- Dennis Hird
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James Dennis Hird (28 January 1850 - 13 July 1920) was a British clergyman, educator and author.
Hird was born in Ashby, Lincolnshire (now part of Scunthorpe) to Robert and Fanny Dennis Hird née Kendall.[1][2][3] He was the second of five sons, though only three survived to adulthood.[1][2][3] In later life he became known by his middle name of Dennis, this being the maiden name of his maternal grandmother Fanny Kendall.[1][2][3] The Kendall's were a well known family in Ashby and were credited as been the main instigators in bringing Primitive Methodism to the hamlet.[3][4] Six of Dennis maternal Uncles were ordained ministers in this faith along with a cousin Holliday Bickerstaffe Kendall.[3][4] The Hird family were also Methodists and a well known family in the hamlet, Robert Hird was a grocer and a road Hird Terrace[3][5](no longer standing) was once named after the family. Primitive Methodism was a big influence in Dennis's early life and may be the spark for his socialist tendencies as it was more favoured by the working classes of the time.
Contents
Ministry
In December 1884 Hird was ordained as a Church of England deacon,[6] appointed to St Michael and All Angels Bournemouth. Then exactly a year later he was ordained as a Church of England priest [7] where he was appointed curate of Christchurch, Battersea. Hird's talents and oratory skills were soon recognised and it was decided he could better serve the church in the role of General Secretary of the Church of England Temperance Society (C.E.T.S.) and London Police Court Mission to which he was appointed in October 1887.[8][9] for the Diocese of London.[10] When it was discovered that Hird was a member of the Social Democratic Federation in 1894, he was forced to resign from the Temperance Society.[11] He was removed from London to become rector of Eastnor, Herefordshire.[12]
Education
Hird was a member of Socialist Educational Association, and in 1899 resigned his church living to become a non-collegiate tutor in Oxford. In the same year he was chosen to be the first principal of Ruskin College, Oxford.[13][14] The college's governing charter required the institution to show "neutrality in religion and politics". However, Hird, who was described as "a man of a forcible and attractive personalty, ...known also to hold Nationalist and Socialist views of an advanced type" was found to be using the college for propagandist purposes and was dismissed from his post in 1909.[15] His sacking from Ruskin led to a students' strike, and he became warden of the Central Labour College established by trade unions to provide independent working class education.[16]
Works
- 1889/90 The Guide to C.E.T.S. Work in the London Diocese James Dennis Hird [17]
- 1890 Church of England Temperance Society, Junior Division. Health, Wealth and Temperance . Being the syllabus of instruction for Church Bands of Hope, etc.[17]
- 1890 Temperance Reader. Rev J Dennis Hird.[17]
- 1894 Toddle Island: Being the Diary of Lord Bottsford Lord Bottsford (pseudonym of James Dennis Hird).A Gulliverian journey to an unknown republic somewhere in the vicinity of New Zealand.[17]
- 1894 Wife-lending, How to preserve the poor, etc. [Papers on social questions.] Walter James, pseud. [i.e. James Dennis Hird.] [17]
- 1895/6 Four leaflets Published from Lectures given at Leadbury in 1895 listed under Rev. Dennis Hird
- Jesus the Socialist
- Mistakes about the Bible and in the Bible
- How man was Made
- How the Devil was Made
- 1896 A Christian With Two Wives [17]
- 1897 Pulpit Science: Is Immortality of Physical Fact
- 1897 In Search of a Religion [17]
- 1899 Palaestra Oxoniensis. Palaestra Logica by W. H. Forbes, M.A., and D. Hird, M.A. (reprinted on numerous occasions) [17]
- 1900 Was Jesus Christ a Ritualist?
- 1901 Believing Bishop; Havergall Bates (pseudonym of James Dennis Hird) [18]
- 1903 Easy Outline of Evolution [17]
- 1906 Picture Book of Evolution; Part I Containing Lessons From Comparative Astronomy-Geology-Zoology.[17]
- 1907 Picture Book of Evolution; Part II Containing Lessons From Comparative Anatomy And Embryology, And Giving The Pedigree Of Man.[17]
- 1907 Brute to Brother
- 1908 Shear my Sheep [17]
- 1908 Jesus the Socialist; re-released.[17]
- 1915 A Christian With Two Wives; re-released.[17]
References
- ^ a b c Family history published on the 'Rootsweb WorldConnect website'
- ^ a b c Beatson-Hird, J.F. Dennis Hird : socialist educator and propagandist : first principal of Ruskin College ISBN - 0900183209
- ^ a b c d e f Borrill, M. The Kendall family from Ashby Lincolnshire : a family history ISBN - 9781844266401
- ^ a b Kendall, H. B. The origin and history of the Primitive Methodist Church Vol 1 pg 429-432 [1]
- ^ Jackson, Harry. Scunthorpe a Pictorial History, 1981 pg 40-41
- ^ "Ordination". "The Hampshire Advertiser": p. 6. 27 December 1884.
- ^ "Ordinations". The Times: p. 10. 22 December 1885.
- ^ "Ecclesiastical". "The Derby Mercury": p. 3. 5 October 1887.
- ^ Church of England Temperance Chronicle October 1887
- ^ "Ecclesiatical Appointments". The Times: p. 7. 29 September 1887.
- ^ "Ecclesiatical Intelligence". The Times: p. 5. 1 March 1894.
- ^ "Ecclesiatical Intelligence". The Times: p. 8. 6 April 1894.
- ^ W.W. Craik, Central Labour College, 1964
- ^ TUC | History Online
- ^ "Ruskin College, Oxford. History And Development". The Times: p. 9. 21 February 1913.
- ^ "The Central Labour College". TUC History Online. London Metropolitan University. http://www.unionhistory.info/timeline/Tl_Display.php?irn=3000017&QueryPage=../AdvSearch.php.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n British Library Catalogue
- ^ Wellington Evening Post [2]
Categories:- 1850 births
- 1930 deaths
- Ruskin College
- British socialists
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