A WELL-known clergyman, who led churches in Dorset before becoming treasurer of Salisbury Cathedral, has died aged 83.

Rev Canon John Stewart passed away peacefully on December 2 aged 83 and his funeral was held at St Mary the Virgin church, Charminster, Dorset, on Wednesday.

In a notice placed in the Daily Echo, he was described as a much-loved and devoted husband to Dee, a wonderful father to Ian, David, Christine, Andrew and Susan, a loving grandpa to Christopher, Michael, James, Georgina, Tom, Alice, Lydia, Jack, Eva, Jessica, Sam, Lizzie and Katie and a doting great-grandpa to Matilda and George.

Canon Stewart featured many times in newspaper pages over the years.

According to the archives, he was ordained at Salisbury Cathedral in 1965 and became rector at Langton Matravers in 1970, following his time as curate at Gillingham.

In 1974, he featured in the newspaper talking about the Purbeck village, which he described as “a very friendly village, a very active and open society”.

One of his noted achievements was to turn the church magazine into the Langton Dubber, a monthly magazine that is still published to this day. He was editor and printer.

In 1982, Canon Stewart was appointed rural dean for Purbeck, a job that he took on in addition to his work at Langton Matravers, taking in 17 parishes on the Isle of Purbeck.

A year later, he was one of nine clergy in the Salisbury Diocese appointed by the Bishop as a canon of the cathedral.

His work took him to interesting places, not least on a 2,000-mile journey in 1989 to gain an insight into the workings of rural ministries.

That year, he took to his caravan for a three-month sabbatical, touring parishes in 10 counties around the UK.

It resulted in a 150-word report.

It was in 1990 that he was appointed Canon Residentiary and treasurer of Salisbury Cathedral, where he had been ordained 25 years previously.