Revd Sydney John Elias Peach (1911-94) had a varied career in the church before becoming Vicar of St John’s in 1956.
Born in Wales, he trained at St Boniface College, Warminster, being deaconed in 1937 and priested in 1938. After a brief curacy in Llandilo-Talybont he served as chaplain to the forces in the Middle East and South Africa, returning to England for short curacies in Surrey and Essex. From 1950-56 he served in Borneo – where his wife Kathleen was a school principal – as a missionary priest with the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts (SPG). In 1951 he was appointed Vicar of Kuching Cathedral, but was brought back to England by his bishop for a year to oversee the fundraising for a new cathedral. He served for 12 years at St John’s, from 1956-68, before becoming curate-in-charge of St Mary-at-Elms Ipswich, where he never really settled. He retired in 1975 and lived in Wells until his death in 1994.
John Peach was noted for his piety and prayerfulness, but also his nervous disposition. At Easter he would enter fully into the passion of Christ, breaking down with the emotion of the experience. His background led him to want to see St John’s become more missionary-focused. As a result of his Borneo connections the Bishop of the island visited St John’s.