Church of England -- Sermons; Funeral sermons; Sermons, English -- 19th century; Storr, Francis, 1808-1888 -- Death and burial
Born in 1808, and educated at Harrow and Queen’s College, Oxford, he
entered the ministry in 1833 as curate of Up-Waltham, in Sussex, where he
often exchanged pulpits with Archdeacon (now Cardinal) Manning. In 1837,
he was appointed to the rectory of Otley in Suffolk, through the
instrumentality of the present Bishop of Norwich, who, with a
conscientiousness which was in those days rarer than now, refused himself
to hold two livings. The parish had never before had a resident
incumbent. A dilapidated and empty church was speedily restored and
filled. The young preacher with his striking presence, clear voice, and
impassioned delivery, attracted a congregation not only from his own
parish, but from the neighbouring villages, where in those days such
preaching was unknown, so that hearers from twenty-three different
parishes have been counted at one Otley service.
In 1846, he was presented by Lord Tollemache, who as a near neighbour had
seen and appreciated his work at Otley, to the living of Acton, in
Cheshire. Acton is a large and straggling agricultural parish, but with
the help of curates and district visitors, he soon got to know each
household almost as intimately as in the village of Otley, and any one in
trouble, whether of mind or body, instinctively turned to the Vicarage.
Acton was one of the first parishes, if not the first parish, to give up
generally the practice of Sunday cheese-making. Till, at his
instigation, the experiment was tried, it had been pronounced by farmers
an impossibility. After eight years of incessant labour (he was hardly
absent as many Sundays from his parish), the declining health of his wife
compelled him to move southward, and he was appointed to the living of
Brenchley, vacant by the death of the Rev. R. Davies, Secretary of the
C.M.S., whose widow some years later became his second wife. The special
work of his predecessor was carried on by him with ever-increasing zeal
and success, and, whereas in 1848 Brenchley had scarcely heard of the
C.M.S., in 1887 the contribution from the parish amounted to over £300.
Part of this sum came from outside friends who knew that the most
acceptable birthday present they could make to the Vicar was a
subscription to his favourite Society, but the larger proportion was
given in sixpences and coppers. It must not be supposed that this
preference made him overlook other claims, or ignore other charitable
societies. In particular, the London City Mission, the Flower Mission,
and the Bible Society were very near his heart. As for the wants of his
own parishioners, he not only gave profusely himself, but he was
indefatigable in urging their claims on all who could or would give. He
was, I believe, the first incumbent in Kent to remit, without
solicitation, a percentage of the tithe. Latterly, in hop-gardens where
no hops were picked, the tithe was wholly remitted, and no farmer who was
in real straits was ever pressed for payment. For labourers out of work,
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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