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Home > A.H. Mathew Center for the Study of the Independent Sacramental Movement
Arnold Harris Mathew Center for the Study of the Independent Sacramental Movement
Obituaries from The Glastonbury Bulletin
The Glastonbury Bulletin no. 80, July 1991
+Geoffrey Paget-King
Bishop Geoffrey Peter Thomas PAGET-KING, former Archbishop of the Old Roman Catholic Church, died at the London Chest Hospital, Bethnal Green, on 24th January 1991, aged 74 years.
The sudden and unexpected death of Bishop Paget-King is not only a tragic loss to his own communion but is much regretted by his many and wide circle of friends in the church at large. His loyalty and commitment as a pastor to that tiny portion of the Lord's vineyard where he had been set earned him great respect and affection and his ministry had an influence far wider than his own jurisdiction.
Born on 25th May 1917 at Haslington, Cheshire, he was brought up a devout Anglican, receiving confirmation in June 1931 at the hands of Bishop Paget of Chester. At the age of sixteen he became an Anglo-Catholic. Educated at Nantwich and Acton Grammar School, where he gained his matriculation (1933) and Higher School Certificate (1935), he completed his education at Cheshire County Training College (1935-36) and joined the Church Army in March 1938. He attended the Church Army Training College from 1938-1940.
Whilst serving as a Captain in the Church Army he refused the suggestion of the Bishop of Chester that he should seek ordination in the Church of England and soon found that he could no longer support the Anglo-Catholic viewpoint. In 1943 he left the Church of England and was received into the Old Roman Catholic (Pro-Uniate) Rite of Great Britain by Fr. St. John-Seally on 29th August 1943. He was now to give almost half a century's unstinting service to his new church home.
At that time Archbishop Bernard Mary Williams presided over the tiny jurisdiction, having directed it from its original Old Catholic position to a rigid Ultramontane stand. Geoffrey King did not receive confirmation until December 1946 and was then advanced rapidly through minor orders to the priesthood between March and May 1947. Among others ordained to the priesthood on 18th May 1947 was Wilfred Barrington-Evans, whose fortunes were to be so closely linked with those of Geoffrey King. Both men were to become bishops and to feel keenly the trials and anguish of their office but the difference was that Geoffrey King was a very reluctant consecrand whilst Barrington-Evans unwisely seemed to 'desire' the office.
The Old Roman Catholic Church had stagnated under the inert pontificate of Archbishop Williams. He was more content to refight the battles of his predecessor - to whose memory he was doggedly loyal - rather than build up a present work.
After every attempt to persuade him to secure the rite's future had proved fruitless, the bulk of the clergy defected under Barrington-Evans’ leadership and formed the 'Independent Old Roman Catholic Church'. Even the two clergy who remained with Archbishop Williams were not unsympathetic to the rebels, but stayed only out of loyalty to their oaths of obedience.
Geoffrey King was among the rebels but he soon came to regret his impulsiveness and sought reconciliation with Archbishop Williams in the months before his death. When Archbishop Williams died on 9th June 1952 Geoffrey King was selected to be the Administrator of the vacant see of Caer-Glow.
Attempts to obtain episcopal oversight were not easy. Barrington-Evans had eventually secured the episcopate for himself in August 1951 from a bishop consecrated by C.L. Saul (see obituary following), but as this succession was tainted by Saul's Protestantism this was unacceptable to King and his people. Carmel Henry Carfora, Primate of the North American Old Roman Catholic Church, entered into communion with the English branch and recognised Geoffrey King as 'Archbishop-Elect’ but was so notoriously unstable as he entered a long dotage that he was wisely avoided. Eventually Gerard Shelley, an English diplomat working with the United Nations, who had received consecration in the Carfora Succession, was elected Archishop of Caer-Glow.
In August 1953, shortly before his own scheduled consecration, Geoffrey King withdrew his candidacy, declining the episcopate on the grounds that Archbishop Shelley's frequent presence in Europe and the size of the rite did not necessitate his own consecration.
Over the next quarter of a century the Church headquarters at Steenoven House, Aberdeen Road, Highbury, became the centre of much activity. Apart from the regular round of services and pastoral ministry, Geoffrey King's other interests and activities were brought together there. His work for animal welfare, the Peace Movement, the Hymn Society and musical and liturgical studies were all actively promoted and gave Steenoven House an outreach far beyond the ORCC and gained many friends and well-deserved respect.
On 5th June 1960 he finally accepted episcopal consecration as Coadjutor to Archbishop Shelley with Bishop Hans Heuer of Germany assisting. Sadly Shelley's mercurial temperament and obsession with Jansenism gave rise to conflict and by 1963 Geoffrey King had separated from Shelley's oversight.
It was not long before discontented elements in the ORCC realised they could capitalise on this breach and a group of flotsam and jetsam" from the jurisdictions of King and Barrington-Evans combined to place themselves under Shelley, thus creating a third Old Roman Catholic Church in Britain. When this broke up in the inevitable scandal and unsavoury press publicity, Paget-King very unfairly found himself caught in the backwash, though he had always conducted himself responsibly and circumspectly.
In 1965 a reunion was effected with Barrington-Evans and Paget-King accepted the position of Coadjutor. In effect, however, as Barrington-Evans’ orders were still in dispute, the agreement was that he should not officiate at any ordinations in the united body.
In 1969 Shelley once again attempted to re-establish himself in England by consecrating as his auxiliary Frederick Linale, a former priest of Paget-King, though he eventually deposed Shelley and usurped his title, earning excommunication for himself in 1975.
The death of Archbishop Barrington-Evans in January 1971 left Geoffrey King Primate once again, whilst the removal of Steenoven House to the more substantial house in nearby Drayton Park was a wise investment.
By 1982, however, Archbishop King felt it was time to pass the torch to another and his choice fell on Father James Hedley Thatcher, whose devoted service to the church stretched back thirty years. Unfortunately personal jealousies surfaced even here to disrupt the peace of the church, but confident in his own judgement he consecrated Mgr. Thatcher as his successor on 9th January 1983. In 1988 he again assisted at a consecration when Archbishop Thatcher raised Fr. Dennis St. Pierre to the episcopate. Although officially retired he not only maintained a full priestly life of devotion and prayer but also offered his services whenever his church required priestly ministry. In the last few months before his death he had been actively supporting the church throughout the serious illnesses of both his brother bishops.
Although he and the late Mar Georgius did not agree in their churchmanship, he sustained a courteous and friendly contact over many years and Mar Georgius was not an infrequent visitor to Steenoven House. Bishop King's breadth of vision enabled him to have many friends in all parts of the church and he greatly valued Orthodox spirituality, its liturgical tradition and the place of Ikons in worship. He was a generous-spirited man, of considerable charm and courtesy and his intellect and capacities remained undimmed to the end. Memory Eternal!
Bishop Geoffrey Peter Thomas PAGET-KING, former Archbishop of the Old Roman Catholic Church, died at the London Chest Hospital, Bethnal Green, on 24th January 1991, aged 74 years.
The sudden and unexpected death of Bishop Paget-King is not only a tragic loss to his own communion but is much regretted by his many and wide circle of friends in the church at large. His loyalty and commitment as a pastor to that tiny portion of the Lord's vineyard where he had been set earned him great respect and affection and his ministry had an influence far wider than his own jurisdiction.
Born on 25th May 1917 at Haslington, Cheshire, he was brought up a devout Anglican, receiving confirmation in June 1931 at the hands of Bishop Paget of Chester. At the age of sixteen he became an Anglo-Catholic. Educated at Nantwich and Acton Grammar School, where he gained his matriculation (1933) and Higher School Certificate (1935), he completed his education at Cheshire County Training College (1935-36) and joined the Church Army in March 1938. He attended the Church Army Training College from 1938-1940.
Whilst serving as a Captain in the Church Army he refused the suggestion of the Bishop of Chester that he should seek ordination in the Church of England and soon found that he could no longer support the Anglo-Catholic viewpoint. In 1943 he left the Church of England and was received into the Old Roman Catholic (Pro-Uniate) Rite of Great Britain by Fr. St. John-Seally on 29th August 1943. He was now to give almost half a century's unstinting service to his new church home.
At that time Archbishop Bernard Mary Williams presided over the tiny jurisdiction, having directed it from its original Old Catholic position to a rigid Ultramontane stand. Geoffrey King did not receive confirmation until December 1946 and was then advanced rapidly through minor orders to the priesthood between March and May 1947. Among others ordained to the priesthood on 18th May 1947 was Wilfred Barrington-Evans, whose fortunes were to be so closely linked with those of Geoffrey King. Both men were to become bishops and to feel keenly the trials and anguish of their office but the difference was that Geoffrey King was a very reluctant consecrand whilst Barrington-Evans unwisely seemed to 'desire' the office.
The Old Roman Catholic Church had stagnated under the inert pontificate of Archbishop Williams. He was more content to refight the battles of his predecessor - to whose memory he was doggedly loyal - rather than build up a present work.
After every attempt to persuade him to secure the rite's future had proved fruitless, the bulk of the clergy defected under Barrington-Evans’ leadership and formed the 'Independent Old Roman Catholic Church'. Even the two clergy who remained with Archbishop Williams were not unsympathetic to the rebels, but stayed only out of loyalty to their oaths of obedience.
Geoffrey King was among the rebels but he soon came to regret his impulsiveness and sought reconciliation with Archbishop Williams in the months before his death. When Archbishop Williams died on 9th June 1952 Geoffrey King was selected to be the Administrator of the vacant see of Caer-Glow.
Attempts to obtain episcopal oversight were not easy. Barrington-Evans had eventually secured the episcopate for himself in August 1951 from a bishop consecrated by C.L. Saul (see obituary following), but as this succession was tainted by Saul's Protestantism this was unacceptable to King and his people. Carmel Henry Carfora, Primate of the North American Old Roman Catholic Church, entered into communion with the English branch and recognised Geoffrey King as 'Archbishop-Elect’ but was so notoriously unstable as he entered a long dotage that he was wisely avoided. Eventually Gerard Shelley, an English diplomat working with the United Nations, who had received consecration in the Carfora Succession, was elected Archishop of Caer-Glow.
In August 1953, shortly before his own scheduled consecration, Geoffrey King withdrew his candidacy, declining the episcopate on the grounds that Archbishop Shelley's frequent presence in Europe and the size of the rite did not necessitate his own consecration.
Over the next quarter of a century the Church headquarters at Steenoven House, Aberdeen Road, Highbury, became the centre of much activity. Apart from the regular round of services and pastoral ministry, Geoffrey King's other interests and activities were brought together there. His work for animal welfare, the Peace Movement, the Hymn Society and musical and liturgical studies were all actively promoted and gave Steenoven House an outreach far beyond the ORCC and gained many friends and well-deserved respect.
On 5th June 1960 he finally accepted episcopal consecration as Coadjutor to Archbishop Shelley with Bishop Hans Heuer of Germany assisting. Sadly Shelley's mercurial temperament and obsession with Jansenism gave rise to conflict and by 1963 Geoffrey King had separated from Shelley's oversight.
It was not long before discontented elements in the ORCC realised they could capitalise on this breach and a group of flotsam and jetsam" from the jurisdictions of King and Barrington-Evans combined to place themselves under Shelley, thus creating a third Old Roman Catholic Church in Britain. When this broke up in the inevitable scandal and unsavoury press publicity, Paget-King very unfairly found himself caught in the backwash, though he had always conducted himself responsibly and circumspectly.
In 1965 a reunion was effected with Barrington-Evans and Paget-King accepted the position of Coadjutor. In effect, however, as Barrington-Evans’ orders were still in dispute, the agreement was that he should not officiate at any ordinations in the united body.
In 1969 Shelley once again attempted to re-establish himself in England by consecrating as his auxiliary Frederick Linale, a former priest of Paget-King, though he eventually deposed Shelley and usurped his title, earning excommunication for himself in 1975.
The death of Archbishop Barrington-Evans in January 1971 left Geoffrey King Primate once again, whilst the removal of Steenoven House to the more substantial house in nearby Drayton Park was a wise investment.
By 1982, however, Archbishop King felt it was time to pass the torch to another and his choice fell on Father James Hedley Thatcher, whose devoted service to the church stretched back thirty years. Unfortunately personal jealousies surfaced even here to disrupt the peace of the church, but confident in his own judgement he consecrated Mgr. Thatcher as his successor on 9th January 1983. In 1988 he again assisted at a consecration when Archbishop Thatcher raised Fr. Dennis St. Pierre to the episcopate. Although officially retired he not only maintained a full priestly life of devotion and prayer but also offered his services whenever his church required priestly ministry. In the last few months before his death he had been actively supporting the church throughout the serious illnesses of both his brother bishops.
Although he and the late Mar Georgius did not agree in their churchmanship, he sustained a courteous and friendly contact over many years and Mar Georgius was not an infrequent visitor to Steenoven House. Bishop King's breadth of vision enabled him to have many friends in all parts of the church and he greatly valued Orthodox spirituality, its liturgical tradition and the place of Ikons in worship. He was a generous-spirited man, of considerable charm and courtesy and his intellect and capacities remained undimmed to the end. Memory Eternal!
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