John Clement Du Buisson

Photo of grave of John Clement Du BuissonJohn Clement Du Buisson, d.1938

John Clement Du Buisson, Dean of St Asaph, came from a wealthy family which reputedly made a fortune from being the first people in Britain to know of Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo, via a carrier pigeon which had been taken to France by relatives.

John’s grandmother Caroline is said to have ridden quickly by horse from Carmarthenshire to London to buy stocks, knowing that their value would increase once the news arrived officially. You can read more on our page about the family’s Glynhir estate.

Her son Edmund was a vicar of Breinton, Herefordshire, when John was born there in 1871. Edmund died in 1875, bequeathing almost £40,000 – over £4.5m in today’s money.

John graduated in theology from Magdalen College, Oxford, in 1894, gaining his MA three years later. He was ordained in 1897 and was curate at Hawarden for two years before moving to Lincoln, where he held various posts at the cathedral and theological college.

From 1916 to 1925 he was back in Hawarden as warden of St Deiniol’s Library, founded by former Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone. He was appointed a canon of St Asaph Cathedral in 1922, becoming dean in 1927. In 1930 he became librarian of St Asaph Cathedral. Three years later his book St Asaph Cathedral, Past and Present was published. He was best known for his 1906 book on St Mark’s Gospel.

He helped to found the Friends of St Asaph Cathedral and raised thousands of pounds in the early 1930s to repair the cathedral tower and roof, which had been weakened by death watch beetles.

Return to St Asaph Cathedral graves page