1/3/1851 - 10/11/1943The Very Revd Arnold Henry Page was Dean of Peterborough from 1908 to 1928. He became the first President of this Guild from its formation in 1924 until 1928.
He was born in Carlisle on March 1, 1851, was educated at Repton and Balliol College, Oxford, where he graduated with honours in 1875. Three years later he was called to the Bar by the Inner Temple; but in 1882 he was ordained deacon and in 1883 priest by Dr Jackson, Bishop of London.
He held London curacies until in 1886 Balliol appointed him to the rectory of Tendring, in Essex. There he was elected to the Essex County Council, and was placed on the county Bench.
After 22 years in a congenial sphere, he was appointed to the Deanery of Peterborough. Page was a broad churchman, whose tact and ability to get on with people were unfailing. He found scope in the city for much of the work that he had done in Essex, and was appointed a JP for the Liberty of Peterborough. He was also a prudent and keen guardian of the fabric of the Cathedral, and it was under him that the great restoration, particularly of the roof, after the ravages of the death-watch beetle, was carried out, for which purpose some £38,000 was raised in 10 years, principally in the diocese.
He was always interested in education, and had been a governor of several schools. In 1928 he retired from the Deanery and settled in London. He and his brother, the late Ernest Page KC, married sisters, the daughters of Colonel C C Grantham. Mrs Page died in 1938.
