Rev. O.L. CHAMBERS

To the Glory of God / Vicar 1863 - 1880 / in memory of O.L. Chambers / by his widow and children

Reverend Chambers and his family lived in Hook Hall.

Rev. Chambers' sons, Basil Henry (born 1859) and Cecil (born 1860), both trained at Chigwell School for a career in the Church.

"THE ARCHBISHOP OF YORK AT HOOK.

On Monday, his Grace the Lord Archbishop of York visited the village of Hook, near Goole, for the purpose of consecrating an addition to the churchyard, which was sometime ago given by the patron of the Church, the Right Honourable Sotheron Estcourt.  Advantage was also taken of the Archbishop's presence to hold a harvest thanksgiving service, and the two events were made one.  

The place was quite en fete for the occasion, and the little church had been put through a course of very judicious decoration for the festive season by the Misses Chambers, the daughters of the Vicar.  

The service took place in the afternoon, and the sacred edifice was well filled as the time for commencement drew near.  There was a procession into the church of the choristers (surpliced) and the Archbishop and the clergy who had been invited to meet him at the residence of Mr. W.H. Clark, Hook House.  The order for evening prayer was intoned by the vicar, the Rev. O.L. Chambers and the musical portion of the services were fairly rendered by the choir.

At the conclusion of the service, a collection was made on behalf of the fund for improving the burial ground and outside the form of consecration was subsequently gone through." (York Herald, Saturday 5th September 1874) 

In the Visitation Returns of 1865, Rev. Chambers wrote, "the migratory character of the population, farming labourers hired only for the year, it is difficult to hold any influence over them for good". (Rustic and Rude’: Hiring Fairs and their Critics in East Yorkshire c. 1850–75.  Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 October 2008)