Conrad Noel

Conrad le Despenser Roden Noel (12 July 1869 – 2 July 1942) was an English priest of the Church of England. Known as the 'Red Vicar' of Thaxted, he was a prominent British Christian socialist.

Noel was born on 12 July 1869 in Kew, London. He was the eldest son of Roden Noel, the poet and essayist, and his wife, Alice Maria Caroline Noel (née de Broë). His father's father was Charles Noel, 1st Earl of Gainsborough.

He was educated at Winchester School and at Cheltenham College, then also an all-boys public school. He then entered Corpus Christi College, Cambridge but was rusticated (suspended) for a year and chose not to return to complete his degree.

Noel underwent training for ordination at Chichester Theological College, an Anglo-Catholic theological school. At first he was refused ordination into the Church of England because of his political beliefs: he had been offered a curacy at All Saints Church in Plymouth, but the Bishop of Exeter refused to ordain him.

In 1894, he was ordained deacon in the Diocese of Chester and became a curate in Flowery Field, Cheshire. In late 1904 he became assistant priest to Percy Dearmer at Primrose Hill.

In 1910, he became the vicar of Thaxted, Essex. He was appointed by the patron of the private living, Daisy Greville, Countess of Warwick who was herself a socialist.

...
Wikipedia