Person    | Male  Born 6/7/1824  Died 14/1/1915

Richard Meux Benson

Categories: Religion

Founder of the Society of St. John the Evangelist, popularly known as the Cowley Fathers.

In addition to the information shown on his Wikipedia page, Richard Meux Benson was born on 6 July 1824 in Bolton House, Russell Square, Bloomsbury, London, a son of Thomas Starling Benson (1775-1858) and Elizabeth Benson née Meux (1793-1858). UCL gives "son of Thomas Benson, the high sheriff of Surrey, and Elizabeth (née Meux) of the wealthy Meux brewing family". On 6 August 1824 he was baptised in St George's Church, Bloomsbury, where the baptismal register shows his family were living in Russell Square and that his father was a merchant.

On 9 June 1843 he attended Christ Church College at Oxford University where he obtained his Bachelor of Arts (BA) in 1847 and his Master of Arts (MA) in 1850. On 23 July 1845 he applied to be admitted into the Freedom of the City of London by patrimony in the Worshipful Company of Drapers. He was the Curate of St Mark's Church, Surbiton, Surrey, from 1848 to 1851 and in the 1851 census he was described as the Perpetual Curate of Cowley, residing in Cowley, Oxford, Oxfordshire. On 5 March 1856 he was due to stand trial at Oxford Assizes for the offence of solemnising matrimony without publication of Banns or Licence, however the petitioner removed their petition.

When the 1861 census was undertaken he was shown as the Incumbent of Cowley, boarding jointly with James Percy Kane (1833-1919) the Curate of Cowley, at Henley Terrace, Iffley Road, Cowley, Oxford, the home of a Martha Hogg who was a lodging house keeper. He was still shown as residing in Iffley Road, Cowley, in the 1868 electoral registers.

In the 1881 census he is described as the Vicar of Cowley St. John, and was living at The Mission House, 16 Marston Street, Cowley, where he is shown as the head of the property in which there were 20 other clergymen who were listed as boarders.

He was shown as a Priest (Church of England) in the 1901 census visiting the home of the Reverend Hanworth Hart Rackham (1860-1916) at St Paul's Vicarage, Edgware Road, Swindon, Wiltshire.

He died, aged 90 years, on 14 January 1915 in the Mission House, Marston Road, Cowley, his death being registered in the 1st quarter of 1915 in the Headington registration district, Oxfordshire and his body was buried on 16 January 1915 in the churchyard of St Mary and St John Church, Cowley Road, Oxford, OX4 1UH.

He is commemorated as Richard Benson on the plaque at St George's, Bloomsbury.

Credit for this entry to: Andrew Behan.

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Richard Meux Benson

Commemorated ati

St George's, Bloomsbury

The Parish Church of St Georges Bloomsbury Built 1720 - 30. Architect: Nicho...

Read More

Other Subjects

Raising the tower - Wandsworth All Saints

Raising the tower - Wandsworth All Saints

The upper storey of the west tower was added in 1841 to enable a peal of eight bells to be installed.  The picture shows the tower in 1810, pre-works.

Event, Architecture, Religion

1 memorial
Eugene Wood

Eugene Wood

Dean of Armagh 1590 -1609/10. From University of Houston:  In 1597 his wife was Joan, widow of John Ballett. Wood's Cathedral was St Patrick's Cathedral, Armagh, Church of Ireland.  This is not Ro...

Person, Religion, Ireland

1 memorial
American troops in WW2 in London

American troops in WW2 in London

During WW2 the US armed forces worshipped at the Grosvenor Chapel and partied at Rainbow Corner. This seems a good place to mention the searchable on-line honour roll of 28,000 Americans based in ...

Group, Armed Forces, Religion, USA

3 memorials
Catholic Apostolic Church

Catholic Apostolic Church

The Amwell Society say ". . . an eccentric sect which petered out in the 20th century because its priesthood depended on heredity. What was planned as its cathedral is now the University of Londo...

Group, Religion

1 memorial
Dr Richard Price

Dr Richard Price

Welsh moral philosopher, Nonconformist minister and mathematician. He was also a political reformer and pamphleteer, active in radical, republican, and liberal causes such as the French and America...

Person, Philosophy, Religion, Science, Wales

1 memorial