George Wilkins (priest)

George Wilkins, D.D. was born in May 1785 in Norwich. He served as a priest in the Church of England and was Archdeacon of Nottingham. He died on 13 August 1865.

George Wilkins came from a family of architects: his brother William designed several famous buildings including the National Gallery, London. His father was estate architect to the head of the Pierrepont family, who since 1806 had been styled the Earl Manvers.

He was educated at the Grammar School at Bury St. Edmunds and Caius College, Cambridge.

George was ordained in 1810 and served, in succession, as

During his time in Nottingham, he had a continuing problem in ensuring that people wanting to get married were genuine parishioners. He employed a sexton for each banns application to check the residence of the applicants. There is a touch of irony in this as he himself eloped to Gretna Green to marry Amelia Auriol Hay-Drummond during his time at Hadleigh. Wilkins was a 26-yr-old Curate, who had been posted to Hadleigh, and lodged with the Rector, the Very Rev. Edward Auriol Hay-Drummond, whose father's father was the 7th Earl of Kinnoul, whose father-in-law was Robert Harley, the 1st Earl of Oxford. His wife was the eldest daughter of the Rector. They were married on 2 September 1811, nine days before her 17th birthday, and after the marriage, they returned to continue living in the parental home. And went on to have nine children.

As Vicar of St. Mary's, he was preaching at a service when a loud crack from the masonry caused those attending to believe that the tower was collapsing, and a panic ensued. Wilkins then summoned the architect Lewis Nockalls Cottingham to survey the fabric, and Cottingham implemented a scheme to prop up the tower with scaffolding while the tower piers were repaired. By selecting Cottingham, Wilkins is credited with saving St. Mary's medieval fabric, rather than submitting to a project to rebuild the church.

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