George Connor (priest)

Conner was born in Lucan, Dublin,[1] the eldest son of George Connor, Master in Chancery in Ireland.

He was then curate at St Jude's, Southsea then Wareham, Dorset, before returning to Newport as vicar in 1852, where his drive and initiative got the parish church rebuilt for £22,000 (with Prince Albert laying the foundation stone), a new vicarage and almshouses built, and local schools improved.

[4] in 1877, Bishop Harold Browne appointed him Honorary Canonry in Winchester Cathedral, and Chaplain to the Governor of the Isle of Wight.

[3] Developing a relationship with Queen Victoria, residing mainly at nearby Osborne House at this time, he became for many years her honorary chaplain and chaplain-in-ordinary, chaplain to the governor of the Isle of Wight, and official and commissary of the archdeaconry of Wight, culminating in his appointment as Dean of Windsor in October 1882 by the queen herself, without consulting Gladstone.

Connor departed from Newport, to the parishioners' general regret, but proved unsuited to the pressures of such a prominent deanery as Windsor.