John Stansfeld

John Stedwell Stansfeld (English: /ˈstænsfiːld/; 1855–1939) was a doctor and Anglican priest in Oxford, England.

John Stedwell Stansfeld
Born	1855
Died	1939
Nationality	English
Alma mater	Exeter College, Oxford Wycliffe Hall, Oxford
Occupation	Physician Anglican priest

He was a relative of the Stansfeld family of Field House, Sowerby Bridge, Yorkshire.[1] He began his career as a civil servant in HM Customs and Excise. In 1877, he moved to Oxford, and later matriculated as a student at Exeter College, where he studied Theology. He also studied part-time at Wycliffe Hall, although he did not take Holy Orders until 1910. He had qualified as a doctor in 1897 and started a medical mission in Bermondsey in London, where he founded the Stansfeld Oxford & Bermondsey Club in the same year.[2]

Stansfeld returned to Oxford in 1912 as Rector of St Ebbe's, Oxford then a slum district. He campaigned successfully for the erection of a children's playground and public baths in St Ebbe's. His philanthropy is commemorated by a blue plaque in Paradise Square, unveiled in June 2009.

Bibliography

Baron, Barclay. The Doctor: the story of John Stansfeld of Oxford and Bermondsey (London: Arnold, 1952)

References

1. J. Stansfeld, The History of the Family of Stansfeld of Stansfield in the Parish of Halifax, etc.] (Leeds, 1885). Archive.org
2. A Brief History of the Club Stansfeld O&BC F.C.

External links

• Jenkins, Stephanie. John Stedwell Stansfeld and Headington
• Smith, Mark K. John Stansfeld ("The Doctor") and "Oxford in Bermondsey", The Encyclopedia of Informal Education (2004)
• Citation from Oxfordshire Blue Plaques Board