Editing Randall Davidson (section)

==Curate and chaplain==
[[File:Craufurd-Tait-.png|thumb|upright|alt=young white man with neat side-whiskers and dark hair|Craufurd Tait, aged 26]]
One of Davidson's closest friends from his Oxford days was Craufurd Tait, son of Archibald Campbell Tait. Like Davidson, Craufurd was preparing for ordination; his father was by now [[Archbishop of Canterbury]], and the two friends were accepted for ordination as [[deacon]]s in the Archbishop's diocese. They were ordained in March 1874, and Davidson was assigned as [[curate]] to the vicar of [[Dartford]] in Kent. He was ordained priest the following year.<ref>Bell (Volume I), pp. 33–34</ref> During his two and a half years at Dartford, Davidson served under two vicars; the first was a moderate high churchman and the second a moderate [[Evangelical Anglicanism|evangelical]]. Bell writes that the young curate learnt a good deal from each, "both in pastoral work and in piety".<ref>Bell (Volume I), p. 34</ref>

Late in 1876 Craufurd Tait, who was working as his father's resident [[chaplain]] and private secretary, wished to move on and the Archbishop chose Davidson to succeed him.<ref name=h12>Hughes, p. 12</ref> In May 1877 Davidson began work at [[Lambeth Palace]], the Archbishop's home and headquarters, beginning what Bell describes as "an association with the central life of the Church of England which lasted more than fifty years".<ref>Bell (Volume I), p. 38</ref> Craufurd Tait died after a brief illness in May 1878;<ref>Davidson and Benham, p. 327</ref> his mother never recovered from this blow and died within the year.<ref>Davidson and Benham, pp. 334–335</ref><ref>Bell (Volume I), pp. 42 and 44</ref> Despite the Archbishop's offers of several attractive parishes over the following years, Davidson felt his place was at the side of the bereaved Tait, who came more and more to rely on him, and called him a "true son".<ref name=b44>Bell (Volume I), p. 44</ref> Bell sees this as altruism on Davidson's part; later biographers have suggested that there may also have been an element of personal ambition in his decision to remain at the centre of church affairs.<ref name=odnb/><ref>Bell (Volume I), p. 44; and Hughes, pp. 12 and 14</ref>{{refn|[[F. E. Smith]] (Lord Birkenhead) wrote in 1924, "The smiles of Archbishops are very pleasant to young curates. The secretary soon became familiar with every fold of that mantle which he now so decently becomes".<ref>Smith, p. 56</ref>|group=n}}

On 12 November 1878 Davidson married [[Edith Murdoch Tait]] (1858–1936), the nineteen-year-old second daughter of the Archbishop. [[Cosmo Lang]], Davidson's friend and eventual successor at Canterbury, described the marriage as a "perfect union of mind and spirit". Edith Davidson became known as a gracious hostess and a supportive wife. There were no children of the marriage.<ref name=odnb/>

[[File:Archbishop-Archibald-Campbell-Tait-1876.png|thumb|upright|left|alt=stout, clean-shaven white man in clerical dress|Archbishop Tait, 1876]]
Over the next four years Davidson played an increasingly influential role at Lambeth Palace. He grew to know Tait's mind thoroughly, and the Archbishop placed complete confidence in his son-in-law, delegating more and more to him. Davidson took the lead on Tait's behalf in the controversy in 1881 between high-church proponents and evangelical opponents of [[Ritualism in the Church of England|ritualism]]; in 1882 he played an important part in discouraging Anglican overtures to the [[Salvation Army]], an organisation in which he thought too much power was in the hands of [[William Booth|its general]].<ref name=odnb/>

In 1882 Tait told Davidson that he hoped to be succeeded either by the [[Bishop of Winchester]], [[Harold Browne]], or the [[Bishop of Truro]], [[Edward White Benson]]. Tait did not think it correct to make his preference known to [[Queen Victoria]] or the Prime Minister, [[W. E. Gladstone]], but after Tait's death in December 1882 Davidson ensured that the Archbishop's views became known to the Queen.<ref name=h16>Hughes, p. 16</ref> Within days she sent for Davidson and was impressed: she wrote in her diary that she was "much struck&nbsp;... Mr. Davidson is a man who may be of great use to me".<ref>''Quoted'' in Hughes, p. 15</ref> In the ''[[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]]'' Stuart Mews comments that at the age of 34 Davidson quickly became the trusted confidant of the 63-year-old queen.<ref name=odnb/>{{refn|The biographer [[Sidney Dark]] suggests that Davidson's influence may have been at least as important as Gladstone's in the choice of Benson.<ref>Dark, p. 17</ref> Later biographers such as [[George Bell (bishop)|Bell]] and Mews make no such suggestion.<ref name=odnb/><ref name=dnb/>|group=n}} When Benson was chosen to succeed Tait, Victoria asked Davidson's views on who should be the next Bishop of Truro; she also consulted him about a successor to the [[Dean of Windsor]], [[Gerald Wellesley]], who died in 1882 after 28 years in the post.<ref name=h15>Hughes, pp. 15–16</ref>

Davidson remained at Lambeth Palace as chaplain and secretary to Benson, but in May 1883 the new Dean of Windsor, [[George Connor (priest)|George Connor]], died suddenly after only a few months in office. On Benson's advice, the Queen appointed Davidson to the vacancy.<ref name=h16/>