Alan Campbell Don

Infobox ReligiousBio
background = #FFA500
name = Alan Campbell Don


Alan Campbell Don
religion = Church of England
alias =
location = England
Title = Dean of Westminster
Period = 1946-1959
Predecessor =
Successor =
ordination = 1917
post =
previous_post = Chaplain to the Speaker of the House of Commons
present_post =
date of birth = 1885
place of birth = Dundee, Scotland
date of death = 1966
place of death =

The Reverend Alan Campbell Don (1885-1966) KCVO, a trustee of the National Portrait Gallery [http://www.npg.org.uk] , was author of the Scottish Book of Common Prayer [London, SPCK 1929] , Chaplain and Secretary to Cosmo Lang, Archbishop of Canterbury between 1931 and 1941, Chaplain to the Speaker of the House of Commons between 1936 and 1946, and Dean of Westminster between 1946 and 1959.

Early life

Born into a manufacturing Dundee family [The Times, Wednesday, May 04, 1966; pg. 14; Issue 56622; col F Dr. Alan Don Former Dean Of Westminster] , he was educated at rugby and Magdalen College, Oxford. Deciding the family business was not for him [“Who was Who” 1897-1990 London, A & C Black, 1991 ISBN 071363457X] , he took Holy Orders at Cuddesdon College before a curacy in Redcar followed by an Incumbency in Yorkshire.

Career develops

There then followed a ten year stint as Provost of the cathedral in his native city. From 1931 until 1941 he was secretary to Lang and became a chaplain to the The King [The Times, Saturday, Oct 27, 1934; pg. 15; Issue 46896; col E Chaplain to the King-new appointments] . Already the Speaker’s chaplain [The Times, Friday, Feb 21, 1936; pg. 14; Issue 47304; col G Speaker's Chaplain] ,in 1941 he became a Canon of Diocese of Westminster as Rector of the prestigious St. Margaret's, Westminster, the parish church of the Houses of Parliament.

Dean of Westminster

This was followed in 1946 [The Times, Thursday, May 16, 1946; pg. 4; Issue 50453; col F The Deanery Of Westminster Canon A. C. Don Appointed] by elevation to the post of Dean of Westminster [Lambeth Palace Library “Westminster Abbey. Order of service for the installation of the Reverend Alan Campbell Don, D.D., as dean of the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter, on Thursday, June 6th, 1946” Catalogue number G199 37.04] , a post he was to hold for 13 years-a period which included The Queen's Coronation [The Times, Monday, Jun 01, 1953; pg. 15; Issue 52636; col A The Coronation 1953] .

Retirement

He retired to Canterbury where, although he was married [To Muriel née McConnell, from 1914 until her death in 1963-”Who was who (Ibid)] , he and his wife only met once a week for lunch [ "Elizabeth: The Queen Mother" Vickers, H : London,Arrow Books/Random House, 2006 ISBN 200089801X ] . He died on 3 May 1966 [Lambeth Palace Library Westminster Abbey. Alan Campbell Don, K.C.V.O., D.D., dean of Westminster 1946-1959. Wednesday, 1 June, 1966, 12 noon H5199.D6C4] .

References