William Hugh Clifford Frend

The Reverend Professor W. H. C. Frend (11 January 1916-1 August 2005)

Ecclesiastical historian; archaeologist; priest.

Academic career

* Haileybury College (scholar)
* Keble College, Oxford (scholar, B.A. First class in Modern History 1937, M.A. 1951, D.Phil. with thesis on Donatists 1940, D.D. 1966)
* Craven Scholarship to study in Berlin (with Hans Lietzmann) and North Africa
* Research fellowship at University of Nottingham
* Associate Director, Egypt Exploration Society, Q'asr Ibrim, Nubia 1963-64
* Bye Fellow of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge (B.D. 1964)
* Fellow and University lecturer in Divinity. During this time the Prince of Wales, then reading archaeology and anthropology at Trinity, was a one of his students.
* Professor of Ecclesiastical History, and Dean of the Faculty of Divinity, in the University of Glasgow 1969-84 (Emeritus 1984-2005)
* Chairman, Association of University Teachers 1976-78
* Frend once stood for local government as Liberal Party candidate in Cambridge
* In the 1980s he worked at Carthage with a team from the University of Michigan
* In retirement was again elected Bye Fellow of Caius and in his last years wrote a new book about the early life of Augustine

Military career

* Assistant Principal, War Office 1940
* Seconded to Cabinet Office and served on Committees for Allied Supplies and the Free French
* Liaison officer, Psychological Warfare Branch, Tunis
* Service in Austria for 18 months
* Italy
* Commissioned officer, Queen's Royal Regiment 1947-67

Ministry

Frend inclined towards the Low Church tradition. He was a sometimes reluctant liberal who cautiously supported the ordination of women but criticised Bishop Jenkins of Durham over his non-traditional ideas about Christmas. He was considered a good and humble pastor and an enlightening, if theologically uncoventional, preacher.

* Reader 1956-82
* Ordained deacon in the Scottish Episcopal Church 1982
* Non Stipendiary Minister, Aberfoyle 1982-84
* Ordained priest in the Scottish Episcopal Church 1983
* Priest-in-charge, Barnwell with Thurning and Luddington 1984-90
* Permission to Officiate in the Diocese of Ely 1990-2005
* Until his death, he continued to take two services every month

Public recognition

* Złoty Krzyż Zasługi z Mieczami (Gold Cross of Merit with Swords), Government of the Polish Republic in Exile
* Territorial Efficiency Decoration 1959
* Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London 1952
* Fellow of the Royal Historical Society 1954
* D.D. "honoris causa", University of Edinburgh 1974
* Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1979
* Fellow of the British Academy 1983
* He set up and financed the Frend Medal, awarded by the Society of Antiquaries for archaeological work

Family

Frend was married to Mary Grace (née Crook) 1951-2002; they had one son, Simon and one daughter, Sally. His father was a clergyman of High Church persuasion.

Major Works

* "The Donatist Church" (1952)
* "Martyrdom and Persecution in the Early Church" (1965)
* "The Rise of the Monophysite Movement" (1972)
* "The Rise of Christianity" (1984)

ee also

* Professor of Ecclesiastical History, Glasgow
* List of Professorships at the University of Glasgow
* Trinity College, Glasgow

Links

* [http://www.churchtimes.co.uk/content.asp?id=12564 "Church Times" obituary]
* [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/08/11/db1101.xml "Telegraph" obituary]
* [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article558285.ece "Times" obituary]