the family emigrated to New Zealand and joined the new settlement at Katikati.[2] He was educated at home by his father, and received religious instruction from his mother (heavily influenced by the Tractarian John Keble) and by the Revd William Katterns (local vicar and Ostrich farmer).[1]

In 1890, Major matriculated into St John's College, Auckland, an Anglican theological college.[2] In 1885, he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree from University College, Auckland.[2] He then studied natural sciences, specialising in geology, and graduated with a Master of Arts (MA) degree from Auckland in 1886.[1][2]

Major was ordained by William Cowie, Bishop of Auckland, as a deacon in 1895 and as a priest in 1896.[2] He served his curacy at St Mark's Church, Remuera in the Diocese of Auckland between 1895 and 1899.[2] He then moved to the Diocese of Wellington, where he was acting vicar of Waitotara from 1899 to 1900, and vicar of St Peter's Church, Hamilton from 1900 to 1903.[1]

In 1903, Major left New Zealand to return to England.[1] He entered Exeter College, Oxford to study theology, and graduated after two years of study with a BA degree in 1905: as per tradition, his BA was promoted to a Master of Arts (MA Oxon) degree.[2][3] While at Oxford, he was exposed to modernist theology, liberal Christianity, and historical criticism of the Bible.[1][2]

In January 1906, Major moved to Ripon, Yorkshire where he had been appointed chaplain of the Ripon Clergy College.[2] That year, he was additionally appointed vice-principal of the college.[2] In Ripon, he came under the influence of the broad church Bishop of Ripon, William Boyd Carpenter.[2] In addition to his scholarly appointments, he maintained his parish ministry: first as curate of North Stainley (1908 to 1911), then as Rector of Copgrove (1911 to 1919).[1]

In 1919, Major was made Principal of the Ripon Clergy College: that year, he oversaw the move of the college from Yorkshire to Parks Road, Oxford, Oxfordshire, and its renaming as Ripon Hall, Oxford.[1] He was a Select Preacher at the University of Oxford in 1922 and at the University of Cambridge in 1925.[3] In 1924, he was awarded a Doctor of Divinity (DD) degree by the University of Oxford: the DD is the most senior degree awarded by the university.[2][3] He delivered the William Belden Noble Lectures at Harvard University in 1925.[2] From 1929 until his death, he was also Vicar of Merton, Oxfordshire.[2] In 1933, he once more oversaw the moving of the college, and it relocated to Boars Hill, a village on the outskirts of Oxford: this time, however, it retained its name.[2] He kept the college open during the Second World War, although with reduced students and some of the college's buildings were given over to be used as a hospital.[2] Having become increasingly deaf, he stepped down as Principal of Ripon Hall, Oxford in 1948, and retired to the vicarage at Merton.[1][2]

On 1 November 1899 Major married Mary Eliza (née McMillan). Together, they had two sons and one daughter: one son was killed in action during the Second World War.[2]

Major predeceased his wife, dying on 26 January 1961 in Merton, Oxfordshire, England. He is buried in the graveyard of St Swithun's Church, Merton, Oxfordshire.[2]

Major was an elected Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London (FSA). He was made an honorary canon of Birmingham Cathedral in 1941.[3]

• Major, H. D. A. (1922). Memorials of Copgrove: Together with the Parish Registers from A.D. 1584 to 1790. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
• Major, H. D. A. (1927). English modernism: its origin, methods, aims;. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. ISBN 9780674421547.
• Major, H. D. A. (1948). Civilisation and Religious Values (Hibbert Lectures). London: Allen & Unwin.

• Clive Pearson, Allan Davidson, Peter Lineham (2006). Scholarship And Fierce Sincerity: Henry DA Major, The Face Of Anglican Modernism. Hobsonville Point, Auckland: Polygraphia Ltd. p. 248. ISBN 1-877332-19-4. Retrieved 16 December 2017.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

• Works by or about Henry Major at Internet Archive