Nat Gould

George Henry Mcgill 1817-1896

George Henry McGill was born in 1817 in Manchester, the second son of Robert McGill, and descendant of an old Irish family (1).

He was educated at the Manchester School, later Manchester Grammar School, where he was a distinguished scholar, having passed right through the classes of the School up to that taken by the High Master himself (2).

He entered Brasenose College Oxford, matriculating on 18 May 1837 aged 19 years, and was a Scholar from 1837 to 1842. He was awarded the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1841 and that of Master of Arts in 1844.

After ordination he was Vicar of Stoke Ferry in Norfolk from 1846 to 1854, Perpetual Curate of Christ Church, St George's-in-the-East in London from 1854 to 1867, and Vicar of Bangor in North Wales from 1867 (3).

In 1845 he had married Frances Champion 1811-1876. They had the following children, all born and baptised at Stoke Ferry:

John Henry Champion McGill 1847-1917. Born on 20 September 1847 and baptised on 24 October 1847.
Frances Martha Champion Beresford McGill. Born on 27 April 1850 and baptised on 29 May 1850.
Mary Hannah McGill. Born on 28 February 1852 and baptised on 28 March 1852.

On 27 March 1862 the Reverend George Henry McGill gave evidence to the House of Commons Parliamentary Committee enquiring into the state of the Ecclesiastical Commission, particularly with regard to diminishing pew rents and other remuneration of the clergy. He had been chosen to represent the clergy of the Deanery of Stepney before the Committee (4).

He was then ministering at St George's-in-the-East in London. He came to the parish in a harsh winter, when his docker parishioners were threatening bread strikes. Education preoccupied him, and new classrooms were built for a school started under railway arches. In 1862 the Middlesex Society Charity School was refounded for children in the Christ Church district, George Henry McGill taking on the responsibility of chairing the management committee. He was also Chaplain to the local workhouse.

While at Christ Church he raised £26,000 for charities. He was not paid a fixed income, only receiving pew rents and sporadic collections until 1864, when a stipend of £300 was established and the advowson passed from Brasenose College to the Bishop of London. In 1868 the Reverend George Henry McGill was presented by the Marquis of Westminster to the wealthier living of Bangor which he served for the rest of his life (6).

He had been appointed Honorary Chaplain to the Tower Hamlets Volunteer Corps of Engineers on 10 October 1865 (5).

Frances McGill died in 1876 at Bangor.
Her husband, the Reverend George Henry McGill died there in 1896.

(1) Robert McGill was described as a pawnbroker in The Admission Register of the Manchester School J.F. Smith (1874) Chetham Society volume 94 page 220, and as a gentleman in Alumni Oxonienses 1715-1886 volume III J. Foster (1891) page 893.
(2) The Admission Register of the Manchester School J.F. Smith (1874) Chetham Society volume 94 page 220.
(3) Alumni Oxonienses 1715-1886 volume III J. Foster (1891) page 893.
(4) Reports from Committees Volume III Ecclesiastical Commission 1862.
(5) United Service Magazine Part I A.W.A. Pollock (1865) page 471.
(6) This and much other information on Christ Church, Watney Street in London is to be found on the excellent website www.stgite.org.uk/chchwatneystreet