Vicar of St Judes in 1911. (in 2023) has "I can't find more information about the then vicar, although he had two young children, Katherine and Archibald at the time {of the plaque}. His wife Rosa died in Devon in 1944. Full name Rev William Doveton Keith-Steele. Marriage in Kensington , 1906."
Also, from 1902, vicar of , Bromley Park.
Our colleague, Andrew Behan, has researched the man and found much more.
William Doveton Keith-Steele was born on 6 October 1868 in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), the second of the five children of Thomas Steele (1834-1895) and Eliza Catherine Steels née Jolly (1844-1875). His father was a civil servant in Ceylon.
His four siblings were: Isobel Mary Keith Steele (1866-1946); Archibald Charles Douglas Steele (1871-1891); Francis Robert Carnegie Steele (1872-1955) and Beatrice Margaret Annie Steele (1874-1930).
Following the death of his mother in Kandy, Ceylon, his father retired and returned to Great Britain and in 1878 married Helen Stavert (1849-1912) in Castleton, Roxburghshire, Scotland and they had five children: Margaret Katherine Steele (b.1880); Thomas Malcolm Steele (b.1881); Helen Christian Elliot Steele (1883-1974); Bertram Mitford Steele (1886-1971) and Andrew Graham Stavert Steele (1890-1949).
In the 1881 census he is shown as a scholar, boarding at Croft House & School, Brampton, Cumberland (now Cumbria). In the 1897 UK Clergy List he is shown as a deacon in 1894 and priest in 1895, serving as a curate in Holy Trinity Church, Kendal, Westmorland (now Cumbria) from 1894 to 1896 and at St John the Evangelist Church, Carlisle, Cumberland (now Cumbria) from 1896.
On 28 November 1906 he married Rosa Sophia Butler Whitfield (1887-1994) at St Paul's Church, Onslow Square, Kensington, London, where in the marriage register he is described as a bachelor and Vicar of St Jude's Church, Mildmay Park, residing at 1 Neville Street, Onslow Gardens, Kensington, whilst his wife was shown as a spinster living at 32 Cranley Gardens, Queen's Gate, Kensington, the daughter of the deceased Reverend Frederick Whitfield who had been the Vicar of St Mary within the Castle, Hastings, Sussex.
When he completed his 1911 census return form, he described himself as a Clerk in Holy Orders (Established Church) - Vicar of parish, residing in a twelve roomed property at St Jude's Vicarage, Mildmay Park, North London, with his wife and their two children: Katherine Sophia Keith Steele (1907-1990) and Archibald Whitfield Keith Steele (1910-1989).
In both 1919 and 1923 editions of Kelly's Directory of Devon he is listed at The Parsonage, All Saints' Road, Sidmouth, Devon.
He is shown as a retired vicar in the 1939 England and Wales Register living at 39 London Road, Bexhill-on-Sea, Sussex, with his wife and their daughter.
Electoral registers show him and his daughter listed in 1946 & 1947 at 31 Eyns Road, Eastbourne, Sussex; in 1948 at 11 Upper Duke's Drive, Eastbourne; in 1950 at 18/20 Seaside Road, Eastbourne and from 1951 to 1954 at 27 Vicarage Road, Eastbourne.
He died, aged 90 years, on 4 November 1958, his death being registered in the 4th quarter of 1958 in the Devon Central registration district. Probate records show that he lived at 31 Cranford Avenue, Exmouth, Devon and that when probate was granted on 5 April 1960, jointly to John Johnstone Turner & Harold Kirk Hughes, solicitors and to his spinster daughter, his effects totalled £3,465-3s-5d.
He is shown as W. D. KEITH-STEELE. VICAR. on the St Jude - tower memorial plaque at St Jude and St Paul's Church, Mildmay Grove North, London, N1,
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