Arthur Sutton Valpy was a canon of Winchester Cathedral

Winchester Cathedral

Winchester Cathedral at Winchester in Hampshire is one of the largest cathedrals in England, with the longest nave and overall length of any Gothic cathedral in Europe...

. He was a descendant of Richard Valpy and his wife Emily Anne Sutton. He was born 28 March 1849 and died 15 June 1909.

Education

Valpy was educated at Eton (left Eton in 1864) and at Gonville and Caius College Cambridge where he was awarded a Master of Arts degree in 1876 and was made a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries.

Ordination

Valpy was ordained deacon at York in 1873, and priest the following year, serving curacies at Middlesbrough

Middlesbrough

Middlesbrough is a large town situated on the south bank of the River Tees in north east England, that sits within the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire...

, 1873-5, and at Kensington

Kensington

Kensington is a district of west and central London, England within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. An affluent and densely-populated area, its commercial heart is Kensington High Street, and it contains the well-known museum district of South Kensington.To the north, Kensington is...

, 1875-8.

Appointments

Valpy was Rector of Farnborough

Farnborough, Hampshire

-History:Name changes: Ferneberga ; Farnburghe, Farenberg ; Farnborowe, Fremborough, Fameborough .Tower Hill, Cove: There is substantial evidence...

from 1878-1882.

He served as warden to the Church of England Soldiers' Institute and acting chaplain to the forces as Aldershot

Aldershot

Aldershot is a town in the English county of Hampshire, located on heathland about southwest of London. The town is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council...

 and as Rector of Holy Trinity, Guildford

Guildford

Guildford is the county town of Surrey. England, as well as the seat for the borough of Guildford and the administrative headquarters of the South East England region...

.

He was appointed Canon Residentiary of Winchester in 1895.

In 1902 Valpy was in South Africa where he acted as Rector of St Cyprian's Church

St Cyprian's Cathedral, Kimberley

The Cathedral Church of St Cyprian the Martyr, Kimberley, is the seat of the Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Kimberley and Kuruman, Anglican Church of Southern Africa. It became a Cathedral when the Synod of Bishops gave a mandate for the formation of the new Diocese of Kimberley and Kuruman in...

 in Kimberley

Kimberley, Northern Cape

Kimberley is a city in South Africa, and the capital of the Northern Cape. It is located near the confluence of the Vaal and Orange Rivers. The town has considerable historical significance due its diamond mining past and siege during the Second Boer War...

.

Valpy as artist and his influence on English style

Canon Valpy has been credited with having injected “new life and a lightness of touch” in English style, as documented in interiors he painted in water-colours now preserved in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. “This inspired churchman,” comments Carolyn McDowell, “put together a collection of 18c furniture, decorated his plain walls with clusters of low hung watercolors and prints, used a pretty chintz loose cover on the chairs, replaced indiscriminate clutter with a few well chosen ornaments and placed piles of books lying around for reading, rather than for show.” Over the mantel in his Drawing Room is a pre-raphaelite portrait by Rossetti

Rossetti

Rossetti may refer to:* Biagio Rossetti , an architect and urbanist from Ferrara, the first to use modern methods* Carlo Rossetti , an Italian Catholic cardinal* Cezaro Rossetti , a Scottish Esperanto writer...

, revealing that he was “a very astute purchaser.”

Valpy's name appears in an address book belonging to James McNeill Whistler

James McNeill Whistler

James Abbott McNeill Whistler was an American-born, British-based artist. Averse to sentimentality and moral allusion in painting, he was a leading proponent of the credo "art for art's sake". His famous signature for his paintings was in the shape of a stylized butterfly possessing a long stinger...

 in the 1870s.

Valpy inherited The Champneys Estate at Wigginton

Wigginton, Hertfordshire

Wigginton is a large village and civil parish running north-south and perched at on the edge of the Chiltern Hills in the county of Hertfordshire and aside the border with Buckinghamshire...

, selling it to Lady Rothschild in 1902.

In memoriam

The beautifully carved wooden altar from St Edward’s Church, Kenilworth, in Kimberley, South Africa, now at St Cyprian’s Cathedral, Kimberley, bears an inscription in memory of “Arthur Sutton Valpy, Canon of Winchester, England, who fell asleep 15 June 1909. While in charge of S. Cyprian’s Kimberley, he assisted S. Edward’s in every way. R.I.P.”