chapels saw less trouble. Though he was often accused of "Romanism" Lowder was strongly loyal to the Church of England and was deeply upset by a number of his friends and curates becoming Roman Catholics (at one point all his curates left overnight, leaving him alone at the mission). St Peter's, London Docks In 1860 Lowder acquired land for a church and began raising funds. St Peter's, London Docks was consecrated on 30 June 1866 and Lowder became perpetual curate (and on the retirement of the previous rector in 1873, vicar). The day after the consecration cholera was discovered in the parish. The conscientious work of the mission priests and sisters during the ensuing epidemic earned Lowder the love of his parishioners. From then on he was known to them as "the Father of Wapping", "the Father" or "Fr Lowder". Lowder thereby became the first Church of England priest to receive the title "Father". Unlike many of his contemporaries, Lowder managed to avoid prosecution for ritualistic practices, largely on account of the respect for him among his parishioners and fellow clergy. An attempt in 1877–8 to prosecute him under the Public Worship Regulation Act was withdrawn by Archbishop Archibald Campbell Tait, who had helped draft the act, fearing that the prosecution would become a cause celèbre. The failure of the prosecution was a major victory for the Anglo-Catholic movement and contributed to the acceptance of advanced Catholic ritual in the Church of England. In later years overwork and a peptic ulcer forced him to take time to rest outside the parish. The last service Lowder attended at St Peter's was on 1 August 1880 for a 'High Celebration' to mark the fourth anniversary of the Church of England Working Men's Society. After the service, at which Richard Enraght had preached, the clergy and congregation assembled outside the church where J. B. Spalding, president of the St Peter's CEWMS, presented Lowder with a silver badge of the society, "as a small proof of his many acts of kindness". A few weeks later Lowder died, probably of a perforated ulcer at Zell am See, Austria during a climbing holiday. A requiem mass was held at St Peter's and several hundred clergy and thousands of parishioners attended his burial at St Nicholas', Chislehurst. Legacy Lowder wrote two books, Ten Years in St George's Mission (London, 1867) and Twenty-one Years in St George's Mission