The Times/1917/Obituary/John Cox Edghill

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THE REV. J. COX EDGHILL, D.D.

A correspondent, writing of the Rev. John Cox Edghill, D.D., Hon. Chaplain to the King, Prebendary of Wells, and formerly Chaplain-General to the Forces, who died recently at Weston-super-Mare in his 83rd year, says:—

"He was a great Churchman, a great solider, a great citizen. Appointed Chaplain to the Forces in 1861, he served with conspicuous ability at Aldershot, Chatham, Halifax (N.S.), again at Aldershot, Gibraltar, and, finally, at Portsmouth. From the last station he was promoted to be Chaplain-General in 1885, his appointment being recognized not only as a reward for distinguished service, but as a promise of vastly increased efficiency for the Chaplains Department. Such promise was abundantly fulfilled. His unfailing vigour, lofty enthusiasm, and firm but loving rule were of incalculable benefit to the department and to the Army and those who are now serving owe to him a debt of gratitude which they cannot measure. All who were in any way brought into contact with him recognized purity of motive, strong conviction, wise charity, and an essentially manly Christianity. As a preacher few equalled or surpassed him in power and earnestness united with a wide yet discriminating sympathy. He had a rare faculty for understanding men, their failings, their needs, and their possibilities. When he retired from the position of Chaplain-General in 1901 he settled at Weston-super-Mare, and until a very recent period devoted his great abilities to Church work in the neighbourhood."