HC Deb 13 March 1888 vol 323 cc1081-2
MR. ARTHUR O'CONNOR (Donegal, E.)

asked the Secretary of State for War, Whether the Chaplain General to the Forces has been appointed by the Government to the Vicarage of St. Peter ad Vincula, in the Tower of London, the duties of which are discharged by a curate; and, whether such curate is a fourth class Army Chaplain on probation, whose salary and residence are provided out of the Army Votes; and, if so, what is the reason for an arrangement by which the Chaplain General holds a sinecure office, and the cost of discharging his duties is borne by the taxpayers?

THE SECRETARY OF STATE (Mr. E. STANHOPE) (Lincolnshire, Horncastle)

The Chaplain General has for the last year held the appointment of Chaplain to the Tower of London, for which he receives £150 a-year, as stated in Army Estimates. With the chaplaincy goes the Vicarage of St. Peter ad Vincula; but the latter has no pecuniary value. The Chaplain General does occasional duty as Vicar; but the Chaplain to the Forces, who is in daily attendance on the troops, has the residence and acts as Curate of St. Peter's. His duties are not confined to the troops at the Tower.