View source for Wesley Carr

{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}
{{Infobox Christian leader
| type             = Priest
| honorific_prefix = [[The Very Reverend]]
| name             = Wesley Carr
| honorific_suffix = [[Royal Victorian Order|KCVO]]
| title            = [[Dean of Westminster]]
| image            = 
| image_size       = 
| alt              = 
| caption          = 
| church           = [[Church of England]]
| diocese          = ''[[Royal peculiar]]''
| term             = 1997 to 2006
| predecessor      = [[Michael Mayne]]
| successor        = [[John Hall (priest)|John Hall]]
| other_post       = [[Dean of Bristol]] (1987–1997)
<!---------- Orders ---------->
| ordination       = 1967 (deacon) <br /> 1968 (priest)
| ordained_by      = 
| consecration     = 
| consecrated_by   = 
| laicized         = 
<!---------- Personal details ---------->
| birth_name       = 
| birth_date       = 26 July 1941
| birth_place      = <!-- City, administrative region, country (per [[Template:Infobox person]]) -->
| death_date       = {{Death date and age|df=y|15 July 2017|26 July 1941}}
| death_place      = <!-- as birth_place -->
| buried           = <!-- or | tomb = -->
| resting_place_coordinates = 
| nationality      = <!-- use only when necessary per [[WP:INFONAT]] -->
| religion         = [[Anglicanism]]
| residence        = 
| parents          = <!-- Names of parents; include only if they are independently notable or particularly relevant. -->
| spouse           = <!-- or | partner = -->
| children         = 
| occupation       = 
| profession       = <!-- or | previous_post = -->
| education        =
| alma_mater       = [[Jesus College, Oxford]] <br/> [[Ridley Hall, Cambridge]] <br /> [[Jesus College, Cambridge]]
}}

'''Arthur Wesley Carr''' [[Royal Victorian Order|KCVO]] (26 July 1941 – 15 July 2017)<ref name="obit Tele">{{cite news |title=The Very Reverend Wesley Carr, Dean of Westminster – obituary |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2017/07/17/reverend-wesley-carr-dean-westminster-obituary/ |access-date=10 December 2023 |work=The Telegraph |date=17 July 2017}}</ref> was an Anglican priest who was the [[Dean of Westminster]] from 1997 to 2006.

==Early life==
Carr was born on 26 July 1941, and was educated at [[Dulwich College]], an all-boys [[Independent school (UK)|independent school]] in London.<ref>[http://www.dulwich.org.uk/News_1.aspx?news=1:26938&id=1:29354&id=1:29021, Dulwich College website]</ref> He was educated at [[Jesus College, Oxford]], graduating with a [[Bachelor of Arts]] (BA) degree in 1964.<ref name="Crockford">{{Crockford| surname = Carr | forenames = Arthur Wesley | id = 41594 | accessed = 10 December 2023}}</ref> From 1965 to 1967, he trained for ordination at [[Ridley Hall, Cambridge]], an [[evangelical Anglican]] theological college.<ref name="Crockford" /> During this time, he also studied for a second BA at [[Jesus College, Cambridge]], graduating in 1966.<ref name="Crockford" />

==Ordained ministry==
Carr was [[ordained]] in the [[Church of England]] as a [[Deacon#Anglicanism|deacon]] in 1967 and as a [[Priest#Anglican or Episcopalian|priest]] in 1968.<ref name="Crockford" /> His first appointment was as a [[curate]] at St Mary's Church, [[Luton]] ([[Diocese of St Albans]]) from 1967 to 1971. He was then a [[tutor]] (1970–1971) and a [[chaplain]] (1971–1972) at [[Ridley Hall, Cambridge]]. While at the [[University of Sheffield]] he was an honorary [[curate]] at Ranmoor ([[Diocese of Sheffield]]) from 1972 to 1974.

From 1974 to 1978, Carr was the [[chaplain]] of [[Chelmsford Cathedral]] ([[Diocese of Chelmsford]]). Until 1982 he was also deputy director of the Cathedral Centre for Research and Training. From 1978 to 1987 he was a [[Canon (priest)|canon residentiary]] of the cathedral. From 1976 to 1984 he was also Diocesan Director of Training. In 1987 Carr left Chelmsford to become [[Dean of Bristol]].<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=51064|page=11563|date=17 September 1987}}</ref>

In 1997, he moved to [[Westminster Abbey]],<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=54671|page=1543|date=6 February 1997}}</ref> where later that year he officiated at the funeral service of [[Diana, Princess of Wales]]. In 2002 he also officiated at the [[funeral of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother]]. In 1998, he was at the centre of a controversy over his abrupt dismissal of the abbey's Director of Music, [[Martin Neary]], over accounting practices for professional concerts and recordings occurring outside the abbey. The matter was contested and referred to [[Lord Jauncey of Tullichettle]] for determination at the behest of [[Elizabeth II|Queen Elizabeth II]]. While Lord Jauncey's report upheld Neary's dismissal in finding him to be partially at fault, he was careful to note Neary's years of exceptional service and that his actions were not legally wrongful and did not amount to meaningful harm. The finding further criticised the [[Dean and Canons of Westminster|dean and chapter]] for the manner in which Neary was dismissed, stating that their actions "must score gamma minus on the scale of natural justice" and concluding with the observation that, "had the parties been prepared to discuss openly and frankly the Abbey's concerns, to acknowledge that serious mistakes had been made and to consider the reasons therefor, it might perhaps have been possible to avoid the present unhappy situation with all its attendant publicity and to have reached a rather less dramatic resolution of their differences."<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://justus.anglican.org/resources/misc/jauncey98.html|title = Determination of Lord Jauncey}}</ref> The controversy led to the resignation of ex-[[Speaker of the House of Commons (United Kingdom)|Speaker of the Commons]] [[Bernard Weatherill]] as High Bailiff and Searcher of the Sanctuary of the Abbey, in protest at the manner in which Carr and the Chapter dealt with Neary's termination.<ref>{{cite news |last=Morgan |first=Christopher |url=http://wabbey-affairs.tripod.com/ST5.htm|title=Ex-Speaker to quit abbey over dean's conduct |newspaper=The Sunday Times |date=20 December 1998 |via=[[Tripod.com]] |access-date=17 January 2018}}</ref>

Carr was made an honorary [[DLitt]] of the [[University of the West of England]] in [[Bristol]] in 1997. On his retirement as Dean of Westminster in 2006 he was appointed a [[Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order]] (KCVO) on 17 February.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=57904 |page=2355|date=17 February 2006}}</ref> As a priest he had the same precedence as a knight of the relevant order. Carr was the author of a number of books about aspects of the Christian faith.

==References==
<references />

{{Deans of Bristol}}
{{Deans of Westminster}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carr, Arthur Wesley}}
[[Category:1941 births]]
[[Category:2017 deaths]]
[[Category:Alumni of Jesus College, Oxford]]
[[Category:Alumni of Jesus College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:Alumni of the University of Sheffield]]
[[Category:Monarchy of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Church of England deans]]
[[Category:Deans of Westminster]]
[[Category:Deans of Bristol]]
[[Category:People educated at Dulwich College]]
[[Category:Knights Commander of the Royal Victorian Order]]