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Catalogue description DEAN HUSSEY PAPERS
This record is held by West Sussex Record Office
| Reference: | Hussey |
|---|---|
| Title: | DEAN HUSSEY PAPERS |
| Description: |
In compiling this list the collection has been divided into six sections. The documents in the Personal section relate to his family and himself generally, juvenilia, education, diaries, personal papers and photographs In the Professional section will be found papers and correspondence relating to his career and, in particular, to parochial matters at each benefice. The war years spent at St Matthew's are reflected in the wartime letters he sent to the members of his congregation who were serving in the armed forces. Their replies will be found in the general correspondence at the end of the list as Hussey himself did not keep these letter as a separate entity. The Cathedral years were spent working on many aspects of the renovation and repair of the building as well as the organising of special events such as the Royal visit, the Southern Choirs Festival and a Deans' and Provosts' Conference with special emphasis on art and the Church Also in the Professional section is a list of the files, on a variety of subjects, compiled by Hussey as a personal source of reference. Kept in alphabetical order these files contain extracts from books and articles, together with leaflets, pamphlets and newspaper cuttings The Speech section lists his broadcasts and contains scripts, correspondence and other material. Several boxes of sermons were found. The sermons were no longer in any specific order although some were divided up according to the church calender. On the back of each sermon Hussey carefully noted the places, dates and times on which the sermon had been preached. The sermons have now been arranged chronologically according to the first date on which they were delivered. Among the documents has been placed a list of sermons arranged in chronological order of delivery throughout his life (document number 220) and a list of sermons, addresses, speeches and talks arranged in alphabetical order (document number 221). There is also a list of addresses, speeches and talks arranged in chronological order (document number 274) The fourth section, Writings, contains all the material found in connection with his printed works. Hussey wrote a few articles, edited one book, Chichester 900, and wrote another about his connection with the arts, appropriately entitled Patron of Art Walter Hussey and the Arts contains all the papers and correspondence which he kept about the many works which he commissioned at St Matthew's and at Chichester Cathedral. He kept all correspondence with each artist in its own set of files. In compiling this list his example has been followed while at the same time adding any other documents or photographs found elsewhere in the collection. This section also deals with his own art collection and his correspondence in connection with Pallant House Gallery Finally the Correspondence section of this list contains all letters which are of a general nature and do not fit into any other group of documents Bibliography Neil Colyer : The Walter Hussey Collection, Pallant House Gallery [1982] Walter Hussey : Patron of Art, Weidenfeld and Nicolson 1985 FOREWORD In his entry in Who's Who, Walter Hussey gave his sole recreation as "enjoying the arts". This enjoyment, not just of the arts, but of all aspects of his life, shines through the archive of his papers and through the enduring legacy of his life and work, in Chichester Cathedral and at Pallant House, the Chichester gallery that opened in 1982 to inherit and show his personal collection In the Cathedral, we have the fruits of Hussey's public life and career. At Pallant House we can see his own personal taste and the remarkable foresight and sensitivity he brought to collecting art. The archive at the West Sussex Record Office completes the picture with his own personal papers, which give endlessly fascinating insights into this very private man In his lifetime and in his autobiography, Hussey's remarkable and outstanding contribution to modern art in Britain was very much played down. Now, thanks to the archive and to this catalogue, we can start to appreciate more fully what this contribution was and to give Dean Hussey the credit that is due to him for the part he played in the revival of Church patronage of contemporary artists David Coke March 1997 HUSSEY FAMILY HISTORY PERSONAL CHRISTOPHER ROWDEN HUSSEY JOHN ROWDEN HUSSEY LILIAN MARY HUSSEY [née Atherton] JOHN WALTER ATHERTON HUSSEY Education Membership of clubs and societies Health Finance Diaries Appointment diaries Notebooks Address books, lists, quotations and sketches Autographs Photographs Silhouettes Personal miscellaneous papers Newspaper cuttings Personalia PROFESSIONAL CAREER Ordination papers and papers of appointment Correspondence regarding ecclesiastical appointments Appointments offered to Walter Hussey, but not accepted Appointments to institutions and other bodies Honours and presentations Retirement Posthumous S MARY ABBOT'S S PAUL'S KENSINGTON S MATTHEW'S, NORTHAMPTON Papers relating to parochial matters WH's wartime letters to the Forces Sermons by laymen Preachers S Matthew's Day S Matthew's Jubilee Festival 1943 S Matthew's Diamond Jubilee 1953 Printed matter Books and guides Miscellaneous CHICHESTER CATHEDRAL Ceremony and Procedure Fabric and Fittings Services and Correspondence Commemoration of Benefactors Precedence General Chapter Deans' Conferences Deans' and Provosts' Conferences Deans' and Provosts' Conference, Chichester 10-13 May 1968 Arundel Screen/Bell Memorial Bell Rooms Choir, Organist, Organ and Song School Embroidery Projects Royal Air Force Royal Visit S Mary Magdalen Chapel Schoolboys' Conference Sherburne Monument Sherburne Screen Southern Choirs Festival Surveyor - Robert Potter Chichester Cathedral Survey 1962 Chichester Cathedral Restoration Fund The Sussex Campaign Theological College Wall paintings in the Lady Chapel Westgate Fields West Porch Printed matter FILES SPEECH BROADCASTS (radio and television) SERMONS ADDRESSES, SPEECHES AND TALKS TOASTS AND MENU CARDS WRITINGS PUBLISHED ARTICLES CHICHESTER 900 PATRON OF ART WALTER HUSSEY AND THE ARTS S MATTHEW'S COMMISSIONS Malcolm Arnold Wystan Hugh Auden Edward Barnsley BBC BBC Symphony Orchestra Lennox Berkeley Sir John Betjeman The Boyd Neel Orchestra Benjamin Britten James Butt Sir (John) Ninian Comper Harold Craxton Cecil Day Lewis Walter de la Mare Ralph William Downes Ronald Duncan M Duruflé Edward Elgar Thomas Stearns Eliot Hans Feibusch Gerald Finzi Kirsten Flagstad Christopher Fry George Kruger Gray Christopher Headington Colin Horsley James Iliff Frank Martin Henry Moore Norman Nicholson Gordon Pemble John Piper [see under Chichester Cathedral Commissions] Edmund Rubbra Alexander Smith Igor Stravinsky Graham Sutherland Denis Tegetmeier Michael Tippett William Walton Ralph Vaughan Williams Harold S Williamson Hugh Ross Williamson CHICHESTER CATHEDRAL COMMISSIONS William Albright Lennox Berkeley Leonard Bernstein Benjamin Britten [see under S Matthew's Commissions] Marc Chagall Geoffrey Clarke Cecil Collins Henry Moore [see under S Matthew's Commissions] John Piper Ceri Giraldus Richards Reynolds Stone Graham Sutherland [See under S Matthew's Commissions] William Walton WALTER HUSSEY'S ART COLLECTION Correspondence and other material Pallant House Musical scores Presentation books and typescripts Printed material CORRESPONDENCE Correspondence Correspondence - unidentified surnames Christmas cards |
| Date: | 1864-1990 |
| Held by: | West Sussex Record Office, not available at The National Archives |
| Language: | English |
| Creator: |
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| Physical description: | 5 Sub-fonds |
| Access conditions: |
The documents listed in this catalogue may be consulted in the West Sussex Record Office during normal office hours, but permission to see them should first be obtained by writing to the Dean of Chichester at The Deanery, Chichester, West Sussex PO19 1PX. Any document quoted in research or published work should bear the reference West Sussex Record Office (W.S.R.O. subsequently) Hussey MS. followed by the appropriate number (e.g. West Sussex Record Office, Hussey MS. 247). Acknowledgements may be made as follows 'By courtesy of the Very Revd. the Dean of Chichester and with acknowledgements to the West Sussex Record Office and the County Archivist' |
| Immediate source of acquisition: |
In 1977 Walter Hussey deposited at the West Sussex Record Office manuscripts of music commissioned by, and dedicated to, him, together with the original manuscripts and typescripts for Chichester 900. On his death in 1985 the remainder of his papers were left, under his will, to the dean and chapter who deposited them at the West Sussex Record Office in 1987 to be stored and catalogued. Additional items, held at Pallant House Gallery, which researchers at the record office might find of interest, have been photocopied and incorporated into the collection. We wish to record our thanks to the curator, David Coke, for making this possible |
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| Administrative / biographical background: |
John Walter Atherton Hussey, churchman and art lover, was well known in his lifetime for his championing of contemporary art and, in particular, for bringing together the Church and modern artists. He will long be remembered for the works he commissioned for St Matthew's, Northampton and for Chichester Cathedral. Much of his own private collection may now be seen at Pallant House Gallery in Chichester Walter Hussey, as he was known, was born on 15 May 1909, the younger son of Canon John Rowden Hussey and his wife Lilian. John Hussey was then vicar of St Matthew's, Northampton, a living which he had held since the church was built in 1893. As a small boy Walter attended The Knoll, a preparatory school at Woburn Sands, from where he won a foundation scholarship to Marlborough College in 1922. In 1927 he went up to Keble College, Oxford to read PPE (Philosophy, Politics and Economics), obtaining his BA in 1930. Before entering Cuddesdon Theological College in July 1931 he spent some time as a schoolmaster at Charleston, a preparatory school in Seaford, Sussex In 1932 Hussey was ordained by the bishop of London to the title of St Mary Abbot's, Kensington, where he remained as curate until 1937. During that time he was in charge of the daughter church of St Paul's, Kensington, from 1935-6, returning to St Mary Abbot's for a few months as senior curate. In 1937 he succeeded his father as vicar of St Matthew's. In his book, Patron of Art, Hussey wrote 'Perhaps my succeeding him may suggest nepotism, but I don't think it was. I was not anxious to go there; it seemed that there was little one could do but let the parish down...my various authorities advised me that it was right that I should go.' During his school and university years Hussey had shown an interest in the arts, music, drama, painting and sculpture. His years in London gave him the opportunity of seeing and hearing much that the city had to offer in its concert halls, theatres and art galleries, and he began to take an increasing interest in contemporary art. It became a cause of regret to him to realise how little of this work was being encouraged by the Church. As he later wrote, 'the arts had become largely divorced from the Church' By the time Hussey became vicar of St Matthew's he was already making plans to bring about a rapprochement between the Church and the arts. An early opportunity presented itself as he starting planning the forthcoming golden jubilee celebrations due to take place at St Matthew's in 1943. He had already had the experience of making arrangements for such a jubilee at St Paul's, Kensington, but now he wanted to incorporate a modern musical work into the festival service. In spite of the difficulties and restrictions of the war years the jubilee celebrations were a triumph as they centred around the specially commissioned anthem Rejoice in the Lamb by Benjamin Britten. Encouraged by this success Hussey went on to commission many more works for his Northampton church, the most famous of which were Henry Moore's sculpture, Madonna and Child, and Graham Sutherland's painting, The Crucifixion When Hussey went to Chichester as dean in 1955 he had known Bishop Bell for many years and knew that they shared the same attitude to art and the Church. Consequently the work he had begun in St Matthew's continued almost uninterrupted in the cathedral with works by Graham Sutherland, John Piper, Leonard Bernstein and Marc Chagall among the many which he commissioned over the years By the time Hussey retired from Chichester in 1977 to live in London he had acquired an important and varied collection of his own. He offered to leave the greater part of it to the city which he had done so much to promote as a centre of the arts. Like many others he was concerned about the neglect into which Pallant House, a fine example of eighteenth-century domestic architecture, had fallen and, as Dr KME Murray wrote 'his generous offer...was made deliberately as a means of securing the restoration of the house and its opening to the public'. In 1982 Hussey was present at the official opening of the house and saw his paintings and other works of art displayed in the same informal domestic setting as they had been at the deanery where he had taken so much pleasure in showing them to friends and strangers alike Walter Hussey died in London on 25 July 1985. His funeral service was conducted at St Paul's, Knightsbridge, and a memorial service was held in Chichester Cathedral in October of that year |
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