John Grinter

Canon John Grinter

1856-1938

One of the most hard-working clergymen in the history of the Abbey Church was undoubtedly Canon John Grinter who was vicar for sixteen years from 1920 until 1936. He took an active interest in all aspects of community life, religious, sporting, social and educational, but his career was tarnished by a misguided lawsuit that may have hastened his departure.

He brought a libel action in 1933 against the people's warden, Major Cecil Bell, a highly respected local solicitor, but the publicity and gossip generated by the case was unfavourable to both of them.

It was claimed that Major Bell had written letters, one to the vicar and the other to the Bishop of Lincoln, claiming that £100 [£6,000 at today's value] given to the vicar by a parishioner for the church’s repair fund had in fact been kept for his own use. Canon Grinter put the matter in the hands of his solicitors and even though Major Bell had offered to make amends by publishing an apology in the newspapers, he insisted on claiming damages by filing a suit for libel.

The case was heard before a jury at Lincolnshire Assizes on Wednesday 14th June 1933 and on the third day of the hearing, after retiring for just over an hour, the jury returned a verdict in favour of the vicar and awarded him £5 in damages with costs. But the action was then condemned by the judge, Mr Justice Finlay, who described the case as “most discreditable and squalid”. He said that the damages could not be regarded as contemptuous though they were not generous. “I have disliked trying this as much as any case I remember”, he said. “The parties have a perfect right to come here for a verdict at your hands but it is a most unhappy thing that this action should ever have been fought.”

The following month, Canon Grinter resigned as vicar blaming "the effects of the heavy burden of overwork" and retired to live in Oxfordshire.

John Grinter was born in 1856 and was ordained at Christ Church, Lancaster Gate, London, in 1894. He went abroad and was appointed curate at St Peter's Church, Honduras, for four years and then from 1898 until 1908 was rector of St Jose and a canon of St John's Cathedral in Belize.

On returning to England, he spent a year as vicar at Pettaugh, Suffolk, later moving in 1909 to become vicar of Radford Semile, Leamington, where he remained for the next ten years and on leaving, parishioners presented him with a solid silver rose bowl in appreciation of his work for the parish. He moved to Bourne in 1919 and was inducted to the living in October 1920 and in 1923, he was appointed by the Bishop of Lincoln as Rural Dean of Aveland.

During his ministry at Bourne, he was instrumental in opening a mission at Dyke at a time when he was already responsible for two other missions, at Eastgate and Cawthorpe, and although he once had a curate to assist in this work, for the last six years of his ministry he steered a lone course, a period of heavy work that undoubtedly contributed to his decision to retire.

In addition to his ecclesiastical duties, Canon Grinter held several public offices, notably as a trustee of Bourne United Charities, a governor of Bourne Grammar School, chairman of the United Services Fund and trustee of the town's former ex-servicemen's club. He was also vice-chairman of the allotment and garden association and for many years served on various committees including that at the Butterfield Hospital while also fulfilling the duties as chaplain to the Wellhead House, the town's former workhouse.

Through his generosity, the outdoor swimming pool we know today was established in part of the grounds of the Abbey Church and Bourne United Charities also negotiated with him for the further purchase of land for inclusion in the Abbey Lawn in order to extend the available sporting and recreational facilities that we enjoy today.

During his ministry at Bourne, Canon Grinter also saw the work of re-hanging the bells of the Abbey Church completed, repairs to the chancel roof and restoration of the tower.

He died at Stonesfield, Oxford, in May 1938, aged 82. Canon Grinter had been married twice and he was survived by his second wife, Sarah, and a son by his first marriage, the Rev H D Grinter, Vicar of Wellington, Somerset, and formerly a master at Bourne Grammar School when it first opened in 1920.

Canon Grinter's body was brought back to Bourne for burial after a service at the Abbey Church on Wednesday 11th May which was packed with mourners, including local clergymen and members of the leading families and organisations in the town. The full choir met the cortege at the west door and afterwards, the graveside observances at the town cemetery were conducted by his son who was the only family mourner, Mrs Grinter being unable to attend through illness. The grave was lined with lilac and laurel and the many floral tributes included those from teachers and scholars at the Sunday School, the Dyke mission, the parochial church council and the Hereward Lodge of Freemasons.