COLL CON

Reference code

COLL CON

Title

Conduct

Level

Series

Administrative / Biographical history

The school's chaplain is called the Conduct, from the Latin conductus, meaning hired. In this respect he is like a master. There were such chaplains from the earliest days of the College, although originally their role was not to minister to the boys but to take part in the round of services prescribed by the Founder's statutes. In modern time the title of Conduct has been reserved for the senior chaplain. Since the College was transferred from the Diocese of Lincoln (although the Bishop of Lincoln remains the College's Visitor) to the Diocese of Oxford the question of licensing conducts to officiate has arisen from time to time; although it has been established that the Bishop of Oxford or his suffragan the Bishop of Buckingham must do so it is not clear whether such a license is valid outside the confines of College Chapel. Until the parish of Eton was separated from the College and provided with its own Vicar in 1875 the Conducts had day to day responsibility for the parishioners, the Provost being the Rector. Since that time they have also taught divinity although the Conduct is not automatically head of the department.

Date

1785 - 2016

Existence and location of originals

The parish registers for College Chapel are now kept at the Centre for Buckinghamshire Studies, covering 1594 - 1967. Some of the early entries have been published in Etoniana.