Everard Digges LA TOUCHE

LA TOUCHE, EVERARD DIGGES (b. co. Antrim, Ireland, 14 March 1883; killed in action, Gallipoli, 6/8 August 1915). Clergyman, scholar, military officer.

The eldest son of Everard Neal Digges La Touche, Major in the Bengal Light Infantry, Digges La Touche was born into an Irish family of protestant Huguenot origins with many generations of service in the army and the Church of Ireland. He pursued an academic career of great distinction, first at Mountjoy School and later at TCD (BA 1904; MA 1908; D Litt 1910). Ordained deacon by Durham on 22 Sept 1907, Digges La Touche served a curacy there until his priesting on 7 June 1908. He was subsequently curate at St Mary's, Dublin, a church with strong evangelical associations, and at St John's, Bradford (1910) by which time he had married Eva King; there were two sons of the marriage.

After completing his D Litt he was Donnellan Lecturer at Trinity College, Dublin (TCD), 1910-11 and his lectures, The Person of Christ in Modern Thought were subsequently published. In 1911 he determined to come to Australia for his health and as an outlet for his impatient crusading spirit. The old world could not contain him and he saw Australia as a clean sheet upon which to make his mark for God and Empire. His wife and children did not accompany him and he was never to see them again.

A short term as vicar of Emmaville (Diocese of Armidale) was followed by appointment as Lecturer in Dogmatic Theology at Moore College and as Sydney Diocesan Missioner (1912-14). Digges La Touche was a man of dynamic vigour and charismatic personality. His impact upon the diocese was remarkable: as well as his work at Moore College, where he influenced greatly many of his students, he conducted missions at the university and in various parishes, wrote theological books, and preached in cathedral and parish churches. His influence on younger clergy was legendary. His opposition to what he saw as liberal theology led to his resignation from the College in April 1914 after a disagreement with Principal David Davies.

In the diocesan synod Digges La Touche was active on several committees; his debating skills and penchant for controversy had ample scope and he seemed to relish crossing swords with those who disagreed with him. Denied a chaplaincy upon the outbreak of World War One, his commitment to Empire and righteousness drove him to enlist as a private soldier. He served in 2Bn AIF, in which he was commissioned. He landed with his battalion at Gallipoli on 6 Aug 1915; his company was in action the same afternoon and his death was confirmed two days later. He is buried at Lone Pine Cemetery.

A man of brilliant scholarly attainments, Digges La Touche was a powerful and effective preacher of great intellectual eloquence. An emotional, flamboyant and mercurial man, his great warmth and charismatic personality bestowed on him an immense capacity to influence others and his impact upon his listeners in the lecture hall and in the mission hall was often overwhelming.

His burning zeal for the British Empire resulted from the close connection he perceived between spiritual growth and civic duty. To Everard Digges La Touche the 'Great War' was both holy and righteous; he saw German aggression as the direct result of the liberal theology which had taken root in Germany. He relished controversy and never sacrificed principle for popularity or favour, he enlisted in spite of his Diocesan's disapproval. His great strength of character, quixotic disposition and high ideals led to the tragic loss of one so young and gifted.

N Hubbard, Almost a Martyr's Fire: Everard Digges la Touche (1883-1915) (Sydney, 1984); S Judd & K Cable, Sydney Anglicans: A History of the Diocese (Sydney, 1987); D Robinson, 'The Origins of the Anglican Church League' (Second Moore College Library Lecture, 9 April 1976); SMH, 28 Aug 1915, 7 Oct 1915

SELECT WRITINGS: Christian Certitude: Its Intellectual Basis (London, 1910); The Person of Christ in Modern Thought (London, 1912); The Need for an Evangelical Revival (Sydney, 1914); Philosophy of the Faith (Sydney, 1922)

NIGEL HUBBARD