Archdeacon Arthur Lloyd HANSELL [594]

  General Notes:

Arthur Lloyd Hansell
A L Hansell (1865-1948) was born at Thorpe, Norwich on 2 l June 1865 into a family intimateiy connected with the town and with its cathedral. His great grandfather, Peter Hansell, served as a minor-canon for 55 years before being laid to rest in the south transept, and his immediate forebears made the name of Hansell outstanding in the legal life of Norfolk and Norwich.
Arthur was the youngest of four sons of Peter Edward Hansell and his wife Emily Hansell, nee Morgan. A brother, Henry P. Hansell, was tutor to Edward, Prince of Wales. After attending Charterhouse and Magdalen College, Oxford, Hansell trained Cuddesdon Theological College, and was ordained in 1891. His first
appointment was at Wantage, Berkshire, the birthplace of King Alfred. He
remained there for eight years as assistant curate and every spring he had fight an attack of influenza; causing him in 1899 to abandon living in England.
On the advice of Cecil Wilson, Bishop of Melanesia, he came to New Zealand. Bishop Wilson was married to Ethel, daughter of Bishop Churchill Julius Christchurch, and it was to that city that Hansell first went, acting as curate there until offered the
living' of Karori by Bishop Wallis. At his own request he accepted this on a three months' probation, possibly to see if the climate suited him, and at the end of that time he felt able to accept a permanent position. His initial appointment dated from l November 1899, and on 27 April 1900 he was licenced to the parochial district of Karori and Makara. The irnpression he made is still remembered almost a century later. Over 1.8 metres tall, erect, handsome, with finely chiselled features and a sincere and kindly srnile, the epitome of a very complete English gentleman, he related well to people wherever he went.
Bishop Wallis would have seen Hansell as a very suitable person to guide Karori through the building of a new church. As well a new vicarage had to be built, an organ fund set up and two extensions made to the existing church. To achieve the latter, Hansell offered a sum free of interest, to be repaid within a specified time. The vestry accepted these terms at the first offer, but when the second occasion arose then pride caused them to settle for a Post Office rate of interest.
About 1903, while still a bachelor, Hansell had a holiday at Mt Cook where he did some climbing. In 1905 he announced his engagement to Mary Ellen, eldest daughter of Bishop Julius. At a social in the parochial room before their marriage Bishop Wallis, on behalf of the parishioners, as a mark of their esteem and affection; presented Hansell with a purse of fifty sovereigns intended for the purchase of a piano.
The wedding, the first to take place in the completed cathedral at Christchurch, was on 14 February 1906. Bishop Wallis took part. and the famous Dr J.C. Bradshaw was at the organ. The honeymoon was spent in England.
For the seven months that Hansell was away, the parish was cared for by the Revd Otho FitzGerald, until the arrival of the Revd A.W.H. Compton, an English scholar and gentleman as locum tenens. The vestry worked hard to
make sure the new vicarage was ready for their return and the couple were welcomed home by another social on 30 October 1906, at which Compton was farewelled. After they had settled into their brand-new vicarage, they showed their appreciation by entertaining in it about 130 adult parishioners at an evening function.
After Hansell's return, fundraising for the new church continued in earnest with all possible means including garden parties and flower shows, and when his father-in-law came to stay, he contributed by giving lectures. In spite of their prolonged effort, however, first attempts to begin to build were thwarted by the estimates being in excess of the money available, and it was 1911 before the new church opened. Hansell paid attention to the furnishings, encouraging donations of money towards specific items. His enthusiasm sometimes frustrated his vestry as he tended to obtain the items first, leaving the vestry with no alternative but to pass his proposals. A link between the new church and the old was maintained by the transfer of the stained glass window.
Innovations during his time at St Mary's included a missionary guild, gym classes for young men, the formation of a branch of the Church of England Men's Society, a parish mission, free seats instead of pew rentals, votes for women at parish meetings. On a week evening Bible lectures had an average attendance of 33. Some 70 acts of communion were recorded at Christmas and Easter in 1901/02. He was chaplain to the St Mary's Homes from the time they moved to Karori in 1900, and he maintained a connection with the Home for the rest of his life, always keeping their needs before synod. He would like to have seen St Mary's Church consecrated before he left the parish. When the time came for him to move, he insisted that there be no presentation, the money instead to be put towards liquidating the debt on the church. His departure from St Mary's in 1914, met with absolutely no sympathy or encouragenlent from the congregation, but Karori was still a parochial district and the parishioners had little say in such decisions. Hansell himself, however, no doubt felt ready for a change, although in later life, he wrote that he looked upon his time at St Mary's as fourteen of the happiest years of his life. In company with Archdeacon rancourt, he returned to St Mary's for the consecration service on 27 August 1916, when he acted as the bishop's chaplain.
He had only two parishes in New Zealand. From St Mary's he was appointed to St James', Lower Hutt, on 5 July 1914. Among his parishioners there were Walter Nash and his family. Nash and he shared an interest in the CEMS, of which the former was secretary for a time, and Hansell was the local chairman for many years. In the diocese he was commissary to the bishop from 1919 to 1925, archdeacon of the Wairarapa from 1922 to 1934, and of Wellington from 1934 to 1939.
When he was elected to the Diocesan Board of Nomination in the synod of 1920, his selection was confirmed by a prolonged furore of applause. He left St James in February 1933 and after 18 years returned to live in Karori, at 9 Homewood Crescent. He continued to help with services and gave a sermon at St Mary's in 1933 to mark the centenary of the Oxford Movement. When he preached at the memorial service in St Mary's for King George V in 1936. it was pointed out that he had also preached in St Mary's at the deaths of the two previous sovereigns. This was seen as something of a record.
There were three daughters of the marriage. Alice Emily married the Revd Walter Davies, who was Hansell's curate at Lower Hutt. A great sorrow came to the family in 1936 when the Davies' two-year old son drowned in a stream at Christchurch. Ethel Gwendolen married R.A. Stewart at St Mary's in 1938. Elizabeth died in infancy. . . . . .
Hansell died on 16 February c, and was buried beside his wife.
The tributes were rich and numerous, Bishop H, St Barbe Holland, from the pulpit cathedral in HanseIl's hometown of Norwich, which Hansell loved intensely until his dying day, recalled that when he arrived in New Zealand in 1936 to become Bishop of Weilington, he found Hansell one of the most honoured and best loved priests in the Province, noted for his selfless devotion and pastoral care. . . . .
He loved his garden, where hollyhocks grew outside his window, and apples and tomatoes ripened on his window-sill. He had a rare courtesy towards his apples, desk, books and study, just as he had towards his curate, parishioners, family, trees and flowers. With a spiritual outlook on life that hid from him most of its sordidness, he reverenced all created things - man, beast, flower, rock and stream.
To his curate, he was wonderfully patient, loving and understanding never malicious. Injustices made him angry and white to the lips. Guileless, yet with sound insights into the human heart, he was no recluse. He was a gifted pastor, a systematic teacher, a forceful preacher and a kindly but firm administrator. His obituary in Church and People described him as cultured, courteous, gentle, gracious, of deep spirituality, a person who in the face of the feverish activity and pressures of life remained calm and dignified.
His memorials in Karori are a prayer desk he had used which was given in 1952 to St Philips, and the lectern in St Mary's which commemorates also his wife.
Ref High Point St Mary's Church Karori 1866-1991 by Margaret H Allington

BISHOP HOLLANDS TRIBUTE TO THE LATE REVD. A. L. HANSELL
The following moving Tribute to the late Archdeacon Hansell was paid by Bishop Holland in Norwich Cathedral recently:
"The recent death of a dearly loved friend of mine in New Zealand who was
also a member of a family intimately connected with the City of Norwich and with this Cathedral provides a vivid illustration of the way in which the family life of the Anglican Communion throughout the world has been maintained strengthened and enriched by a stream of men who have gone forth from the original provinces of our Church in these islands to give their lives to the nurture and development of the infant members of that family overseas.
Arthur Lloyd Hansell has indeed a claim to be remembered from this pulpit. His Great Grandfather came as far as I can gather second only to the famous Dr. Greenwell of Durham in the length of time for which he held the position of minor canon in an English Cathedral. Peter Hansell was appointed minor Canon in 1786 and continued to serve in that office for 55 years at the end of which his body was laid to rest in the south transept of our Cathedral in January 1841.
His descendants took to the Law and made the name of Hansell outstanding in the legal life of Norfolk and Norwich until Arthur reverted to the vocation of his Great Grandfather and was ordained in 1891. For eight years he served as Curate at Wantage and then went to New Zealand where he spent the rest of his life. I arrived in NZ in 1936 to find him one of the most honoured and best loved priests in the province.
For three years he was my senior Archdeacon, having for the preceding 36 years given to two large and important parishes in the Diocese such selfless devotion and pastoral care as made him constantly referred to as the finest Parish Priest in New Zealand.
I wish you could picture the man as I knew him then - Erect, Handsome with those finely chiselled features which one or two in this congregation may remember; Nothing of the old man about him, not a white hair in his head, with that gracious sincere and kindly smile which drew everyone to him with cords of love. He took out to the young Church in New Zealand and its clergy just that contribution which could be taken by a Norfolk man with all the culture courtesy and charm of the old Church in the
old country and with none of the intolerances which sometimes mar its life today.
He was one of those rare and delighful souls who who always think of the little as well as the great things in life. Knowing how I liked the fritillaries in the Magdalen College meadows in Oxford a few of which he had had sent out to him to cultivate in his Wellington garden every year without fail he would walk up to Bishops Court and give me three of his precious blooms and never once did he forget to write to me on my birthday.
He found a wonderful wife of equal capacity and charm and greater humour than himself in the daughter of Archbishop Julius, and together they created a very lovely home and when he faced the irreparable loss of her companionship six years before he himself died he gave us all a perfect exhibition of the Christian's bearing in bereavement.''

Charterhouse Register 1872-1900
Hansell Arthur Lloyd. b 21 Jun 1865: 4th son P E Hansell of Norwich solicitor. Cricket IX 1884; Football XI 1883/84: Left C.Q. 1884. Magd. Coll., MA - D 1891 P 1892. Vicar of Karori & Makara, NZ 1900; m 1906 Mary Ellen dau of Bishop Julius of ChCh NZ

Arthur was a brother of Edward Hansell of the Household of George V.

Arthur Lloyd Hansell (1865-1948) and Polly Hansell (nee Julius) (1875- 1942):
Personal Memories by Dr. Bob Stewart, great-grandson of Archbishop Churchill Julius. He was formerly Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Professor of Human Development of the University of the South Pacific in Fiji, and is now Executive Director of Scientific Journal Publishers Limited.
I can remember, on visits to my Grandfather Rev Arthur Hansell in Karori, seeing him tending his geraniums and other plants on the closed-in portion of the north facing verandah at 19 Homewood Crescent. In a conspiratorial way, he would whisper directly to us grandchildren, "If you go up the path and look very hard, you might find something nice". We would discover when we excitedly went up the path, some ripe strawberries! We were eventually to move from our home in Khandallah to live in his Karori house after he passed away.
Previously, after his wife's death, Grandfather Hansell had a housekeeper, Miss Smith, who used to polish the linoleum floor in the kitchen within an inch of its life. Grandfather Hansell was supposed to be the delicate one, and was recommended by his doctor to come to New Zealand because of the more favourable climate. Yet the irony is that lived 6 years longer than his wife.
My cousin Matthew remembers our Grandfather calling the birds for their feeding time by hitting a wooden spoon on the back of a saucepan. He also remembers trying to "help" his grandfather by emptying a waste-paper basket in which important documents were being assembled.
My Uncle Walter Davies, who had been a curate to Arthur in Lower Hutt, was asked to dedicate a lecturn at St. Mary's Church in Karori in honour of Arthur and Polly Hansell. He said of Arthur, "All his life he had to measure out his strength, yet he gave unstintingly of his time and strength to his work, but not to the expense of his home". He described Polly as a wonderful wife who "understood her husband thoroughly and drew out all that was best in him". Walter believed that Arthur typified the "Reverence for Life" of which Albert Schweitzer spoke. "He had a rare courtesy to his colleagues, parishioners, family, trees, and flowers - animate and inanimate". "He had a dignity about him, and treated all with respect realizing human worth. He loved his garden; hollyhocks grew outside his window, apples and tomatoes ripened on his windowsill"
Memorials to Arthur and Polly were also a prayer desk that he had used, given in 1952 to St. Philips Church, Makara, and a reading desk in memory of Polly, given to St. Mary's Homes, Karori in 1946.
Arthur had finely chiselled features and a sincere and kindly smile - he was described as "the epitome of an English gentleman, and related well to people wherever he went". For his day, he was tall, 1.8 metres. My mother, Gwen, says that although he never learned to drive a car, and possibly disapproved of such transport, he was still quite happy to be taken for a spin in her car!
Arthur was born at Thorpe, Norwich on 21 June 1865 into a family intimately connected with the town and with its cathedral, which I have visited. He was the youngest of four sons of Peter Edward Hansell and Emily Hansell. A brother Henry P. Hansell was tutor to the Prince of Wales (later Edward VIII) and Prince Albert (later George VI). Henry was also appointed by the King to be a member of the 5^th class of the Royal Victoria Order in 1906.
While most of his relatives were lawyers, Arthur chose the Church as his vocation, following his great grandfather who was known as "Peter the Precentor", and who served as a minor Canon in the Norwich Cathedral for 50 years.
Arthur attended Charterhouse School and Magdalen College, Oxford, and trained at Cuddesdon Theological College. He was ordained in 1891, and his first appointment was at Wantage, Berkshire, the birthplace of King Alfred. He was there for eight years. Every spring he had to fight a severe attack of flu, and when he was invited to come to Christchurch, he took the opportunity in 1899.
His invitation to come to New Zealand was from Cecil Wilson, who was Bishop of Melanesia and married to Ethel, daughter of Bishop Churchill Julius, Bishop of Christchurch. Arthur became a curate in Christchurch, until he was invited to become Vicar of St. Mary's Church, Karori. At his own request he accepted this invitation on a three months' probation, possibly to see whether the climate suited him. At the end of that time, he felt able to accept a permanent position, and was inducted as vicar on 27 April 1900.
Meanwhile Arthur's future wife, Polly, was born 1875 in Shapwick, Somerset, England. In 1883, she and her family set sail on the ship "South Australian" to Australia, where her father, Churchill Julius, took up a position as Archdeacon of Ballarat, and Vicar of the Cathedral. Polly was the eldest daughter of seven children. On the twelve week voyage, 8 year old Polly and her siblings, remember the 'horribly lumpy' porridge! However on the ship, her father was characteristically the life and soul, organising a children's glee club, which had a concert toward the end of the voyage singing nursery rhymes and other classics. He was also the ship's photographer, using a camera on a tripod, and then developing the pictures in a dark room.
In 1880, Polly moved with her family to Christchurch where her father became Bishop of Christchurch. She studied music and art. Later, her daughters continued this interest: Alice in music and Gwen in art.
In 1903, while still a bachelor, Arthur Hansell had a holiday at Mt. Cook where he did some climbing. Fortuitously Polly Julius was also there, and Arthur was already known by the Julius family from his time in Christchurch. It seems that Arthur and Polly were impressed with each other, and in 1905 he announced their engagement. At a social in the parochial room before their marriage the couple was presented with fifty gold sovereigns intended for the purchase of a piano.
Interestingly, their wedding on 14 February 1906, was the first to take place in the then newly completed (and earthquake damaged in 2011), Christ Church cathedral. Taking leave from St. Mary's they had their honeymoon in England. By the time they returned, the parish had built them a new vicarage.
Polly had an attractive personality and a large capacity for friendship. Friends spoke of her wise judgment, her modest outlook, and her sense of humour.
My cousin Margaret Turton-Law remembers the routine in the mornings. There was a cup of tea at 6 am, together with a thin slice of bread and butter, and then the BBC news on radio. She also remembers the long drawn-out breakfasts preceded by ten minutes of prayers, and if she wriggled as the smell of porridge and bacon tempted her, the prayers were extended by further ten minutes. My cousin Mary Joy remembers that if she used the word 'gosh' (= by God) she received a lecture from her grandfather on its profanity.
Margaret recalls her grandmother's love for music - in particular the composers Schumann and Bach, her interests in painting and reading of writers. Arthur and Polly had a dog called Toby. There were shopping trips into Wellington City, to the bank, a cake shop in Courtenay Place, vegetables in Hill Street and a fruit shop in Molesworth Street.
The grandchildren recall the family tradition of "Mr. Manners". Some food was always to be left for "Mr. Manners". The steel knives were always cleaned and sharpened after use (no stainless steel in those days).
Polly was at one time vice-president as well as Diocesan Secretary of the Mothers' Union, and a life member of St. Mary's Guild. She was a helpful worker at the 'Flying Angel' Mission to Seamen, mixing with the gatherings and making our seamen welcome. She was at one time president of the Harbour Lights Guild and once organised Christmas presents for the visiting crews during Christmas.
In the book "High Point", written by Margaret Alington, about St. Mary's Church, Karori Wellington, it is stated that the existence and form of St. Mary's Church built in 1911 owed much to the foresight and enthusiasm of the 'courteous and personable' Arthur L. Hansell. Within months of being inducted in 1990, he had arranged for plans to be drawn up for a new church.
In March 1902 his brother Henry arranged a meeting in the town hall in Wantage, Berkshire in England to help to raise funds for the new church. He was finally able to send more than 147 Pounds
Innovations during Arthur's time at St. Mary's included a missionary guild, gym classes for young men, the formation of a branch of the Church of England Men's Society, a parish mission, free seats instead of pew rentals, and votes for women at parish meetings.
Arthur was active in local sporting and community organisations. For example, he was President of the Karori Gymnastic Club in 1908, the Karori Lawn Tennis Club in 1909 and the Karori and Makara Flower Show Society in 1912. He was also Vice President of the Karori Cricket Club in 1913, and the Anglican Boys' Home in 1914. He was appointed Governor of the Bishop Hadfield Memorial College in July 1915.
Seeking a new challenge, he was appointed to St. James Church, Lower Hutt on 5 July 1914. Arthur had only two parishes during his working life in New Zealand. Among his parishioners at St. James were Walter Nash and his family. Nash and he shared an interest in the Church of England Men's Society (CEMS).
Arthur was Archdeacon of the Wairarapa from 1922 to 1934, and of Wellington from 1934 to 1939. He left St. James in February 1933 and after 18 years returned to live in Karori, at 9 Homewood Crescent. He continued to help with services.

  Research Notes:

Images Courtesy of the Hansell Family 2006.

  Other Records

1. Arthur & Polly Hansell, Arthur 1914, at home and Arthur 1945.

2. Arthur Lloyd Hansell: Will & Codicils, Arthur 1914, at home and Arthur 1945.

3. Arthur Lloyd Hansell: Probate of Will & Codicils, 17 Mar 1948.

Arthur married Mary (Polly) Ellen JULIUS [593] [MRIN: 174], daughter of Archbishop Churchill JULIUS D D [56] and Alice Frances ROWLANDSON [576], on 14 Feb 1906 in Cathedral Christchurch NZ. (Mary (Polly) Ellen JULIUS [593] was born on 22 Nov 1875 in Shapwick SOM, died on 14 Oct 1942 and was buried in Christ Church Taita Wellington NZ.)