Maurice_Edwards

Maurice Edwards

Maurice Edwards

British Anglican priest

Maurice Henry Edwards, OBE (17 May 1886 – 26 April 1961) was a British Anglican priest. During World War II, from 1940 to 1944, he was Chaplain-in-Chief of the Royal Air Force.

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Early life

Edwards was born on 17 May 1886. He was educated at Ripon Grammar School and Queens' College, University of Cambridge.[1] He trained for Holy Orders at Leeds Clergy School, before leaving in 1911 to be ordained in the Church of England.[2]

Career

Edwards was ordained in the Church of England as a deacon in 1911 and as a priest in 1912.[3] He was a curate in Bedale, North Riding, Yorkshire, from 1911 to 1914.[1]

He was appointed a Royal Navy chaplain on 6 August 1914.[4] He then served in the First World War.[2]

In 1918, he joined the fledgling Royal Air Force Chaplaincy Service.[2] He was granted the relative rank of squadron leader on 1 August 1919,[5] the relative rank of wing commander on 6 August 1929,[6] and the relative rank of group captain on 6 August 1934.[7] He saw active service in Iraq from 1919 to 1921, in Egypt from 1921 to 1924 and then in Iraq again from 1930 to 1932.[2]

On 10 April 1940, he was appointed Chaplain-in-Chief, the most senior chaplain of the Royal Air Force, and granted the relative rank of air commodore.[8] In 1941, he convinced C. S. Lewis to undertake tours of RAF bases as a lay lecturer.[9]

From 1944 to 1947, he was based at the Rother Vale Collieries, after which he became rector of Acton Burnell cum Pitchford, a post he held until his retirement in 1953.[1]

He died on 26 April 1961.[10]

Honours

In the 1928 King's Birthday Honours, Edwards was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE).[11]

He was appointed an Honorary Chaplain to the King (KHC) on 10 April 1940.[8]

Notes and references

  1. [1]
    "Who was Who" 1897-2007 London, A & C Black, 2007 ISBN 978-0-19-954087-7
  2. [2]
    "Edwards, Rev. Maurice Henry, (17 May 1886–26 April 1961), KHC". Who Was Who. Oxford University Press. 1 December 2007. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U54257.
  3. [3]
    Crockford's clerical directory 1947-48 Oxford, OUP, 1947
  4. [4]
    "No. 28864". The London Gazette. 7 August 1914. p. 6203.
  5. [5]
    "No. 32017". The London Gazette. 13 August 1920. p. 8410.
  6. [6]
    "No. 33531". The London Gazette. 3 September 1929. p. 5720.
  7. [7]
    "No. 34078". The London Gazette. 14 August 1934. p. 5195.
  8. [8]
    "No. 34831". The London Gazette. 16 April 1940. p. 2248.
  9. [9]
    Johnson, Bruce R. (2011). ""Answers that Belonged to Life": C. S. Lewis and the Origins of the Royal Air Force Chaplains' School, Cambridge". Sehnsucht: The C.S. Lewis Journal. 5/6: 81–102. ISSN 1940-5537. JSTOR 48580491.
  10. [10]
    "Deaths", The Times, 27 April 1961.
  11. [11]
    "No. 33390". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 June 1928. p. 3854.
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