More than Nine Lessons and Carols: A Life of Eric Milner-White, 1884–1963

“the portrait of an era”
Neil MacGregor

Eric Milner-White (1884‒1963) is best known for pioneering the Christmas Eve service of Nine Lessons and Carols from King’s College.

A priest and churchman, he was educated at Harrow and King’s College, Cambridge (1897‒1907). He secured a double first in history, was an able sportsman with an exotic religious and personal life. Personal tensions led to a crisis in 1905, as a result of which he decided to become a celibate Anglo-Catholic priest.

A talented liturgist and writer of prayers, he was invited to prepare the service order for the National Day of Prayer in late May 1940 for Britain and the Empire, which led to his nomination to become Dean of York in late 1941.

He played a distinctive role within the city, minster, diocese, and wider church. As one of the founders of the civic trust, he led the city’s campaign to secure a university (1947‒60), as well as preservation of the city’s heritage, most notably, if controversially, the minster itself through his own dominance in relation to its unique medieval glass.

More than Nine Lessons and Carols offers full appreciation of the many different facets of a complex and confident character and the contributions he made to church and civic life.

Allen Warren, with the inquisitiveness of a historian, opens many windows into the life of Eric Milner-White to provide the first thorough assessment of his gifts and complexities. We encounter far more than the Milner-White of Nine Lessons and Carols as we see into this twentieth century dean quest for the beauty of holiness through art, music, architecture, stained glass and, above all, the crafting of prayers.

Graham Usher, Bishop of Norwich

This book is not just a study of the churchman who made a college service into the intangible patrimony of the entire English-speaking world. It is the portrait of an era. When the Church of England was led by some of the cleverest and the bravest in our country. When the hyper-privileged organized missions to the poorest in our society.  When the established Church was a key part of the Establish-ment. When the bases of our modern university system were being laid, and heritage conservation became a political imperative. When major public figures had very private lives. And when an unmarried Dean, with a taste for the ballet, charming young men and ceramics, could pass without comment.

Neil MacGregor, art historian

About the Author

Allen Warren was educated at Bristol Grammar School and New College, Oxford. He joined the history department at the University of York in 1971, remaining at York for his whole career, which included being Head of the Department, and Provost of Vanbrugh college for 24 years. He retired in 2011.

While at York he pioneered a voluntary students-in-schools programme and separately the York Award, both of which have been copied or adapted nationally.

In 2000 he was invited to be one of the four founding lay chapter canons of York Minster—an appropriate induction before accepting an invitation to write this book.

For more than 20 years he has been a member of the Merchant Taylors Company of York, serving as Master in 2018‒19.