Spencer Wade
1907-1913
B.A. Classics
Born in Durham in 1888, Spencer was the son of a Coal Miner and, aged 14, found himself also in the Mine. He first met Allworthy through his parish church, where the former was a curate. Allworthy- on discovering that Spencer had taught himself Greek- was so impressed by the boy’s ability that he took him into his care, first teaching him himself and then arranging for him to attend Macclesfield Grammar School. After completing his time at the at the Grammar School, Spencer joined Allworthy at his newly established hostel in Newton Heath, first as a matriculation student and then as a student at Manchester University.
On graduating, Spencer was made deacon and appointed to Torquay, Devon, with his new wife Sis, with whom he had one child, his son John. In 1914, he was made priest and appointed to Barnard’s Castle, Durham. A series of appointments in Durham and the surrounding area followed. During his ministry, Spencer also had the opportunity to deliver the sermon at the Durham Miner’s Gala Mass in 1935 and on two occasions, once in 1930 and again in 1932, preached for the King at Buckingham Palace. Retiring to Hamshaugh in the North Tyne Valley in 1958, Spencer found that the local vicar had also been a Slemsman. Spencer died in February 1976, shortly after his second wife Winifred.
You can learn about Spencer’s story here.


Leslie Eustace Warner
1923-24
Lewis Scholar
Leslie Eustace Warner was born in Northampton, Northamptonshire, in 1902, the youngest of the two sons of Thomas Austin Warner and Mary Jane Mann. Northampton is particularly known for its shoe making and Thomas worked as a Foreman in the pattern cutting division of one of the local shoe making companies, Crockett and Jones. He was also heavily involved in the work of St. Edmund’s church, being a sidesman and a longstanding Sunday School teacher.
Leslie’s childhood was shaped by the death of his older brother, four-year-old Ronald, in 1904. In the years following his death, his parents struggled with the memories they now associated with the area and, in 1907, they made the decision to move the family to Street, in Somerset. Leslie and his parents lived in Somerset until at least 1911, however they subsequently made the decision to move back to Northampton, where Leslie attended the local grammar school.
In 1921, Leslie passed matriculation, the only student from the area to achieve First Division, and was able to begin a BA in commerce at the University of Birmingham. By the end of his 2nd year, Leslie had achieved 1st place honours with distinction in Law and Spanish and had been awarded a Kilkaldy Scholarship, worth £50 a year for three years.
Leslie graduated from the University of Birmingham with 1st class honours in 1923. He was subsequently awarded a Lewis Scholarship and spent the 1923-24 academic year at the University of Manchester, during which time he was a resident of St Anselm Hall. As an old man, Leslie wrote of his time at Slems ‘…I had a very busy life, but I have never forgotten St. Anselm and the benefit I gained…’
On completing his studies, Leslie became a corporate accountant and for a number of years worked for W & T Avery Ltd., a British weight manufacturer. In 1932, Leslie was appointed full-time lecturer at Leicester College of Technology, and during the course of his work, there took charge of the Department of Industrial and Commercial administration. In 1934, he was married to Florence Wigley, with whom he had three children.
With the advent of the Second World War, Leslie was given a temporary appointment to the Ministry of Supply, where he worked in the Gun and Carriage Department (later the Weapons Production Directorate General.) In 1945 the family relocated to Wembley, London, with Leslie continuing to work for the Civil Service for the rest of his career. Among his roles, he was assistant Director (later CEO) of Organisation and Methods Department, Chief organisation officer in the Treasury’s Organisation and Methods Division and chief staff inspection officer in the Ministry of Education. In 1952, Leslie was appointed again to the Ministry of Supply, this time in the organisation and labour division. After the winding up of the Ministry of Supply in 1959, he transferred to the Ministry of Aviation where he had particular responsibility for industrial employees at airports.
In his later years, Leslie was also very involved with the British Institute of Management, of which he was made a fellow in 1957. In 1960, he was awarded the James A. Bowie Silver Medal for his work in the management field.
Leslie retired in 1962, and spent time travelling around the world, including to India, Africa and the Far East. He also continued to uphold various other commitments, including his role as governor of Harrow College of Technology and Art and secretary to D.L. Warren Ltd., a planning engineer company in Watford. He was also connected to the Worshipful Company of Glovers, whose Livery he was admitted to in 1956, becoming a Master in 1977. Leslie died in April 1978, at the age of 76.

Edgar John White
Gartness Hostel 1919-1921
St Anselm Hall 1921-1922
B.A. Economics
Born in Oxford in 1898, Edgar John White grew up in Bedford with his father George, a warehouseman, his mother Fanny and his younger sister Lillian.
Few details are known of Edgar’s childhood but during the First World War he served with the Royal Army Service Corps. Afterwards he was a student at the University of Manchester and a resident of Gartness Hostel, transferring to St Anselm in the 1921 merger. After graduating with a B.A. in Economics in 1922, Edgar studied at Bishop’s College, Cheshunt, where he achieved distinctions in Old Testament Theology and Ecclesiastical History.
Edgar was ordained as a Deacon by Dr. White-Thomson, Bishop of Ely, at the Chapel of Jesus College, Cambridge, on Whit-Sunday 1924. His first position was as curate of St. Neot’s, Ely. Made a priest in 1925, Edgar was appointed a minor canon and sacrist of Carlisle Cathedral in 1926. He was later given an additional appointment as priest in charge of St. Aiden’s Church-with-Botcherby- Carlisle.
In 1928, Edgar was made rector of Orwell, near Royston, Hertfordshire. One of Edgar’s life long passions was church bells and whilst at Orwell he arranged for the 17th century bells to be retuned and rehung. They were first rung again on Christmas Eve 1931. From 1930, Edgar was also Rector of Harlton and had positions as joint secretary of the Diocesan Council for Youth and as a member of the Diocesan Society of Mission Clergy.
Later appointments followed at St. Augustine’s, Wisbech, Cambridge from 1935 to 1947, Miserden, Gloucestershire from 1947 to 1951, and Dursley, Gloucestershire, from 1951. Edgar died in 1966 whilst the Vicar of Leckhampton. He was buried in the parish and after her death in 1970 his sister Lillian was buried with him.
Charles Norman Worden
c.1911
M.A. Classics
Born in 1891 to Joseph and Mary Ann, Charles Norman Worden was the third of four children and grew up with his family in Blackpool, in the little Bispham area. Charles’ father was a corporation clerk and later a provider of herbal remedies. As a young man, Charles attended Blackpool High School, taking part in events such as plays and school sports matches. Among his achievements there, he was awarded a prize for proficiency in English and German in 1908 and achieved honours in Classics in 1909. By 1910, Charles had moved to Arnold House School and from there passed the matriculation examination in the August of that year, at the same time also passing the Cambridge local examinations with 2nd class honours. In 1911, Charles was an Arts Student residing at St Anselm’s Hostel, although how long he lived there in unclear. He achieved an MA with honours in classics in 1914. In 1915, Charles married Elizabeth Cameron. During the 1st World War he served with the Kings (Liverpool) Regiment and with the 107th Pioneers in India. Discharged in 1919, Charles returned to teaching in Birmingham, with a career that took him around the country, including Exeter and Chelmsford. By 1953 he married his second wife Lavina. Charles died in Nottingham in 1957.


William Arthur Wiffen
c.1919-c.1922
Born and raised in Burnley, Lancashire, William Arthur Wiffen, who was born in 1896, was the eldest of the two children of William Wiffen and his wife Elizabeth. In his youth, William was able to attend Burnley Grammar School through a Thornber Scholarship, a fund set up by the mayor of Burnley, Alderman T. Thornber, in celebration of the coronation of Edward VII. In addition to his school life, William was also a member of St John the Evangelist, Westhorne (Burnley), where he had a variety of positions including sidesman, secretary to the Parochial Church Council and secretary to the Men’s Society.
On leaving school, William joined the office staff of local company John Hargreaves Ltd. with the intention of becoming a mining engineer. With the advent of the World War One, however, William found himself in the British Army. He served across France and Belgium with the 5th Lancashire Regiment from November 1915 and from July 1916 with the 1/5th Loyal North Lancashires. Later, he transferred to the 1/4th Loyal North Lancashire. Among the battles he fought in were the Somme (1916) and the 3rd battle of Ypres (1917.)
At the end of the war, in January 1919, William was able to get a transfer to the G.H.Q Ordination test school (later Knutsford) and by spring 1921 he was a student of St Anselm Hall. After graduation William completed his ordination training at Lincoln Theological College. On being made deacon in 1926 he was appointed curate of Childwall, Liverpool. He served at Childwall for two years before being appointed curate of Woolton, Liverpool, with charge of St. Hilda’s, Hunts Cross. At St. Hilda’s he met the superintendent of the Sunday School, Esther Bridgwater, whom he married in 1934.
After his marriage, William was given the new appointment of St. Stephens in Welley, Wigan, when he remained until 1954, when he was moved to Upton Snodsbury with Broughton Hackett, in the diocese of Worcester. William died in Chorley, Lancashire, in August 1970, at the age of 75. He was outlived by Esther who died in November 1975, at the age of 69.