The Stathern writings of the Revd. Ernest Peirson.

 

Between 1904 and 1914 the Rector of Stathern was the Revd. Ernest Peirson.  He took a great interest in the history of the church and the village.  Between 1908 and 1913 he published a monthly Parish Magazine and wrote about the history of the village and its development as well as information about the church and church services.

 

In 2022 a copy of the series of these Parish Magazines were rediscovered.  They had been hidden for years in an outhouse in the village.  They are a fascinating social document about St Guthlac’s church pre-WW1 and the historical development of Stathern.

 

Revd. Peirson also wrote a booklet entitled “The Story of the Church of St Guthlac” which he published in 1913, just before he retired.  He wanted to distribute it to every house in the village and a few copies of this booklet are still in existence. All this information is a valuable historical guide to Stathern and is now preserved in the church archive and reproduced on this website. 

 

The Revd. Ernest Goodwyn Peirson (4.2.1859 -.28.11.1941) was born in Framlington Suffolk.in 1859 and died in St Austell Cornwall in 1941 aged 82.  He was the son of John Peirson, Gent, a farmer of Framlington who employed 7 labourers and 2 boys as recorded in the 1861 national census. His father John must have been relatively wealthy as Ernest attended the City of London School, matriculating in 1878 and then attended Peterhouse Cambridge from 1878-1882 gaining a BA degree which was converted to an MA in 1905.

 

Ernest Peirson was ordained deacon at Ely in 1882 and a priest at Worcester in 1884.  His career commenced as a curate at Biggleswade Bedfordshire in 1882-3  and an assistant master at Ipswich School 1883-4 followed by a curacy at Redmarley-D’Abitot, Worcestershire 1884-5. He was then Rector of Washford-Pyne, Devon 1886-91, and Rural Dean of Tiverton 1889-91.  He was Rector of Exford, Devon 1891-04 and then moved to Stathern as Rector 1904-13. As Peterhouse was (and still is) the Patron of St Guthlac’s Church, Stathern, the college had the responsibility to provide the rector and they would have selected a priest for this post who had graduated from their college.  This accounts for Peirson's move to Stathern.

 

Ernest Peirson lived in the rectory adjacent to St Guthlac’s church.  During his 9-year tenure here he suffered from bouts of ill health and often spent time in the West Country, which was clearly an area he loved.  He resigned from his post at Stathern at the age of 55 on his doctor's recommendation and retired to Cornwall where he lived for a further 27 years.  He had married in Bodmin to Bessie Collins, daughter of a solicitor, in 1884.  Their son Guy, who also went to Cambridge University, was born in 1897.  The 1901 census records Ernest Peirson at Exford with his wife and two sons, John and Lewis Guy, and a daughter Mary..

 

The Parish Magazine articles for Stathern that are still in existence commence in June 1905 and continue monthly until December 1913.  Each magazine comprised a national magazine “The Dawn of Day” but the cover sheet comprised the Stathern Parish Magazine articles, written by Person.  He used the inside of the front and back cover to list the services of which there were two daily as well as Sunday services, and the two Sunday School meetings.  He also recorded the offertory amounts, baptisms and burials, and his notes on “The Story of Stathern”. On some months he did not write any notes but overall they continued until December 2013, with a total of about 37 articles on Stathern and St Guthlacs. 

​

Reproduced below are his published articles.  There is a certain amount of conjecture regarding the accuracy of some of his views and they may not be factually correct.  But overall, his notes are a precious and detailed summary of the development of Stathern written by a scholarly man who clearly loved Stathern and its residents.  His writings are a priceless legacy to the village, and we will be forever in his debt.

 

 

​