Owen Chadwick

Owen Chadwick

Full name	William Owen Chadwick
Date of birth	20 May 1916 (95)
Place of birth	Bromley, Kent, England
School	Tonbridge School
University	St John's College, Cambridge
Rugby union career
Playing career
Position	Hooker
Professional / senior clubs
Years	Club / team	Caps	(points)
1936-1938	Cambridge University
National team(s)
Years	Club / team	Caps	(points)
1936	British Isles XV

William Owen Chadwick, OM, KBE, FBA, FRSE (born 20 May 1916) is a British professor, writer and prominent historian of Christianity. He was also a rugby union player.

Biography

Early life and education

Chadwick attended Tonbridge School and St John's College, Cambridge, where he received three Blues in rugby when he represented Cambridge University in the annual Varsity Match against Oxford in 1936, 1937 and 1938.^[1] In 1936, during his first year at Cambridge, he was selected to tour with a Great Britain team in their third trip to Argentina.^[2] Although no caps were awarded on this tour, Chadwick did play in the one match against the full Argentina side, playing in his favoured position of hooker in a 23-0 victory.^[3] During the 1937/38 season, Chadwick played for invitational touring side, the Barbarians.^[4]

He received a First in History; he then attended Cuddesdon College (a theological college) and was ordained to the diaconate and priesthood of the Church of England.

Trinity Hall

After the War (during which he was chaplain of Wellington College), he was made Fellow of Trinity Hall, Cambridge in 1947. He was elected Master of Selwyn College, Cambridge in 1955, retiring in 1983. In 1958 he was named Dixie Professor of Ecclesiastical History, during which time he chaired the Archbishops' Commission on Church and State (1967–1971).

Selwyn College

He is a former Master of Selwyn College, University of Cambridge. Elder brother of the Very Reverend Professor Henry Chadwick, also a distinguished historian of the early Church and a former Dean of Christ Church, University of Oxford, younger brother of Sir John Chadwick KCMG, a diplomat whose senior posting was as British Ambassador to Romania.^[5] He took a keen interest in sport and was elected to membership of the Hermes Club.

Regius Professor

In 1968 he was elected Regius Professor of Modern History, a chair which he held until 1982, and was President of the British Academy during the early 1980s. As Vice-Chancellor he guided Cambridge through turbulent times in the late 1960s; and was Chancellor of the University of East Anglia between 1984 and 1994.

Books

He has written many books, on the formation of the papacy in the modern world; on Lord Acton; on the secularisation of European thought and culture; on the Reformation; on the Church of England in England and elsewhere. He has notably participated in the debate about Pope Pius XII and the Holocaust.

Chadwick's books include:

From Bossuet to Newman (1957); Victorian Miniature (1960); The Victorian Church (in 2 volumes, 1966 and 1970); The Secularization of the European Mind in the 19th Century (1975); Newman (in the OUP's "Past Masters" series; 1983); Hensley Henson: A study in the friction between Church and State (1983); and A History of the Popes 1830-1914 (part of the Oxford History of the Christian Church; 1998).

Chadwick was also the General Editor of the Penguin (formerly Pelican) History of the Church, to which he contributed the third volume (The Reformation) and the seventh (The Christian Church in the Cold War, 1992). His brother Henry Chadwick wrote the first volume in the series (The Early Church, 1967).

Awards

He was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) in the 1982 New Year Honours.^[6] As a clergyman he did not receive the accolade and so remained the Revd Owen Chadwick rather than Sir Owen.^[7] He was appointed to the Order of Merit (OM) on 11 November 1983.^[8]

Historical manuscripts commission

He served as a member of the Historical Manuscripts Commission for a period prior to 1992.^[9]

Academic offices
Preceded by Norman Sykes	Dixie Professor of Ecclesiastical History, University of Cambridge 1958–1968	Succeeded by Ernest Gordon Rupp
Preceded by Herbert Butterfield	Regius Professor of Modern History, Cambridge 1968–1982	Succeeded by Geoffrey Elton
Preceded by William Telfer	Master of Selwyn College, Cambridge 1956–1983	Succeeded by Sir Alan Cook
Preceded by Eric Ashby, Baron Ashby	Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge 1969–1971	Succeeded by William Alexander Deer
Preceded by Lord Franks	Chancellor of the University of East Anglia 1984–1994	Succeeded by Sir Geoffrey Allen

References

1. ^ Marshall, Howard; Jordon, J.P. (1951). Oxford v Cambridge, The Story of the University Rugby Match. London: Clerke & Cockeran. p. 252. 
2. ^ Owen Chadwick rugby profile ESPN Scrum.com
3. ^ "La Unión de Rugby del Río de la Plata". UAR.com. 1937. http://www.uar.com.ar/archivos/1936.doc. Retrieved 20 March 2011. 
4. ^ Starmer-Smith, Nigel (1977). The Barbarians. Macdonald & Jane's Publishers. p. 219. ISBN 0-8600-7552-4. 
5. ^ PHS. "The Times Diary—Chadwick favourite for Dean, OAPs in TV licence rumpus, Holiday Inns here to stay" (News). The Times (London). Wednesday, July 9, 1969. Issue 57607, col D, p. 10.
6. ^ London Gazette: no. 48837. p. 8. 30 December 1981. Retrieved 2008-06-26.
7. ^ Honours—Knighthoods from the official website of the British Monarchy. Retrieved 2008-06-25
8. ^ London Gazette: no. 49543. p. 15251. 18 November 1983. Retrieved 2008-06-26.
9. ^ London Gazette: no. 52987. p. 11676. 10 July 1992. Retrieved 2008-06-26.

External links

• Owen Chadwick interviewed by Alan Macfarlane 29 February 2008 (film)
• Gifford Lectures

Persondata
Name	Chadwick, Owen
Alternative names	William
Short description
Date of birth	20 May 1916
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death