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Benjamin Webb (1819-85) and Victorian Ecclesiology
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 March 2016
Extract
We begin in Trinity College, Cambridge, in May 1839. It is 10 o’clock at night and three undergraduates named Neale, Webb, and Boyce are trying to persuade one of their dons, Archdeacon Thorp, to become senior member of a new society. They refuse to leave until he agrees. The Cambridge Camden Society is born. J. M. Neale becomes President, Benjamin Webb Secretary, and E.J. Boyce Treasurer. Within a year they are joined by another Trinity man with influence in a much wider sphere, Beresford Hope. By 1843 the membership list includes two archbishops, sixteen bishops, thirty-one peers and M.P.s, seven deans or chancellors of dioceses, twenty-one archdeacons or rural deans, sixteen architects, and seven hundred ordinary members. In 1845 the society goes national, moves to London, and becomes the Ecclesiological Society.
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- Copyright © Ecclesiastical History Society 1997
References
1 Towle, E., Life of J. M. Neale (London, 1906), p. 15.Google Scholar
2 This echoes the name of a similar society, founded at Trinity by Neale and Webb early in 1839, and dissolved a year later: Oxford, Bodleian Library, SC 44750 (e 406), B. Webb, ‘Diary’, 1839, passim.
3 Eccl, 13, ns 10 (1852), p. 276. ‘I am asked to give an idea of the number of churches improved under the auspices of the C.C.S. It would be as difficult almost as to count the stars on a clear frosty night’: M. S. Lawson, ed., Letters of J. M. Neale (London, 1910), p. 17.
4 Webb, B., review [App. no. 32], Eccl., 18, ns 14 (1857), p. 368.Google Scholar
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8 Window (1870) in memory of Margaret Polidori and the Rossetti family, who lived at 45 Upper Albany St (later 166 Albany St, demolished 1959). Canon W. Burrows, second vicar of Christ Church, was a family friend of the Rossettis. Webb – living at 3 Park Cottages, Park Village – was curate to the Revd William Dodsworth, formerly of Margaret [Street] Chapel, who became a Roman Catholic in 1851.
9 Eccl., 4 (1845), p. 189.
10 Hope credited Sir William Hayter with persuading Lord Palmerston to this appointment. See [A. Beresford Hope], Obituary of the Revd B. Webb, Church Quarterly Review, 21 (1885-6), p. 462.
11 Details in Transactions of the St Paul’s Ecclesiological Society, 1 (1881-5), pp. xx-xxi.
12 For examples of original hymns by Webb, see J. Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (London, 1892). On the whole Webb believed ‘the age of hymns has passed’; ‘the translation into English reduced everything to common sense – the curse … of our present ritual’ (Towle, Neale, p. 208).
13 [Hope], Church Quarterly Review, 21 (1885-6), p. 463. He refrained from the adoption of the eucharistie vestments, not from any objection in principle but on grounds of ‘Christian charity, expediency and prudence’ (evidence to Royal Commission of 1867, cited in DNB).
14 DNB. Did the children, perhaps, sing J. M. Neale’s hymns for children?
I’m a little Catholic
And Christian is my name,
And I believe in Holy Church
In every age the same,
And I believe the English Church
To be a part of her,
The Holy Church throughout the world,
Which cannot fail or err.
(Quoted in M. Chandler, Life and Work of J. M. Neale [London, 1995], pp. 186–7.)
15 E.g. Government defeated: ‘Hurrah! … Lord Derby sent for’ (Diary, 20 Feb. 1858).
16 He left £21,529. His effects, including a portrait by E. V. Eddis and his diaries, descended via his widow Maria (d. 1904) and his son Clement (1865-1954) to Westminster School and the Bodleian Library, Oxford (Probate records, Somerset House). Clement Webb became Professor of the Philosophy of the Christian Religion at Oxford.
17 Romilly’s Cambridge diary, 1842–47, ed. M. E. Bury and J. D. Pickles, Cambridge Record Society, 10 (1994), pp. 208–9.
18 Oxford, Bodleian Library, SC 44750–88.
19 Proceedings, Society of Antiquaries, 11 (1886), p. 145: obituary.
20 Webb, B., review [App. no. 72], Eccl., 20, ns 18 (1859), pp. 31–4 Google Scholar. Neale managed to veto a moderate article in the Ecclesiologist (probably by Webb) relating to ritualism at St George’s in the East, London. ‘Your article’, Neale protested, ‘comes simply to this: let us give the people as much Ecclesiology as they will bear without howling. Had we said that twenty years ago, there would have been none in England now.’ (Lawson, Letters of Neale, p. 310.)
21 [ Webb, ], ‘Further aspects of the Hatcham Case’, SatR, 43 (1877), pp. 66–7 Google Scholar. Webb’s obituary in the Guardian (26 Oct. 1887) emphasized his individual position in ritual controversy.
22 Diary, 19 Oct. 1839: Oxford, Bodleian Library, SC 44750 (e406).
23 Ibid., 21 March 1841.
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26 Diary, 3 Nov. 1845: Oxford, Bodleian Library, SC 44752 (e.408).
27 Ibid., 31 Oct. 1845.
28 Ibid., MS letters: Bodleian Library, SC 44752 (e.403).
29 Ibid., 9 March 1850: Oxford, Bodleian Library, SC 44754 (e.409).
30 Ibid., Diary, MS letters. See similarly [B. Webb], ‘The Report on the Commission of Ritual’, SatR, 24 (1867), pp. 281–2.
31 Lawson, Letters of Neale, p. 87: Webb to Neale, 10 Nov. 1844. For an illuminating discussion of the roots of Tractarian theology, see P. B. Nockles, The Oxford Movement in Context: Anglican High Churchmanship, 1760–1857 (Cambridge, 1994).
32 [ Webb, B.], A Few Words to Churchwardens II, suited to Town and Manufacturing Parishes (7th edn, London, 1851), p. 5.Google Scholar
33 Ibid., p. 8.
34 [ Webb, B.], review [App., no. 246], SatR, 38 (1874), pp. 803–4, 830–2.Google Scholar
35 St Peter’s was built for Dean Hook; the nearby church of St Saviour’s (J. M. Derick, 1842–5) was built for Dr Pusey, with Webb’s advice. See H. P. Liddon, Life of Pusey, 2 (London, 1893), pp. 476–80. For the context of ecclesiology, see N. Yates, Buildings, Faith and Worship: the Liturgical Arrangement of Anglican Churches, 1600–1900 (Oxford, 1991) and G. Rowell, The Vision Glorious: Themes and Personalities of the Catholic Revival in Anglicanism (Oxford, 1983).
36 Clarke, B. F. L., Church Builders of the 19th century (London, 1938; revised 1969), p. 78.Google Scholar
37 Neale, J. M., Hierologus; or the Church Tourists (London, 1843), p. 189 Google Scholar. Neale put Webb’s words into the mouth of ‘Paleologus’.
38 E.g. ‘E.E.’ [B. Webb], ‘On anker-windows or lychnoscopes’, Eccl., 19, ns 16 (1858), pp. 86–8.
39 E.g. [B. Webb], review [App. no. 57], Eccl., 19, ns 16 (1858), pp. 103–5.
40 Neale, Hierologus, pp. 253–5. Neale assured Webb that ‘Montalembert has read “Hierologus” and is delighted with it, and more particularly with the parts relating to Abbeys’ (Lawson, Letters of Neale, p. 70; 11 Jan. 1844).
41 Neale, Hierologus, p. 292.
42 Ibid., p. 17.
43 Ibid., p. 18.
44 Ibid., p. 36.
45 Ibid., p. 236.
46 Ibid., p. 38.
47 Ibid., p. 37.
48 Ibid., p. 236.
49 In 1841–4 Webb saw Pugin frequently in Cambridge and London. E.g. ‘Lionised Pugin about [Cambridge] and saw him off on the Lynn coach. Delighted with his geniality and vigour’: B. Webb, ‘Diary’, 29 Nov. 1842, Oxford, Bodleian Library, SC 44750 (e.406).
50 [B. Webb], reviews [App. nos. 135, 156], Eccl., 22, ns 19 (1861), pp. 305–10, 367–9 (reply). While advising Pusey as to the design of St Saviour’s Leeds, he was himself acting as intermediary for stained glass designs by Pugin (Liddon, Life of Pusey, 2, pp. 476–80). In the early days of ecclesiology, Webb had praised Pugin – albeit anonymously – as a ‘most eminent and profound architect and antiquary’: [B. Webb], review [App. no. 5], Eccl., 1 (1842), p. 98. For this he was attacked (The Record, July 1842), and in later years he was more cautious.
51 Neale, Hierologus, p. 39.
52 Willis, R., Remarks on the Architecture of the Middle Ages, especially of Italy, 1 (London, 1835), p. iii.Google Scholar
53 B. Webb, ‘On Pointed Architecture as adapted to tropical climates’, Transactions of the Ecclesiological Society (1845), pp. 199–218.
54 Webb, B., Sketches of Continental Ecclesiology (London, 1848), p. 242.Google Scholar
55 Ibid., p. 299
56 Ibid., pp. 277–81.
57 Ibid., p. 226.
58 Ibid., pp. 233–4.
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61 Gaily Knight, H., Ecclesiastical Architecture of Italy from the Time of Constantine to the 15th century, 2 vols (London, 1842-4), i, p. xxiv.Google Scholar
62 Webb, Sketches, p. 381.
63 Knight, Ecclesiastical Architecture, pp. xi-xii.
64 Webb, Sketches, p. 251.
65 Knight, Ecclesiastical Architecture, p. xxxi.
66 Webb, Sketches, pp. 268–9.
67 [B. Webb], review [App. no. 12], Eccl., 10, ns 7 (1850), pp. 111–20. Webb’s only serious criticism related to Ruskin’s ‘unnecessary abuse of the un-reformed [Catholic] Church’, a ‘blemish’ Ruskin himself removed in later editions.
68 [ Webb, B.], ‘The prospects of art in England’, Bentley’s Quarterly Review, 1 (1859), pp. 143–82.Google Scholar
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70 [ Webb, B.], review [App. no. 156], Eccl., 22, ns 19 (1861), pp. 305–10, 367–9.Google Scholar
71 [Webb], ‘Prospects of art’, pp. 143–82.
72 [ Webb, B.], ‘All Saints, Margaret Street’, Eccl., 20, ns 17 (1859), pp. 184–9.Google Scholar
73 [Webb], ‘Prospects of art’, pp. 143–82.
74 Ibid.
75 [B. Webb], review [App. no. 45], SatR, 5 (1858), pp. 447–9.
76 Ibid.
77 [B. Webb], review [App. no. 54], Eccl., 19, ns 16 (1858), p. 23.
78 [Webb], ‘Prospects of art’, pp. 143–82.
79 [Webb], ‘The question of style for the new public offices’, SatR, 6 (1858), pp. 303–5.
80 [Webb], ‘Prospects of art’, pp. 143–82.
81 [ Webb, B.], ‘The new exhibition building’, SatR, 12 (1861), p. 351.Google Scholar
82 [ Webb, B.], ‘Domestic architecture’, Bentley’s Quarterly Review, 2 (1860), pp. 474–517.Google Scholar
83 [ Webb, B.], ‘British architecture in the International Exhibition’, SatR, 14 (1862), pp. 509–10 Google Scholar. The aim was still a real ‘nineteenth-century Gothic’ ([B. Webb), review [App. no. 193], SatR, 15 [1863], p. 668); emerging from ‘the eclectic style of Pointed architecture which is now making such hopeful progress’ ([B. Webb], review [App. no. 202], SatR, 16 [-1863], p. 532).
84 [B. Webb], review [App. no. 242], SatR, 35 (1873), pp. 315–16.
85 [B. Webb], review [App. no. 241], SatR, 35 (1873), pp. 255–6.
86 [B. Webb], review [App. no. 200], SatR, 35 (1873), pp. 333–4.
87 [B. Webb], ‘Architecture in 1864’, SatR, 17 (1864), p. 783. Even an antiGoth like Robert Kerr was aiming ‘his classic bow with many an arrow drawn from the Gothic quiver’ ([B. Webb] reviewing R. Kerr, The Gentleman’s House [1865], SatR, 19 [1865], p. 707).
88 [Hope], ‘Art and morality’, SatR, 35 (1873), pp. 273–4.
89 [B. Webb] review [App. no. 242], SatR, 33 (1872), pp. 382–3.
90 E.g. J. D. Sedding, Building News, 30 (1876), p. 267.
91 White, J. F., The Cambridge Mouement (Cambridge, 1962), pp. 87, 91 Google Scholar; K. Clark, Gothic Revival, 3rd edn, ed. J. Mordaunt Crook (London, 1995), p. 154.
92 Scott, G. G., A Plea for the Faithful Restoration of our Ancient Churches (London, 1850), p. 93.Google Scholar
93 Ruskin, J., Seven Lamps (London, 1849), p. 55.Google Scholar
94 Scott, G. G. Jnr, Modem Village Churches (London, 1873)Google Scholar; Church Architecture (London, 1872); ‘Modern Town Churches’, Building World, 4 (1880), pp. 422–4, 5 (1880), pp. 11–14, 52–4.
95 [A. Beresford Hope], SatR, 60 (1885), p. 772; obituary.
96 [A. Beresford Hope], The Guardian, 2 Dec. 1885; reprinted in Church Quarterly Review, 21 (1885-6), 461–4.
97 [A. Beresford Hope], SatR, 60 (1885), p. 772. See J. M. Neale, Extreme Men: a Letter to A.J.B. Beresford Hope (London, 1865). In 1846, Neale warned Webb: ‘I cannot consent to have an element of compromise introduced into the Ecclesiologist’ (Towle, Neale, p. 135). Similarly, he considered Hope to be ‘infected with the miserable compromising spirit of the day’ (Lawson, Letters of Neale, p. 93). Hope excluded Neale from the Saturday Review because he would ‘upset the coach with ultraism’ (H. W. and T. Law, The Book of the Beresford Hopes [London, 1925], p. 215). There was no obituary of Neale in the SatR; but Hope himself wrote that devoted to Webb’s career: ‘How much the worship movement owes to Webb’s wise, tolerant judgement cannot be overstated’ ([Hope], SatR, 60 [1885], p. 772).
98 The Times, 1 Dec. 1885, p. 8.