# Dictionary of National Biography, 1912 supplement/Lefroy, William

​LEFROY, WILLIAM (1836–1909), dean of Norwich, born in Dublin on 6 Nov. 1836, was eldest of the four children of Isaac and Isabella Lefroy, whose circumstances were humble. Educated at St. Michael-le-Pole Latin school, Dublin, he entered a printing office in youth, afterwards working as a journalist on the 'Irish Times.' With the help of an ex-scholar, John Galvan, he prepared himself for Trinity College, Dublin, where he graduated B.A. in 1863, proceeding B.D. in 1867 and D.D. in 1889. Ordained deacon in 1864, and priest in 1865 by the bishop of Cork, John Gregg [q. v.], he was licensed to the curacy of Christ Church, Cork. The fame of his preaching power quickly spread, and in 1866, when he was thirty, he was appointed incumbent of St. Andrew's chapel, Renshaw Street, Liverpool, in succession to Robert William Forrest, afterwards Dean of Worcester. Originally a broad churchman, he was influenced by the evangelical preaching of D. L. Moody, of Northfield. U.S.A. The first bishop of Liverpool, J. C. Ryle [q. v. Suppl. I], made him honorary canon in 1880, rural dean of South Liverpool in 1884, and archdeacon of Warrington in 1887. He was elected a proctor in convocation in 1886, and was appointed Donnellan lecturer at Dublin in 1887. He exerted much influence over the young men of his congregation, many of whom took holy orders. He was a prominent member of the Liverpool school board in the 'voluntary' interest from 1876.
At Easter 1889 he succeeded Edward Meyrick Goulburn [q. v. Suppl. I] in the deanery of Norwich, after the jwst had been declined by James Fleming [q. v. Suppl. II]. He soon effected some reforms in the ​management of the cathedral, especially as to 'appropriated' seats, and he instituted a simple evening service. He paid attention to the fabric under the advice of John Loughborough Pearson, R.A. [q. v. Suppl. I]. The choir, the walls of which were unflaked and the pillars strengthened, was re-opened by Archbishop Benson [q. v. Suppl. I] on 1 May 1894; then the exterior, the cloisters, and the stonework of the nave were repaired with the help of Sir Samuel Hoare, M.P. Lefroy collected 6623l. for a new organ, which was dedicated on 12 Dec. 1899. His financial efforts on behalf of Norwich grammar school were equally successful.
Lefroy, who closely studied the problem of clergy sustentation, put forward at the church congress, Norwich, 1895, a scheme to which the Queen Victoria clergy fund of 1897 owes much. He sat for twenty- three years in convocation, where he, as elsewhere, preferred vigorous argument to gentle persuasion. He was a strong advocate of the reform both of convocation and of cathedral establishments.
Lefroy was devoted to Switzerland, and he was one of the summer chaplains of the Colonial and Continental Church Society annually from 1867 to the year of his death. From 1875 to 1878 he was a member of the Alpine Club, but although fond of mountain climbing made no great expeditions. He helped to build the English churches at Zermatt, Riffel Alp, Gletsch, and Adelboden. He preached in the church at Riffel Alp on 1 Aug. 1909, twenty-five years after he had opened it on 27 July 1884. Seized with illness just afterwards, he died at the Riffel hotel on 11 Aug. 1909, and was buried in the churchyard of Holy Trinity, Riffel Alp. The dean was twice married. By his second wife, Mary Ann, daughter of Charles MacIver, of Calderstone, Liverpool, whom he married at Malta on 11 Feb. 1878, he left two daughters, of whom Mary Ann is the wife of Sir Percy Bates, fourth baronet.
An oil painting by Blackden is at the Deanery, Norwich. Lefroy's published works include: 1. 'The Christian Ministry : its Origin, Constitution, Nature, and Work' (the Donnellan lectures, 1887-8), 1890. 2. 'Agoniæ Christi' ('Preachers of the Age' series), 1893. 3. 'The Immortality of Memory and other Sermons,' 1898. 4. 'Christian Science contrasted with the Christian Faith and with itself,' 1903.
[The Times, 12 Aug. 1909; Record, 13, 20, and 27 Aug., 3 Sept. 1909; Guardian, 18 Aug. 1909; Lefroy's introduction to Echoes from the Choir of Norwich Cathedral, 1894; Greater Britain Messenger, Oct. 1909; H. Leeds, Life of Dean Lefroy, Norwich, 1909; private information.]
E. H. P.