Gilbert Hunter Doble

Gilbert Hunter Doble (26 November 1880 – 15 April 1945) was an Anglican priest and Cornish historian and hagiographer.

Early life

G. H. Doble was born at Penzance, Cornwall on 26 November 1880. His father, John Medley Doble shared his enthusiasm for archaeology and local studies with his sons [Catling and Rogers (1949)] . He was a scholar of Exeter College, Oxford and graduated in modern history in 1903. He attended Ely Theological College [Ely Theological College opened in 1876 and closed in 1964, "see" [http://www.guyhirn-online.org.uk/history.shtml History of Guyhirn] ] .

ervice as an Anglican priest

He was ordained in 1907 and served a long series of incumbents, in various parts of England and Cornwall as assistant curate. His Anglo-Catholic leanings were a bar to his preferment in the Church of England. In 1924, when he spoke publicly on "Re-catholicising Cornwall", a proferred appointment was withdrawn [Scott (1974)] . However, in Autumn 1919, was appointed curate of the parish of Redruth in Cornwall and served there until 1925. He then served for almost twenty years as the Vicar of Wendron, also in Cornwall.

In 1935, he was appointed an honorary canon of Truro Cathedral. During his parochial ministry, he was a great friend of children, especially those deprived of proper care, by familial poverty or the workhouse.

Historical work on Cornish studies

In between ministering to the needs of his parishioners, Canon Doble pursued a life-long study of sub-Roman Celtic Britain and Brittany, in which he gained a European-wide reputation. He was especially interested in the medieval vitae or 'lives', and additional legends, related to the early Christian holy men and women (or 'saints') [Most of these Saints are not so recognised by the Vatican or the See of Canterbury] of Cornwall, Wales and of Brittany. The fruit of his research was published between 1923 and 1945 in a collection of forty-eight booklets known as the 'Cornish Saints Series'. The later issues (from 1928) include historical commentaries by Charles Henderson. They have since been republished in book-form but without the Henderson Commentaries. Until Orme's "Saints of Cornwall" was published in 2000 [Orme (2000)] , they were the most thorough, scholarly and reliable works available on the subject.

Canon Doble's primary sources were far from easy to interpret.

D.Simon Evans states in his introductory essay to Doble's "Lives of the Welsh saints" [“Our early Welsh Saints and History”(pp.13-14) "see" list of sources for full reference] :

“It is hardly necessary to dwell here on the value and significance of these "lives". We may regard them as religious romances or novels, and as is generally agreed, they were written to enhance the cause of the church or "parochia", whose freedom and independence was not infrequently threatened at this time. In no sense are they “historical”; indeed they have more to offer the student of social anthropology and primitive religion.Much of what they contain is pure imagination, mingled and blended with myth, folklore and legend. But, as Doble reminds us, “Legend is history, in the sense that the legends and traditions of a people are part of its history”.

Canon Doble also collected Cornish folklore and folksong. In 1928 he was made a Bard of the Cornish Gorseth, taking the Bardic name "Gwas Gwendron" ('Servant of Gwendron') and received the Jenner medal of the Royal Institution of Cornwall. He was responsible for the first performance of the Cornish miracle play "Beunans Meriasek" since the Reformation in June 1924 (in English translation) [Malcolm Scott was cast as 'the Adult Meriasek'. Catling and Rogers give the date of the production as 1923.] . There have since been many acclaimed productions, including those in the original Cornish language. Canon Doble's research also led to the revival of the Hal-an-Tow event at the annual Helston Flora Day.

Death

Canon Doble died at Helston in Cornwall on 15 April 1945. He was buried in the Churchyard of Wendron Parish Church.

Manuscripts and publications

His work on the "Lives of the Welsh Saints" has been collected into one volume and is currently available from the University of Wales Press. [As of 13 October 2006 - see list of sources for bibliographical data on the 1971 edition.] . In addition to the "Cornish Saints Series" (reprinted by the Llanerch Press), there was also a series of histories of Cornish parishes. His personal library, including manuscript diaries, is at the Courtney Library, Royal Cornwall Museum, Truro

Notes

ources

* cite book
first=Robert Mason | last=Catling
coauthors=J. Percival Rogers| authorlink=Robert Mason Catling and J. Percival Rogers
title=G.H.Doble: a brief memoir and bibliography
publisher=Sidney Lee: Exeter
date= 1949
id=|

* cite journal
last =Scott
first =Malcolm
authorlink =Malcolm Scott
coauthors =
title =Canon Doble as I knew him (presidential address)
journal =Journal of the Royal Institution of Cornwall
volume =VII (New Series)
issue =Part 2
pages =
publisher =RIC
date =1974
url =
doi =
id =
accessdate = Note on Malcolm Scott: This is a personal account of Canon Doble, "not a biography". The author, Malcom Scott, when he was a lad, was befriended by Canon Doble.

*Thomas, Charles "Canon Doble: an appreciation, fifty years on: Address by Professor Thomas in Wendron Parish Church April 30, 1995" (Typescript copy at the Courtney Library, Royal Cornwall Museum, Truro).

* cite book
first=Nicholas| last=Orme
authorlink=Nicholas Orme
title=The Saints of Cornwall
publisher=Oxford University Press
date=2000
id=ISBN 0-19-820765-4|

* cite book
last = Doble
first = G.H.
title = Lives of the Welsh Saints; edited by D.Simon Evans
authorlink = Gilbert Hunter Doble
publisher=University of Wales Press
location = Cardiff
date=1971
id=ISBN 0-900768-68-1 Note: The book covers Saints Dubricius, Iltut, Paulinus, Teilo and Oudoceus. Each study was originally published as a separate booklet

External links

* on Wikisource

Persondata
NAME=Doble, Gilbert Hunter
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=Canon Doble, G. H. Doble
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Cornish priest and hagiographier
DATE OF BIRTH=1880
PLACE OF BIRTH=Penzance
DATE OF DEATH=1945
PLACE OF DEATH=Helston