Eric Symes Abbott
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Eric Symes Abbott KCVO (May 26, 1906–June 6, 1983) was an English clergyman, and Dean of Westminster.
Born in Nottingham in 1906 to William Henry Abbott and Mary Symes, both schoolteachers, he studied classics and theology at Jesus College, Cambridge. After graduating he held a number of different posts, such as Chaplain (1932-1936) and Dean (1945-1955) of King's College London, Warden of Keble College, Oxford (1956-1960), and Chaplain to King George VI (1948-1952), and Queen Elizabeth II (1952-1959). Then, in 1959, he was made Dean of Westminster, a position he held until 1974. Here he presided over the 900th anniversary of the founding of the abbey, in 1965-1966.
He was appointed a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (KCVO) in 1966. Abbott never married. He died at Haslemere on 1983. In his memory the 'Eric Symes Abbott Memorial Fund' was established, to provide for annual lectures on spirituality, with lectures held alternately at Oxford and London.
[edit] Works
- Escape or freedom? (Heffer and Sons, Cambridge, 1939)
- Foothold of faith (Dacre Press, Westminster, 1943)
- Catholicity: a study in the conflict of Christian traditions in the West (Dacre Press, Westminster, 1947)
- Education in the spiritual life (Doncaster, 1961)
- The compassion of God and the Passion of Christ (Geoffrey Bles, London, 1963)
[edit] Reference
- Evans, Sydney, 'Abbott, Eric Symes (1906–1983)', rev., Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004
