My grandmother was a Hooker. I’m afraid she never really understood why we all fell about laughing when she told us that. As it happens there is a distant family connection with the slang term for a prostitute – but more of that later.

Which reminds me of something one of my sons told me this week. When he was young he learned the words prostitute and protestant at around the same time, and managed to confuse them for a while. It’s a good thing he worked out the difference before he went to live in Northern Ireland.

To return to the Hookers in my family. Last week I wrote about my father’s side of the family and the story of my great great grandmother who, in a remarkable echo of Downton Abbey, was disinherited after running off with the coachman.

This time I am thinking about my mother’s ancestors, and one illustrious one in particular. My grandmother was always proud of the fact that her nine times great uncle was Richard Hooker. She came from Exmouth and would often tell me about the statue that stood in the grounds of Exeter Cathedral. He is recognised by the Church of England as a Teacher of the Faith and remembered on the anniversary of his death, 3rd November 1600.

Richard Hooker was admired for having walked all the way from Exeter to Oxford so he could attend the University. Later he was ordained and became known for his preaching and writing. Hooker’s book, The Laws Of Ecclesiastical Polity, is considered one of the most important texts in the history of the Church of England. It was written in the context of the struggle between the Puritans and Catholics for the soul of the church, after the break from Rome.

Much of the book (which, yes, I have read) deals with constitutional elements of the newly formed Anglican church, but that is wrapped around some significant theological ideas, expressed through some striking metaphors. I have often used his analogy of a three legged stool. The church, he said, would only be in balance if supported equally by the three legs of Scripture, Tradition and Reason – these are its three sources of authority – and none should be ignored or downplayed.

In practice that has resulted in a broad church, in which seemingly contradictory theological positions are bound together. Today that can be interpreted as the need to welcome and integrate the evangelical, catholic and liberal wings of the church, with their differing emphases on the roles of scripture, tradition and reason in faith.

On the 400th Anniversary of Richard Hooker’s death I attended a service in his memory in the church in Kent where he last served, along with others who like me were attending a conference at Canterbury Cathedral about his life and works. Most were academics, but it was good to meet some other, very distant, cousins who were also there to celebrate their ancestor.

So what about the hookers? Well, it is thought they were named after General Joseph Hooker and it looks as though he was a distant cousin of the Exeter Hookers. The prostitutes who followed his division in the American Civil War were known as General Hooker’s Army. Jokes about tarts and vicars come to mind.

Please note

We have been in full self-isolation since 16th March to protect my husband whose immune system is compromised.

If you are in self-isolation then join the Lib Dems in self-isolation Facebook group.

You can find my previous Isolation diaries here.

* Mary Reid is a contributing editor on Lib Dem Voice. She was a councillor in Kingston upon Thames, where she is still very active with the local party, and is the Hon President of Kingston Lib Dems.