Walter William Covey-Crump Explained

Honorific Prefix:Canon
Walter William Covey-Crump
Birth Name:Walter William Crump
Birth Date:4 October 1865
Birth Place:Birmingham, England
Death Place:Ely, Cambridgeshire, England
Years Active:1892–1949
Occupation:Priest, writer
Alma Mater:Ayerst Hall
Children:A.T.L. Covey-Crump
Signature:Signature of WW Covey-Crump, 1921 (6a).jpg
Signature Alt:W.W. Covey-Crump
Religion:Anglicanism
Ordained:Deacon 1892, priest 1893 Ely
Writings:Books on Freemasonry, e.g. Hiramic Tradition (1934)

Canon Walter William Covey-Crump (1865–1949) was an Anglican priest, serving as curate and vicar in the diocese of Ely, Cambridgeshire for over fifty years. He also held "high positions" as a Freemason, involving himself in Masonic research. He produced numerous theological and Masonic publications, some of which were still being reprinted in the 21st century.

He came from a modest background, but was accepted as an undergraduate at Ayerst Hall, Cambridge, where he underwent theological training. He inherited the surname, "Crump", but took on the additional name of "Covey" from his friend Richard Covey, bursar of Ayerst Hall and fellow curate in Cambridgeshire. He was married with three sons, the second of whom was Commander A.T.L. Covey-Crump. His grandson is Rogers Covey-Crump.

Background

Covey-Crump came from a modest background. His paternal grandparents were agricultural labourer William Crump, and his wife Ann.[1] His parents were merchant's clerk and cooper,[2] Richard Crump,[3] and Elizabeth Prestidge.[3] [4] He was born as Walter William Crump in Birmingham on 4 October 1865.[5] When he was fourteen, he was apprenticed to a book-printer of evangelical tendencies, and attended his youth Bible class.

Education and training

It was after attending evening classes that Crump was able to win a scholarship to Ayerst Hall, Cambridge, "a hostel ... designed to aid men of modest means in obtaining a university degree and theological training",[6] where he read mathematics, and received his Bachelor of Arts in 1891, and his Master of Arts in 1895.[7] His landlord in Cambridge was Richard Covey, who by then was old and nearly blind, so that Crump had to read to him. This sparked an interest in "ancient languages including Hebrew, Sanskrit, Egyptian Hieroglyphics and Greek". In 1891 it was Richard Covey who sponsored him financially at the Cambridge Clergy Training School.

Double-barrelled surname

Covey-Crump's parents were named Crump, and they registered him with that name. When he became curate of Cottenham, Cambridgeshire, he again met Reverend Richard Covey (Birmingham – Cambridge 2 August 1903),[8] the unmarried curate of nearby Rampton, and friend of the family who had been bursar of Ayerst Hall when Crump was an undergraduate, and had assisted him with educational sponsorship.[9] [7] The 1891 census finds "Walter William Crump" visiting Covey at his rectory in Dry Drayton parish.[10] Richard Covey drew up his last will in 1901, leaving the most part of his estate to Walter William Crump. There was no suggestion in the will that Crump should add Covey's name to his as a condition of the legacy. Crump took on the additional name of Covey before Richard Covey died. He formalised the name, "Covey", by deed poll on 5 March 1903, shortly before he married; by that time he was already using it as a double-barrelled surname.[11] [12] [13] His immediate family was using the surname, Covey-Crump, by 1911, as recorded in the census, and in the registered surnames of his children.

Marriage

Covey-Crump's wife was Hilda Sophia née Porter,[14] [15] and they married on 11 June 1903 at St Mary's Church, St Neots, where he was serving as curate.[16] Covey-Crump had three sons: musician Lewis Charles Leslie, Commander Alwyn Thomas Lavender Covey-Crump,[17] and Leo William Rolf M.A. (King's),[15] [18] who served in the Royal Naval Voluntary Reserve in World War II.[19] His grandson, via his son Lewis Charles Leslie, is the musician Rogers Covey-Crump.[20] Covey-Crump died in Ely on 27 April 1949,[14] and left £2,882 net .[21] His funeral took place on 2 May 1949.[22]

Career

Curate

Covey-Crump's first position was the curacy of All Saints' Church, Cottenham, from 1892 to 1894. It was there that he learned bell-ringing, one of his lasting interests.[20] Opening a fête 44 years later, he recalled his time there:

In those days the organist lived in Cambridge, and if he did not come we turned the handle of a barrel organ and ground the tune out ... The hymns went all right, but in the Psalms it was not so easy ... The clock had one hand and indicated the nearest quarter of an hour.[7] [23]

He was curate of St Mary the Virgin, Longstowe, from 1894 to 1895; of Holy Trinity, Haddenham, from 1896 to 1902; and of St Mary's Church, St Neots, from 1902 to 1904.[24] [7]

Vicar and rural dean

Covey-Crump was vicar of St Thomas, Stopsley, from 1904 to 1910. While there he was the subject of controversy when he became vice-chairman of the parish council, which was populated with Nonconformists, one of whom feared that he "would be casting a net to catch fish". At Stopsley he home-schooled his three children as a musical family. They all attended King's College School, and they all became members of the Choir of King's College, Cambridge.[20] He was vicar of St Mark's Church, Friday Bridge, Cambridgeshire in the Ely diocese, from 1910.[7] [25]

From 1925 Covey-Crump was the rural dean of Wisbech. In 1932, the population of his parish was 930, and the net income from his benefice in that year was £370, plus tenancy of the Friday Bridge vicarage.[7] On 5 July 1932, he gave "a most interesting lecture ... on the history of the Bible" to the Whittlesey Women's Institute.[26] In July 1934 Covey-Crump was nominated to serve as rural dean of Wisbech for five years,[27] although he resigned the position in 1938.[28] He left the incumbency of Friday Bridge for that of St James, Newton-in-the-Isle, in 1935, writing a modest farewell note to his parishioners: "The energetic and popular rector ... Mr Wells ... is a clergyman of broad views and varied experience who will, I am sure, do his utmost to carry on the organisations in the parish, and may succeed in other ways wherein I have failed. I ask you, therefore, to give him a cordial welcome".[29] He was invited to crown the Rose Queen at the 1935 Rose Queen Festival at Sutton St James, where he gave a speech on the emblem of the rose in that type of crowning ceremony.[30]

Canon

He was nominated to the honorary canonry in Ely Cathedral in March 1936,[31] by the Bishop of Ely, Dr Bernard Heywood, who said that "he could find no-one more worthy than the rector of Newton. The honour is one that has been well earned by the rural dean who since his ordination has given the whole of his service, over more than 50 years, in the diocese". Covey-Crump retired in 1942, aged 77 years.[32] However he continued to officiate at weddings.[33]

Institutions

Freemasonry

Covey-Crump was a Freemason from at least 1910.[34] "He [was] well known in the Masonic world, having held high positions and taken a great part in Masonic research".[35] On 12 January 1927, he was appointed and invested a prelate of the Order of the Red Cross of Constantine at Mark Masons' Hall, London.[36] At some point before 1936 he was Assistant Grand Chaplain of England.[37] [38] In 1936 Covey-Crump read an "address dealing with certain historical aspects of Masonic emblems" to the 54th regular meeting of the Suffolk Installed Masters' Lodge of Freemasons at Saxmundham.[39]

Other institutions

Covey-Crump was elected general secretary of the Wisbech branch of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts (SPG) in June 1930.[40] He was also a vice-president of Wisbech Museum in 1936.[35]

Publications

Anglican publications

Masonic publications

General publications

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 1851 England census, Berrington, Shropshire . ancestry.co.uk. subscription . H.M. Government . 10 July 2022 . 1851.
  2. Web site: 1891 England census. RG12/2368. p.9. Schedule 77. 16 Ruston Street, Ladyswood, Birmingham. . ancestry.co.uk . 24 July 2022 . 1891.
  3. Web site: 1871 England Census, RG10/3094, Lady Wood, Birmingham, p.14 . ancestry.co.uk. subscription . H.M. Government . 10 July 2022 . 1871.
  4. Web site: 1881 England census RG11/2966 16 Beeston Street Birmingham . ancestry.co.uk. subscription . HM Government . 11 July 2022 . 6.
  5. Web site: 1921 England Census, schedule 13 . Find My Past. subscription . H.M. Government . 9 July 2022 . The Vicarage, Friday Bridge, Elm parish, Wisbech, England . 24 April 1921.
  6. Ayerst, William . 1 . Buckland . Augustus Robert . Augustus Buckland . 72 . 1.
  7. Book: Crockfords Clerical Directories. subscription . 1932 . Church House Publishing . England . 283/288 . 8 July 2022.
  8. News: Deaths . 12 July 2022 . Cambridge Independent Press . British Newspaper Archive . subscription . 7 August 1903 . 5 col.8.
  9. Book: Crockford's Clerical Directory: Covey, Richard. subscription . 1898 . Horace Cox . London . 305/442 . 12 July 2022.
  10. Web site: 1891 England census. RG12/1278. p.7. Schedule 100. The Rectory, Dry Drayton.. subscription . ancestry.co.uk . H.M. Government . 12 July 2022 . 1991.
  11. News: I, Walter William Covey Crump . 10 July 2022 . The Times. subscription . Gale . 37068 . 30 April 1903 . 1 col.2.
  12. News: Wedding at Haddenham: Crump-Porter . 5 July 2022 . Cambridge Daily News . British Newspaper Archive . subscription . 11 June 1903 . 3 col.4.
  13. News: Marriages . 5 July 2022 . Bedfordshire Mercury . British Newspaper Archive . subscription . 19 June 1903 . 5 col.6.
  14. Book: 1939 Electoral Register, Ely, Cambridgeshire. Polling district T, parish of Newton. . 1939 . HM Government via Ancestry. subscription . London . 3 . 6 July 2022.
  15. Web site: 1911 England census 187/Walsoken/11/9330. subscription . ancestry.co.uk . HM Government . 11 July 2022 . 2 April 1911.
  16. News: Canon Covey-Crump . 12 July 2022 . Bedfordshire Times and Independent . British Newspaper Archive . subscription . 16 July 1937 . 4 col.3.
  17. Book: 1939 England and Wales Rigister Ref.318/1. Portsmouth . 1939. subscription . HM Government . London . 6 July 2022. (Note: this document confirms A.T.L. Covey-Crump's birth date.
  18. News: Cambridge, conferment of degrees . 11 July 2022 . Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer . British Newspaper Archive . subscription . 13 June 1936 . 9 col.5.
  19. Book: The Navy List . 1943 . HM Government . 10 July 2022.
  20. Book: Dyer . James . The Stopsley Book . 1998 . The Book Castle . Bedfordshire, England . 1871199042 . 150–151.
  21. News: Local wills . 11 July 2022 . Bedfordshire Times and Independent . British Newspaper Archive . subscription . 2 September 1949 . 8 col.3.
  22. News: Social and personal . 11 July 2022 . Peterborough Standard . British Newspaper Archive . subscription . 6 May 1949 . 4 col.2.
  23. News: Cottenham Church fete, barrel organ days recalled . 11 July 2022 . Saffron Walden Weekly News . British Newspaper Archive . subscription . 26 June 1936 . 13 col.5.
  24. News: The Rev. Canon . 10 July 2022 . Biggleswade Chronicle . British Newspaper Archive . subscription . 2 September 1949 . 6 col.3.
  25. News: Obituary . 5 July 2022 . Saffron Walden Weekly News . British Newspaper Archive . subscription . 13 May 1949 . 20 col.1.
  26. News: Whittlesea . 12 July 2022 . Peterborough Standard . British Newspaper Archive . subscription . 8 July 1932 . 17 col.4.
  27. News: Ecclesiastical news . 10 July 2022 . The Times. subscription . Gale . 46819 . 30 July 1934 . 8.
  28. News: The Bishop of Ely . 11 July 2022 . Louth Standard . British Newspaper Archive . subscription . 11 June 1938 . 14 col.2.
  29. News: Northwold . 11 July 2022 . Lynn Advertiser . British Newspaper Archive . subscription . 11 January 1935 . 15, 16.
  30. News: Rose Queen Festival: popular Sutton St James 9th event . 11 July 2022 . Spalding Guardian . British Newspaper Archive . subscription . 3 August 1935 . 11 col.2.
  31. News: Ecclesiastical News: church appointments . 10 July 2022 . The Times. subscription . Gale . 47329 . 21 March 1936 . 15.
  32. News: Isle canon's retirement . 11 July 2022 . Peterborough Standard . British Newspaper Archive . subscription . 7 August 1942 . 6 col.6.
  33. News: Tpr I.L.C. Poffley R.A.C. – Pte M. Haylock A.T.S. . 11 July 2022 . Lynn Advertiser . British Newspaper Archive . subscription . 13 July 1945 . 5 col.6.
  34. Rylands . W.H. . Reviews . Ars Quatuor Coronatorum . 1910 . XXIII . 193 . 5 July 2022 . W.J. Parret . Margate, England.
  35. News: The Rev. W.W. Covey-Crump . 11 July 2022 . Lynn Advertiser . British Newspaper Archive . subscription . 20 March 1936 . 16 col.8.
  36. News: Cryptic Masonic degrees . 10 July 2022 . The Times. subscription . Gale . 44478 . 13 January 1927.
  37. News: Freemasons' gift in memory of late chaplain . 11 July 2022 . Boston Guardian . British Newspaper Archive . subscription . 30 October 1936 . 8 col.3.
  38. News: Freemasons' gift . 11 July 2022 . Boston Guardian . British Newspaper Archive . subscription . 30 October 1936 . 8 col.3.
  39. News: Freemasonry in Suffolk: the Installed Masters' Lodge . 11 July 2022 . Bury Free Press . British Newspaper Archive . subscription . 19 September 1936 . 9 col.4.
  40. News: Wisbech . 12 July 2022 . Lynn Advertiser . British Newspaper Archive . subscription . 27 June 1930 . 14 col.8.
  41. Web site: List of papers in transactions . bristol-masonic-society.org.uk/ . Manchester Association for Masonic Research . 10 July 2022 . UK . 2019.
  42. Web site: W.W. Covey-Crump . google.co.uk . 6 July 2022.

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