Prebendary Bill Atkins

Rector for 45 years of St George's, Hanover Square

William Maynard Atkins, priest; born Leicester 13 August 1911; ordained deacon 1935; priest 1936; Incumbent, St Patrick's, Clonfeacle, County Tyrone 1940-46; Deputy Minor Canon, St Paul's Cathedral 1946-49, Minor Canon 1949-55, Honorary Minor Canon 1955-2000, Prebendary 1996-2000 (Emeritus); Rector, St George's, Hanover Square 1955-2000; died London 13 February 2003.

A problem arose for the churchwardens at the ceremony marking the retirement of William Atkins as Rector of St George's, Hanover Square, in London. As a hush fell in the church for the speeches there was a whispered debate over how to address their popular priest. Having already officially retired he was no longer Rector. He had also just ceased to be a Prebendary of St Paul's.

"We may have to call you Bill," warned one warden. "Father William will do," replied the 89- year-old former Rector. But suddenly the load voice of the Bishop of London boomed out from the sanctuary: "I declare Bill Atkins Prebendary Emeritus".

Atkins, who has died aged 91, retired in 2000 due to failing eyesight after 45 years in the Mayfair parish. He had intended staying until his 90th birthday. When 84 he was asked by the bishop if he had a retirement date in mind. "No," he replied. "I have never regarded this as a temporary appointment."

The fact that the farewell on a Sunday morning could pack the church was a tribute to his ministry, which had seen him nurture several generations in families who by then had mostly moved from central London to the suburbs or countryside.

Atkins was born in 1911 in Leicester and educated at Dover College. After working briefly in his father's shoe business he won a place at Trinity College Dublin. He was ordained priest in 1936 and was a Church of Ireland curate at Dundalk. During the Second World War he was incumbent of Clonfeacle in County Tyrone.

In 1946, due to his musical ability, he was made a deputy minor canon of St Paul's in London, where he taught at the choir school as well as being curate at St Sepulchre's, the nearby Musicians' Church. He was appointed to St George's in 1955 but continued to work with Dean Matthews on A History of St Paul's Cathedral and the Men Associated with It (1957) and only resigned as the cathedral's Librarian in 1960.

Although coming from the conservative Irish Anglican Church, and being devoted to the Book of Common Prayer, he was prepared to lead the way with change. At St George's Sunday-morning Matins was replaced with the now popular Sung Eucharist. He was also responsible for the controversial erection of very modern flats at Marble Arch when, to improve church finances, he arranged for the St George's old burial ground to be sold. (The remains of the novelist Laurence Sterne, among many others, had to be disinterred.) The resulting charity now helps both local churches and residents.

When he arrived at St George's it was known as a weddings church and in 1976 he enjoyed writing its illustrious history. He discovered that wine had been poured over the foundation stone to the words: "The Lord God of Heaven, preserve the Church of St George." Atkins helped to preserve the building and its life as well as drinking well as chaplain to the Réunion des Gastronomes.

Leigh Hatts