Archdeacon of Westminster
Church of England ecclesiastical office
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Archdeacon of Westminster is a senior ecclesiastical officer within the Chapter of the Royal Peculiar of Westminster Abbey in London. The holder of the post oversees relationships with the twenty-four parishes of which the Dean and Chapter are patrons, and is responsible for the pastoral care of the staff and volunteers of the Abbey.[1]
The post was most recently held by Tricia Hillas then Anthony Ball. In December 2025, it was announced that the next archdeacon would be Jennifer Adams-Massmann. The role of archdeacon has previously been held together with other chapter roles, including Sub-Dean, Canon Treasurer, and Canon Theologian.
List of archdeacons
Richard Widmore lists the following as Archdeacons of Westminster, acknowledging the incompleteness of the list:[2]
- Richard Crokesley (elected abbot 1246)
- Thomas (1258)
- A. de Wycomb (1277–1288)
- Roger Bures (before 1293)
- William de Huntyngdon (1292)
- Alexander de Pershore (1312)
- Robert (1324–1327)
- William de Ipswich (1360–1370)
- Thomas Pyk (1372–1373)
- William de Colchester (1382, elected abbot 1386)
- John Stowe (1388)
- John Burwell (1391–1394)
- William Agmondesham (1414)
- William Wycombe (1467)
- William Borogh (1498–1500)
- Andrew Perne (1554)
- John Hardyman (1560, deprived)
- William Latymer (1561–1572)
- Richard Reve (1573–1580)
- Richard Hakluyt (1603–1604)
- Christopher Sutton[3] (1609–1617)
- Gabriel Grante (1617–1630)
- Thomas Mountford (1631)
At Widmore's time of writing (1751), the present archdeacon was Scawen Kenrick.[2]
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- 1854–1864 (res.): William Bentinck (Rector of Sigglesthorne 1808; canon 1809–1864)[4]
- 1864–1868 (res.): Christopher Wordsworth (canon 1844–1869; later Bishop of Lincoln)[5]
- 1868–1883: John Jennings (canon 1837–1883)[6]
- 1883–1894 (res.): Frederick Farrar (canon 1876–1895; Speaker's Chaplain from 1890; later Dean of Canterbury)[7]
- 1894–1900: Charles Furse (father of artist Charles Wellington Furse)
- 1900–13 May 1916 (d.): Basil Wilberforce, Speaker's Chaplain (canon since 1894)[8]
- 1916–1918: Ernest Pearce[9] (canon 1911–1919; became Sub-Dean)
- 1918–1919: William Hartley Carnegie, Speaker's Chaplain (canon 1913–1936; became Sub-Dean)
- 1919–30 January 1931 (d.): Robert Charles (canon since 1913)[10]
- 1931–December 1936 (res.): Vernon Storr (canon since 1921)
- 1937–?: Frederic Donaldson (canon 1921–1951)
- 1946–1951 (res.): Stephen Marriott (canon since 1937; became Sub-Dean)
- Adam Fox (canon 1941–1964)
- 1959–1964 (ret.): Stephen Marriott (again; canon since 1937)
- 1963–1974 (res.): Edward Carpenter (canon since 1951; became Dean of Westminster)[11]
- 1974–1 September 1975 (res.): Ronald Jasper (canon since 1968)
- 1975–1987 (ret.): Edward Knapp-Fisher (Sub-Dean from 1982)[12]
- 1987-1999 (ret.): Anthony Harvey,[13] Sub-Dean
- 1999–2005 (ret.): David Hutt,[14] Sub-Dean (canon since 1995)
- 2006–2010 (res.): Jane Hedges,[1] Canon Steward (canon until 2014)
- 2009–2010 (ret.): Robert Wright,[15] Sub-Dean, Rector of St Margaret's & Speaker's Chaplain (canon since 1998)
- 2010–21 June 2014 (res.): Jane Hedges,[1] Canon Steward (again; canon since 2006; Sub-Dean since 2013)
- 2014–17 July 2016 (res.): Andrew Tremlett[N 1], Sub-Dean and Rector of St Margaret's (canon since 2010)
- 2016–2018 (ret.): Vernon White, Sub-Dean[18] (canon and Canon Theologian since 2011; resigned archdeaconry before 17 June 2018)[19]
- before 17 June 2018[20] – before 31 May 2021:[21] David Stanton (canon and Treasurer since 2013; Sub-Dean since before 21 October 2018)
- 2021–2024: Tricia Hillas (canon since 9 May 2021;[22] Steward and Archdeacon since before 31 May 2021;[21] also Speaker's Chaplain since 4 March 2020)[23]
- 2024–2025: Anthony Ball (canon since September 2016)
- From 2026: Jennifer Adams-Massmann[24]