# Dictionary of National Biography, 1927 supplement/Horsley, John William

​HORSLEY, JOHN WILLIAM (1845–1921), philanthropist, was born 14 June 1845 at Dunkirk, near Canterbury, the eldest son of the Rev. John William Horsley, the first incumbent of Dunkirk, by his wife, Susannah, daughter of William Sankey, physician, of Dover. He was educated at King's School, Canterbury, and at Pembroke College, Oxford. After holding a curacy at Witney (1870–1875), he became curate of St. Michael's, Shoreditch, in 1875, and from that time his life was devoted to the amelioration of the condition of the poor, and especially to the reclamation of prisoners. From 1876 to 1886 he was chaplain at Clerkenwell Prison; many of his suggestions for the improvement of the lot of prisoners, made while he was at this institution, though at first rejected as being impracticable, have since been adopted by prison authorities. On the abolition of the Clerkenwell jail, in 1886, Horsley became the first clerical secretary of the Waifs and Strays Society, to which he devoted much time and care. His next appointment (1889) was as vicar of Holy Trinity, Woolwich, where he was a member of the Woolwich local board and board of guardians. In 1894 he became rector of St. Peter's, Walworth, where he filled the positions of chairman of the public health committee of the borough of Southwark, chairman of its largest workhouse, and, in 1910, mayor of Southwark. In 1903 he was appointed an honorary canon of Rochester, and when the new diocese of Southwark was created in 1905 he became an honorary canon of the cathedral. Naturally all these activities, over and above the heavy work connected with a large and very poor parish, proved a severe strain on his health, and in 1911 he retired to the vicarage of Detling, near Maidstone. Here he remained till June 1921, when the state of his health compelled him to resign.
Horsley was the author of a number of works on social questions, the best known being Practical Hints on Parochial Missions (1877), Jottings from Jail (1887), How Criminals are Made and Prevented (1912), and I Remember (1911), a book of recollections, and of many papers and pamphlets. In 1905 he was installed master of the Quatuor Coronati lodge of freemasons, of which he had been a member since 1891. He was also chaplain for many years to the Saye and Sele lodge, and in 1906 was appointed grand chaplain of the freemasons of England.
Horsley was an enthusiastic Alpinist and also a great authority on botany and certain genera of Mollusca. Every year it was his custom to take a party to Meiringen, where he would act as guide on long walks and climbs, enlivening the expedition by his extensive knowledge of the topography, fauna, and flora of the Alps. Just before his death he made what he knew would be his final visit to Meiringen with a party of a hundred friends, and returned home to await the end, passing away at Kingsdown, near Deal, 25 November 1921. Almost his last work was to pass for press the proofs of a book on place-names in Kent.
Devoted to all matters connected with the moral reform and social betterment of the poorer classes, Horsley became a total abstainer for the sake of example, and was an active member of the council of the Church of England Temperance Society; he was also vice-president of the Anti-Gambling League. This lover of children, who wrote that the best way to diminish crime was to work for the welfare of children, defending their rights and recognizing their importance, had the great crypt of his church in Walworth cleared of coffins and transformed into a playground for the poor children of the neighbourhood. From first to last he dedicated his life to the service of the poor and distressed with unflinching faith and courage.
Horsley married in 1877 Mary Sophia, eldest daughter of Captain Codd, governor of H.M. Prison, Clerkenwell, and had two sons and five daughters.
[Private information.]
H. B. C.