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{{Short description|Australian Anglican priest and organist}}
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Rev. '''Horace Percy Finnis''' MA (17 April 1883 – 1960) was an [[Anglican]] clergyman and organist in [[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]] and [[South Australia]].
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
⚫
'''Horace Percy Finnis''' MA (17 April 1883 – 1960) was an Australian [[Anglican]] priest and organist in [[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]] and [[South Australia]].


==History==
==History==
⚫
Finnis was born in [[Claremont, Tasmania]], the eldest child and only son of [[the Reverend]] Herbert Robert Finnis (c. 1854–9 January 1936) and his wife Augusta Felicia Finnis, née Percy (c. 1854–29 May 1901), who married in [[Rokeby, Tasmania]], on 11 April 1882. Herbert Finnis was rector of the Church of St John the Baptist, [[Hobart]], from 1883 to 1902 and of [[Deloraine, Tasmania]], from 1902 to 1908.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article30077354 |title=Obituary Canon H. R. Finnis |newspaper=[[The Mercury (Hobart)]] |volume=CXLIV |issue=20,375 |location=Tasmania, Australia |date=14 February 1936 |access-date=25 September 2018 |page=2 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> He married again, to Edith Kate Norris<!--not Morris--> (1880–1951)<ref name=obit>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article52818152 |title=Obituary |newspaper=[[The Examiner (Tasmania)]] |volume=CX |issue=75 |location=Tasmania, Australia |date=8 June 1951 |access-date=26 September 2018 |page=4 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> on 6 January 1903 ([[Feast of the Epiphany]]).<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article12280250 |title=Family Notices |newspaper=[[The Mercury (Hobart)]] |volume=LXXIX |issue=10,273 |location=Tasmania, Australia |date=14 February 1903 |access-date=26 September 2018 |page=2 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> He was warden of [[St Wilfrid's Theological College, Cressy|St Wilfrid's College]] and rector of [[Cressy, Tasmania|Cressy]] (1908–1921), rector of [[Longford, Tasmania|Longford]] (1921–1923) then chaplain of the diocesan mission (1917–1926). He was an honorary canon of [[St David's Cathedral, Hobart]] (1921–1927). He then left for England where he served as curate in charge of [[St Martin's Church, Salisbury]] (1926–1927) and rector of [[Nevendon]] in the [[Diocese of Chelmsford]] (1927-1936).<ref name=obit/>
Finnis was born in [[Claremont, Tasmania]], the eldest child and only son of Rev. Herbert Robert Finnis (c. 1854 – 9 January 1936) and his wife Augusta Felicia Finnis, née Percy, (c. 1854 – 29 May 1901), who married in [[Rokeby, Tasmania]] on 11 April 1882.
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:The Rev. Herbert Finnis was rector of the Church of St. John the Baptist, [[Hobart]], from 1883 to 1902, and of [[Deloraine, Tasmania]] from 1902 to 1908.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article30077354 |title=Obituary Canon H. R. Finnis |newspaper=[[The Mercury (Hobart)]] |volume=CXLIV |issue=20,375 |location=Tasmania, Australia |date=14 February 1936 |access-date=25 September 2018 |page=2 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> He married again, to Edith Kate Norris <!--not Morris--> MA (1880–1951)<ref name=obit>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article52818152 |title=Obituary |newspaper=[[The Examiner (Tasmania)]] |volume=CX |issue=75 |location=Tasmania, Australia |date=8 June 1951 |access-date=26 September 2018 |page=4 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> on 6 January 1903 ([[Feast of the Epiphany]]).<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article12280250 |title=Family Notices |newspaper=[[The Mercury (Hobart)]] |volume=LXXIX |issue=10,273 |location=Tasmania, Australia |date=14 February 1903 |access-date=26 September 2018 |page=2 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> He was Warden of [[St Wilfrid's Theological College, Cressy|St. Wilfrid's College]] and Rector of [[Cressy, Tasmania|Cressy]] 1908–1921, Rector of [[Longford, Tasmania|Longford]] 1921–1923 then Chaplain of the Diocesan Mission from 1917–1926. He was hon. Canon of [[St David's Cathedral, Hobart]] 1921–1927. He then left for England where he served as Curate in Charge of [[St Martin's Church, Salisbury]] 1926–1927 and Rector of [[Nevendon]] in the [[Diocese of Chelmsford]] 1927-1936.<ref name=obit/>


[[File:Horace Percy Finnis.jpg|thumb|Rev. H. P. Finnis, c. 1918]]
[[File:Horace Percy Finnis.jpg|thumb|Finnis c. 1918]]
Finnis was educated in Tasmania and then at [[Brighton Grammar School]] and [[Trinity College, University of Melbourne]],<ref name=SLSA>{{Citation|title=Reverend H.P. Finnis|publisher=[[State Library of South Australia]]| date=1918 | url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/208454692 | access-date=25 September 2018 }}</ref> graduating MA in 1911.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article217986861 |title=Melbourne University |newspaper=[[The Ballarat Star]] |volume=57 |issue=17337 |location=Victoria, Australia |date=25 December 1911 |access-date=26 September 2018 |page=2 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>
Finnis was educated in Tasmania and then at [[Brighton Grammar School]] and [[Trinity College, University of Melbourne]],<ref name=SLSA>{{Citation|title=Reverend H.P. Finnis|publisher=[[State Library of South Australia]]| date=1918 | url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/208454692 | access-date=25 September 2018 }}</ref> graduating MA in 1911.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article217986861 |title=Melbourne University |newspaper=[[The Ballarat Star]] |volume=57 |issue=17337 |location=Victoria, Australia |date=25 December 1911 |access-date=26 September 2018 |page=2 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>
He was ordained deacon in 1907 and priest in 1908.<ref name=notes/>
He was ordained deacon in 1907 and priest in 1908.<ref name=notes/>
In February 1908<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article10667546 |title=St. John's, Toorak |newspaper=[[The Argus (Melbourne)]] |issue=19,223 |location=Victoria, Australia |date=27 February 1908 |access-date=26 September 2018 |page=6 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> he was appointed assistant [[curate]] and choirmaster of St John's Church, [[Toorak, Victoria|Toorak]].
In February 1908<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article10667546 |title=St. John's, Toorak |newspaper=[[The Argus (Melbourne)]] |issue=19,223 |location=Victoria, Australia |date=27 February 1908 |access-date=26 September 2018 |page=6 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> he was appointed assistant [[curate]] and choirmaster of St John's Church, [[Toorak, Victoria|Toorak]].

He married in 1909 and would have three children (see below).
He married in 1909 and had three children.
⚫
He was appointed to the church at [[Meredith, Victoria|Meredith]] around August 1911.

⚫
He was appointed to the church at [[Meredith, Victoria]], around August 1911.


===Move to Adelaide===
===Move to Adelaide===
In January 1918 he succeeded Rev. Rupert P. A. Hewgill as rector of [[St John's Church, Adelaide|St. John's (Anglican) Church, Adelaide]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article65042678 |title=Churches and Church Affairs |newspaper=[[The Register (Adelaide)]] |volume=LXXXVIII |issue=25,827 |location=South Australia |date=6 October 1923 |access-date=26 September 2018 |page=5 |via=National Library of Australia}} An interesting history of St. John's</ref>
In January 1918 he succeeded the Revd Rupert P. A. Hewgill as rector of [[St John's Church, Adelaide]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article65042678 |title=Churches and Church Affairs |newspaper=[[The Register (Adelaide)]] |volume=LXXXVIII |issue=25,827 |location=South Australia |date=6 October 1923 |access-date=26 September 2018 |page=5 |via=National Library of Australia}} A history of St John's</ref>
He started a day school in May 1918, which prospered, and by his enthusiasm and example helped build up the men's group.<ref name=notes/>
He started a day school in May 1918, which prospered, and by his enthusiasm and example helped build up the men's group.<ref name=notes/>


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[[Category:1883 births]]
[[Category:1883 births]]
[[Category:1960 deaths]]
[[Category:1960 deaths]]
[[Category:Australian organists]]
[[Category:People educated at Brighton Grammar School]]
[[Category:Male organists]]
[[Category:Australian classical organists]]
[[Category:Male classical organists]]
[[Category:Australian classical composers]]
[[Category:Australian classical composers]]
[[Category:Australian Anglican priests]]
[[Category:Australian Anglican priests]]
[[Category:20th-century organists]]
[[Category:20th-century organists]]
[[Category:20th-century Australian male musicians]]
[[Category:20th-century Australian male musicians]]
[[Category:20th-century Australian musicians]]
[[Category:Musicians from Tasmania]]
[[Category:People educated at Trinity College (University of Melbourne)]]

Latest revision as of 18:20, 29 December 2022

Horace Percy Finnis MA (17 April 1883 – 1960) was an Australian Anglican priest and organist in Victoria and South Australia.

History

[edit]

Finnis was born in Claremont, Tasmania, the eldest child and only son of the Reverend Herbert Robert Finnis (c. 1854–9 January 1936) and his wife Augusta Felicia Finnis, née Percy (c. 1854–29 May 1901), who married in Rokeby, Tasmania, on 11 April 1882. Herbert Finnis was rector of the Church of St John the Baptist, Hobart, from 1883 to 1902 and of Deloraine, Tasmania, from 1902 to 1908.[1] He married again, to Edith Kate Norris (1880–1951)[2] on 6 January 1903 (Feast of the Epiphany).[3] He was warden of St Wilfrid's College and rector of Cressy (1908–1921), rector of Longford (1921–1923) then chaplain of the diocesan mission (1917–1926). He was an honorary canon of St David's Cathedral, Hobart (1921–1927). He then left for England where he served as curate in charge of St Martin's Church, Salisbury (1926–1927) and rector of Nevendon in the Diocese of Chelmsford (1927-1936).[2]

Finnis c. 1918

Finnis was educated in Tasmania and then at Brighton Grammar School and Trinity College, University of Melbourne,[4] graduating MA in 1911.[5] He was ordained deacon in 1907 and priest in 1908.[6] In February 1908[7] he was appointed assistant curate and choirmaster of St John's Church, Toorak.

He married in 1909 and had three children.

He was appointed to the church at Meredith, Victoria, around August 1911.

Move to Adelaide

[edit]

In January 1918 he succeeded the Revd Rupert P. A. Hewgill as rector of St John's Church, Adelaide.[8] He started a day school in May 1918, which prospered, and by his enthusiasm and example helped build up the men's group.[6]

He was appointed precentor of St. Peter's Cathedral and bishop's vicar in September 1927[6] in succession to Dr. W. Somerville Milne and was succeeded at St. John's by the Rev. E. A. North Ash, of St Mary's Church, Waverley, Sydney. J. M. Dunn had been organist and choirmaster since November 1891, and when he retired, just a few weeks before his death in March 1936, Finnis took over the dual role. He was appointed Canon around April 1946.

He retired in 1955.

Life in music

[edit]

Finnis was described as 'an exceptional pianist',[4] and his wife was a fine violinist, and while at university they notably played together.[9] He passed his Bachelor of Music in 1929.[10]

While a churchman in Victoria he was organist of St Andrew's Church, Brighton, then choirmaster of St John's Church, Toorak. In 1933 he founded, in Adelaide, Australia's first branch of the School of English Church Music, and served as its hon. secretary.[11] From 1927 he served as precentor and from 1936 organist of St Peter's Cathedral as well as teaching music at Pulteney Grammar School.

He composed music for a Nativity play[12] a recessional hymn[13] an anthem[14] and hymn tunes.[15]

Family

[edit]

Finnis married violinist (Marion) Dora Barrow (24 June 1880 – 24 February 1944) on 11 October 1909 in Brighton, Victoria. He married again, to Dorothy Kell Simpson (10 March 1903 – 19 May 1970) in Adelaide on 6 January 1945. He had three children:

  • Dora Felicia Finnis (1911 – 7 April 1932)
  • Maurice Meredith Steriker Finnis MA (6 August 1914 in Meredith, Victoria – 13 October 1995) married Margaret Mackellar Stewart MA in Adelaide on 11 August 1939 and had four children and divorced in 1976.[16] He was a senior lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Adelaide.
  • Lynette Elizabeth Finnis (May 1916 – ) married Charles Everson Gardner, son of Walter Everson Gardner[17] of Broken Hill in July 1938

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Obituary Canon H. R. Finnis". The Mercury (Hobart). Vol. CXLIV, no. 20, 375. Tasmania, Australia. 14 February 1936. p. 2. Retrieved 25 September 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  2. ^ a b "Obituary". The Examiner (Tasmania). Vol. CX, no. 75. Tasmania, Australia. 8 June 1951. p. 4. Retrieved 26 September 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  3. ^ "Family Notices". The Mercury (Hobart). Vol. LXXIX, no. 10, 273. Tasmania, Australia. 14 February 1903. p. 2. Retrieved 26 September 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. ^ a b Reverend H.P. Finnis, State Library of South Australia, 1918, retrieved 25 September 2018
  5. ^ "Melbourne University". The Ballarat Star. Vol. 57, no. 17337. Victoria, Australia. 25 December 1911. p. 2. Retrieved 26 September 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  6. ^ a b c "Religious Notes". The Register (Adelaide). Vol. XCII, no. 26, 854. South Australia. 10 September 1927. p. 15. Retrieved 26 September 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  7. ^ "St. John's, Toorak". The Argus (Melbourne). No. 19, 223. Victoria, Australia. 27 February 1908. p. 6. Retrieved 26 September 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. ^ "Churches and Church Affairs". The Register (Adelaide). Vol. LXXXVIII, no. 25, 827. South Australia. 6 October 1923. p. 5. Retrieved 26 September 2018 – via National Library of Australia. A history of St John's
  9. ^ "Melbourne Students' Symposium Company". Tasmanian News. No. 7406. Tasmania, Australia. 6 February 1905. p. 4. Retrieved 26 September 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  10. ^ "Bachelor of Music Examination". The News (Adelaide). Vol. XIII, no. 1, 984. South Australia. 23 November 1929. p. 4. Retrieved 26 September 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  11. ^ "Church Music". The West Australian. Vol. 51, no. 15, 397. Western Australia. 29 October 1935. p. 10. Retrieved 26 September 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  12. ^ "Church Notes". The Advertiser (Adelaide). South Australia. 14 December 1935. p. 21. Retrieved 26 September 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  13. ^ "News From The Churches". The Advertiser (Adelaide). Vol. 95, no. 29, 525. South Australia. 30 May 1953. p. 24. Retrieved 26 September 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  14. ^ "Governor's Daughter Marries". The Chronicle (South Australia). Vol. 97, no. 5, 469. South Australia. 14 October 1954. p. 3. Retrieved 26 September 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  15. ^ "News of Churches and Church People". The Mail (Adelaide). Vol. 44, no. 2, 217. South Australia. 4 December 1954. p. 78. Retrieved 26 September 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  16. ^ "HMSS 0089 Margaret and Maurice Finnis Papers, 1968-1997". ACT Heritage Library. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
  17. ^ "Mr. W. E. Gardner Dies In Melbourne". The Barrier Miner. Vol. LVI, no. 16, 476. New South Wales, Australia. 16 March 1943. p. 1. Retrieved 26 September 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
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