![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.stjames-stonehaven.org.uk\/exhibition\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/John-Comper-1-209x300.jpg\")
\nDates of Life: 1823 – 1903<\/p>\n
Dates of Rectorship: 1857 – 1861
\nDates of Life: 1823 – 1903<\/p>\n
Before –
\n1847: Completed training as student teacher, Chichester
\nBefore 1850: Lay reader and teacher, Church school, Kirriemuir
\n1850: Ordained Deacon at Perth
\n1850-1852: Curate at St. Columba’s, Crieff
\n1852: Ordained Priest
\n1853-1854: Priest at St. Columba’s, Nairn
\n1854-1857: Chaplain to Bishop of Moray<\/p>\n
After –
\n1862-1870: Priest at St. John’s, Crown Terrace, Aberdeen
\n1871-1903: Founder and Rector at St. Margaret’s, Gallowgate, Aberdeen, as well as the St. Clement’s Misson (now located in Mastrick), and a chaplain to the Sisters of St. Margaret at the convent in Spital (now closed).<\/p>\n
Birth –
\nDate: 1823
\nPlace: Pulborough, Sussex
\nFather: William Comper, Yeoman Farmer
\nMother: Mary Nettleford<\/p>\n
Marriage –
\nSpouse: Ellen Taylor<\/p>\n
Death –
\nDate: 27th July 1903
\nPlace: Duthie Park, Aberdeen<\/p>\n
Additional Information –
\nBuried just inside the gate of the Merkland Road entrance to St. Peter’s Cemetery, Aberdeen, alongside a memorial to the many Sisters of St. Margaret who lived and worked in the city. A noted High Churchman and devoted priest. He was close friends with the hymnwriter, John Mason Neale, and both men were of an interesting breed; being Englishmen, who both believed in the superiority of the Scottish Liturgy (as opposed to the English Communion Office). Comper passionately defended and advocated for the use of the Scottish Liturgy for his entire ministry, but this is a rather complex issue to go into much detail here. He was close friends with Penrose Forbes, who ordained him, and Prof. George Grub, the father of another of our rectors.<\/p>\n
He and Penrose Forbes have more in common than just being Rectors of St. James’. Both men were put on trial. Respectively, for advocating the Real Presence, and use of “lights” (candles) and non-authorised vestments (of the Catholic style). Both won their trials, though Comper did later make some concessions. Both men had come under the influence of the Oxford Movement while young, but both also saw their work in Scotland as being aligned to the tractarians of England, but still decidedly different, harkening back to historic Scots theologians like Thomas Rattray and John Forbes of Corse.
\nPerhaps most notably, both men are commemorated by days in the church kalendar.<\/p>\n
The SEC does not formally canonise Saints, instead she bestows the title “Hero of the Faith”, equivalent to “Saint”. Both Comper and Forbes have been afforded this honour, and it should be noted that whilst the SEC has not formally designated either men as “Saint”, many people do still refer to them as Saints, and so one can imagine there is a certain amount of pride at St. James’; having had two as rectors!<\/p>\n
Not terribly much is recorded of Comper’s short time in Stonehaven, but he is very fondly remembered in the Diocese of Aberdeen and Orkney, indeed, the influence of he and his son Ninian (later ‘Sir Ninian’), a noted artist and ecclesiastical architect, can still be felt today. Ninian later returned to Aberdeen to restore and beautify St. Margaret’s and St. John’s, the churches in which his father had spent the most time. He also embarked upon an extensive redesign of St. Andrew’s Cathedral, but this was cut short due to lack of funds and the coming of the second war.<\/p>\n
Towards the end of his life, John began to take extended holidays to the North of France. He felt very much at home there (Comper being a Norman surname which probably came over at Hastings), and there became good friends with the Abbot of Solesmes Abbey. The monks of Solesmes are often credited with the widespread revival of Gregorian Chant within the Catholic Church, and Comper took a great interest in this. He began to favour Gregorian over Anglican or Scots Metrical chant, and to this day St. Margaret’s keeps the tradition of using Gregorian rather than Anglican chant for Psalms.<\/p>\n
The story of Comper’s death is a rather touching one. During a particularly fine summer, Comper and his wife decided to visit the botanical gardens at Duthie Park in the south of Aberdeen. Whilst there, Comper decided to go and buy some strawberries from a nearby vendor (stories conflict whether the strawberries were for his wife or for some children, either is possible), and whilst returning he had a heart attack and passed away.
\nNinian was by this time making a name for himself as an artist. Most of his corpus consists of stained glass, and thereafter he signed every window or set of windows with a wild strawberry as his signature, in memory of his father. Sometimes they are very plainly visible, other times they are hidden in plain sight. Regardless, the excellence of his art is such that it is never tiresome to search for it!
\nIn fact, the windows in the baptistry of St. James’ are his work, and the strawberry is clearly visible on two of them (one was installed alone, the other four were installed as a set, hence there are only two signatures as there were only two ‘works’).<\/p>\n
Much more may be said about both men, and there is a wealth of information on them available on the website of St. Margaret’s, Gallowgate, Aberdeen. There is one final thing to note, which is that John Comper did all this without a university degree. Indeed, the very reason he came to Scotland was that the SEC of his day would allow men without degrees to train for ordination; a fact almost unheard of in the Church of England.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Dates of Rectorship: 1857 – 1861 Dates of Life: 1823 – 1903 Before – 1847: Completed training as student teacher, Chichester Before 1850: Lay reader and teacher, Church school, Kirriemuir 1850: Ordained Deacon at Perth 1850-1852: Curate at St. Columba’s, Crieff 1852: Ordained Priest 1853-1854: Priest at St. Columba’s, Nairn 1854-1857: Chaplain to Bishop of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":1422,"template":"","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0},"product_brand":[],"product_cat":[24],"product_tag":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1366","1":"product","2":"type-product","3":"status-publish","4":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"product_cat-lives-of-individual-rectors","8":"first","9":"instock","10":"shipping-taxable","11":"product-type-simple"},"yoast_head":"\n