Editing Cosmo Gordon Lang (section)

===Portsea===

Portsea, covering much of the town of Portsmouth, was a dockside parish of around 40,000&nbsp;inhabitants with a mixture of housing ranging from neat terraces to squalid slums.<ref name= L116>Lockhart, pp. 116–19</ref> The large, recently rebuilt [[St Mary's Church, Portsea|St Mary's church]] held more than 2,000&nbsp;people.<ref name= L116/> Lang arrived in June 1896 to lead a team of more than a dozen curates serving the five districts of the parish. He quickly resumed the kind of urban parish work he had carried out in Leeds; he founded a Sunday afternoon men's conference with 300&nbsp;men, and supervised the construction of a large conference hall as a centre for parish activities.<ref name= L122>Lockhart, pp. 122–25</ref> He also pioneered the establishment of parochial church councils long before they were given legal status in 1919.<ref name= Wilk2>{{cite odnb|last= Wilkinson|first= Alan|title= (William) Cosmo Gordon Lang (1864–1945)|id=34398}} ("Early Ministry" section)</ref> Outside his normal parish duties, Lang served as chaplain to the local prison,<ref name= L122/> and became acting chaplain to the 2nd Hampshire [[Royal Artillery]] Volunteer Corps.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=26889|page=4998|date=7 September 1897}}</ref>

Lang's relationship with his curates was generally formal. They were aware of his ambition and felt that he sometimes spent too much time on his outside interests such as his All Souls Fellowship, but were nevertheless impressed by his efficiency and his powers of oratory.<ref name= L116/> The Church historian [[Adrian Hastings]] singles out Portsea under Lang as an example of "extremely disciplined pastoral professionalism".<ref>Hastings, p. 34</ref> Lang may have realised that he was destined for high office; he is reported to have practised the signature "Cosmo Cantuar" during a relaxed discussion with his curates ("Cantuar" is part of the [[Archbishop of Canterbury]]'s formal signature).<ref>Lockhart, p. 127</ref> In January 1898 he was invited by [[Queen Victoria]] to preach at [[Osborne House]], her [[Isle of Wight]] home. Afterwards he talked with the Queen who, Lang records, suggested that he should marry. Lang replied that he could not afford to as his curates cost too much. He added: "If a curate proves unsatisfactory I can get rid of him. A wife is a fixture."<ref>Lockhart, p. 131</ref> He was summoned on several more occasions and in the following January was appointed an [[Honorary Chaplain to the Queen]].<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=27087|page=3587|date=6 June 1899}}</ref> These visits to Osborne were the start of a close association with the Royal Family which lasted for the rest of Lang's life.<ref name= Wilk2/> As one of the Queen's chaplains, he assisted in the funeral arrangements after her death in January 1901.<ref>Lockhart, pp. 138–41</ref>