Rev Leopold Erasmus Dryden was the third of five sons of Sir John Dryden and younger brother of Rev Sir Henry Dryden, who was presented with the living after his brother’s death in 1837.
Born in 1792, he was 45 when his brother died. He married Emily Vavasour in 1839 at Stow-in-the-Wold and they had one daughter, Helen Maria, a little over a year later. She was baptised at Leek Wootton on 5 April 1840.
In 1841 the family is listed on the Census living in East Woodhay, Hampshire and we know that Rev Dryden was not living in Leek Wootton at this time from letters from him to his successor, Rev Colvile’s father, in which he is negotiating the transfer of property at the Vicarage, Leek Wootton, in part due to disputes with the executors of his brother, Rev Sir Henry Dryden.
Sadly, Emily died in 1845 and was buried in Broadwell, Gloucestershire, and Rev Dryden himself died in 1846. Their daughter, Helen, was therefore orphaned at the age of 6 and went to live with her uncle, Charles Beville Dryden, a solicitor at Lincolns Inn, and his family.
Vicars of Leek Wootton
Predecessor: Sir Henry Dryden | Successor: Frederick Leigh Colvile