Chaplains with moustaches

[rolt968]

I have been rereading parts of the Bickersteth Diaries. I came across something which I had meant to ask about before: chaplains with (or without moustaches).

The passage comes from the diary of Julian Bickersteth, who was a chaplain and eventually senior chaplain of 56 Division.

He was Anglo-Catholic (High Church) and in the diaries was critical of the Chaplain-General who was Low Church.

 

In early 1916 Julian Bickersteth went to a large gathering of Anglican chaplains to hear the Archbishop of Canterbury speak. He comments that the Chaplain-General had appointed a large number of chaplains of his own point of view. To illustrate the point he says that he saw a number of chaplains with moustaches (and  some wearing "khaki collars").

 

I could understand his objection to "khaki collars" (and ties?) rather than clerical collars, but what was wrong with moustaches? The footnote (from Bickersteth's nephew, also an Anglican clergyman) says that moustaches were a "Low Church practice looked down on by High Churchmen" - but why?)

 

Also until mid 1916, strictly speaking both officers and men were forbidden to shave their upper lips. What did regular army chaplains do? What was the practice pre-war?

 

RM

[Steven Broomfield]

Absolutely no idea on the matter, but the thread title is a cracker. Sounds like a 60's psychedelic band.

[michaeldr]

Like Steven, I really have no firm idea on this subject, though I suspect that the quote

11 hours ago, rolt968 said:

The footnote (from Bickersteth's nephew, also an Anglican clergyman) says that moustaches were a "Low Church practice looked down on by High Churchmen" - but why?)

has no firmer basis than simple prejudice

However a search of the IWM's photographic collection using the word 'chaplain' and filtered for the Great War, throws up quite a few ties and moustaches, not to mention the odd beard,

as well as a Jewish chaplain in a clerical-collar [ http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205289380 ]

[Wexflyer]

Just one more way to tell the damned from the godly. Catholic clerics (with exceptions for some orders), were clean-shaven.

[keithfazzani]

I find this interesting. Firstly I am no expert but offer the following which doesn’t explain the problem with moustaches, but gives a little background to the situation of the times.

The Church of England at the time certainly comprised "catholics" and "evangelicals" with a number of middle of the roaders in between. The most obvious differences being in ritual etc, but really based then as it is now on differing theological and ecclesiological perspectives.

The differences ran deep. In 1876 a Father Tooth  vicar of St Mary's Folkestone was briefly imprisoned for "ritualistic" practises including lighted candles on the altar. The Oxford movement of the 19th century which promoted the catholicity of the C of E was alive and well during the war. Father Tooth himself didn't die until 1931.

Then and now the catholic "wing" although it is not a term I like, is more formal in terms of dress than those of an evangelical background. Studdert Kennedy was an anglo-catholic for example. (although I have never found anything he wrote or that is written about him that would indicate that it affected his ministry in any particular way, except that the powers that be, particularly Plumer didn't approve of him much.)

Certainly, an Anglo-Catholic of the time would disapprove of a priest not wearing clerical garb, Canon law required them to do so. So, a dog collar would have been expected and a collar and tie most certainly wouldn't. Even today Anglo catholic clergy wear black and a dog collar on most occasions.

I can only assume that the reference you have refers to these differences of opinion which could and still can become fairly heated.

At the time of the war and even today Anglo Catholic clergy were mainly to be found in the poorer working-class districts often being very closely involved in social issues of the day. Studdert Kennedy who came from a very middle-class background was a socialist and involved in various socialist Christian movements both before and after the war. In 1921, he wrote a book “Democracy and the Dog Collar” a chapter of which was headed “Capitalism is Nothing But Greed, Grab, and Profit-Mongering”

 

So, there was certainly more than religious differences underlying the distinctions between the various wings in the church. I have little doubt that at that time “Class” and political viewpoints came into it.

I hope this helps to explain why such things took on such importance.

 

[Heid the Ba]

I'm not an expert but have spoken to a man who is, who would prefer to remain anonymous but had the following thoughts:

Canon Law was silent on facial hair but the practice was the same as the Royal Navy, clean shaven or a full set.  With the rise of the Evangelicals in the late C19th they marked themselves out by wearing moustaches, brown shoes rather than black and much larger dog collars.  This was also to test the patience of the High Church hierarchy and to show silent dissent.

 

When Cosmo Lang became Archbishop of York Canterbury in 1908 the king specifically instructed him to stop the squabbling in the church and to stop vicars wearing moustaches.  As rolt968 says, the Chaplain General in the Great War was an Evangelical, and a very surprise appointment, who did his best to appoint as many other Evangelicals as he could.  Lang The Archbishop of Canterbury countered this by appointing a deputy who was High Church who spent as much time as possible in F&F while the Chaplain General stayed in London.

 

The more Evangelical the chaplain the larger their dog collar, with High Church wearing very small ones and Low Church wearing massive "jam pot" collars, much in the way that you can make school pupils wear ties but not stop them tying them in stupid ways.  Again simply to get under the skin of the High Church hierarchy. 

 

As keithfazzani says, this was a major conflict within the CoE which was playing out both at home and in the forces, between the more traditional wing and the modernising wing.

 

Edited 18 January , 2018 by Heid the Ba'
to correct errors.

[PhilB]

Not strictly on topic but an interesting photo of a moustachioed priest of WW1.

 

"African priest, Western Front. This photograph shows a black priest, wearing what seem to be Church of England vestments over army uniform. He is standing in a camp of wooden huts. This is likely to be one of the segregated Labour Camps, probably of the South African Native Labour Contingent (SANLC). Some of these were near the ports such as Dieppe and Rouen, others were further inland such as those at Abbeville, Albert and Arras.

 

This may be one of a series, some of which have been attributed to the photographer John Warwick Brooke. They must all have been taken after February 1917, when the Labour Camps were established on the Western Front."

[depaor01]

1 hour ago, Wexflyer said:

Just one more way to tell the damned from the godly. Catholic clerics (with exceptions for some orders), were clean-shaven.

 

Even the normally bearded orders (in this case the Capuchin Order) appeared both bearded and shaven. All images courtesy of the Capuchin Archive via South Dublin Libraries.

 

Fr. John Butler O.F.M. CAP

 

 

 

 

Fr. Ignatius Collins OFM Cap. beardless in uniform,

 

 

 

 

Again, Fr. Collins bearded in Capuchin attire wearing his medals.

 

 

 

[Heid the Ba]

Four very nice photos.

[michaeldr]

1 hour ago, Heid the Ba' said:

Cosmo Lang became Archbishop of Canterbury in 1908

I think that should be York, not Canterbury; he arrived at Canterbury in 1928

 

On the general question of High v Low Church, this was alive and well fifty years after the Great War, when the vicar of the church I was then attending caused a lot of tut-tutting in the congregation by accepting and wearing a beautifully embroidered cope gifted by one of the better off parishioners.

[Heid the Ba]

10 minutes ago, michaeldr said:

I think that should be York, not Canterbury; he arrived at Canterbury in 1928

 

Yes, you're correct, I misread my notes.  Lang's audience with the king was in 1908 on his appointment to York, and he did not appoint the deputy Chaplain General.  I have corrected my earlier post.

[keithfazzani]

24 minutes ago, michaeldr said:

I think that should be York, not Canterbury; he arrived at Canterbury in 1928

 

On the general question of High v Low Church, this was alive and well fifty years after the Great War, when the vicar of the church I was then attending caused a lot of tut-tutting in the congregation by accepting and wearing a beautifully embroidered cope gifted by one of the better off parishioners.

It is indeed still alive I can assure you

[Heid the Ba]

13 minutes ago, keithfazzani said:

It is indeed still alive I can assure you

I used to know a retired CoE vicar who described George Carey as "dangerously modern" . . .

[keithmroberts]

As one outside any faith, but with many friends in them, I can say that Cosmo Lang's former parish, Portsea, still has some fairly elaborate clerical attire for services to my lay eye and is therefore I suppose fairly high.  By 1918 when another future archbishop, Cyril Foster Garbett was the vicar, the parish magazine listed 10 curates as chaplains on active service, three of them having been awarded the Military Cross, one of them  with a bar. Curates were only accepted for the parish if they were Oxbridge men, and were seeking a first post. All were expected to live in a substantial church property. It is almost unknown to see the present vicar, other than in black with a clerical collar (except in the parish's annual pantomime where he is normally the dame).

 

Keith

[rolt968]

Thank you for all the very interesting contributions and photos so far.

 

I did not know that the very broad clerical collars indicated a low church evangelical. I did know that clerical collars with a black cover on the sides in those days tended to indicate high church.

 

On more than one occasion Julian Bickersteth records that he explained to local people in France that he was not Protestant but Catholic, but not Roman Catholic. I am not sure that many of them understood the nuances of that. One lady said with some satisfaction that he wasn't in communion with the German Lutherans then.

 

RM

 

Edit: Does anyone know about pre-war practice?

Edited 19 January , 2018 by rolt968

[rolt968]

On ‎18‎/‎01‎/‎2018 at 08:08, Steven Broomfield said:

Absolutely no idea on the matter, but the thread title is a cracker. Sounds like a 60's psychedelic band.

I now have a mental picture of a clergyman in psychedelic clothing with a Sonny Bono style moustache!

RM

[keithmroberts]

When I next meet the local clergy, (one clean shaven, the other bearded, I shall ask to measure their collars. That would clearly be the clincher.

[Steven Broomfield]

I assume the bearded one does the Dame thing.

[Steven Broomfield]

Out of interest (and in a desperate attempt to say something mildly relevant), John Keble, one of the leading lights of the High Church Oxford Movement, was the incumbent at Hursley, near Winchester, where there remains the battlefield grave marker of Lt D G W Hewitt, VC, of the 14th Battalion, Hampshire Regiment.

Edited 19 January , 2018 by Steven Broomfield
Wrong battalion number

[keithfazzani]

Mine has a "black cover" on the sides and is certainly not very broad. Nothing changes

[Heid the Ba]

19 minutes ago, Steven Broomfield said:

I assume the bearded one does the Dame thing.

Oh no he doesn't!

1 hour ago, rolt968 said:

Edit: Does anyone know about pre-war practice?

Same as wartime practice, this was a continuing conflict that had started in the CofE decades before.  High Church were clean shaven or full set, Low Church wore moustaches.  Due to the Low Church Chaplain General the moustachioed types were over represented in the forces so they probably get mentioned more.

Edited 19 January , 2018 by Heid the Ba'

[Heid the Ba]

17 minutes ago, keithfazzani said:

Mine has a "black cover" on the sides and is certainly not very broad. Nothing changes

I think it was height as much as width, with Low Church collars coming up to the chin, and High Church collars being, ironically, lower.  That was the way a century ago I have no idea if that still applies.