Mary Elizabeth and John Griffith, Canon of Rochester 1827-1879
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Over more than thirty years, in the middle the 19th Century, the Rev. Dr John Griffith - and his wife Mary Elizabeth Griffith - gave substantial sums toward the cost of the restoration of Rochester Cathedral and their contribution is remembered with a stained-glass window.
The Rev. Dr John Griffith (1789 - 1879), was a long serving Canon of Rochester Cathedral, a position he held from 1827 to 1872. Born in Bangor, Caernarfonshire, he was baptised at St. Deiniol’s Cathedral, the son of the Vicar of Bangor, the Rev. Richard Griffith. He attended Westminster School as a ‘Queen’s Scholar’ and then Trinity College Cambridge, graduating B.A. as ‘Wrangler’ in Mathematics (1812). On moving to Emmanuel College he was elected a Fellow, became a Tutor, with his academic career culminating with a Doctorate of Divinity.
His time at university was interrupted by his accompanying Lord Amherst on his failed mission of 1816-17, to establish diplomatic relations with Imperial China. He served as ‘embassy chaplain’ and tutor to Amherst’s son, who was on the expedition as a page to his father. On their return, he shared in the adventures of the wreck of HMS Alceste on a reef in the Java Sea. Resuming their return voyage, Lord Amherst’s party met Ex-emperor Napoleon at St. Helena and it was noted that he expressed a hope that Griffith might become a ‘prébendaire’ [canon].
Griffith did indeed make remarkable progression within the Anglican Church. He was ordained deacon (1814) and priest (1815) and in 1823 he served as Chaplain to the Lord Mayor of London with his sermons being published. That same year he was nominated by the Bishop of London, to the prestigious post of ‘Whitehall Preacher’ at the Chapel Royal. The following year he was appointed Curate of Babraham and then later as Vicar of Fulbourn All Saints - both parishes in Cambridgeshire. He was chosen by Baron Lyndhurst, then serving as Lord Chancellor, as his chaplain in 1827, and also that year as a Canon at Rochester. He was, concurrently, Vicar of two 2 parishes in the diocese of Rochester – first Aylesford, then Boxley (1832-53) and served as Rural Dean of Sutton [at Hone] and of Shoreham.
By 1830 he had married Mary Elizabeth Barker (1802 - 1875) - she was the daughter of the Rev. James Barker, vicar of Great Abington - neighbouring Griffith’s first parish near Cambridge. They had no children but in later life they did ‘adopt’ a daughter, Amy Mary Sophia Pole O’Brien. In 1870 she was married in Rochester Cathedral to an army officer of the Royal Engineers – Major Richard Harrison, who by the end of his career became Colonel-Commandant of the Corps - there is also a memorial to him in the cathedral.
The first record of the Griffith’s contribution to the cathedral’s fabric is noted in 1842 when the ‘new’ organ was enlarged at a cost of £2500 (about £360,000 in 2023). Following that they supported the restoration of the Lady Chapel in 1852 and a tablet was placed on the south wall noting the contribution of M.E.G., that is Mary Elizabeth Griffith. By 1850 both her parents had died leaving her the sole inheritor of the Hildersham Hall estate, as her only brother, a prominent Cambridge barrister, had already died aged forty-five.
During his time at Rochester, John Griffith became involved in one of the most notorious bank failures of the Victorian Period. A careful investor of his, and his wife’s, savings he became Principal Witness in the prosecution (1855) of one of the oldest and respected banks in London, ‘Strahan, Paul and Bates Bank’. In their attempt to save their failing bank the three partners were found guilty of unlawfully selling Griffith’s bonds and sentenced to fourteen years transportation to Australia - later commuted to a lesser tariff. It was noted in the court reports however that Griffith “wept bitterly” as three men were led down to the court cells.
Following his retirement for Boxley parish in 1853, Griffith and his wife moved to Hove and then, on his vacating the canonical seat, to their final home in Cheltenham. During the 1860’s they were involved in the building and endowment of St Mary's Church, Strood. The Church was opened and consecrated in 1869 and after the inaugural service a dinner took place in Strood Schools, at which Canon Griffith mentioned that the Church and its endowment were chiefly effected through the personal savings of his wife.
John Griffith and his wife were major contributors to the extensive restoration of Rochester Cathedral in the early 1870’s. This included the ‘High Altar Reredos’, made of Caen stone and designed by Sir Gilbert Scott (1873), which depicts the ‘The Last Supper’. By June 1874, of the money that had already been spent on the restoration, Canon and Mrs. Griffith had donated £3,000 (about £430,000 in 2023) ‘for the fittings of the choir’ and further £1000 was allocated toward the organ case and screen. Other bequests by the couple , mainly to church charities, amounted to £7000 - a considerable sum at the time. Following their death the stained-glass window which depicts the ‘Good Shepard’ was installed (1883) as a memorial.
Postscript
John Griffith’s surname echoes that of another remarkable Rochester cleric - Maurice Griffith (c1507-1558) Bishop of Rochester. It is thought that the bishop was also born in Caernarfonshire. Although there is no record that the two men were related, it is probable that John Griffith received his early education at Friars School, Bangor. The records of that school indicate that Bishop Maurice Griffith played an important part in its founding. As the Bishop was noted for his zealous persecution of Protestants - the legacy of John Griffith may be viewed the more favourably - certainly with regard to the fabric of Rochester cathedral.
T. H. James
March 2023
Select references
Obituary - Rev. John Griffith, D.D. : North Wales Chronicle,7th June,1879.
Faith and Fabric: A History of Rochester Cathedral 604 -1994. Edited by Nigel Yates and Paul A. Welby, Boydell Press, Woodbridge, 1996.
Palmer. G.H. (1897) The Cathedral Church of Rochester: A Description of its fabric and a brief history of the Episcopal See; London Bell & Sons.
Smetham, Henry (1899) ‘St. Mary’s Church’ in History of Strood, Sweet & Sons, Strood.
Harrison-O’Brien Marriage: Maidstone Journal and Kentish Advertiser, 12th December 1870.
Rochester Cathedral [Choir Re-opened] : The Times, London; Saturday, June 12, 1875.
