Rev. Angelo Raine 1919-1937
Angelo Raine was born in York in 1877. He was the seventh of nine children, his father being the Rector of All Saints Pavement. He grew up attending All Saints church and attended St Peter’s School in York, while living in High Petergate.
Angelo’s grandfather had been a well-known antiquarian and librarian of Durham Cathedral, and his father was York Minster librarian from 1870 and later Canon Chancellor of the Minster. He attended Durham University, and despite his privileged background, chose to work in a deprived area of East London for six years. He worked for the Oxford House settlement providing help and assistance to the poor, with clubs for boys and working men, as well as Bible teaching on Sundays. He became curate at Christ Church, Stepney and married in London in 1913. Shortly after the start of World War I, he moved north to serve at St Martin’s in Scarborough and then St Hilda’s in Whitby before coming to St Edward’s in 1919. This was also the year when Parochial Parish Councils were set up to give lay people a share in parish administration. It is in Angelo’s time that we see evidence in the parish minutes of women attending the Annual General Meeting in 1920; Mrs Raine was first and others followed.
There had been plans to commemorate the men of Dringhouses who had given their lives in WWI, and initial suggestions had included a memorial on the grass near the pinfold, but nothing had come of this. St Edward’s then offered a location on church grounds, but this led to some concern from non-Anglican families, but after some time a compromise was eventually reached. Around 200 Dringhouses men had served in the war, 29 of whom appear on the memorial. Architect Walter Brierley (he was churchwarden at St Edward’s in 1922) designed it, and it was dedicated by the Bishop of Beverly and unveiled by the Earl of Harewood on 1st October 1922.
By 1935 the village was growing. There were now 344 on the electoral roll (over 100 more than 10 years earlier), and Angelo had encouraged lay help throughout his ministry. Angelo’s work outside the parish continued unabated – he gave many lectures on York history and campaigned for the conservation of ancient York churches.
In 1937 he left Dringhouses to serve at All Saints Pavement, the church he had known as a young man. Now he took up several appointments including Chaplain to the Merchant Adventurers and Honorary City Archivist, publishing several volumes on York history. In 1956 he retired to Lavenham in Suffolk where he died in 1962. He is buried in the family grave in York Cemetery.