Vicars of Brighton

Reverend Henry Wagner was Vicar of Brighton from 1824 until his death in 1870. Born in 1792, he had 6 churches built to enable the poor of Brighton to attend services, of which St John the Evangelist and St. Paul's survive. In this photograph, Wagner is seated at a desk, pen in hand.
Image reproduced with kind permission from Brighton and Hove in Pictures by Brighton and Hove City Council

Please note that this text is an extract from a reference work written in 1990.  As a result, some of the content may not reflect recent research, changes and events.

The vicars of Brighton, who were also vicars of West Blatchington from 1744 until 1941, were appointed by St Pancras’s Priory at Lewes until 1537, by the bishops of Chichester from 1615 until 1744, by the Crown from 1744 until 1824, and again by the bishops since 1824. They have always been influential figures in the town, and in the early nineteenth century the vicar was chairman of the vestry, a guardian of the poor, and an ex-officio town commissioner. He was also entitled to claim a ‘half-share’ after each fishing trip as a tithe payment. In 1873 the parish of Brighton was divided into a number of district parishes and the Vicar of Brighton was assigned to the new parish church of St Peter’s. As the vicar also holds the position of rural dean of Brighton, all parishes in the town are still responsible to him. {1,3a,63,112}
In the porch of St Peter’s Church is a list of vicars of Brighton which is reproduced below:

Known pre-Reformation vicars:

1091 Ralph de Cheney
? John ?
1397 William ?
1402 John Dent
1417 Richard Robyn
? William Tupyn
1418 Robert Philpott
? Thomas Symond
1430 Thomas Wotton
1440 Thomas Maltby
1478 John Gonwaye
1490 Thomas Warde
? William Browne
1531 Peter Petersen
1535 Leonard Saville

Post-Reformation vicars:

? William Jennings
1565 Francis Cox
1575 John Drury
1614 John Hullwood
1616 Thomas Richardson
1630 Thomas Doe
? William Yeo
1646 John James
1655 Robert Evernden
1662 Edward Lowe
1681 Henry Snooke
1700 George Hay
? William Faulkner
1705 William Colbron
1744 Henry Michell
1789 Thomas Hudson
1804 Robert Carr
1824 Henry Wagner
1870 John Hannah
1888 John Julius Hannah
1902 Benedict Hoskyns
1917 Francis Pierce
1924 Frederick Hicks
1928 Alfred Rose
1935 John How
1939 Geoffrey Warde
1945 Frederick Robathan
1953 David Booth
1960 John Keeling
1975 John Hester
1985 Dominic Walker

Any numerical cross-references in the text above refer to resources in the Sources and Bibliography section of the Encyclopaedia of Brighton by Tim Carder.

No Comments

Start the ball rolling by posting a comment on this page!

Add a comment about this page

Your email address will not be published.