Robert Hugh Benson

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Robert Hugh Benson (born November 18, 1871; died October 19, 1914) was the youngest son of Edward White Benson, Archbishop of Canterbury, and younger brother of Edward Frederic Benson. Benson studied Classics and Theology at Trinity College, Cambridge, from 1890 to 1893. In 1895, he was ordained a priest in the Church of England by his father, Edward White Benson, who was then Archbishop of Canterbury.

Msgr. R. H. Benson, 1912, age 40

His father died suddenly in 1896, and Benson was sent on a trip to the Middle East to recover his own health. While there, he began to question the status of the Church of England and to consider the claims of the Roman Catholic Church. His own piety began to tend toward the High Church variety, and he started exploring religious life in various Anglican communities, eventually obtaining permission to join the Community of the Resurrection.

Benson made his profession as a member of the community in 1901, at which time he had no thoughts of leaving the Church of England. But as he continued his studies and began writing, he became more and more uneasy with his own doctrinal position, and on September 11, 1903, he was received into the Roman Catholic Church.

He was ordained a Catholic priest in 1904 and sent to Cambridge. He continued his writing career along with the usual elements of priestly ministry. He was named a monsignor in 1911.

"Robert Hugh Benson: Life and Works," a biography by Janet Grayson was published in 1998.

[edit] Partial bibliography

Science fiction

Lord of the World ([1] Complete text at Project Gutenberg.)
Dawn of All ([2] Complete text at Project Gutenberg.)

Historical fiction

By What Authority?
Come Rack! Come Rope! ([3] Complete text at Project Gutenberg.)
Oddsfish!([4] Complete text at Project Gutenberg.)
The King's Achievement (Sir I. Pitman and sons, ltd., 1908) ([5] Complete text at Project Gutenberg.)
The History of Richard Raynal, Solitary ([6] Complete text at Project Gutenberg.)

Contemporary Fiction

The Sentimentalists
The Conventionalists
The Necromancers (B. Herder, 1909) ([7] Complete text at Project Gutenberg.)
None Other Gods ([8] Complete text at Project Gutenberg.)

Children's Books

Alphabet of Saints, with Reginald Balfour and Charles Ritchie (Burns, Oates & Washbourne, 1905)
A Child's Rule of Life, illustrated by Gabriel Pippet
Old Testament Rhymes, illustrated by Gabriel Pippet

Devotional Works

Friendship of Christ
Confessions of a Convert
Religion of the Plain Man
Paradoxes of Catholicism ([9] Complete text at Project Gutenberg.)

Plays

Cost of a Crown, a Story of Douay & Durham; a Sacred Drama in Three Acts
A Mystery Play in Honour of the Nativity of Our Lord (Longmans, Green, and Co., 1908)