There is a list of parish priests and wardens’ names engraved in gold-leaf on a commemorative plaque which used to be hung behind the baptismal font, from 1896 to 1983 at All Saints Church in Milan.

Among these dedicated Christians is Michael Langley during whose wardenship All Saints Church was redeemed materially and enhanced spiritually in that he considered the church not only a place of worship and fellowship but also one of meditation and prayer.

The eldest son of a headmaster who could trace his family back to King Charles I and beyond, he and his brothers Neal and Patrick served their country in the army and magistrature. He also had three sisters; one of them married the Dean of Lichfield Cathedral, another Pilot Officer Reilly and the third worked for the B.B.C. for many years but never married.

Before Word War II he lived in Malta and worked as a journalist for the Malta Times with the renowned Mabel Strickland; both of them were apparently also members of the British Security Service or M15. He was active in Spain during the 1936/39 civil war and was interned in Italy in or around 1940. Whether he escaped or negotiated his release is an open question, however, he moved to Khartoum and established and managed a radio station.

His “No Woman’s Country”, subtitled “Travels in the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan”, was published by Jarrolds Publishers (London) Ltd. It ran to three editions and tells the story of his life among the Sudanese whose chequered history, even today, reflects the continuing rivalry between the Islamic north and Christian south for political and religious hegemony. He was in Jerusalem in July 1946, when Zionists destroyed part of the King David Hotel with the loss of ninety-one lives.

Michael also wrote various articles for The Times, Spectator, Geographical Magazine and his Travel Talks for the B.B.C. were broadcast to myriads of listeners on that far-reaching network. He also contributed an article on passports to the London Illustrated News followed by another about royal menus, then a masterpiece on the Kew Gardens. He intended to develop his accurate and informative outline on the history of All Saints Church into a book, about circumstances which have united and divided the United Kingdom and Italy over the years. It was only an ambitious project, but had he lived longer it might well have become an even more important masterpiece.

After a few lines about the decision to find a permanent place to pray , the “Outline” really begins with a chapel in San Giovanni in Conca where Anglicans worshipped before the Caval1eria Savoia regimental granary and feed-store in Via Solferino became All Saints’, Milan in the diocese of Gibraltar and Fulham, later just Gibraltar and today Gibraltar in Europe.

The pews, which the wardens and church council presented to the priest and congregation of a church being rebuilt in Bosnia, were original1y from San Giovanni in Conca whose apse and crypt still survive in Piazza Missori. If you want to see the crypt, it is necessary to ask the parish priest for permission and he will give you the key or tel1 you where to find one. It is interesting to note that the façade of the Valdesian church nearby originally came from San Giovanni in Conca.

Michael never married owing to the fact that his fiancée from Germany refused lo many him after the war. "Never fall in love with a nationalist, particularly a German" he once said with a rueful smile. However, he used to visit her every now and again, as well as the Isle of Iona from where Christianity was brought to the ancient Picts, Northumbrians and Mercians in 563 A.D. before the arrival of Saint Augustine at Canterbury in 597 A.D.

He was a strong supporter of the ecumenical movement and during his tenure the annual invitations to the interdenominational services at San Marco and the annual visits by the presiding priest and warden to the cardinal archbishop of Milan became consolidated as an integral part of the church year.

Michael had grave doubts regarding the instability of the foundations of All Saints caused by compression from the weight of the priest’s flat above. He borrowed a theodolite, learned how to use it and although he was fu1ly aware that nearby Piazza San Marco and the surrounding area were once interlaced by canals, he wanted to be sure. It is gratifying that the unofficial opinion of a British engineer agreed with his. Nowadays the church is almost dry thanks to the damp course he had carried out during his tenure.

Michael’s lectures on “Passports through the Ages” and his collection of Giuseppe Garibaldi's correspondence with the Seely family were the fruit of research and scholarship. Fortunately, his collections have not been thrown to the winds and might eventually find a permanent resting place worthy of their historical interest. There are sixty letters which were exchanged by the family and Garibaldi, in particular, Mrs. Mary Seely who stole a piece of his beard while he was asleep and to whom he gave a handkerchief.

It has been said that Michael was a knowledgeable gentleman and a scholar; more important he was a Christian in the true sense of the word to whom Anglicans, Episcopalians, Catholics and others worshipping at All Saints’ can give thanks to God that he walked among us.

He is buried with his parents in Shropshire.

Ashley Sullivan