The Reverend John Lister Cornell
1912-2005
Rector of Mickleham 1953-1978

The announcement in church of the death of John Cornell on Sunday 31st July really turned back the years. It was Coronation year when John and Margaret and their children moved into the old Rectory in Mickleham in 1953. They had come from Spexhall in Suffolk.

The deep faith upon which John’s long life was built led him early on to want to be a parish priest and after ordination and curacies in Bermondsey and Putney he became Rector of Spexhall.

His daughter, Barbara, in her beautiful tribute to his memory, described the way he had taught his children to observe the world around them, speaking through poems and the gospel. While in Suffolk they had walked by the sea and looked at boats and birds. He would set up his easel and paint while they sat beside him and sketched.

John was not a busy man, but concentrated on one thing at a time. This explains why, while he was Rector of Mickleham and was asked to be a bishop, he replied, ‘What would I want to be that for? My work is in Mickleham.’ So his faithful service ran until his retirement to Ashill in 1978.

His funeral service there, at St Mary’s was taken by the Rector, Andrew Tatham, and was attended by friends from Mickleham and some previous residents too, among the many who hold his memory with warmth and affection. The Rev’d Alan Deering, present Rector of Spexhill had also made the journey to Ashill.

John’s son, Tim, read the lesson and the Rector told how, soon after retiring, John had joined the brotherhood of the Bath and Wells Clerical Society whose companionship he appreciated enormously, looking forward to the next meeting even when housebound in the last year of his life. In return the members loved having John with them, being full of admiration for the precision of his Greek and the erudition of his knowledge of the New Testament in their studies together – scholarly wisdom expressed always in the loving gentleness and deep faith for which he is remembered.
Jennifer Louis

Margaret Cornell writes... My family and I would like to thank all our friends in Mickleham and Westhumble for their love and support on the occasion of John’s death, and for the beautiful floral tribute for his funeral. We were particularly touched to have so many of you with us on the day. Thank you all.