ST. LAWRENCE JEWRY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24406, 18 September 1940, Page 13

ST. LAWRENCE JEWRY

new rector appointed dqminiqn;s "official" church (From Our Own Correspondent) . LONDON, Aug. 15. , The institution and induction of the Rev. R. H. Coucbman, M.A., to the rectorship of St. Lawrence: Jewry, the official church of New Zealanders in j London, was attended by the High .Commissioner, Mr W. J. Jordan, members of the New Zealand Society, the Acting Lord Mayor of London, Sir ;James Newton, sheriffs and aldermen. Mr. Couchman succeeds the Rev. A. Lombardini. • The new incumbent was presented to the Bishop of London, who conducted the institution, by the. Dean of St. Paul's, and-the Chapter of the Cathedral.-: The induction was conducted ■ by; the Archdeacon of London with ancient ceremonial:' • The bishop, in an address, said that St Lawrence had for. long had ail association with New Zealand, and he hoped that would continue. • The new rector was ordained in 1900. Three yearsv later he was appointed to ,the chaplaincy of Cuddesdbn Theological College, and in 1906 to St. Luke's Training College, Exeter, of which he became principal. Afterwards he was appointed a member of the College of Minor Canons of St. Paul's Cathedral, and subsequently head of the Cathedral Choir School. St. Lawrence Jewry, so. well known to hundreds of New Zealanders, was ■built by Wren, and opened for worship in 1677. It took the place of an ancient church destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666 7t derives its distinctive title from the fact that the original church was built in the district of London occupied by Jews before their expulsion from England by Edward I. Exactly when the original church was built is not known, but that it •must:, have been many hundreds of ;years-old -may be-gathered from the faefcthat as far Back as 1294 the patronage of the living was bestowed on Balliol College, Oxford, in whose possession it has remained ever since. The present church contains some rich oak carving, while the vestry room is a beautiful' apartment. Its Walls are encased in • Kandscmelycarv'ad oak panelling, and its exqui-sitely-moulded ..ceiling is adorned with a painting by Sir Thomas Thornhill, depicting the reception of St. Lawrence into Heaven after his martyrdom. Over the chimney piece is an old picture in which is portrayed the manner of his death. Mr W. Nash. Minister of Marketing, preached in St Lawrence Jewry during one of his visits to London.