Dictionary of National Biography, 1912 supplement/Paget, Francis
PAGET, FRANCIS (1851–1911), bishop of Oxford, second son of Sir James Paget, first baronet [q. v. Suppl. I], surgeon, was born on 20 March 1851 at St. Bartholomew's Hospital, E.C., in his father's official residence as warden (cf. Stephen Paget, Memoirs and Letters of Sir James Paget, p. 127). His mother was Lydia, youngest daughter of the Rev. Henry North, and his brothers are Sir John Rahere Paget, K.C., Dr. Henry Luke Paget, bishop suffragan of Stepney, and Stephen Paget, F.R.C.S. He was educated first at St. Marylebone and All Souls' grammar school, and then at Shrewsbury under Benjamin Hall Kennedy [q. v.] and Henry Whitehead Moss, contributing elegant Latin verse to 'Sabrinæ Corolla.' He was elected to a junior studentship at Christ Church, Oxford, in 1869. He won the Hertford scholarship, the chancellor's prize for Latin verse, and a first class in classical moderations in 1871. He graduated B.A. with a first class in the final classical school in 1873, proceeding M.A. in 1876 and D.D. in 1885. He was elected senior student in 1873, tutor in 1876 and honorary student in 1901. Ordained deacon in 1875 and priest in 1877, he became a devoted follower of the great Tractarians of the time, Edward Bouverie Pusey [q.v.], who allowed him to read in the university pulpit a sermon of his which ill-health prevented him from delivering himself, Henry Parry Liddon [q. v.], Richard William Church [q. v. Suppl. I], whose eldest daughter he married, and James Russell Woodford [q. v.], bishop of Ely, whom he served as examining chaplain (1878-1885). But, being a witty and stimulating companion, he also established warm friendships with younger and less conservative men of the same school, while his influence over undergraduates grew as they became accustomed to a certain reserve in his manner.
In 1881 Paget was appointed Oxford preacher at the Chapel Royal, Whitehall, and in 1882 accepted the vicarage of Bromsgrove, but returned to Oxford in 1885, having been nominated by Gladstone to succeed Edward King [q.v. Suppl.II], bishop of Lincoln, as regius professor of pastoral theology and canon of Christ Church. Bromsgrove had given him a brief insight into parochial activities and had considerably widened the range of his Sympathy (Commonwealth, September 1911, p. 276). Liddon's influence was counteracted by close association with younger men, and in the autumn of 1889 he joined Charles Gore, his successor in the see of Oxford, Henry Scott Holland, and others, in publishing the volume of essays called 'Lux Mundi.' Liddon, who was deeply distressed at parts of Gore's essay, regarded Paget's essay, on 'Sacraments,' as 'a real contribution to Christian theology' (J. O. Johnston, Life and Letters of H. P. Liddon, 1904, p. 367; cf. p. 396).
In 1892, on the resignation of Henry George Liddell [q. v. Suppl. I], Paget was promoted by Lord Salisbury to the deanery of Christ Church. His task was difficult, and a certain tendency to extravagant rowdiness among the undergraduates had to be dealt with firmly. Estimates of his popularity vary, for 'he could only open out to a few,' and his 'elaborate courtesy' was apt 'to keep people back behind barriers of civility' (Commonwealth, September 1911, p. 277). But he was an anxious and capable administrator (cf. letter from 'Ex Æde Christi,' The Times, 7 Aug. 1911). The deanery was more accessible than heretofore. He was chaplain to William Stubbs [q. V. Suppl. II], bishop of Oxford, from 1889 until the bishop's death. Thus in 1901 the cathedral and the diocese were drawn closely together, and Paget learnt much of local episcopal problems.
In 1901, on the death of Bishop Stubbs, Dean Paget was promoted by Lord Salisbury to the bishopric of Oxford, and was consecrated on 29 June following. To the bishopric is attached the chancellorship of the Order of the Garter; Paget's most notable function in that capacity was the admission of Edward, Prince of Wales, to the order at Windsor on 10 June 1911. He was also chosen as 'supporter' bishop at their coronations by both Queen Alexandra in 1902 and Queen Mary in 1911. His administration of the diocese of Oxford was marked by the same anxious care which he had devoted to his college. He was eager to do everything himself; much of the episcopal correspondence was written in his own clear but characteristic handwriting; and it took some time for the people to feel that they knew him intimately, though his pastoral earnestness was keenly appreciated by humble folk in the rural villages. Early in 1903 he declined Mr. Balfour's offer of the see of Winchester. In 1904, by royal warrant dated 23 April, he became a member of the royal commission on ecclesiastical discipline, and signed its report on 21 June 1906. He was one of the three out of fourteen members who attended at each of the 118 sittings, and he exhibited 'a genius for fairness towards hostile witnesses' (The Times, 3 July 1906) and a remarkable gift for fusing opinions in the drafting of the report. His attitude to prevailing excesses in ritual was shown in the charge which he began to deliver to his diocese on 8 Oct. 1906, and by the action which he took against the Rev. Oliver Partridge Henly, vicar of Wolverton St. Mary, in respect of 'reservation' and 'benediction.' The case was taken to the court of arches (The Times, 20 and 21 July 1909); the vicar, who was deprived, obtained employment in another diocese, and afterwards joined the Roman church. Paget sought to provide for a sub-division of the diocese. For this purpose he made a vain endeavour to dispose of Cuddesdon Palace. In July 1910 he showed his active zeal for the wider work of the church by becoming chairman of the Archbishops' Western Canada fund.
To his intimate friends, and in particular to Archbishop Davidson, he was not only a wise counsellor but a delightful companion. He had a cultivated sense of beauty in nature, in music, and in words, and his tall, willowy figure and impressive, courtly bearing made him notable in any assembly. He was attacked by serious illness in the summer of 1910, and seemed to recover; but he died of a sudden recurrence of the malady in a nursing home in London on 2 Aug. 1911. He was interred in his wife's grave in the little burying ground to the south of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford. He married on 28 March 1883 Helen Beatrice, eldest daughter of Richard William Church, dean of St. Paul's. Paget's career was permanently saddened by his wife's death at the deanery on 22 Nov. 1900, aged forty-two. She left four sons and two daughters; one of the latter, wife of the Rev. John Macleod Campbell Crum, predeceased Paget in 1910.
There is a portrait by Orchardson at Christ Church, and a memorial fund is being raised (November 1912) to provide a portrait for Cuddesdon Palace and an exhibition with a view to clerical service abroad, to be held at an English university. A cartoon portrait by 'Spy' appeared in 'Vanity Fair' in 1894.
As a theological scholar Paget is to be remembered chiefly for his 'Introduction to the Fifth Book of Hooker's Treatise of the Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity' (1899; 2nd edit. 1907); for his 'Lux Mundi' essay mentioned above; and for a masterly essay on acedia or accidie, written at Christ Church in 1890 (reprinted separately, in 1912), and published with a collection of sermons entitled 'The Spirit of Discipline' in 1891 (7th edit. 1896). He also published 'Faculties and Difficulties for Belief and Disbelief (1887; 3rd edit. 1894); and two other collections of sermons, entitled respectively 'Studies in Christian Character' (1895) and 'The Redemption of War' (1900).
[Memoir of Paget by Stephen Paget and the Rev. J. M. C. Crum, 1912; The Times, 3 Aug. 1911; Guardian, and Church Times, Aug. 1911; Crockford, 1911; Canon H. S. Holland in Commonwealth (brilliant character-sketch), Sept. 1911; Oxford Diocesan Mag., Sept. 1911; Stephen Paget, Memoirs and Letters of Sir James Paget, 1903; private information.]