Charles Alfred Howell Green Archive

Biographical History

Archbishop Charles Alfred Howell Green was born in 1864 and was the eldest of six sons and two daughters. The family moved to St David’s, when he was three. He was educated by his father, Rev. Alfred Morgan Green, the curate of Llanelli. He won successive scholarships at Charterhouse and Keble College, Oxford. During his time in Oxford, Green became Librarian and later, the President of the Oxford Union. In 1935, he was elected as an honorary fellow of Keble.

He was ordained Deacon in 1888, and as Priest in 1889. Green’s first 26 years of Ministry were in Aberdar, being Curate for five years and vicar for 21 years. During this period, he worked on scholarly pursuits and displayed a flair for administration. 

Green married Katherine Mary in 1899. From 1914-1921 he was elected archdeacon of Monmouth and during this tenure he was instrumental in helping to set up the framework for a constitution of the Church of Wales, in anticipation of the de-establishment of the Church in 1920. On 21st December 1921, he became the first Bishop of Monmouth. In 1922 he defended the ceremonial used at his ordination against a charge that it had not complied with the constitution of the Church in Wales, Green being regarded as a ‘high churchman’. Green was a select preacher at Cambridge in 1923, and at Oxford from 1927 to 1929.

Green became Bishop of Bangor in September 1928 until 1944, during this time, he also became Archbishop of Wales in November 1934 until 1944.

Green also served as a member of the Council and Governor of the University of Wales in 1935 and of the National Library of Wales in 1936. Green published a book, ‘The Setting of the Constitution of Wales’ in 1937, and this was accepted as a Thesis for the BCL (Bachelor of Civil Law) and DCL (Doctor of Civil Law) degrees when he was 74 years old. He also published work about the church dedications of the Llandaff and Monmouth dioceses.

Green resigned as Archbishop a month before he died in Bangor on 7 May 1944.

Scope and Content

The contents of the Charles Alfred Howell Green Archive date from 1869 to 1942. They contain papers relating to the Diocese of Monmouth, Welsh Church records collected by Green such as pamphlets, parliamentary bills, memoranda, reports, minutes of meetings and proceedings, and draft constitutions, newspaper cuttings collected by Green, Green’s correspondence, and statistical documents relating to several Welsh dioceses.

Physical Description and Extent

The archive consists of 14 boxes. Records consist entirely of bound volumes.

Provenance

These papers were presented by Charles Alfred Howell Green to St. Deiniol’s Library (now Gladstone’s Library) shortly before his death.

Arrangement

The archive is believed to be in the arrangement that it was deposited at Gladstone’s Library in, however, no records exist to prove whether this is the case.

The archive is divided into 5 series: Diocese of Monmouth, Welsh Church documents, newspaper cuttings, correspondence, and statistics.

Access and Finding Aid

This archive has not been catalogued yet but an inventory exists which can be viewed here.

the archive is available to be viewed upon request. To arrange a viewing, complete the Request to View Archives form and email it to [email protected] at least 14 day's prior to your intended visit.

Reprographics

All reprographics queries should be directed to [email protected]. Information about Gladstone’s Library’s reprographics services can be found here.

Related Collections

Charles Alfred Howell Green’s diaries, 1889-1944, addresses, sermon notes, and a small group of family papers, are in the National Library of Wales.