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COLLECTIONS, 

ILHrSIEAHNS  THE 
IN   THE  COUNTIES  OF 

CORNWALL,   DEYON,   DOESET,   SOMERSET,  WILTS, 
AND  GLOUCESTER. 


IN    TWO    PARTS, 
HISTORICAL    AND    BIOGRAPHICAL. 

WITH  NOTICES  OF  THE 

gffmiraan,  '§mUdm,  i  ixmmm  ®rtm  in  inglanlr. 

BY   THE 

Very  Rev.   GEORGE  OLIVER,  D.D. 

CANON   OP   THE   DIOCESE  OP   PLYMOUTH. 


LONDON: 
CHAELES    DOLMAN,   ei,   NEW   BOND    STREET; 

*  AND    22,    PATERNOSTER    ROW. 

UKi|Vr'l;f:iTV 


vrt77t7t=4> 


PRINTED    BY 
COX    AND  WYMAN,   GREAT  QUEKN-STREET, 

lincoi.n's-inn  PIBLnS. 


J  J  3 1'l  r,  0  u 


TO 
THE    MOST    EEVEREND 

DE.    GEOEGE   EEEINGTON, 

IrtjiliiBlin]!  Df  €Klii|niito, 

WHO, 

DURING   A  VERY   CRITICAL   PERIOD, 

PRESIDED    OVER   THE    DIOCESES    OF   PLYMOUTH   AND    CLIFTON 

WITH    INDEFATIGABLE    ZEAL   AND    ENLIGHTENED 

f 
JUDGMENT, 

%\m  ^umisU  €alhtiian 

ARE   INSCRIBED, 

BY   HIS   GEATEFUL   FRIEND, 

GEORGE    OLIVER 


CONTENTS. 


PART   I. 


CHAPTER  I. 

HISTOBICAL  SKETCH  OP  SHE  STATE  OF  CATHOLICITY  IN  DEVON- 
SHIRE AND  CORNWALL  PROM  THE  REFORMATION  (sO  CALLED) 
UNTIL    THE    RELAXATION    OF    THE    PENAL   LAWS      Pogel 

CHAPTER  II. 

SOME      NOTICES     OF     CATHOLIC     FAMILIES     IN     DEVONSHIRE     AND 

CORNWALI 16 

CHAPTER  III. 

THE  ACTUAL  STATE  OF  KELIQION   IN  DEVONSHIRE  AND  CORNWALL         24 

.  CHAPTER  IV. 

THE   SUFFERERS    FOR    THE    FAITH    IN   DORSETSHIRE 35 

CHAPTER  V. 

THE   ACTUAL   STATE    OP    RELIGION    IN    DORSETSHIRE      40 

CHAPTER  VL 

SOME     ACCOUNT      OF     THE      PRINCIPAL     CATHOLIC      FAMILIES      IN 

DORSETSHIRE 46 

CHAPTER  VII. 

THE   MISSIONS   OF   SOMERSETSHIRE    55 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

SOME   ACCOUNT    OF    CATHOLIC    FAMILIES    IN    SOMERSETSHIRE 68 

CHAPTER  IX. 

THE   MISSIONS    IN    WILTSHIRE     '^ 

CHAPTER  X. 

AN    ACCOUNT    OV    THE    CATHOLIC    FAMILIES    IN    WILTS 


HIRE 75 


vi  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XI. 

THE   SUFFERERS    FOR    THE    FAITH    ]N    GIOCCESTERSHIBE      ...   PaffB  101 

CHAPTER  XII. 

REVIEW    OF    THE   MISSIONS    IN    GLOUCESTERSHIRE 108 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

124 

CATHOLIC  FAMILIES   IN    GLOUCESTERSHIRE 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

HISTORICAL   REPORT    OF    ALL    THE    RELIGIOUS    ESTABLISHMENTS 
IN   THESE   SIX   WESTERN   COUNTIES    SINCE   THE    FRENCH    REVO- 

120 
LUTION    • 

CHAPTER  XV. 

REPORT   TO    GOVERNMENT   OF    THE   CATHOLIC    PROPERTY,  lU  1715 

AND   1718,   IN    THESE   SIX   WESTERS    COUNTIES  169 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

TABLES   OP   SUCCESSION  OF    THE   INCUMBENTS  OF  THE    PRINCIPAL 

Missions   IN   THE   COUNTIES   AFORESAID 177 

APPENDIX. 197 


PAET    II. 

BIOGRAPHICAL  LIST  OF  THE  CLERGY  IN  THE  COUNTIES  OF  CORN- 
WALL, DEVONSHIRE,  DORSETSHIRE,  SOMERSETSHIRE,  WILT- 
SHIRE, AND  GLOUCESTERSHIRE,  FROM  THE  PERIOD  OF  THE 
REFORMATION    UNTIL   THE   PRESENT   YEAR   1856  225 


COLLECTIONS  ILLUSTRATIVE  OF  THE  DOMINICAN,  BENE- 
DIOTINE,  AND  FRANCISCAN  ORDERS  IN  ENGLAND. 

A  HANDFUL  OF' GLEANINGS  RESPECTING   THE  ENGLISH  DOMINICAN 

PROVINCE  447 

COLLECTIONS     ILLUSTRATING     THE     HISTORY     OF     THE     ENGLISH 

BENEBiCTINE   CONGREGATION      472 

BRIEF   NOTICES  OF   SOME  WRITERS   OF  THE   ENGLISH   FRANCISCAN 

PROVINCE   SINCE   THE    ERA    OF    THE    REFORMATION    638 


INDEX. 


PAGE 

Adstock     73 

Alfield,  Rev.  Thomas,  mar- 
tyred At  Tybilrn  103 

Arundell,  of  Lanherne,  family 

of 16 

,  of  Wardour,  family 

of.. • 76 

Axminster    26 

Bastard,    Edmund,  R.   P.,   of 

Kitley,Esq 28 

Bath 65 

Beckford   116 

Berkley,  of  Beverston 127 

Bodmin 32 

Bonham 60 

Bristol   108 

Bridgewater 66 

Bridport    45 

Bullaker,  Thomas,  O.S.F.  mar- 
tyred at  Tyburn 11 

Calverleigli  27 

Camborne 32 

Cannington  60 

Gary,  family  of    -20 

Castlehaven  (Touohet),  family 

of   68 

Cheltenham 119 

Chichester,  of  Arlington,  family 

of   19 

Chidiook  Castle    37 

Chapel 41 

Chipping  Sodbury  120 

Chippenham 74 

Cirencester    122 

Clifford,  family  of  22 

Coffin,     Mr.     Humphrey,     of 

Warnbrook  39,53 

Cornelius,  F.  John,  S.J.,  mar- 

tyi'ed  at  Dorchester 37 

Cottington,  family  of 70 

Courtenay,  family  of 17 

Dowdall,  James,  executed  at 
Exeter,  for  denying  the  royal 

supremacy    2 


FAOE 

Downside 62 

relics  there  ; 71 

Exeter 25 

,  chapel  there  levelled  to 

the  ground   at  the  Revolu- 
tion         14 

Falmouth 30 

FoUaton    27 

Frome 65 

Gloucester 117 

Godolphin,  family  of 21 

Green,  Rev.   Hugh,  martyred 
at  Dorchester   39 

Hall,  family  of 125 

Hartpury 117 

Hatherop  117 

Hayman,  Father,  S.J 33 

Holford,  Rev.   Thomas,   mar- 
tyred at  Clerkenwell  103 

Horton  116 

Hunter,  John  10 

Hussey,  family  of   53 

Jessop,  Mr.  John 3(5 

Kemerton 120 

Laithwaite,  Thomas,  S.J 4 

Lampley,   William,   martyred 

at  Gloucester    103 

Lanherne  29 

Leigh,    William,    of     Wood- 

chester.  Esq 121,127 

Leighland 62 

Lingard,  Mrs 33 

Loughnan,  family  of  15 

Lullworth 40 

Lyme 44 

Marnhull  41 

Mayne,  Cuthbert,  martyred  at 

Launceston   2 

Midford  Castle 65 

Nympsfield   122 


VIU 


INDEX. 


PAGE 

Paston,  family  of 125 

Penzance ■-  31 

Petre,  family  of  197 

Pilchard,  Rev,  Thomas,  mar- 
tyred at  Dorchester ; . .  36 

Plymouth 26 

Pollen,  John  Hungerford,  Esq.  74 

Poole.. 42 

Prior  Park    62 

Pybush,  Rev.  John,  martyred 

at  Lohdou 105 

Reeve,  alias  Payne,  John,  mar- 
tyred at  Chelmsford    3 

Risdon,  of  Bableiffh,  family  of  20 

Rowe,  John,  of  Kingston,  high 

sheriff  of  Devon  in  1687 14 

Rowsham,  Rev.  Stephen,  mar- 
tyred at  Gloucester 103 

Salisbury 73 

Sandys,  Rev.  John,  martyred 

at  Gloucester    101 

Shepton  Mallett  60 

Shortwood     61 

Spetisbury    42 

Stanley,  Sir  William,  of  Hooton  1 5 

Stapehill 41 

Stocker,  family  of  71 

Stourton,  family  of 92 

Stroud   123 


PAGE 

Sweet,  John,  S.J 6 

Talbot,  Hon.  and  Rev.  James  15 

Taunton 61 

Tawstock 27 

Teignmouth 29 

Tiverton 27 

Tor  Abbey    24 

Tregian,  Sir  Francis  9 

Trela wny.  Sir  Henry 32 

Tremay ne,  Richard, 9 

Trinder,  family  of  127 

TJgbrooke 25 

Wakeman,  family  of  124 

Wakeman,  Sir  George,  Bart,, 

tried  during  the  Gates  plot  105 

Waldegrave,  family  of   69 

Wardour  73 

Webb,  family  of 52 

Webb,  Rev.  James 15 

Weld,  family  of  47 

Weston-super-Mare    66 

Weymouth   42 

Woodchester 121 

Woodbury,     prisoners     mas- 
sacred there  in  1649    1 

Wrey,  Sir  Bourchier  28 

Yealmpton 28 


COERIGENDA. 

5,  line    3,  fm-  "Kele"  read  "Hele." 
14,  line  22,  for  "Morris"  read  "Norris." 
69,    „   18, /or  "Pyhouse"  read  "Pythouse." 
75,    „      7  of  note  *  i»isert  a  comma  after  "heiress." 
114,    „    16,  for  "Montier"  read  "Moutier." 
160,    „      5  from  bottom,  for  "  Beaureaund  "  read  "  Beauregard." 
183,    „    13,  for  "Ninton"  read  "Hinton." 
185,    „    26, /or  "Hatton"  read  "Haldon." 
211,    ,,      9  from  bottom, /or  "Carpenter"  read  "Carpue." 
255,  note  t  D.  Husenbeth  was  never  missionary  of  St.  Augustine's, 
Canterbury,  but  of  St.  Walstan's,  Cossey.      A  period 
should  follow  Xavier. 
338,  line    7,  for  "Stonyhurst"  read  "  Stonehouse." 
343,    ,,    33, /or  "  declarantis  "  retfd  "  deolarantes "  without  a  stop. 
— ,    „      6  from  bottom,  for  "  Culler ''  rcacJ  "  CuUen." 
383,    „      6  from  bottom,  for  "  viceregal "  read  "  vicarial." 
392,    „      8,  and  in  the  epitaph, /o)' "Westman"  reod  "Weetman." 
576,  lines  3  and  7,  for  "  eight "  read  "  nine."   The  ninth  is  F.  TItomas 
.  BvtUalxr. 


HISTOEICAL  COLLECTIONS, 

CHAPTER  I. 
"  Grata  Deopietas,  Aominum  meminisse  Ixmorum." 

HISTORICAL  SKETCH  OP  THE  STATE  OP  CATHOLICITY  IN  DEVONSUIKE 
AND  CORNWALL  PROM  THE  EEPOBMATION  (sO  CALLED)  UNTIL  THE 
RELAXATION    OP    THE   PENAL   LAWS. 

The  state  of  the  Catholic  religion  in  these  two  counties  of 
Devon  and  Cornwall,  alias  the  diocese  of  Exeter,  conveys  a 
melancholy  proof  of  the  instability  of  the  human  mind.  No 
portion  of  the  English  realm  could  be  more  devoted  to  the 
ancient  faith ;  and  the  formidable  insurrections  which  blazed 
forth  in  the  reign  of  King  Edward  VI.  demonstrate  the 
hostility  of  the  population  to  the  innovations  in  religion 
which  the  State  was  forcing  upon  them.  But  the  savage 
and  brutal  massacre  of  all  the  prisoners  at  Woodbury,  as 
ordered  by  John  Lord  Russell  in  1549, — "the  putting  of  the 
whole  country  "  (in  the  words  of  Hoker,  an  eye-witness)  "  to 
the  spoil,  where  every  soldier  sought  for  his  best  profit," — 
the  bloody  laws  enacted  shortly  after  against  the  very 
profession  of  the  religion  of  their  forefathers,  and  which 
were  strictly  enforced  against  individuals  of  influence  and' 
property, — the  intermarriages  of  Catholics  and  Protestants 
under  such  circumstances,  reminding  us  of  the  text,  "Com- 
mixti  sunt  inter  gentes,  et  didicerunt  opera  ejus,  et  servie- 
runt  sculptilibus  eorum,  et  factum  est  iJlis  in  scandalum  " 
(Ps.  cv.) ;  according  to  the  Anglican  version,  "  They  were 
mingled  among  the  heathen,  and  learned  their  works,  and 
they  served  their  idols,  which  were  a  snare  unto  them" 
(Psalm  cv.-cvi.  35), — and  last,  not  least,  the  doctrines  of  the 
Reformation,  so  very  accommodating  to  the  feelings  of  flesh 
and  blood,  and  so  flattering  to  the  pride  of  the  human 
heart, — all  these  causes  and  motives  concurred  to  terrify 
some  and   decoy  others  into  the   gradual  indifference  and 


2  STATE    OF    CATHOLICITY 

abandonment  of  their  religious  principles.  Still  it  is  some 
consolation  to  know  that  neither  county  was  stained  with 
the  effusion  of  much  human  Mood  in  virtue  of  the  penal 
statutes.  The  first  victim  was  that  proto-martyr  of  Douay 
College,  the  Eev.  Cuthbert  Mayne,  who  was  taken  at  Golden, 
the  seat  of  Sir  Francis  Tregian,  Knight,  in  Probus  parish, 
Cornwall,  about  8th  June,  1577,  and  hanged,  drawn,  and 
quartered  at  Launceston,  on  29th  November  of  that  year.  The 
account  of  his  martyrdom  was  sent  to  P.  Edmund  Campion, 
then  at  Prague,  by  the  famous  Dr.  Gregory  Martin.  The 
former,  in  his  reply,  on  17th  July,  1579,  thus  speaks  of  his 
former  pupil :  "  Valde  te  amo  de  martyrio  Cutberti,  vel 
amamus  potius;  multis  enim  ilia  narratio  divinam  attulit 
voluptatem.  Me  miserum,  quem  ille  novitius  tarn  longe  a 
tergo  reliquerit ! !  Sit  propitius  amico  veteri  et  prseceptori : 
horum  enim  nominum  gloriole  perfruar  nunc  ambitiosius 
quam  antea."  Por  the  ideal  offence  of  being  a  Catholic 
priest  found  in  England,  P.  Mayne  suffers  the  death  of  a 
traitor  !  and  his  patron,  Sir  Francis  Tregian,  for  harbouring 
a  minister  of  the  religion  in  which  he  had  been  bred, — the 
religion  of  his  ancestors, — the  religion  of  Queen  Elizabeth 
herself  but  twenty-one  years  before, — by  a  sentence  of 
prsemunire  is  stripped  of  all  his  property,  and  condemned  to 
perpetual  imprisonment !  *  Well  may  Davies  Gilbert,  in  his 
"  Parochial  History  of  Cornwall,"  vol.  iii.  p.  370,  exclaim, — 

"  Oh !  dearest  God,  forfend 
Such  times  should  e'er  return." 

The  skuU  of  this  blessed  martyr  is  religiously  kept  at 
Lanherne.f 

The  only  victim  I  have  met  with  in  Devonshire  was  Mr. 
James  Doudal,  an  Irish  merchant,  and  a  native  of  Wexford. 
For  denying  the  queen's  spiritual  supremacy,  he  was  thrown 
into  Exeter  jail.  When  I  examined  the  calendars  of  the 
prisoners  in  September,  1824,  I  found  this  minute  at  the 
autumn  assizes  of  1598: — "Jacobus  Dowdall  remanet  in 
gaola  per  mandatum  Concilii  Privati."  At  the  following 
Lent  assizes  he  is  thus  noticed : — "  Jacobus  Dowdall  remanet 
quia  judicandus  pro  proditione."     At  the  autumn  assizes : 

_  *  When  he  heard  his  sentence,  he  exclaimed,  "Pereant  bona,  qus 
SI  non  periissent,  fortassis  dominum  suum  perdidissent."  —  Corn,  a 
Lapide,  Hel.  x. 

t  Strype,  Annals,  vol.  ii.,  says  that  Richard  Tremayne,  gent., 
aged  30;  Thomas  Harrys,  a  schoolmaster,  aged  46;  John  Kemp 
gent.,  40;  John  Williams,  A.M.,  36,  all  of  Cornwall,  were  also  coni- 
mitted  to  jail  in  1579,  with  Henry  Benfeld,  gent.,  40,  and  John  Hody 


IN    DEVONSHIRE    AND    CORNWALL.  3 

"  Jacobus  Dowdall  suspendatur,  &c.,  pro  proditione."  His 
execution  took  place  on  13th  August,  1598,  according  to 
John  MuUan's  "  Idea  Togatse  Constantiae,"  an  octavo 
volume  printed  at  Paris  in  1629. 

In  the  Life  of  F.  Charles  Spinola  (printed  at  Antwerp, 
12mo.,  1630),  who  was  burnt  for  the  faith  in  Japan, 
2nd  September,  1622,  is  an  interesting  letter  which  he 
addressed  to  F.  Claudius  Aquaviva,  fifth  general  of  S.J.,  in 
which  he  relates  his  capture  at  sea  by  an  English  vessel,  and 
his  being  brought  into  Atapson,  or  Topsham,  6th  November, 
1597.  There  he  continued  for  several  days;  but  was  not 
permitted  to  extend  his  excursions  beyond  one  mile  from 
the  place.  Some,  professing  themselves  Catholics,  presented 
him  with  money*  others  invited  him  to  their  houses.  Seve- 
ral ladies  of  the  first  quality  remained  steadfast  in  the  old 
faith,  and  many  of  the  gentry  continued  their  inward 
attachment  to  Catholic  doctrines,  but  durst  not  avow  their 
real  sentiments;  and  not  a  few,  he  observes,  succeeded  in 
purchasing  letters  of  dispensation  from  attending  the  Pro- 
testant worship. 

The  faithful  Dr.  Challoner,  in  his  narrative  of  the  Rev.  John 
Reeve,  alias  Paine,  who,  after  being  cruelly  tortured  in  the 
Tower  (see  Rishton's  Diary),  suffered  for  the  faith  at 
Chelmsford,  in  Essex,  on  2nd  April,  1582,  was  unacquainted 
with  the  following  antecedents  of  his  biography.  He  was  a 
Master  of  Arts  at  Oxford,  and  a  Marian  priest,  and  was 
instituted  by  Dr.  James  Turberville,  the  last  Catholic  bishop 
of  Exeter,  on  15th  July,  1558,  to  the  vicarage  of  Alternon,  in 
Cornwall,  void  by  the  death  of  Lawrence  Blackley,  on  the 
presentation  of  the  Exeter  dean  and  chapter.  After  the 
exclusion  of  Bishop  Turberville  by  Queen  Elizabeth,  and  the 
substitution  of  Dr.  William  Alley  in  his  see,  the  Rev.  John 
Paine  was  deprived  of  his  vicarage  of  Alternon,  and  on 
23rd  April,  1563,  Edward  Riley,  S.T.P.,  was  collated  to  it. 
These  facts  I  glean  from  the  episcopal  registers.  The 
ejected  vicar  retired  to  the  continent,  and  after  a  residence 
at  Douay  for  some  time,  was  sent  to  the  English  mission, 
and  became  chaplain  to  Lady  Petre,  in  Essex,  whose  family  * 
had  considerable  property  in  the  diocese  of  Exeter.  Pro- 
bably his  zeal  for  souls  might  have  induced  him  to  come 
down  to  visit  his  former  friends  in  these  parts,  where  he 
was  apprehended.  I  subjoin  from  the  Act-Book  of  John 
Woolton,  then  Protestant  bishop  of  Exeter,  the  following 
"  Certificate  against  John  Reeve,  alias  Payne,  a  recusant." 

*  See  Appkndix  No.  I. 

B    2 


4  ,  STATE    OF    CATHOLICITY 

"  Excellentissime  et  illustrissime  in  Xto  Principi  Eliza- 
bethe,  Dei  graci^  Anglie,  Francie,  et  Hibernie  Regine, 
Fidei  Defensori,  &c.  Vester  humilis  et  devotus  Johannes, 
permissione  divinjl  Exon  Episcopus,  rererenciam  et  obedi- 
enciam  ac  salutem  in  Eo,  per  quern  reges  regnant  et  principes 
dominantur.  Coram  vobis  in  curiS,  vestrel  vocata  '  The 
King's  Benche '  certificamus,  quod  nos  Jobannes  episcopus 
antedictus,  xxiv'°  die  mensis  Martii,  anno  regni  vestri  xxii. 
(1580),  in  domo  mansionali  mei  dicti  episcopi,  Anglice 
vocata  '  The  Bishopp  of  Excetter  Ms  Pallace'  infra  clau- 
sum  civitatis  Exon  scituatfl,  vigore  et  auctoritate  cujusdam 
Actus  Parliamenti  ad  Parliamentum  tentum  apud  Westmo- 
nasterium  in  com.  Middlesex,  xii"  die  Januarii,  anno  regni 
vestri  quinto  editi  et  provisi,  intitulati,  '  An  Act  for  the 
Assurance  of  the  Queenes  Majesties  royall  Power  over  all 
Estates  and  Subjects  within  her  Highnes  Dominions'  obtu- 
limus  et  ministravimus  Johanni  Reve,  alias  Payne,  clerico, 
olim  alme  Universitatis  Oxon  Artium  Magistro,  persona 
ecclesiastice  in  sacris  ordinibus  constitute,  tunc  et  ibidem 
coram  nobis  personaliter  comparenti,  et  infra  nostram  dioce- 
sim  adtunc  et  ibidem  existenti,  proposito  et  aperte,  coram 
eodem  Johanne  Reve,  alias  Payne,  libro  continente  sacrosancta 
Dei  evangelia,  sacramentum  expresse  appunctuatum  et  con- 
tentum  in  et  per  Actum  Parliamenti  anno  regni  vestri 
primo  editum,  et  intitulatum,  'An  Acte  restoringe  to  the 
Crowne  the  auncient  Jurisdiction  over  the  State  Ecclesiasticall 
and  Spirituall,  and  abollishing  all  forraine  Power  repugnant 
to  the  same :'  antedictus  tamen  Johannes  Reve,  alias  Payne, 
sacramentum  predictum  modo,  form^,  tempore  et  loco  pre- 
dictis  sic  per  nos,  ut  prefertur,  eidem  Johanni  oblatum  et 
ministratum  tunc  et  ibidem,  recipere,  prestare  aut  pronun- 
tiare  peremptorie  et  obstinate  tunc  et  ibidem  recusavit,  contra 
formam  et  effectum  statuti  predicti  in  hujusmodi  casu  editi 
et  provisi.  In  quorum  omnium  et  singulorum  premissorum 
fidem  et  testimonium  hiis  litteris  nostris  certificatoriis  sigil- 
lum  nostrum  episcopale  apponi  fecimus.  Datum  in  palatio 
nostro  Exon,  xix.  die  Aprilis,  anno  Diii  1581,  et  nostra 
consecrationis  anno  secundo."  * 

In  the  9th  book  of  F.  Henry  More's  History  of  the 
Engbsh  Prov.  of  S.J.,  we  read  that  the  Rev.  Thomas  Laith- 
waite,  who  passed  by  the  name  of  Scott,  after  completing 
his   higher  studies    at   Seville,   and   receiving   holy   orders, 

*  In  his  Act-Book,  3rd  September,  1593,  he  acknowledges  the  receipt 
of  the  order  of  the  Privy  Council  of  26th  August  to  make  diligent 
inqun-y  of  all  wives,  servants,  and  others,  recusants  in  his  diocese. 
Obut  13  Martii  proxime  sequentis. 


IN    DEVONSHIRE    AND    CORNWALL.  5 

embarked  at  St.  Lucar  for  England.  Landing  at  Plymouth, 
he  was  apprehended  there  on  suspicion  of  being  a  priest,  and 
carried  before  Sir  Warwick  Kele,  Knight,  a  justice  of  the 
peace,  who  tendered  to  him  the  oath  of  supremacy.  On  his 
refusal  to  take  it,  he  was  rigorously  searched  to  the  very 
skin:  some  Agnus'  Dei  and  memorandums,  and  a  sum  of 
twenty  marks  were  found  about  his  person.  The  money 
Sir  Warwick  ordered  to  be  restored  to  him,  and  took  his 
prisoner  to  his  country  house  at  Wembury.  For  two  days 
he  was  treated  with  humanity ;  but  finding  that  he  could  not 
be  persuaded  to  attend  the  Protestant  church.  Sir  Warwick 
made  out  his  commitment  to  the  county  jail  of  Exeter, — a 
notorious  sink  of  vice,  and  misery,  and  pestilence.  At  the 
expiration  of  tfiree  months,  the  assizes  came  on,  and  the 
Rev.  Father  was  sentenced  to  death,  on  the  evidence  of  a 
man  who  swore  that  he  had  seen  him  celebrate  mass  at 
St.  Lucar.  A  younger  brother,  Edward,  a  bigoted  Protestant, 
on  hearing  of  his  imprisonment  and  condemnation,  hastened 
down  from  Lancashire  to  convert  him :  the  authorities 
allowed  him  free  access  for  the  purpose ;  but  at  the  end  of 
eight  days'  discussion  he  himself  admitted  the  truth  of  the 
Catholic  faith,  and  was  reconciled  to  the  Church  of  God  at 
Christmas,  1604.  In  the  sequel  he  entered  into  the  ecclesi- 
astical state,  and  after  labouring  in  the  Devonshire  mission 
with  indefatigable  zeal,  died  24th  June,  1643,  aged  sixty. 
As  for  Thomas,  after  six  months'  imprisonment,  his  sentence 
of  death  was  commuted  for  exile ;  but  he  contrived  to  return 
to  England  for  the  conversion  of  souls,  and  died  quietly  in 
his  native  country  on  10th  June,  1655,  aged  75. 

In  Walter  Yonge's  Diary,*  from  1604  to  1628,  and  in 
page  83,  we  read  "  that  in  June,  1625,  a  priest,  being  taken  at 
Mass  in  Mr.  Gifford's  house,  near  Southgate,  in  Exon,  was 
committed  to  prison,  and  very  shortly  after  (upon  special 
command)  delivered." 

The  discovery  of  another  priest,  F.  John  Sweet,  on  14th 
November,  1621,  in  the  house  of  Mr.  Alexander  Snelgrove, 
of  St.  Lawrence's  parish,  Exeter  (who  had  married  Alice 
Risdon  in  May,  1606,  as  the  parish  register  testifies),  had 
excited  much  more  the  public  attention.  F.  Sweet  was  a 
native  of  Devon,  and  a  Jesuit.  After  supplying  for  some 
time  as  penitentiary  at  Rome,  he  was  ordered  to  the  English 
mission,  where,  according  to  F.  Nathaniel  Southwell  (Bibli- 
otheca  Scriptorum  S.J.,  p.  507),  "utilis  evasit  operarius,  et 
multorum  in   Christo  filiorum  parens."     He   had  reached 

*  Published  by  the  Camden  Society. 


5  STATE    OF    CATHOLlCIXy 

Exeter  on  one  of  his  journeys  towards  Bableigh,  in  the 
north  of  Devon;  passing  by  the  name  of  Doux.  *rom  the 
original  letters  in  the  archives  of  the  Mayor  and  Chamber, 
I  copy  "  the  list  of  the  things  that  were  found  m  the  priest  s 
pocket  and  bag  : " — 

«  1.  In  his  pocket  one  Masse  booke,  intituled  '  Ex  Missali  Romano 

°''' L^nTietter  from  John  Risdon  unto  Mr.  Dowes,_  mencyonyng  the 

sending  of  his  bagg  unto  him,  wherein  the  supersticious  and  Massing 

trinckets  weare. 

«  3.  One  note  of  some  contribucions  from  certayne  persons. 

« 4.  Six  other  smale  papers.  .       „,.„„„ 

"6.  One  redde  boxe  with  certayne  wafer  cakes  herein  ot  diverse 

impressions  &  figures  ;  som  round,  som  square. 

"  Found  in  the  said  Dowes  his  chamber  in  Alexander 
Snelgrove's  house : — 

"a.  A  leather  Bagg  before  mencyoned,  wherein  we  found  one  little 
Manuscript  of  Questions  and  Answeares  concernynge  the  Protestant 

« 2.  One  Booke  of  '  The  Author  and  Substance  of  the  Protestant 
Church.' 

« 3.  One  Lattyn  Bible.  ,   ,     ^r.      •    • 

"  4.  One  other  booke  with  a  black  fForrell,  intituled  '  Breviarium 
Romanum  ex  decreto  Sacrosanct!  Consilii  Tridentini  restitutum,' with 
two  pictures  in  the  same  booke,  the  one  of  the  Cyrconcysion  of  Criste, 
the  other  of  Crist  crucifyed. 

«  6.  One  other  little  booke,  intituled  '  The  Love  of  the  Soule. 

"  6.  One  challys  of  silver  parcell  guilte,  and  a  crucyfixe  on  the  foote 
thereof,  with  a  little  plate  of  silver  parcell  guilt  to  carry  the  wafer 
cake. 

"  7.  One  white  boxe  of  bone  to  keep  a  picture  in. 

"  8.  One  red  purse  of  cloth  of  gould,  and  herein  a  Casket  with  3  little 
boxes  of  Oyle  herein." 

The  Mayor  of  Exeter,  Walter  Boroughs,  lost  no  time  in 
sending  an  ofi&cial  report  of  the  capture  to  the  Privy  Council, 
through  John  Prowse,  the  M.P.  for  that  city,  then  in  London, 
who  wrote  back,  on  the  24th  November,  1631 :  "  I  did  no 
sooner  receyve  your  letters  by  Mr.  Recorder's  man,  but  I 
presently  delyvered  that  which  you  sent  to  the  Lords  of  the 
Counsell,  to  Mr.  Secretary,  understanding  before  by  Sir 
Clement  Edmonds,  that  the  Lords  would  not  sit  to-morrow. 
His  Honour  promised  me  to  make  the  Lords  acquainted 
therewith ;  and  I  shall  attend  him  for  their  resolution,  wish- 
ing that  you  had  not  omitted  in  that  letter  the  speech  of 
Risdon  reported  by  his  boye,  which  would  have  been  won- 
drous materiall.  But,  as  I  shall  find  opportunitie,  I  will 
urge  the  same,  and  so  will  acquaint  you  what  success  your 
good  service  shall  receyve." 

On  the  last  day  of  November,  Mr.  Prowse  wrote  to  the 


IN    DEVONSHIRE    AND    CORNWALL.  7 

Mayor ;  "  The  Lords  did  yesterdaie  read  your  letter  coa- 
cerning  Swecte,  who  (as  Mr.  Secretary  tells  me)  have  ordered 
2  pursivants  to  ride  to  Exeter  and  to  receyve  him  from  your 
custodie  to  be  brought  up  hyther,  together  with  a  letter  from 
them  to  that  purpose.  It  male  be  that  theise  pursyvants 
will  be  with  you  before  theise  lines :  but,  howsoeverj  I  could 
not  forgett  myselfe  so  much  as  not  to  advertise  you  of  my 
care  in  this  busynesse." 

The  copy  of  the  Lords'  warrant  to  John  Poulter  and 
Leonard  Joyner,  two  of  the  messengers  of  his  Majesty's 
chamber,  runs  thus  : — 

"  Theis  shalbe  to  will  and  require  you  to  make  y'  ymediate  repare  to 
the  Cittie  of  Exeter,  and  receavinge  from  the  Maior  there  the  person 
of  one  John  Sweete,  whom  he  will  deliver  unto  you,  to  bring  him  forth- 
with in  your  companye  and  under  your  safe  custodie  unto  us — Willinge 
and  requiringe  all  Maiors,  Sheriffs,  Justices  of  Peace,  Bayliffs,  Con- 
stables, and  all  other  his  Majesty's  Officers  to  be  aydinge  and  assistinge 
unto  you  in  the  full  and  due  Execucion  of  this  our  Warrant,  Whereof 
neither  you  nor  they  may  faile  att  your  perill.     And  this  shalbe  unto 

Sou  and  them  a  sufficient  Warrant.    Dated  at  Whitehall  the  29th  of 
ovember,  1621. 

"  Jo.  Lyncoln,  C.S.        Mandevill.        E.  Worster. 

"Arundell  and  Surrey. 
"  Edmohds.        G.  Calvert.        Jul.  C^sar. 

"  Edmonds." 
"  To  our  very  loveinge  Friends  the  Mayor  and 
Aldermen  of  the  Cittie  of  Exeter. 

"  After  our  hearty  commendations  We  have  rec''  your  letter  of  the  19th 
of  this  present  concerning  the  Apprehension  of  one  John  Sweete,  supposed 
to  be  a  Jesuit,  and  what  course  you  have  taken  for  his  forthcoming,  as 
well  in  respect  of  his  refusal  to  make  answer  unto  you  upon  his  examina- 
tion, as  of  the  many  superstitious  things  found  about  him  and  in  his 
Lodgings  after  he  was  apprehended,  For  your  carefull  and  discreet  pro- 
ceedings wherein,  as  We  do  give  you  hearty  thanks  and  much  commend 
your  diligence  ;  so  forasmuch  as  We  think  it  requisite  that  he  be 
brought  up  hither  to  be  further  examined  before  us,  to  which  purpose 
we  have  sent  these  Bearers,  Messengers  of  his  Majesty's  Chamber,  to 
receive  him  from  you  and  to  bring  him  under  their  safe  custody  to  us. 
These  shalbe  to  will  and  require  you  to  deliver  the  said  John  Sweete 
unto  them  to  be  brought  hither  accordingly,  for  which  this  shall  be 
your  Warrant.  And  so  we  bid  you  heartily  farewell.  From  Whitehall 
the  29th  of  November,  1621. 

"  Your  loveing  Friends 

"Jo.  Lincoln,  C.S. 
"  Mandeville.  E.  Worcester. 

"  Arundell  and  Surrey. 
"  T.  Edmondes.    Geo.  Calvert.    Jul.  C^sar. 

"C.  Edmondes." 

"Postscript. — You  are  likewise  to  send  unto  us  the  examinations 
taken  by  you  coucernynge  the  said  Sweete.  "  Lenox." 


8  STATE    OF    CATHOLICITY 

An  indorsement  sbows  that  this  warrant  was  received  by 
the  mayor  "  on  the  9th  of  December  at  night."  On  the  iltn 
of  that  month  was  written  the  foUowing  receipt  on  the  bacfc 
of  the  Lords'  warrant : — 

"XI  die  Decembris,  Anno  XIX'  Regni  Regis  nunc. 
"We  John  Poultei-  and  Leonard  Joyner,  Messengers  of  his  Majesty;s 
Chamber,  hy  virtue  of  a  Warrant  to  us  granted  by^the  Lords  ot  his 
Maiesty's  Privie  Councell,  have  receyved  of  Walter  Borough,  Maior  of 
the  Cittie  of  Exeter,  the  bodye  of  John  Sweete,  together  with  a  leather 
bagge  sealed,  to  be  deUvered  to  the  Lords  of  his  Majesty  s  Privye 
Counsell.    Wee  saye  reseved  the  xi""  of  December,  1621. 

"johm  poci-tbr. 

"  Lbonakd  Joyner." 

The  worthy  priest  remained,  I  believe,  a  close  prisoner  in 
London  until  after  the  accession  of  King  Charles  I.  Such 
was  the  importance  attached  to  the  capture  of  one  of  our 
clergy ! 

About  this  very  time  the  following  letters  were  addressed 
to  the  Mayor  and  Aldermen  of  Exeter  by  that  intolerant 
and  persecuting  lawyer  and  justice  Richard  Eeynell,  of 
Greedy  Wiger,  near  Crediton,  Esq.  He  had  been  sworn  a 
counsellor  for  Exeter  on  16th  September,  1617  : — 

"Right  Worshipful], 

"  I  have  receaved  y'  second  letter  of  the  xix""  of  this  instant 
November,  whereby  I  heare  you  have  addressed  your  letters  to  y"  Lords, 
&c.  God  blesse  your  labours.  Upon  y'  former  letters  I  sent  my  servant 
with  warrants  for  Southcot,  Hill,  Sc.  But  they  had  notice  of  all  y' 
proceedings  two  hours  before  day  y'  Sunday  night,  and  of  the  said 
letter  to  me,  and  sent  there  secret  friends  to  y'  Constables  to  learn 
whether  they  had  receaved  any  warrants  from  me  to  search,  &c.  And 
old  Baggot  was  seen  ryding  to  and  fromy"  Popish  Houses,  there  affirm- 
ing that  some  were  coming  from  me,  whereby  the  Service  is  lyke  to 
receive  some  defeat  for  this  time.  But  I  have  sent  for  old  Baggot.  I 
marvel  how  they  should  so  speedily  have  notice  of  your  doings  and 
letters.  I  expect  Baggot  this  morning;  if  he  may  be  found  :  and  so  till 
then  I  do  with  my  due  respect  commend  you  to  the  Lord,  who  directs 
us  herein,  &c.  &c. 

"  Richard  Rbtnell." 

"  I  wish  you  had  descrybed  S.  Hill  by  his  stature  and  apparell,  etc. 
— R.  R." 

"  Right  Worshipful!, 

"I  have  receaved y'  letter  and  thereby  learn  the  great  care  you 
have  of  the  safetye  of  the  State  and  of  y=  Citye.  It  is  true,  the  cause 
concernes  God  and  y'  King  ;  and  therefore  fitt  we  should  be  most  care- 
full  therein.  I  acknowledge  your  example  doth  much  incourage  me  to 
do  my  best  endevor  in  that  behalf,  for  which  purpose  I  will  according 
to  your  advice  send  out  warrants,  and  that  by  a  servant  of  myne  owne, 


IN    DEVONSHIRE    AND    CORNWALL.  9 

to  the  entent  I  may  be  ascertayned  what  may  be  done  thereby.  The 
Lord  give  a  blessing  unto  our  indevors  in  this  behalf :  to  whose  mercy- 
full  proteccion  I  do  with  my  due  respect  commend  you,  &c. 

"  Richard  Reynell." 

One  John  Beadon,  a  Catholic,  of  Exeter,  for  having  visited 
F.  Sweet  in  this  high  jail,  was  himself  committed  to  prison 
on  8th  December,  1621, 

In  the  Record-office,  within  the  Castle  of  Exeter,  I  met 
with  the  following  order  of  the  magistrates  in  sessions 
assembled,  to  search  the  houses  of  George  Eveleigh  and 
Thomas  Babbington : — 

"  Easter  Sessions  Anno  tertio  Jacobi  R.  1606. 

"  Whereas  We  hjve  credible  information  given  us  of  great  resorte 
made  in  the  nyght  season  and  other  unlawful  tymes  to  the  houses  of 
Oeorge  fiveleighe,*  of  Ottery  St.  Marye,  Esq.,  and  of  Thomcts  Babbington, 
of  the  same,  Gen'",  of  Recusants,  Papists,  and  other  persons  ill  affected 
to  His  Majesty,  and  not  conformable  to  the  Law  of  this  Realm  :  some 
also  of  those  that  repair  thither  being  vehemently  suspected  to  be  eyther 
Seminaries,  Jesuits,  or  Massing  Priests,  and  to  bring  with  them  Popish 
Books,  Vestments  and  other  unlawful  Reliques  :  In  regard  there  hath 
been  of  late  diverse  directions  from  His  Highness,  the  Lords  of  his 
Council  and  other  Ministers  of  Justice  for  the  apprehending  and  finding 
out  of  such.  Wee  doe  therefore  in  his  Majesty's  name  and  in  further- 
ance of  that  service  will  and  command  you,  that  all  such  times  as 
Roberte  Haidon,  Esq^.,  one  of  our  Colleagues,  shall  signify  unto  you,  you 
niake  Privy  Search  in  the  said  Howses  for  the  apprehending  of  such 
disloyal  Persons  and  finding  of  such  Popish  Books  and  other  Reliques 
aforesaid,  and  having  any,  that  you  bring  them  to  some  of  us  to  be 
examined  and  further  proceeded  with,  as  to  justice  appertaineth. 
Whereof  We  charge  you  not  to  fail,  as  you  will  answer  the  contrary  to 
your  uttermost  perils. 

"  To  the  High  Constable  and  Petty  Constables  of 
St.  Mary  Ottery  and  to  every  of  them." 

I  have  seen  the  will  of  Richard  Tremayne,  of  Tregonen,  in 
St.  Ewe's  parish,  bearing  date  30th  September,  1609,  in 
which  he  states  he  had  been  "  a  convicted  recusant,  and  for 
many  years  had  been  contemned  and  hated  by  the  world." 
Was  he  not  condemned  to  perpetual  imprisonment  with 
Sir  Francis  Tregian  ?  t     Perhaps  he  was  restored  to  liberty 

*  In  the  Act-Book  of  Dr.  Cotton,  bishop  of  Exeter,  I  observe  the 
marriage  licence  granted  30th  September,  1612,  to  this  George  Eveleigh 
and  Bridget  Fursdon,  of  Fursdon,  in  Cadbury- parish.  The  Fursdons 
were  then  Catholics.  At  Michaelmas  Sessions,  1609,  PetroneU  Fursdon, 
wife  of  William  Fursdon,  of  Cadbury,  Thomas  Fursdon  and  his  sister 
Alice,  of  Thorverton,  were  presented  as  Papists. 

t  In  vol.  iii.  of  Da  vies  Gilbert's  Cornwall,  p.  360,  the  Tregian  estate 
is  said  to  have  been  estimated  at  £3,000  per  annum,  which,  with  all 
his  ready  money,  was  seized  by  Queen  Elizabeth.  Recovering  his 
freedom  after  twenty-eight  years'  incarceration,  but  ruined  in  fortune 
and  impaired  in  constitution,  he  proceeded  to  Lisbon,  where  he  died 


10  STATE    OF    CATHOLICITY 

with  him  after  twenty-eight  years'  confinement,  soon  after 
the  accession  of  King  James  I. 

In  Rymer's  Poedera,  tom.  xix.  p.  170,  we  read  that  John 
Hunter,  of  St.  Stephen's,  Cornwall,  was  tried  and  convicted 
at  Exeter,  on  the  3rd  August,  1639,  of  having  asserted  at 
Chudleigh,  on  the  preceding  38th  June,  that  "  the  Pope  of 
Eome  is  head  of  the  Church,  and  hath  spiritual  jurisdiction 
within  the  territories  of  Christian  princes."  The  poor  man, 
terrified  at  the  prospect  of  a  cruel  execution,  took  the  oaths 
of  allegiance  and  supremacy  in  full  court,  and  acknowledged 
himself  guilty  of  the  oflFence.  In  consequence,  the  judge 
recommended  him  to  mercy,  and  King  Charles  I.  issued  a 
special  pardon  to  him  on  33nd  of  June,  1630. 

Ahout  this  time  the  Rev.  Thomas  Bullaker,  O.S.F.,  landed 
at  Plymouth  to  begin  his  missionary  career,  when  he  was 
apprehended  on  the  information  of  the  master  of  the  vessel, 
and  brought  before  the  mayor  of  that  town,  who  committed 
him  to  its  loathsome  jail,  without  any  other  bed  but  the  bare 
ground  during  the  severe  weather.  At  the  end  of  eight 
days  he  was  removed  to  that  den  of  infection  the  county 
jail  at  Exeter,  where  he  had  to  pass  the  remainder  of  the 
winter  of  1630,  with  ruin  to  his  constitution.  At  the  next 
Lenten  assizes  he  was  produced  for  trial.  The  only  evidence 
brought  against  him  was  that  of  a  sailor,  who  showed  a  book 
taken  from  the  prisoner,  and  which  he  called  a  Missal.  On 
its  being  examined  by  the  Court,  it  turned  out  to  be  a  Spanish 
history,  which  Mr.  Bullaker  had  got  to  amuse  him  during 
the  voyage ;  and  as  no  proof  could  be  adduced  of  his  priestly 
character,  he  was  eventually  discharged  from  custody.  The 
apostolic  man  repaired  to  London,  and  devoted  the  eleven 
following  years  to  the  instruction  of  the  poor  and  afflicted. 
On  11th  September,  1643,  whilst  celebrating  mass  in  the 
house  of  Mrs.  Powell,  the  daughter  of  Sir  Henry  Brown,  of 
the  Montague  family,  and  during  the  recital  of  Gloria  in 
Excelsis,  he  was  seized  by  the  apostate  Wadsworth,  and 
hurried  before  the  Sheriff  of  London.  Conviction  of  the 
being  a  priest  according  to  the  order  of  Melchisedech  followed, 
and  the  12th  of  the  following  month  witnessed  his  hanging 
and  dismemberment  at  Tyburn,  set.  thirty- eight ;  Eel.  19, 
Sacerd.  14.  One  of  his  arm-bones  is  respectfully  preserved 
in  St.  Ehzabeth's  Convent  at  Taunton. 

During  the  unfortunate  civil  wars,  the  Catholics  had  to 
drink  the  chalice  of  aflaiction  to  the  very  dregs.     The  Parlia- 

26th  September,  1608,  aged  60.  The  king  of  Spain  had  gi-anted  him 
a  pension  of  sixty  cruzados  per  month.  But  more  of  this  confessor 
of  the  faith  in  Appendix  No.  II. 


IN    DEVONSHIKE   AND    CORNWALL.  11 

ment  required  of  the  commissioners  "to  use  their  utmost 
endeavours  to  discover  all  Popish  recusants;  to  administer 
the  oath  of  abjuration  to  all  persons  upon  whom  there  shall 
be  suspicion  of  Popish  recusancy ;  and  if  any  such  refuse  to 
take  the  same,  proceed  forthwith  to  seize  and  sequester  two- 
thirds  of  their  real  and  personal  estate."  Amongst  some  of 
the  faithful  so  denounced  and  convicted,  we  find  Sir  Edward 
Gary,  who  held  the  impropriate  rectorial  tithes  of  Mary 
Church  and  Paignton,  and  lands  in  Staverton  and  Stokenham. 

Sir  Robert  Brett,  who  had  the  rectory  of  Yarcombe. 

John  Poyntz,  of  Arlington. 

John  Coffin,  of  Parkham. 

William  Giffard,  of  Bucland  Brewer. 

Anthony  Giffard,*  of  Lancras. 

Garret  Dillon,  of  Morthoc. 

Walter  Grant. 

Susan  Chichester,  widow. 

Dorothy  Berry. 

George  Bayley,  of  Langtre. 

Dorothy  Risdon,  of  Harberton.f 

Thomas  Marsh,  of  Rewe.J 

*  His  grave-stone  fronting  the  communion-table  in  Lancras  Church 
bears  a  triple  cross,  with  this  legend  : — "  Hie  jacet  Antonius  Giffordus, 
Dominus  de  Lancrass,  Vir  vere  pius  et  Cathohcus.     Ob.  14  Feb.  1649." 

t  In  Wyot's  Register,  quoted  in  Gribble's  Hist,  of  Barnstaple,  p.  628. 
— "Assizes  at  Exeter,  March,  1602. —  The  Lord  Chief  Baron  sent  to  the 
common  gaol  Mrs.  Giles  Risdon  and  Mr.  William  Burgoyne,  being 
recusants,  there  to  remayne  at  his  pleasure :  if  they  had  rather  go  to 
gaol  than  to  church,  much  good  might  it  doe  them ;  I  am  not  of  theyr 
mynde." 

J  The  following  I  copy  from  the  original  in  tlie  possession  of  Charles 
Noel  Welman,  of  Norton  Court,  Esq. 

"  At  the  Standing  Committee  for  the  County  of  Devon,  the  16th  day 
of  Oct.  1646. 

''  Whereas  the  Farm  of  Heasell,  in  the  Parish  of  Rewe,  now  is  and 
standeth  sequestered,  being  the  Farm  of  Thomas  Marsh,  of  Rewe 
aforesaid,  Gent.,  a  Papist,  It  is  ordered  by  this  Committee,  that  Thomas 
Barton,  of  Silverton,  in  the  countie  aforesaid,  Gent.,  shall  liold,  possesse, 
and  enjoy  the  same  Farm  of  Heasell,  which  Farm  is  hereby  set  and 
demysed  unto  the  said  ThoS  Barton  for  one  yeere,  w^""  yeere  is  to 
begin  from  the  feast  of  St.  Michael  the  Archangel  last  before  the  date 
hereof,  and  the  said  yeere  to  end  at  the  feast  of  St.  Michael  the  Arch- 
angel next  after  the  date  hereof ;  for  which  terme  the  said  The'.  Barton 
is  to  pay  the  Rent  of  Fifty  five  Pounds  yeerely,  by  even  and  equall 
porcions,  unto  the  Treasurer  of  the  Committee ;  the  first  payment  to 
begin  at  Christmas  next.  Ordered  that  the  said  Tho".  Barton  shall  pay 
unto  Charles  Vaghan,  Esq,  Treasurer,  for  such  profitts  as  he  hath  taken 
out  of  the  said  Farm  since  June  last,  the  sum  of  Twenty  Markes. 

"JouN  Champneys.    Philip  Francis.    John  Beake. 
"JohnBauton.     Charles  Vaghax.     Tim.  Alsop." 


12  STATE    or    CATHOLICITY 

Thomas  Kirkham,  of  Bidwell,  Newton  St.  Cyres. 

William  Kirkham,  of  Pinhoe. 

Arthur  Trevelyan,  of  Littleham. 

John  Holford,  of  Sampford  Peverell.- 

John  Rowe,  of  Staverton. 

The  Lady  Wrey,  who  had  rents  in  Sourton. 

Robert  Bayly* 

George  Blount,  of  Ashcombe. 

In  the  State-paper  Office,  amongst  the  proceedings  of  the 
committee  for  managing  the  estates  under  sequestration,  I 
find  the  following  entries  : — 

"  16th  Nov.  1664.  Thomas  Risdon,  an  infant,  by  Charles  Maynard, 
Gent.,  his  guardian,  petitioner  to  discharge  sequestration  of  lands  fallen 
to  him  by  the  death  of  father  and  mother :  two-thirds  whereof  were 
sequestered  for  the  recusancy  of  Dorothy  Risdon,  deceased,  his  mother. 

Ordered. 

"4th  Jan.  1654/5.  William  Bayly  and  John  Cleverdon,  Gents.,  for 
discharge  of  sequestration  of  f  ds  of  lands  in  Devon,  made  over  to  them 
for  ten  years  by  Humphry  Coffin,  Gent.,  under  sequestration  for  the 
recusancy  of  John  Coffin,  his  father,  deceased.  Referred. 

"  18th  Jan.  1654/6.  Christopher  Maynard,  discharged  of  seques- 
tration of  lands  purchased  by  him  of  Thomas  Gary,  now  under  seques- 
tration for  recusancy  of  Sir  Edward  Cary,  deceased.  Ordered. 

"  26th  Jan.  1664/5.  Petition  of  John  GiffiDrd,  infant,  by  Thomas 
Leigh,  of  Northam,  Esq.,  his  guardian,  for  allowance  of  title  to  lands 
which  came  to  him  by  death  of  his  mother  Honor  GiflFord,  fs  of  which 
were  sequestered  for  recusancy.  Ordered. 

"  1st  Feb.  1654/6.  Petition  of  Wm.  Leigh,  Gent.,  for  discharge  of 
sequestration  of  half  the  manor  of  Upton,  sequestered  for  the  recusancy 
of  Anthony  Gifford,  deceased.  Ordered. 

«  26th  Feb.  1664/6.  Petition  of  Sir  "Wm.  Courtenay,  Wm.  Kirkham, 
and  Christopher  Maynard,  for  sequestration  to  be  discharged  on  lands 
in  Devon,  made  over  to  them  by  Sir  George  Cary,  for  payment  of 
debts,  &c.,  f  s  whereof  are  sequestered  for  recusancy  of  his  late  father. 
Sir  Edward  Cary.  Ordered. 

"22nd  March,  1664/6.  Petition  of  John  Maynard,  Serjeant-at- Law, 
to  discharge  two-thirds  of  certain  copyholds  within  the  Manor  of  Beer 
Ferris,  for  recusancy  of  Thomasin  Wakeman,  widow. 

"  N.B.  The  Earl  of  Worcester  in  1648,  a  Papist,  held  in  Devon  the 
manors  of  Denbury  and  Chumleigh,  and  some  other  detached  parcels, 
bringing  a  net  rent  of  £289.  6s.  3d, 

"  The  Marquis  of  Winchester  had  also  the  manors  of  North  Bovey, 
Hempston  Arundell,  Brixham,  East  Portlemouth,  Bigbury,  Denbury 
Chamleigh,  and  Wolston,  whose  total  rent  was  £576.  8s.  ll^d."  ' 

The  restoration  of  monarchy  did  not  afford  much  relief  to 
the  persecuted  Catholics.     On  13th  September,  1667,  the 

*  His  lands  in  Doddiscomblegh  were  sequestered  for  recusancy  on 
19th  February,  1646.     Obiit  10th  November,  1663. 


IN    DEVONSHIRE    AND    CORNWALL.  13 

Privy  Council  addressed  a  letter  to  the  justices  of  the  peace 
for  the  county  of  Devon,  setting  forth,  that  "notwithstanding 
his  Majesty's  proclamation,  and  the  laws,  and  the  endeavours 
of  his  ministers  and  judges,  to  suppress  the  growth  of  Popery, 
according  to  the  desires  of  both  Houses  of  Parliament  in  that 
behalf,  yet  many  Popish  priests  are  as  active  as  ever  to  seduce 
his  Majesty's  good  subjects,  and  to  persuade  them  to  embrace 
the  Popish  religion,  and  therein  have  the  help  and  encourage- 
ment of  many  of  that  persuasion,  who  (although  obnoxious 
to  law)  have  of  late  behaved  themselves  very  bold  and 
insolently;  for  the  prevention  of  which  growing  mischief, 
and  for  the  preservation  of  the  true  Protestant  religion, 
his  Majesty  hath  commanded  us  to  signify  to  you  his  ex- 
press pleasure  anfl  command,  that  you,  in  your  respective 
divisions,  do  use  your  utmost  endeavours  to  apprehend 
all  Popish  priests  and  Jesuits  that  endeavour  to  seduce  and 
pervert  his  Majesty's  subjects ;  and  that  if  any  of  them  be 
by  them  seduced  and  perverted  to  become  Papists,  you  do 
strictly  examine  the  persons  led  away  to  the  Romish  religion, 
and  make  further  and  diligent  inquiry  who  have  been  the 
instrument  and  means  in  their  seducement  and  perversion, 
whether  priests  or  others;  and  that,  according  to  his 
Majesty's  said  proclamation,  you  proceed  against  them 
according  to  law  established.  And  that  further,  you  cause 
the  laws  against  the  growth  of  Popery  and  Papist  recusants, 
and  for  their  conviction,  to  be  put  in  due  and  full  execution." 

This  intolerant  letter  I  have  seen,  with  the  fifteen  original 
signatures.  Amongst  them  is  that  of  Sir  Thomas  Clifford 
(afterwards  the  Lord  Treasurer),  who  five  years  later  made 
the  amende  honorable,  by  reconciling  himself  to  the  religion 
which  he  had  sought  to  proscribe. 

The  Conventicle  Act  of  King  Charles  II.  provided  that 
every  person  above  sixteen  years  of  age  present  at  any 
meeting,  under  pretence  of  any  exercise  of  religion  in  other 
manner  than  is  the  practice  of  the  Church  of  England,  when 
there  are  five  persons  more  than  the  household,  shall  for  the 
first  ofi^ence,  by  a  justice  of  the  peace  be  recorded,  and  sen- 
tenced to  jail  for  three  months  till  he  pay  £5  ;  and  for  the 
second  oflFence,  six  months  till  he  pay  j610;  and  the  third 
time  "being  convicted  by  a  jury,  he  shall  be  banished  to  some 
of  the  American  plantations  ! 

And  when  the  public  mind  was  maddened  by  the  unblush- 
ing perjuries  of  Titus  Gates,  though  the  king  from  the 
beginning  was  satisfied  that  the  plot  was  "  all  a  fiction,  never 
believing  one  tittle  of  it;"  yet  did  he  not  sport  with  the 
character,  the  property,  the  liberties,  and  the  lives  of  his 


14  STATE    OP    CATHOLICITY 

innocent  and  loyal  Catholic  subjects  ?  In  vain  have  I 
searched  for  the  names  of  the  "  seven  Popish  priests  "  whom 
his  detestable  policy  hurried  to  the  Scilly  Islands  in  1681. 
See  the  moneys  paid  for  his  secret  service,  9th  March  of 
that  year. 

To  the  Catholics,  sitting  in  darkness  and  writhing  under 
the  scorpions  of  persecution,  it  was  a  relief  and  comfort  to 
behold  in  the  person  of  James  II.  an  open  professor  of  their 
faith,  and  a  champion  of  the  rights  of  conscience.  Then  "a 
mass-house  was  opened  in  Exeter,"  to  use  the  words  of 
Calamy,  Hist.  vol.  i.  p.  391.  This  excited  the  black  bile  of 
that  fanatical  ranter  George  Trosse,  whose  epitaph  in  St. 
Bartholomew^s-yard,  Exeter,  describes  him  as  the  greatest  of 
sinners,  the  least  of  the  saints,  and  the  most  unworthy  of 
preachers  !  His  Majesty  was  pleased  to  appoint  to  the  office 
of  High  Sheriff  of  Devon,  in  1687,  a  most  respectable 
Catholic  gentleman,  viz.  John  Rowe,*  of  Kingston,  Esq., 
who  died  in  1688. 

With  the  Eevolution  came  the  re-action  of  the  popular 
frenzy  against  the  unoffending  Catholics.  The  Exeter 
"  mass-house "  was  levelled  to  the  ground :  its  priest, 
E.  Morris,  narrowly  escaped:  all  personal  liberty  and  pro- 
perty were  insecure.  The  double  land-tax  was  imposed  and 
exacted,  and  the  reward  of  jglOO  for  the  discovery  of  a  priest 
held  out  a  daily  temptation  to  mercenaries,  and  to  unprin- 
cipled servants  and  false  brethren,  to  turn  informers  against 
chaplains  and  their  patrons.  Nay,  though  the  edge  of  the 
penal  laws  grew  gradually  blunted  under  the  government  of 
the  house  of  Brunswick,  yet  in  all  times  of  political  commo- 
tion, we  were  liable  to  suffer  from  their  cutting  force  until 
the  year  1778.t 

*  To  show  the  despotism  and  grinding  misery  which  Catholics  for- 
merly had  to  endure,  I  transcribe  the  following  extract  from  an  original 
letter  written  m  1613  :-«Mr.  Rowe  [he  was  In  ancestor  of  this  sheriff 
of  Devon  above  mentioned]  was  sent  for  up  to  London,  for  that  being  with 
a  knight  of  his  acquaintance,  when  it  was  objected  that  the  Papi^s  had 

??™ni,^'°7'rf"i!  °i  Y^'^^'  ^'  ^^^^^^A,  it  might  as  wen  be  the 
Protestants;  for  that  he  had  more  of  them  about  him.  The  which  the 
said  knight  repeating  at  another  time  what  he  heard  a  gentleman  sav 

hfifreleS'"'''"'"^  ^"'  ''  ^«^*  ^"^^  ^°-  forty  pounds  beforf 
_  t  See  Proclamations  of  Geo.  II.,  dated  5th  Sept.  and  6th  Dec.  1745 
m  vol.  XV.  Gent.  Mag.  1745.  Even  we  read  in  the  Universal  Museum 
a  complete  magazine  of  1767,  March:  "Another  mass-house  was  d"-' 
covered  in  Hog-lane,  near  the  Seven  Dials."  P.  41  March-  «  tTt, 
Baptist  Malony  a  Popish  priest,  was  taken  up  for  exerSg  iis  Sc 
tions  in  Kent-street  contrary  to  law.    He  is  bound  over  in  .£400  to 


IN    DEVONSHIRE    AND    CORNWALL.  15 

I  conclude  this  first  chapter  with  an  extract  from  a  letter 
I  received  from  a  lamented  friend,  Miss  Margaret  Sweetland, 
dated  "  Tunbridge  "Wells,  25th  June,  1840."  "  We  have  here 
at  present  the  family  of  Mr.  Loughnan.  He  was  a  highly 
respectable  merchant  in  London :  his  lady  was  a  Miss 
Hamilton,  niece  to  old  Sir  Alexander  Hamilton,  who  lived  at 
the  Retreat,  near  Topsham.  The  knight  left  his  fortune  to 
this  Mr.  Loughnan's  eldest  son,  on  the  condition  of  his 
conforming  to  the  Established  Church ;  but  should  he  refuse 
the  condition,  it  was  to  be  offered  to  all  the  six  sons,  one 
after  the  other.  The  parents  are  thankful  to  be  able  to  say, 
they  were  all  too  firmly  rooted  in  their  Catholic  faith  to 
accept  it.  The  person  who  now  has  it  was  next  in  succession, 
and  a  Protestant,  mnd  changed  his  name  only  (Kelso)  to  take 
possession.  Sir  Alexander  Hamilton  died  at  the  Retreat, 
13th  June,  1809,  aged  seventy-seven,  and  was  buried  in  the 
parish  church  of  Topsham." 

take  his  trial  at  the  next  Kingston  assizes."  P.  465  :  "  N.B.  He  was 
convicted  at  Croydon  on  23rd  August,  and  sentenced  to  perpetual 
imprisonment."  See  p.  436,  ibid.  (His  crime  was  administering  the 
Sacrament  to  a  sick  man.  After  four  years'  imprisonment  he  was 
banished  from  England  for  life.)  A^ain,  in  p.  267,  May,  1767:  "A 
Popish  mass-house  in  the  Park,  Southwark,  was  suppressed ;  but  the 
officiating  priest  escaped  at  a  back-door."  P.  379, 16th  July  :  "  The 
archbishop  of  York,  in  obedience  to  his  Majesty's  commands,  has 
required  of  the  suffragan  bishops  of  his  province  to  procure  complete 
lists  of  all  Papists,  or  reputed  Papists,  distinguishing  sex,  age,  occu- 
pation, and  length  of  residence."  And  in  p.  381 :  "  The  archbishop  of 
Canterbury  has  been  directed  to  make  out  a  similar  return." 

The  Rev.  James  Webb  was  tried  for  priesthood  in  the  Court  of  King's 
Bench,  26th  June,  1768,  and  the  Hon.  and  Rt.  Rev.  James  Talbot  in 
1769,  but  escaped  for  want  of  evidence  of  his  priesthood.  In  1770 
Sir  William  Stanley,  of  Hooton,  Bart.,  was  indicted  for  refusing  to  part 
with  his  four  coach-horses  to  a  church  dignitary,  who  had  tendered  nim 
a  £20  note  ;  but  was  acquitted  on  the  ground  of  its  not  then  being  a 
legal  tender. 


16  CATHOLIC    FAMILIES    IN 


CHAPTER  II. 

SOME    NOTICES    OF   CATHOMC   FAMILIES    IN    DEVONSHIEE   AND 
CORNWALL. 

The  Arundells  of  Lanherne  formerly  possessed  such  pro- 
perty and  influence  as  to  have  acquired,  according  to  Leland, 
the  epithet  of  the  "Great  Arundells."  And  Carew,  the 
Cornish  historian,  adds,  "they  were  the  greatest  for  love, 
living,  and  respect  heretofore  in  the  country."  But  though 
entitled  to  the  highest  consideration  hy  antiquity  of  descent, 
dignity  of  connections,  and  extent  of  lands  and  royalties, 
they  placed  their  highest  honour  in  the  practice  and  munifi- 
cent protection  of  religion.  Unfortunately,  one  of  the  family, 
Humphry  Arundell,  Esq.,  the  governor  of  St.  Michael's 
Mount,  in  the  reign  of  King  Edward  VI.  attempted  to  sup- 
port the  old  faith  by  open  insurrection;  forgetful  of  the 
maxim,  "  non  resistendo  sed  perferendo."  In  the  sequel  he 
fell  a  victim  to  the  avenging  law  of  his  country.  He  was 
executed  at  Tyburn  in  November,  1549. 

Sir  John  Arundell  (son  of  Sir  John  Arundell,  who  had 
died  24th  March,  1558)  was,  on  account  of  his  religion,  with 
his  servant  Glynn,  committed  to  prison  by  Queen  Elizabeth 
in  1581.  He  was  eventually  discharged;  but  this  servant 
died  in  confinement.  The  worthy  knight  survived  until 
17th  January,  1591,  according  to  the  Isleworth  Register. 
His  daughters  Gertrude  and  Dorothy,  on  11th  July,  six  years 
later,  consecrated  themselves  to  God  in  the  Benedictine 
Convent  at  Brussels. 

The  next  successor  to  the  property,  John  Arundell,  was  in-, 
deed  a  great  sufferer  for  conscience'  sake.  In  a  letter  before  me 
of  F.  Richard  Blount,  dated  7th  November,  1606,  he  says  :— 
"Catholics  are  daily  more  and  more  impoverished  ;  for  besides  that 
his  Majesty  has  the  whole  forfeiture,  either  of  two-thirds  of  the  lands 
and  all  goods,  or  else  twenty  pounds  monthly  of  such  as  are  able ;  they 
are  all  given  to  Scots,  to  be  yet  more  narrowly  sifted  and  ransacked  if 
some  composition  be  not  made  with  them.  In  this  manner  Mr.  Talbot, 
Mr.  John  Arundell*  Mr.  Throgmorton,  and  all  others  of  any  ability' 

*  Among  the  papers  at  Wardour  Castle  are   two,  of  which  the 
endorsations  attest  to  the  sufferings  of  Lord  Arnndell's  ancestors  :— 
1. — Recusancy  of  John  Arundell. 
20  Feb.  4  Jac.  1. 1607. 
Letters-patent  of  King  James  I.,  directing  the  officers  of  the  Court  of 


DEVONSHIRE    AND    CORNWALL.  17 

are  begged  and  forced  to  compound,  or  else  to  be  in  danger,  by  one 
means  or  other,  to  lose  alW 

From  a  letter  in  the  State-paper  Office,  dated  2l8t  October, 
1642,  by  a  Parliamentarian,  I  make  the  following  extract : — 

"  Mr.  Arundell  hath  the  greatest  forces  here,  and  is  able  to  raise 
more  than  half  the  gentlemen  in  Cornwall,  and  he  alone  was  the  first 
that  began  the  rebellion  there.  There  hath  lately  been  landed  at  some 
creek  in  that  county  ten  or  more  seminary  priests,  which  are  newly 
come  out  of  Flanders,  and  harboured  in  Mr.  Arundell's  house.*  They 
are  merciless  creatures ;  and  there  is  great  way  laid  for  the  appre- 
hension of  them." 

This  gentleman  had  to  suffer  the  sequestration  of  his 
estates  for  many  years,  and  it  cost  him  nearly  ^3,000  to  get 
off  at  last.  In  ttfe  sequel  of  this  compilation,  we  shall  see 
that  this  illustrious  family  had  to  submit  to  many  painful 
sacrifices  until  the  relaxation  of  the  penal  laws;  but  "they 
chose  rather  to  be  afflicted  with  the  people  of  God,  than  to 
have  the  pleasure  of  sin  for  a  time,  esteeming  the  reproach 
of  Christ  greater  riches  than  the  treasures  of  this  world :  for 
they  looked  to  the  reward." 

Tlie  Courtenays  yield  to  few  families  in  the  British  empire, 
or  even  in  Europe,  in  antiquity  of  descent  and  splendour  of 
connection.  "  Atavis  edite  regibus  "  may  justly  be  said  of 
their  illustrious  pedigree  ;  but  when  they  ceased  to  be  Catho- 
lics I  cannot  determine  with  accuracy.  Henry  Courtenay, 
K.G.,  the  eleventh  earl  of  Devon,  created  marquis  of  Exeter 
18th  June,  1525,  whose  mother  was  Catherine  of  York, 
daughter  of  King  Edward  IV.,  sister  to  Elizabeth,  the  Queen 
of  Henry  VII.,  and  aunt  to  King  Henry  VIII.,  was  sacri- 
ficed, by  a  breach  of  the  most  sacred  laws  of  justice,  to  the 
gloomy  suspicions  of  that  remorseless  tyrant,  the  last-men- 
tioned monarch,  on  9th  January,  1 539.  "  Odium  Tyranni 
in  virtutem  et  NobUitatem." — (Apologia  Cardinalis  Poli,  118.) 
Edward,  the  only  son  of  the  marquis,  and  but  thirteen  years 


Exchequer  not  to  seize  any  of  the  lands  of  John  Arundell,  Esq.,  con- 
victed of  recusancy,  so  long  as  he  paid  £20  a  month  for  not  frequenting 
church,  &c.  (£240 per  ann.) 

2.— 20  June,  34  Eliz.  1691. 
Recusancy  of  George  Arundell,  Esq. 
John  Maynard,  Yeoman  the  "J    ■ 

Queen's  Guard.  f    Fine  £20  a  month. 

Geo.  Arnndell,  Esq.,  of  Lan-    I 
heme,  Cornwall.  J 

*  There  is  an  hereditary  tradition  at   Lanherne  that  the  Blessed 
Sacrament  has  always  been  kept  there  since  the  Reformation. 

c 


18  CATHOLIC    FAMILIES    IN 

old  when  liis  father  fell  into  disgrace,  was  committed  to  the 
Tower,  where  he  remained  in  close  confinement  from  1538 
until  1553,  his  manners  and  education  being  totally  neg- 
lected. One  of  the  first  acts  of  Queen  Mary  at  her  accession 
to  the  throne  was  to  release  him  from  his  cruel  imprison- 
ment. On  3rd  September  she  issued  letters  patent  creating 
him  Earl  of  Devon,  to  hold  to  him  "  et  heredibus  suis  mas- 
culis  in  perpetuum ;"  and  according  to  F.  Persons'  "  History 
of  Domesticall  Difficulties  in  the  English  Catholic  Cause,"  he 
"  was  designed  to  be  a  husband  to  Queen  Mary,  if  the  matter 
had  not  been  strongly  laboured  and  overthrown  by  the  con- 
trary faction  of  Lord  Paget."  It  is  true  that  Bishop  Gardiner 
promoted  such  union  with  all  the  influence  of  his  station.  But 
his  own  misconduct  ruined  all  his  prospects  :  his  ungrateful 
disloyalty  caused  his  recommittal  to  the  Tower  in  April,  1554 ; 
thence  he  was  removed  to  Eotheringay  Castle.  After  the 
Queen's  marriage  with  Philip  of  Spain  he  was  permitted  to 
travel  abroad,  and  dying  of  an  ague  at  Padua,  18th  September, 
1556,  was  honourably  buried  in  St.  Anthony's  Church  there. 
Sir  William  Courtenay,  the  fifth  of  that  name,  of  Powder- 
ham  Castle,  the  founder  of  the  great  Irish  estate,  was  so  stanch 
a  Catholic,  that  he  (as  well  as  his  daughter  Elizabeth,  wife  of 
Sir  William  Wrey)  was  denounced  by  the  intolerant  House  of 
Commons  on  27th  April,  1624,  as  the  Papist  recusant.  Cleave- 
land,  in  his  Genealogical  Hist,  of  the  Courtenays,  represents 
that  "  he  did  receive  into  his  house,  and  harbour  the  Jesuits 
and  other  Popish  priests,  which  came  secretly  into  England, 
and  spent  a  great  deal  of  money  in  maintaining  of  them. 
For  there  is  a  tradition,  that  in  a  dark,  secret  room,  which  is 
in  Powderham  Castle,  many  Popish  priests  lay  concealed." 
The  venerable  knight  died  in  London  on  24th  June,  1630,  aged 
seventy-seven,  and  was  buried  at  Powderham.  On  opening 
the  family  vault  for  the  interment  of  Lady  Frances  Courtenay 
on  31st  December,  1761,  was  discovered  the  brass  Maltese 
cross  referred  to  by  Cleaveland,  about  six  inches  long  and 
four  wide,  inscribed  thus  : — 

Hio 

jacet 
Sepultus 

Gulielinus  Courtenay  de  Powderham  Miles 
Catholicus  Romanus  et  Confessor 
qui  obiit  Londini  in  festo  Sancti  Johannis  Baptistse 
Anno  Salutis  1630  aetatis  suse  77°  pro  cujus 

Anima  intercedant 

Beata  Virgo 

et  omnes  Sancti. 


DEVONSHIRE    AND    CORNWALL.  19 

Mr.  Chappie,  in  his  Notes,  says  that  it  was  thrown  again 
into  the  lower  part  of  the  vault. 

Sir  William  Couxtenay,  only  son  of  Thomas  Courtenay, 
who  was  the  third  son  of  the  Confessor  above  mentioned, 
received  the  honour  of  knighthood  for  his  gallant  conduct 
9th  April,  1644.  Five  years  later  this  "  Papist  recusant "  was 
allowed  to  compound  for  one-third  of  his  estates  in  Hants. 
He  had  married  Mary,  the  relict  of  Gilbert  Wells,  of 
Brambridge,  in  that  county.  I  lose  sight  of  him  after 
February,  1655. 

A  powerful  branch  of  the  Courtenays,  in  the  early  part  of 
King  Henry  VI.'s  reign,  obtained  possession  of  Molland  Bot- 
reaux,  by  intermarriage  with  the  Hungerfords.  This  branch 
remained  Catholic  until  John  Courtenay  in  1732  deceased 
without  issue.  His  ancestor  John  Courtenay,  who  died  in 
1660,  had  compounded  for  his  recusancy  in  the  sum  of  £750. 

The  CMchesters  of  ArUngton  persevered  in  the  religion  of 
their  forefathers  until  the  representative  of  this  ancient 
family,  John  Palmer  Chichester,  read  his  recantation  in 
Exeter  Cathedral,  about  the  year  1795.  His  death  occurred 
at  Weymouth  on  5th  November,  1823,  set.  fifty-four.  Until 
this  unhappy  defection,  a  priest  had  been  maintained  as 
chaplain  in  the  family.  His  younger  brother,  Charles  Chi- 
chester, settled  at  Calverleigh  Court,  and  lived  and  died  a 
sterling  Catholic.     His  son  walks  in  his  footsteps. 

Strange  to  say,  though  Popery  and  treason  were  considered 
nearly  as  synonymous  in  the  eye  of  the  law,  yet  license  to 
commit  Popery  and  its  prospective  pardon  might  be  had  for 
money,  from  the  heads  of  the  Anglican  Church  and  defenders 
of  the  Faith.  Their  martyr  Charles  I.  loved  to  traffic  in 
such  indulgences.  In  fol.  36  of  the  Patent  Book  of  Dr. 
Hall,  bishop  of  Exeter,  the  author  of  "Dissuasive  from 
Popery,"  is  copied  his  Majesty's  allowance,  under  the  Great 
Seal  of  England,  and  bearing  date  14th  March,  third  year 
of  his  reign,  1628  (and  exhibited  ten  years  later  to  the  said 
Lord  Bishop),  to  John  Chichester,  of  Arlington,  Esq.,  and  to 
his  wife  Ann,  to  remain  recusants,  &c.,  and  with  exemption 
from  all  citations,  pains  and  penalties,  during  the  yearly 
payment  of  a  specified  sum  of  money  to  the  Crown.  A  simDar 
one  is  there  recorded  in  favour  of  Francis  Kirkham,  of 
Pinhoe,  gentleman,  and  Elizabeth  his  wife,  dated  21st  April, 
1639,  "  durante  solutione  pecunim."  The  loyal  Sir  Edward 
Cary  got  discharged  on  24th  June,  1634,  by  letters-patent 
under  the  Great  Seal  (which  were  em-oUed  in  the  Pipe  Office 
20th  October  following),  as  well  for  himself  as  for  his  wife 
Margaret,    "ratione  recusantise  suae,  vel   absentise  suae  ab 

c  2 


20  CATHOLIC    FAMILIES    IN 

ecclesi^  vel  ecclesiis,  capellis  sive  aliis  lo'cis  communis  pre- 
cationisj  antehac  seu  imposterum/'  as  long  as  £136.  13s.  M. 
be  paid  every  year  into  his  Majesty's  exchequer.* 

Before  I  part  with  the  Courtenays  of  Holland,  and  the 
Chichesters  of  Arlington,  I  must  refer  to  the  letter  in  the 
State-paper  Office,  of  21st  October,  1642,  where  I  read  this 
statement  of  the  parliamentary  bigot :— "  There  hath  ben 
more  substantial  armour  found  in  Mr.  Chichester's  house  at 
Arlington,  and  at  Master  Courtenay  his  house  at  MoUand 
(both  recusants),  than  in  our  whole  country  (the  gentry 
excepted).  At  the  searching  of  these  gentlemen's  houses 
there  were  many  wounded." 

Of  the  Risdons  of  Bableigh,  in  Parkham  parish,  I  can 
glean  but  few  particulars.  The  Rev.  Edward  Risdon  was  very 
instrumental  in  the  foundation  of  Douay  College  in  1568. 
In  the  north  aisle  of  Parkham  church  is  this  epitaph : — - 

Hoc  tumulo  requiescit  corpus 
Wilmotae  Risdon  Viduae 
quondam  Uxoris  Thomse  Risdon  Armigeri 
qus  vixit  et  mortua  est  in  Fide  Catholica. 
1617. 

F.  Sweet  was  mentioned  in  the  preceding  chapter  as  being 
apprehended  in  Exeter,  14th  November,  1621,  on  his  way, 
perhaps,  from  Powderham  to  Mr.  John  Risdon.  Again, 
F.  Philip  Powel,  O.S.B.,  was  sent  to  "a  good  family, 
Mr.  Risdon' s,  in  Devonshire,  in  1622,  and  continued  his 
ministerial  services  in  the  family  and  its  connections  until 
they  were  scattered  by  the  civil  wars." — See  Challoner's 
"Missionary  Priests,"  where  is  related  his  martyrdom  at 
Tyburn,  30th  June,  1646,  set.  fifty-three,  miss,  twenty-six. 

When  the  Cary  family  returned  to  the  faith  of  their  fore- 
fathers, I  cannot  determine ;  but  I  incline  to  the  opinion  that 
in  the  early  part  of  King  James  I.'s  reign.  Sir  Edward  Cary 
■  was  reconciled.  He  had  married  Miss  Margaret  Blackhurstj 
of  Lancashire.  Both  died  in  1654 ;  f  he  on  14th  June,  aged 
eighty ;  she,  five  days  later,  in  her  eighty^ fifth  year.  Their 
constancy  in  their  rehgion  has  entailed  a  blessing  on  their 
descendants.  Sir  George,  their  eldest  son,  was  enabled  to 
purchase  Tor  Abbey,  in  1662 ;  and  I  believe  that  nearly  ever 
since  a  priest  might  be  found  there.     He,  Sir  George,  died 

*  As  late  even  as  26th  Octoter,  1689,  "Roger,  earl  of  Castlemain, 
Sir  Edward  Hales,  Charles  Hales,  and  Obadiah  Walter,  prisoners  in  the 
Tower,  were  brought  to  the  bar  of  the  House  of  Commons  for  high 
treason,  in  being  reconciled  to  the  Church  of  iZome."— Hatsell's  Prece- 
dents, vol.  iv.  p.  269. 

t  See  Appendix  No.  III. 


DEVONSHIRE    AND    CORNWALL.  21 

4th  June,  1678.  In  the  time  of  his  son  and  heir,  Edward 
Gary,  Esq.,  William,  Prince  of  Orange,  with  a  powerful 
force,  landed  at  Brixham.  The  following  extract  from  the 
diary  of  the  Rev.  John  Whittle,  a  chaplain  of  his  highness, 
may  amuse  the  reader : — 

"  6th  November,  1688,  we  all  rode  at  anchor  in  Torbay.  There  is  a 
fair  house  belonging  to  one  Mr.  Gary,  a  very  rigid  Papist,  who  enters 
tained  a  priest  in  his  house.  This  priest  going  to  recreate  himself  on 
the  leads  on  the  top  thereof,  it  being  a  most  delightesome  day,  as  he 
was  walking  there,  he  happened  to  cast  his  eyes  towards  the  sea,  and 
spying  the  fleet  at  a  distance,  withal  being  purblind  in  his  eyes,  as 
well  as  blinded  by  Satan  in  his  mind,  he  presently  concludes  that  it 
was  the  French  navy  (because  he  saw  divers  white  flags)  come  to  land 
the  sons  of  Belial,  which  should  cut  off^  the  children  of  God,  or,  as  they 
call  us,  hereticks.  Agd  being  transported  with  joy,  he  hastened  to 
inform  his  own  disciples  of  the  house,  and  forthwith  they  sang  '  Te 
Deum.' 

"And  because  false  reports  were  spread  abroad  that  the  people  of 
this  house  had  shot  several  of  the  Prince  of  Orange's  soldiers,  and 
thereupon  they  had  burnt  down  this  house,  I  must  infoi'm  the  candid 
reader  that  there  was  nothing  at  all  in  it.  For  our  people  did  not  give 
them  one  reviling  word,  nor  they  us.  Some  lodged  there,  while  we 
were  in  the  bay." — Page  36. 

Another  account  says, — 

"  The  prince,  on  Monday,  6th  November,  sent  a  Captain  M.  to  search 
Tor  Abbey,  and  so  all  other  houses  belonging  to  Papists,  for  horses  and 
arms." — See  No.  710  of  Exeter  Flying  Post. 

The  Gary  family  has  remained  immovable  in  the  Gatholic 
faith  since. 

Some  of  the  Godolphins  of  Cornwall  professed  the  Catho- 
lic creed.  Sir  William  Godolphin  (the  elder  brother  of  that 
famous  Sidney,  created  Lord  Godolphin  and  baron  of  Rial- 
ton,  8th  September,  1684)  was  sent  ambassador  to  Spain  by 
King  Charles  II.,  and  there  embraced  the  Catholic  faith, 
and  ended  his  days  in  that  country.  Dodd  (vol.  iii.  of 
his  "Church  Hist."  p.  251)  says,  that  "he  left  a  consider- 
able substance"  for  the  benefit  of  religion.  In  the  procura- 
tor's books  of  the  Colleges  at  St.  Omer  and  at  Bruges,  I  find 
mention  of  the  "  Godolphin's  free  place  for  Cornwall ;"  and 
in  F.  John  Thorpe's  letter,  written  from  Rome  in  September, 
1789,  that— 

"  Mr.  Stonor,  the  agent  of  the  English  clergy  at  Rome,  had  presented 
a  petition  several  years  before,  at  the  request  of  Lord  Arundell,  for 
recovering  the  maintenance  of  the  Godolphin  mission ;  but  obtained 
nothing  from  Foggini,  who  then  acted  for  Cardinal  Corsini — that  before 
the  suppression  of  the  Jesuits,  the  sum  of  between  300  and  400  crowns 
used  yearly  to  be  passed  to  the  English  provincial  of  the  Society  for 
the  beneiit  of  the  Cornish  mission  ;  that  the  Rev.  Mr.  Waters,  O.S.B., 
claimed  the  maintenance  of  a  missioner  in  Cornwall ;  and  with  a  well- 


22  CATHOLIC    FAMILIES    IN 

concerted  and  cogent  memorial  presented  authentic  certificates  of  tlie 
Yearly  payment  of  such  maintenance  up  to  the  year  177^.  me  anbwtr 
of  Cardinal  Corsini,  approved  of  by  the  Congregation  de  Propaganda, 
was,  that  the  funds  had  been  ruined  ;  but  if  the  bishop  of  the  western 
district  desired  some  help  for  sending  a  boy  to  the  English  college  at 
Rome,  it  would  be  bestowed  upon  him." 

I  pass  by,  for  want  of  sufficient  information,  the  Kirk- 
hams  of  Blagdon,  Pincourt,  and  Bidwell ;  the  Reynolds  of 
Pinhoe ;  the  Borlases  of  Treluddra ;  the  Giffards  of  Halsbury ; 
the  Pollards  of  Horwood;  the  Fursdons  of  Fursdon;  the 
Eowes  of  Kingston;  the  Chesters  of  Bearscombe;  the 
Kowes  of  Endellion  and  Trevithick ;  the  Hannes  of  De- 
viock;  the  Trevanions,  a  branch  of  the  Dennis*  family; 
the  Knights  of  Axminster  and  Comb-pyne;  and  some  few 
others,— to  invite  a  brief  attention  to  the  Cliffords. 

This  ancient  family  returned  to  the  faith  of  its  forefathers 
in  the  person  of  Thomas,  the  Lord  Treasurer  Clifford,  early 
in  1673.  As  late  as  17th  July,  1671,  he  had  procured 
Dr.  Anthony  Sparrow,  the  Protestant  bishop  of  Exeter,  to 
dedicate  and  consecrate  a  domestic  chapel  at  Ugbrooke, 
70  feet  long  and  30  broad,  with  a  cemetery  34  feet  long 
and  24  broad.  What  led  to  his  conversion,  I  cannot 
pretend  to  discover ;  but  Lord  Shaftesbury  had  purposely 
contrived  the  Test  Act  to  exclude  him  and  the  duke  of  York 
from  the  cabinet.  To  use  the  words  of  King  James  II.  (see 
the  Life  pf  that  Sovereign  compiled  from  the  Stuart  MSS. 
in  1816,  vol.  i.  p.  484),  "  This  new  Test  had  the  effect  in 
outing  Lord  Clifford  of  the  place  of  Lord  Treasurer  of 
England,  and  of  being  any  longer  a  privy  councillor,  who, 
though  a  new  convert,  generously  preferred  his  conscience  to 
his  interest."  The  noble  lord  died  at  Ugbrooke  on  17th 
October,  1673,  and,  as  the  Chudleigh  parochial  register 
testifies,  "was  buried  the  19th  day  of  October  in  his  owne 

*  In  the  History  of  the  English  Friars  Minors  by  Davenport,  who 
lived  for  a  time  in  the  diocese  of  Exeter,  I  read  in  page  55  : — "  Frater 
Dennis  sen  Georgius  Dionysii,  generosa  familia  Catholica  in  comitatu 
Devoniensi  prognatus,  olim  in  obsidione  et  interceptione  Bolonise  sub 
Henrico  Octavo  Regius  Vexillifer,  ante  Ordinis  Sancti  Francisci  ultimam 
suppressionem,  sub  Maria  (ut  frater  ejus  ndbilis,  totus  plenus  dierum 
et  bonorum  operum,  ante  quadraginta  plus  minus  annos  occulatus 
rerum  Testis  haec  mihi  retulit)  Grenovici  habitum  nostrum  suscepit  et 
Novitius  existens  quod  singularem  denotat  fervorem  una  cum  Patribus 
ad  exteras  nationes  (Belgium)  cum  habitu  evolavit,  et  e  Brabantia 
Leodium  se  conferens,  apud  Nostros  diu  post  Professionem  mortuus, 
sepultus  est  in  Ambitu  ;  cujus  Epitaphium,  jam  ablatum,  ibi  Vidi." 

The  book  was  printed  at  Douay  in  1665.  Q.  Was  not  the  informant 
Sir  Thomas  D.,  spn  of  the  Sir  Robert,  who  died  at  Bicton,  4th  September, 
1592? 


DEVONSHIRE    AND    CORNWALL.  23 

chappell."  His  honoured  widow  survived  until  Slst  Septem- 
ber, 1709,  set.  eighty.  She  was  a  pious  Catholic,  and,  as 
such,  is  shamefully  belied  by  the  fanatical  minister  John 
Whittie,  in  page  45  of  what  he  calls  his  "  Exact  Diary  of  the 
late  Expedition  of  his  illustrious  Highness  the  Prince  of 
Orange  into  England." 

"  From  Newton  the  aiiny  passed  by  a  Popish  lady's  house,  which 
was  cruel  to  all  her  Protestant  tenants  :  she  forced  some  to  turn  Papists 
or  apostates.  But  had  the  French  king's  army  passed  thus  by  a 
Protestant  house,  it  should  soon  have  been  fired,  the  people  put  to  the 
sword,  or  burnt.  But  we  have  not  so  learned  Christ ;  nor  been  tlius 
taught  by  his  ministers  in  our  land  :  for  no  man  molested  this  house  ; 
nor  did  any  visit  it,  unless  a  captain  and  some  gentlemen,  which  would 
have  bought  themselves  horses  there ;  having  lost  their  own  at  sea,  and 
so  constrained  to  walk  on  foot  till  they  could  supply  themselves  with 
more," 

Hugh,  the  second  Lord  Clifford,  in  the  year  1715,  as  a 
suspected  friend  of  the  House  of  Stuart,  was  placed  under 
the  surveillance  of  an  officer  appointed  by  the  new  dynasty. 
In  "  The  Protestant  Mercury,"  or  "  The  Exeter  Post-Boy," 
Friday,  December,  16th,  1715,  I  read,  "The  Lord  Clifford, 
who  has  been  for  some  time  in  custody,  is  ordered  up  to 
town."  Most  probably  he  was  set  at  liberty  when  the  alarm 
of  invasion  had  subsided.  "  In  him,"  says  the  biographer 
Prince,  "  all  the  honours  and  virtues  of  his  noble  ancestors 
seem  to  have  been  epitomized."  In  the  generous  preference 
of  conscience  to  interest,  his  descendants  have  continued 
immovable,  though  they  have  witnessed  many  families  and 
friends  bending  the  knee  to  Baal.  In  return  for  such 
fidelity,  the  blessing  of  Heaven  visibly  rests  upon  them; — 
they  rejoice  in  their  children;  they  depart  in  peace;  they 
are  acceptable  to  God  and  to  man,  and  to  all  that  dwell  in 
the  land.  In  the  language  of  the  canticle,  the  writer  offers 
them  his  best  wishes  :  "  Qui  diligunt  te,  sicut  sol  in  ortu  suo 
splendet,  ita  rutilent." — Judges  v.  31. 

In  concluding  this  chapter,  I  must  remind  the  reader, 
that  during  William  III.'s  reign  a  statistical  account  was 
taken,  by  royal  commission,  of  the  exact  number  of  Catholics 
in  England.  The  sum  total  was  reduced  by  the  desolating 
influence  of  the  penal  laws  to  27,696.  Of  this  number  but 
298  were  returned  in  the  Diocese  of  Exeter. — See  Dalrym- 
ple's  "  Memoirs,"  vol.  ii.  2nd  ed.  Appendix  to  Part  II.  The 
"  Ann.  Lit.  S.J."  in  1710  states,  "  Pauci  hic  Catholici  et  fere 
pauperes." 


24  STATE   OF    RELIGION    IN 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE  ACTUAL   STATE   OF   RELIGION   IN  DEVONSHIRE   AHD  CORNWALL, 

In  forming  the  comparison  and  contrast  of  the  state  of  reli- 
gion within  the  diocese  of  Exeter  (which  includes  Devonshire 
and  Cornwall),  between  the  former  and  the  present  times,  we 
have  to  mourn  over  the  piUage  and  destruction  of  the  records 
and  memorials  of  Cathohc  affairs,  which  perished  irrecover- 
ably in  June,  1780,  when  the  rioters  attacked  and  burnt 
Bishop  Walmesley's  house  in  Bell- tree  Lane,  Bath. 

After  Lanherne,  the  oldest  mission  in  Cornwall,  and 
Arlington,  the  oldest  in  Devonshire,  we  believe  that  Tor 
Abbey  and  Ugbrooke  must  take  precedence  in  point  of  time. 
Formerly  the  missionary  priests  were  fortunate  to  find  an 
asylum  where  to  rest  their  heads, — they  were  contented  with 
a  bare  subsistence.  Most  of  them  had  no  fixed  abode ;  the 
conveniences  of  licensed  places  of  worship,  with  contiguous 
residences  and  regular  stipends,  and  schools  for  instructing 
their  poor,  were  unknown.  In  order  to  elude  the  vigilance 
of  scouts  and  persecutors,  they  had  to  make  their  rounds  to 
the  houses  of  the  faithful  under  the  cover  of  the  midnight 
darkness ;  they  were  necessitated  to  assume  different  names, 
to  disguise  their  persons,  to  submit  to  irksome  solitude,  to 
many  slights,  frequent  denials  of  admission, — "propter 
metum  Judseorum/'-^in  fine,  they  were  doomed  to  live  in 
perpetual  hazard  of  life  and  liberty.  Though  their  course 
was  splendid  in  the  sight  of  God  and  His  angels,  it  was 
abject  and  contemptible  in  the  eyes  of  worldlings.  These 
industrious  labourers  in  the  vineyard  of  souls  died  neglected 
and  forgotten ;  we  rarely  meet  with  a  grave-stone  to  record 
where  they  rested  from  their  earthly  labours;  but  their 
names  are  written  in  heaven.  The  charitable  zeal  of  these 
pastors — the  fervour  and  spirit  of  sacrifice  in  the  breasts  of 
their  dutiful  children — may  vie  with  the  example  of  the 
primitive  days  of  Christianity.  We  cannot  think  of  the 
perpetual  dangers,  privations,  and  sufferings  of  these  soldiers 
of  Christ  without  tears.  * 

Tor  Abbey. — In  all  probability  a  priest  was  attached  to 
the  Gary  family  soon  after  the  restoration  of  monarchy  ;  but 
the  ease  and  independence  of  the  pastor  must  have  received 


DEVONSHIBE    AND    CORNWALL.  25 

considerable  improvement  from  the  liberality  of  the  Rev. 
John  Leuns,  who  had  been  chaplain  for  some  time.  In  the 
second  volume  of  this  work  I  shall  give  his  biography. 
At  present  suffice  it  to  say,  that  he  was  buried  at  Tor 
Mohun,  on  20th  April,  1709,  and  that  his  will  was  proved 
in  the  bishop  of  Exeter's  Registry  Court,  on  9th  May 
following. 

Divine  service  continued  to  be  performed  in  an  upper 
room  of  Tor  Abbey  until  the  year  1779,  when  George  Gary, 
Esq.,  fitted  up  the  old  refectory  of  the  Norbertine  canons, — 
a  lofty  room,  and  52  feet  long,  by  25  wide, — for  a  very 
respectable  chapel.  But  the  present  and  seventh  representa- 
tive of  the  family,  Robert  Sheddon  Sulyarde  Gary,  Esq., 
generously  gave  almost  eligible  site  of  three-quarters  of  an 
acre  for  a  new  church,  which  my  reverend  friend  Canon 
Maurice  Power  undertook  to  erect.  The  first  stone  was 
laid  April  4th,  1853.  This  edifice  is  an  ornament  to  the 
vicinity,  and  was  solemnly  consecrated  by  the  Right  Rev. 
Dr.  Errington,  Bishop  of  Plymouth,  on  17th  February, 
1854. 

Ugbrooke. — St.  Gyprian's  chapel  here  was  dedicated  to 
Protestant  worship  by  Dr.  Anthony  Sparrow,  Lord  Bishop 
of  Exeter,  on  the  17th  July,  1671 ;  but,  since  the  recon- 
ciliation of  the  family  to  the  Church,  it  has  been  conse- 
crated to  Catholic  rites,  and  has  been  enlarged  and  decorated. 
Within  its  walls  the  first  diocesan  synod  of  the  see  of 
Plymouth  was  held  on  February  7,  1854. 

Exeter  was  the  next  established  mission.  In  page  14  I 
have  alluded  to  the  demolition  of  its  chapel  by  the  partisans 
of  the  Revolution,  and  of  this  I  shall  have  to  speak  more 
amply  in  the  biography  of  its  incumbent,  the  Rev.  Richard 
Norris,  S.J.  From  poverty,  and  the  distraction  of  the  times, 
the  Catholics  in  this  city  and  neighbourhood  were  compelled 
to  be  satisfied  with  the  occasional  visits  of  an  itinerant  priest, 
and  for  many  years — certainly  from  1745 — divine  service 
was  cautiously  celebrated  in  an  upper  back  room  of  Mr. 
Flashman's  house,  commonly  called  King  John's  Tavern,  in 
South-street.  About  the  year  1763,  the  Jesuits  undertook  to 
provide  a  regular  incumbent,  viz.,  in  the  Rev.  William  Gilli- 
brand,  who  boarded  with  a  Mr.  Truscott,  in  Exe  Island,  now 
the  site  of  the  gas-works.  A  successor  of  his,  the  Rev.  John 
Edisford,  removed  the  chapel  from  South-street  to  Bartho- 
lomew-street for,  I  think,  about stwo  years;  but  at  Christmas, 
1775,  a  lease  was  taken  of  the  south-east  part  of  the  capital 
mansion  called  or  known  by  the  name  of  St.  Nicholas,  and 
a  large  upper  chamber  was   easily  formed  into  a   chapel. 


26  STATE    OF    RELIGION    IN 

Within  thirteen  years  these  rented  premises  were  purchased, 
and  then  a  substantial  chapel  in  the  garden  was  determined 
upon.  The  foundation-stone  was  laid  on  6th  May,  1790, 
and  on  the  Feast  of  the  Epiphany,  1792,  Mass  was  first  cele- 
brated in  this  respectable  place  of  worship.  On  the  19th  of 
June,  1854,  the  preparatory  work  for  the  handsome  poor- 
school  commenced.  Bishop  Errington  laid  its  foundation- 
stone  on  7th  July,  1854,  and  it  was  opened  with  becoming 
honour  on  Tuesday,  16th  January,  1855 ;  and  now  the 
chapel  is  undergoing  considerable  enlargement.     Prqficiat ! 

Plymouth. — Here  the  faithful  were  in  a  worse  condition 
than  their  brethren  in  Exeter.  The  charitable  heart  of  that 
venerable  benefactor  to  religion,  Rowland  Conyers,  Esq.  (who 
lived  till  28th  April,  1803,  aged  seventy-nine),  was  moved  with 
compassion  at  witnessing  their  disconsolate  condition,  and  he 
provided  funds  to  maintain  a  priest  both  for.  them  and  for 
the  seafaring  Catholics  who  frequented  the  port  of  Dartmouth. 
His  foundation,  however,  for  the  latter  place  was  transferred, 
about  the  year  1820,  to  "Weymouth,  of  which  more  in  the 
sequel  of  this  work. 

The  zealous  pastor  at  Plymouth,  Jean  Louis  Guilbert,  then 
felt  encouraged  to  undertake  the  erection  of  a  public  chapel, 
in  lieu  of  the  room  over  a  stable  in  the  back  of  the  George 
Inn,  Devonport.  Having  obtained  a  central  situation  near 
the  Marine  Hospital  at  Stonehouse,  between  Devonport  and 
Plymouth,  the  foundation-stone  was  laid  on  28th  May,  1806, 
for  St.  Mary's  chapel,  with  an  adjoining  presbytere  and 
school,  and  on  20th  December,  1807,  Mass  was  celebrated  in 
that  sacred  edifice.  At  a  later  period  the  Rev.  Henry  Riley 
enlarged  and  improved  it,  as  well  as  the  rest  of  the  pre- 
mises ;  and  since  October,  1851,  St.  Mary's  has  been  raised 
to  the  rank  of  a  cathedral,  which  has  now  (since  6th  December, 
1853)  a  chapter  of  eight  canons  attached  to  it.  The  foun- 
dation of  a  cathedral  was  laid  28th  June,  1856. 

Axminster.—^Qvcke  time  after  John  Knight,  Esq.,  formerly 
of  Cannington,  had  effected  the  purchase  of  Hilary  House 
(late  Mr.  CoUtaret's),  in  Axminster,  A.D.  1763,  he  fitted  up 
a  decent  apartment  in  the  mansion,  which  continued  to  be 
used  by  a  small  but  increasing  congregation,  until  the  present 
church,  dedicated  to  Our  Lady,  was  opened  for  public  worship 
on  15th  August,  1831,  principally  through  the  instrumen- 
tality and  siipport  of  his  pious  son,  Henry  Knight,  Esq.,* 
whom  may  God  long  preserve  ! 

*  His  father,  Jolin  Knight,  Esq.,  died  14th  June,  1801,  jet.  69.  His 
late  brother  William,  born  8rd  May,  1763,  died  at  Hilary  House 
3rd  December,  1849,  at.  77.  j  ■> 


DEVONSHiaE    AND    CORNWALL.  37 

Calverleigh  and  Tiverton.  —  I  have  already  related  the 
defection  of  Johu  Palmer  Chichester,  Esq.,  and  in  conse- 
quence the  breaking  up  of  the  Arlington  mission.  Joseph 
Nagle,  Esq.,  who  had  purchased  the  Calverleigh  estate  some 
years  before,  and  had  engaged  the  Rev.  Philip  Compton  for 
his  chaplain,  now  invited  the  Rev.  Henry  Innes,  the  last 
priest  at  Arlington,  to  succeed  that  reverend  gentleman,  who 
retired  from  missionary  duty.  The  venerable  patron  con- 
tinued to  maintain  a  chaplain  until  his  happy  death,  on  29th 
January,  1813,  set.  eighty-nine.  His  nephew-in-law,  Charles 
Joseph  Chichester,  Esq.  (brother  to  the  aforesaid  John  Palmer 
Chichester  of  Arlington),  who  inherited  the  estate,  pursued 
the  same  course.  One  of  these  ecclesiastics,  the  Rev.  Jean 
Marc  Moutier,  a'' gentleman  of  fortune,  foreseeing,  in  the 
precarious  state  of  Mr.  Chichester's  health,  the  dispersion  of 
the  family  in  the  event  of  his  death,  and  the  closing  of  the 
chapel  at  Calverleigh,  generously  undertook  the  perpetual 
endowment  of  a  mission  in  the  adjoining  parish  of  Tiverton  ; 
but  he  died  on  15th  April,  1833,  set.  sixty-six,  four  years 
before  Mr.  Chichester.  In  conformity  with  his  intentions, 
a  convenient  site  was  purchased  at  Shillands  on  14th  June, 
1836,  for  a  church,  school,  and  presbytere.  The  first 
stone  of  the  sacred  edifice  was  laid  by  Bishop  Baines,  on 
Tuesday,  6th  September,  1836.  On  7th  May,  1838,  the 
Rev.  Thomas  Costello  was  enabled  to  remove  from  Cal- 
verleigh into  the  new  premises.  Mass  was  first  celebrated 
in  the  school-room  on  Sunday,  13th  May ;  and  St.  John's 
church  was  opened  for  public  worship  by  that  reverend 
gentleman  on  Whit-Sunday,  the  19th  of  May,  1839.  I  re- 
gret to  add,  that  by  mismanagement  of  affairs,  the  inten- 
tions and  express  wishes  of  the  founder  of  the  Tiverton 
mission  have  been  carried  out  in  a  very  unsatisfactory 
manner;  but  I  hope  that  justice,  though  tardy,  will  be 
accomplished. 

Follaton,  near  Totnes.  —  The  late  Edward  Cary,  Esq., 
having  purchased  this  estate  in  1788,  on  deciding  to  make 
it  his  residence,  invited  the  Rev.  Charles  Timings,  who 
since  March,  1783,  had  visited  the  faithful  dispersed  in 
Dartmouth,  Kingston,  Totnes,  and  the  wide  region  of  the 
South  Hams,  to  take  up  his  abode  with  him.  He  accepted 
the  proposal,  and  retained  the  situation  of  chaplain  from 
the  29th  November,  1801,  until  his  death,  8th  December, 
1832,  ffit.  seventy-five.  The  family  still  provides  a  priest  to 
officiate  at  the  mansion-house. 

Tawstock.  —  Sir  Bourchier  Wrey,  the  seventh  baronet, 
dying  on  20th  November,  1826,  set.  seventy,  his  eldest  son, 


28  STATE    OF    RELIGION    IN 

BonrcMer  Palk  Wrey,  succeeded  to  the  title  and  estate. 
This  gentleman  had  married  a  Catholic  widoWj  and,  though 
a  member  of  the  Church  of  England,  readily  afforded  every 
facility  to  his  lady  and  their  three  daughters  to  practise  the 
Catholic  religion.  Settling  at  Tawstock,  he  procured  for 
them,  in  July,  1827,  a  Catholic  chaplain,  fitted  up  in  the 
house  a  convenient  and  spacious  oratory,  and  also  furnished 
a  poor-school.  In  this  domestic  chapel  Bishop  Baines,  on 
26th  August,  1832,  administered  confirmation  to  twenty 
persons ;  and  Bishop  Baggs,  on  22nd  September,  1844,  to 
twenty-two. 

But  as  the  tenure  of  this  mission  is  precarious,  depending 
solely,  on  the  baronet's  life,  he  purchased,  in  1843,  from 
Charles  Roberts,  Esq.,  for  the  sum  of  J160,  a  desirable  site 
in  Barnstaple  for  a  church,  priest's  house,  and  school.  The 
foundation  was  laid  for  a  church  of  80  by  30  feet ;  but  a 
combination  of  circumstances  prevented  the  completion  of 
the  buildings  until  lately.  On  the  24th  October,  1855,  the 
church  was  dedicated,  and  the  next  day  solemnly  opened  by 
Archbishop  Errington  and  Bishop  Vaughan,  assisted  by  nine 
priests. 

Yealmpton. — About  the  time  that  England  was  maddened 
with  the  "No  Popery"  cry,  November,  1850,  renewed  by 
the  restitution  of  the  hierarchy,  that  calm  observer  and 
sincere  inquirer  after  truth,  Edmund  Rodney  PoUexfen 
Bastard,  of  Kitley,  Esq.,  received  the  light  of  Catholic  faith. 
Some  months  later  he  assisted  at  the  solemn  consecration  by 
Cardinal  Wiseman  of  Dr.  George  Errington,  appointed  the 
new  bishop  of  Plymouth,  at  St.  John's  cathedral,  Salford, 
on  25th  July,  1851  j  and  he  accompanied  his  lordship 
into  his  diocese,  entertaining  him  honourably  at  Kitley 
until  the  middle  of  October,  when  the  worthy  prelate  was 
enabled  to  take  up  his  quarters  at  St.  Mary's,  Stonehouse. 
In  his  pious  zeal,  this  new  convert  obtained  a  chaplain  in 
the  person  of  the  learned  and  Very  Rev.  John  Brande 
Morris,  who  had  some  years  before  embraced  the  Catholic 
faith.  And,  to  extend  the  blessing  of  true  religion,  he 
converted  a  handsome  structure,  "near  Yealmpton  parish 
church,  originally  intended  by  him  for  a  parochial  school, 
into  a  Catholic,  church.  There  Mass  was  first  celebrated  on 
Sunday,  4th  July,  1852 ;  and  I  pray  to  Heaven  that  through 
the  apostoHc  exertions  of  his  minister,  "  aperiat  Dominus 
gentibus  ostium  fidei." — Acts  xiv.  26. 

Since  writing  the  above,  I  have  to  regret  that  this 
honoured  patron  of  religion  has  been  taken  away  !     He  was 


DEVONSHIRE    AND    CORNWALL.  29 

born  7th  September,  1825 ;  married  Florence  Mary  Scroope, 
of  the  ancient  family  of  Danby,  November,  1853':  ob.  12th 
June,  1856. 

Teignmouth. — For  many  years  back  some  families  of  the 
faithful  were  scattered  here,  and  at  Shaldon,  Dawlish,  and 
Newton.  Two  French  priests,  Messrs.  Le  Pretre  and  Le 
Verrier,  successively,  until  their  return  to  France  (the  former 
after  the  peace  of  Amiens,  the  latter  at  the  restoration  of 
the  Bourbons),  celebrated  mass  in  a  hired  apartment  at 
Teignmouth.  For  a  short  period  much  later,  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Campbell  Smith,  during  their  residence  at  Dawlish,  provided 
a  room  in  their  house  for  the  convenience  of  divine  worship, 
when  the  priest  from  Ugbrooke  could  attend.  But  for  the 
benefit  of  the  Sacraments  and  the  comfort  of  public  worship, 
most  of  this  dispersed  portion  of  the  flock  had  to  direct  their 
steps  towards  Ugbrooke.  The  Rev.  Charles  Lomax,  com- 
miserating their  necessity,  in  the  abundance  of  his  zeal  and 
charity,  hired  a  decent  room  in  West  Teignmouth,  and  mul- 
tiplied himself,  as  it  were,  to  impart  to  them  the  benefit  of  his 
spiritual  functions.  On  3rd  April,  1848,  he  celebrated  mass 
therein  for  the  first  time ;  and  so  great  was  his  success,  that 
he  determined  to  look  out  for  a  convenient  site,  erect  a 
public  church,  and  endow  a  new  mission.  The  Hon.  William 
Stourton  subscribed  the  price  of  the  ground  already  pur- 
chased, the  foundation-stone  of  the  church  was  laid  on 
13th  July,  1854,  and  the  edifice,  after  a  design  of  Mr.  C. 
Hansom,  was  solemnly  opened  by  Bishop  Errington  on 
19th  December,  1854.  On  23rd  December,  the  Rev.  Henry 
Brigham,  S.J.,  was  installed  the  regular  pastor,  and  I 
anticipate  a  brilliant  prospect  to  religion  from  his  missionary 
services. 

It  is  now  time  to  direct  attention  to  Cornwall.  And 
in  the  first  place  I  must  notice  Lanherne,  in  Gwythian,  alias 
St.  Mawgan's  parish  and  deanery  of  Pydre.  The  generality 
of  my  readers  may  not  be  aware  that  the  Arundells,  from 
time  immemorial,  held  the  manor  of  Lanherne,  by  military 
service,  of  the  see  of  Exeter  (see  Bp.  Stapeldon's  Register, 
fol.  102—105;  and  Bp.  Brantyngham's  Register,  vol.  i. 
fol.  131),  and  that  a  chapel  or  oratory  was  licensed  for  the 
family's  convenience  at  a  remote  period. 

Amidst  the  changes  of  religion  and  of  governments,  the 
Arundells  stood  forward  as  the  unflinching  abettors  of  the 
ancient  faith;*  and  ever  amidst  all  the  dangers  and  terrors  of 

*  As  mentioned  in  p.  16,  a  member   of  this  family,  Humphry 


30  STATE    OP    RELIGION    IN 

persecution,  a  priest  was  to  be  found  at  Lanherne.  But  the 
house  had  been  only  occasionally  inhabited  by  members  ot 
the  family  for  nearly  a  century  before  the  French  Revolution. 
When  the  English  Sepulchran  nuns  had  determined  to 
emigrate  from  Liege,  and  before  they  reached  England  m 
July,  1794,  Henry,  the  eighth  Lord  Arundell,  offered  them 
Lanherne-house  for  an  asylum;  but  this  with  many  expres- 
sions of  gratitude  they  respectfully  declined,  as  its  sequestered 
situation  would  have  proved  too  inconvenient  for  their  far- 
famed  school  *  for  the  education  of  CathoUc  young  ladies.  The 
noble  lord  then  offered  the  premises  to  the  English  Theresian 
nuns  of  Antwerp,  who  gratefully  accepted  them.  They 
entered  this  comfortable  refuge  in  August,  1794.  The 
history  of  this  convent  will  be  given  in  another  part  of  this 
compilation.  I  shall  only  add,  that  the  domestic  chapel 
was  soon  found  to  be  much  too  small  for  their  community 
and  for  the  congregation,  and  the  great  saloon  was  in  conse- 
quence devoted  to  the  purposes  of  divine  worship  on  Easter 
Sunday,  1797. 

Falmouth. — This  mission  was  also  founded  by  the  charitable 
Rowland  Conyers,  Esq.,  who  died  on  28th  April,  1803,  as 
stated  under  Plymouth.  As  soon  as  Bishop  Sharrock  was 
capable  of  procuring  a  proper  incumbent,  he  stationed 
F.  Ignatius  Casemore,  O.S.F.,  in  the  place.  A  private  room 
served  for  a  chapel  from  January,  1805,  until  L'Abbe  Grezille 
erected  the  present  chapel  and  house.  The  foundation-stone 
was  laid  on  21st  February,  1819 ;  and  on  24th  October,  1821, 
St.  Mary's  was  opened  with  due  solemnity.  It  should  be 
recorded  to  the  Abbe's  honour,  that  he  collected,  chiefly 
among  the  royal  family  of  France,  the  sum  of  500Z.  towards 

Arundell,  of  Helland,  Esq.,  governor  of  St.  Michael's  Mount,  sought 
to  restore  religion  by  rebellion  in  1549.  After  his  conviction  and 
execution,  his  estates  were  given,  5th  March,  1650,  by  Edward  VI.,  to 
Sir  Guarin  Carew,  Knight. 

*  These  communities  are  formed  of  gentlewomen  of  high  birth  and 
accomplished  manners,  who  devote  themselves  to  God  and  the  Christian 
training  of  youth,  from  the  purest  and  noblest  of  motives ;  and  there- 
fore are  entitled  to  the  respect  and  support  of  all  lovers  of  morality  and 
religion.  To  me,  a  convent  education  has  always  appeared  the  safest 
and  the  very  best.  St.  Jerome,  in  his  advice  to  Lseta  concerning  her 
daughter  Paula,  expressly  says,  "  Nutriatur  in  Monasterio :  sit  inter 
Virginum  choros :  certe  te  liberet  servandi  difficultate,  et  custodiae 
periculo.  Melius  tibi  est  desiderare  absentem,  quam  pavere  ad  singula, 
quid  loquatur,  cui  annuat,  quem  libenter  aspiciat."  I  can  never  forget 
hearing  the  late  venerable  and  experienced  Lady  Clifford  exclaim  at 
Ugbrooke,  on  26th  February,  1824,  "  I  thank  God,  every  day  of  my 
life,  that  I  was  brought  up  in  a  convent." 


DEVONSHIRE    AND    CORNWALL.  31 

this  pious  undertaking.  All  went  on  prosperously  for  some 
years,  when  Bishop  Baines  was  induced  to  make  over  the 
place  to  the  Redemptorists.  Their  provincial,  F.  Frederick 
Held,*  on  16th  June,  1843,  arrived  with  two  of  his  religious, 
Louis  Buggenoms  and  Prosper  Augustin  Xavier  Lempfrid, 
in  priest's  orders,  to  conduct  the  mission.  Soon  after,  the 
provincial  quitted  for  London ;  and  another  of  his  order, 
the  Rev.  F.  Wladimir  Petcherine,  an  excellent  preacher,  was 
sent  down.  At  Easter  seventy-six  communicants  were  num- 
bered at  Falmouth.  Moreover,  through  them  a  filiation  of 
six  sisters  of  Notre  Dame  of  Namur  was  established  at 
Penryn,  on  15th  November,  1845,  who  after  some  time 
opened  a  boarding-school,  a  day-school,  and  a  charity-school, 
all  perfectly  distinct.  Bright  prospects  for  religion  in  be- 
nighted Cornwall  were  anticipated,  when  it  appears  that 
Clapham  held  out  much  greater  encouragement  to  these 
Redemptorists ;  and,  alas !  on  Ist  September,  1848,  Falmouth 
lost  the  benefit  of  their  services. 

The  Foundation  Fund,  I  apprehend,  suffered  injury  in 
a  certain  quarter ;  but  I  understand  that  a  respected  gentle- 
man of  the  name  of  Andrew  has  given  his  liberal  support 
to  the  mission.     May  God  reward  him  ! 

Penzance. — In  the  early  part  of  the  year  1837,  an  attempt 
was  made  to  secure  the  services  of  the  Rev.  William  Ivers, 
by  the  pious  zeal  of  several  Irish  travellers  and  labourers  in 
and  around  Penzance;  but  after  a  few  months'  trial,  the 
failure  of  funds  compelled  the  rev.  gentleman  to  retire,  and 
leave  these  poor  souls  to  depend,  as  before,  on  the  occasional 
visits  of  the  pastor  at  Falmouth.  Their  forlorn  condition 
excited  the  compassion  of  that  energetic  man  of  God,  the 
Rev.  William  Young,  then  stationed  at  Lanherne.  On 
Monday,  20th  July,  1840,  he  quitted  that  comfortable  situa- 
tion to  labour  in  this  wider  vineyard ;  where  he  commenced 
the  spacious  church  of  the  Immaculate  Conception,  ninety 
feet  long  by  thirty  feet  wide,  and  fifty-four  feet  high,  with 
school-rooms  under;  the  granite  side  walls  of  the  nave 
having  arches  so  formed  as  to  admit  of  being  opened  into 
aisles,  when  the  increasing  numbers  of  the  congregation  may 
require  it.     The  apostolic  man  had  the  consolation  of  wit- 

*  This  venerable  gentleman  was  born  in  imperial  Vienna  17th  July, 
1799  ;  was  professed  in  the  order  2nd  August,  1820  ;  ordained  priest 
23rd  August,  1823,  and  made  Liege  his  head-quarters.  N.B.  From  a 
letter  of  Bishop  Baines,  written  in  the  middle  of  March,  1843,  it  appears 
that  his  lordship  contemplated  to  hand  over  "  the  management  of  the 
Cornish  missions  to  foreign  religious." 


32  STATE   OF    KEiAgION    IN 

nessing  this  best  ecclesiastical  fabric  in  the  diocese  of  Ply- 
mouth opened  with  much  solemnity  on  26th  October,  1843. 
Besides  this,  he  built  a  good  house  for  the  incumbent.  In 
an  evil  hour,  unfortunately,  he  surrendered  the  whole  pro- 
perty, without  taking  proper  precautions,  into  the  hands  of 
the  Conceptionists  recently  imported  from  Marseilles.  A 
very  young  superior,  in  a  wild  speculation  of  forming  an 
establishment  at  Ashbourne,  most  unadvisedly  and  uncanoni- 
cally  mortgaged  the  whole  of  these  premises,  which  were 
advertised  to  be  sold  by  auction  on  Monday,  27th  September, 
1852.  Thank  God,  on  the  day  of  the  sale,  the  new  bishop 
of  Plymouth,  Dr.  Errington,  succeeded  in  saving  the  church 
at  least,  at  the  sacrifice  of  950/. 

Trelawny. — My  readers  are  probably  aware  that  Sir  Harry 
Trelawny,  the  seventh  baronet,  after  an  eccentric  life,  found 
rest  in  the  bosom  of  the  holy  Catholic  Church,  and'  at 
the  age  of  seventy -four,  was  admitted  to  the  priesthood  by 
Cardinal  Odescalchi,  on  30th  May,  1830 ;  and,  finally,  died 
at  Lavino  on  25th  February,  1834.  His  daughters,  Ann 
Letitia,  a  spinster,  and  Mary,  wife  of  John  C.  Harding,  Esq.j 
had  long  been  Catholics.  They  had  turned  the  old  domestic 
chapel  at  Trelawny,  dedicated  on  23rd  November,  1701,  by 
their  ancestor.  Dr.  John  Trelawny,  then  Bishop  of  Exeter, 
into  a  Catholic  chapel.  But  of  late  years  they  have  built  a 
place  for  Catholic  worship  at  Sclerder,  about  half  a  mile  from 
the  mansion. 

Bodmin. — The  B,ev.  William  Young,  who  deserves  the 
name  of  the  apostle  of  Cornwall,  purchased  premises  in  this 
ancient  town,  and  actually  opened  a  chapel  there  in  honour 
of  his  patroness,  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary,  on  24th  September, 
1846.  For  a  time  he  served  it  himself;  but  was  obliged  to 
leave  it,  after  some  time.  The  Rev.  ^Emilius  Pieldell  followed 
for  a  short  period.  The  dear  good  founder  returned  again 
to  Bodmin  in  the  summer  of  1853 ;  and  it  was  clear  to  me, 
from  his  letter  of  the  16th  September  that  year,  that  his 
health  would  not  sufi'er  him  to  remain  much  longer. 

Camborne. — The  Conceptionist  Fathers  of  Penzance  began 
a  mission  here ;  and  though  they  have  taken  French  leave  of 
Cornwall,  the  following  letter  of  a  good  Catholic  of  the 
neighbourhood,  dated  5th  April,  1853,  is  very  satisfactory. 
"  You  will  be  glad  to  hear,  that  now  we  have  got  at  Cam- 
borne a  regular  pastor,  and  muster  a  good  congregation,  to 
the  number  of  250,  if  they  all  attended.  They  are  chiefly 
of  the  labouring  class,  and  for  the  most  part  natives  of  the 
county  of  Cork.  We  are  much  indebted  to  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Pike,  recent  converts,  for  the  accommodation  of  a  chapel. 


DEVONSHIRE    AND    CORNWALL.  33 

which  is  fitted  up  over  a  stable.  In  September  last,  we  were 
honoured  with  the  visit  of  Dr.  Errington,  the  Bishop  of  Ply- 
mouth, who  administered  the  Sacrament  of  Confirmation  to 
about  thirty-six  persons.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Pike  are  natives  of 
London;  have  lived  much  abroad,  particularly  at  Naples. 
He  is  extensively  concerned  in  the  Cornish  mines,  and  for  a 
time  was  superintendent  of  the  West  Cornish  railway." 

I  must  not  forget  to  say,  that  a  priest  formerly  resided 
with  the  Couche  family  at  Tolfrey,  near  Fowey.  I  have 
heard  an  old  member  of  that  family  say  that  he  remembered 
the  venerable  Jesuit,  Father  Hayman,  who  died  at  their 
house  on  30th  April,  1756,  set.  eighty-seven. 

In  viewing  this  blessed  change,  have  we  not  cause  to  raise 
up  our  hearts  and  lift  up  our  hands  on  high,  and  bless  the 
Giver  of  all  good  gifts,  the  Arbiter  and  Disposer  of  human 
events,  for  reserving  us  for  these  peaceful  and  auspicious 
times?  "Who  amongst  us  now  dreads  a  domestic  search? 
Who  feels  any  alarm  for  the  security  of  his  person,  or  pro- 
perty, or  of  things  appertaining  to  the  divine  service? 
Instead  of  concealing  and  disguising  our  names,  we  fix  them 
on  our  gates :  instead  of  skulking  in  hiding-holes,  we  walk 
abroad  and  erect,  like  free  men.*  We  meet  in  conferences 
and  synods,  whenever  and  wherever  we  please.  Instead  of 
worshipping  the  God  of  our  fathers  in  caves  or  in  garrets,  we 
court  the  most  eligible  and  conspicuous  situations  for  our 
chapels  and  churches ;  we  practise  our  religious  rites  in  the 
face  of  the  world.  Our  gentry  are  invited  to  occupy  the 
magisterial  bepch — to  represent  large  constituencies  in  the 
House  of  Commons,  and  to  fill  the  office  of  High  Sheriff. 
Our  noble  peers,  who,  whilst  obnoxious  themselves  to  the 
severity  of  the  penal  laws,  and  were  denied  their  hereditary 
seats  in  the  House  of  Lords,  generously  threw  over  the 
clergy  and  their  flocks  the  mantle  of  protection,  are  welcomed 
to  the  restitution  of  their  constitutional  honours,  rights,  and 
privileges.  Instead  of  borrowing  a  smuggled  education 
abroad,  and  under  disguised  names,  our  numerous  colleges 
at  home  are  gazetted,  as  associated,  by  royal  license,  to  the 
London  University.  We  fearlessly  register  and  tender  our 
votes  at  elections :  we  are  nominated  by  the  Lord  Chan- 
cellor as  trustees  of  the  public  charities.  Instead  of  laws 
and  proclamations  to  seize  crucifixes,  rosaries,  &c.,  and  to 
bum  Catholic  books,  we  freely  import,  circulate,  advertise, 

•  Mm.  Lingard,  mother  of  the  late  historian,  remembered  when  her 
family  used  to  go  in  a  cart  at  night  to  hear  Mass,  the  priest  in  a  round 
frock  to  resemble  a  poor  man.  She  died  at  Winchester,  Sth  August, 
1824,  aged  02. 

D 


34  STATE    OF    RELIGION    IN    DEVONSHIRE^    ETC. 

and  publish  them.  Our  churches,  several  of  them  vying: 
in  size  and  beauty  with  the  ancient  basilics  of  the  coun- 
try, are  rising  up  through  the  land,  and  are  eagerly 
thronged  by  multitudes  of  proselytes  and  inquirers  after 
truth.  Our  bishops  in  the  colonies,  about  fifty,  are  patronized 
and  supported  in  a  great  degree  at  the  public  expense.  In 
fact,  in  none  of  the  Catholic  states  of  Europe  is  our  religioii 
so  unfettered — ^is  the  pulpit  so  free  and  independent — is  the 
discussion  of  our  religious  tenets  and  political  rights,  through 
the  medium  of  the  press,  so  distinctly  recognized  and  de- 
veloped. No  persons  are  more  respected  and  esteemed  in 
good  society  than  the  Catholic  clergy.  Ought  not  this 
pleasing  revolution  in  the  breasts  of  our  governors,  and  in 
the  minds  and  dispositions  of  our  neighbours  of  every  creed,  to 
attach  us  still  more  and  more  to  our  beloved  country  ? — make 
us  the  heralds  of  Loyalty,  Peace,  and  Benevolence? — stre- 
nuous supporters  of  the  constituted  authorities?  Shall  it 
not  enkindle  the  discreetest  zeal  to  gain  the  hearts  of  our 
separated  brethren,  by  the  light  of  our  example,  by  the  fer- 
vour of  our  prayers,  and  to  attract  them  by  the  spirit  of  con- 
ciliation and  the  lenity  of  Jesus  Christ,  to  return  to  the  bosom 
of  their  holy  mother,  the  Catholic  Church,  to  share  in  her 
consolations  and  blessings  ? 

With  a  deep  sense  of  devotion,  let  us  unite  in  the  frequent 
repetition  of  the  collect  of  the  Church  in  the  Office  of  Tues- 
day in  Passion  Week : — 

"Da  nobis,  queesumus  Domine,  perseverantem  in  ink 
voluntate  famulatum;  ut  in  diebus  nostris,  et  Merito  et 
Numero  populus  Tibi  serviens  augeatur." 


35 


CHAPTER  IV. 

'^Est  mihi  Supplicium,  causa  fnisse  Pium." 

THE    SUFFERERS    FOR    THE    FAITH    IN    DORSETSHIRE. 

The  Catholic  cauge  was  honoured  in  Dorsetshire  by  the 
constancy  and  heroic  fidelity  of  its  votaries.  For  in  this 
county,  persecution  assumed  the  character  of  inhuman 
brutality.  Whoever  peruses  the  sufferings  of  some  of  its 
martyrSj  especially  of  FF.  Pilchard  and  Green,  might  sup- 
pose that  he  was  reading  the  bloody  feats  of  Indian  savages 
and  cannibals,  not  the  conduct  of  Englishmen  and  Christian 
Protestants. 

The  first  in  the  order  of  time,  who  shed  his  blood  and 
sacrificed  his  life  for  confessing  Christ,  was  the  Rev.  Thomas 
Pilchard.  Dr.  Challoner,  in  his  truth-telling  "  Memoirs  of 
Missionary  Priests,"  could  glean  but  slender  information  of 
this  apostolical  man ;  but  from  a  MS.  of  his  early  friend  at 
college,  the  Rev.  William  Warford,  who  learnt  much  of  his 
subsequent  history  from  his  sister,  and  others  of  his  kindred, 
persons  deserving  of  all  credit,  —  "  Hsec  omnia  ex  sorore 
et  aliis  affinibus  viri,  hominibus  fide  dignissimis,  cognovi," — 
I  am  happy  to  supply  the  following  particulars  : — 

"  I  knew  him  at  Oxford,  a  Fellow  of  Baliol  College,  and 
a  Master  of  Arts;  thence  he  went  to  Rheims,  and  was 
ordained  priest,  where  I  lived  on  intimate  terms  with  him, 
in  1583.  He  gave  general  edification  by  his  singular 
modesty,  candour,  and  gravity,  and  his  exemplary  piety  at 
the  altar.  Returning  to  his  native  country,  he  conducted 
himself  in  so  commendable  a  manner,  that  I  knew  no  priest 
in  all  the  west  part  of  England  who  equalled  his  merits,  and 
to  this  day  his  memory  is  held  in  benediction  there.  By  his 
unwearied  zeal,  either  at  home,  on  his  journeys,  or  in  prison, 
he  gained  very  many  souls  to  God ;  he  was  incessant  in 
preaching  the  divine  word,  and  in  administering  the  sacra- 
ments. Severe  to  himself,  he  was  accustomed,  when  in 
prison  and  in  irons,  to  lie  on  the  bare  floor ;  and  though  he 
had  the  convenience  of  a  bed,  he  willingly  parted  with  its 
use  for  the  benefit  of  his  fellow-captives  in  Dorchester  jail, 

D  2 


36  THE    SUFFERERS    FOR   THE 

SO  that  he  gained  more  to  God  in  his  chains,  than  when  he 
enjoyed  his  freedom.  All  that  had  their  soul's  salvation  at 
heart  flocked  to  it ;  no  one  quitted  his  company  without 
deriving  improvement  in  spirit.  By  his  engaging  meekness 
he  attracted  and  converted  the  felons  around  him  ;  he  helped 
and  comforted  every  one;  was  justly  regarded  as  the  oracle 
of  that  country ;  and  by  his  discretion,  and  presence  of  mind, 
and  firmness  of  purpose,  he  eluded  the  vigilance  of  the 
turnkeys. 

"Before  his  apprehension,  some  business  called  him  to 
London,  whither  he  was  accompanied  by  his  bosom  friend 
Mr.  Jessop,  a  worthy  Catholic  gentleman.  In  Fleet  Street, 
London,  he  was  recognized  by  one  who  knew  him  at  Oxford, 
who  consigned  him  over  to  the  officers  of  justice.  By  the 
constituted  authorities,  after  examination,  both  were  escorted 
to  Dorchester  jail  on  horseback,  with  their  hands  tied  behind 
them.  Condemnation  followed.  A  cook,  or  butcher,  was 
induced,  by  the  offer  of  a  large  premium,  to  carry  the  sen- 
tence, as  in  cases  of  treason,  into  execution.  Hardly  was 
the  priest  hung  up,  when  the  rope  was  cut,  and  the  holy 
man  rose  erect  on  his  feet.  The  hired  executioner  was  now 
called  on  to  do  his  office,  when  at  length,  like  a  desperate 
madman,  he  rushed  against  his  standing  victim,  and  plunging 
his  knife  into  the  belly,  there  left  it,  amidst  the  murmurs 
and  groans  of  the  bystanders.  In  the  mean  while  the  priest, 
perfectly  sensible,  and  seeing  himself  naked  and  horribly 
wounded,  turning  his  head  to  the  sherifl',  said,  '  Mr.  Sheriff, 
is  this  your  justice?'  Then  the  executioner,  summoning 
courage,  seizes  his  victim,  and,  dashing  him  on  the  ground, 
opens  the  whole  belly,  and  with  savage  brutality  tears  out 
the  bowels," 

F.  Warford  adds,  that  nearly  all  who  were  accessory  to 
F.  Pilchard's  death  fell  into  some  remarkable  calamity,  or 
came  to  an  untimely  end;  that  he  suffered  on  31st  of  March, 
1587;  that  the  malefactor  who  died  with  him  was  his  con- 
vert ;  that  the  said  Mr.  Jessop  (who  had  attained  his  fortieth 
year)  died  shortly  after  in  Dorchester  jail,  and  was  buried 
privately  in  the  night-time,  at  his  own  express  desire,  near 
the  corpse  of  F.  Pilchard,  at  the  place  of  execution,— 
"  proxime  ad  corpus  D.  Pilchardi  in  agris  in  loco  supplicii ; " 
and  that  William  Pike,  a  carpenter,  who  had  been  reconciled 
to  the  Church  by  the  zealous  father,  being  apprehended 
and  sentenced,  and  offered  his  life  if  he  would  recant, 
boldly  answered,  "  Such  an  act  would  ill  become  a  son  of 
Mr.  Pilchard,"  and  submitted  to  the  butchery :— "Non  decere 
Domini  Pilchardi  filium  recantare ;  et  patrem  martyrem  filius 


FAITH    IN    DORSETSHIRE.  3" 

martyr  secutus  est."  Dr.  Challoner,  in  the  "Memoirs," 
&c.,  states,  from  a  MS.  of  Rev.  Mr.  Manger,  that  this 
heroic  layman  was  bom  in  Dorsetshire,  and  lived  in  a 
village  called  Moors,  in  the  parish  of  Parley ;  that  being  cut 
down  alive  from  the  gallows,  "  and  being  a  very  able,  strong 
man,  when  the  executioner  came  to  throw  him  on  the  block 
to  quarter  him,  he  stood  upon  his  feet;  whereupon  the 
sheriff's  men,  overmastering  him,  threw  him  down,  and 
pinned  his  hands  fast  to  the  ground  with  their  halberts,  and 
so  the  butchery  was  perfected,"  in  1591. 

In  another  MS.  I  find  that  about  the  year  1588,  "  at  Dor- 
chester, died  in  prison  an  old  priest  (whose  name  unfor- 
tunately is  not  given),  and  John  Gesope  (the  gentleman 
already  mentionea),  Mrs.  Tremain,  and  divers  others." 
I  learn  also  from  this  MS.  that  a  pious  Catholic  artisan, 
called  Morecock,  was  taken  on  a  Sunday  in  Dorsetshire,  by 
oflBcers  in  search  of  a  priest  who  had  broken  out  of  prison, 
and  committed  to  jail,  where  he  died  before  the  year  1591. 

In  April,  1594,  F.  John  Cornelius,  of  whom  I  propose  to 
treat  amply  in  the  biographical  and  second  part  of  this 
work,  was  apprehended  in  his  hiding-hole  at  Chidiock 
Castle.*  After  eluding  a  diligent  search  of  the  sheriflTs' 
officers  for  five  or  six  hours,  his  cough  at  length  led  to  his 
discovery,  as  I  find  in  a  MS.  of  Father  John  Gerard.  Mr. 
Thomas  Bosgrave,  a  relative  of  Mr.  Arundell,  and  two 
servants,  Terence  John  Cary  and  Patrick  Salmon  (who  are 
counted  but  as  one  by  Hutchins  in  his  "  History  of  Dorset- 
shire," vol.  i.  p.  374),  were  committed  to  prison,  and  suffered 
death  with  him,  at  Dorchester,  on  4th  July  following.  A 
poor  malefactor  whom  he  had  converted — executed  at  the 
same  time — declared  aloud,  he  was  a  happy  man  to  die  in 
such  good  company.  Two  facts  appear  to  have  been  unknown 
to  Dr.  Challoner  on  this  subject :  1st.  The  memorandum  of 
Richard  Verstegan,  the  antiquary  :  f  "  They  could  not  get  a 

*  Of  Chidiock  Castle  (at  the  foot  of  which  flows  the  brook  called 
Wynneford),  so  long  the  asylum  of  religion  and  the  sanctuary  of 
loyalty,  hardly  a  vestige  remains.  An  inventory  taken  on  7th  August, 
1633,  proves  that  it  was  of  considerable  dimensions.  In  one  of  the 
towers  mention  is  made  of  "the  chamber  and  the  chapell  chamber." 
The  gateway  was  taken  down  in  1741 :  a  tower  was  partially  standing 
in  1756.  The  site  is  called  "  77ie  Ruins."  During  the  civil  wars  it 
was  regarded  as  a  position  of  importance.  Hutchins,  vol.  i.  Hist,  of 
Dorset,  p.  326,  does  justice  to  the  incorruptible  devotion  of  its  owner 
and  defenders  to  the  royal  cause.  "  Seven  of  the  neighbours,"  he  adds, 
"  had  their  estates  sequestered  in  1645  :  they  were  no  doubt  concerned 
in  defending  Chidiock  House,  and  were  thus  punished  for  their  loyalty.' 

t  This  learned  Catholic  writer  thinks  that  F.  Cornelius  was  the 
author  of  the  following  lines,  which  he  addressed  to  a  friend  from  his 


38  THE    SUFFERERS    FOR   THE 

cauldron  for  any  money  to  boyle  his  quarters  in,  nor  no  man 
to  quarter  him,  so  he  hanged  till  he  was  dead,  and  was  buried, 
being  cut  in  quarters  first."  2nd.  That  although  it  be  correct 
that  his  quarters  were  exposed  upon  four  poles  for  a  time, 
and  his  head  nailed  to  the  gallows,  yet  it  is  a  fact,  that 
through  the  management  of  Lady  Arundell  the  quarters 
were  by  stealth  conveyed  away,  and  honourably  disposed  of, 
— "  furtim  sublata  et  honorificentius  coUata ; "  and  that  the 
head  also  came  into  the  possession  of  Catholics, — "  caput 
etiam  venit  in  Cathohcorum  potestatem." 

In  the  "  Diary  of  Walter  Yonge,  from  1604  to  1628,'' 
recently  published  by  the  Camden  Society  (1848),  at  page  18 
we  read  the  following  account  of  a  priest  near  Chidiock. 

"  1608.  About  the  1st  of  August,  being  Sunday,  there 
was  a  priest  taken  at  Gabriel's  (at  the  west  side  of  the 
Golden  Cap,  stiU  in  sight  of  Lyme),  at  one  Mr.  Flear's 
house.  His  apprehension  was  in  this  manner.  There  were 
sent  from  the  council  two  pursuivants  into  the  country, 
whereof  one  in  former  time  had  been  a  recusant,  and  lately 
revolted.  These  two  pursuivants,  riding  between  Axminster 
and  Chidiock,  fell  in  company  with  one  Austen,  then  school- 
master of  Chidiock;  and  after  diverse  conference  between 
the  said  pursuivants  and  Austen,  he  confessed  that  there  was 
a  priest  at  Flear's  house ;  but  did  think  they  would  scarce 
see  him  if  they  came  thither.  Being  come  to  Axminster, 
the  pursuivants  committed  Austen,  and  one  other  with  him, 
to  Hassell,  a  constable,  and  rode  to  Gabriel's ;  where,  after 
search  made,  they  found  the  priest  hidden  in  a  little  room  at 
the  top  of  the  house,  being  thatched,  and  under  the  thatch  a 
door  to  go  into  the  same ;  at  last,  having  apprehended  the 
priest,  Mear's  wife  offered  one  of  them  one  hundred  angelett? 
(i625)  to  let  him  escape,  who  received  the  money,  and  pro- 
mised her  fair.  At  last,  his  companion  being  in  sight  (for  he 
was  gone  to  the  next  justice  when  this  proffer  was  made,  for 
a  warrant  to  commit  the  priest,  for  Hear  would  not  let  hind 
depart  without  some  order  from  a  justice  of  peace),  he  told 
her  plainly  he  could  not  by  any  means  let  him  escape  with- 
out great  danger  to  himself;  and  so  took  hold  on  the  priest, 

prison  ;  but  the  four  last  were  composed  very  long  before  his  time.  I 
found  them  in  a  MS.  of  the  reign  of  our  King  Henry  IV. 

•'  Alter  ego  nisi  sis,  non  es  mihi  verus  amicus ; 
Ni  mihi  sis  ut  ego,  non  eris  alter  ego." 

"  Spernere  mundum,  spernere  nullum,  spernere  sese, 
Spernere  se  spevni ;  quatuor  ista  beant 
Christe  tuos,  tua,  Te  gratis  accepimus  a  Te 
Ergo  meos,  mea,  me  merito,  nunc  exigis  a  me." 


FAITH    IN    DORSETSHIRE.  39 

and  carried  him  away,  with  his  hundred  angeletts,  which  she 
could  by  no  means  get  of  him  again." 

For  the  atrocious  and  cold-blooded  execution  of  Rev. 
Hugh  Green,  alias  Ferdinand  Brooks  (yet  Hutchins  contents 
himself  with  saying,  "  the  priest  was  hanged  "),  at  Dorches- 
ter, on  19th  August,  1643,  set.  fifty-seven,  nearly  thirty 
years  of  which  he  had  exercised  his  functions  at  Chidiock, 
I  must  refer  my  readers  to  the  fuU  report  in  Dr.  Challoner's 
"Memoirs."  Yet  who  would  not  gladly  prefer  to  endure 
his  tragical  death — his  Maccabean  example  of  fortitude  and 
perseverance — to  the  infamy  of  living  like  that  Eev.  Arthur 
Browne,  a  seminary  priest,  condemned  with  him  at  Dor- 
chester, but  who  publicly  made  his  recantation.  I  have 
read,  with  disgust  ftiingled  with  pity,  that  unhappy  transac- 
tion, printed  in  London,  25th  August,  1642,  in  five  pages, 
quarto. 

I  purposely  reserve  for  the  biographical  part  of  this  work 
the  account  of  John  Mundyn,  of  Maperton,  in  Dorsetshire, 
who  suffered  martyrdom  at  Tyburn,  12th  February,  1584, 
and  of  Eustachius  White,  who  glorified  God  by  his  blood  in 
the  same  spot,  10th  December,  1591,  having  been  taken  at 
Blandford,  on  the  previous  1st  of  September.  In  Part  II. 
will  be  inserted  his  original  letter  of  23rd  November,  that 
year,  in  which  he  states  that  he  had  chiefly  laboured  amongst 
the  "  Catholiques  in  the  west  contrye." 

May  the  blood  of  these  holy  men  obtain  the  grace  of  faith 
for  this  benighted  people,  and  may  this  ancient  mission  of 
Chidiock,  adorned  with  so  many  luminaries,  watered  with  so 
many  tears,  and  sanctified  by  so  much  suffering,  become  an 
example  to  every  other,  "letting  their  conversation  be  as 
becometh  the  gospel  of  Christ."   (Philip,  i,  27.) 

I  cannot  close  this  fourth  chapter  without  recording 
Mr.  Humphrey  Coffin,  of  Wambrook.  This  Recusant  had 
his  lands  and  rents  sequestered  in  1645, 


40  STATE    OF    RELIGION    IN    DORSETSHIKE, 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE    ACTUAL    STATE    OF    RELISION   IN    DORSETSHIRE. 

Pbom  the  harrowing  retrospect  of  persecution^  it  is  refreshing 
to  look  around  and  witness  the  increase  in  number  and 
respectability  of  the  churches  and  chapels  in  Dorset.  Can- 
ford,  indeed,  its  oldest  mission,  is  lost  to  us ;  but  its  place  is 
well  supplied  by  Poole  and  by  Spetisbury:  "Non  minuitur 
persecutionibus  Ecclesia,  sed  augetur." 

And  to  begin  with  Lullworth.  Certainly,  from  the  time 
of  purchasing  this  estate  of  the  Howards  of  Bindon,  by 
Humphrey  Weld,  Esq.,  a  chaplain  has  been  attached  to  the 
family  (A.D.  1641).  This  gentleman  had  married  Clara, 
daughter  of  Thomas,  the  first  Lord  Arundell,  of  whom  more 
hereafter.  But  the  oratory  was  confined  to  the  house,  until 
the  late  Thomas  Weld,  Esq.,  determined  to  erect  within  the 
grounds  the  present  convenient  church  of  St.  Mary.  The 
first  stone  was  laid  by  that  great  patron  of  religion  on 
2nd  February,  1786;  under  it  were  placed  coins  of  King 
George  III.,  with  a  brass  plate,  bearing  an  inscription,  sup- 
plied almost  verbatim  by  P.  Giovenazzi,  S.J.,  librarian  in 
Palazza  Altieri,  as  I  learn  from  E.  John  Thorpe's  letter^ 
dated  16th  September,  1785^  viz. : — 

"  Lapis  sacer  auapicalis  in  fundamenta  futuri  Templi 
Jactus  anno  mdcolxxxvi  iv°  Nonas  Februarii. 
Quod  templum  Thomas  Weld  publice  meo  in  solo 
Primus  omnium,  mitescente  per  Georgium  Tertium 
Legum  penalium  acerbitate,  in  honorem  Virginis 
Beatissimse  Dei  Genetricis  adgredior  extruendum.     Tu 
Vero  Deus,  Optime,  Maxima,  opus  tantis  auspiciis 
Inchoatum  custodi,  protege,  fove  ac  confirma, 
Vt  quaque  Britannise  patent,  Religion!  Sanctas 
Templa  adcrescant,  Templis  Cultores." 

This  sacred  edifice  is  76  feet  long  by  61  broad.  Within 
its  sacred  walls  Dr.  John  Carroll,  the  founder  of  Episcopacy 
in  North  America,  was  consecrated  bishop  of  Baltimore,  on 
15th  August,  1790,  by  Dr.  Charles  Walmesley,  bishop  of 
Eama,  and  V.A.  of  the  western  district.  Here  also  Dr.  Wil- 
liam Gibson  was  consecrated  bishop  of  Acanthus,  and  V.A. 
of  the  Northern  District,  on  5th  December  the  same  year,  by 
the  said  Bishop  Walmesley ;  and  the  new  bishop  of  Acanthus 


8TATE    OF    RELIGION    IN    DORSETSHIRE.  41 

performed  the  same  solemn  rite  a  fortnight  later  in  the  same 
place  on  Dr.  John  Douglas,  bishop  of  CenturiBe,  and  V.A.  of 
the  Eastern  District.  In  the  vault  under  St.  Mary's  lies 
that  patron  of  orthodoxy  and  piety,  Thomas  Weld,  Esq., 
who  died  at  Stonyhurst  College,  on  Ist  August,  1810,  set. 
sixty. 

2.  Chidiock  Chapel,  after  the  dismantling  of  the  castle, 
was  in  the  upper  room  of  a  cottage  in  North  Chidiock,  and 
was  demolished  to  make  way  for  the  present  mansion. 
Though  this  chapel  is  in  size,  and  height,  and  convenience 
far  superior  to  its  predecessor,  I  fully  expect  that  it  will, 
after  a  time,  be  replaced  by  something  better.  It  was 
opened  on  Easter- Sunday,  1811. 

3.  The  Hussey  fa'fiiily  purchased  Mamhull  about  the  year 
1651,  and  either  there,  or  in  Stour  Provost  village,  a  priest 
was  accessible  from  nearly  that  period.  But  the  present 
incumbent  has  been  enabled  to  erect  an  elegant  place  of 
worship,  which  he  opened  on  3rd  July,  1832.  This  zealous 
gentleman  (Rev.  William  Casey)  was  much  assisted  by  his 
friend  the  late  Richard  Rawe,  Esq.,  who  was  born  in  Ibberton 
parish,  Dorset,  21st  December,  1742,  and  died  at  Wincanton 
on  7th  August,  1833,  aet.  ninety-one.  In  a  letter  to  me, 
dated  from  his  seat,  Purse-candle,  near  Sherbom,  5th 
November,  1820,  he  informed  me  that,  "  about  a  year  and  a 
half  since,  I  settled  on  the  mission  at  MarnhuU  an  annuity 
of  twenty  pounds  for  ever,  by  the  purchase  of  so  much  stock 
in  the  Three  per  Cent.  Consols  as  would  produce  that  sum ; 
the  cost  of  the  whole  was  about  j6530." 

4.  Stapehill  has  long  been  a  missionary  station,  under  the 
patronage  of  the  Arundell  family.  Here  the  Jesuits  had  a 
school,  which  bigotry  magnified  enormously.  The  following 
narrative,  which  I  copied  from  Brice's  Exeter  paper,  called 
the  "Post  Master,  or  Loyal  Mercury,"  published  2nd 
October,  1724,  must  delight  the  lovers  of  Munchausen 
adventures : — 

"  From  Wimborne,  in  JJorsetshire,  th&/  write,  that  a  Catholic  semi- 
nary, which  had  long  subsisted  in  the  neighbourhood  of  that  town,  was 
by  accident  discovered  some  time  ago,  which  has  obliged  the  person  con- 
cerned in  it  to  break  up  housekeeping  and  remove.  The  place  was 
exactly  suited  to  the  design,  it  being  out  of  the  way  of  any  great  road, 
and  altogether  incog,  'Twas  found  out  by  some  gentlemen  that  were 
hunting,  who  came  upon  them  before  they  were  aware,  and  surprised 
some  of  the  youths  that  were  walking  at  a  distance  from  the  house. 
There  were  about  sixty  rooms  in  it,  handsomely  fitted  up,  which  are  all 
under  ground  ;  so  that  nothing  but  a  bit  of  a  farm-house  appears,  which 
has  till  now  been  a  cover  to  all  the  rest.  The  masters,  students,  and 
others  employed,  made  the  family  about  three  hundred  in  number  :  but 
they  are  all  now  gone  to  their  respective  friends ;  and  'tis  thought  'twill 


42  STATE    OF    RELIGION    IN    DORSBTSHIEE. 

* 

be  very  difficult  for  them  to  fix  so  much  to  their  satisfaction  again  in 
this  county." 

Splendide  mendax. — The  late  venerable  Thomas  Taunton, 
Esq.,  informed  me,  that  in  his  boyhood,  before  he  went  in 
September,  1758,  to  St.  Omer's  College,  he  had  been  to  a  little 
school  here  kept  by  a  Catholic,  Mr.  Stafford. 

In  1803,  Henry,  the  eighth  Lord  ArundeU,  afforded  a 
refuge  here  to  Madame  Kosalie  Augustin  de  Chabannes,  a 
lady  of  the  highest  merit,  and  her  religious  community  de 
la  Sainte  Croix  de  Notre  Dame  de  la  Trappe.  The  want  of 
a  suitable  church  had  long  been  felt  by  the  nuns  and  by  the 
congregation.  At  length,  the  first  foundation  of  the  new 
edifice,  as  designed  by  Mr.  Charles  Hansom,  the  architect  of 
very  many  churches,  was  laid  by  Bishop  UUathome,  on 
Tuesday,  25th  May,  1847,  and  was  opened  with  becoming 
solemnity  on  16th  July,  1851.  On  this  occasion  £75  were 
collected.  The  congregation  at  Canford  is  merged  in  Stape^ 
hill,  and  altogether  consists  of  180  souls. 

5.  Since  Christmas,  1799,  the  English  Augustine  nuns, 
originally  of  Louvain,  have,  by  the  blessing  of  Heaven,  been 
established  at  Spetisbury,  where,  praised  be  God,  they  are 
in  a  flourishing  state,  and  maintain  two  priests.  Their 
convenient  and  respectable  church,  designed  by  the  late 
Mr.  Peniston,  was  opened  on  8th  September,  1830.  It  may 
be  mentioned  here  that  a  small  chapel,  now  disused,  was 
fitted  up  in  the  neighbouring  town  of  Blandford  by 
Mr.  Towsey  (see  Directory  of  1813),  and  served  by  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Pierre  Moulins  for  nine  years  j  and  on  his  retirement  in 
1814,  by  the  Eev.  Joseph  Lee ;  but  for  a  considerable  time 
the  few  Catholics  in  Blandford  attended  Spetisbury. 

6.  Poole. — At  the  commencement  of  this  century,  I'Abbe 
Pierre  Lanquetuit,  encouraged  by  the  late  Thomas  Weld, 
Esq.,  and  Lady  Anastasia  Mannock,  relict  of  Sir  Thomas 
Mannock,  and  daughter  of  Lord  Montague  (a  benefactress  to 
the  amount  of  ^£800),  began  this  mission,  and  served  it  till 
1820,  when  he  returned  to  France.  It  was  a  poor  residence, 
and  the  chapel  very  insignificant ;  but  since  the  opening  of 
St.  Mary's  church,  on  July  16th,  1839,  religion  has  indeed 
lifted  up  her  head  in  the  place,  and  I  anticipate  the  rapid 
progress  of  truth.— N.B.  The  late  Sir  Edward  Tichbourne 
Doughty,  Baronet  (who  died  on  Saturday,  5th  March,  1853, 
set.  seventy-one),  had  purchased  the  Upton  estate,  near  Poole 
(1829),  and  there  kept  a  domestic  chaplain.  He  never 
recovered  the  loss  of  his  only  son  Henry,  who  died  on  31st 
May,  1835,  aged  five  years  and  nine  months. 

7.  Weymouth.— L'Khh^  Dubuisson,  an  emigrant  French 


STATE  OF  RELIGION  IN  DORSETSHIRE.  43 

priest,  had  established  himself  here  as  a  professor  of  the 
French  language,  and  officiated  in  a  temporary  room,  which 
he  hired  for  the  benefit  of  Catholic  invalids  who  visited  that 
fashionable  watering-place.  The  old  gentleman,  in  July, 
1822,  retired  from  missionary  duty,  and  died  a  few  months 
later,  aged  seventy-six.  He  was  succeeded  by  the  Rev. 
James  Macdonnell,  who,  not  having  the  same  resources  to 
fall  back  upon,  accepted  the  chaplaincy  of  Rotherwaas,  and 
subsequently  the  mission  of  Leamington,  where  he  died,  after 
much  valuable  service,  on  26th  June,  1838,  set.  forty-two, 
and  was  buried  on  1st  July  at  the  foot  of  his  own  altar. 

Bishop  CoUingridge,  who  had  taken  a  lively  interest  in  this 
rising  mission,  and  felt  much  for  the  poor  prisoners  and  sol- 
diers at  Portland,  traasferred  hither  the  fund  assigned  by  Mr. 
Conyers  to  Dartmouth ;  and  his  coadjutor.  Dr.  Baines,  conse- 
crated bishop  of  Siga  Ist  May,  1823,  shortly  after  took  up 
his  residence  No.  4,  Belvidere,  Weymouth,  and  did  the  duty 
of  the  place.  I  find  him  baptizing  there  on  23nd  August 
and  9th  October,  1823.  The  Rev.  Francis  Edgeworth  suc- 
ceeded his  lordship  in  the  following  year,  but  in  the  spring 
of  1825  was  ordered  to  replace  the  unfortunate  Rev.  John 
Burke  at  St.  Joseph's  chapel,  Bristol.  Weymouth  was  then 
left  without  a  pastor  until  the  appointment  of  the  Rev.  Peter 
Hartley,  on  20th  November,  1829.  To  him  the  praise  is 
due  of  purchasing  the  site  of  the  present  missionary  premises, 
of  erecting  the  priest's  house,  and  the  chapel  of  St.  Augus- 
tine, 56  feet  long  by  27  feet  broad,  which  was  solemnly 
opened  on  22nd  October,  1835.  More  of  him  in  the  bio- 
graphical or  second  part.  In  November,  1835,  the  Rev.  Joseph 
Dwyer  became  its  pastor  for  eighteen  months.  But  in  an 
evil  day,  viz.,  14th  June,  1837,*  was  the  Rev.  Thomas 
Butler,  D.D.,  appointed  to  this  mission.  This  notorious 
ex-Dominican  was  bom  at  Limerick  in  1800 :  he  had  lately 
arrived  from  Malta,  and  Bishop  Baines  was  led  to  hope  and 
believe  that,  by  stability,  he  might  do  credit  to  the  cause  of 
religion.  In  1837,  he  delivered  twenty-one  lectures  in 
Weymouth  chapel  to  prove  that  the  Roman  Catholic  Church 
was  a  Scriptural  Church.  His  work,  intitled,  "  The  Truths 
of  the  Catholic  Religion  proved  by  Scripture  alone,"  and 
dedicated  by  him  to  Bishop  Baines,  was  published  in  two 
small  volumes  by  Booker  and  Dolman  in  1838.  Unques- 
tionably the  author  was  a  man  of  reading,  but  conceited, 

*  In  the  chapel  register  I  find  :  « 14  Junii,  1837,  Ab  Illmo  ac  Rmo 
Petro  Ausustino  Baines,  Episcopo  Sigs,  et  in  Districtu  Occidental! 
Angliae  \i"  Aplico,  Weymouth  Missionarius  Aplicus  renuntiatus  fui. 
—Sac-  Tho"  Butleb,  D.D." 


44  STATE    OF    REI/IGION    IN    DOKSETSHIRB. 

testless,  showy,  and  very  extravagant.  Quitting  Weymouth 
abruptly,  he  started  for  Liverpool,  where  he  got  himself 
attached  to  St.Anthony's  chapel,  Scotland-road;  then  throw- 
ing up  that  situation,  he  left  for  Newry,  in  his  native  country, 
where  he  disgraced  himself,  and  then  hastily  decamped,  over- 
whelmed with  debts.  Soon  after  it  was  known  that  he  had 
passed  over  to  the  Church  of  England,  under  the  teaching  of 
the  Rev.  Joseph  Baylee,  of  Birkenhead ;  next  that  he  was 
appointed  to  one  of  the  new  Protestant  churches  in  Jersey, 
with  a  salary  of  £100  per  annum.  Then,  after  being  reported 
as  dead  in  a  lunatic  asylum  there,  he  has  re-appeared,  in  the 
good  pay  of  the  Protestant  Association,  as  a  "  No  Popery  " 
lecturer,  through  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  country, 
slandering  and  decrying  that  Scriptural  Church  which  he 
had  so  recently  defended  !  Unhappy  man !  May  remorse 
be  followed  by  true  repentance  ! 

A  reverend  gentleman  named  Murphy  now  supplied  during 
three  months,  when,  for  the  comfort  of  the  faithful,  and  of 
all  that  is  respectable  in  society,  my  dear  friend  Canon 
Tilbury  was  substituted,  on  20th  November,  1840.  His 
experience  and  venerable  age, — his  character  of  quiet  and 
solid  virtue  and  spotless  integrity,  were  rapidly  restoring  the 
credit  of  the  religion  which  the  conduct  of  his  penultiroate 
predecessor  had  served  to  obscure  and  injure.  But,  alas  !  he 
expired  on  9th  June  last. 

8.  Lyme. — The  few  Catholics  here  were  in  the  habit  of 
attending  Axminster  for  prayers,  and  they  had  liberally  con- 
tributed to  th&  erection  of  the  new  church  of  St.  Mary, 
which  was  opened  15th  August,  1831.  The  Rev.  Charles 
Fisher,  a  newly-ordained  priest  (of  whom  more  hereafter), 
appointed  to  Axminster  17th  July,  1834,  had  scarcely  arrived 
there,  when  he  vehemently  urged  the  erection  of  a  church  at 
Lyme;  and  without  sufficiently  calculating  the  necessary 
outlay,  the  ground  was  purchased,  and  the  foundation-stone 
of  the  church  of  St.  George  and  St.  Michael  was  laid  on 
23rd  April,  1835.  The  handsome  design  of  this  church  was 
furnished  by  E.  Goodridge,  of  Bath,  Esq.  Shortly  after 
some  progress  was  made  in  the  building,  Mr.  Fisher,  with 
characteristic  restlessness,  quitted  the  place.  Though  the 
work  was  suspended,  it  was  managed  at  length  to  proceed,  so 
as  to  have  Mass  said  in  the  very  unfinished  edifice,  on  27th 
August,  1837. 

.  But  the  arrival  of  the  Rev.  William  Joseph  Vaughan, 
after  the  brief  visits  of  Messrs.  Swarbrick  and  James  McDon- 
nell, was  the  harbinger  of  brighter  prospects  to  this  new 
mission.     On  Wednesday  of  Easter  week,  18th  April,  1838, 


STATE    OF    RKLIGION    IN    DORSETSHIRE.  45 

he  reached  Lyme.  Out  of  his  own  means  he  built  the  house ; 
an  excellent  school  followed,  with  the  pecuniary  aid  of 
Miss  Ellen  Shuttleworth.  He  bought  a  garden  contiguous, 
which  he  has  conveyed  to  the  mission,  and  he  improved  the 
church.  Bishop  Baggs,  requiring  a  gentleman  of  his  influ- 
ence and  energy,  called  him  away  at  Midsummer,  1845,  to 
be  president  of  St.  Paul's,  Prior  Park,  to  the  deep  regret  of 
his  attached  flock;  but  he  had  a  worthy  successor  in  the 
Rev.  William  Seth  Agar,  who  added  much  to  the  beauty  of 
his  church,  which  is  a  bijou  of  its  kind.  The  beautiful  Lady 
Chapel  was  finished  in  1851. 

On  32nd  May,  1836,  ten  persons  were  confirmed  here. 

On  15th  July,  1849,  twenty-three  were  confirmed. 

9.  Bridport. — Th6  blameless  conduct  of  the  Catholics  resi- 
dent in  this  town,  who  were  exemplary  in  attending  the  chapel 
at  Chidiock,  had  won  the  good  opinion  of  their  neighbours ; 
but  the  public  discussion  of  Catholic  principles  in  the  Town- 
hall  on  15th  June,  1841,  before  an  audience  of  more  than 
600  influential  persons,  G.  T.  Gollop,  Esq.,  a  liberal  Pro- 
testant, in  the  chair,  coidd  not  fail  to  produce  a  powerful 
impression  in  our  favour,  and  to  explode  the  calumnies 
charged  upon  us.  The  Rev.  William  Peter  Bond,  then  pastor 
of  Chidiock,  the  Rev.  William  J.  Vaughan,  of  Lyme,  and 
F.  M'Donpell,  of  Birmingham,  did  themselves  infinite  honour 
on  that  occasion.  The  Rev.  John  Ryan,  a  successor  of  Mr. 
Bond,  availing  himself  of  this  friendly  disposition  of  the 
townspeople,  decided  on  commencing  a  new  chapel  in  Brid- 
port. The  foundation-stone  was  laid  on  8th  September, 
1845,  in  honour  of  our  Lady.  He  said  the  first  Mass  in  the 
new  edifice  on  1st  July,  1846;  and  on  the  2nd  July  Bishop 
Ullathorne  opened  it  with  great  solemnity,  assisted  by  ten 
priests.  For  a  considerable  time  this  zealous  pastor  did  the 
duty  of  both  places ;  but,  happily,  now  Bridport  enjoys  its 
own  Catholic  incumbent. 


46  ACCOUNT    OF    THE    PRINCIPAL 


CHAPTER  VI. 

SOME   ACCOUNT   OF    THE    PRINCIPAL    CATHOLIC   FAMILIES    IN 
DOESETSHIRE. 

1.  The  Welds. — The  first  time  that  I  have  met  with  the 
family  is  in  the  "Abbreviatio  Placitorum/'  fol.  283,  A.D. 
1290j  where  John  de  Welda  and  Matilda  his  wife,  in  Essex, 
recovered  damages  in  a  suit  (Rot.  38)  .*  Humphry  Weld,  of 
East  Barnet,  Herts,  was  Lord  Mayor  of  London  in  1610 : 
his  relict  Frances  parted  with  that  manor  of  East  Barnet  in 
1645.  Several  members  of  the  family  raised  themselves  by 
success  in  the  legal  profession;  amongst  whom  we  may 
mention  Sir  John  Weld,  knight,  of  Arnolds,  in  the  parish 
of  Edmonton,  brother  of  the  said  Lord  Mayor.  He  built 
and  endowed  Southgate  Chapel  in  that  parish,  which  was  con- 
secrated by  Dr.  King,  bishop  of  London,  in  1615.  Accord- 
ing to  Lysons,  the  learned  knight  died  in  1622.  In  Smyth's 
Obituary  I  read,  25th  March,  1650,  "Died  Mr.  William 
Weld,  of  Bread-street,  London,  father  of  Sir  William  Weld, 
now  recorder."  This  recorder  died  in  1661  ;  his  lady  was 
buried  5th  September,  in  the  same  year.  A  George  Weld,  or 
Wilde,  son  of  Henry  Weld,  a  citizen  of  London,  a  stanch 
loyalist,  was  made  bishop  of  Derry  by  King  Charles  II.,  and 
dying  in  Dublin  29th  December,  1665,  set.  sixty-four,  was 
buried  in  Christ  Church  there.  A  branch  of  the  Weld  family 
still  exists  in  Ireland. 

In  the  preceding  chapter  I  have  stated  that  Humphry 
Weld,  Esq.,  in  1641,  became  the  fortunate  purchaser  of  Lull- 
worth.  That  he  was  a  monied  man  is  evidenced  by  the  large 
sums  he  advanced  to  save  the  seqiiestered  estates  of  Henry, 
the  third  Lord  Arundell,  when  sold  at  Drury  House,  London, 
in  1653.  In  my  humble  opinion,  he  was  the  first  Cathohc  in 
his  family.  He  had  married  Clara,  daughter  of  Thomas,  the 
first  Lord  Arundell;  and  Dodd  informs  us  (Church  Hist, 
vol.  iii.  p.  300)  that  the  Rev.  Dr.  William  Hyde,  afterwards 
president  of  Douay  College,  "remained  awhile  with  Mr. 
Humphry  Weld."  This  possessor  of  LuUworth  had  two 
brothers.     1st,  John,  a  barrister,  who  was  knighted,  and  is 

*  Peter  Weld,  D.D.,  a  Franciscan,  of  Worcester,  preached  at  the 
funeral  of  Isabella,  duchess  of  Clarence,  1476. — Mon.  Angl.  vol.  ii.  G4. 


CATHOLIC    FAMILIES    IN    DORSETSHIRE.  47 

described  of  Pinchbeck,  county  Lincoln,  and  of  Combe  or 
Compton  Bassett,  in  Wilts. 

2nd,  George,  married  to  Catherine  Moore ;  he  is  described 
as  of  St.  Martin's  parish,  London.  Their  daughter  Cecily 
married  Daniel  Mahony,  son  of  John  Mahony,  of  Castle 
Mahony,  county  Cork,  Esq. 

Richard  Blore,  in  his  "  Britannia,"  published  in  1673,  dedi- 
cated the  map  of  Dorsetshire  to  this  Humphry  Weld,  of  Lull- 
worth  Castle,  Esq.,  governor  of  Portland  and  Sandesfoot 
Castles.  In  plate  25  are  the  arms  of  the  said  gentleman,  and 
he  is  further  represented  as  the  owner  of  Dry  Dratton,  in 
Cambridgeshire,  and  of  Weld  House,  in  St.  Giles-in-the- 
Fields,  London.  From  the  journals  of  the  Lords  we  learn, 
that  at  the  time  of  Oates's  Plot,  1678,  Humphry  Weld,  Esq., 
was  in  the  commission  of  the  peace,  and  stiU  governor  of 
Portland  Castle.  On  the  petition  of  the  Lords  to  the  Crown, 
27th  March,  1679,  he  was  deprived  of  these  offices.  More- 
over, the  Privy  Council  directed  that  his  house  within  Port- 
land Castle,  his  castle  of  LuUworth,  and  Weld  House,  in 
London,  should  be  searched  for  arms.  In  a  grotto  of  the 
garden  attached  to  Weld  House  were  found  several  chests 
and  trunks,  which  the  said  Humphry  Weld  affirmed  were 
goods  left  in  his  hands  by  Don  Pedro  de  Ronquillio,  late 
Spanish  ambassador  here,  for  a  security  of  a  sum  of  money 
paid  by  him  for  the  said  ambassador.  On  31st  of  the  same 
month  and  year,  the  trunks  were  ordered  to  be  carefully 
examined  and  a  report  to  be  made  to  the  House  of  their 
contents.  On  7th  April  the  said  trunks  were  ordered  to  be 
restored,  "  as  there  was  nothing  among  the  papers  relating 
to  the  said  conspiracy."  This  persecuted  gentleman  died 
about  1685,  in  a  good  old  age.  Sir  Roger  le  Strange,  in  his 
folio  edition  of  "  JEsop's  Fables,"  p.  132,  mentions  the  pillage 
of  Weld  House  at  the  breaking  out  of  the  Revolution.  This 
took  place  on  12th  December,  1688. 

By  failure  of  issue  male,  the  estate  descended  to  his 
nephew  William,  son  of  Sir  John  Weld,*  of  Compton  Bassett, 
and  Mary  (Stourton)  his  wife.  He  had  married  Elizabeth, 
daughter  of  Richard  Shireburn,  of  Stonyhurst,  Esq.;  she 
died  24th  January,  1688, 0.S.  He  survived  until  12th  April, 
1698,  being  then  forty-eight  years  old,  leaving  a  son  and 
heir,  Humphry  Weld. 

*  The  worthy  knight,  I  trust,  had  not  dictated  the  wild  inscription 
to  his  memory  in  the  churcli  of  Lullworth,  copied  into  Hutcnins's 
"  History  of  Dorset."  Though  he  had  married  Mary,  daughter  of 
William,  the  tenth  Lord  Stourton,  he  was  not  reputed  a  Catholic.  Her 
ladyship  died  15th  May,  1650  :  he  survived  till  11th  July,  1674. 


48  ACCOUNT   OF    THE    PRINCIPAL 

This  gentleman  contracted  marriage  with  Margaret,  only 
daughter  of  Sir  James  Simeon,  of  Britwell,  in  Oxfordshire, 
and  Aston,  in  Staffordshire,  Bart.  (His  creation  hears  date 
18th  October,  1677.)  This  union,  like  that  of  his  tather, 
eventually  brought  large  possessions  to  the  Weld  family. 
Mr.  Weld  died  23rd  June,  1723,  set.  forty-five,  leaving  a  son, 
Edward  Weld,  to  be  the  fourth  to  inherit  the  property.  He 
married  first,  about  the  year  1728,  the  Hon,  Catherine  Aston, 
eldest  surviving  daughter  of  Walter,  fourth  Lord  Aston,  by 
his  wife  Mary,  only  daughter  of  Thomas  Lord  Howard.  This 
Hon.  Mrs.  Weld  very  indelicately,  but  ineffectually,  sued  for 
a  divorce,  and  died  without  issue  25th  October,  1739,  aged 
thirty-four.  In  the  British  Museum  may  be  seen  an  octavo 
volume  of  her  proceedings  against  Edward  Weld,  her  husband, 
in  the  Arches  Court,  Canterbury,  and  the  sentence  pro- 
nounced by  Dr.  Bettisworth,  15th  February,  1732-3,  which 
was  aflarmed  by  the  Court  of  Delegates  in  Trinity  Term  fol- 
lowing.* Her  death  enabled  him  to  contract  marriage  with 
Mary  Theresa,  daughter  of  John  Vaughan,  of  Courtfield, 
Esq.,t  by  whom  he  had  several  children.  She  died  21st  July, 
1754,  aged  forty:  he  survived  until  8th  December,  1761, 
aged  fifty-seven.  Mr.  Hutchins,  in  his  elaborate  History  of 
Dorset,  does  honour  to  himself,  by  the  following  tribute  to 
the  character  of  his  friend  :■ — 

"  The  late  Edward  Weld,  Esq.,  was  of  an  agreeable  person, 
sweet,  modest,  and  humane  temper ;  easy,  affable,  and  obHging 
behaviour.  He  lived  in  great  credit  and  hospitality,  and 
maintained  a  good  correspondence  and  harmony  with  the 
neighbouring  gentry;  nor  did  difference  in  opinion  create 
any  reserve  or  distance.  His  charity  and  generosity  were 
not  confined  to  those  of  his  own  persuasion,  but  universal ; 
and  his  character,  in  every  social  relation  of  life,  truly 
amiable.  Though  he  ever  behaved  as  a  peaceable  subject,  he 
was  ordered  into  custody  in  1745,  on  account  of  his  name 
being  mentioned  in  a  treasonable  anonymous  letter,  dropped 
near  Poole — a  malicious  piece  of  villany,  which  none  but  a 
bigot  and  zealot  would  practise ;  and  which  will  endanger 
the  life,  fortune,  and  reputation  of  the  most  blameless  and 

*  Lee's  Ecclesiastical  Cases,  vol.  ii,  p.  680. 

f  Of  her  brother,  John  vaughan,  Esq.,  who  died,  s.p.,  in  1780, 
F.  John  Thorpe,  writing  from  Rome  on  18th  March,  of  that  year,  to 
Henry,  the  eighth  Lord  ArundeJl,  thus  expresses  himself  :  "  What  an 
amiable  and  venerable  character  is  given  of  the  deceased  Mr.  Vaughan 
both  in  letters  and  newspapers !  It  would  be  a  comfort  to  religion  if 
his  example  was  followed  by  every  Catholic  gentleman  in  the  kingdom. 
Too  many  of  them  forget  themselves   to   be  only  tenants  at  will  to 

Imighty  God,  and  to  be  accountable  to  Him  for  the  use  of  their  estates." 


CATHOLIC    FAMILIES    IN    DORSETSHIRE.  49 

inoffensive.  An  immediate  and  honourable  discharge  was  a 
most  convincing  proof  of  his  innocence.  His  worth,  and 
the  favours  I  received  from  him,  demand  this  testimony  of 
ray  respect  and  gratitude  to  the  memory  of  a  friend."  So 
far  this  honest  and  reverend  Protestant  historian.  Had  he 
turned  to  the  "  Gentleman's  Magazine"  of  1745,  p.  554,  he 
would  have  found  the  anonymous  letter  referred  to,  viz. : — 

^^ Monday,  Oct.  7th,  Wareham,  in  Dorsetshire. 

"  On  Monday  last  was  found  dropt  near  Pool  the  following  letter, 
with  a  piece  of  paper  and  a  handkerchief,  in  a  wheel-rutt  full  of 
Water : — 

"  '  Sir,  '  September  27, 1746. 

" '  Having  this  oppqc tunlty,  by  a  friend  who  is  going  to  Plymouth,  to 
advise  our  Catholic  friends  how  to  act  with  relation  to  the  prisoners, 
the  which  is  also  to  stop  near  Weymouth,  I  thought  proper  to  wish  you 
joy  of  the  success  of  our  friends  in  the  north.  When  our  friends  arrive 
in  the  West,  I  hope  you  will  be  ready  to  assist  them,  as  promised  in 
your  last ;  but  I  fear  the  winds  have  prevented  them  as  yet.  My 
humble  respects  to  S.  J.  W.  fSir  John  Webb)  and  all  friends  at  Can- 
ford,  Lullworth,  'Weymouth,  Exeter,  and  Plymouth.' 

"  On  this,  Mr.  Weld  was  taken  into  custody,  but  after  several  ex- 
aminations discharged." 

5th,  Edward,  eldest  son  of  the  above-mentioned  wor- 
thy, succeeded  to  the  property.  To  obtain  a  smuggled 
education  abroad  (which  was  denied  him  at  home),  I 
find  in  the  procurator's  book  of  St.  Omer's  College,  that  he 
arrived  there,  with  his  brother  John,  under  the  name  of 
Shireburn,  on  1st  August,  1754,  and  certainly  both  conti- 
nued there  until  22nd  February,  1759.  (John  died,  26th 
September,  1759,  and  was  buried  at  St.  James's,  Brussels.) 
Their  younger  brother,  Thomas,  followed,  on  26th  Septem- 
ber, 1762,  under  the  name  of  Shireburn  also,  and  remained 
at  Watten  and  at  Bruges  until  2nd  May,  1765. 

This  Edward  married  twice :  Ist,  Julia,  daughter  of 
Edward,  the  eighth  Lord  Petre.  She  died  16th  July,  1773, 
set.  thirty-two.  2ndly,  Mary,  daughter  of  Walter  Smythe, 
of  Brambridge,  Hants,  Esq.,  16th  July,  1775.  He  was  in  a 
precarious  state  of  health  at  the  time,  and  barely  survived 
the  ceremony  three  months,  dying  on  23rd  October  follow- 
ing. This  far-famed  lady  was  born  26th  July,  1756.  She 
soon  found  a  second  husband  in  Thomas  Fitzherbert,  of 
Swynnerton,  Esq.  He  died  at  Nice,  in  1781.  She  subse- 
quently, on  21st  December,  1785,  married  George,  Prince 
of  Wales,  and  survived  until  37th  March,  1837.  She  was 
buried  in  St.  John  tlie  Baptist's  chapel,  Brighton,  to  which 
slie  proved  a  generous  benefactress.     Her  beautiful  monu^ 

E 


50  ACCOUNT   OP    THE    PRINCIPAL 

ment  there,  by  Carew,  records  her  merits,  and  the  grateful 
affection  of  her  friend  and  companion  Miss  Seymour.  Her 
memoirs  have  been  recently  published  by  that  noble  Chris- 
tian gentleman  the  Honourable  Charles  Langdale  (London, 
1856,  8vo.). 

-  I  now  come  to  Thomas,  the  sixth  possessor,  only  surviv, 
ing  brother  of  Edward.  From  infancy  he  was  the  favourite 
of  Heaven,  and  as  he  advanced  through  life,  he  was  justly 
regarded  as  the  pattern  of  every  virtue  that  can  adorn  the 
Christian  gentleman.  In  his  own  conduct  and  intercourse, 
this  dignified  head  of  a  large  establishment  exemplified  how 
perfectly  a  regular  system  of  piety  is  compatible  with  atten- 
tion to  the  social  duties  and  the  successful  management  of 
extensive  property. 

On  27th  February,  1773,  he  was  united  in  holy  marriage 
with  Miss  Mary  Massey  Stanley ;  and  each  of  their  nume- 
rous family  might  say,  "A  parentibus  nobilitatem  pietatis 
accepi."  Six  years  after  his  union  occm'red  the  first  relax- 
ation of  the  penal  laws.  In  the  Sherborne  paper  of  that 
period  I  read,  "On  the  24th  December,  1778,  six  great  guns 
(six-pounders),  with  their  carriages,  ammunition,  and  neces- 
sary implements  belonging  to  them,  said  to  be  brought  from 
Bristol,  were  carried  in  two  waggons  to  LuUworth  Castle, 
on  the  sea-coast  of  Dorsetshire,  the  seat  of  Thomas  Weld, 
Esq.,  a  Roman  Catholic  gentleman,  where  none  are  remem- 
bered to  ever  have  been  before.  They  are  supposed  to  be 
the  private  property  of  that  gentleman,  and  a  flag-staff  is 
erected  on  the  top  of  the  castle  "  ! 

Little  did  that  editor  foresee  that  his  gracious  Majesty 
George  III.  would,  with  his  royal  family,  a  few  years 
later,  frequently  honour  LuUworth  and  its  loyal  owner 
with  his  presence,  partake  of  his  splendid  hospitality,  even 
inspect  his  new  chapel  of  St.  Mary,  and  converse  familiarly 
with  the  Rev.  Charles  Plowden,  the  well-known  Jesuit. 

Mr.  Weld  was  justly  regarded  as  the  friend  and  protector 
of  religion.  It  would  require  a  volume  to  enumerate  his 
good  deeds  to  the  communities  of  Stonyhurst,  La  Trappe, 
Taunton  Lodge,  Clare  House,*  Plymouth,  &c.  &c.  Suffice 
it  to  say,  "  Eleemosynas  illius  enarrabit  omnis  ecclesia  sanc- 
torum."—Eccli.  xxxi.  On  1st  August,  1810,  he  was  called 
by  God  to  receive  the  recompense  of  his  good  deeds,  set. 
sixty;  his  honoured  relict  finished  her  course   at  Pilewell 

*  His  sister,  Mary  Euphrasia  Weld,  a  religious,  formerly  of  Aire,  in 
Artois,  died  at  Clare  House,  Plymouth,  on  12th  March,  1823,  set.  sixty- 
nme,  and  was  interred  in  the  little  cemetery,  with  ten  other  members  of 
the  commnnity. 


CATHOLIC    FAMILIES    IN    DORSETSHIRE.  51 

Houae,  near  Lymington,  on  1st  of  August  also,  just  twenty 
years  later  (1830). 

To  this  patron  of  orthodoxy  and  piety,  succeeded  his 
eldest  son,  Thomas,  bom  in  London,  on  22nd  January, 
1773.  For  the  most  part  he  received  his  education  under 
the  tuition  of  the  Rev.  Charles  Plowden,  S. J.,  whom  Cardinal 
Wiseman  describes  as  "a  man  zealous  and  fearless  in  the 
defence  of  religion,  and  well  known  for  his  many  learned 
works."  On  14th  June,  1796,  he  married,  at  IJgbrooke, 
Lucy  Bridget  Clifford,  second  daughter  of  the  Honourable 
Thomas  Clifford  (fourth  son  of  Hugh,  the  third  Lord  Clif- 
ford) .  Their  only  issue  was  Mary  Lucy,  born  at  Upway, 
near  Weymouth,  on  31st  January,  1799.  The  loss  of  his 
amiable  consort  at'Clifton,  on  Ist  June,  1815,  and  the 
subsequent  marriage  of  his  only  child  to  the  Honourable 
Mr.  Clifford,  at  Paris,  on  1st  September,  1818,  left  this  lord  of 
LuUworth  at  full  liberty  to  embrace  the  ecclesiastical  estate, 
and  to  renounce  the  family  property  to  his  next  brother, 
Joseph  Weld,  Esq.  Placing  himself  under  the  direction  of  his 
old  friend  and  experienced  guide,  the  celebrated  Abbe  Carron, 
a  long  preparation  was  not  required.  Monseigneur  Quelen, 
archbishop  of  Paris,  thought  proper  to  ordain  him  sub- 
deacon,  on  23rd  September,  1820  j  deacon  on  the  ensuing 
23rd  December ;  and  priest  on  7th  April,  1821.  Six  days 
later  he  celebrated  his  first  Mass.  On  20th  June,  1822,  he 
began  to  assist  the  pastor  of  the  Chelsea  mission,  and  conti- 
nued to  render  useful  service  in  the  laborious  duties  of  his 
office  in  the  company  and  under  the  direction  of  that 
apostolic  man  L'Abbe  Voyaux.  After  some  time,  he  was 
removed  to  Hammersmith.  But  he  was  not  suffered  to 
remain  quiet,  for  the  Bight  Rev.  Alexander  Macdonnell,D.D., 
bishop  of  Kingston,  Upper  Canada,  solicited  of  the  Holy 
See,  and  procured  his  nomination  to  be  his  coadjutor.  The 
ceremony  of  Df.  Weld's  consecration,  as  bishop  of  Amyclee, 
a  town  of  the  Morea,  was  performed  at  St.  Edmund's 
College,  by  the  venerable  Bishop  Poynter,  on  6th  August, 
1826.  It  was  at  the  risk  of  life  that  he  consented,  in  his 
delicate  state  of  health,  to  accept  a  residence  in  so  cold  a 
climate.  But  legal  business  and  the  remonstrances  of  his 
family  and  of  his  medical  advisers  detained  him  in  England ; 
yet,  though  he  delayed  his  departure  from  time  to  time, 
he  never  abandoned  the  intention  of  proceeding  to  Canada. 
The  health  of  his  beloved  daughter  had  now  excited  the 
alarm  of  her  family,  and  required  the  experiment  of  a  milder 
climate ;  and  Dr.  Weld  took  the  opportunity  of  accompany- 
ing her  and  her  husband,  that  he  might  visit  the  tombs  of 

E  2 


53  ACCOUNT    OF    THE    PRINCIPAL 

the  apostles  before  he  quitted  Europe.  Shortly  after  his 
arrival,  Cardinal  Alboni,  on  19th  January,  1830,  announced 
to  his  lordship  that  His  Holiness  Pope  Pius  VIII.  had 
decided  on  honouring  him  with  the  purple,  to  mark  his  sense 
of  his  merits,  and  of  his  personal  regard  for  the  English 
nation.  The  15th  of  March  witnessed  his  admission  into 
the  College  of  Cardinals. 

Whilst  Rome,  and  every  counti'y  where  his  name  was 
known,  applauded  the  honours  so  freely  conferred  on  distin- 
guished merit,  his  own  heart  was  sensibly  affected  at  being 
the  spectator  of  the  rapidly-declining  health  of  his  daughter. 
She  died  on  Sunday,  15th  May,  1831,  at  Palo,  about 
twenty-six  miles  from  Rome,  and  was  buried  on  the  18th  in 
St.  Marcellus'  church,  in  Rome,  from  which  his  eminence 
derived  his  title.  He  survived  her  nearly  six  years ;  viz.,  till 
Monday,  19th  April,  1837,  and  his  precious  remains  were 
deposited  near  hers,  with  unusual  solemnity ;  the  Sovereign 
Pontiff  attending,  and  affected  to  tears  whilst  consigning  his 
ashes  to  the  tomb. 

Joseph  Weld,  Esq.,  born  27th  January,  1777,  already 
mentioned,  has  added  much  to  the  property  in  Dorset  since 
his  right  reverend  brother  made  LuUworth  over  to  him  in 
1828. 

The  Webbs. — The  founder  of  this  family  was  William 
Webb,  of  Salisbury,  merchant,  in  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII. 
(See  the  visitation  of  Dorset  in  the  College  of  Arms,  C.  22.) 
By  marriage,  William,  the  son  of  the  founder,  obtained 
Motcombe,  in  com.  Dorset.  Sir  John  Webb,  in  the  early 
part  of  King  James  I.'s  reign,  purchased  Canford  estate,  for 
14,000Z. ;  but  I  find,  in  an  original  letter  written  in  the 
spring  of  1613,  that  Sir  John  Webb,  with  all  the  Cathohc 
gentlemen  of  the  west  country  who  lived  within  forty  miles 
of  the  sea,  were  sent  up  to  London  ;  that  this  worthy  knight 
was  accused  of  having  made  the  purchase  with  money  from 
Spain,  and  he  must  receive  the  Spaniards  there ;  and  though 
he  proved  what  lands  he  had  sold  elsewhere  to  raise  that 
large  sum,  what  moneys  he  had  borrowed,  and  of  whom, 
and  the  causes  that  induced  him  to  make  that  purchase; 
though  even  Dr.  Abbott,  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  expressly 
stated  to  the  Privy  Council,  "  This  is  no  more  than  any  of 
us  would  have  done ;"  yet  he  was  bid  to  choose  to  what  Pro- 
testant's house  he  would  be  committed.  Mr.  Harry  Shirlie, 
who  dwelt  in  a  thatched  house  opposite  Poole,  and  kept  a 
boat  to  carry  dung  to  his  farm,  was  suspected  of  having  the 
boat  to  receive  dangerous  persons ;  he  was  also  committed, 
as  were  Mr.  Coram,  and  the  rest. 


CATHOLIC    FAMILIES    IN    DORSETSHIRE.  53 

This  family  was  eminently  loyal.  In  the  Journals  of  the 
Commons,  Thursday,  20th  November,  1641,  the  person  of 
John  Webb,  of  Canford,  Esq.,  is  ordered  to  be  secured ;  but 
he  escaped,  and  was  enabled  to  render  his  sovereign  valuable 
service,  and  in  reward  of  the  sacrifices  he  made  in  defending 
the  royal  cause  was  created  a  baronet,  on  2nd  April,  1644. 
Major-General  Webb  was  so  dreadfully  wounded  at  the  first 
battle  of  Newbery,  fought  on  20th  September,  1643,  as  to 
die  shortly  after. 

In  the  course  of  this  work  it  will  be  seen  that  this  family, 
one  of  the  wealthiest  among  the  commoners  of  England,  up 
to  the  time  of  the  late  Sir  John  Webb  (who  was  buried  at 
St.  Pancras,  London,  1797),  remained  stanch  to  the  old  reli- 
gion, and  maintained  several  missions  in  the  diocese. 

The  Husseys  of  Nash  Court,  in  Mamhull  parish,  for  the 
last  two  centuries  have  been  in  good  reputation.  For  the 
life  of  Giles  Hussey,  the  gifted  artist,  who  died  at  Beeston, 
in  Broad  Hempston  parish,  Devon,  17th  June  1788,  set. 
seventy-eight,  see  the  eighth  volume  of  Nichols's  "  Lite- 
rary Anecdotes."  Hutchins,  "History  of  Dorset,"  vol.  ii. 
p.  500,  styles  him  "  a  living  honour  of  the  county." 

At  Mr.  Duane's  sale,  the  celebrated  painter  West  bought 
some  of  his  pencilled  heads,  and  pronounced  a  judgment, 
and  such  an  encomium,  as  should  not  be  omitted.  "I  will 
venture  to  show  this  head  against  any  other,  ancient  or 
modern  j  it  was  never  exceeded ;  no  man  had  ever  imbibed 
the  true  Grecian  character  and  art  deeper  than  Giles 
Hussey."  Several  specimens  of  the  genius  of  this  exemplary 
Catholic  may  be  seen  at  Nash  Court,  LuUworth,  &c. 

Eastmonds. — Of  this  family  I  can  glean  nothing  whatever, 
except  from  Rymer's  "  Fcedera,"  tom.  xviii.  p.  392,  where 
we  leaxn  the  complaint  of  the  House  of  Commons  to  King 
Charles,  that  in  the  house  of  Mary  Eastmond,  in  Dorset- 
shire, had  been  discovered,  by  two  justices  of  the  peace, 
divers  copes,  altars,  chalices,  &c.,  who  thereupon  tendered  to 
her  the  oath  of  allegiance  and  supremacy,  and  upon  her 
refusing  it,  committed  her  to  the  constable,  from  whose 
custody  she  made  her  escape;  yet  that  Secretary  Lord 
Conway  had  written  to  those  justices  in  her  favour ! 

Hutchins,  in  his  "  History  of  Dorset,"  vol.  i.  p.  276, 
informs  us  that  Mr.  Humphry  Coffin,  of  Wambrooke,  a 
Recusant,  had  his  rents  and  lands  sequestered  in  1645. 

Upon  the  whole,  if  Catholic  property  has  sufiiered  diminu- 
tion in  some  localities  within  the  county,  it  has  gained  it  in 
others.  The  Weld  family  has  made  some  purchases;  the 
Tichbournes  have  acquired  Upton,  near  Poole,  since  1 829  j 


54 


CATHOLIC    FAMILIES    IN    DORSETSHIRE. 


the  Huddlestones  have  Pursecandle,  near  Sherborne;  the 
Tuckers  are  proprietors  of  Filford,  in  Netherbury  parish; 
the  nuns  of  Spetisbury  are  the  real  possessors  of  their  con' 
venient  premises.  And  on  its  very  borders,  near  Lyme,  the 
ancient  family  of  Talbot  has  purchased  the  fine  property  of 
Rhode  Hill,  in  Uplyme  parish,  and  has  proved  itself  the 
principal  support  of  the  Lyme  mission.  "William  Maskell, 
Esq.,  has  also  Pickett  manor  and  farm,  within  the  parish  of 
South  Perrott,  and  the  manor  of  Wraxale,  in  the  county  of 
Dorset. 


THE    MISSIONS    OP    SOMERSETSHIRE.  55 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE    MISSIONS    OF    SOMERSETSHIRE. 

Here  indeed  is  subject  of  congratulation  to  religion,  and 
of  heartfelt  thanksgiving  to  the  Author  and  Finisher  of  faith. 
Within  the  last  half-century  the  missions  have  been  doubled. 
I  begin  with  B^th.  The  late  well-informed  Dr.  Baines 
informed  me,  in  his  letter  dated  from  Bath  7th  December, 
1818,  that  this  mission  had  always  been  served  by  members 
of  the  Benedictine  order.  Its  Register,  unfortunately  burned 
by  the  fanatical  mob  in  June,  1780,  proved  this;  at  least 
from  the  reign  of  James  II.  His  Majesty  reached  Bath  on 
18th  August,  1687,  and  remained  there  during  the  three 
following  days ;  he  returned  to  it  again  from  Holywell  on 
6th  September  following.  T.  Anselm  Williams  was  then  the 
incumbent.  For  a  long  period  the  missionary  residence,  as 
well  as  chapel,  was  at  Beltre  House,  held  under  the  Corpora- 
tion of  Bath  at  a  ground-rent  of  8/.  per  annum.  The  name 
of  the  next  incumbent  that  I  have  been  able  to  ascertain 
is  F.  Bernard  Quin,  who  occurs  in  1713;  and  F.  William 
Banester,  who  died  16th  May,  1726;  then  that  eminent 
father  Dr.  Laurence  York,  who  succeeded  F.  Francis  Bruning. 
Dr.  York  had  been  prior  of  St.  Gregory's  at  Douay,  and  of 
St.  Edmund's  at  Paris,  before  his  arrival  at  Bath,  about  the 
year  1730.  His  prudent  zeal,  in  very  difiBcult  times,  endeared 
him  to  the  venerable  Bishop  Pritchard,  V.A.  of  the  Western 
District,  who  recommended  him  to  Rome  for  his  associate  in 
the  episcopal  office.  His  wish  was  readily  granted,  and  the 
consecration  of  the  new  prelate,  as  Bishop  of  Niba,  took 
place  on  lOth  August,  1741.  During  the  rebellion  of  1745, 
a  fabricated  letter  (no  uncommon  device  of  the  malevolent  at 
that  period)  was  forwarded  to  the  mayor  of  Bath,  and  ad- 
dressed, by  a  supposed  anonymous  partisan  of  the  rebellion, 
to  the  Right  Rev.  Dr.  York.  It  thanked  the  bishop  for  the 
men  and  money  which  he  had  already  provided,  and  for  the 
supplies  which  he  had  promised ;  and  engaged  to  him  the 
see  of  Carlisle,  in  the  event  of  the  Prince's  success.  The 
mayor,  satisfied  in  his  own  mind  of  the  forgery,  waited  on 
Dr.  York  at  Beltre  House,  and  was  soon  convinced  of  the 
perfect  innocence  of  the  prelate,  and  of  the  malice  of  the 


56  THE    MISSIONS    OP    SOMERSETSHIRE. 

attempt  on  his  life  and  character ;  but,  under  all  the  circum- 
stances of  the  times,  suggested  the  expediency  of  withdrawing 
himself,  until  the  storm  blew  over.  This  prudent  counsel 
was  duly  acquiesced  in.  In  the  course  of  1745,  F.  Bernard 
Bradshaw  was  appointed  to  take  the  mission. 

On  the  death  of  Bishop  Pritchard,  22nd  May,  1750,  set. 
eighty-one,  the  responsibility  of  an  extensive  jurisdiction  over 
North  and  South  Wales,  the  counties  of  Monmouth  and 
Hereford,  in  addition  to  the  six  counties  coraprising  the 
Subject  of  this  compilation,  devolved  upon  Bishop  York. 
Years  and  infirmities  admonished  the  zealous  prelate  to  look 
out  for  a  coadjutor ;  and  the  choice  he  made  of  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Charles  Walmesley*  does  credit  to  his  discrimination  of 
character,  and  will  ever  entitle  his  memory  to  the  gratitude 
of  not  merely  the  diocese,  but  of  the  whole  English  Catholic 
body.  The  young  and  learned  doctor,  as  I  find  in  a  letter  of 
F.  John  Thorpe,  S.J.,  who  assisted  at  the  ceremony,  was 
consecrated  Bishop  of  Rama  by  Cardinal  Lanti,  on  21st 
December,  1756,  in  the  Sodality  Chapel  of  the  English 
College  at  Rome. 

Dr.  York,  after  gracing  the  mitre  for  twenty-three  years, 
obtained  permission  of  Pope  Clement  XIII.  to  retire  from 
public  life.  This  event  was  announced  to  the  clergy  and 
faithful  of  the  district  on  12th  March,  1764.  He  chose  for 
his  retreat  St.  Gregory's  Convent,  at  Douay,  where  he  died 
in  the  arms  of  his  religious  brethren,  14th  April,  1770,  octo- 
genario  major. 

2.  F.  Anselm  Bradshaw  succeeded  Dr.  York  as  missionary 
in  1745  J  but  I  cannot  ascertain  the  length  of  his  services, 
though  it  is  said  he  continued  until  1757.  He  died  eventu- 
ally at  Warrington,  20th  June,  1799. 

8.  F.  Placid  Naylor  served  Bath  about  twenty-one  years. 
He  ended  his  days  at  Paris  on  2nd  December,  1793. 

4.  John  Bede  Brewer,  D.D.,  was  appointed  to  this  mission 
in  1776.  Encouraged  by  the  relaxation  of  the  penal  laws, 
two  years  later,  he  decided  on  erecting  a  chapel  in  St.  James's 
Parade  J  for  the  one  at  Beltre  House  proved  inconvenient 
and  very  inadequate  for  its  purpose.  The  new  edifice  was 
announced  to  be  opened  for  public  worship  on  Sunday,  11th 
June,  1780;  but  on  Priday,  9th,  the  delegates  from  Lord 
George  Gordon's  association  had  so  inflaimed  the  fanaticism 
of  the  mob,  that  it  was  gutted  and  demolished,  as  well  as 
the  Presbytere  in  Bell-tree  Lane  j  and  the  registers,  diocesan 

*  For  an  account  of  Dr.  Walmesley's  scientific  attainments,  see 
Butler's  Memoirs,  vol.  ii.  312. 


THE    MISSIONS    OF    SOMERSETSHIRE.  57 

archives,  and  Bishop  Walmesley's  library  and  MSS.  perished 
irrecoverably  in  the  flames.  Dr.  Brewer  nearly  fell  a  victim 
to  the  savage  fury  of  the  rioters ;  he  was  pursued  through 
several  streets,  was  denied  admission  by  two  of  the  principal 
inns,  and  even  the  Town-hall ;  but  at  last  found  refuge  in 
the  Greyhound  Inn,  and  escaped  by  a  back  door.*  In  1781 
the  duties  of  president  of  his  brethren  called  him  away  from 
Bath ;  and  subsequently,  Woolton,  near  Liverpool,  became 
his  principal  place  of  residence.  There  he  closed  a  meri- 
torious life  by  a  happy  death  on  18th  April,  18.22,  aet. 
seventy -nine. 

5.  F.  Michael  Pembridge  was  the  next  incumbent.  Ke- 
quiring  assistance  in  the  discharge  of  his  increasing  duties, 
P.  Cuthbert  Simpson  was  assigned  him  as  associate;  but 
death  snatched  him  away  on  the  auspicious  feast  of  All  Saints, 
1785.  F.  Jerome  Digby  then  lent  him  his  valuable  aid  for 
some  time ;  on  whose  translation  P.  Joseph  Wilks  was  given  to 
him  for  coadjutor.  This  reverend  gentleman  possessed  superior 
colloquial  powers,  which  made  his  society  to  be  in  great  requi- 
sition. Unfortunately,  he  mixed  himself  up  too  intimately 
with  the  proceedings  of  the  Cisalpine  Club  in  1789  and  1791, 
and  laid  himself  open  to  the  severe  but  just  displeasure  of 
his  neighbour  and  immediate  diocesan,  and  Athanasius  of  our 
English  Church,  Dr.  Charles  Walmesley.  But  more  of  this  in 
the  biographical  part.  On  his  displacement,  the  Rev.  Hugh 
Heatly  followed,  and  during  his  short  ministry  edified  all 
classes  with  his  religious  spirit  and  pastoral  solicitude.  He 
fell  a  victim  to  typhus  fever  28th  April,  1792,  set.  thirty- 
three. 

In  the  mean  while  good  F.  Pembridge  had  gone  on  labour- 
ing in  the  vineyard,  and  prepared  a  new  chapel  in  Corn- 
street,  opened  for  Christmas,  1786.  God  called  him  to  his 
Temple,  not  made  with  hands,  eternal  in  the  heavens,  on 
20th  May,  1806,  and  five  days  later  his  remains  were  de- 
posited near  those  of  his  venerable  friend  Bishop  Walmesley, 
in  St.  Joseph's  Chapel,  Bristol. 

6.  The  Rev.  Ralph  Ainsworth  served  this  mission  very  eflBci- 
ently  from  P.  Heatly's  death  in  1792,  until  God  called  him  to 
Himself  on  5th  Pebruary,  1814,  set.  fifty.  His  assistants 
were,  1st,  P.  John  Augustine  Birdsall,  who  arrived  SOth  May, 

*  The  ringleader  of  this  mob  and  incendiary  was  John  Butler.  In 
the  Gent.  Mag.  of  1780,  page  445,  we  find  that  he  was  convicted  at  the 
following  assizes  at  Wells,  and  was  executed  on  28th  August,  "  near 
the  end  of  Pear-tree  Lane,  in  Bath,  without  the  least  disturbance." 
An  action  for  damages  was  brought  against  the  Hundred  of  Bath,  at 
Taunton,  30th  March,  1781,  and  Dr.  Brewer  recovered  £3,734.  19*.  Gd. 


58  THE    MISSIONS    OF    SOMEaSETSHIRE. 

1S06,  and  at  the  end  of  three  years  and  a  half  left,  to  com- 
mence the  flourishing  mission  of  Cheltenham,  of  whom  naore 
hereafter;  2nd,  the  Eev.  James  Calderbank,  who  arrived 
just  before  the  opening  of  the  new  church  on  3rd  December, 
1809,  and  who,  from  assistant,  became  seventh  chief  pastor 
in  1814,  and  remained  such  till  July,  1817  (having  for  his 
associate  F.  Thomas  Eollings),  when  he  retired  to  Liverpool, 
where  he  ended  his  days  9th  April,  1831. 

8.  The  Rev.  Peter  Augustine  Baines,  of  whom  I  shall  have  to 
treat  largely  in  the  second  Part.  Suffice  it  at  present  to  say, 
that  he  unquestionably  availed  himself  of  the  progress  of 
light  and  public  liberality,  from  his  entrance  into  office,  July, 
1817,  to  draw  attention  to  the  grandeur  and  solemnity  of 
our  services,  and  to  conciliate  the  minds  of  his  hearers  by  his 
dignified  and  persuasive  eloquence.  On  his  consecration  as 
coadjutor  bishop,  nearly  seven  years  later,  he  resigned  the 
charge  of  chief  pastor  at  Bath  to  his  individual  assistant 
from  the  beginning,  viz. — 

9.  The  Rev.  Thomas  Brindle. 

The  death  of  Bishop  Collingridge,  at  Cannington,  on  3rd 
May,  1829,  occurred  whilst  his  coadjutor.  Dr.  Baines,  with 
the  right  of  succession  to  the  government  of  the  Western 
District,  was  sojourning  at  Rome  for  the  benefit  of  his  health. 
His  lordship  lost  no  time  in  appointing  Mr.  Brindle  to  be 
grand  vicar  and  administrator  of  the  diocese  ad  interim,  and 
obtained  for  him  the  title  of  D.D.  In  December  the  same 
year,  his  lordship  efi'ected  the  purchase  of  Prior  Park  for  a 
college  and  seminary,  and  got  several  members  of  the 
Benedictine  College  of  Ampleforth,  viz.  Dr.  Booker,  Dr. 
Burgess,  Dr.  Brindle,  and  P.  Metcalf,  to  be  secularized, 
to  conduct  his  new  establishment,  of  which  he  installed 
Dr.  Brindle  regent  or  president.  It  was  opened  for  the 
reception  of  students  July,  1830. 

10.  The  Rev.  Ralph  Maurus  Cooper,  who  on  27th  June,  1823, 
was  admitted  as  assistant  priest  by  Dr.  Brindle,  and  endeared 
himself  to  his  flock  by  his  zeal,  discretion,  and  constancy  in 
his  religious  profession.  On  Dr.  Brindle's  retirement,  he,  of 
course,  succeeded  to  the  direction  of  the  important  and 
laborious  mission  of  Bath,  and  was  shortly  after  provided 
by  the  Benedictine  Chapter  with  an  efficient  associate  in  the 
person  of  F.  John  Jerome  Jenkins.  Admirably  they  worked 
together  in  the  vineyard  of  our  Lord,  until  10th  October, 
1836,  when  he  left  Bath  for  the  mission  of  Bungay,  in 
Suffolk,  and  was  replaced  by  the  Rev.  Joseph  Peter  Wilson, 
a  priest  of  much  experience.     But  when  the  new  vicariat  of 


THE    MISSIONS   OF    SOMEKSETSHIKE,  59 

Wales,  with  Monmoutlishire  and  Herefordshire,  was  estab- 
lished in  1840,  and  separated  from  the  Western  District,  and 
the  learned  Dr.  Thomas  Joseph  Browne,  the  Prior  of  Down- 
side, was  created  its  first  diocesan,  then  F.  Wilson  was  chosen 
prior  in  his  place,  and  was  succeeded  at  Bath  by  the  Rev. 
Christopher  Austin  Shann.  At  the  end  of  two  years 
P.  Shann  quitted  to  make  way  for  the  Rev.  John  Clement 
Worsley. 

F.  Cooper,  who  for  twenty-three  years  and  a  half  had 
served  Bath,  obtained  permission  to  retire  in  1846.  The 
congregation,  to  mark  their  sense  of  esteem  and  gratitude, 
presented  him  with  a  purse  of  200Z.,  which  he  spent  for 
God's  love  on  the  sanctuary  of  his  little  chapel  at  Chipping 
Sodbury.  * 

W.  F.  John  Jerome  Jenkins,  the  provincial  of  his  brethren, 
succeeded  as  head  pastor  on  8th  December,  1846,  to  the  joy 
of  his  former  flock,  after  ten  years'  separation.  He  retained 
the  office  of  head  pastor  until  11th  October,  1850. 

12.  F.  John  Clement  Worsley,  who  for  the  last  eight  years 
had  zealously  discharged  the  office  of  assistant,  was  promoted, 
on  F.  Jenkins's  retirement,  to  be  incumbent  of  the  mission, 
and  had  the  happiness  of  receiving  for  his  associate  the  Rev. 
Nicholas  Maurus  Hodgson.  Every  one  who  witnesses  their 
successful  zeal  and  friendly  co-operation  must  be  reminded 
of  the  exclamation  of  the  Psalmist,  "  Ecce  quam  bonum  et 
quam  jucundum,  habitare  fratres  in  unum." — (Ps.  cxxxii.) 

Since  July,  1855,  the  Rev.  Joseph  Shepherd  has  taken 
Mr.  Hodgson's  place. 

N.B.  I  apprehend  that  P.  Thomas  BaUyman,  who  died 
at  Bath  6th  August,  1795  ;  F.  Anselm  Geary,  deceased  there 
on  23rd  March,  1795,  at  the  age  of  82;  F.  John  Bernard 
WarmoUj  who  was  the  bosom  friend  of  Bishop  Walmesley, 
and  ended  his  life  at  Acton  Burnell,  27th  April,  1807,  set.  87  j 
and  FF.  Henry  Lawson,  Bede  Rigby,  Clement  Rishton,  and 
Aug.  Rollins,  had  rendered  temporary  assistance  to  the 
incumbents  at  Bath. 

Bishop  Baines,  conceiving  that  a  second  chapel  was 
required  in  the  upper  part  of  the  city,  hired  a  place  for 
divine  worship,  which  was  opened  26th  May,  1832,  and 
served  from  Prior  Park.  But  it  did  not  answer  his  expecta- 
tions. Dr.  Crowe,  however,  having  converted  the  best  part 
of  his  house  in  Brunswick  Place  into  a  respectable  oratory, 
drew  vast  numbers  by  his  zealous  exertions  and  eloquent 
sermons ;  and  at  his  retirement,  after  four  years'  labours  in 
the  sacred  ministry,  was  presented,  on  12th  December,  1851, 


60  THE    MISSIONS    OF    SOMERSETSHXKE. 

with  a  noble  chalice  and  paten  by  his  grateful  flock.  (See 
"  Catholic  Standard/'  of  20th  December.)  Since  his  removal, 
a  new  chapel  has  been  erected  in  the  neighbourhood. 

Bonham,  though  placed  in  the  Ordo,  and  even  in  some 
ancient  documents,  as  in  Somersetshire,  is  really  in  Wilts. 
The  small  manor  and  tything  of  Bonham  had  formerly 
belonged  to  a  family  of  that  name  (Editha  Bonham,  elected 
abbess  of  Shaftesbury  15th  November,  1441,  obiit  20th 
April,  1460),  and  afterwards  came  into  the  possession  of.  the 
Stourtons.  Edward,  the  twelfth  Lord  Stourton,  who  aliened 
and  sold  off  most  of  the  family  estates  in  Dorset  and  Wilts, 
in  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century,  still  retained 
this  manor,  and  there  fixed  the  priest,  who  was  generally  a 
member  of  the  Benedictine  order,  instead  of  at  Stourton.* 
Charles  Philip,  the  sixteenth  Lord  Stourton,  sold  this  last 
remaining  property,  in  1785,  to  Henry  Hoare,  of  Stourhead, 
Esq.,  but  specially  reserved  the  presbytere  and  chapel. 

Cannington. — This  manor  was  granted  by  King  Charles  II. 
to  the  Lord  Treasurer  Clifford,  on  15th  July,  1672.  His 
son  and  successor,  Hugh,  Lord  Clifford,  frequently  resided 
at  its  noble  Court-house,  especially  after  his  eldest  son, 
Thomas,   settled  there.     This  promising  youth  married,  in 

1713,  Charlotte,  Baroness  Livingstone,  Viscountess  Kinnaird, 
and  Countess  Newburgh ;  but  dying  on  21st  February, 
1719,  N.S.,  at  the  early  age  of  thirty-two,  was  buried  in  the 
adjoining  parish  church.  The  remains  of  his  venerable 
father  were  deposited  near  him,  on  7th  October,  1730. 
From  all  that  I  can  collect,  a  chaplain  was  maintained  here 
until  1768,  when  the  family  establishment  was  broken  up, 
and  the  Rev.  William  Sutton  quitted  for  Axminster.  Nor 
can  I  discover  any  resident  missionary  here  until  1807,  when 
the  late  Lord  Clifford  afforded  to  the  Benedictine  Dames, 
who  were  obliged  to  leave  Marnhull  (where  they  had 
sojourned  from  Michaelmas,  1795),  "  a  very  comfortable  and 
conventual  asylum,  at  Cannington  Court  House."  Here  they 
continued  forty-one  years,  until  their  late  removal  to  Little 
Heywood,  now  St.  Benedict's  Priory,  Stafford.  But  they 
left  behind  them  a  large  and  beautiful  chapel,  which  was 
opened  for  pubhc  worship  7th  July,  1831.  This  mission, 
thanks  to  God,  is  in  a  flourishing  condition. 

Shepton  Mallett.—Kt  the  Michaelmas  of  1765,  the  Rev. 
John  Brewer,  S.  J.,  originated,  I  believe,  the  mission  here ; 
and  served  it  until  his  death,  1st  September,  1797.  He  was 
succeeded  by  the  Rev.   James  Hussey,   who   expended  his 

i^?.^**?,*^"^*  P"^^'  ^  "^^'^^  ^^"^  ^i6i'e  's  the  Rev.  Thomas  Bruning  in 

1714.  He  died  there,  6th  August,  1719. 


THE    MISSIONS    OF    SOMERSETSHIRE.  61 

fortune  in  the  purchase  of  a  field,  in  which  he  erected  a 
presbytere;  laid  the  foundation-stone  of  the  chapel  of 
St.  Nicholas,  on  15th  October,  1801,  and  opened  it  for  public 
worship  on  29th  April,  1804.  The  learned  Dr.  Coombes 
accepted  the  charge  of  the  mission  on  the  death  of  Mr. 
Hussey,  in  1810 ;  for  nearly  forty  years  he  continued,  with 
an  assistant  from  Stonyhurst,  to  superintend  the  establish- 
ment; when  he  finally  surrendered  the  concern  to  the 
Jesuits,  on  12th  June,  1849,  and  retired  to  Downside,  where 
he  tranquilly  yielded  his  soul  to  the  Prince  of  Shepherds,  on 
15th  November,  1850,  set.  eighty-four,  sac.  fifty-nine.  The 
Bishop  of  Clifton,  since  1854,  has  undertaken  the  care  of  the 
congregation.  May  his  disinterested  zeal  be  blessed  with 
a  rich  harvest  of  so&ls !  The  Rev.  James  Dawson  is  the  new 
pastor. 

Shortwood. — I  believe  there  was  no  resident  priest  here 
until  1794,  when  the  Rev.  Joseph  Hunt,  of  Stone-Easton,  verh 
Beaumont,  and  his  family  connections  began  the  endowment. 
Since  the  retirement  of  that  venerable  man,  in  1838,  I  have 
seen  a  rapid  variety  of  incumbents  j  but  since  1st  April, 
1852,  the  mission  has  had  the  advantage  of  the  experience 
and  energy  of  the  Rev.  T.  M.  Macdonnell. 

Its  chapel  of  St.  Michael  was  opened  15th  May,  1806. 
Taunton. — The  Rev.  George  Baudoin,  born  at  Munkton 
(see  the  biographical  part  of  this  work),  fitted  up  a  room  in 
his  house.  East  Street,  Taunton,  about  the  year  1782,  for  a 
handful  of  attendants,  and  was  very  reduced  in  circumstances. 
His  latter  days  were  rendered  much  more  comfortable  by 
the  settlement  of  the  English  Franciscan  nuns  at  a  short 
distance  from  the  town,  in  June,  1808,  and  by  the  assist- 
ance he  derived  in  the  ministry  from  Bishop  Collingridge, 
and  the  chaplains  of  that  convent.  Worn  out  with  infirmi- 
ties, the  venerable  man  closed  a  blameless  life  on  14th  May, 
1818,  set.  sixty-nine.  An  active"  successor  was  assigned  in 
the  person  of  the  Rev.  Samuel  Fisher,  O.S.F.,  who  arrived 
12th  November  following.  So  rapid  was  the  increase  of 
Catholicity,  that  the  foundation-stone  of  a  large  chapel,  in 
honour  of  St.  George,  was  laid  by  Thomas  Clifton,  of 
Lytham,  Esq.,  then  living  at  Hatch,  on  13th  April,  1821. 
It  bears  this  inscription  : — 

Honori 
Saiicti  Georgii 

HiEc  ^des  a  solo  est  inchoata 

Id.  Aprilis  An.  mdcccxxi, 

Lapidem  Auspicalem  statuente 
Thonia  Clifton  Armigero. 


62  THE    MISSIONS    OF    SOMERSETSHIRE. 

It  was  solemnly  opened  on  3rd  July,  1832,  and  Dr.  Baines 
preached  on  the  occasion.  I  fejoice  to  add,  that  this 
mission  is  in  a  flourishing  condition. 

As  to  the  beautiful  convent  church,  blessed  on  11th 
Novembet,  1811,  by  the  title  of  Our  Lady  of  Dolors,  1 
shall  simply  say  that  it  is  well  attended;  and  that  the 
charity  and  zeal  of  the  saintly  community  is  a  prolific  source 
of  blessings  and  of  light  to  a  town,  where  less  than  a  century 
back  there  was  but  one  Catholic,  and  she  a  convert ! 

Leighland,  in  the  parish  of  Old  Cleeve,  was  the  property: 
of  the  Poyntz  family.  From  them  it  descended  to  the 
Eowes,  in  the  reign  of  William  III.  John  Rowe,  as  I  leam 
from  the  parish  register  of  Arlington,  married  iTrsula  Chi- 
chester, on  25th  November,  1697,  yet  left  no  issue ;  but  to 
him  William  Widdicombe,  Esq.,  devised  his  estate  of,  Bick- 
ham,  adjoining.  Robert  Rowe,  the  nephew  of  the  said 
John,  married  Prudence  Chichester,  15  th  August,  1706,  and 
had  several  children ;  one  of  them,  Elizabeth,  became  the 
wife  of  John  Needham,  of  Hilston,  county  Monmouth.  At 
Leighland,  as  I  shall  show  in  the  sixteenth  chapter,  a 
chaplain  was  maintained,  chiefly  of  the  Benedictine  order, 
down  to  our  times. 

Downside. — Here,  indeed,  we  have  cause  to  offer  up  the 
homage  of  grateful  hearts  to  God,  the  lover  of  man's  salva- 
tion, for  conducting  the  sons  of  St.  Benedict  to  this  once- 
benighted  spot.  They  arrived  here,  from  Acton  BumeU, 
towards  the  end  of  April,  1814,  and  have  established 
the  monastery  of  St.  Gregory, — an  excellent  college, — with 
an  increasing  mission.  The  church,  in  the  best  style  of 
King  Henry  III.'s  time,  62  feet  long  by  26  broad,  and 
40  feet  high,  which  was  opened  with  great  splendour  on 
loth  July,  1823,  is  now  pronounced  to  be  much  too  small, 
and  a  larger  one  is  contemplated.  But  I  reserve  my 
account  of  this  interesting  establishment  for  a  subsequent 
chapter.  Attached  to  the  mission  is  a  public  Catholic 
school  in  the  contiguous  village  of  Stratton,  with  a  cemetery 
and  cross. 

Prior  Park. — In  the  Life  of  Bishop  Baines,  in  the  second 
part  of  this  compilation,  may  be  seen  the  history  of  this 
extensive  and  splendid  establishment,  opened  in  1830,  but 
doomed  to  a  brief  existence.  The  truth  is,  too  much 
was  attempted  at  once.  In  the  midst  of  its  embarrass- 
ments, even  a  grand  collegiate  church  was  projected, 
and  its  foundation-stone  was  laid  on  12th  March,  1844. 
The  following  extract  of  a  Pastoral  Letter,  dated  Clifton, 
1st    January,   1856,    addressed   by    George,    archbishop    of 


THE    MISSIONS    OF    SOMERSETSHIRE.  63 

Trebizond,  and  Apostolic  Administrator  of  the  diocese  of 
Clifton,  announcing  to  all  its  clergy  and  laity  the  dissolu- 
tion of  the  college  of  Prior-Park,  will  be  read  with  deep 
interest. 

"  The  resources  of  this  district  had  been  deeply  drained  in  the  first 
establishment  of  the  institution  in  1830 ;  an  unfoi-tunate  fire,  a  very 
few  years  after,  required  new  calls  upon  exhausted  means  and  public 
liberality,  and  produced  an  embarrassment  from  which  the  place  never 
recovered.  The  chances  of  permanent  success  became  gradually  more 
doubtful ;  and,  in  1847,  a  commission  appointed  by  the  Holy  See 
reported  that  very  considerable  modifications  and  very  great  exertions 
would  be  required  to  give  a  fair  prospect  of  restoring  prosperity ;  but 
that  on  account  of  the  property  invested  in  the  place,  it  was  advisable 
that  no  endeavours  should  be  left  untried  to  rescue  it  by  securing  the 
permanency  of  the  collie.  Subsequently,  the  buildings,  with  almost 
all  the  lands  annexed,  were  sold  to  pay  off  the  most  urgent  portion  of 
the  mortgages,  and  then  held  on  lease  from  the  purchaser.  The  diffi- 
culties continued  to  increase ;  and  in  1852  a  new  commission  was  of 
opinion,  that  unless  a  large  sum  could  be  raised  at  once,  without  the 
formation  of  a  new  debt,  to  meet  the  most  embarrassing  pressure,  and 
effectual  provision  be  made  at  the  same  time  for  such  modifications  as 
might  put  a  stop  to  the  annual  deficit  in  the  accounts,  it  would  be 
better  to  close  ttie  establishment  than  to  struggle  on  in  the  hope  of 
saving  the  funds  already  sunk,  with  so  great  a  risk  of  increasing  in 
the  mean  time  the  permanent  liabilities.  The  late  bishop  of  this 
diocese  believed  that  both  the  required  conditions  might  be  fulfilled, 
and,  as  you  are  aware,  dedicated  his  unceasing  exertions  to  this 
attempt,  enlisted  by  personal  canvass  the  charity  of  the  country  in  its 
behalf,  and  finally  fell  a  victim  to  the  weight  of  the  burden  he  had 
undertaken. 

"Another  experiment  now  appeared  to  have  been  made,  with  no 
better  permanent  results  than  those  which  had  been  tried  before ;  and 
the  Holy  See  was  unwilling  that  the  resources  and  energies  of  a 
succeeding  bishop  should  be  exposed  to  be  exhausted  in  mere  experi- 
ment, and  resolved  that  the  appointment  of  a  successor  should  be 
delayed  till  it  was  clearly  established  whether  or  no  the  college  could 
be  really  and  effectually  maintained.  It  was  not  well  for  the  diocese 
that  the  time  and  care  of  the  bishop  should  be  permanently  engrossed 
by  one  object  j  but  that  one  object  was  of  such  paramount  importance, 
that  it  was  only  by  its  being  really  secured  if  possible,  or  wholly 
renounced  if  impracticable,  that  the  anxiety  and  attention  of  the  pastor 
could  be  relieved.  Again,  the  amount  of  capital^  provided  for  eccle- 
siastical education  and  other  purposes,  invested  in  this  undertaking, 
rendered  it  advisable  to  employ  all  available  resources  in  maintaining 
the  establishment  to  save  the  investments ;  but  this  employment  of  _  the 
means  contributed  for  religious  purposes,  whilst  it  was  the  best  possible, 
provided  there  was  security  of  final  success,  was  doubly  prejudicial  if 
failure  should  ultimately  take  place :  for  whilst  on  the  one  hand,  other 
useful  objects  were  left  unattempted,  or  unsupported  aa  they  would 
have  otherwise  been  j  on  the  other  hand,  the  amount  itself  of  public 
aid  was  considerably  diminished,  from  the  opinion,  entertained  by  those 
who  had  not  faith  in  the  permanency  of  the  college,  that  it  was  only 
throwing  their  means  away  to  contribute  wliat  would  in  reality  be 
wasted  upon  vain  attempts  to  support  it.  Nor  was  it  only  in  this  single 
respect  that  the  evil  fruits  were  manifested  of  diversity  of  opinion  in  a 


64  THE    MISSIONS    OF    SOMEKSETSHIRE. 

society  upon  a  matter  of  great  and  practical  importance ;  the  doubts 
hanging  over  the  stability  of  the  college,  and  the  consequent  variety  of 
views  as  to  what  line  of  conduct  relative  to  it  was  the  true  interest  of 
the  diocese,  had  gradually  led  to  the  eitistence  of  pa,rtv  feelmg  on  the 
subject,  virhich  in  this  as  in  similar  cases  could  not  fail  to  increase  as 
time  went  on  without  a  solution  of  the  problem;  and  it  would  have 
been  extremely  difficult  for  a  bishop  appointed  to  the  diocese  to  have 
escaped  the  lasting  inconveniences  of  Laving  been  considered  by  one 
party  or  the  other  as  a  partisan  and  opponent.  It  was  for  these  reasons 
that%  temporary  administrator  was  appointed,  and  directed  to  bring 
the  question  to  a  positive  conclusion  one  way  or  the  other.     _ 

«  The  examination  of  the  accounts  since  1852  showed  an  increase  of 
debt,  notwithstanding  the  results  of  the  extraordinary  exertions  of  the 
late  devoted  bishop;  the  source  from  which  the  supplies  necessary  to 
meet  the  deficiencies  had  hithei-to  been  drawn  had  gradually  been 
exhausted,  and  any  further  deficiency  must  have  risked  being  not  met, 
and  even  tradesmen's  bills  left  unpaid ;  at  the  same  time  public  con- 
fidence seemed,  from  the  smaller  number  of  the  students,  to  have 
diminished ;  and  it  would  have  required,  besides  the  clearance  of  the 
outstanding  accounts,  that  from  some  source  a  large  amount  should  be 
able  to  be  cotinted  upon  to  cover  the  annual  deficiency  that  must  be 
expected  till,  after  some  years,  the  restoration  of  public  confidence  should 
have  provided  a  number  of  students  sufficient  for  the  requirements  of 
the  establishment.  Without  seeing  a  way  to  meet  this  apparently 
absolutely  necessary  condition  for  moral  security,  to  attempt  to  carry 
on  the  college  once  more  would  only  have  been  to  renew  experiments 
and  multiply  exertions  and  sacrifices  fruitlessly,  and,  as  the  result  shows, 
prejudicially  tried  already.  It  was,  therefore,  from  a  feeling  that 
unless  Divine  Providence  should  point  out  resources  unperceived  by 
us,  it  would  not  be  right  to  recommend  another  experiment, — that  we 
requested  your  earnest  prayers  in  Advent,  knowing  that  the  goodness 
of  the  Almighty  would  not  give  you  a  stone  in  return  for  your  petition 
for  bread. 

"  The  necessity  of  a  decision  on  the  subject  was  however  prevente4 
by  circumstances.  A  large  amount  of  arrears  of  rent  was  due,  and  on 
the  first  of  the  year  legal  proceedings  were  taken  by  the  landlord. 
These  proceedings  of  course  alarmed  other  creditors,  and  oth$r  glaims 
were  urged.  The  property  still  remaining  on  the  premises  was  valued 
and  estimated  as  more  than  equal  to  these  outstanding  claims,  to  satisfy 
which  in  the  first  instance  it  is  being  sold :  if  a  surplus  remains,  it 
will  be  applied  to  the  partial  rescue  of  the  various  funds  sunk  in  the 
establishment. 

"  It  is  not  then  an  unmitigated  calamity  with  which  it  has  pleased  ~ 
God  to  visit  the  diocese.  If  it  has  seemed  well  to  Him  that  we  should 
not  have  to  exult  in  the  possession  of  a  magnificent  establishment,  it  is 
not  only  a  lesson  of  humiliation  and  conformity  to  His  will  that  we  are 
taught,  but  you  will  be  free  to  employ  your  energies,  heretofore  para- 
lyzed by  being  taxed  above  their  capacity,  to  more  purpose  on  other 
objects  tending  to  advance  God's  honour  and  your  own  welfare.  If  a 
great  loss  has  been  sustained  in  the  disappearance  of  funds,  derived 
from  former  contributions  for  religious  purposes,  sunk  in  the  college, 
you  will  feel,  on  the  other  hand,  that  your  charity  will  no  longer  be 
drained  off  in  support  of  a  doubtful  undertaking ;  while  the  training 
of  ecclesiastical  students,  the  principal  object  of  the  maintenance  of  the 
college,  may  be  as  effectually  carried  on  elsewhere,  and  at  no  more  cost 
than  it  has  been  there  for  each,  since  the  embarrassment  prevented  th? 


THE    MISSIONS    01'    SOMERSETSHIRE.  65 

existence  of  a  surplus,  representing  the  interest  of  the  funds  sunk  as 
appropriated  to  tiiat  purpose.  The  source  of  disunion,  and  consequent 
wealcness,  in  your  exertions  for  the  general  good  of  the  diocese,  will 
have  been  removed ;  and  in  peace  and  unity  you  will  as  one  man,  each 
using  the  full  extent  of  his  power,  and  tending  to  one  object  under  the 
guidance  of  your  future  pastor,  soon  obliterate  the  feeling  of  grief  you 
at  present  experience,  and  find,  in  the  new  monuments  of  zeal  and 
liberality  that  will  arise  in  the  midst  of  you,  consolation  and  joy  similar 
to  that  described  in  the  history  of  the  festivities  at  the  dedication  of  the 
second  temple.  The  same  Lord  who  gave  Job  wealth  and  happiness, 
and  allowed  misfortune  and  misery  to  take  for  a  time  the  place  of  that 
wealth  and  happiness,  restored,  when  the  purposes  of  trial  had  been 
answered,  the  favours  originally  granted,  and  blessed  the  latter  end  of 
Job  more  than  the  beginning.  'The  Lord  has  given,  the  Lord  hath 
taken  away  ;  may  the  name  of  the  Lord  be  blessed.' " 

Midford  Castle,  about  three  miles  and  a  half  from  Bath. 
The  estate  here  was  purchased  by  the  late  Mr.  Conolly,  and 
at  Midford  House  mass  was  first  celebrated  in  the  year  1820; 
for  seven  years  it  was  served  by  different  priests  from  Down- 
side College.  A  chapel  was  then  opened  in  Midford  Castle, 
on  3rd  May,  1837,  by  the  worthy  squire,  and  was  served 
generally  from  Downside,  until  1841,  when  Prior  Park 
undertook  to  minister  to  the  spiritual  wants  of  the  family. 
But  there  was  no  resident  missionary  there,  until  September, 
1846,  when  the  B.ev.  Charles  Parfitt  accepted  the  appoint- 
ment. From  his  letter  of  12th  July,  1855,  I  learn  that  he 
had  then  sixty-two  Catholics  at  Midford,  and  that  he  has 
established  a  poor  school. 

Bridgewater. — In  consequence  of  the  conversion  of  the 
Rev.  J.  Moore  Capes,  minister  of  the  new  church  of  St.  John 
here,  Bishop  Baggs  decided  on  having  a  chapel  in  this  town. 
The  foundation-stone  was  laid  on  2nd  October,  1845,  and 
on  17th  February,  1846,  it  was  opened  under  the  patronage 
of  St.  Joseph.  The  Rev.  Jacob  lUingworth,  the  priest  of 
Cannington,  and  his  successor  there.  Dr.  English,  in  their 
zeal  and  charity  duplicated  for  the  benefit  of  the  rising 
congregation,  until  1850,  when  F.  Bernard  Morewood 
and  F.  Peter  de  Pozzo  rendered  assistance  between  them, 
until  the  summer  of  1851.  Two  or  three  Dominicanesses 
of  the  third  Order  attempted  to  establish  a  house;  but 
the  experiment  failed.  It  is  pleasing  to  know  that  the 
prospects  of  religion,  since  the  appointment  of  a  resident 
pastor.  Rev.  Thomas  Francis  Rooker,  in  March,  1853,  are 
very  encouraging.  With  the  children  in  the  school  we  can 
calculate  already  about  200  Catholics. 

Frame. — I  cannot  do  better  than  copy  the  letter  of  the 
Rev,  Richard  Ward  (late  vicar  of  St.  Saviour's,  at  Leeds,  and 


66  THE    MISSIONS    OF    SOMEllSBTSHIRE. 

now  incumbent  of  this  mission),  addressed  to  me  July  9th, 
1855  :— 

"  The  Frome  mission  owes  its  origin  to  the  zeal  of  the  good  fathers 
of  St.  Gregory's  College,  Downside,  who  up  to  1850  were  indefatigable 
in  attending  to  the  wants  of  such  sick  and  infirm  Catholics  as  happened 
from  time  to  time  to  be  found  in  this  town  and  neighbourfiood.  In 
Jammary,  1850,  the  arrival  of  a  newly-married  pair  of  converts  to  set 
up  a  grocery  business  on  a  very  humble  scale  gave  occasion'  to  an 
extension  of  their  labours.  At  this  date  the  Rev.  John  Hall,  then  mis- 
sionary at  Tifywa&\^%  first  said  Mass  in  the  small  parlour  of  this  worthy 
couple  (Downing),  and  four  persons  besides  themselves  were  present 
at  it.  He  came  again  for  the  same  purpose  every  other  Sunday, 
a  distance  of  nine  miles,  until  August  that  year,  when  a  very  incommo- 
dious room  —  but  the  best  and  largest  that  could  be  procured — was 
opened  as  a  Catholic  chapel ;  and  from  that  time  until  the  end  of  July, 
1853,  either  he  or  one  of  his  confreres  came  every  Sunday  to  attend  the 
little  flock.  In  July,  1853,  it  was  represented  to  me  that  the  Benedic- 
tines were  able  no  longer  to  spare  a  priest,  and  that,  as  the  bishop  of 
Clifton  was  in  equal  straits,  the  Frome  mission  would  have  to  he  given 
up,  unless  /  consented  to  take  it.  At  the  urgent  entreaty  of  the  bishop, 
I  agreed  to  supply  it  for  two  years,  and  came  to  reside  in  the  following 
October.  Soon  after,  a  piece  of  ground  was  purchased  in  the  most 
central  and  desirable .  part  of  Frome,  and  an  old  building,  called 
'  St.  Catherine's  Tower,'  was  converted  into  the  priest's  house,  and  the 
new  church  opened  on  16th  July,  1854,  a  building  53  feet  long  by 
17  broad,  but  eventually  intended  to  be  no  more  than  a  school-room. 
On  the  whole,  the  progress  of  religion  is  of  a  ver3'^  consoling  and  encou- 
raging nature.  Mam/  Protestants  have  begun  to  inquire  into  the 
grounds  of  our  holy  faith,  and  several  have  been  instructed  and 
received  into  the  one  fold  ;  nor  have  I  found  that  the  fact  of  my  having 
officiated  formerly  as  curate  of  St,  Edmund's,  in  the  immediate  neigh- 
bourhood, has  at  all  tended  to  make  my  cause  more  diffiqult,  but  rather 
the  reverse."  *  "  *  " 

Weston-super-Mare. — In  the  summer  of  1851,  a  large 
room  was  taken  here,  with  the  approbation  of  Bishop 
Hendren,  by  the  fathers  of  the  S.J.  at  Bristol,  who  served 
it  during  the  six  summer  months.  In  the  following  year, 
Bishop  Burgess  Engaged  the  same  for  a  similar  purpose,  and 
the  clergy  of  Clifton  Cathedral  have  officiated  there  during 
the  summer  season  in  favour  of  Catholic  visitors.  I  trust, 
ere  long,  a  resident  incumbent  will  be  assigned  to  this 
fashionable  watering-place. 

At  Meadgate,  in  Camerton  parish,  once  the  property  of 
the  Coombes  family,  and  where  the  late  Rev.  Dr.  Coombes 
was  born,  8th  May,  1768,  and,  I  think,  his  reverend  uncle, 
of  the  same  name,  before  him,  4th  August,  1744,  N.S.,  Mass 
used  to  be  celebrated,  as  the  doctor  assured  me.  It  is  now 
converted  into  a  public-house. 

*  L'Abb^  Faugere,  horn  at  Chatres  13th  December,  1754,  emigrated 
21st  November,  1792,  resided  for  a  considerable  time  at  Frome. 


THE    MISSIONS    OF    SOMERSETSIUUi:.  67 

I  must  not  forget  to  relate  that  Chard,  oa  the  confines 
of  Dorset,  Devon,  and  Somersetshire,  was  the  scene  of  the 
barbarous  execution  of  the"  Rev.  John  Hambley,  a  priest  of 
Douay  College.  Of  this  native  of  Somersetshire,  who  appears 
to  have  suffered  on  20th  July,  1587,  I  shall,  in  the  second 
part,  supply  some  interesting  details  unknown  to  the  faithful 
chronicler  Dr.  Challoner. 


V  )i 


68  ACCOUNT    OF    CATHOLIC 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

SOME    ACCOUNT    OP   CATHOLIC    FAMILIES    IN    SOMERSETSHIRE. 

AuDLEY,  Lord  Castlehaven. — The  family  of  Tuchet,  or  Touchet, 
is  very  ancient  in  this  county.  William  was  summoned  to 
Parliament  as  the  first  Baron  Audley  from  1299  to  1306. 

Mervyn,  the  ninth  Lord  Audley,  and  second  earl  of  Castle-- 
haven,  succeeded  his  father  G-eorge  *  in  1617.  I  find  him 
presented  by  the  House  of  Commons,  on  27th  April,  1624, 
as  a  Papist  recusant. — (See  Journals  Com.  vol.  i.  p.  776.)  But 
shortly  after  he  proved  a  disgrace  to  the  religion  of  his  fore- 
fathers by  his  open  apostasy  at  the  Salisbury  assizes,  and 
by  his  disgusting  and  atrocious  crimes,  for  which  he  was 
deservedly  attainted  and  executed  on  Tower-hill,  14th  May, 
1631.  Dodd,  in  his  "Church  History,"  vol.  iii.  p.  167, 
gives  the  following  account  of  this  unfortunate  peer,  from 
the  pen  of  Mr.  Smith, — probably  Rev.  William  Smith,  S.J., 
chaplain  at  Wardour,  who  died  13th  September,  1658,  set. 
sixty-four : — 

"  My  lord  of  Castlehaven  first  fell  from  his  faith  to  be  married  with 
this  woman  that  accused  him.  That  morning  he  first  went  to  church, 
one  of  his  coach-horses  killed  the  coachman  before  they  set  out.  The 
first  night  he  lay  with  this  woman  he  was  taken  with  a  lameness  on 
one  side.  The  first  time  he  brought  his  lady  to  Suntill  (Fonthill) 
House,  part  of  the  house  was  set  on  fire,  and  Mr.  Smith  was  sent  out 
for  an  Agnus  Dei  to  quench  it.  At  Salisbury,  where  my  lord  at  the 
assizes  openly  abjured  his  religion,  the  bill  was  first  found  against  him 
that  cut  off  his  head." 

Two  of  his  servants,  accomplices  of  his  abominations, 
were  hanged.  The  woman  here  mentioned  was  his  second 
wife,  Anne,  daughter  of  Ferdinando,  earl  of  Derby,  and 
relict  of  Grey,  Lord  Chandos.  He  married  her  at  Harefield, 
22nd  July,  1624.  By  his  first  wife^  Elizabeth  (Bamham), 
he  left  three  sons, — James,  who  was  restored  to  blood  3rd 
June,  1643,  by  King  Charles  I.,  and  who  had  been  reported 
to  the  House  of  Commons  on  20th  November,  1641,  as  "  a 

*  By  marrying  Lucy,  daughter  of  Sir  James  Mervyn,  he  got  the 
Fonthill  estate,  in  Wilts.  His  second  wife,  Ann  Noel,  was  a  generous 
benefactor  to  St.  Bonaventure's  Convent  at  Douay,  1618. 


FAMILIES    OF    SOiMEKSETSHIRE.  69 

recusant,  whose  person  ought  to  be  secured."  Fortunately, 
he  had  reached  Ireland  about  Michaelmas  that  year,  as  we 
learn  from  his  remonstrance,  printed  at  the  end  of  Dr.  Curry's 
"Historical  and  Critical  Review  of  the  Civil  Wars  in  Ireland." 
This  noble  lord  closed  a  life  of  persecution  at  Kilrush,  in 
CO.  Kildare,  on  11th  October,  1684.  His  brother  George,  a 
professed  Benedictine,  of  Douay  convent,  of  whom  more 
in  the  biographical  account,  was  appointed  chaplain  to  Queen 
Catherine,  at  Somerset  House,  in  1671.  The  third  son. 
Colonel  Mervyn  Touchet,  succeeded  his  brother  James,  and 
had  married  Mary,  youngest  daughter  of  John  Talbot,  tenth 
earl  of  Shrewsbury,  and  relict  of  Charles  Arundell,  Esq. 

Elizabeth,  countess  of  Castlehaven,  a  daughter  of  Henry, 
fifth  Lord  Arundell,  and  relict  of  James,  sixth  earl,  was 
buried  at  St.  Pancras  in  1743.  In  1777  the  title  of  Castle- 
haven was  extinct,  by  failure  of  issue  male.  The  family 
seems  to  have  had  larger  possessions  in  Wilts  than  in  Somer- 
setshire. It  is  cheering  to  know  that  Pyhouse  is  now 
returned  into  Catholic  hands. 

The  Waldegraves  had  long  been  established  at  Chewton, 
in  Somersetshire.  I  read  in  Machyn's  Diary,  which  Strype 
afterwards  copied  into  his  "  History  of  the  Reformation," — 

"  April  22,  1661,  Sir  Edward  Walf^rave"  (incorrectly  called  Herny 
hy  Dodd),  "knight  —  who  was  a  great  orticer  in  Queen  Mary's 
court,  and  a  Privy  Counsellor,  —  and  his  lady  were  carried  to  the 
Tower.  It  was  for  hearing  Mass,  having  a  popish  priest  in  their 
house.  This  knight  and  his  lady  had  the  character  of  very  good  alnis- 
folkes,  in  respect,, no  doubt,  of  their  gi-eat  liberality  to  the  poor.  Sep- 
tember 1,  1861,  Sir  Edward  Walgrave,  who  was  brought  to  the  Tower 
]ast  April,  dyed  there.  His  confinement  was  thought  to  be  the  cause 
of  his  death.  He  was  much  swoln.  The  3rd  day  of  September 
he  was  buried  in  the  quire  of  the  Tower  church  beside  the  altar 
by  torch  light,  and  the  sixth  day  the  Lady  Walgrave  came  out  of 
the  Tower." 

Sir  Henry  Waldegrave,  the  fourth  baronet,  was  made 
baron  of  Chewton  by  King  James  II.,  20th  January,  1686, 
but  died  at  Paris  three  years  later,  leaving  a  son  and  heir, 
James,  second  Baron  Waldegrave  of  Chewton.  This  noble- 
man abjured  the  religion  of  his  forefathers  about  the  year 
1723,  and  in  consequence  was  loaded  with  perishable  honours 
and  titles,  of  which  death  stripped  him  11th  April,  1741,  at 
Navestock,  Essex.  On  his  death-bed,  alluding  to  his  taking 
the  oaths  of  supremacy  and  abjuration,  he  put  his  hand  to 
his  tongue,  and,  to  the  terror  of  the  bystanders,  made  use  of 
this  exclamation  :  "  This  bit  of  red  rag  has  been  my  damna- 
tion."    This  anecdote  I  have  repeatedly  heard  from  the  late 


70  ACCOUNT   OF    CATHOLIC 

Thomas  Tauntoiij  Esq.,  a  gentleman  of  most  retentive 
memory  and  unimpeachable  veracity.*  He  had  received  it 
from  his  aunt,  Ann  Taunton,  who  died  in  1783,  set.  eighty- 
seven,  and  whose  sister,  Grace  Taunton,  died  in  1760,  set. 
eighty-two,  and  was  wife  to  Mr.  Dillon,  then  his  lordship's 
steward. 

Sir  William  "Waldegrave,  M.D.  (physician  to  the  queen  of 
King  James  II.),  was  returned  by  the  College  of  Physicians> 
1st  July,  1689,  as  a  Papist.f 

Cottingtons. — Sir  Francis  Cottington,  whom  Lord  Claren- 
don describes  as  "  a  very  wise  and  prudent  man,  well  versed 
in  business  of  all  kinds,  and  of  a  sedateness  of  temper  much 
to  be  admired,  and  spoke  and  understood  the  Spanish,  French, 
and  Italian  languages,"  was  created  baron  of  Hanworth,  co". 
Middlesex,  10th  July,  1631,  and  was  of  Godmanston,  in 
Somersetshire.  At  what  precise  period  he  was  reconciled  to 
the  Church  I  cannot  discover.  His  estates  were  sold  by  the 
Rump  Parliament  on  16th  July,  1651.  His  lordship  died 
most  piously  at  Valladolid,  19th  June,  1652,  set.  seventy-four. 
For  twenty-seven  years  his  body  lay  in  the  Jesuits'  church 
there,  whence  it  was  removed  to  Westminster  Abbey  by 
Charles,  his  nephew  and  heir.  The  title  died  with  his  lord- 
ship. Charles,  his  only  son,  by  his  lady,  Anne  Meredith, 
at  whose  baptism,  at  Hanworth,  King  Charles  I.  assisted 
■with  the  duke  of  Buckingham  and  the  marchioness  of  Hamil- 
ton, 21st  July,  1628,  dying  eight  years  later  in  vitd  patris, 

~  This  venerable  gentleman,  of  whom  the  Catholic  body  might  be 
justly  proud,  was  born  9th  June,  1745,  at  Veres  Wotton,  near  Brid- 
port,  and  died  17th  March,  1828,  at  Axminster,  where  he  had  a  good 
property,  as  well  as  in  Somersetshire.  His  exemplary  lady  (Margaret) 
preceded  him  to  the  grave  with  all  his  children,  but  Theresa,  who 
married  Charles  Knight,  of  Cannington,  Esq. 

t  The  following  is  communicated  by  my  friend  Dr.  Munk,  of  London. 
"  College  of  Ph/dciani. 

"  1679,  March  29.— An  order  from  Parliament  to  the  College  to 
return  the  names  of  all '  Papists,'  and  eject  them  from  the  College. 

"  1679,  April  4. — Notice  in  consequence  sent  to  Dr.  John  Betts  and 
Dr.  Thomas  Short. 

"  1689,  July  1. — List  returned  by  the  College  to  the  House  of  Lords 
of  Papists,  reputed  Papists,  and  criminals  : — 

"  Papists :  John  Betts,  M.D. ;  Sir  William  Walgrave  ;  Charles 
Conquest,  M.D. ;  Ferdinando  Mendez,  M.D. ;  Edward  Betts,  M.D. 

"  Criminals,  or  reputed  criminals  :  Robert  Gray,  M.D.  ;  John 
Elliott,  M.D. 

"1692,  October  25.— Dr.  Betts  (John)  to  lose  his  place  in  the 
College,  if  he  did  not  take  the  oath  of  allegiance." 


FAMILIES    IN    SOMERSETSHIRE.  71 

was  buried  at  Hanworth  27th  July^  1636;  the  two  daugh- 
ters, Frances  and  Ann,  had  been  buried  there  before  their 
brother. 

Cliffords. — To  this  family  I  hSve  alluded  in  page  60, 
where  I  mentioned  their  manor  of  Cannington,  and  pre- 
viously in  page  22.  To  illustrate  the  history  of  this  ancient 
and  religious  family  I  must  reserve  a  distinct  volume. 

The  Stackers  had  a  mansion-house  near  Chilcompton 
church,  about  a  mile  distant  from  Downside  College.  One 
of  them  had  to  compound  for  his  estate  with  the  Eump 
commissioners  about  the  year  1651.  I  suspect  P.  Augustine 
Stoker,  O.S.B.,  who  died  in  London  18th  August,  1668, 
was  his  kinsman.  And  I  think  that  it  was  one  of  this  family 
who  told  P.  Williafn  Weston,  as  related  in  his  Latin  Auto- 
biography, that  at  the  plunder  of  Glastonbury  he  secured 
one  of  the  nails,  twelve  inches  long  (with  its  case),  which  had 
been  used  at  Christ's  crucifixion.  The  nail  itself,  the  instru- 
ment of  wonderful  cures,  he  was  compelled  to  surrender  to 
Bishop  Jewell  several  years  later ;  what  became  of  it  in  the 
sequel  he  never  learned.  Prom  this  family,  I  suspect,  came 
the  piece  of  the  true  cross  which  F.  Peter  Warnford,  O.S.B., 
obtained  (pb.  21st  August,  1657),  and  which  was  kept  by 
the  dean  of  the  Rosary  in  London. — (See  Weldon's  MS, 
p.  176.)  Perhaps  the  precious  relic  of  our  Saviour's  thorn 
came  from  the  same  quarter.  Both,  I  believe,  are  now  at 
Downside. — See  also  P.  Lorymer's  Letter  in  Cath.  Miscellany 
for  1824,  p.  75. 


72  THE    MISSIONS    IN    WILTSHIRE. 


CHAPTER  IX. 


THE    MISSIONS    IN    WILTSUIKE. 


The  state  of  religion  in  every  country  materially  depends 
on  the  example  and  encouragement  of  the  landed  proprietors. 
This  was  peculiarly  the  case  before  commerce  had  introduced 
the  more  equal  distribution  of  science,  wealth,  and  independ- 
ence. Formerly,  a  middle  class,  perhaps  the  most  important 
link  in  the  chain  of  society,  could  hardly  be  recognized  in 
England :  the  few  hereditary  rich  and  the  very  numerous 
poor  constituted  the  body  of  the  nation ;  and  in  this  state  of 
things,  after  the  Reformation  and  suppression  of  monasteries, 
if  the  lord  of  a  district  stood  forth  the  protector  of  religion, 
the  neighbourhood  adhered  to  their  ancient  faith ;  but  as  he 
and  his  family  withdrew  their  fostering  care,  the  ranks  of  the 
faithful  sensibly  diminished,  until  in  many  parts  scarcely  a 
■vestige  could  be  traced  of  ancient  piety. 

The  Catholics  of  Wiltshire  too  soon  forgot  their  religion> 
and  rapidly  exchanged  their  faith  for  the  Reformed  doctrines. 
The  leading  men  of  the  county,  the  Herberts,  and  other  cor- 
morants of  church  property,  were  too  subservient  to  the 
views  of  the  Court  to  attend  to  anything  but  their  own 
aggrandizement;  their  study  was  not  to  encourage,  but  to 
extinguish  and  annihilate  Catholicity  in  the  county.  But 
God,  in  his  mercy,  kept  up  the  light  of  faith  in  a  few  favoured 
spots,  as  I  am  going  to  show,  and  the  prospect  is  brightening 
upon  us. 

Wardour,  the  seat  of  the  Arundells,  was  the  focus  of 
Catholicity  in  the  county  of  Wilts.  In  its  castle,  until  dis- 
mantled by  its  owner  to  prevent  its  being  made  a  fortress  for 
the  king's  enemies,  religion  had  taken  up  her  resting-place. 
And  under  its  ruins,  commonly  called  Old  Wardour,  the 
pious  zeal  of  the  family  provided  an  oratory  and  a  priest  to 
minister  to  the  wants  of  the  faithful.  Years  before  the  miti- 
gation of  the  penal  laws,  Henry,  the  eighth  Lord  Arundell, 
contemplated  the  erection  of  a  splendid  church,  ninety-five 
feet  long  in  the  interior,  forty  feet  wide,  and  as  many  in 
height.  Quarenghi,  a  subject  of  Venice,  and  the  happiest 
imitator  of  Palladio,had  been  employed  to  furnish  the  design. 


THE    MISSIONS    IN    WILTSHIRE.  73 

ns  I  find  by  a  letter  of  F,  John  Thorpe,  dated  9th  March, 
1774.  This  admirable  place  of  divine  worship  was  blessed 
by  Bishop  Walmesley  81st  October,  1776 ;  and  on  the  next 
day,  the  feast  of  All  Saints,  was  opened  with  a  pomp  unpre- 
cedented since  the  restoration  of  Catholic  faith  in  the  reign 
of  Queen  Mary  of  England.  The  congregation  of  Wardour 
was  long  considered  to  be  the  largest  out  of  London,  and  I 
believe  has  furnished  more  Catholic  servants  than  any  other. 
For  the  accommodation  of  the  family  and  visitors,  the  side 
galleries  of  the  sanctuary  were  designed  by  Sir  J.  Soane. 
But  no  correct  idea  of  the  beauty  of  the  whole  structure 
and  its  appendages  can  be  conceived,  without  the  fullest 
inspection. 

A  large  school  for  the  congregation  has  been  provided  by  the 
family.  The  late  zealous  pastor,  the  Rev.  James  Laurenson, 
by  his  active  industry  succeeded  in  forming  the  spacious  and 
convenient  cemetery,  which  was  opened  for  the  reception  of 
an  infant  (Elias  Peter  Burton)  on  1st  January,  1836,  with 
imposing  solemnity,  and  to  the  unfeigned  satisfaction  and 
joy  of  all  friends  of  religion. 

Bonham. — In  p.  60  I  have  cursorily  noticed  this  ancient 
mission,  founded  by  the  illustrious  house  of  Stourton. 

Odstock. — For  more  than  two  centuries  this  was  the  pro- 
perty of  the  Webb  family,  who  maintained  a  priest.  It  was 
sold  by  Sir  John  Webb  to  the  second  Lord  Radnor.  The 
faithful,  about  fifty  in  number,  were  dispersed  in  conse- 
quence, or  merged  into  the  Salisbury  mission. 

Salisbury. — Within  a  century  back,  Thomas,  brother  of 
Henry,  the  eighth  Lord  Arimdell,  settled  himself  at  Salisbury 
and  kept  a  domestic  chaplain.  He  died  in  1781.  In  the 
sequel  an  emigrant  French  priest,  the  Rev.  Nicholas  Begin, 
established  himself  there,  and  made  himself  much  respected 
by  all  classes.  At  the  end  of  more  than  thirty  years'  service, 
he  died  in  that  city,  on  16th  March,  1826.  The  chapel, 
however,  was  indifi'erent,  when  the  energetic  zeal  of  Mr. 
Lambert,  a  respectable  and  talented  member  of  the  congre- 
gation, who  had  spent  his  early  life  at  Wardour,  was  enkindled 
to  raise  an  edifice  worthy  of  religion.  In  a  convenient  site, 
he  procured  Bishop  Ullathorne  to  lay  the  foundation-stone 
of  the  present  church  of  St.  Osmund,  on  8th  April,  1847,  and 
it  was  consecrated  with  imposing  solemnity  on  6th  Sep- 
tember, 1848,  by  the  same  prelate,  recently  promoted  to  the 
see  of  Birmingham,  on  his  way  to  consecrate,  at  Clifton,  his 
grand  vicar.  Dr.  Hendren,  who  had  been  appointed  to  the  see 
of  Uranopolis  and  V.A.  of  the  Western  District.  This  was 
performed  four  days  later. 


74  THE    MISSIONS    IN    WILTSHIRE. 

It  is  cheering  to  learn  that  Chippenham*  \s,  served  from 
Bath,  Swindon  from  Fairford,  and  Wilbury  Park  from  Sahs- 
bury.     May  they  soon  be  improved  into  regular  missions  ! 

I  am  not  aware  that  Wilts  was  stained  with  Catholic  blood 
on  the  scaffold.  In  an  ancient  MS.  I  found  that  a  "Mr. 
Green  and  Thomas  Lynch  were  imprisoned  for  the  Catholic 
faith,  and  died  in  Sarum  jail  about  the  year  1585." 

I  have  seen  an  original  document,  entitled  "  The  Greate 
Eolle  of  Thexcheq'  for  y»  year  of  5  Lord  MDLVII,"  that 
the  tenants  and  occupiers  of  the  lands  and  estate  of  Thomas 
Gawen,  of  Norrington,  county  Wilts,  had  to  appear  before 
the  Eeceiver-General.  The  roll  sets  forth  that  Thomas 
Gawen,  Esq.,  was  seized,  for  the  term  of  his  life,  of  the  manor 
and  farm  of  Norrington  and  Trowe,  in  Wilts,  of  the  yearly 
value  of  400/.;  as  also  of  the  messuage  and  farm  called 
Hurdcott  House,  in  the  said  county,  of  the  yearly  value  of 
1 60/.  That  he  had  been  sequestered  for  Popish  recusancy  in 
two-thirds  of  the  said  rents ;  viz.,  in  the  sum  of  373Z.  6*.  M. 
from  the  31st  day  of  July,  1647,  until  his  death,  which  took 
place  on  1st  June,  1656. 

My  late  friend  Charles  Bowles,  of  Shaftesbury,  Esq.,  in 
his  excellent  description  of  the  Hundred  of  Chalk  for  Sir 
Richard  Hoare's  "  History  of  Modern  Wiltshire,"  informs  us, 
p.  30,  that  Thomas  Gawen,  the  father,  by  an  inquisition  taken 
in  the  forty-third  year  of  Queen  Elizabeth  (1601),  pursuant 
to  the  statute  of  the  twenty-eighth  year  of  her  reign,  was 
fined  in  a  sum  not  less  than  1,380/.,  for  having  absented 
himself  from  going  to  his  own  parish  church  for  sixty- six 
months,  at  the  rate  of  twenty-eight  days  in  the  month,  end- 
ing the  16th  of  October,  1591 ;  and  was  further  fined  in  the 
sum  of  130/.  under  the  same  Act,  for  not  then  having  made 
his  submission  and  become  conformable,  according  to  the 
said  Act.  Nor  was  this  all,  for  it  was  by  the  same  Inquisi- 
tion found  that  he  was  a  Popish  recusant,  and  two  parts  out 
of  three  of  the  clear  annual  value  of  all  his  estates  were 
seized  for  the  Queen's  use  ! 

I  think  that  the  confessor,  who  died  1st  June,  1656,  had 
removed  to  an  estate  he  had  at  Horsington,  county  Somerset, 
on  which  also  the  fangs  of  English  law  had  fastened  with 
vampire  ferocity.  His  daughter  Frances  (sister?),  first 
abbess  of  the  English  Benedictines  at  Cambray,  had  died 
7th  May,  1640. 

*  John  Hungei-ford  Pollen,  of  Rodbourne,  Esq.,  erected  a  chapel 
here,  opened  22nd  August,  1855.  It  is  dedicated  to  our  Lady.  The 
founder  intends  to  appropriate  it  for  a  Catholic  school,  when  he  builds 
a  suitable  edifice  for  solemn  worship. 


CATHOLIC    FAMILIES    IN    WILTSHIRE.  75 


CHAPTER  X. 

AN    ACCOUNT    OF   THE    CATHOLIC    FAMILIES    IN    WILTSHIBK, 

The  first  in  property  and  influence  was  certainly  the 
Arundells,  the  Lords  of  "Wardour — where  John  Lord  Lovell 
was  empowered  by  King  Richard  II.  to  erect  a  castle  in  1392. 
— (See  Calend.  RoJ.  Patent.)  But  the  first  of  the  family  who 
settled  at  Wardour  was  Sir  Thomas  Arundell,  the  younger 
son  of  Sir  John  Arundell,  of  Lanheme,  knight,*  by  his  wife 
Eleanor  Grey.  His  grandfather,  Sir  Thomas  ArundeU,  Knt.j 
who  made  his  will  3rd  October,  1485,  had  married  Catherine, 
fourth  daughter  of  John  Lord  Dynham,  who  eventually 
became  a  great  co-heiress. 

From  Hooker's  MS,,  belonging  to  the  Corporation  of 
Exeter,  I  learn  that  this  yojm^rCT*  brother.  Sir  Thomas  Arundell, 
was  one  of  the  royal  commissioners  for  the  suppression  of 
religious  houses  in  the  west  of  England.  He  had  been 
steward  to  the  magnificent  Abbey  of  Shaftesbury,  founded 
by  the  immortal  Alfred;  and  the  Originalia  prove  how  boun- 
tifully Henry  VIII.  rewarded  him  with  a  share  of  its  vast 
possessions. t  In  command  now  of  an  ample  fortune,  he  was 
enabled  to  purchase  Wardour  of  Sir  Fulke  Greville.  But  he 
enjoyed  this  property  a  very  short  time.  On  16th  October, 
1551,  he  was  arrested  as  an  accomplice  in  the  conspiracy  of 
Edward  Seymour,  Duke  of  Somerset;  on  very  insufficient 

*  This  Sir  John  Arundell  died  in  London  8th  February,  36th  of 
Henry  VIII.,  1545,  and  was  buried  in  St.  Mary's  Woolnoth.  See 
Weever's  Fun.  Mon.  p.  411.  His  elder  son  and  executor,  John,  died 
24th  March,  1558.  N.B.  The  reader  must  be  aware  that  Domesday 
Survey  shows  that  Roger  de  Arundell  was  granted  large  estates  in 
Dorset  and  Somerset ;  and  that  by  the  marriage  of  Alice  de  Connerton, 
an  heiress  to  Sir  Keinfrid  Arundell,  Knight,  about  1260,  the  Cornish 
property  accrued  to  the  family. 

t  Cardinal  Pole,  on  24th  December,  1554,  had  published  the  Dis- 
pensation of  Pope  Julius  III.,  by  which  neither  possessors  of  moveable 
or  immoveable  goods  of  the  church  should  ever  be  liable  to  ecclesiastical 
censures  for  detaining  or  not  restoring  them.  By  this  deci-ee  all  power 
of  pronouncing  a  different  judgment  is  taken  away  for  ever.  And  let 
it  be  said  to  the  eternal  honour  of  the  English  Catholic  clergy,  regular 
and  secular,  that  they  volunteered  this  perpetual  sacrifice  to  peace  and 
social  happiness,  and  supplicated  the  cardinal  to  proclaim  this  measure 
at  once  so  tranquillizing,  conciliatory,  and  beneficial. 


76  ACCOUNT    OF    CATHOLIC 

evidence  he  was  condemned  to  death  by  decapitation,  on 
Tower  Hill,  26th  February,  1553 ;  and  his  estates  were  for- 
feited to  the  Crown.  Hjs  widow,  Margaret,  daughter  and 
co-heir  of  Edward,  the  third  son  of  Thoma,s  Duke  of  Norfolk, 
survived  him  nineteen  years;  her  remains  were  deposited 
in  Tisbury  church,  which  became  the  mausoleum  of  the 
Arundell  family. 

At  the  accession  of  Queen  Mary,  she  graciously  restored 
to  Sir  Matthew,  the  elder  son  of  the  late  Sir  Thomas  Arundell, 
the  greater  part  of  the  forfeited  property;  and  he  repurchased 
of  William,  Earl  of  Pembroke,  "  a  man  of  a  daring  nature, 
boisterously  bold,  and  who  had  mightily  raised  himself  by 
the  fall  of  abbies"  (Heylyn,  p.  112,  Hist,  of  Edward  VI.), 
the  lordship  and  castle  of  Wardour,  granted  to  him  by  King 
Edward  VI.,  the  earl  accepting  the  manor  of  Fovant  in  ex- 
change. On  recovering  the  castle.  Sir  Matthew  placed  on 
its  east  front  the  following  lines : —   ■   ■ 

"  Gentis  Arundellise  Thomas,  Lanhernife  Proles         01 
Junior,  hoc  meruit  prima  sedere  loco. 
Ut  sedit,  cecidit ;  sine  crimine  plectitur  ilia 
Insons  :  Insontem  fata  secuta  probant, 
Nam,  quse  Patris  erant,  Matthseus  filius  emit, 
Empta  auxit,  studio  Principis  aucta  manent, 
Comprecor,  aucta  diu  raaneaiit,  augenda  peraevum. 
Usee  dedit,  eripuit,  restituitque  Deus." 

I  found  the  following  translation  in  the  handwriting  of 
Henry,  the  eighth  Lord  Arundell : — 

"  Here  branch  of  Arundell's  Lanhernian  Race 
Thomas  first  sat :  and  lie  deserved  the  place. 
He  sat  and  fell :  Merit  the  fatal  crime, 
And  Heav'n,  to  mark  him  faultless,  bless'd  his  line. 
Matthew  his  offspring,  as  the  father  great 
And  happier  in  his  prince,  regain'd  the  seat 
Confirm'd,  enlarged,  long  may  its  fortune  stand  ; 
His  care  who  gave,  resumed,  restored  the  land." 

The  reader  will  think  a  much  better  version  might  be  given. 

The  other  brother  of  Sir  Matthew  was  Charles,  who  quitted 
England  in  the  summer  of  1583,  and  died  Qth  December, 
1587.  F.  Robert  Persons,  who  knew  him  well,  speaks  thus 
of  this  worthy  character : — 

"  Mr.  Charles  Arondel,  brother  to  Sir  Matthew  Arondel,  after  many 
years  continued  in  the  court  of  England  ;  after  he  saw  things  grow  to 
that  extremity  as  no  Catholick  man  might  be  suffered  to  live  witli  his 
conscience,  he  went  into  voluntary  banishment :  and  afterwards,  for  his 
devotion,  he  went  to  visit  the  holy  places  of  Rome,  and  from  thence  he 
passed  to  see  the  kin"-  of  Spaine  (Philip  II.),  and  do  his  duty  unto 
him  :  for  that  he  was  his  godfather,  at  the  time  of  his  being  in  England, 


FAMILIES    IN    WILTSHIRE.  77 

and  gave  him  the  name  of  his  father  Charles,  the  emperor;  and  now 
received  hun  with  great  love  and  favour,  and  made  liim  knight,  and 
besides  otlier  gifts,  assigned  him  also  four  scoi-e  French  crowns  every 
month  towards  his  maintenance.  But  Sir  Charles  returning  afterwards 
to  Paris  lived  very  little  while,  but  gave  up  his  ghost  most  godly  to  his 
Creator." 

Sir  Matthew  Arundell  died  in  1598,  leaving,  by  his  wife 
Margaret  (Willoughby),  an  only  son,  Thomas,  who  may  be 
justly  ranked  amongst  the  heroes  of  his  time. 

This  Thomas,  known  by  the  title  of  the  Valiant,  had  been 
committed  to  prison  by  Queen  Elizabeth  in  the  summer  of 
1580,  for  his  zeal  in  the  Catholic  cause :  "  He  had  been 
amongst  the  first,"  writes  F.  Persons,  "that  refused  to  go 
to  the  Protestant*  church."  On  regaining  his  liberty  he 
obtained  permission  to  travel  abroad,  and  entering  the  Aus- 
trian service  under  the  Archduke  Matthias,  brother  to  the 
Emperor  Bhodolphus  II.,  had  immortalized  himself  by 
eminent  deeds  of  bravery  against  the  Ottomans.  Amongst 
other  acts  of  daring,  at  the  siege  of  Gran,  or  Strigonium,  he 
was  the  first  to  enter  the  breach,  on  7th  September,  1595,* 
to  scale  the  walls  of  the  citadel,  to  pull  down,  with  his  own 
hand,  the  Turkish  crescent,  and  plant  the  Imperial  eagle 
in  its  place.  For  such  military  prowess,  the  emperor  created 
him  and  his  posterity  counts  of  the  Roman  empire,  on  14th 
December,  1595 ;  a  translation  of  the  letters  patent  I  made 
for  the  "  CathoHc  Spectator  "  of  November,  1826. 

"  RoDOLPH  THE  Second,  by  the  favour  of  the  Divine  clemency  always 
august,  elected  emperor  of  the  Roman  Empire  and  Germany,  king  of 
Hungary,  Bohemia,  Dalmatia,  Croatia,  Sclavonia,  &c.,  archduke  of 
Austria,  duke  of  Burgundy,  Brabant,  Etiria,  Carinthia,  Carniola,  &c., 
marquess  of  Moravia,  &c.,  duke  of  Lucenburgh,  and  of  Higher  and 
Lower  Silesia,  Wirtemburgh,  &o.,  prince  of  Suevia,  count  of  Haps- 
burgh,  Tyrol,  Kyburg,  and  Goritia,  landgrave  of  Alsatia,  marquess  of 
Burgovia,  of  the  Sacred  Roman  Empire,  and  of  Higher  and  Lower 
Lusatia,  &c.,  lord  of  the  marquisate  of  Sclavonia,  &c.  To  our  illus- 
trious and  sincerely  beloved  Thomas  Arundell,  count  of  the  Sacred 
Roman  Empire,  our  imperial  favour  and  everything  that  is  good. 
Whereas  we,  according  to  our  innat-e  benign  disposition,  and  the  cle- 
mency and  example  of  the  immortal  God,  who  showers  down  in  a 


*  In  the  Imperial  and  in  the  Esterhazy  collection  is  a  gold  medal, 
struck  in  memory  of  the  capture  of  Strigonium.  The  Archduke 
Matthias  is  represented  on  the  obverse  in  the  hussar  dress,  and  holding 
the  baton  in  nis  right  hand.     The  circular  inscription  is  "  mattias. 

D.  G.  ARCHID.    ADST.    ETC.    SUPR.    EXERC.    BEL.   IN.    HUN.  INFER.   DTJX." 

In  the  exergue  below  the  horse,  "  militbmus.  1601."    On  the  reverse 
appears  the  town,  with  the  besieging  army  before  it.    Below, 

*'  STRIGG.   PAN.  1595 
SEP.  7." 


78  ACCOUNT    OF    CATHOLIC 

copious  manner  the  abundance  of  his  heavenly  liberality  on  mankind, 
after  that  by  his  Divine  Majesty  we  were  called  and  raised  up  to  this 
human  majesty  and  the  height  of  the  imperial  dignity,  have  nothing 
more  at  heart  (in  order  that  the  renown  of  our  empire  may  be  rendered 
more.conspicuous  and  illustrious)  than  that  our  munificence  may  be 
fully  extended  and  exercised  towards  all  those  whose  bravery  and 
fidelity  deserve  it ;  yet  we  think  it  highly  necessary  that  a_  diligent  and 
singular  regard  be  had  that  a  proper  distinction  be  observed  in  conferring 
rewards,  honours,  and  dignities  on  men's  deserts,  namely,  that  one 
may  be  distinguished  from  another  by  some  higher  degrees  of  honour  ; 
that  those  who  are  more  nobly  descended,  who  by  their  brave  and  illus- 
trious actions  and  their  regard  to  virtue,  and  by  strenuously  exerting 
themselves  for  the  good  of  their  country  and  their  princes,  greatly  add 
to  those  virtues  derived  from  their  ancestors,  should  be  advanced  to 
higher  degrees  of  honour  and  dignity  :  for  thus  a  due  observance  of 
justice  and  equity  is  maintained,  and  the  minds  of  others  by  their 
illustrious  examples  are  excited  to  a  becoming  emulation  of  virtue  and 
glory.  Taking  therefore  into  consideration  your  ancient  and  illustrious 
descent,  which  (as  1  am  assured  by  a  letter  from  the  most  serene 
princess  and  lady  Elizabeth,  queen  of  England,  France,  and_  Ireland, 
our  sister  and  cousin)  in  the  renowned  kingdom  of  England  is  derived 
from  the  royal  blood ;  and  those  eminent  virtues  likewise,  by  which 
you  render  the  splendor  of  j'our  family  more  illustrious,  both  at  home 
and  abroad  :  Whereas  your  first  care  was  to  furnish  your  mind  with 
the  knowledge  of  all  good  and  useful  literature ;  you  have  travelled 
foreign  countries,  have  seen  many  different  cities  and  their  customs,  by 
which  you  have  acquired  much  advantage  :  Whereas,  finally,  you  have 
come  at  so  great  a  distance  into  Hungary  at  your  own  expence  (excited 
thereto  by  a  singular  and  unusual  zeal)  to  bear  arms  under  us  in  this 
sacred  war  which  we  wage  against  the  Turk,  the  common  enemj'  of  the 
Christian  name,  and  have  behaved  yourself  with  such  undaunted 
bravery,  both  in  the  open  field  and  in  besieging  cities  and  camps,  as  to 
be  held  in  general  admiration ;  and  we  have  received  more  ample  testi- 
monies in  your  favour  from  the  most  Serene  Prince  Archduke  Matthias 
our  dear  brother,  and  from  the  commanding  officers  of  our  army  this 
eminent  instance  of  your  bravery  :  amongst  others,  being  observed  tliat 
in  the  besieging  of  the  lower  town,  near  Gran,  you  with  your  own  hand 
took  the  banner  from  the  tower,  and  during  the  engagement  placed  yourself 
in  the  front  of  the  army,  which  eminent  services  we  would  by  no  means 
pass  by  without  bestowing  upon  you  and  your  legitimate  posterity  some 
distinguishing  mark  of  our  favour.  Out  of  our  motion,  therefore,  from 
our  certain  knowledge,  with  a  well  deliberate  mind,  and  having  taken 
proper  counsel  thereon,  we,  by  our  full  imperial  authority  and  power, 
nave  created,  made,  and  nominated  you,  the  aforesaid  Thomas  Arundell 
(who  before  this  time  derive  from  your  ancestors  in  England  the  con- 
sanguinity of  counts),  and  all  and  every  of  your  children,  heirs,  and 
legitimate  descendants  of  both  sexes  already  born,  or  that  hereafter  shall 
he,  true  counts  and  countesses  of  the  Sacred  Roman  Empire,  and  we 
have  granted  and  ennobled  you  with  the  title,  honour,  and  dignity  of 
counts  of  the  empire,  as  by  the  tenor  of  these  presents  we  do  create, 
make,  nominate,  grant,  and  ennoble,  willing  and  firmly  and  expressly 
decreeing,  by  this  our  imperial  patent,  which  will  be  always  in  force, 
that  you,  the  aforesaid  Thomas  Arundell,  with  all  and  every  of  your 
children  apd  legitimate  posterity,  both  male  and  female,  for  ever,  do, 
have,  possess,  and  assume  for  ever  the  title,  style,  and  dignity  of  counts 
of  the  empire,  and  that  you  Be  honoured,  called,  and  styled  by  that 
title  both  in  writing  and  speaking,- in  things  spiritual  and  temporal,  eccle- 


FAMILIES    IN    WILTSHIRE.  79 

siastical  and  profane.  And,  finally,  that  you  freely,  and  without  any 
impediment,  use,  enjoy,  obtain,  and  partake  of  all  and  every  of  the 
honours,  ornaments,  dignities,  grants,  liberties,  privileges,  rights,  ancient 
customs,  pre-eminences  and  prerogatives,  which  our  other  counts  of  the 
Sacred  Roman  Empire  enjoy,  use,  and  partake  of,  law  or  custom  not 
making  any  impediment,  or  requiring  anything  contrary  to  these  :  and 
if  there  were  any  such  laws  or  customs,  particular  and  express  mention 
ought  to  be  made  in  these  presents :  All  and  every  of  which  impedi- 
ments, We  do  by  our  imperial  authority  knowingly  make  void,  and  will 
and  declare  to  be  sufficiently  void  by  these  presents  (so  that  the  rights 
and  privileges  of  the  most  serene  Princess  Elizabeth,  Q,ueen  of  England, 
France,  and  Ireland,  our  moat  dear  sister  and  cousin,  remain  safe  and 
secure).  Let  no  one  therefore,  of  whatever  degree,  state,  order,  con- 
dition, or  dignity,  or  whatever  high  rank  or  station  he  may  be  of, 
revoke,  or,  by  any  rash  attempt,  contradict  this  our  confirmation, 
ratification,  approbation,  corroboration,  execution,  will,  favour,  and 
decree.  Whosoever  sHall  do  this,  let  him  know  by  these  presents,  that 
he,  ipso  facto,  incurs  our  very  severe  displeasure,  and  that  of  the  Sacred 
Roman  Empire,  and  that  he  shall  likewise  be  fined  in  the  penalty  of 
one  Imndred  marks  of  pure  gold,  half  of  which  we  decree  to  be  paid 
into  our  imperial  treasury,  and  the  other  to  be  paid  and  applied  for  the 
use  of  the  injured  (without  the  least  hopes  of  pardon  or  remission).  In 
testimony  of  these  letters  we  have  subscribed  our  hand,  and  fixed  our 
imperial  seal.  Given  at  our  royal  palace  at  Prague,  the  14th  day  of 
December,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  1595  ;  in  the  21st  year  of  our  reign 
of  the  empire,  of  Hungary  the  24th,  of  Bohemia  the  21st." 

In  the  interesting  preface  to  "  The  Divine  Pedagogue," 
printed  in  London,  8vo.,  I  read,  p.  412,  "his  very  name 
became  as  dreadful  to  the  Turks,  as  that  of  Talbot*  was 
formidable  to  the  French."  The  new  count  returned  home 
in  the  following  year  :  he  had  subscribed  £100  (a  consider- 
able sum  in  those  days)  towards  repelling  the  Spanish 
armada,  in  which  noble  effort  of  national  defence,  the 
English  Catholics  were  as  conspicuous  as  their  Protestant 
brethren.  But '  the  queen,  with  her  characteristic  littleness 
of  soul,  objected  to  his  using  his  well-earned' title,  "Nollem 

*  This  English  Achilles  has  been  immortalized   by  our  dramatic 
Bard  :— 

'■  Valiant  Talbot  above  human  thought 
Enacted  wonders  with  his  sword  and  lance. 
Hundreds  he  sent  to  hell,  and  none  durst  stand  him  : 
Here,  there,  and  everywhere  enraged  he  flew. 
The  French  exclaim'd,  '  The  devil  was  in  arms ! ' 
All  the  whole  ai'my  stood  agazed  on  him. 
His  soldiers  spying  his  undaunted  spirit, 
'  A  Talbot ! '  '  A  Talbot ! '  cried  out  amain  ; 
And  rush'd  into  the  bowels  of  the  battle." 

Nash  exclaims,  "How  w^ould  it  have  joyed  brave  Talbot,  the  terror  of 
the  French,  to  thinke,  that  after  he  had'layen  200  yeare  in  his  toomb 
he  should  triumph  again  on  the  stage ;  and  have  his  bones  new  em- 
balmed with  the  tears  of  10,000  spectators  at  least,  who  in  the  tragedian, 
that  represents  his  person,  imagine  they  behold  him  fresh  bleeding." 


80  ACCOUNT    OF   CATHOLIC 

oves  meas  alieiio  stigmata  inuri,  nolim  alieni  pastoris  sibilura 
sequi."— (Camden's  "Annals  of  Elizabeth/'  1596.)  Her 
successor,  King  James  I.,  thought  differently,  and  graciously; 
elevated  this  illustrious  subject  to  the  dignity  of  the  peerage, 
by  the  style  and  title  of  Baron  Arundell,  of  Wardour,  on  4th 
May,  1605.  Yet  Charles  I.  commenced  his  reign  by  disarm- 
ing the  gallant  hero,  because  he  was  a  Catholic. — (See 
Rushworth's  "  Histor.  Col.,"  vol.  i.  p.  194.)  This  noble  lord 
was  rewarded  with  a  death  precious  in  the  sight  of  God,  on 
7th  November,  1639,  set.  seventy-nine.  His  beautiful  por- 
trait, taken  by  Vandyke  four  years  before,  may  be  seen  at 
Wardour.  He  was  twice  married ;  first,  to  Mary,  daughter 
of  Henry,  earl  of  Southampton,  a  stanch  Roman  Catholic, — 
"Romanse  religioni  si  quis  alius  devotus,"  as  Camden 
describes  him  ("  Annales,"  1583) ;  and,  secondly,  to  Ann 
Phillipson,  who  died  28th  June,  1637.  To  this  Lady  Ann, 
"  The  Draught  of  Eternity,"  by  Camus,  bishop  of  BeUay, 
as  translated  by  the  Rev.  Miles  Carr,  was  dedicated. 

Thomas,  the  eldest  son*  of  this  first  Lord  Arundell, 
inherited  the  title  and  estates  with  the  virtues  of  his  heroic 
father.  At  the  beginning  of  the  troubles  between  King 
Charles  I.  and  his  Parliament,  the  factious  House  of  Com- 
mons, in  November,  1641,  issued  directions  to  secure  his 
person;  but  he  escaped  apprehension;  and  when  the  royal 
standard  was  erected  at  Nottingham,  22nd  August,  1642,  his 
lordship  raised  a  regiment  of  horse,  and  bravely  maintained  th6 
cause  of  his  unfortunate  sovereign.  It  is  said  in  the  inscrip- 
tion at  Wardour,  that  he  died  of  his  wounds  at  Oxford,  on 
19th  May,  1643,  aged  fifty-six;  and  this  derives  confirmation 
from  the  brass  that  I  copied  in  the  sacristy  of  Wardour 
chapel,  formerly,  it  seems,  affixed  to  his  lordship's  coffin. 

Depositum 
Inclytissimi  Nobilissiinique 
Dni  Dni  Thomae  Arundell 
Baronis  Arundell  de  Castro 
Warderensi  in  Agro  Wilto- 
niensi  in  Anglia,  et  Comitis 

Sacrosanct!  Bomani 
Imperii,  qui  dum  iidele 
Obsequium  suum  Carolo 
Regi  prsBstitit,  Oxonii 
Morte  sublatus  fuit,  19 
die  meusis  Mail,  Ano  Dni 
1643. 


*  The  second  son,  William,  was  a  colonel  in  the  king's  army.    His 

Portrait,  by  P.  Longsing,  may  be  seen  in  the  dining-room  at  Wardour. 
n  pulling  down  part  of  the  old  house. at   Bruton,  a  brass  plats. 


FAMILIES    IN    WILTSHIHE.  81 

If  this  date  be  correct,  the  received  report,  that  he  was  shot 
in  the  thigh  with  a  brace  of  bullets  at  the  battle  of  Lans- 
down,  and  carried  off  to  the  city  of  Oxford,  where  he  died 
shortly  after,  must  be  erroneous ;  for  that  battle  was  fought 
on  5th  July,  1643.  I  suspect  that  his  wounds  were  received 
at  Reading,  in  April  that  year. 

The  learned  Franciscan  writer.  Dr.  Richard  Mason 
(Angelus  h  S.  Francisco,  who  died  30th  December,  1678, 
set.  seventy-eight,  prof,  forty-eight,  sac.  forty-four),  in  his 
excellent  work,  "  The  Liturgical  Discourse,"  extols  the  noble 
lord's  piety  and  devotion  to  the  holy  sacrifice  of  the  altar. 

His  lordship  married  Blanche,  sixth  daughter  of  Edward 
Somerset,  fifth  earl  and  second  marquis  of  Worcester,  of 
whom  it  has  often* been  observed,  that  "England  did  not 
possess  a  more  discreet  or  faithful  subject;  and  that  if  the 
king  had  been  ruled  by  his  counsels,  he  might  have  pre- 
served both  his  life  and  his  crown."  This  lady,  worthy  of 
such  a  Catholic  father,  has  signalized  her  memory  by  her 
spirited  defence  of  Wardour  Castle  during  nine  days,  against 
the  overwhelming  force  under  the  command  of  Sir  Edward 
Hungerford  and  William  Strode.  The  articles  of  capitula 
tion  were  signed  on  8th  May,  1643.*  She  followed  hei 
lord  to  the  grave,  28th  October,  1649,  set.  sixty-eight.  Hei 
death  occurred  at  Winchester. 

The  third  baron,  called  Henry,  was  the  only  son  of  the 
noble  Lord  Arundell,  that  victim  of  his  loyalty.  The  authoi 
of  "  The  Liturgical  Discourse,"  above  mentioned,  informs  us, 
that  Henrietta  Maria,  the  illustrious  daughter  of  Henry  IV. 
of  France,  and  queen  of  our  sovereign,  Charles  I.,  had 
appointed  him  master  of  the  horse.     Treading  in  the  foot- 


probably  once  attached   to  a  coffin,  was  found  early  in  1791,  thus 
inscribed : — 

"  The  body  of  Mary,  Lady  St.  John,  wife  of  the  Lord  St.  John,  eldest 
son  of  the  Marquis  of  Winchester,  and  afterwards  married  to  William 
Arundell,  second  son  of  the  R'.  Hon''''  Tho'  Lord  Arundell  of  Wardour. 
Deceased  November  the  xni.  Anno  mdcxcii.  and  in  the  xcix.  year  of 
her  age." 

N.B.  Their  sister  Ann  married  Cecil  Calvert,  2nd  Lord  Baltimore, 
but  died,  without  issue,  23rd  July,  1649,  set  34. 

*  The  best  account  of  this  first  siege  may  be  found  in  the  "  Mercurius 
Rusticus  ;"  but  of  the  second  siege,  in  Edmund  Ludlow's  Memoirs, 
vol.  i.,  from  page  59.  "  This  Ludlow  was  appointed  by  Sir  Edward 
Hungerford  to  be  governor  of  Wardour  Castle,  and  discovered  in  one  of 
its  walls  plate  and  jewels  to  the  value  of  about  £1,200.  On  his 
subsequent  surrender  of  the  castle  (which  had  been  sadly  shaken  and 
dismantled)  in  March,  1644,  he  gave  up  the  plate  to  Lord  Arundell  for 
his  civility"  (Memoirs,  p.  75). 

G 


82  ACCOUNT    OF    CATHOLIC 

steps  of  Ms  honoured  parents^  he  vigorously  opposed  the 
parliamentary  forces.  In  March,  1644,  he  retook  his  castle 
of  Wardour,  which  he  reduced  to  a  ruin,  to  prevent  the 
rebels  from  ever  converting  it  into  a  fortress.  The  declining 
cause  of  the  king  involved  him  in  accumulated  embarrass- 
ments. The  above-mentioned  author  of  "The  Liturgical 
Discourse "  commends  his  inflexible  fidelity  and  devotion  to 
his  king  and  country,  which  "evidently  appeared  by  your 
actions  in  the  war,  and  sufferings  after,  having  not  only  lost 
your  blood  in  several  battles,  but  yourself  demolished  that 
ancient  and  noble  seat  of  Wardour  Castle,  the  only  habita- 
tion which  the  malice  of  the  king's  enemies  had  left  you. 
And  the  war  being  ended,  having  for  several  years  lain  under 
a  total  sequestration  of  the  profits,  was  forced  to  repurchase, 
with  no  less  than  five  and  thirty  thousand  pounds,  your  own 
estate,  which,  by  the  iniquities  of  those  times,  was  adjudged 
forfeited  for  your  loyalty  to  the  crown."  P.  Weldon, 
also,  in  "  The  Divine  Pedagogue,"  compares  his  lordship's 
aflaictions  to  those  of  Job,  adding,  "  The  rebels  seized  your 
children  and  virtuous  lady  (Cecily), — your  plentiful  stock  of 
cattle  was  driven  by  the  rabble, — your  mansion-house  taken 
and  plundered  by  the  enemy, — your  estates  exposed  to  sale 
before  your  face, — and  yourself  obliged  to  travel  into  foreign 
countries  for  a  subsistence."  But  in  all  these  disasters  he 
was  never  heard  to  repine  at  the  dispositions  of  Providence. 

I  have  seen  a  document  entitled,  "A  Particular  of  the 
Estate  late  of  Henry,  Lord  Arundel,  of  Warder,  sold  at 
Drury  House."  N.B.  The  purchaser  was  Humphrey  Weld, 
Esq.,  but  as  a  friend  in  behalf  of  his  lordship. 

1st  April,  1663. — The  manor  of  Melbury  Abbesse  and 
Kingsdon,  com.  Dorset  and  Somerset,  sold  to  Hum- 
phry Weld,  gent.,  the  purchaser,  full  paid    £8,732    1    ^ 

27th  April,  1653.— The  manor  of  Fountmill,  co.  Dorset, 

to  H.  Weld,  first  moiety    3,690  14    7 

22nd  June,  1653.— The  manor  of  Sembley,  CO.  Wilts  ...     3,067    9    1 
„  „         The  manor  of  Bridsey,  CO.  Wilts  ...         761  13    6 

„  „        The  manor  of  Tollard  Royal,  in  co. 

Dorset  and  Wilts 1,592  16    0 

This  lot  sold  to  H.  Weld,  who  paid  the  first  moiety. 
Meere  Park  and  Lodge,  co.  Wilts,  sold  the  same  day  to 
Nicholas  Green,  Esq.,  who  paid  the  first  moiety  ......         276  16    3 

8th  July,  1663.— Wardour  Park,  co.  Wilts,  to  Weld, 

who  paid  first  moiety     2,028     1     3 

15th  July,  1663. — Messuages  in  Sutton  Mandeville,  co. 

Wilts,  to  Weld,  first  moiety 319    0    1^ 

22nd  July,  1653. — Manor  of  South  Petherton,  co.  So- 
merset, to  Humphry  Weld,  first  moiety 1,998  16  11 


FAMILIES    IN    WILTSHIBE.  83 

20th  July,  1663. — Manor  of  Godington,  co.  Oxen,  to 

Weld,  first  moiety    , £1,066  10    0 

2nd  Sept.  1653. — Manor  of  Somerton,  co.  Oxon 804  17  11 

„         „         Manor  of  Donhead,  CO.  Wilts 3,678  12    0 

Both  paid  hy  Weld,  who  paid  the  first  moieties. 

Several  estates  of  his  returned,  but  not  proceeded  upon,  viz. : — 

Manor  of  Hasledonne,  co.  Wilts. 
Manor  of  Margarett  Marsh,  co.  Dorset. 
Part  of  Manor  of  Chiltertavg,  co.  Somerset. 
Manor  of  Broadclist,  co.  Devon. 
Manor  of  AUcomsey,  co.  Somerset. 
Manor  of  Tisbury,  co.  Wilts. 
Manor  of  Anstey,*  co.  Wilts. 
Manor  of  Langeritshill,  co.  Dorset. 
Rectory  oft'oundestoche,  Cornwall. 
Manor  of  Hampreston,  co.  Dorset. 
Manor  of  Milbury  Osmond,  co.  Dorset. 
Several  coppices  in  More  Critchill,  co.  Dorset. 
Manor  of  Chislebourne,  co.  Dorset. 
Rectory  of  Chislebourne,  co.  Dorset. 

At  the  restoration  of  monarchy,  the  noble  lord  recovered 
his  property  at  the  expense  of  .£35,000.  Now  in  possession 
of  the  means,  he  devoted  himself  to  works  of  charity  and 
benevolence.  F.  Weldon  writes,  in  the  work  above  quoted, 
that  his  lordship  preserved  thousands  of  the  poor  from 
starving,  and  that  hundreds  of  the  Irish  nation  were  indebted 
to  him  for  their  lives.  Such  a  loyalist  and  patriot  was  entitled 
to  the  grateful  consideration  of  his  sovereign,  but  King 
Charles  II.  forgot  him  in  the  days  of  his  prosperity;  nay, 
almost  suffered  him  to  become  the  martyred  victim  of  the 
palpable  forgeries  and  perjuries  of  Titus  Oates,  "the  most 
infamous  of  mankind,"  as  Hume  describes  him,  or  as  Macaulay 
regards  him,  "  as  the  falsest,  the  most  malignant,  and  the 
most  impudent  being  that  ever  disgraced  the  human  form — 
the  founder  of  the  school  of  false  witnesses."  On  that  wretch's 
swearing  that  he  had  seen  the  commission  to  make  him  Lord 
Chancellor,  the  old  peer  was  hurried  to  the  Tower  in  October, 
1678,  where  he  was  joined  by  the  Catholic  peers  Earl  Powis, 
Viscount  Stafford,  and  Barons  Petre  and  Belasyse.  The  death 
of  the  king  released  him  from  imprisonment  in  the  sixth  year 
of  his  confinement,t  as  Evelyn  relates  in  his  Memoirs,  vol.  i. 

*  For  some  time  a  Catholic  school  was  kept  here. 

t  In  the  early  part  of  his  imprisonment  he  wrote  a  few  small  poems, 
printed  in  London  in  1679.  1st.  A  Valediction  to  the  World.  2nd. 
Persecution  no  Loss.  3rd.  On  the  text  "God  chastiseth  those  whom 
He  loves."  4th.  Considerations  before  the  Crucifix.  5th.  Upon  the 
Pains  of  Hell. 

G    2 


Sli  ACCOUNT    OF    CATHOLIC 

p.  543.  I  think  he  was  discharged  on  bail  13th  February, 
1684.  The  ministers  during  that  disgraceful  period  of  our 
anuals  were  too  cowardly  to  bring  him  to  a  public  trial ;  for 
few  men  possessed  more  spirit  and  penetration  of  character ; 
few  could  show  such  services  to  the  crown,  or  knew  better 
the  secrets  of  the  Cabinet.  Perhaps,  also,  they  were  con- 
scious that  he  had  prepared  a  powerful  vindication,  which  is 
still  extant.  King  James  II.  exerted  himself  to  repair  the 
abominable  injustice  of  his  deceased  brother  and  sovereign.* 
In  May,  1685,  he  procured  his  discharge  from  bail,  made 
him  a  Privy  Councillor,t  and  finally  appointed  him  Keeper  of 
the  Privy  Seal  on  10th  March,  1687.  But  he  was  doomed 
to  sit  in  the  Cabinet  with  disguised  traitors,  who  had  plotted 
the  downfall  of  their  too  credulous  king,  to  whom  they  had 
sworn  inviolable  fidelity.     He  survived  the  Revolution,  and 

*  Yet  Macaulay,  Hist,  of  England,  vol.  ii.  p.  47,  represents  him  as 
unfriendly  to  moderate  measures;  as  an  old  man  fast  sinking  into 
"  second  childhood." 

t  The  amount  of  fees  on  being  sworn  of  the  Privy  Council  appears 
from  the  receipt  dated  24tli  July,  1686,  to  have  been  £26. 

I  copy  the  following  important  document  from  the  original : — 

"  After  our  very  heai'ty  commendations  to  your  lordship,  it  having 
pleased  Almighty  God,  about  ten  of  the  clock  this  morning,  to  bless 
his  Majesty  and  his  Royal  Consort,  the  Queene,  with  the  birth  of  a 
hopeful!  son,  and  his  Majesty's  kingdoms  and  dominions  with  a  prince, 
his  Majesty  hath  commanded  us  to  signify  the  same  to  your  lordship, 
and  to  pray  and  require  you  to  cause  notice  thereof  to  be  forthwith 
given  by  Proclamation  or  otherwise,  as  is  usual  throughout  that  island, 
and  thereby  to  appoint  Sunday,  the  first  of  July  next,  being  the  day 
set  in  his  Majesty's  Proclamation  to  be  observed  in  this  kingdome,  as 
well  for  a  Solemne  Thanksgiving  to  Almighty  God  for  this  inestimable 
blessing,  as  for  such  other  expressions  of  publique  rejoyceings  suitable 
to  this  great  occasion,  as  your  lordship  shall  judge  fit.  And  so,  not 
doubting  of  your  lordship's  ready  complyance  herewith,  wee  bid  you 
very  heartily  ffarewell.  From  y=  Council  Chamber  in  Whitehall,  this 
10th  day  of  June,  1688. 

"  Your  lordship's  very  loving  friends, 

"  Jeffreys,  C.  Sunderland,  P. 

"  ARtTNDBLL,  C.  P.  S.        PoWIS. 

"  Huntingdon.  Craven. 

"  Berkeley.  Middleton." 

"  To  y'  Lord  Jermyn,  Gov  of  Jersey. 

"John  Nicholas." 

Endorsed. 

"  To  our  very  good  Lord  Thomas,  Lord  Jermin,  Governor  of  his 
Majesty's  Island  of  Jersey,  or  in  his  absence  to  the  Lieutenant- 
Governoi-,  or  other  officer  commanding  in  chief." 


FAMILIES    IN    WILTSHIRE.  85 

closed  his  lengthened  career  on  the  28th  Decemberj  1694,  on 
the  veiy  same  day  and  hour  when  Mary,  the  consort  of  the 
unnatural  King  William  III.,  breathed  her  last.  Of  this 
nobleman  we  may  say,  "  he  was  a  firm  pillar  to  the  Common- 
wealth, a  faithful  patron  of  the  Catholic  Church,  a  fair 
pattern  to  the  British  Court ;  he  lived  to  the  welfare  of  his 
country,  to  the  honour  of  his  prince,  and  to  the  glory  of  his 
God." 

In  the  dining-room  at  Wardour  may  be  seen  his  portrait, 
and  that  of  his  wife  Cecily,  daughter  of  Sir  Henry  Compton, 
K.B.,  and  relict  of  Sir  John  Fermor,  knight.  She  died 
21st  March,  1675,  aet.  sixty-seven.  Their  daughter  Cecily, 
a  poor  Clare  at  Rouen  convent  (colonized  from  Gravelines, 
1644),*  survived  until  13th  June,  1717,  set.  eighty-two.  Rel.  55. 
Her  interesting  portrait  may  be  seen  at  Wardour. 

I  now  come  to  the  fourth  Lord,  Thomas  Arundell,  who 
had  been  one  of  the  suite  of  Lord  Castlemain  in  the  embassy 
to  Pope  Innocent  XI.  in  1686.  Notwithstanding  the  here- 
ditary services  which  his  family  had  rendered  to  the  Stuart 
dynasty,  this  nobleman  was  under  the  necessity  of  soliciting 
as  a  boon  from  Queen  Anne's  Privy  Council,  a  licence  to 
protect  his  coach  and  saddle  horses  from  being  seized  by 
English  law.  In  their  gracious  wisdom  and  condescension 
to  a  Papist,  they  granted  him  the  following  protection.  At 
the  top  of  the  original  licence  is  the  seal  of  office,  with  the 
letters  sigill.  privi.  conc.  : — 

"Whereas  humble  suit  hath  been  made  to  this  Board,  in  belialf  of 
the  Right  Honourable  the  Lord  Arundell,  of  Wardour,  in  the  county 
of  Wilts,  for  licence  to  keep  six  coach-horses  and  four  saddle-horses. 
We  do  hereby  licence  and  permit  the  said  Lord  Arundell  to  keep  the 
said  horses,  which  are  not  to  be  seized  as  horses  belonging  to  Papists, 
till  further  order,  provided  that  his  lordship  gives  security,  before  one  of 
her  Majesty's  justices  of  y'  peace  for  the  said  county,  that  the  said 
horses  snail  be  forthcoming  upon  signification  of  her  Ma''"  pleasure  in 
that  behalf.  Whereof  aU  persons  concern'd  are  to  take  notice,  and 
govern  themselves  accordingly.  Dated  at  the  Council  Chamber  at 
St.  James's,  the  12th  day  of  February,  1704. 

"Pembroke,  P.     Kent.     Radnor.      Poulett. 
"  R.  Ferrers.       Granville.         Cunnyesby." 

"  Lord  Arundell,  of  Wardour.'' 

The  document  is  thus  indorsed  in  the  noble  lord's  hand- 
writing : — 

"  M3'  lycence  for  keeping  horses." 


*  Their  church  was  dedicated  in  honour  of  Jesus,  Mary,  and  Joseph, 
on  23rd  May,  1667. 


86  ACCOUNT    OF    CATHOLIC 

His  lordship  married  Margaret  Spencer,  and  died  10th 
February,  1713.  His  brother  Henry,  who  had  ta,ken  to  wife 
Mary  Scrope,  lived  to  the  advanced  age  of  eightyeight, 
paying  the  debt  of  nature  9th  August,  1721. 

'Yhe' fifth  Lord,  Henry,  enjoyed  the  title  but  fourteen  years, 
dying  25th  June,  1726.  He  had  taken  to  wife  Miss  Eliza- 
beth Panton,  of  St.  Martin's-in-the-Fields,  London ;  but  who 
lived  not  to  become  a  peeress ;  for  she  deceased  9th  May, 
1700.  His  brother  Thomas,  a  promising  youth,  was  kiUed  at 
the  battle  of  the  Boyne. 

The  sixth  Lord,  Henry,  married  twice — first,  Elizabeth 
Eleanora,  daughter  and  heir  of  Baron  Raymond  Everard,  of 
Fetherd,  county  Tipperary,  who  died  in  1730.  Her  ladyship 
ceased  to  live  on  22nd  May,  1728,  set.  thirty-five.  Second, 
the  Lady  Ann  Herbert,  who  died  in  September,  1757.  Her 
noble  husband  had  preceded  her  to  the  grave  on  29th  Jxme, 
1746,  set.  fifty-two.  Their  third  son,  James  Everard,  married 
Ann  Wyndham. 

Henry,  the  seventh  Lord  Arundell,  is  entitled  to  special 
attention,  from  the  circumstance  of  his  marriage  with  Mary, 
daughter  and  heiress  of  Richard  BellingArundell,of  Lanherne, 
Esq.,  which  re-united  the  families,  after  a  separation  of  two 
centuries.  It  may  be  proper  here  to  state  to  the  reader  that 
Sir  Richard  Belling,  son  of  Sir  Hugh  Belling,  was  a  gifted 
lawyer,  and  became  a  leading  member  in  the  supreme  council 
of  the  confederated  Catholics  at  Kilkenny ;  but  was  not  the 
author  of  the  "  Vindicise  Catholicorum  Hibernise,''  printed 
at  Paris  in  1650,  which  treats  of  Irish  afiiiirs  from  1641  to 
1649.  The  real  author  of  that  volume  was  the  Rev.  John 
M'CaUagham.  This  Sir  Richard,  by  his  wife,  Margaret  Butler 
(who  died  in  1635,  four  years  after  her  marriage),  left  at  his 
death  at  Dublin,  in  1677,  two  sons.  Sir  Richard  and  James. 
The  latter  adopted  the  military  profession,  and  died  in  1706; 
the  former  left  Ireland,  as  I  found  by  his  own  letter,  in  1648. 
After  a  suitable  education  he  went  into  France,  where  he 
probably  rejoined  his  father,  who  returned  to  Ireland  after 
the  restoration,  and  recovered  his  estates  through  the  interest 
of  the  Duke  of  Ormonde.  Our  junior  followed  the  court, 
and  became  principal  secretary  to  Queen  Catherine,  the  con- 
sort of  King  Charles  II.  In  1670  he  married  Mary,  the 
younger  daughter  of  Sir  John  Arundell,  of  Lanherne ;  the 
elder  daughter,  Frances,  married  Sir  John  Giffard,  of  Borstall, 
CO.  Lincoln,  Bart.,  and  died  in  London  without  issue  on  28th 
February,  1752.* 

*  See  Appendix  No.  IV. 


FAMILIES    IN    WILTSHIRE.  87 

In  the  notes  of  Henry,  the  eighth  Lord  Arundell,  I  read, 
"The  anniversary  of  Henry  Lord  Arundell,  my  father,  is 
12th  September,  1756  "  (he  died  in  the  thirty-eighth  year  of 
his  age)  ;  "  and  of  Mary  Lady  Arundell,  my  mother,  22nd 
March,  1769." 

Henry,  the  eighth  Lord  Arundell,  and  his  brother  Thomas, 
who  died  31st  July,  1781,  were  the  happy  issue  of  the  united 
houses  of  Wardour  and  Lanherne.  Henry  entered  St. 
Omer's  College,  by  the  name  of  BeUing,  on  16th  August, 
1753,  and  finally  left  it,  on  1st  May,  1758.  F.  Charles 
Booth,  S.J.,  accompanied  him  in  his  continental  tour.  This 
accomplished  gentleman,  on  31st  May,  1763,  was  united  in 
holy  wedlock  to  Mary  Christina,  only  daughter  and  heiress  of 
Benedict  Conquest,  of  Houghton  Conquest,  co.  Bedford,  and 
of  Irnham,  co.  Lincoln,  Esq.,  by  his  wife,  Mary,  daughter  of 
Thomas  Markham,  of  Otterton,  Notts,  Esq.*  In  1771,  his 
lordship  commenced  the  present  stately  mansion,  upon  a 
gentle  eminence,t  about  a  mile  from  the  old  castle,  which 

*  On  the  occasion  of  his  lordship's  marriage  the  following  ode  was 
addressed  to  him  by  the  Rhetoricians  of  Bruges : — 

"  O  Diva,  Pindi  quae  regis  ardua, 
Descende,  nam  quae  te  mora  longius 
Retardet  haerentem  ?  &  juhenti 
Carmen  Arundbho  canoris 

"  Deprome  nervis.     Nunc  resonos  Hymen 
Tentare  cantus,  nunc  pede  libero 
Pulsare  tellurem,  &  secundo 
Festa  monet  celebrare  plausu, 

"  Jam  nuptiali  luce  micant  lares, 
Jam  pompa  laeto  ducitur  ordine, 
Conquesta  jam  victrix,  marito 
Digna  suo  nova  sponso  prodit. 

"  Turba  en !  procorum  csetera  patrias 
Sedes  requirunt,  nt  Jovis  armiger 
Cristasque,  nomenque,  &  superbos 
Explicuit  titulos  honorum. 

"  Mirata  lenes  eloquii  sales, 
Cultusque  pulchri  corporis  &  decus, 
Captiva  deduci  triumphat 

Nympha  nova  decorata  palma. 

"  Sic  ambo  longum  vivite,  mutuis 
Sincera  juncti  pectora  amoribus, 
Utroque  sic  digna  Parente 
Prme  domum  Superi  secundent." 

t  It  was  a  large  cornfield.  I  remember  to  have  heard  old  Noah 
Lever,  who  died  at  Wardour,  18th  August,  1845,  aged  eighty-five,  and 
had  always  lived  there,  relate  that  he  was  actually  driving  the  plough 
over  the  site  of  the  present  mansion,  when  he  was  ordered  to  stop,  as 
they  were  going  to  dig  trenches  in  that  direction. 


88  ACCOUNT    OV    CATHOLIC 

began  to  be  partially  inhabited^  on  6th  October,  1775,  and 
into  which  the  family  was  enabled  to  settle  in  the  course  of 
the  ensuing  twelvemonth.  It  is,  indeed,  a  splendid  pile,  and 
a  convenient  family  dwelling;  and  as  for  the  chapel,  I  can 
say  from  experience,  that  I  have  visited  none  that  inspired 
such  devotional  feeling.  This  princely  nobleman  possessed 
refined  taste  and  magnificent  ideas,  as  his  collection  of 
paintings  and  rarities  abundantly  proves ;  his  hospitality  like- 
wise was  unbounded.  Unfortunately,  his  expenses  far  exceeded 
his  income,  and  in  his  latter  years  he  experienced  the  humi- 
liating vicissitudes  of  fortune.  After  a  short  illness,  he 
departed  this  life  at  Wardour,  4th  December,  1808,  set. 
sixty-eight,  and  was  buried  in  the  family-vault  of  the  noble 
chapel  which  he  dedicated  to  God.  His  honoured  widow 
retired  in  the  summer  of  1810  to  Irnham,  where  she  closed 
her  saintly  life,  on  Sunday,  20th  June,  1813,  set.  seventy. 
As  the  estates  were  devised  in  fee  to  her  by  her  late  lord,  she 
settled  on  the  Arundell  family  the  Wardour  property ;  while 
to  her  surviving  daughter,  Eleanor,  Lady  Clifford,  she 
assigned  her  property  in  Lincolnshire  and  Cornwall. 

By  default  of  issue  male,  the  title  of  ninth  Lord  Arundell 
descended  to  the  late  lord's  cousin,  James  Everard  Arundell, 
of  Ashcombe,  Esq.,  who  had  married,  on  3rd  February, 
1785,  his  cousin,  Mary  Christina,  eldest  daughter  and 
coheir  of  the  above-mentioned  eighth  lord ;  but  who  had 
died,  on  14th  February,  1805,  set.  forty,  leaving  a  numerous 
offspring.  He  was  the  eldest  son  of  the  Honourable  James 
Everard  Arundell,  by  his  wife  Ann,  the  only  child  of  John 
Wyndham,  of  Ashcombe,  Wilts,  Esq.,  by  his  wife  Ann 
(Barber).*  In  1814  his  lordship  disposed  of  Ashcombe 
(where  he  had  kept  a  French  priest)  and  several  other 
estates,  for  the  laudable  purpose  of  discharging  the  heavy 
incumbrances  which  attached  to  the  Wardour  property. 
Perhaps,  had  he  not  contracted  a  second  marriage,  and  had 
thus  to  make  provision  for  another  family,  his  laudable  design 
would  have  been  better  accomplished.  He  died,  14th  July, 
1817,  set.  fifty-four.  His  widow  survived  tiU  November, 
1853,  set.  seventy-three. 

I  now  come  to  the  tenth  lord,  James  Everard,  eldest  son 
of  the  ninth  Lord.  He  was  bom  in  London,  3rd  November, 
1785,  and  received  his  early  education  at  Stony  hurst,  which 
he  completed  under  an  able  tutor,  I'Abbe  Gossier,  as  I  well 
remember.     Whilst  captain  in  the  Buckinghamshire  Militia, 

*  This  heiress  of  Robert  Barber,  of  Ashcombe,  Esq.,  died  20th  June, 
1748,  aged  61. 


FAMILIES    IN    WILTSHIBK.  89 

he  formed  an  acquaintance  with  Lady  Mary  Granville,  only 
daughter  of  George,  first  marquis  of  Buckingham,  which 
ended  in  a  marriage,  on  26th  February,  1811,  of  which  there 
was  no  issue.  They  were,  indeed,  an  example  of  conjugal  life. 
This  amiable  and  accomplished  gentleman  had  lost  his  noble 
father-in-law  full  four  years  before  the  death  of  his  own 
father,  so  that  in  coming  to  take  possession  of  the  Wardour 
property,  he  had  but  a  gloomy  prospect  before  him ;  and  it 
is  only  wonderfdl  that  he  made  such  improvements  in  the 
house,  grounds,  farm-houses,  and  cottages.  In  a  letter  to 
me,  preparatory  to  a  journey  to  London,  he  thus  movingly 
expressed  himself.  "  To-morrow  I  set  off  for  London  with  a 
heavy  heart.  It  has  no  longer  amusements  and  charms  for 
me ;  the  trials  I  have  undergone,  no  doubt  for  wise  purposes, 
have  subdued  my  spirits.  My  ambition  and  my  only  wish 
is,  if  it  is  the  will  of  Providence,  that  I  may  have  a  compe- 
tence to  enable  me  to  live  at  Wardour,  and  protect  the 
Catholic  religion.  God  only  knows  whether  I  am  worthy  of 
this  honour,  and  His  holy  will  be  done  in  all  things." 

A  few  years  later  he  went  abroad.  Proceeding  to  Rome, 
and  whilst  in  perfect  health,  he  was  visiting  the  church  of 
the  Gesu  there,  he  pointed  out  to  his  lady,  the  week  before 
his  death,  a  spot  in  front  of  the  chapel  of  the  Sacred  Heart, 
as  that  which  he  should  prefer  to  all  others  for  his  inter- 
ment. Almighty  God  granted  him  this  desire  of  his  heart, 
and  his  widow  placed  over  his  grave  the  following  epitaph  : — 

P 

A     X      a 
Everardo 
Decimo  Baroni  Arundell  de  Warder 
Sac.  Rom.  Imp.  Comiti 
Fide  Pietate  Exemplo 
De  Religions  bene  merito 
Coll.  Saxo-Sylv.  in  Anglia  dim  Alumno 
Societ.  Jesu  studiosslssimo 
Maria  Grenville  ex  March,  de  Buckingham 
Marito  optimo  eheu  superstes 
Cum  lachrymis  posuit 
Obiit  die  xxi.  Junii 

Recurrente  Festo 

Divi  Aloysii  Patroni  sibi  dilecti 

An.  Sal.  M.D.cccxxxiiii. 

Orate  pro  anima  illius. 

R.  I.  p. 

Her  ladyship  has  placed  at  the  west  end  of  the  noble  chapel 
at  Wardour,  a  beautiful  bust  of  her  lamented  lord,  by  Berto- 


90  ACCOUNT    OF    CATHOLIC 

lini,  of  Florence,  a   pupil   of   Canova,   with  the  following 
inscription : — 

P 

A    X    a, 

Pray  for  the  soul  of 

Everard,  tenth  Baron  Arundell,  of  Warder, 

Who  died  at  Rome  in  the  49th  year  of  his  age. 

On  the  Festival  of  his  Patron  St.  Aloysius, 

June  21st,  A.D.  1834. 

Devotedly  attached  to 

The  Catholic  and  Apostolic  Faith, 

He  used  his  utmost  influence 

To  promote  its  interests 

In  his  native  land. 

And  to  advance  the  prosperity  of 

The  Society  of  Jesus, 

To  which  he  owed,  with  his  education. 

His  deep  conviction  of 

The  Truths  of  Religion, 

And  his  love  of  Literature  and  of  the  Arts. 

All  who  knew  him 

Deplored  his  premature  loss. 

But  none  more  than  the  poor. 

To  whose  wants  he  administered, 

Whose  sufferings  he  laboured  to  alleviate 

And  whose  cause 

He  energetically  advocated 

During  an  eventful  and  distressing  crisis. 

This  cenotaph 

Is  erected  to  the  Memory  of 

A  beloved  and  honoured  Husband 

His  disconsolate  Widow. 

The  souls  of  the  just  are  in  the  hand  of  God,  and  the  torment  of 
death  shall  not  touch  them.  In  the  sight  of  the  unwise  they  seemed 
to  die ;  but  they  are  in  peace. — Wisd.  c.  iii. 

This  dowager  Lady  Arundell  survived  until  1st  June, 
1845,  set.  fifty-eight,  when  I  trust  she  joined  her  saintly 
husband  in  a  happier  world.  She  was  buried  at  Ratcliffe 
collegiate  church,  near  Loughborough,  with  this  epitaph : — 

"  Orate  pro  anima  Marise 
Annse,  Georgii  Marchionis 
Buckinghamiensis  Filiae,  Jacobi 
Everardi  Baronis  Arundell 
de  Warder  Viduse,  quse  religiosa 
pietate,  et  prsesertim  charitate  erga 
pauperes,  conspicua  fuit.    Die  1  Junii, 
A.D.  1846,  setatis  suse  68, 
in  sancta  pace  quievit." 

The  death  of  this  dear  lord  made  way  to  the  title  and 
estate  for  his  only  brother,  the  Honourable  Henry  Benedict, 
born  at  Irnham,  13th  November,  1804,  who  promises   to 


FAMILIES    IN    WILTSHIRE.  91 

equal  the  merits  of  his  illustrious  predecessors,  and  to  perpe- 
tuate their  virtues  in  his  son  and  presumptive  heir,  John 
Francis,  bom  28th  December,  1831. 

Before  I  conclude  my  notice  of  the  Arundells,  I  may  refer 
to  Ann,  daughter  of  the  first  lord,  whom  I  cursorily  mentioned 
in  p.  8.  She  was  reputed  one  of  the  most  accomplished  and 
beautiful  women  of  her  time  ;  and  accepted  for  her  husband, 
Cecil  Calvert,  the  second  Lord  Baltimore.*  This  nobleman, 
in  June,  1632,  had  granted  to  him,  by  King  Charles  I.,  the 
proprietorship  of  the  province  of  Maryland,t  and  he  was  also 
created  Lord  Glastonbury.  The  Barton,  called  Hook  Farm, 
near  Wardour,  was  her  ladyship's  marriage-portion  from  her 
father.  But  ^ God  thought  fit  to  dissolve  their  conjugal 
union  by  her  premature  death,  on  23rd  July,  in  the  year 
1649,  set.  thirty-four.  To  her  memory  he  erected  "  a  monu- 
ment of  his  love  "  in  Tisbury  church,  and  on  the  borders  of 
her  tomb  is  written : — 

"  Ann  Arundell,  y°  most  beautiful  and  best  wife  of  Cecil  Calvert, 
baron  of  Baltimore,  proprietor  of  Maryland,  and  lord  of  Glastonbury, 
most  beloved  daughter  of  Thomas  Arundell,  first  baron  of  Wardour, 
and  count  of  the  sacred  Roman  empire." 

The  bereaved  lord,  having  no  issue  by  her,  restored  at  his 
death  Hook  Farm  to  the  family,  and  it  still  constitutes  part  of 
the  Wardour  property. 

In  Mudie's  "English  Medals"  may  be  seen  the  descrip- 
tion of  one  of  this  couple.  On  the  obverse  is  the  bust  of  his 
lordship,  with  this  legend  (plate  34,  No.  1)  : — 

"  DMS  .  C^CILIVS  .  BARO  .  DE  .  BALTEMORE 

ABSOLV  .  DMS  .  TERR.G  .  MARI^  .  ET  .  AVAtONI^." 

On  the  reverse  is  his  lady, — 

"  DNA  .  ANNA  .  ARVNDBLLA  .  PVLCHERRIMA 
ET  .  OPTIMA  .  CONIVX  .  OiECILII  .  PR^DIOTI." 

Her  ladyship's  portrait,  by  Vandyke,  may  be  seen  in  the 
dining-room  of  Wardour. 

*  His  father.  Sir  George  Calvert,  an  experienced  statesman,  and  M.P. 
for  the  University  of  Oxford,  was  created  Lord  Baltimore,  co.  Longford, 
Ireland,  16th  February,  1624.  He  was  a  convert.  Dying  in  London, 
16th  April,  1632,  he  was  buried  in  St.  Dunstan's,  Fleet  Street. 

t  ICing  Charles  I.,  in  June,  1632,  made  him  a  grant  of  the  pro- 
prietorship of  Maryland,  and  he  took  possession  of  it  early  in  1634,  m 
company  of  F.  Andrew  White  and  four  other  Jesuits,  with  200  Catholic 
settlers.  Mass  was  first  celebrated  in  St.  Clement's,  now  called  Heron  s 
Island,  in  the  Patuxent  river,  on  25th  March,  1634.  About  the  time 
of  the  Restoration  his  lordship  died,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  excellent 


92 


ACCOUNT   OF    CATHOLIC 


Next  to  the  Aruiidells,  in  point  of  influence  in  Wilts, 
though  much  earlier  residents  in  the  county-j  were  the 
Stourtons.  Perhaps  the  history  of  the  family  subsequent  to 
the  conquest,  until  the  death  of  Henry  V.,  may  be  tinged 
and  obscured  by  fancy ;  but  it  is  well  known  that  Sir  John 
Stourton,  Knight,  was  a  wise  and  religious  statesman ;  that 
he  was  appointed  by  King  Henry  VI.,  in  1428,  to  the 
government  of  Ireland  for  two  years ;  in  1446  was  made 
treasurer  of  the  household;  and  on  13th  May,  1447,  was 
elevated  to  the  peerage  by  the  style  and  title  of  Baron 
Stourton,  of  Stourton,  in  the  county  of  Wilts.  From  a 
deed  of  John  Stafibrd,  bishop  of  Bath  and  Wells,  and  dated 
London,  4th  June,  1443,  this  John  Stourton  had  recently 
rebuilt  the  nave  and  chancel  of  the  Black  Canons  of  Stavor- 
dale  priory  (St.  James's),  near  Wincanton.  His  lordship,  by 
his  lady,  Margery,  daughter  of  Sir  John  Wadham,  Knight, 
left  at  his  death,  which  occurred  25th  November,  1462, 
a  son,  William.  This  second  peer  increased  his  property  by 
his  union  with  Margaret,  the  elder  daughter  of  Sir  John 
Chidiock,  Kniglit.*  The  younger,  Catherine,  married  Sir 
John  Arundell,  of  Lanherne,  Knight.  By  this  union  he  had 
three  sons,  John,  William,  and  Edward,  who  successively 
attained  the  peerage.  This  second  baron  died  on  18th 
February,  1478,  set.  forty-six. 

The  third  baron,  John,  married  Catherine  Berkeley ;  but 
left  no  issue  male  at  his  death,  8th  October,  1484,  set.  forty- 
six.    His  daughter  Ann,  however,  survived  until  15tli  August, 

son,  Charles  Calvert,  third  Lord  Baltimore,  who  lived  to  see  himself 
deprived  of  his  Mai'yland  property  by  King  William  III.  This  con- 
fessor of  the  faith  was  buried  at  St.  Pancras,  London,  26th  February, 
1720.  His  only  son,  Benedict  Leonard  Calvert,  had  apostatized  on 
3rd  January,  1714-6,  to  recover  this  family  estate,  and  succeeded. 
"Quid  prodest  homini?"  (Matt.  xxv.  26.)  This  fourth  lord  married 
Charlotte,  daughter  of  Edward,  earl  of  Lichfield,  who  long  survived 
her  husband.  The  fifth  and  last  lord,  of  disreputable  fame,  died  in  Italy 
late  in  1771.  We  read  in  the  Gent.  Mag.  of  January,  1772,  that  his 
remains  were  brought  over  for  interment  in  the  family  vault  at  Epsom. 
They  lay  in  state  in  London, 24th  January ;  but  "  his  lordship  had  injured 
his  character  in  his  life  by  seduction ;  so  that  the  populace  paid  no 
regard  to  his  memory  when  dead  ;  but  they  plundered  the  room  where 
his  body  had  lain  in  state,  the  moment  it  was  removed"  (p.  44).  For  his 
disgraceful  conduct,  see  Gent.  Mag.  of  1768,  pp.  42,  92, 140,  180. 

*  I  have  seen  an  original  lease  by  Sir  John  Chidiock,  dated  20th 
April,  1427,  by  which  he  grants  to  John  Curteys  and  Agnes  his  wife, 
and  their  son  John,  an  estate  in  Westbury,  Wilts,  for  their  several  lives, 
under  the  yearly  rent  of  13«.  id.  On  24th  September,  1612,  Sir  John 
Arundell,  Kut.,  leased  the  said  property  to  Thomas  Knight  for  a  terra 
of  fifty-five  years ;  but  under  the  yearly  rent  of  £4.  16s. 


FAMILIES    IN    WILTSHIRE.  93 

1533,  and  was  buried  at  Fulham*    Weever,  in  his  "Ancient 
Funeral  Monuments,"  gives  her  epitaph,  p.  526. 

"  Ilic  jacet  Anna  Sturton,  filia  Johannis 
Sturton  Domini  de  Sturton  et  Domini 
Katherine  uxoris  ejus,  Q,ue  quidem 
Anna  obiit  in  Assumptione  beate  Marie 
Virginia  Ann.  Dom.  1533." 

Ihe  fourth  baron,  William,  succeeded  his  brother  in  1478, 
and  after  holding  the  estates  and  title  for  nearly  forty-five 
years  died  on  17th  February,  1523. 

I  have  seen  the  seal  and  sign  manual  of  this  noble  lord  f 
attached  to  a  deed,  dated  from  Stourton,  20th  September, 
sixteenth  of  King  Henry  VII.  (1500),  by  which  he  assigns 
the  advowson,*  nomination,  and  free  disposition  of  the  parish 
church  "de  Houghton  in  Comitatu  Dorset,"  to  John 
Wrotesley,  Thomas  Thornhill,  Robert  Dyrdoo,  and  that 
ominous  name,  William  Hartgylle. 

The  third  brother,  Edward,  must  have  been  an  old  man  to 
take  his  seat  as  the  fifth  Baron  Stourton ;  yet  he  filled  it  for 
twelve  years,  dying,  on  18th  December,  1535.  By  his  wife, 
Agnes  Fauntleroy,  he  left  a  son  and  heir,  William.  The 
monument  of  this  Lady  Agnes  may  be  seen  on  the  south 
side  of  the  chancel  of  Stourton  Candle  church.  The  sixth 
Lord,  William,  died  in  1548,  set.  forty-three.  By  his  lady, 
Elizabeth,  the  daughter  of  Edmund  Dudley,  Esq.,  and  sister  to 
John,  Duke  of  Northumberland,  he  left  a  numerous  progeny. 

Over  his  eldest  son,  Charles,  the  seventh  Lord  Stourton, 
I  could  wish  to  draw  a  veil.  He  certainly  showed  a 
Catholic  spirit  in  voting  against  the  statute  for  the  burning 
and  destroying  of  the  copies  of  the  old  Liturgy  in  1549 ; 
and  again  in  opposing  the  tyrannical  Act  of  1551,  which 
severely  punished  absence  from  the  service  of  the  amended 
Common  Prayer.  Neglecting,  however,  the  duty  of  self- 
government,  and  unmindful  of  the  text,  "  If  thou  give  thy 
soul  her  desires,  she  will  make  thee  a  joy  to  thine  enemies  " 
(Eccles.  xviii.  31),  he  brought  disgrace  upon  himself,  and 
nearly  entailed  ruin  on  his  posterity.  From  the  Fourth 
Report  of  the  Public  Records,  p.  256,  I  collect  that  his 

*  Lysons,  in  his  "  Environs  of  London,"  vol.  ii.  p.  361,  informs  us  that 
in  1449  John  Shirbourn  and  others  conveyed  a  house  and  garden  at 
Fulham,  then  valued  at  3s.  4rf.  per  annum,  to  John  Lord  Stourton,  and 
that  it  was  for  several  generations  the  property  and  residence  of  his 
descendants. 

t  I  thinli  he  married  Margaret,  daughter  of  Sir  John  Chidiock. 
Sir  James  Chudleigh  married  his  daughter  Margaret.  See  Sir  William 
Pole's  "  Devon,"  p.  265.   The  Stourton  arms  are  on  the  font  at  Ashton. 


94  ACCOUNT    OF    CATHOLIC 

lordsMp  had  long  harboured  a  rancorous  feeling  in  his  heart 
against  WUliam  Hartgyll,  of  Kylmington,  co.  Somerset, 
gentleman,  and  his  son  and  heir,  John  Hartgyll ;  that  his 
lordship,  on  Monday,  11th  January,  1557,  did  proceed,  with 
his  servants  and  others  to  the  number  of  forty,  to  their 
house,  and  there  arrested  them,  under  pretence  of  their 
having  committed  a  felony ;  that  they  were  conveyed  to  his 
house  at  Bonham,  with  their  hands  tied  behind  them,  and 
kept  there  in  prison  the  whole  of  Tuesday;  when  about 
eleven  o'clock  that  night  he  had  them  removed  to  a  certain 
close  called  "the  Worth,"  near  the  garden  of  his  capital 
mansion  of  Stourton,  in  WUts,  where  they  were  cruelly 
murdered  in  his  presence;  that  their  bodies  were  then 
brought  into  a  room  of  his  lordship's  mansion,  which  was 
over  the  dungeon ;  that  the  bodies  were  thrown  thence  into 
the  dungeon,  and  therein  were  deeply  buried.  The  indict- 
ment against  his  lordship  was  found  at  Salisbury,  on  19th 
February;  his  trial,  before  Henry,  earl  of  Arundel,  the 
Lord  Steward,  and  his  peers,  followed  on  26th  February ; 
when,  being  pronounced  guilty,  and  having  acknowledged 
himself  to  be  so,  judgment  was  passed  that  he  be  hanged,  but 
no  place  of  execution  was  named.  Heylyn,  in  his  History 
of  Queen  Mary,  conjectures  that  his  lordship  flattered' him- 
self with  the  hope  that  "his  zeal  to  the  Popish  religion 
would  make  it  no  hard  matter  to  procure  the  queen's 
pardon ;  but  the  murder  was  too  foul  to  be  capable  of  such 
favour."  (P.  74.)  On  the  6th  of  March  he  was  executed  in  the 
market-place  of  Salisbury,  and  was  buried  under  a  plain  altar- 
tomb  in  the  cathedral  of  that  city.  Heylyn  thus  concludes  : 
"  With  this  fact  the  family  might  have  expired,  if  the  queen 
(Mary),  having  satisfied  justice  by  his  execution,  had  not 
consiilted  with  her  mercy  for  the  restoring  of  his  next  heir, 
both  in  blood  and  honour."  But  Mr.  Hatsell,  a  graver 
authority,  in  volume  fourth  of  his  "Precedents,"  p.  4, 
affirms,  that,  from  the  message  of  the  Lords  entered  in  the 
Commons'  Journal  of  12th  March,  1575,  the  Bill  for  resti- 
tution in  blood  to  John,  Lord  Stourton,  had  been  signed 
by  Queen  Elizabeth. 

This  unfortunate  baron,  by  his  wife  Ann,  daughter  of 
Edward,  earl  of  Derby  (who  afterwards  became  the  wife  of 
Sir  John  Arundell,  of  Lanherne,  Knight),  left  three  sons  : 
first,  John;  second,  Edward;  and,  third,  Charles.  The  two 
first  successively  succeeded  to  the  restored  peerage.  Also 
three  daughters :  first,  Mary,  married  to  that  illustrious 
confessor.  Sir  Francis  Tregian,  mentioned  in  page  2  and  9, 


FAMILIES    IN    WILTSHIRE.  95 

and  of  whom  more  in  the  Appendix ;  second,  Ann,  wife  of 
Edward  Rogers ;  and,  third,  Catherine,  married  to  Richard 
Shireburn,  of  Stonyhurst,  Esq. 

John,  the  eighth  Lord  Stourton,  married  Frances,  daughter 
of  Lord  Cobham ;  but  had  no  issue.  Camden  tells  us,  that  he 
was  one  of  the  commissioners  to  try  Mary,  Queen  of  Scots. 
Though  a  Catholic  in  mind,  yet  he  outwardly  conformed  to 
the  state  religion  (More's  Hist.  S.  J.,  p.  171).  Still  he 
meditated  to  die  a  Catholic,  though  he  wanted  the  moral 
courage  to  live  one.  With  this  view,  he  retained  two  priests 
in  his  establisment,  one  of  whom  was  always  to  be  at  hand 
to  administer  the  helps  of  religion,  in  case  his  lordship  should 
be  surprised  by  illness.  By  a  secret  judgment  of  Heaven, 
he  was  attached  by  sudden  danger  on  13th  October,  1588, 
in  the  absence  of  both  chaplains,  and  when  it  was  impossible 
to  procure  another  priest.  In  this  emergency,  he  had  barely 
time  to  acknowledge  his  guilty  dissimulation  and  presump- 
tion, with  every  appearance  of  unfeigned  repentance,  in  the 
presence  of  his  wife  and  house-steward.  The  tradition  of 
his  appearance  after  death  to  F.  Cornelius  at  the  altar  was 
in  every  one's  mouth,  and  was  firmly  believed  by  the 
Stourton  and  Arundell  families,  when  F.  More  published  his 
History  in  1660,  "  Res  omnium  sermone  celebrata  est,  atque 
in  hunc  usque  diem  ab  utriusque  familiae  et  Stourtoniorum 
et  Arundeliorum  hseredibus  certissimfe  traditur."  It  is 
related  by  Miss  Dorothy  Arundell,  who  was  present,  and 
who  gives  a  particular  account  of  the  vision  in  her  MS.  Life 
of  F.  Cornelius.  That  father's  friend,  the  Rev.  F.  William 
Weston,  in  his  Latin  Auto-Biography,  p.  46,  states  that  the 
apparition  took  place  in  London,  in  the  house  of  Sir  John 
Arundell.  And  Bishop  Challoner,  in  his  Memoirs  of  the 
Missionary  Priests,  alludes  to  it. — (Article  Cornelius.) 

Edward,  the  ninth  Lord  Stourton,  was  younger  brother  to 
the  preceding  peer,  and  had  married  Frances  Tresham.  For 
non-attendance  in  the  House  of  Lords  on  the  5th  day  of 
November,  1605,  he  was  arbitrarily  fined  and  committed 
to  the  Tower  of  London ;  but  in  the  autumn  of  the  following 
year  he  was  removed  to  the  Fleet  Prison,  which  measure,  as 
I  find  by  a  letter  of  that  period,  was  considered  as  prepara- 
tory to  his  final  enlargement.  Perhaps  this  severity  of 
punishment  may  have  terrified  him  into  outward  conformity 
to  the  religion  established  by  law ;  for  in  the  Latin  protesta- 
tion of  the  Catholic  peers  against  the  assumption  of  ordinary 
jurisdiction,  claimed  by  Dr.  Richard  Smith,  V.A.  in  England, 
and  Bishop  of  Chalcedon,  his  name  does  not  appear.     The 


96  ACCOUNT    OF    CATHOLIC 

names  of  the  Catholic  peers  will  be  interesting  to  the  reader, 
who  reflects  that  this  document  is  signed  at  the  commence- 
ment of  Charles  I.'s  reign ;  viz. — 

John  Talbot,  earl  of  Shrewsbury. 

Henry  Somerset,  earl  of  Worcester. 

Thomas  Darcy,  Earl  Rivers. 

James  Touchet,  earl  of  Castlehaven,  Baron  Audley. 

William   Howard,  Lord  Naworth,  son  of  the  duke  of 

Norfolk. 
Thomas  Somerset,  Viscount  Cashell. 
Edward  Somerset,  Baron  Herbert. 
Henry  Nevill,  Baron  Abergavenny. 
Thomas  Windsor,  Baron  Bradenham. 
William  Petre,  baron  of  Writtle. 
Thomas  Brudenel,  baron  of  Stanton. 
George  Calvert,  Baron  Baltimore. 

The  above  subscribed  the  Protestation;  the  five  following 
agreed  to  the  Protestation  without  signing  it : — 

Richard  Burke,  Earl  St.  Alban's. 

Thomas  Savage,  Viscount  Rocksavage. 

Ulysses  Burke,  Baron  Tunbridge. 

Henry  Parker,  Baron  Morley  and  Monteagle. 

Edward  Vaux,  Baron  Harrowden. 

The  two  following  admit  "praxim  fori  externi  episcopi 
impossibilem  esse."  This  applies  principally  to  the  probate 
of  wills  in  his  court : — 

{John  Paulett,  marquis  of  Winchester, 
Thomas  Arundell,  baron  of  Wardour. 

William  Pure,  baron  of  Whitton,  was  absent. 
Francis  Brown,  Viscount  Montague. 
Henry  Constable,  Viscount  Dunbar. 
Henry  Stafford,  Baron  Stafford,  )  MiTinrs 

Christopher  Roper,  Baron  Teynham,  j 

It  was  said  that  Viscount  Dunbar  favoured  the  bishop's 
pretensions. 

"Viscount  Fairfax's  son,  who  had  become  a  Catholic, 
subscribed,  with  above  300  Catholic  knights,  esquires,  and 
gentry ;  but  without  the  name  of  a  single  priest."  To  this 
document  is  added : — "  It  is  not  ascertained  whether  this 
Edward,  Lord  Stourton,  be  a  Catholic  or  not ;  at  least,  it  is 
not  publicly  known.  But  his  eldest  son,  who  must  soon 
succeed  him  (for  he  is  nearly  eighty  years  of  age),  has 
subscribed  to  this  Protestation." 

The  noble  lord  died,  full  of  days,  at  Clerkenwell,  London, 


FAMILIDS    IN    WILTSHIRE.  97 

on  7th  May,  1633.  William,  his  eldest  son,  succeeded  as 
tenth  Lord  Stourton.  He  had  been  created  Knight  of  the 
Bath  in  1616.  On  9th  February,  1625-6,  he  foolishly 
fought  a  duel  in  a  chamber  with  Lord  Henry  Paulett,  fourth 
son  of  William,  fourth  marquis  of  Winchester.  In  a  letter 
written  on  the  following  day  by  Sir  Nathaniel  Bacon 
("  Cornwallis'  Correspondence,"  p.  142),  I  find  that  Lord 
Henry  was  run  through  the  body,  that  Stourton  was  hurt  in 
three  places,  and  was  then  under  arrest. 

During  the  civil  wars,  as  we  collect  from  Ludlow's  "  Me- 
moirs," vol.  i.  p.  122,  his  lordship's  mansion  of  Stourton  was 
taken  by  Edmund  Ludlow.  His  lordship  married  Prances, 
daughter  of  Sir  Edward  Moor,  of  Odyham,  Hants,  Knight, 
she  died  5th  January,  1662,  and  was  buried  at  Dorking, 
Surrey.  Her  noble  husband  survived  her  ten  years,  dying 
25th  April,  1672,  at  a  very  advanced  age. 

William,  grandson  of  William,  the  tenth  Ijord  Stourton, 
took  his  seat  in  the  Upper  House  about  a  month  before  the 
passing  of  the  Test  Act.  This  iniquitous  Bill  was  passed  on 
29th  March,  1673.  His  marriage-settlement  with  Elizabeth, 
daughter  of  Sir  John  Preston,  of  Furuess,  Baronet  (by  his 
wife,  Ehzabeth  Holland,  of  Denton,  co.  Lancashire),  by  whom 
he  had  a  numerous  family,  bears  date  20th  August,  1664. 
His  lordsliip  died  on  8th  August,  1685.  Her  ladyship 
followed  hira  to  the  grave  three  years  later.* 

Edward  was  the  twelfth  Baron  Stourton.  He  was  baptized 
24th  June,  1665.  By  him  were  sold  most  of  his  estates  in 
Wilts  and  Dorset.  In  1703,  Dr.  Wake,  dean  of  Exeter, 
purchased  Ower  Moigne  and  Gal  ton.  About  the  same  time 
Little  Marston  and  Frome  Selwood  were  disposed  of  to 
Sir  Edward  Seymour,  Baronet.  In  1704,  Stourton,  in  Wilts, 
and  Stourton  Candle,  in  Dorset,  were  conveyed  to  Sir 
Thomas  Meers,  Knight,  as  trustee  for  Henry  Hoare,  Esq., 
goldsmith  and  banker  in  London,  the  third  son  of  Sir  Richard 
Hoare,  Knight.  In  justice,  however,  to  his  lordship's 
memorji-,  it  must  be  declared  that  he  had  succeeded  but 
nominally  to  the  family  property;  for  the  interest  of  the 
incumbrances  on  it  nearly  amounted  to  its  yearly  rental. 
By  his   lady,  Elizabeth,   daughter  of  Robert  Buckingham, 

*  Her  brother  Thomas,  on  the  death  of  the  elder  brother,  Sir  John 
Preston,  succeeded  to  the  estates  and  titles,  and  married  twice.  He  was 
clever,  but  eccentric.  Losing  his  only  son,  Francis,  on  18th  December, 
1672,  and  his  second  wife  Mary,  (Molyneux),  on  6th  June  following,  he 
detennined  on  becoming  a  Jesuit,  but  would  never  take  orders.  He 
died  a  lay-brother,  S.J.,  27th  May,  1709,  eet.  sixty-six.  I  have  seen  an 
original  letter  from  his  superior,  stating,  "  Per  intervalla  non  satis  sui 
compos  est." 

H 


98  AccouN'T  or  catholic 

Esq.,  he  left  no  issue.  Retiring  to  France,  he  died  there  in 
September,  1720,  set.  fifty-five. 

Thomas,  the  younger  brother  of  the  preceding  Lord,  was 
baptized  14th  June,  1667.  By  his  wife  Elizabeth,  daughter  of 
John  Stourton,  of  Ower  Moigne,  Esq.,  he  left  no  issue.  He 
was  buried  at  Stourton,  1st  April,  1744,  set.  seventy-seven. 
His  widow  survived  him  five  years,  and  was  buried  near  him, 
19th  June,  1749. 

The  fourteenth  peer  was  Charles,  nephew  to  the  two  last 
barons,  being  eldest  son  of  Charles,  their  brother,  who  had 
married,  in  November,  1699,  Catherine,  daughter  of  Richard 
Frampton,  of  Moreton  and  Biddlecombe,  Esq.  This  young 
gentleman  had  married  Catherine,*  the  rehct  of  Robert, 
the  seventh  Lord  Petre  (the  baron  in  the  Rape  of  the 
Lock),  who  had  been  prematurely  carried  off,  31st  March, 
1713,  by  small-pox.  This  union,  which  took  place  in  1733, 
brought  an  accession  of  fortune  to  the  Stourton  family ;  but 
her  ladyship  survived  this  second  husband  also,  who  died, 
s.  p.,  11th  March,  1744,  at  East  Cheam  Manor-House, 
Surrey.  Against  the  west  wall  of  St.  Dunstan's  church 
there,  she  raised  a  monument  to  his  memory. 

The  fifteenth  peer  was  William,  brother  to  the  preceding, 
who  had  died  without  issue.  He  was  born  17th  August, 
1704,  and  was  fortunate  in  his  alliance,  23nd  October,  1749, 
with  Winefrid,  daughter  of  the  Honourable  Philip  Howard, 
of  Buckenham,  Norfolk,  the  brother  of  Edward,  ninth 
duke  of  Norfolk.  Her  ladyship  died  15th  July,  1753,  set. 
twenty-six,t  and  was  buried  at  Stourton.  Her  noble  lord 
lived  a  retired  life  at  Witham,  Essex,  where  he  made  a  pious 
end,  3rd  October,  and  was  buried  there  on  the  9th  of  the 
same  month,  1781. 

Charles  Philip,  the  only  son  of  the  late  lord,  succeeded  to 
his  honours  and  titles.  His  marriage  with  Mary,  second 
daughter  and  co-heiress  of  Marmaduke,  Lord  Langdale, 
proved,  indeed,  a  blessing  to  him,  and  to  their  progeny.  In 
1785,  his  lordship  aliened  his  last  remaining  property  in 
Wilts,  the  manor  or  tithing  of  Bonham,  to  Henry  Hoare,  of 
Stourhead,  Esq.;  but  the  Catholic  chapel  and  priest's  resi- 

*  Tliis  only  child  of  Bartholomew — others  call  him  Thomas — Wal- 
mesley,  of  Dunkenhalgh,  co.  Lancashire,  Esq.,  was  a  great  heiress  on  the 
death  of  her  father  in  1701.  Her  posthumous  son,  Robert  James,  eighth 
Lord  Petre,  and  his  family  came  in  for  a  large  share  of  her  possessions. 
This  lady,  of  most  charitable  memory,  died  31st  January,  1786,  set. 
eighty-eight. 

t  Her  other  sister  aijd  co-heiress  Ann  was  the  first  wife  of  Robert 
Edward,  the  ninth  Lord  Petre.  She  survived  tUl  15th  January,  1787, 
set.  forty-five. 


FA^[ILIES    IN    WILTSHIRE.  G9 

dence  were  reserved  from  the  sale.  By  interdicting  himself 
from  gaming,  the  fashionable  amusement  of  the  great,  in 
his  early  life,  and  by  strict  attention  to  his  family  concerns, 
he  was  enabled  to  purchase  the  noble  estate  of  Thornville 
Royal,  or  Allerton-park,  near  Knaresborough,  co.  York,  in 
1805.  There  this  good  man  ended  his  mortal  course  on 
29th  April,  1816,  set.  sixty-four. 

William,  the  seventeenth  Lord  Stourton,  born  6th  June, 
1776,  and  eldest  son  of  the  above,  married,  5th  October, 
1800,  Catharine,  daughter  of  Thomas  Weld,  of  Lullworth 
Castle,  Dorset,  Esq.  They  must  ever  live  in  the  grateful 
recollection  of  their  numerous  family  for  the  hereditary 
example  of  piejy,  and  of  good  management  and  attention  to 
domestic  economy.  Each  of  their  offspring  might  look  up  to 
them,  and  say  with  Tobias,  "  Filii  sumus  sanctorum,  et  vitam 
illam  expectamus,  quam  Deus  daturus  est  his,  qui  fidem 
suam  nunquam  mutant  ab  eo." — Cap.  xi.  18.  After  doing 
honour  to  the  peerage  for  full  thirty  years,  and  in  very 
critical  and  eventful  times,  he  closed  his  meritorious  life  at 
Allerton,  on  4th  December,  1846,  and  was  buried  on  the  12th. 

Charles,  his  eldest  son,  born  13tli  July,  1802,  is  the 
present  peer.  To  the  joy  of  both  families,  he  selected 
for  his  partner  Mary  Lucy  Clifford,  seventh  daughter  of 
Charles  Lord  Clifford;  this  happy  marriage  took  place 
on  1st  August,  1825,  at  her  noble  father's  house.  No.  8, 
Mansfield-street,  London.  For  a  time  they  lived  at  Holme 
Hall,  and  God  was  pleased  to  give  them  six  boys ;  but  after 
a  short  period  He,  in  His  inscrutable  wisdom,  thought  fit 
to  bereave  them  of  the  two  eldest  pledges  of  their  love. 
How  they  submitted  to  this  sacrifice,  may  be  inferred  from  a 
letter  written  by  his  grandfather  to  a  reverend  friend,  dated 
from  Allerton,  30th  March,  1838  :— 

"  We  have  been  lately  visited  by  severe  trials — for  I  ought  not  to  call 
them  afflictions — in  the  loss  of  my  two  eldest  grandchildren, — one  a  boy 
of  eleven  and  the  other  of  ten  years  old.  The  eldest,  William,  was 
deposited  this  day  in  our  family  vault.  Their  pure  lives  and  their  truly 
edifying  ends — William's  at  Biddlestone,  and  Henry's  at  Stonyhurst — 
showed  so  much  religion  and  the  benefits  of  a  most  pious  education  so 
powerfully,  that  we  have  cause  to  thank  God  for  having  removed  them 
xn  their  mnocence  and  virtue,  rather  than  to  lament  their  loss. 

"  Mrs.  Stourton  bears  her  trials  with  the  most  holy  Christian  forti- 
tude and  resignation." 

This  noble  lor4  commenced  his  noble  mansion  of  Stourton, 
near  Knaresborough,  in  1851,  after  the  designs  of  George 
Martin,  of  London,  Esq. 

In  page  93  I  have  mentioned  the  name  of  Robert  Dyrdoo. 
In  the  confession  of  the  Rev.  John  Brusbford,  extracted  from 

H   2 


100  CATHOLIC    FAMILIES    IN   WILTSHIRE. 

the  Lansdowne  MS S.^  and  published  in  Mr.Tierney's  edition 
of  Dodd's  "  History,"  vol.  iii.  p.  137,  detailing  the  precarious 
and  wandering  life  of  a  missionary,  one  of  the  Dyrdoe  family 
is  mentioned  about  the  year  1594. 

"  I  was  once  at  Clerkenwell,  at  Sir  John  Arundell's ;  but  for  that  he 
was  then  in  trouble  in  tlie  Star-chamber  about  one  Mr.  Higgins,  a 
priest,  I  could  not  be  received  ;  but  I  was  with  him  afterwards  in  the 
gate-house.  After  this  I  lived  secretly  in  a  village  on  the  plains  of 
Salisbury,  not  far  from  Amesbury,  with  one  Mr.  Durdoe  and  his  wife, 
in  the  house  of  one  Edward  Wyse,  unto  which  house  resorted  also  one 
Mr.  Jolin  Grove.  The  goodman  of  the  house  and  his  wife  were  Pro- 
testants, and  did  harbour  us  for  no  other  thing  but  his  gain,  not  knowing 
what  I  was,  I  think.  We  remained  in  this  place  about  six  months ; 
and  after  that,  some  suspicion  growing  of  the  place,  I  went  with  the 
said  Mr.  Durdoe  and  his  wife  into  Wales.  I  was,  I  remember,  once 
entreated  to  have  ridden  into  Cornwall  j  but  I  durst  not,  for  that  I  was 
well  known  by  the  way." 

In  a  letter  of  a  rev.  priest,  probably  addressed  to  the 
Rev.  T.  More,  agent  of  the  archpriest,  written  from  prison  in 
December,  1611,  and  printed  in  Mr.  Tierney's  Dodd,  vol.  v. 
Appendix  IV.,  he  relates  that  the  number  of  Cathohcs  was 
much  diminished,  especially  in  these  western  parts  of  the 
kingdom, — "  praesertim  in  partibus  regni  occidentalibus  ;  •" 
that  the  remaining  handful  has  been  so  ground  down  by 
persecution,  and  impoverished  by  fines, — as  Mr.  Stourton, 
Mr.  Adon,*  and  several  others  in  Dorsetshire, — as  to  be  under 
the  necessity  of  selling  the  greater  part  of  their  patrimonial 
property.  This  has  been  the  case  with  Mr.  Keins,  Mr.  Cowel, 
Mr.  Walton,  Mr.  Bifleet,  Mr.  Mansfield,  and  others  in  Somer- 
setshire ;  and  with  Mr.  Edward  Stourton,  Mr.  Carew,  and 
Mr.  Fathers,  in  Dorsetshire.  That  charity  had,  indeed, 
grown  cold ;  for  in  Dorsetshire  alone,  where  there  had  been 
once  eight  residences  for  priests,  now  two  can  hardly  be 
found;  and  in  Somersetshire,  Avhere  there  existed  six  or 
seven  residences  for  priests,  scarcely  one  is  left, — "  modo  vix 
unica  est  relicta."  The  whole  of  his  statement  is  entitled  to 
deep  attention. 

I  must  not  forget  to  mention  that  the  late  John  Bennet, 
of  Pyt  House,  Esq.,  was  reconciled  to  the  Church  on  15th 
December,  1834,  and  left  by  his  wife,  a  daughter  of 
Sir  Henry  Joseph  Tichborne,  an  only  son,  John  Edward, 
who  died  at  Nice,  29th  April,  1856,  set.  16. 

*  Q,y.  Acton. 


101 


CHAPTER  XI. 

THE    SUFFERERS    FOR    THE    FAITH   IN    GLOUCESTERSHIRE. 

Before  the  Reformation,  this  county  was  richer  in  reli- 
gious foundations  than  any  of  the  other  five  shires  that  I 
have  attempted  to  elucidate.  It  could  boast  of  its  four 
mitred  abbeys;  viz.,  Cirencester,  St.  Peter's  at  Gloucester, 
Tewkesbury,  and  Winchcombe ;  it  abounded  in  priories, 
cells,  and  hospitals.  And  perhaps  the  jealous  avarice  of  the 
harpies  of  the  court,  and  of  the  new  and  upstart  possessors 
of  the  suppressed  monasteries,  served  to  sharpen  the  sword 
of  persecution ;  certainly  malicious  cruelty  against  Catholics 
was  surpassed  in  no  other  county. 

The  first  that  was  called  to  shed  his  blood  was  the  Rev. 
John  Sands,  or  Sandys.  Ordained  priest  at  Rheims,  he 
came  on  the  English  mission  in  1584.  Labouring  diligently 
in  the  work  of  the  ministry,  he  was  apprehended,  and  was 
soon  condemned  to  the  death  of  a  traitor,  for  his  priestly 
character.  Paul  Tracye,  of  Stanwey,  then  Sheriff  of  the 
county,  assisted  at  his  barbarous  execution  in  Gloucester 
on  3nd  August,  1586.     A  contemporary  MS. : — * 

"When  they  had  condemned  him,  they  could  find  none  for  any 
money  to  murtner  him  :  they  could  hyre  noe  knife  or  other  instrument 
in  all  the  town  to  mangle  him.  At  last  they  found  a  most  base  com- 
panion, wlio  yet  was  ashamed  to  be  seen  in  that  bloudy  action  ;  for 
lie  blacked  and  disfigured  his  face,  and  gott  an  old  rusty  knife  full  of 
teeth  like  a  sickle.  With  that  he  killed  him.  The  holy  martyr 
requested  the  high  sheriff  (who  was  Paule  Trasye,  of  Stanwaye)  to 
suffer  him  to  hang  until  he  dyed.  He  then  granted  the  request,  yet 
caused  him  to  be  cutt  do wne  as '  soon  as  he  was  cast  off  the  ladder. 
The  holy  man  was  nothing  past  himself,  but  sayd,  '  0,  Mr.  Sheriff, 
you  have  not  kept  your  promise  ; '  unto  which  Mr.  Tracye  replied  not, 
but  commanded  nis  men  to  pull  downe  the  traytor  and  the  hangman  to 
bowell  him,  and  himself  layd  first  hands  on  him.  The  hangman  did 
his  bloudy  office  ;  and  when  he  had  pulled  out  his  bo  wells,  the  blessed 
saint  cryed  ever  with  St.  Stephen, '  Lord,  forgive  my  persecutors,'  and 
soe  fell  asleep  in  our  Lord." 

2.  Stephen  Rousham  came  to  the  mission  in  1582,  but 
shortly  after  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  enemies  of  Catholic 
faith,  and  after  enduring  eighteen  months  and  thirteen  days 

*  The  MS.  was  in  the  Archivium  of  the  English  College  at  Rome 
in  1690. 


102  THE    SUFFERERS    FOK    THE 

of  horrible  torment  in  the  "  Little-ease  "  dungeon  within  the 
Tower  of  London,  was  sent  into  banishment  in  1585.  His 
zeal  for  souls  brought  him  back  into  the  English  vineyard; 
but  it  was  not  long  before  he  was  taken  in  the  house  of  a 
widow  lady  called  Strange,  and  safely  lodged  in  Gloucester 
jail.  F.  William  Warford,  who  wrote  in  1597  his  relation  of 
the  martyrs  whom  he  had  known  since  1578,  gives  the 
following  report  of  this  missionary  priest : — 

« I  knew  him  at  Oxford,  about  the  year  1678,  when  he  was  minister 
of  St.  Mary's  parish.  Shortly  after  he  proceeded  to  Rheims  ;  and, 
as  he  appeared  to  be  rather  of  a  timid  character,  on  seeing  himself 
safely  landed  on  the  shore  of  France,  he  returned  thanks  to  God  on 
his  bended  knees  for  his  merciful  escape,  and  offered  himself  unre- 
servedly to  His  Divine  Majesty.  On  his  return  to  England  he  was 
arrested,  for  he  was  remarkable  for  his  neck  being  rather  awry,  and 
one  shoulder  being  higher  than  the  other.  The  following  wonderful 
event  is  related  of  him  :  Whilst  celebrating  Mass  in  St.  Stephen's  church 
at  Rheims,  it  happened,  that  when  the  chalice  was  uncovered  at  the  con- 
secration, and  he  was  in  the  act  of  kneeling  down  to  adore  the  Sacred 
Blood,  a  large  spider  from  the  roof  dropt  into  it.  At  first  he  was  per- 
plexed what  to  do  ;  but  raising  his  heart  to  God  in  prayer,  and  com- 
mending himself  to  Christ's  mercy,  he  boldly  swallowed  the  whole 
without  suffering  any  inconvenience.  He  had  a  handsome  and  manly 
face,  his  voice  was  clear  and  pleasing,  his  beard  was  of  a  chestnut 
colour,  and  he  was  truly  a  man  of  God." 

In  another  MS.  of  divers  persecutions  in  the  year  1588, 
written,  by  a  nameless  author,  about  the  end  of  1594,  and 
formerly  kept  in  the  English  College  at  Rome,  is  the  following 
interesting  narrative,  which  escaped  the  research  of  Bishop 
Challoner : — 

"After  the  judge  had  condemned  this  priest  and  friend  of  God 
Stephen  Rowsam,  he  was  returned  to  his  prison ;  but  by  the  way  a 
graceless  company  of  apprentices  and  youths  of  Gloucester  were  gotten 
to  one  of  the  dunghills,  from  which  they  pelted  the  holy  confessor  most 
spytefully,  and  all  berayed  his  face  and  clothes.  The  morning  he  was 
martyred  he  offered  the  divine  sacrifice  of  Masse,  and  there  were  with  him 
at  it  Mr.  Thompson  "  (there  called  Groves,  Query  if  the  same  mentioned 
page  100?)  "  and  many  more  Catholics.  When  Masse  was  almost  ended, 
the  sherift''s  officers  called  at  the  prison  dore  to  have  the  holy  man  to 
his  martyrdome  :  they  were  told  he  was  not  as  yet  ready,  and  intreated 
to  have  patience  a  little,  unto  which  they  yielded.  After  Masse  he  said 
his  evening,  blessed,  kissed,  and  embraced  every  one  present.  He  went 
down  cheerfully  to  the  hurdle,  all  his  company  much  lamenting  his  de- 
parture from  them.  Before  he  came  to  the  hurdle,  one  of  underkeepers 
sayd  thus  to  him  :  '  O,  Mr.  Rousame,  if  I  were  in  the  like  danger  as 
you  are,  and  might  avoyde  it  as  easily  as  you  may  by  going  to  church, 
surely  I  would  soone  yield  to  that.'  The  good  father  answered  :  'I 
pray  thee  be  contented,  good  frend,  within  this  house.  I  shall  conquer 
the  world,  the  flesh,  and  the  dyvell.  He  was  so  layed  on  the  hurdle 
that  one  of  his  leggs  dragled  on  the  grownde  as  he  was  drawne,  and 
being  admonished  by  a  schismatick  woman  to  draw  up  his  legg  to  him, 


FAITH    IN    GLOUCESTEUSUlllE.  103 

he  said, '  No,  all  is  too  little  for  Christ's  sake.'  He  was  hanged  until 
he  was  dead — but  soe  was  not  Mr.  Sands,  that  dyed  there  before  him — 
but  most  bloiidily  and  beastly  used,  so  that  the  common  sorte  of  people 
cryed  out  upon  the  officers  :  and  some  preachers  said  that  Mr.  Rowsam 
should  not  b.e  so  handled.  He  reconciled  to  the  Church  some  who 
suffered  with  him.  And  because  by  occasion  I  have  mentioned  Mr. 
Thompson,  I  will  here  set  down  what  little  1  remember  of  him.  He 
was  a  gentleman  of  fair  ly  ving  in  Oxfordshire  (the  native  county  of  the 
martyr),  not  far  from  Burforde,  a  widower,  and  a  father  to  many  young 
children,  yet  he  lyved  Catholickly  at  his  own  house,  and  ever  kept  one 
priest  at  least,  besides  entertainment  he  gave  to  strangers.  In  the  ende, 
heat  of  persecution  drove  him  into  the  Forest  of  Deane,  in  the  county  of 
Glocester,  where  he  lyved  some  years  in  that  vast  wildernesse  in  a  poor 
house  he  hyred,  under  the  name  of  Mr.  Groves,  with  his  priest  as 
before.  At  last  he  was  found  out  by  pursuivants  Robert  Aunlde  and 
others,  and  comn^itted  to  Gloucester  Castle,  where  he  endured  many 
outrages  of  the  officers  in  that  country.  He  was  many  times  searched 
and  spoyled  of  aU  that  he  had ;  but  yet  he  endured  and  brought  up 
his  childx-en  as  he  might ;  albeit  a  certain  lawyer  of  Oxfordshire  was 
by  favour  of  wicked  lawes  crept  into  his  estate,  and  afforded  him  very 
small  relief  thence.    At  last  he  died  prisoner  there  in  Gloucester." 

Thomas  Alfield,  a  native  of  Gloucestershire,  was  ordained 
priest  at  Rheims,  in  1581 ;  the  following  year  witnessed  him 
a  prisoner  of  the  faith.  His  condemnation  took  place  on 
5th  July,  1585 ;  and  the  next  day  from  Tyburn  I  trust  he 
was  translated  into  heaven. 

Thomas  Holfor^,  alias  Acton,  alias  Bird,  a  native  of 
Hereford  was  executed  at  Clerkenwell.  The  Book  of  Col- 
lectanea in  the  English  College  at  Rome,  marked  E, 
recorded,  that  "in  1587  Mr,  Holford  was  apprehended  in 
Gloucestershire,  and  was  arraigned,  and  condemned,  and 
executed  for  coming  into  the  realm.  The  man  that  caused 
the  priest's  apprehension,  came  to  the  prison  after  his  con* 
demnation,  and  on  his  knees,  with  tears,  asked  his  forgiveness. 
He  contrived  to  say  Mass  even  till  the  day  of  his  execution. 
So  inhuman  was  his  butchery,  that  the  preachers  exclaimed 
in  their  sermons  against  it." 

Of  William  Lampley,  the  layman,  good  Bishop  Challoner 
had  not  discovered  the  ensuing  details.  "  He  was  a  glover 
by  trade :  for  persuading  some  of  his  kinsmen  to  the  Catholic 
religion,  one  only  witness  appeared  against  him ;  but  who 
was  over  head  and  ears  in  debt,  and  had  basely  got  his  own 
wife  committed  to  jail  for  following  the  dictates  of  her 
conscience.  Judge  Manwood,  who  tried  Mr.  Lampley,  and 
passed  sentence,  offered  him  openly,  that  if  he  would  but 
say  that  he  would  go  to  church,  he  should  have  his  pardon. 
IJ^ay,  the  judge,  unwilling  that  the  sentence  of  death  should 
be  carried  into  effect,  appointed  his  friends,  and  kindred,  and 
oilicers,  and  preachers,  to  persuade  him  to  promise  that ;  but 


104  THE    SIIITEREKS    FOR    THE 

all  in  vain.  When  he  was  ready  to  go  to  execution^  they 
caused  the  passing  bell  to  be  tolled  for  hinij  thinking  that 
the  terror  thereof  would  make  him  to  acquiesce.  Again  and 
again,  at  the  place  of  execution,  they  made  him  the  same 
offer ;  but  all  in  vain.  With  fervent  constancy  he  yielded 
himself  most  willingly  to  his  tormentors,  and  therefore  they 
ended  him  as  butcherly  and  bloodily  as  ever  they  did  any." 

He  suffered  at  Gloucester  in  the  course  of  the  year  1588. 

John  Pybush,  a  native  of  Yorkshire,  ordained  at  Rheims 
in  1587,  reached  the  mission  two  years  later;  in  July,  1593, 
he  was  apprehended  at  Morton  Henmarsh,  co.  Gloucester, 
and  was  conducted  before  the  Lord  Giles  Chandos,  now  dead, 
says  my  author.  "  His  lordship  often  offered  him  the  oath 
of  the  Queen's  supremacy ;  then  sent  him  up  to  the  Privy 
Council,  when  the  Lord  Treasurer,  understanding  him  to  be 
a  seminary  priest,  bade  him  show  his  crown.  The  holy 
confessor  bowed  down  his  head,  and  told  him,  he  had  none, 
and  that  his  lordship  could  easily  guess  at  the  reason.  '  Oh,' 
said  my  lord,  '  you  think  yourselves  wiser  than  all  the 
world.  Will  you  stand  to  the  law  "i'  'I  must  whether  I 
will  or  no,'  said  the  priest.  'Then  have  hitn,'  quoth  my 
Lord  Treasurer  to  Topcliffe,  the  noted  persecutor,  showing 
all  this  while  great  anger.  Topcliffe  put  him  close  prisoner 
in  the  Gatehouse  at  Westminster,  and  never  returned  to 
him  till  the  year's  end;  and  then  he  examined  him,_what 
preparation  of  wars  he  knew  when  he  came  into  England ; 
and  so  sent  him  to  Gloucester  jail,  there  to  be  tried,  where 
he  was  taken.  The  last  summer  assize,  which  was  1594,  the 
holy  priest  was  arraigned  for  high  treason,  who,  before  he 
would  answer.  Guilty,  or  Not  guilty,  asked  the  judge,  who 
was  Mr.  Clench,  whether  the  treason  they  laid  to  his  charge 
was  anything  else  but  his  priesthood,  and  the  exercise  of 
his  priestly  office.  The  judge  answered  they  had  nought 
else  to  lay  against  him.  Then  the  holy  man  replied,  '  If  to 
be  a  priest  be  to  be  a  traitor,  then  am  I  one.  I  thank  God 
for  it.'  But  the  judge  never  gave  sentence  of  death  on 
him ;  but  returned  him  to  prison,  where  he  yet  remaineth, 
joyfully  and  resolutely  expecting  martyrdom  the  next  assize, 
which  will  be  ere  Easter,  1595,  and  daily  he  provideth  for 
that  high  honour." 

Bishop  Challoner  relates  that  he  escaped  from  Gloucester 
jail  with  some  other  prisoners,  but  was  recaptured  the  next 
day.  He  was  then  remanded  to  the  King's  Bench,  London, 
where  several  years'  confinement  entirely  ruined  his  health. 
On  17th  February,  1601,  Lord  Chief  Justice  Popham  sum- 
moned him  to  the  bar,  and  pronounced  sentence  of  death 


PAiril    IN    GLOUCESTERSHIRE.  105 

upon  him.  The  next  day  he  was  drawn  to  St.  Thomas' 
Watering,  and  there  suffered  his  cruel  butchery  with  the 
constancy  of  a  martyr. 

In  a  "  Relation  of  the  present  State  of  England,"  printed 
at  Rome,  in  1590,  a  4to.-  in  sixteen  pages,  of  which  a  copy 
once  existed  in  the  library  of  the  professed  house  there, 
it  is  stated  that  Roger  Wakeman,  a  priest  of  Douay  Col- 
lege, and  sent  to  the  mission  in  1576,  had  died  in  Newgate 
prison,  on  the  16th  or  17th,  November,  1582,  after  two 
years'  confinement.* 

I  am  not  aware  that  any  others  connected  with  Glou- 
cestershire, suffered  death,  or  died  in  chains,  for  their 
holy  professiop.  But  every  missionary  in  those  days  of 
persecution  could  say  with  St.  Paul,  "  Quotidie  morior " 
(1  Cor.  XV.  31).  Lewis  Barlow,  a  native  of  Gloucestershire, 
and  the  first  missionary  in  England,  for  he  came  over  from 
Douay  in  1574,  was  twice  made  a  prisoner,  and  twice  con- 
demned to  perpetual  banishment ;  but  rejoicing  to  suffer  for 
the  name  of  Jesus,  he  returned  to  the  vineyard.  God 
accepted  his  good-will ;  for  he  died  in  his  bed  in  1610,  full 
of  days  and  merits. 

Daring  the  sanguinary  farce  and  tragedy  of  Oates's  plot,t 
Sir  George  Wakeman,  Baronet,t  who  had  been  physician  to 
the  queen  of  Charles  II.,  was  arraigned  and  tried  at  the  Old 
Bailey  for  conspiring  the  death  of  the  King.  His  innocence 
was  so  transparent,  that  even  a  jury,  influenced  by  party 
prejudice,  passion,  the  epidemic  terror  of  an  imaginary 
danger,  and  the  bigoted  invectives  of  Lord  Chief  Justice 
Scroggs,  could  not  refuse  the  verdict  of  "  Not  guilty."  I 
cannot  deny  myself  the  pleasure  of  inserting  an  extract  of 
his  speech  before  the  Lord  Chancellor  and  Council  on  30th 
September,  1678,  and  which  he  repeated  at  his  public  trial, 
as  reported,  p.  60 : — 

"  My  lord,  I  come  of  a  loyal  family.  My  father  hath  suiFered  very 
much,  to  the  value  of  £18,000  and  more,  for  the  royal  family.  My 
brother  raised  a  troop  of  horse  for  the  king,  and  served  him  from  the 
beginning  of  the  war  to  the  end.  He  was  major  to  the  marquis 
of  Worcester  at  Worcester  fight,  and  lost  his  life  by  the  wounds  he 


*  Roger  Wakeman  Priest,  sent  from  Douay  in  1576,  died  in  New- 
gate 1584 :  «  Pasdore  carceris  extinctus." — See  Dr.  Bridgewater's  Con- 
certatio,  fol.  412. 

t  See  Appendix  No.  V. 

X  In  Guillim's  Display  of  Heraldry,  sixth  edit.,  1724,  p.  202,  I  read 
he  was  created  the  009th  baronet  15th  February,  16C0,  O.S.  The  patent, 
though  engrossed,  was  never  sealed.  In  his  indictment  he  is  styled 
baronet. 


^06  THE    SUFFERERS    FOR    THE 

received  in  the  king's  service.  As  for  my  own  part,  I  travelled  very 
young,  and  came  over  when  Ireton  was  lord  mayor,  and  both  by  my 
religion  and  name  was  suspected  to  be  a  favourer  of  the  royal  party  ; 
and  therefore  was  imprisoned,  and  did  not  come  out  till  I  had  given 
great  security ;  and  the  second  time  I  was  committed  was  when  I  did 
enter  a  plot — the  only  plot  I  was  guilty  of.  I  conspired  with  Captain 
Lucy  and  several  others  to  attempt  something  for  Ms  majesty's  restora- 
tion, when  few  durst  appear  for  him.  I  was  seized  on  in  my  bed ;  there 
were  several  arms  found  in  my  apothecary's  cellar,  and  we  were  both 
committed  to  prison,  and  we  should  both  have  suffered  death  certainly 
if  his  majesty's  happy  restoration  had  not  prevented  it.  And  now,  my 
lord,  I  am  under  the  most  foul  and  false  accusation  that  ever  innocent 
gentleman  was,  and  I  expect  reparation.  There  was  not  a  family  in 
England  that  was  so  much  instrumental  in  liis  majesty's  restoration  as 
our  family  and  connexions.  Colonel  Gifford  was  my  near  kinsman  ; 
so  was  Colonel  Carlos  ;  and  the  Pendrells  were  menial  servants  to  the 
family  :  and  I  hope  they  deserve  some  favour." 

No  doubt  the  Council  were  amazed  at  his  manly  boldness, 
for  he  spoke  as  one — 

"  Who  kept  a  court  of  honour  in  his  breast ; " 

but  their  conduct  on  this  occasion  reminds  one  of  Dido 
expiring  in  the  agonies  of  suicide   (^neid,  lib.  iv.)  : — 

"  Oculis  errantibus  alto 
Qusesivit  coelo  lumen,  ingemuitque  reperta." 

What  opinion  can  we  form  of  the  moral  principle  of  our 
governors,  statesmen,  and  senators  diu-ing  this  epoch  of 
national  delirium,  who,  knowing  well  the  utter  falsehood  of 
the  plot,  instead  of  setting  their  faces  to  the  popular  delu- 
delusion,  "civium  ardor  prava  jubentium,"  actually  lent 
themselves  to  the  cruel  sport  of  worrying  the  lives  of  inno- 
cent and  loyal  subjects.  King  Charles  II.,  from  the  very 
beginning,  "was  confirmed  in  the  belief  of  its  being  all  a 
fiction,  never  believing  one  tittle  of  it." — See  Clarke's  Life  of 
King  James  II.,  from  the  Stuart  Papers,  vol.  i.  And 
Prancis  North,  Lord  Guildford,  whilst  Lord  Chief  Justice  of 
the  Common  Pleas,  "  whilst  he  was  in  secret  drawing  up  a 
refutation  of  the  whole  romance  of  the  Popish  plot,  declared 
in  public  that  the  truth  of  the  story  was  as  plain  as  the  sun  in 
heaven,  and  was  not  ashamed  to  browbeat  from  the  seat  of 
judgment  the  unfortunate  Eoman  Catholics,  who  were 
arraigned  before  him  for  their  lives." — See  Macaulay's 
"  History  of  England,"  vol.  i.  p.  374.* 

*  To  inflame  the  popular  odium  against  us,  medals  were  struck  of  a 
Jesuit  murdering  Sir  Edmundbury  Godfi'ey,  whilst  the  Pope,  in  his 
tiara  and  cross,  was  standing  by  and  applauding. — See  Mudie's  English 
Coins  and  Medals,  &c.  A  print  was  issued,  "  The  solemn  monk  pro- 
cession  of  the   Pope,   Cardinals,  Jesuits,  &c.,  exactly  taken  as  they 


FAITH    IN    GLOUCESTERSHIRE.  107 

"  Even  the  House  of  Commons  would  sit  on  tte  Sunday, 
November  10th,  1678,  to  inquire  into  this  Popish  plot,"  as 
Mr.  Hatsell  informs  us  in  vol.  iii.  of  "Precedents,"  p.  59. 
This  profound  lawyer  in  the  preceding  volume,  p.  159,  gives 
it  as  his  opinion  that  "  it  can  be  no  longer  matter  of  doubt, 
that  the  witnesses,  particularly  Gates  and  Bedloe,  were  most 
notoriously  perjured,  and  that  the  stories  told  by  these  two 
men,  and  several  others  of  the  witnesses,  were  gross  and  pal- 
pable forgeries."  So  convinced  of  this  was  Mr.  Elliott,  M.P. 
that  in  his  powerful  speech  delivered  in  the  House  of  Commons 
on  the  Catholic  Petition  in  1813,  he  hesitated  not  to  afl&rm, 
"  If  any  man  in  these  days  was  to  venture  to  declare  himself 
a  believer  in  that  Popish  plot,  he  would  be  laughed  at  as  a 
visionary,  or  a  bigot." 

Oh,  that  all  who  are  appointed  to  rule  their  fellow-men 
would  carefully  study,  and  inwardly  digest,  the  sixth  chapter 
of  the  Book  of  Wisdom  ! 

marched  through  the  city  of  London  the  17th  of  November,  1670."  0 
miseri,  quse  tanta  insania,  cives  ! —  N.B.  The  pensioned  Gates,  "  inve- 
teratus  dierum  malorum,"  died  23rd  July,  1705. 


108  REVIEW   OF    THE    MISSIONS 


CHAPTER  XII. 

REVIEW   or    THE   MISSIONS    IN    OLOUCESTERSHIKE. 

1.  The  first  in  importance  is  unquestionably  Bristol. 

From  the  so-called  Reformation  until  the  accession  of 
George  11.,  in  no  commercial  city  of  the  British  empire  was 
Catholic  faith  and  practice  more  discouraged  and  depressed 
than  in  Bristol.  Monsieur  Jorevin,  as  qiioted  by  Mr.  Evans 
in  his  History  of  Bristol,  vol.  ii.  p.  306,  assures  us,  that 
towards  the  end  of  King  Charles  II.'s  reign,  "  no  one  can 
hear  Mass  at  Bristol,  though  it  is  a  port  frequented  by  many 
Catholics, — Flemish,  and  French,  and  Spaniards,  and  Portu- 
guese." That  a  priest  did  venture  to  exercise  his  functions 
here,  after  King  James  II.  had  mounted  the  throne,  is, 
evidenced  by  the  Auto-Biography  of  Sir  John  Bramston, 
recently  published  by  the  Camden  Society  (1845)  : — 

"  On  Sunday  last,  April  26, 1686,  at  Bristol,  information  being  given 
to  the  mayor  that  Mass  was  sayinge  in  a  house  in  that  citie,  he  took 
with  him  the  slierifFs  and  some  aldermen,  and  went  and  apprehended 
the  preist  and  the  conventicle,  and  committed  the  preist  and  some  of 
the  company  to  the  gaole,  and  sent  to  the  bishope.  Sir  Jonathan  Tre- 
lawney,  notice  of  it.  His  lordship  carried  the  letter  to  the  king." — 
P.  225. 

And  in  p.  229  we  read  : — 

"  The  priest  that  was  committed  by  the  mayor  of  Bristoll  was  brought 
to  the  king's  barr  10th  May  ;  but  owing  to  the  absence  of  the  Lord 
Chief  Justice,  Sir  Edward  Herbert,  and  of  his  council,  Mr.  Brent,  lie 
was  remanded  to  to  the  King's  Bench  prison." 

Mr.  Coppinger,  a  well-qualified  teacher,  attempted  to  open 
a  school  at  Kingsdown,  near  Clifton ;  at  first  his  prospects 
were  favourable,  but  when  it  was  discovered  that  he  was  a 
Papist,  every  hope  of  success  vanished,  and  he  was  com- 
pelled to  decamp.     This  occurred  about  a  century  ago. 

By  a  letter  received  from  the  Rev.  Patrick  O'Ferrall,  dated 
Bristol,  September  19th,  1854,  I  learn  that  about  1743 
a  Bristolian  firm  {Query  Champion's,  see  Evans's  History, 
vol.  ii.  p.  226,),  anxious  to  introduce  spelter  or  zinc-working 
from  Flanders,  could  not  induce  any  of  the  Flemish  workmen 
to  come  over  unless  the  free  exercises  of  their  religion  were 


IN    GLOUCESTERSHIRE.  109 

secured  to  them ;  "  and  so,  in  the  combat,  Bristol  cupidity 
overcame  Bristol  stupidity,  and  the  men  were  allowed  to 
practise  their  religion  without  molestation." 

That  the  Jesuits  were  the  first  to  create  and  serve  the 
Bristol  mission,  is  a  fact  that  I  believe  no  reasonable  man 
can  doubt.  But  the  first  name  that  I  have  met  with,  is 
r.  John  Lallart,  who  was  there  soon  after  the  accession  of 
King  George  II. ;  but  retired  to  Boulogne,  where  he  died 
25th  September,  1743,  set.  fifty-one.  He  was  succeeded  by 
F.  John  Scudamore  (of  the  ancient  family  of  Scudamore, 
CO.  Hereford,  whose  father  resided  at  Pembridge  Castle,  as 
his  great-nephew,  Mr.  Jones,  of  Tolcarne,  informed  me) . 
Mr.  Scudamore  resided  at  Bristol  about  forty  years,  was 
much  beloved  By  his  little  flock  for  his  zeal  and  piety ;  and 
Mr.  Jones  aforesaid,  who  resided  with  him  for  a  time,  stated 
to  me  "  that  his  manner  of  living  was  very  plain  and  mode- 
-rate."  His  first  place  of  worship  was  the  upper  room  of  a 
house  at  Hook's  Mills,  behind  the  small  church,  near  the 
Orphan  Asylum  on  Ashley  Down.  He  after  a  time 
removed  the  chapel  to  St.  James's  Back,  where  a  lady, 
Mrs.  Player,  now  in  her  eighty-ninth  year,  remembers  saying 
her  catechism.  The  death  of  this  venerable  pastor  occurred 
at  Bristol  on  8th  April,  1778,  aged  eighty -two;  and  the  late 
Rev.  James  Parker,  S.J.,  who  assisted  at  his  funeral,  pointed 
out  to  me  the  spot,  opposite  the  porch  of  St.  James's  church, 
where  his  honoured  remains  were  deposited. 

P.  John  Fontaine,  who  had  arrived  in  1777,  in  attendance 
on  F.  Scudamore,  was  the  first  to  commence  a  register.  He 
quitted  after  the  riots  of  1780,  when  he  was  replaced  by 
F.  Thomas  Brewer.  In  his  time,  the  want  of  better  accom- 
modation for  public  worship  than  the  miserable  room  in 
St.  James's  Back  afibrded  was  seriously  felt ;  and  it  was 
resolved  to  erect  a  new  one.  I  copy  the  following  extract 
from  an  original  letter  addressed  by  the  said  Rev.  James 
Parker,  to  the  Rev.  Joseph  Dunn,  on  12th  April,  1822 : — 
"The  first  j6300,  towards  purchasing  premises,  was  collected 
by  me,  in  company  with  the  Rev.  Thomas  Brewer,  then 
resident  missionary  of  Bristol,  in  the  streets  of  London. 
The  Rev.  Charles  Neville,  S.J.,  gave  £300  also,  for  house  and 
chapel;  the  Rev.  James  Adams,  S.J.,  contributed  to  the 
same  ^200.  Many  collections  were  received  by  the  Rev. 
Robert  Plowden  (the  successor  of  F.  Brewer),  from  his 
relations  and  friends."  In  a  previous  letter,  the  same 
F.  Parker,  on  17th  January,  1822,  calls  the  Jesuits  "the 
proprietors  of  that  mission." 

F.   Thomas   Brewer   died   on   18th  April,   1787,  and  in 


110  EEVIEW    OF    THE    MISSIONS 

October,  the  same  year,  was  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  Robert 
Plowden. 

The  premises  selected  for  the  new  Missionary  establish- 
ment were  purchased  of  Mr.  Robert  Bayley  and  Mr.  Trotman. 
The  congregation  could  contribute  but  little,  and  even  that 
little,  collected  by  a  committee,  was  unadvisedly  placed  by 
its  members  in  the  hands  of  one  Fitz-Henry,  an  Irish  mer- 
chant, and  was  irrecoverably  lost  by  his  bankruptcy.  Bishop 
Walmesley,  and  his  coadjutor  Bishop  Sharrock,  charmed 
with  the  active  and  disinterested  zeal  of  these  ex-Jesuits, 
engaged,  on  16th  September,  1789,  to  admit  a  member  of 
the  Academy  at  Liege  as  an  incumbent  of  the  chapel  to  be 
erected,  provided  the  person  presented  to  them,  or  their 
successors,  should  appear  duly  qualified  to  promote  the 
good  of  religion  in  general,  and  the  welfare  of  the  congre- 
gation at  Bristol.  This  compact  was  further  subscribed 
by  their  successor.  Bishop  Collingridge,  on  20th  March, 
1812. 

F.  Robert  Plowden  had  opened  St.  Joseph's  chapel,  in 
Trenchard-street,  on  27th  June,  1790,  he  had  provided  a 
convenient  and  roomy  house  for  the  incumbent ;  nay,  had 
succeeded  in  purchasing  premises  at  the  west  end  of  the 
chapel  to  build  his  poor  schools,  at  an  expense  of  more  than 
jil,000.  It  would  be  folly  to  deny  that  he  was  a  man  of 
indefatigable  zeal  and  industry ;  very  exemplary,  most  self- 
denying  and  disinterested,  and  deserving  the  character  of 
"  father  of  the  poor."  During  a  residence  of  nearly  thirty 
years  in  Bristol,  he  conciliated  the  respect,  esteem,  and 
favour  of  the  public ;  but  unfortunately  he  marred  his  use- 
fulness by  departing  from  that  spirit  of  submission  to 
episcopal  authority  which  is  characteristic  of  the  Society  of 
Jesus.  In  the  first  place,  he  refused  to  publish,  on  5th 
December,  1813,  Bishop  CoUingridge's  Pastoral  Letter, 
under  pretence  of  his  having  discovered  in  it  some  erroneous 
doctrine.  Secondly,  he  attacked  from  the  pulpit  the  same 
bishop's  Lenten  Mandement,  dated  from  Taunton,  1st  Feb- 
ruary, 1815.  This  wrong-headed  course  was  visited  with 
the  bishop's  severest  indignation.  His  lordship  peremptorily 
demanded  his  removal  from  Bristol  instanter,  though  the 
venerable  man  was  now  in  his  seventy-sixth  year.  His  old 
friend,  Bishop  Milner,  however,  graciously  ofl'ered  him  an 
asylum  in  the  midland  district, — placed  him  first  at  Swyn- 
nerton,  and  subsequently  at  Wapenbury,  where  he  rested 
from  all  his  mortal  labours  and  trials  on  17th  June,  1823, 
aged  eighty-three. 

Stonyhurst,  since  the  emigration  from  Liege  in  1794,  had 


IN    GLOUCESTERSHIRE.  HI 

become  the  representative  and  heir  of  the  Academy  above 
mentioned.  On  F.  Piowden's  application  for  assistance  in  the 
discharge  of  the  increasing  duties  of  the  ministry  at  Bristol,  its 
s>iperior  supplied  two  associates  successively, —  first,  John 
Power,  alias  Reeve,  who  arrived  in  July,  1811,  and  at  the  end 
of  sixteen  months  was  transferred  to  Lullworth.  The  second 
was  the  Rev.  Joseph  Tate,  who  had  served  the  English 
mission  for  nine  years  before,  and  was  a  much  more  efficient 
person.  He  was  appointed  to  Bristol  in  November,  1812, 
and  within  three  years  succeeded  to  the  sole  pastoral  charge, 
void  by  the  dismissal  of  the  Rev.  Robert  Plowden.  At  length 
the  bishop  assigned  him  an  able  assistant  in  the  Rev.  Henry 
Riley,  not  connected  with  Stonyhurst,  who  joined  him  on 
21st  November'  1821.  Late  in  the  same  year,  some  business 
of  a  most  delicate  and  complicated  nature  at  Falmouth, 
required  the  temporary  visit  and  presence  of  a  discreet 
clergyman ;  and  his  lordship  could  think  of  no  one  so  com- 
petent to  accomplish  it  as  Mr.  Tate.  I  know  that  most 
would  have  shirked  the  commission;  but  he  kindly  under- 
took it,  and  he  executed  it  with  so  much  tact  and  credit, 
that  Bishop  CoUingridge,  in  a  letter  which  I  saw,  dated 
Bristol,  20th  March,  1822,  awarded  to  him  "the  just  tribute 
of  my  sincere  thanks.'^  During  Mr.  Tate's  absence  on  this 
intricate  affair,  the  Rev.  John  Williams,  recently  ordained 
(25th  November,  1821,  at  Ushaw),  arrived  at  Bristol  on 
1st  January,  1822,  on  his  route  to  supersede  L'Abbe 
Grezille,  alias  Hoche,  at  Falmouth.  He  preached  at  Bristol, 
and  the  bishop,  who  heard  him,  was  so  pleased  with  his 
delivery,  that  he  decided  on  keeping  him  at  Bristol,  in 
conjunction  with  Mr.  Riley,  and  detaining  Mr.  Tate  at 
Falmouth.  A  friend  (Miss  Lane)  communicated  the  plan 
to  Mr.  Tate,  who  instantly  started  homewards,  before  the 
bishop's  missive  could  be  delivered  by  the  post.  His  lord- 
ship was  disconcerted  by  this  rapid  movement, — he  felt 
himself  out-generalled ;  and  on  coming  to  an  explanation, 
Mr.  Tate  charged  him  with  a  clandestine  attempt  to  supplant 
him,  and  demanded  an  open  investigation.  His  lordship 
then  offered  him  any  other  place  in  the  diocese;  but 
announced,  that  he  was  so  satisfied  with  the  efficiency  of  the 
zeal  and  abilities  of  those  two  young  missionaries  for  Bristol, 
that  he  must  prohibit  Mr.  Tate  from  exercising  any  longer 
parochial  faculties  there.  It  should  be  observed,  however, 
that  Bishop  CoUingridge  did  apply  to  Stonyhurst  for  a 
more  suitable  person  for  Bristol  than  Mr.  Tate;  and  that 
on  receiving  in  reply,  that  they  had  no  person  more  efficient 
to  replace  him,  Mr.  Williams  received  his  final  appointment. 


112  REVIEW   OF    THE    MISSIONS 

As  soon  as  Mr.  Tate  could  realize  the  sale  of  his  furniture, 
&C.J  he  bade  adieu  to  the  western  district  altogether. 

After  nearly  a  year  and  a  half's  valuable  service, — viz., 
May,  1833,— Mr.  Williams  was  transferred  to  the  easier 
mission  of  Chepstow.  Bishop  Collingridge  applied  now  to 
Stonyhurst,  as  F.  Glover  informed  me  in  his  letter,  23rd 
June,  1823,  but  no  assistant  could  be  spared.  An  Irish 
priest,  the  Rev.  John  Burke,  succeeded  Williams  at  Bristol 
for  a  short  period ;  and  in  the  spring  of  1825,  was  replaced 
by  the  Rev.  Francis  Edgeworth,  O.S.F. 

Bishop  Collingridge  died  at  Cannington  on  3rd  March, 
1829.  He  had  experienced  some  uneasiness  of  mind  for 
taking  possession  of  the  Jesuits'  premises ;  and  he  applied 
again  for  one  of  their  body  to  resume  the  pastoral  office  here. 
The  Rev.  William  Rowe,  S.J.,  was  at  once  deputed,  and 
arrived  for  the  purpose  on  7th  August,  1828 ;  and  on  the 
29th  of  the  same  month  and  year,  the  worthy  Mr.  Riley 
was  transferred  to  Axminster;  but  Mr.  Edgeworth  was 
continued  at  Trenchard-street  chapel. 

The  Right  Rev.  Dr.  Baines  succeeded,  on  the  death  of 
Dr.  Collingridge,  to  the  charge  of  the  Western  District. 
It  was  known  that  as  early  as  1822,  whilst  incumbent  of  the 
Bath  mission,  he  had  expressed  himself  as  opposed  to  the 
right  of  the  Jesuits  to  their  premises ;  and  he  soon  came  to 
a  misunderstanding  with  F.  Rowe,  and  insisted  on  his 
removal  before  Christmas.  The  reverend  gentleman  quitted 
on  23rd  December,  1830,  and  on  the  next  day  the  Rev. 
Patrick  O'Ferrall,  O.S.F.,  was  substituted.  Unquestionably 
these  two  religious  distinguished  themselves  by  their  zeal 
and  talents;  during  the  frightful  riots  in  Bristol  in  the 
beginning  of  November,  1831,  they  had  most  arduous  duties 
to  perform;  and  Mr.  Edgeworth  so  signalized  himself,  by 
his  humanity  and  heroism  on  that  occasion,  as  to  deserve  a 
civic  crown.  To  meet  the  rapid  increase  of  Catholicity,  the 
latter  gentleman  purchased  a  large  spot  of  ground  at  Clifton 
for  the  erection  of  a  spacious  church.  The  ground  was  first 
broken  11th  August,  1834,  and  on  4th  October  he  laid  its 
foundation-stone,  and  great  preparations  of  materials  were 
made.  Within  the  area  purchased,  he  erected  a  small  chapel 
in  honour  of  St.  Augustine,  where  Mass  was  first  said 
in  1843,  and  he  removed  thither  from  Trenchard-street  on 
9th  November  of  that  year.  But  the  enterprise  of  the 
contemplated  church*  was  far  too  gigantic  for  his  limited 

*  The  ground  was  first  purchased  in  the  spring  of  1831,  but  lay 
unoccupied  for  more  than  tliree  years,  as  Bishop  Baines  apprehended 
it  would  interfere  with  his  new  establishment  at  Prior  Park  ;  but  at 


IN    GLOUCESTERSHIRE.  113 

means.  He  became  involved  in  such  inextricable  difficulties, 
as  to  be  gazetted  a  bankrupt ;  but  he  sought  refuge  on 
the  Continent  from  the  importunities  of  his  creditors, 
and  died  suddenly  at  Antwerp,  16th  November,  1850,  set. 
fifty-one. 

His  early  friend  and  confrere,  F.  OTerrall,  had  adopted  a 
much  more  judicious  course.  He  contrived  to  purchase  the 
already  well-built  and  graceful  church  of  the  Irvingites,  now 
St.  Mary's-on-the-Quay,  at  Bristol.  It  was  solemnly  dedi- 
cated by  Bishop  Baines  on  5th  July,  1843,  and  the  zealous 
founder  was  properly  installed  its  first  incumbent. 

As  for  St.  Joseph's,  Trenchard-street,  it  continued  to  be 
served  by  the  secular  clergy.  The  Kev.  James  Dawson  suc- 
ceeded Mr.  E(Jgeworth,  but  for  four  months  only.  The 
Rev.  Thomas  Rooker  followed  him  in  the  Lent  of  1843.  In 
July,  1843,  the  Rev.  William  Cullinson  took  the  place  of 
F.  O'Ferrall,  removed  to  St.  Mary's ;  and  the  Rev.  Edward 
Metcalf.  was  stationed  here  in  1844-5.  On  Septuagesima 
Sunday,  1847,  the  Rev.  William  Joseph  Vaughan  was  sent 
thither,  and  remained  till  6th  November,  1848,  when  he 
passed  to  the  church  of  the  Twelve  Apostles,  at  Clifton. 

Dr.  Baggs  reached  Prior  Park,  as  successor  to  Bishop 
Baines,  on  30th  May,  1844,  and  in  July  following  divided 
the  original  Bristol  mission  into  three  separate  ones;  viz. 
Clifton,  Trenchard-street,  and  St.  Mary's.  He  had  contem- 
plated, from  what  he  told  me,  the  restoration  of  Trenchard- 
street  to  its  rightful  owners  ;  but  death  snatched  him  away 
16th  October,  1845.  His  successor.  Bishop  UUathorne, 
hastened  to  do  justice.  He  wrote  to  the  provincial,  F.  R. 
Lythgoe,  that  he  desired  the  body  should  resume  possession 
of  Trenchard-street  House  and  Chapel,  for  Sunday,  31st 
October,  1847;  and  F.  George  Bampton,  S.J.,  received  orders 

last  the  foundation-stone  was  laid  on  4th  October,  1834.  For  several 
years  the  edifice  appeared  as  a  pile  of  ruins.  At  length,  in  the  autumn 
of  1847,  Bishop  Ullathorne  contracted  for  the  purchase  of  the  site  for 
£2,500,  and  took  possession  on  4th  November  that  year.  '  Some  pro- 
gress was  made  in  the  works,  when  nine  months  later  he  was  translated 
to  Birmingham.  His  successor.  Bishop  Hendren,  directed  the  interior 
of  the  edifice  to  be  completed  at  once  ;  and  this  Church  of  the  Twelve 
Apostles  was  solemnly  opened  on  21st  September,  1848.  On  8th  April, 
1860,  a  suitable  house  for  the  bishop  and  clergy  of  the  church  was  com- 
menced, and  was  so  energetically  pushed  on  by  the  architect,  Mr.  Charles 
Hansom,  and  the  pastor,  Canon  Vaughan,  that  it  was  habitable  by  the 
8th  of  October  following. 

And  here  we  may  be  permitted  to  acknowledge  the  great  obligations 
which  religion  owes  to  J.  Spencer  Northcote,  Esq.,  for  editing  «  The 
Clifton  Tracts,"  which  wonderfully  enlightened  the  public  mind,  and 
disarmed  prejudice. 


114  REVIEW   or    THE    MISSIONS 

to  proceed  thither  for  the  purpose^  F.  Thomas  Speatman  being 
assigned  for  his  assistant.  The  latter  was  replaced  in  March 
following  by  F.  Henry  Mahon.  On  6th  December,  1849, 
F.  5ampton  was  called  away  to  serve  the  new  church  in 
Farm-street,  London,  when  F.  William  Johnston  was  ap- 
pointed to  the  mission ;  and  on  F.  Mahon's  departure,  the 
Rev.  William  Knight  was  sent  to  be  the  companion  of  his 
apostolic  labours. 

•  The  present  state  of  religion  in  Bristol  and  its  environs, 
compared  with  what  I  remember  it  in  1807,  forces  me  to  lift 
up  my  heart  in  thanksgiving  to  Almighty  God,  for  lavishing 
the  riches  of  salvation  on  immortal  souls.  F.  Robert  Plow- 
den  was  then  the  sole  incumbent  of  the  city  (and  obliged  to 
visit  Swansea  even),  though  he  derived  occasional  help  from 
some,  visiting  brother,  but  especially  from  two  French  abbes, 
Le  Villain  and  Montier,  professors  of  the  French  language 
in  the  highest  circles,  and  whose  exemplary  character  must 
have  contributed  not.  a  little  to  soften  down  prejudice.  Their 
biography  will  be  given  in  Part  the  Second. 

Now,  blessed  be  God,  we  behold  a  large  and  respectable 
congregation  worshipping  in  the  church  of  the  Twelve 
Apostles ;  we  possess  the  commanding  church  of  St.  Mary's- 
ou-the-Quay,  the  fruit  of  the  energetic  zeal  of  F.  O'Ferrall, 
who  deserves  much  better  support.  We  retain  the  original 
church  of  St.  Joseph,  that  joyful  mother  of  children,  and 
having  fully  2,000  communicants  attached.  We  have  the 
beautiful  convent  of  the  Dominicanesses  of  St.  Catherine, 
under  the  shade  of  the  Twelve  Apostles.  Again,  we  have 
seen  the  Augustinian  Church  of  St.  Nicholas  rising  to  open 
its  gates  for  divine  worship  on  21st  September,  1850,  on  the 
Stapleton-road — the  precious  community  of  the  Good  Shep- 
herd at  Arno  (Notre  Dame  de  Charite,  a  filiation  from  the 
mother  house  of  Angers),*  in  full  activity  since  22nd  July, 
1851 — and  their  elder  sisters,  those  tutelary  angels  of  mercy, 
in  Dighton-street.  It  is  delightful  also  to  witness  the  pro- 
portionate increase  of  poor  schools,  and  the  progress  of  their 
improvement  in  useful  and  scientific  information.  Where  I 
remember  but  one  priest,  I  can  count  nearly  a  dozen  to  meet 
the  demands  of  the  faithful.  The  public  services  of  the 
Church  are  well  and  eflSciently  performed,  to  say  nothing  of 
Clifton  possessing  its  bishop  and  chapter  since  29th  Septem- 
ber, 1850.t     Oh  !  let  us  all  magnify  the  Lord,  and  exult  in 

*  The  Convent  at  Hammersmith,  founded  in  1841. 

t  I  say  nothing  at  present  of  the  Visitation  Convent  at  Westbury- 
on-Trim,  as  I  have,  to  make  my  report  of  it  in  Chapter  XIV.  But 
I  may  notice  here   their  beautiful  chapel,  the  foundation-stone  of 


IN    GLOUCESTEKSHIRE.  115 

God  the  Saviour ;  let  every  fibre  of  party  spirit  be  extirpated 
from  our  breasts ;  and  let  us  ever  act  on  the  recommendation 
of  the  Apostle — Heb.  x.  24:  "  Consideremus  invicem  in 
provocationem  charitatis  et  bonorum  operum." 

Beckford,  at  the  foot  of  the  Bredon  Hills,  is  five  miles 
from  Tewkesbury.  The  original  name  of  the  manor  was 
Peccanford,  where  was  an  alien  Augustinian  Priory,  attached 
to  Ste.  Barbe-en-Auge,  on  the  Dive.  At  the  suppression  of 
alien  houses,  King  Henry  VI.  annexed  it  to  his  foundation  of 
Eton  College.  It  was  then  valued  at  j653.  6s.  8rf.  per  annum. 
King  Edward  IV.  transferred  the  gift  to  Fotheringay  Colle- 
giate Church,  shortly  after  the  dissolution  of  which.  King 
Edward  VI.,  in  J.547,  granted  the  manor  to  Sir  Richard  Lee, 
Knight,  of  whose  family  it  was  purchased  by  Richard  Wake- 
man,  Esq.,  in  1686.  This  gentleman  had  acquired,  seven 
years  before,  possession  of  the  Muythe,  or  Mythe. 

In  general,  I  believe,  a  chaplain  was  to  be  found  attached 
to  this  Catholic  family,  but  few  names  have  come  to  light. 
An  anonymous  Benedictine  was  here  in  1717.  F.  Isaac 
Gibson,  S.J.,  died  here  10th  November,  1738,  set.  sixty-four. 
The  Hon.  and  Rev.  Robert  Dormer,  S.J.,  resided  here  for  a 
time.  F.  Placid  Bennett,  O.S.B.,  was  certainly  here  in  1783. 
L'Abbe  Louvelle,  the  Rev.  Thomas  Kenyon,  and  the  Rev.  J. 
Harrison,  were  the  last  incumbents.  After  the  death  of 
William  Wakeman,  Esq.,  1st  January,  1836,  the  remnants  of 
this  Catholic  congregation  were  in  the  habit  of  repairing,  at 
the  eight  Plenary  Indulgences,  to  Overbury,  where  Mrs. 
Eyston  had  a  small  oratory  fitted  up  in  her  mansion ;  but 
these  driblets,  with  the  handful  of  Catholics  in  Tewkesbury 
and  the  Mythe,  are  now  amalgamated  in  the  Kemerton 
mission. 

II.  Horton. — The  reader  will  not  confound  this  manor  with 
the  Horton  in  Pimpern  Deanery,  Dorset,  which  was  consoli- 
dated with  Sherborne  Abbey.  Ours  is  in  the  deanery  of 
Hawkesbury,  and  annexed  as  a  prebend  to  Salisbury  Cathedral 
until  the  Reformation,  when  it  was  detached  and  secularized, 
and  granted  to  that  voracious  Lord  Protector,  Edward  Sey- 
mour duke  of  Somerset.  On  his  attainder  in  1553,  King 
Edward  VI.  bestowed  it  on  Clement  Paston,  of  Norfolk,  Esq. 
Until  the  family  mansion  of  Appleton,  in  that  county,  was 
destroyed  by  fire  in  1708,  and  John  Paston,  Esq.,*  came  in 

which  was  laid  on  26th  September,  1834,  and  which  was  opened  on  8th 
December,  1836.  Every  spectator  must  be  gratified  with  the  sight  of  its 
graceful  altar. 

*  Was  he  not  nephew  of  Dr.  Edward  Paston,  who  died  President  of 
Douay  College  21st  July,  1714,  set.  seventy-four  ? 

I  2 


116  REVIEW   OF   THE    MISSIOT^S 

consequence  to  reside  in  the  Court  House  at  Horton,  I  under- 
stand no  chaplain  was  maintained  here.  A  few  years  after 
the  death  of  his  son^  William  Paston,  Esq.,  on  1st  January, 
1769,  the  mission  was  discontinued,  viz.  at  the  retirement  of 
the  Kev.  Placid  Waters,  O.S.B.,  in  1777,  and  the  estate  sold. 
From  my  kind  friend,  the  Eev.  R.  M.  Cooper,  of  the  same 
venerahle  order,  I  learn  that  from  the  year  1795  until  1815, 
FP.  Pembridge  and  Ainsworth  attended  the  few  remaining 
Catholics  at  Horton  during  the  eight  Indulgences,  from  Bath, 
a  distance  of  fifteen  miles ;  and  that  P.  Birdsall,  in  1815,  con- 
tinued to  perform  the  same  charitable  office  from  Cheltenham. 
"  He  said  Mass  at  Horton  in  the  upper  chamber  of  a  poor 
cottage ;  the  room  was  ten  feet  long  by  nine,  with  scarcely 
head-room  between  him  and  the  thatch.  I  met  him  at  that 
cottage  and  served  his  Mass.  A  deal  table  was  used  for  the 
altar,  and  the  wind  blew  through  the  broken  panes  of  the 
window ;  about  nine  or  ten  persons  assembled.  In  1823  I 
was  appointed  to  the  Bath  mission  and  to  this  office.  I  suc- 
ceeded in  procuring  a  cheese-room  in  a  farm-house  the  same 
year ;  it  was  fifteen  feet  by  twelve,  where  I  attended  eight 
times  a  year  from  Bath."  The  same  rev.  gentleman,  in 
.  another  letter,  furnished  me  with  the  following  particulars 
about  old  Horton  :^"  There  is  an  old  man  still  living  [1855] 
who  remembers  Mass  being  said  in  the  chapel  at  the  Manor 
House  at  Horton,  in  the  time  of  William  Paston,  Esq.  In 
1833  I  went  to  see  this  chapel  with  Sir  Henry  and  Lady 
Paston  Bedingfeld,  from  Bath.  The  Manor  House  was  not 
inhabited.  We  gave  5*.  to  an  old  woman,  who  kept  the 
key  of  the  old  hall-door,  to  let  us  in.  The  chapel-door  was 
barred;  but  finding  an  opening  in  a  lath-and-plaster  wall, 
we  crept  in  all  covered  with  cobwebs,  dust,  and  lime.  Here 
we  stood  in  the  old  chapel  sanctuary,  with-  its  moth-eaten 
green  baize  carpet,  a  well-carved  oak  altar,  a  mahogany  taber- 
nacle, two  old  candlesticks,  and  a  little  bell  on  the  altar  steps, 
on  the  epistle  side,  with  j\.ve  maria  round  the  rim.  The 
tabernacle  was  locked.  I  shook  it ;  but  evidently  it  was 
empty.  A  beautiful  framed  triangle  adorned  the  sanctuary, 
circling  with  rays  of  glory.  The  communion-rails  were 
quite  perfect,  as  also  the  family  pews.  A  Gothic  window 
terminated  the  west  end  of  the  chapel,  with  beautiful  tracery. 
Oh !  quantum  mutatus !  The  beautiful  window  was  torn 
down  in  1849.  The  chapel  itself  is  turned  into  the  village 
school,  and  every  remnant  is  gone  except  the  triangle,  to  tell 
its  melancholy  story  of  bygone  days  [" 

Horton    is    now    merged    in   the   mission    of  Chipping 
Sodbury. 


IN    GLOUCESTERSHIRE.  117 

III.  Hartpury. — This  valuable  manor, before  the  suppression 
of  raouasteries,  belonged  to  St.  Peter's  Abbey,  Gloucester. 
The  Crown  then  coming  into  legal  possession,  disposed  of  the 
manor  to  the  knightly  family  of  Compton.  The  last  Sir 
William  Compton  left  no  male  issue,  but  two  daughters  co- 
heiresses ;  one  maiTied  Mr.  Bearcroft,  and  had  no  issue ;  the 
other  married  John  Berkeley,  of  Hendlip,  Esq.  Mr.  Berkeley 
also  left  two  daughters,  one,  Catherine,  married  to  Mr.  Can- 
ning, of  Foxcote,  Warwickshire ;  the  other,  Jane,  married,  in 
May,  1799,  Thomas  Viscount  Southwell. 

At  Hartpury  a  priest  was  kept.  I  meet  two  Benedictines, 
F.  Butler  alias  Berry,  in  1769,  and  F.  Bernard  Young  j  but 
regret  to  add  that  I  have  not  recovered  the  names  of  other 
chaplains  previous  to  the  arrival  of  the  Dominicanesses  in 
1794.  But  more  of  Hartpury  in  the  two  next  chapters. 
Since  the  nuns  aforesaid  removed  to  Atherstone,  in  Warwick- 
shire, September,  1839,  Hartpury  has  been  an  appendage  to 
the  Gloucester  mission. 

IV.  Hatherop. — By  the  marriage  of  Mary,  the  heiress  of 
the  Bloomer  family,  to  Sir  John  Webb,  this  property  was 
acquired ;  and  within  my  memory  has  passed  away  by  the 
marriage  of  the  heiress  of  the  Webbs  to  the  Ponsonby 
family.     All  has  been  effected  within  two  centuries. 

I  am  credibly  informed  that  the  Rev.  Robert  Bowes,  alias 
Lane,  author  of  the  "Practical  Reflections,"  had  long 
resided  here ;  but  died  at  Bath  on  17th  December,  1735.  I 
know  of  no  other  chaplain  at  Hatherop  before  the  arrival  of 
the  Rev.  John  Lee.  After  a  few  years,  he  was  appointed  to 
the  Bavarian  chapel,  London,  and  died  13th  July,  1839,  aged 
seyenty-one. 

V.  Gloucester. — Comparatively  speaking,  this  a  modem 
mission.  The  Webb  family  can  claim  the  principal  merit  of 
its  foundation ;  but  especially  Miss  Mary  Webb,  daughter  of 
Sir  John  Webb,  Bart.,  by  his  wife  Mary  (Salvin).  This 
zealous  young  lady  died  at  Clifton,  on  30th  September, 
1787.  By  a  letter  of  the  said  Sir  John  Webb,  addressed,  on 
9th  August,  1788,  to  Bishop  Walmesley,  I  ascertain  that  the 
wish  of  his  family  was  that  the  nomination  of  the  incumbent 
of  Gloucester  should  be  vested  in  the  Vicar- Apostolic  of  the 
London  District. 

1 .  The  first  resident  priest,  I  believe,  was  the  Beo.  George 
Thomas  Gildart ;  but  his  stay  was  not  long,  for  he  quitted 
13th  May,  1789. 

He  was  educated  at  Valladolid.  On  returning  a  priest  to 
England,  he  was  employed  for  a  time  in  London,  thence  at 
Stonor,  CO.  Oxford,  and  thence  at  Gloucester.     For  a  certain 


118  KE,VIEW   OF    THE    MISSIONS 

period  he  lived  with  the  Rev.  Edward  Wright  at  Holywell. 
During  the  twenty  years  that  he  served  Monmouth^  he  was 
enabled  to  erect  its  pubhc  chapel.  Infirmities  increasing 
upon  him,  he  retired  to  Usk,  then  to  Brecon,  and  ended  his 
mortal  course  at  Swansea ;  in  St.  Mary's  churchyard  may 
be  seen  his  gravestone,  at  the  east  end,  thus  inscribed, — 

>h 

I.     H.     S. 

Sacred 

To  the  memory  of 

The  Rev.  George  Thomas  Gildart, 

Who  after  many  years  of  severe  bodily  affliction 

Calmly  expired  on  Monday,  Feb.  17, 1827, 

Aged  63. 

May  he  rest  in  peace. 

2.  The  Rev.  John  Jones,  who  supplied  for  a  brief  interval 
after  Mr.  Gildart's  retirement,  and  again  for  the  three  first 
years  of  the  present  century,  after  the  death  of  the  Rev.  John 
Greenway,*  the  third  pastor,  when  he  returned  to  the  Mon- 
mouth mission.  This  venerable  Douay  priest  died  at 
Manchester  on  11th  March,  1810,  set.  eighty-one,  and  was 
interred  in  St.  Patrick's  churchyard. 

4.  L'Abbe  Duchemin  was  admitted  pastor  by  Bishop 
Douglass,  on  the  strong  recommendation  of  the  Rev.  John 
Jones.  He  continued  his  efficient  services  from  January, 
1804,  until  1816,  and  in  the  course  of  the  summer  of  that 
year  returned  to  France.  In  a  letter  I  received  from  Caen, 
dated  5th  January,  1845,  I  read  that  he  died  at  Bayeux 
a  model  of  edification,  deeply  regretted,  nearly  ten  years  ago  : 
"  il  y  a  peu  pres  dix  ans." 

5.  Bernard  Giraud  succeeded  his  countryman,  and  had 
the  charge  of  the  congregation  until  his  death,  4th  Novem- 
ber, 1835,  set.  sixty-four.  His  remains  were  deposited  in 
the  cemetery  of  St.  John  the  Baptist's  parish, 

6.  John  Burke,  a  native  of  Tipperary,  educated  in  St. 
John's  College,  Waterford,  after  serving  Bristol  for  about  a 
twelvemonth,  was  sent  here.  He  remained  about  two  years, 
then  left  for  Usk ;  whence  he  winged  his  flight  to  America, 
unmindful  of  his  vocation.  His  sad  fall  reminds  us  of  the 
text.  Matt.  V.  13,  "  Vos  estis  sal  terrse,"  &c. 

7.  Augustin  L'Josse.  This  respectable  abbe  accepted  the 
charge  of  the  mission  in  February,  1828,  and  held  it  until 
three  days  before  his  lamented  death,  which  occurred   on 

*  Of  this  reverend  pastor,  who  removed  the  chapel  from  a  back  lane, 
purchased  the  present  premises,  and  erected  St.  Peter's  Chapel,  I  shall 
treat  fully  in  the  second  part.    Obiit  29th  November,  1800,  set.  fifty. 


IN    0L0UCESTER8HIRE.  119 

28th  January,  1841,  set.  seventy-eight.  He  was  buried  in 
the  vault  of  his  quondam  friend  and  predecessor,  I'Abbe 
Giraud. 

8.  Peter  Hartley.  Of  this  laborious  ecclesiastic  I  shall 
treat  amply  in  the  biographical  part.  Suffice  it  to  say  at 
present,  that  after  six  years  and  a  half's  service,  he  caught  a 
contagious  fever  from  his  attending  a  poor  Irish  traveller, 
that  on  39th  July,  1847,  he  received  all  the  rites  of  the 
Church,  and  died  on  3rd  August,  set.  fifty-five. 

9.  Henry  Godwin,  born  near  Liverpool,  14th  December, 
1831,  studied  at  Lisbon,  and  was  there  ordained  priest  on 
Saturday,  the  Ember  week  of  Advent,  1846.  After  Mr. 
Hartley's  deatli  he  was  appointed  his  successor;  but  seven 
months  later  was  transferred  to  St.  Mary's,  Stonehouse, 
which  he  left  in  January,  1850. 

10.  Michael  Carroll,  born  in  Tipperary,  a.d.  1808,  suc- 
ceeded the  Rev.  H.  Godwin  at  Gloucester  late  in  March, 
1848,  on  whose  removal  to  Falmouth, 

11.  Thomas  Michael  McDonnell,  an  experienced  and 
talented  missioner,  accepted  the  charge,  and  zealously  per- 
formed it  for  two  years,  when  Bishop  Hendren  transferred 
him,  in  July,  1850,  to  the  wider  and  more  important  vine- 
yard at  St.  Mary's,  Stonehouse.  I  shall  have  to  treat 
largely  of  this  able  veteran  in  the  second  part  of  this  work. 

12.  Henry  Jones  next  supplied  for  nearly  four  months; 
viz.,  from  12th  July  to  9th  November,  1850,  when 
Leonard  Calderbank  was  appointed  the  thirteenth  incumbent 
at  Gloucester. 

VI.  Cheltenham. — In  p.  57  I  have  mentioned  that  the 
Rev.  John  Augustine  Birdsall,  O.S.B.,  after  assisting  at 
Bath  for  three  years  and  a  half,  quitted,  in  October,  1809, 
to  commence  a  new  mission  at  Cheltenham.  He  had 
received  encouragement  from  the  late  Richard  Rawe,  Esq.,  to 
originate  this  enterprise,  and  he  bravely  triumphed  over 
every  difficulty.  On  3rd  June,  1810,  he  opened  a  chapel  in 
honour  of  St.  Gregory  the  Great ;  and  such  was  the  progress 
of  religion  in  consequence  of  his  apostolical  zeal,  seconded  by 
his  coadjutors  and  successors,  TF.  Shann  and  Dowding,  from 
April  1835  to  1841,  Henry  F.  Paillet,  from  1843  to  1849, 
and  other  sons  of  St.  Benedict,  that  several  times  the  chapel 
required  to  be  extended ;  and  now,  under  FP.  Gotham  and 
Blount,  of  the  same  venerable  order,  a  spacious  church  is 
soon  to  be  opened  to  receive  the  increasing  numbers  of  the 
faithful. 

During  the  disgraceful  riots  in  November,  1850,  organized 
under  pretence  of  our  new  hierarchy,  the  chapel  of  St.  Gre^. 


120  REVIEW   OF    THE    MISSIONS 

gory  and  the  incumbent's  premises  were  outrageously- 
attacked  by  the  mob,  aiid  would  probably  have  been  demo- 
lished, if  the  civil  authorities  had  not  come  to  the  rescue. 
AH  damages  were  made  good  by  the  Hundred,  instead  of 
being  settled  by  private  arbitration,  as  the  instigators  of 
the  mischief  had  proposed  and  expected.  This  exposure,  I 
trust,  will  serve  for  a  caution  to  the  workers  of  iniquity. 
As  a  mark  of  improved  good  feeling  amongst  the  better 
classes,  I  was  pleased  to  hear  that  my  friend  George  Arthur 
Williams  was  elected,  in  November,  1847,  High  Bailiff  Of 
Cheltenham, — the  first  Catholic  so  honoured  since  the  days 
of  Queen  Elizabeth. 

VII.  Chvpping  Sodbury. — Here  Mrs.  Neve,*  who  realized 
the  character  given  of  Dorcas,  Acts  ix.  36, — "Hsec  erat 
plena  operibus  bonis  et  eleemosynis  quas  faciebat," — founded 
a  mission  for  the  Benedictines.  For  this  purpose  she  bought 
convenient  premises  at  the  expense  of  j61,3Q0,  and  added  an 
endowment  of  i650  per  annum.  The  Rev.  Thomas  RoUing 
(see  the  biographical  part  of  this  work)  an*ived  here  as  the 
first  pastor  on  26th  October,  1838,  and  celebrated  Mass  in 
the  new  chapel,  which  is  50  feet  long  by  25  broad,  on 
Sunday,  two  days  later.  Within  four  years  later  he  was  suc- 
ceeded by  the  Rev.  Henry  Ignatius  Sutton.  In  p.  59  I  have 
stated  that  the  Rev,  Ralph  Maurus  Cooper,  after  rendering 
invaluable  service  at  Bath  for  twenty-three  years  and  a  half, 
was  allowed  to  retire  to  this  comparatively  easy  mission  in 
1846.  Here  his  attention  to  the  beauty  of  God's  house,  and 
his  affectionate  and  disinterested  zeal  for  souls  in  the  scat- 
tered population  around  him,  must  make  him  an  instrument 
of  blessings.  13ut  I  must  reserve  for  the  second  part  of 
this  compilation  the  details  of  his  meritorious  life. 

VIII.  Kemerton,  near  Tewkesbury. — This  mission  possesses 
the  beautiful  gem  of  St.  Bonnet's  church,  with  its  painted 
windows.  The  design  was  furnished  by  Mr.  Hadfield,  of 
Sheffield.  Dr.  Barber,  the  president  of  the  Benedictines, 
sung  the  High  Mass  at  its  opening,  18th  July,  1843 ;  Bishop 
Brown,  of  the  same  order,  preached,  and  twelve  monks 
assisted  at  the  ceremony.  I  understand  that  the  Eyston 
family  has  the  merit  of  this  foundation,  and  that  the  Throg- 
mortons  and  Tidmarshes  are  great  benefactors.  The  Rev. 
Samuel  Day  was  the   first  pastor,  and  was  efficiently  suc- 

*  She  died  in  her  liouse  at  Cheltenham  in  1840.  Her  name  was 
Sarah  Lunn  before  her  marriage  to  the  Rev.  Egerton  Neve,  whom  she 
survived  many  years.  By  the  death  of  her  sister,  relict  of  Philip 
St.  Martin,  comte  de  Front  (the  Sardinian  ambassador,  who  died 
4th  November,  1812),  she  received  an  increase  to  her  fortune. 


IN    GLOUCESTERSHIRE.  121 

ceeded,  in  1848,  by  the  Rev.  Peter  Ridgeway,  of  the  same 
venerable  order. 

IX.  Fairford.* 

X.  Woodchester. — William  Leigh,  Esq.,  a  recent  convert 
to  the  Catholic  faith,  purchased,  in  November,  1845,  the 
extensive  estate  of  the  Ducie  family  in  Gloucestershire.  In 
gratitude  to  Heaven  for  his  singular  vocation  to  the  one  true 
religion,  he  determined  to  erect  on  his  property  a  large 
church  in  honour  of  our  Blessed  Lady  of  the  Annunciation, 
which  should  be  served  by  a  community  of  Regulars.  Here 
the  name  of  a  Catholic  was  hardly  known.  In  the  Tablet  of 
28th  March,  1846,  it  was  stated  that  F.  Dominic,  superior 
of  the  Passionists,  had  left  Aston,  in  Staffordshire,  to 
establish  a  temporary  monastery  at  Northfield,  in  Avening 
parish.  This  was  a  house  which  Mr.  Leigh  had  hired  of  a 
Dissenting  minister  for  two  years,  who  little  suspected  that 
his  place  was  to  be  a  receptacle  for  the  professors  of  Popery. 
In  this  house  Mass  was  first  said  on  25th  March, — a  blessed 
day  for  that  vicinity, — in  1846.  In  the  mean  time  active 
preparations  were  making  to  commence  a  church  and 
monastery  at  Woodchester  after  a  design  of  Mr.  Charles 
Hansom,  of  Clifton.  The  foundation-stone  of  the  present 
commanding  church  was  laid  by  Bishop  Ullathorne  on 
26th  November,  1846.  It  was  solemnly  consecrated  on 
Wednesday,  10th  October,  1849,  by  Bishop  Hendren,  V.A. 
of  the  Western  District,  assisted  by  Bishop  UUathome,  who 
had  been  translated  to  the  vicariat  of  the  Middle  District.  On 
the  following  day  the  noble  church  was  opened  with  unusual 
splendour.  This,  as  the  day  before,  was  ushered  in  with  the 
joyful  pealing  of  the  church  bells,  called  St.  Gabriel's,  St. 
Elizabeth's,  and  St.  Mary's.f  Soon  after  eleven  o'clock  the 
procession  moved  from  the  sacristy  :  first 

The  Thurifer. 

A  Passionist  Father,  as  Cross-bearer. 

Acolyths,  William  Leigh,  Jun.,  Esq.,  and  H.  Doyle,  Esq. 

Twelve  boys  in  cassock  and  surplice. 

The  Clergy,  two  and  two,  in  great  numbers. 

Bishop  Wiseman  with  his  Chaplain. 

Rev.  F.  I^atius  Spencer,  as  Superior  of  the  Passionists. 

Bishop  Ullathorne,  with  his  Deacon  and  Subdeacon, 

~    And  Rev.  W.  J.  Vaughan,  as  assistant  Priest. 

Bishop  Hendren,  with  his  two  attendant  Priests, 

And  F.  Bonomi,  as  Master  of  Ceremonies. 


*  The  parish  church  is  celebrated  for  its  twenty-five  windows,  exe- 
cuted in  Flanders,  and  captured  in  1492  in  a  Spanish  vessel  on  her  way 
from  a  Flemish  port  to  South  America. — See  Archseol.  Jour. No.  48,  p.  359. 

t  They  had  been  blessed  by  Bishop  Hendren  9th  August,  1849, 
St.  Gabriel's,  weight  5  cwt. ;  St.  Elizabeth's,  4  cwt. ;  St.  Mary's,  3  cwt. 


l22  -llEVIEW   OF    THE    MISSIONS 

After  passing  up  the  north  aisle,  and  down  the  nave,  they 
entered  the  gorgeous  sanctuary,  when  the  High  Mass  com- 
menced. The  dazzling  beauty  of  the  pontifical  and  clerical 
robes, — the  gravity  of  the  assistants, — the  melody  of  the  vocal 
and  instrumental  music, — the  dignified  eloquence  of  Bishop 
Wiseman, — and  the  silent  attention  of  the  immense  multi- 
tude, inspired  awe  and  devotional  feeling. 

In  the  evening,  the  joyful  ringing  of  bells  summoned  the 
faithful  to  Vespers.  After  they  had  been  chanted.  Bishop 
Ullathorne  addressed  the  multitude  in  a  strain  of  impas- 
sioned eloquence;  after  which,  solemn  benediction  of  the 
sacrament  was  given.  All  must  have  retired  with  the 
impression,  "  We  have  seen  wonders  on  this  day  ; " — "  Quia 
vi(fimus  mirabilia  hodiej"  and  we  believe  the  groundwork 
was  laid  for  several  conversions. 

The  Passionists,  on  7th  October,  1850,  quitted  Woodchester 
to  establish  themselves  at  Broadway,  in  Worcestershire,  and 
the  next  day  ¥.  Proctor,  ex-provincial  of  the  Dominicans, 
was  put  into  possession  of.  the  premises  by  the  founder, 
William  Leigh,  Esq.  But  the  spacious  and  convenient 
monastery  was  not  fully  opened  before  11th  August,  1853, 
which,  as  a  spectator  I  can  truly  afiSrm,  was  a  day  of  glorious 
triumph  for  religion. 

XI.  Nympsfield. — The  apostolical  zeal  of  the  Dominicans, 
who  are  by  profession  preachers  of  the  Word  of  Life,  has  in- 
duced them,  with  encouragement,  to  open  a  mission  in  this 
parish  under  the  patronage  of  St.  Joseph.  A  room  has  been 
licensed  and  registered  for  Catholic  worship.  Mass  was  for 
the  first  time  celebrated  here  on  Sunday,  21st  March,  1852. 

XII.  Cirencester. — The  Rev.  Anselm  Glassbrook,  O.S.B., 
who  had  taken  the  habit  as  early  as  1823,  after  serving  Chel- 
tenham for  a  time,  was  appointed  to  the  charge  of  the  con- 
gregation at  Fairford.  Having  succeeded  in  obtaining  some 
desirable  premises  in  the  town  of  Cirencester,  he  fitted  up  a 
neat  little  chapel,  capable  of  holding  100  persons,  which  he 
opened  for  divine  worship  on  23rd  January,  1855.  F.  Thomas 
M'Donnel,  of  Shortwood,  who  preached  on  this  occasion, 
informs  me,  that  no  such  attempt  had  been  made  in  Ciren- 
cester since  the  reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth.  A  correspondent, 
in  a  letter  dated  24th  October,  1855,  writes  that  this  zealous 
and  laborious  monk  has  "  now  removed  into  Cirencester,  and 
that  Mass  is  said  but  once  a  month  at  Eairford." 

Lord  de  Mauley  for  a  time  allowed  £40  per  annum  to  the 
incumbent  at  Fairford. 

In  addition  to  the  above,  I  find  two  Benedictine  chaplains 
at  Stoke,  in  Gloucestershire;  viz.,  F,  Laurence  Lodwick,  who 


IN    GLOUCESTERSHIKE.  123 

died  there  3rd  October,  1633;  F.  Gregory  Bacon,  who  died 
there  4th  April,  1663 ;  and  a  few  also  at  Marlborough,  with 
the  Hyde  family. 

XIII.  Stroud. — A  new  mission  was  commenced  here  in 
February,  1856,  by  the  good  Dominicans  of  Woodchester, 
and  promises  well.  On  Tuesday,  37th  May,  1856,  the  first 
stone  of  its  new  church  of  the  Immaculate  Conception  of  oiu- 
Lady  was  laid  by  Archbishop  Errington,  as  administrator  of 
the  vacant  diocese  of  Clifton.    Florescat ! 


124  CATHOLIC    FAMILIES    IN    GLOUCESTEBSHIKE. 


CHAPTEK  XIII. 

CATHOLIC   FAMILIES   IN   8L0UCESTERSHIRE. 

I  APPREHEND  that  the  Wakemans  may  take  precedence  of 
the  Catholic  familiesj  established  residents  in  the  county.  In 
page  115  I  have  briefly  alluded  to  their  mission. 

John  Wychj  alias  Wakeman,  abbot  of  Tewkesbury,  after 
about  eight  years'  government,  surrendered  his  house  to  the 
Royal  Commissioners  on  7th  November,  1539,  and  for  such 
subserviency  was  assigned  a  pension  of  £266.  10*.  Ad.  per 
annum.  Of  course  this  ceased  on  his  promotion  to  the  new 
see  of  Gloucester,  to  which  he  was  consecrated  on  the  25th 
September,  1541,  at  Croydon,  and  which  he  held  for  about 
the  same  period  that  he  had  presided  over  the  abbey  of 
Tewkesbury,  dying  early  in  December,  1549.  Whilst  abbot 
he  had  prepared  his  tomb  in  a  chapel  of  the  conventual 
church ;  but  he  was  buried  at  Worthington.- 

To  follow  up  successively  the  generations  of  the  family,  I 
fear  is  impracticable ;  for  by  a  letter  of  Thomas  Wakeman, 
Esq.,  dated  Craig,  7th  June,  1843,  I  find  that  "every 
paper  during  the  civil  wars  in  the  reigns  of  Kings  Charles  I. 
and  Charles  II.  appears  to  have  been  carefully  destroyed." 
But  is  it  not  a  reflection  on  the  family  that  none  were  found 
to  follow  up  the  biography  of  the  Sir  George  Wakeman, 
Bart., — the  ornament  and  gem  of  their  pedigree,  whom  I 
have  mentioned  in  p.  105.  He  was  the  second  son  of 
Edward  Wakeman,  Esq.,  by  his  wife  Mary  Cotton.  This 
honoured  father,  after  spending  a  fortune  in  support  of  the 
royal  cause,  died  in  1659.  His  elder  brother,  Edward, 
married  Ann,  daughter  of  Benedict  Hall,  of  High  Meadow, 
Esq.,  and  died  in  consequence  of  wounds  received  in  the 
king's  service,  on  31st  August,  1662:  "in  ipsa  setatis 
meridie,"  as  his  monument  states  in  Beckford  church.  I 
suspect  that  their  sister  Theresa  was  the  Teresian  nun  at 
Antwerp,  who  went,  in  August,  1678,  to  organize  the  new 
colony  at  Hoogstraet.  After  presiding  over  her  sisters  there 
for  six  years,  she  returned  to  the  mother  house  at  Antwerp, 
where,  in  the  words  of  St.  Maximus,  "Sanctam  perfec- 
tamque  vitam  mors  Deo  devota  conducit." 


CATHOLIC    FAMILIES    IN    GLOUCESTERSHIRE.  125 

"Where  Sir  George  graduated  as  physician,  I  cannot  dis- 
cover ;  certainly  not  in  either  of  our  Universities,  nor  was 
he  a  member  of  our  Royal  College  of  Physicians;  but  it  is 
manifest,  from  p.  46  of  his  Trial,  published  by  authority  in 
1679,  that  he  was  physician  to  Queen  Catharine  "  for  nine 
years."  Quitting  his  ungrateful  country,  he  retired  to  Paris, 
where  he  practised  his  profession  with  eclat ;  but  Dodd,  who 
might  have  continued  his  biography  after  his  trial,  makes  no 
farther  mention  of  him. 

The  late  William  Wakeman,  of  Beckford,  Esq.,  died  at 
Beckford,  on  1st  January,  1836,  at  the  patriarchal  age  of 
ninety-six. 

Of  the  Halls,  of  High  Meadow,  it  is  painful  to  say  that  I 
can  glean  but  few  particulars. 

Cecily  Hall  died,  3rd  March,  1651,  a  religious  in  the 
Benedictine  convent  of  our  Lady  of  Consolation  at  Cambray. 
Mrs.  Ann  Hall,  descended  of  the  Somersets,  marquesses  of 
Worcester,  and  relict  of  Benedict  Hall,  of  High  Meadow, 
retired  to  this  nunnery,  of  which  her  daughter  Catharine 
was  abbess,  and  there  died  20th  March,  1676,  aet.  seventy- 
nine.  Her  reverend  daughter  died  in  office  on  17th  March, 
1692,  and  was  buried  near  her  mother.  By  the  marriage  of 
Benedicta  Maria  Theresa,  only  daughter  and  heiress  of 
Benedict  Hall,  Esq.,  to  Thomas  Gage,  the  High-Meadow 
estates  passed  into  that  family.  The  fruit  of  this  marriage, 
William  Hall  Gage,  born  1st  January,  1718,  was  subse- 
quently created  Baron  Gage,  of  Firle,  in  the  co.  of  Sussex, 
having  renounced  the  religion  of  his  forefathers. 

The  Pastons. — In  page  115  I  have  shown  how  the  Pastons, 
of  Norfolk,  came  into  the  possession  of  the  Horton  estate  in 
CO.  Gloucester. 

William  Paston,  Esq.,  of  Appleton,  co.  Norfolk,  died  on 
24th  March,  1673  j  his  wife,  Mary  (Lawson),  stu'vived  till 
23rd  September,  1679. 

John  was  the  first  who  settled  at  Horton.  He  married 
thrice :  1st,  Frances  (Tichborne) ;  she  gave  him  three  sons, 
— William,  Clement,*  and  James,  and  two  daughters, — Mary 
and  Frances;  and  died  10th  April,  1712. 

Secondly,  the  Honourable  Ann,  daughter  of  Charles 
Lord  Baltimore,  and  relict  of  Edward  Somerset.  She  died 
10th  February,  1731. 

Thirdly,  Catharine  Bostock. 

•  Is  this  the  Clement  Paston,  Esq.,  who,  dying  at  Worcester  l7th 
May,  1788,  at  an  advanced  age,  was  buried  at  St.  Oswald's  cemetery 
there  1  His  widow,  Mrs.  Mary  Isabella  Paston,  died  11th  December, 
1704,  and  was  buried  in  the  same  vault. 


126  CATHOLIC    FAMILIES    IN    GLOUCESTERSHIRE. 

This  John  Paston  died  7th  Octoljer,  1737,  set.  sixty-eight, 
and  was  su£ceeded  by  his  eldest  son  William. 

In  the  parish  register  of  Arlington  I  read, — "1751.  Wil- 
liam Paston,  Esq.,  and  Mary  Chichester,  were  married."  But 
this  was  his  second  wife,  for  his  first  lady  was  Mary,  daughter 
of  John  Courtenay,  of  Molland,  Esq.,  by  his  wife  Amy, 
daughter  of  Thomas,  Lord  Clifford,  baron  of  Chudleigh. 
His  first  wife  left  him  an  only  child,  Anna  Maria  Paston, 
who  married,  as  I  find  in  the  said  parish  register,  on  31st 
June,  1748,  George  Throgmorton,  Esq.,  only  son  of  Sir 
Robert  Throgmorton,  Bart.  Their  sole  issue  was  Ann 
Throgmorton,  who  dying  at  Calverleigh  Court  on  6th  Novem- 
ber, 1783,  was  buried  in  the  Nagle  vault  of  the  adjoining 
parish  church. 

In  the  north  aisle  of  Horton  church  may  be  seen  a  memo- 
rial thus  inscribed. 

"  Sacred  to  the  memory  of  William  Paston,  late  of  Horton,  Esq. 
A  man  enriched  by  Nature  and  by  Art 
With  what  could  please  and  interest  each  heart. 
In  upper  life,  by  all  who  saw,  approved. 
In  lower  life,  by  all  who  knew  him,  loved. 
No  epitaph  his  virtues  need  proclaim. 
His  actions  ever  will  endear  his  name, 
An  upright,  generous,  open-hearted  friend. 
Horton,  deplore  thy  loss,  lament  his  end  1  * 

He  was  twice  married.    His  first  wife  was  Mary,  daughter  of  John 

Courtenay,  of  Molland,  in  the  county  of  Devon,  one  of  the 

co-heiresses  of  her  brother 

John  Courtenay,  of  the  same  place,  Esq. 

She  died  Oct.  the  29th,  a.d.  1747. 

His  second  wife  was  Mary,  daughter  of  Giles  Chichester,  of  Arlington, 

in  that  county,  Esq.,  who,  as  a  grateful  testimony  of  her 

sincere  love  and  affection. 

Caused  this  monument  to  be  erected  to  the  deceased. 

By  his  first  wife  he  had  issue  one  daughter,  Anna  Maria,  married  to 

George,  the  only  son  of  Sir  Robert  Throgmorton,  of  Weston 

Underwood,  in  the  county  of  Berks,  Bart. 

By  his  second  wife  he  had  no  issue. 

He  died  January  the  11th,  Anno  Dom.  1769, 

iEtatis  suae  69. 

JRequiescat  in  Pace." 

Of  the  influential  family  of  Webb  I  have  had  frequent 
occasion  to  speak. 

Major-Gen.  Webb  was  dreadfully  wounded  at  Newbery 
by  case-shot ;  but  whether  in  the  first  battle  fought  tbere  on 

*  He  lost  his  life  through  the  carelessness  of  a  sempstress  leaving  a 
needle  in  the  sleeve  of  his  shirt.    His  widow  died  at  Weston  ]7tli  June, 

1772. 


CATHOLIC    FAMILIES   IN    GLOUCESTEHSHIHE.  127 

20th  September,  1643,  or  in  the  second,  on  27th  October, 
1644,  I  am  not  prepared  to  say. 

King  Charles  I.  created  John  Webb,  of  Odstock,  co. 
Wilts,  Esq.,  a  baronet,  2nd  April,  1644,  in  consideration  of 
the  sacrifices  made  by  the  family  for  the  royal  cause. 

A  branch  of  the  Jerningham  family  was  established  at 
Painswick,  in  Bisley  hundred.  Sir  Henry  Jerningham,  the 
second  baronet  of  his  family,  married  Mary,  daughter  of 
Benedict  Hall,  of  High  Meadow,  Esq. 

The  Trinder  family  of  Burton-on-the- Water  was  Catholic. 
Charles  Trinder,  seijeant-at-law,  was  made  recorder  of 
Gloucester,  8th  January,  1687,  O.S.  We  have  met  as 
chaplains  there,  F.  Placid  Nelson,  who  left  in  1717,  and 
F.  Bennet  Rignfaiden,  both  Benedictines. 

The  Theyers,  of  Cowper's  Hill,  became  Catholic  about 
1643.     John  Theyer,  Esq.,  died  there,  25th  August,  1673. 

A  branch  of  the  Berkeleys  was  settled  at  Beverston,  in 
Gloucestershire.  Jane,  daughter  of  Sir  Richard  Berkeley, 
Knt.,  taking  the  religious  habit  of  St.  Benedict,  was  very 
instrumental  in  the  establishment  of  the  first  English  nunnery 
abroad,  viz.,  at  Brussels.  She  was  blest  as  its  first  abbess  on 
4th  November,  1599.  There  she  ended  her  pious  course'  on 
2nd  August,  1616,  aet.  sixty-one,  rel.  thirty-five ;  abbess 
seventeen  years.  This  invaluable  community  has  been 
happily  located  in  Winchester  since  the  first  French  Revo- 
lution. 

Whilst  satisfactory  information  concerning  some  other 
Catholic  families, — the  Bartletts,  Brents,  Kemps,  Nevilles, 
&c.,  eludes  my  humble  researches,  still  it  rejoices  the  heart 
to  contemplate  the  growing  congregations  of  the  faithful  in 
the  country, — to  witness  the  improved  style  and  enlarged 
scale  of  the  churches  and  chapels,  schools  and  missionary 
premises, — and  to  enumerate  the  splendid  acquisitions  of 
landed  property  by  Catholic  converts.  To  William  Leigh, 
Esq.,  the  purchaser  of  the  extensive  domain  of  Woodchester 
Park,  religion  owes  a  debt  of  gratitude  for  his  generous 
protection  and  encouragement  of  practical  piety  by  his  purse 
and  by  his  example.  May  the  Giver  of  all  good  Gifts 
bless  him  and  his  saintly  family  with  health  and  all  desired 
prosperity!  When  I  lately  visited  that  monument  of  his 
piety,  the  noble  church  of  Our  Lady  of  the  Annunciation, 
and  said  Mass  in  the  exquisite  chantry  of  the  Forty  Martyrs, 
I  felt  indeed  for  the  sacrifice  that  God  had  recently  de- 
manded of  him  of  his  eldest  daughter  Caroline  Blanche.  She 
was  the  eflBgy  of  her  parents'  piety,  and  was  called  away  to 


128  CATHOLIC    FAMILIES    IN    GLOUCESTEESHIRE, 

receive  its  reward  on  15th  September,  1852.     On  a  brass 
plate  was  engraved  tbe  following  inscription : — 

"  Hie  jacet  ad  dextrum  latus  sub  ara  Quadraginta  Martyriim 
Quod  mortale  babuit  Carolina  Blanche  Leigh,  filia  dilecta  Gulielmi 

Leigh  de  Woodchester  Park,  Armigeri ;  et  Carolinse 
TJxoris  ejus.  Pie  obiit  xv  Sept.  Anno  Dni.  mdccclii. 
uEtatis  suae  vigesimo  secundo :  cujus  animae  propitietur  Deus." 

And  this  lover  of  hospitality  and  patron  of  the  clergy,  after 
entertaining  with  the  most  affectionate  care  the  Most  Rev. 
•Francis  Joseph  Nicholson,  archbishop  of  Corfu,  during  his 
long  iUness  at  Woodchester,  where  he  expired  on  Monday 
night,  the  30th  of  April,  1855,  provided  all  the  expenses  of 
his  grace's  funeral  in  the  church  of  the  Annunciation  10th 
of  May  following,  and  is  preparing  to  perpetuate  the  memory 
of  the  illustrious  departed  by  his  recumbent  statue  dressed 
in  his  pontificals,  on  an  elevated  altar-tomb,  to  be  surrounded 
with  brass  raUings. 

The  worthy  Dominican  fathers  of  the  monastery  of  the 
Annunciation  at  Woodchester  gratefully  dedicated  their  first 
theses  of  philosophy  and  divinity,  defended  on  the  3rd  of 
August,  1855, — 

"  Optimo  ac  prsestantissimo  Viro 

Gulielmo  Leigh 

Ordinis  Sancti  Gregorii  Magni,  Equiti,  ornatissimo 

Ecclesise  hujusce  Pundatori 

Coeiiobii  etiam  Benefactori  munificentessimo 

Grati  Animi  ergo." 

May  they  long  be  enabled  to  compliment  their  generous 
patron,  and  proclaim  his  merits  and  increasing  honours. 


129 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

HISTORICAL     REPORT     OF     ALL     THE     RELIGIOUS     ESTABLISHMENTS     IV 
THESE   SIX    WESTERN    COUNTIES    SINCE   THE    FRENCH    REVOLUTION'. 

1.  Lanherne,  in  the  Deanery  of  Pydre,  Cornwall. 

Hi!RK  was  the  seat  of  the  Arundells,  certainly  irom  the  time 
of  King  Henry  JIL,  and  the  manor  was  held  of  the  see  of 
Exeter  by  military  service. —  (See  Bishop  Stapeldon's  Register, 
folios  102,  115,  116,  A.D.  1315.)  To  Lady  Jane  de  Arundell, 
Bishop  Brantyngham,  on  14th  February,  1376,  granted  the 
license  of  having  divine  service  performed  in  the  chapel  or 
oratory  there. —  (See  p.  29  of  the  third  chapter.) 

The  English  Theresian  nuns  have,  by  God's  blessing,  been 
settled  here  since  August,  1794.  This  convent  was  founded 
at  Antwerp  on  1st  May,  1619,  by  Lady  Ann  Lovel.  The 
series  of  the  prioresses  of  this  community  from  the  beginning 
may  interest  the  reader. 

1.  Ann  Worsley,  who  continued  in  office  until  her  pious 
death  in  December,  1644.  During  her  government,  she  gave 
the  habit  to  fifty  ladies,  and  sent  a  filiation  of  her  religious 
to  Dusseldorf. 

2.  Ann  Wright  succeeded  early  in  1645,  but  died  two 
years  later,  aged  thirty-seven. 

3.  Theresa  Ward  died  in  the  second  year  of  her  govern- 
ment, having  first  established  a  colony  at  Lierre  in  1648, 
which  at  the  French  Revolution  removed  to  Auckland, 
St.  Helen's,  near  Durham. 

4.  Lucy  Bedingfeld. — She  died  of  the  small-pox  on  6th 
January,  1650,  aged  thirty-six.  Thus  in  five  years  the  com- 
munity sustained  the  loss  of  three  prioresses.  This  fourth 
was  one  of  many  sisters  who  devoted  themselves  to  God  in 
the  religious  state. 

5.  Ann  Keynes. — She  continued  in  office  nine  years,  and 
was  very  instrumental  in  founding  a  Carmelite  house  at 
Munsterfeld. 

6.  Ann  Harcourt  was  elected  in  1659,  and  governed  the  con- 
vent six  years.  Whilst  sub-prioress,  she  exerted  herself  most 
zealously  in  the  establishment  of  a  colony  at  Hoogstraet,* 

*  At  the  French  Revolution,  settled  at  Canford,  co.  Dorset. 
If 


130  HISTORICAL    REPOKT    OF    THE 

and  was  elected  their  first  prioress ;  but  she  died  three  weeks 
after,  viz.  11th  September,  1678. 

7.  Margaret  Wake  de  Angelis  was  elected  in  1665.  After 
presiding  for  six  years,  she  obtained  a  respite  from  supe- 
riority, but  in  1677  was  summoned  again  to  resume  office, 
which  she  held  until  her  death,  on  21st  June,  1678.  Her 
body  was  found  entire  and  flexible  on  13th  August,  1716, 
and  so  continued  until  the  beginning  of  the  French  Revolu- 
tion, when  it  was  translated  from  the  conventual  church  to 
be  deposited  in  the  episcopal  vault  within  Antwerp  cathedral. 

8.  Mary  Wigmore  was  elected  in  1671,  and  remained  pri- 
oress for  six  years;  re-elected  in  1687;  ob.  1697. 

9.  Frances  Turner  succeeded  in  1678,  filled  the  office  for 
six  years,  and  died  in  1693. 

10.  Mary  Sonias,  a  native  of  Antwerp,  supplied  the  office 
for  three  years. 

11.  Mary  Burton  was  elected  in  1687,  and  held  the  reins 
of  government  for  fifteen  years. 

12.  Mary  Birkbeck  was  elected  in  1702,  and,  according  to 
my  correspondent,  "  was  many  years  prioress  off  and  on." 

13.  Delphina  Smith,  who  did  not  survive  her  election  much 
more  than  a  twelvemonth. 

14.  Theresa  Bond  was  chosen  her  successor  in  1732,  and 
died  in  the  third  year  of  office. 

15.  Theresa  Howard  governed  the  community  for  fifteen 
years. 

16.  Mary  Howard,  elected  in  1750,  resigned  at  the  end  of 
thirteen  years. 

17.  Ann  Homes  succeeded  in  January,  1763,  and  died  in 
October,  1764. 

18.  Theresa  Mary  Howard  was  elected  in  1764,  and  died 
in  office  26th  July,  1775. 

19.  Frances  Maddocks  was  now  called  upon  to  assume  the 
reins  of  government  for  the  three  next  years,  and  was  re-elected 
on  the  death  of  her  successor  in  October,  1784.  Within 
twelve  years  later  she  was  forced,  with  her  twelve  nuns  and 
three  lay  sisters,  to  abandon  their  beloved  convent  on  29th 
June,  1794,  and  hurrying  from  Prench  rapacity  to  Rotter- 
dam, took  shipping  there,  and  reached  London  on  12th  July. 
In  the  ensuing  month  they  were  comfortably  settled  at  Lan- 
herne.  This  venerable  superior  laid  down  her  office,  which 
had  tried  her  constitution  severely,  in  1797,  and  on  19th 
January  was  called  to  receive  the  reward  of  her  meritorious 
life  in  the  sixty- ninth  year  of  her  age,  and  forty- seventh  of 
her  religious  profession. 


RELIGIOUS    ESTABLISHMENTS.  131 

20.  Mary  Brent,  who  had  been  elected  ia  1778,  died  in 
office  18th  October,  1784. 

21.  Mary  Wright,  a  very  superior  person,  succeeded  in 
1797,  and  continued  in  office  until  her  death,  11th  February, 
1814,  aet.  sixty-one. 

22.  Mary  Charlotte  Stewart.  —  This  amiable  reverend 
mother  was  elected  in  1814,  and  after  presiding  for  six  years, 
was  re-elected  for  another  triennium  in  March,  1829.  Obiit 
9th  August,  1832. 

23.  Mary  Theresa  Tolozan  entered  upon  office  11th  March, 
1820,  and  filled  it  for  nine  years  successively ;  was  re-elected 
in  March,  1835,  but  resigned  about  five  years  later. 

24.  Mary  Magdalen  Done  was  elected  in  March,  1832. 

25.  Mary  Aloysia  Anian  was  elected  in  March,  1840,  and 
served  the  office  for  six  years. 

26.  Elizabeth  Theresa  Dumbell  governed  the  community 
for  three  years,  from  1849. 

27.  Mary  Joseph  Pegg  was  elected  3rd  March,  1849. 

N.B.  The  above  reverend  mother,  EUzabeth  Theresa  Dum- 
bell, was  re-elected  3rd  March,  1852,  and  on  14th  March,  1855, 
for  another  triennium,  was  re-elected  Mary  Joseph  Pegg. 

2.  Clare  Home,  Plymouth. 

The  English  Convent  of  Poor  Clares,  at  Gravelines,*  was 
the  mother  house  to  the  religious  establishments  of  the 
order,  first,  at  Aire,  in  1629 ;  secondly,  at  Rouen,  in  1644, 
and  at  Dunkirk,  in  1655. 

Some  of  the  ladies  who  commenced  the  house  at  Gra- 
velines had  made  their  profession  in  the  Franciscan  Convent, 
called  Nazareth,  near  Veere,  in  Walcheren.  The  commu- 
nity had  flourished  there  for  nearly  a  century,  when  the 
rapid  successes  of  the  Huguenots  compelled  the  inmates  to 
quit  on  24th  April,  1572,  and  to  take  refuge  from  the 
advancing  enemy  in  Veere  itself.  On  11th  of  the  following 
month  they  had  to  endure  the  indescribable  affliction  of 
beholding,  from  the  town  walls,  the  conflagration  of  their 
beloved  monastery.     Leaving  Veere    on    17th    July,    they 

*  The  community  was  providentially  preserved  in  their  persons, 
thougli  not  in  their  buildings,  from  the  explosion  of  the  royal  magazines 
in  the  centre  of  the  town,  between  ten  and  eleven  o'clock  of  the  morning 
of  28th  May,  1654.  But  I  collect,  that  as  early  as  3rd  November,  162fr, 
the  convent  was  nearly  burnt  to  the  ground.  According  to  the  Thurloe 
State  Papers,  vol.  ii.  p.  306,  they  sustained  injury  in  July,  1658,  when 
the  town  was  besieged  and  taken  by  the  combined  forces  of  England 
and  France. 

K    2 


13.2  HISTORICAL    KEPORT    OF    THE 

wandered  during  the  next  four  days  in  great  misery,  and 
perpetual  fear  of  falling  into  the  hands  of  the  Huguenots;  but 
by  God's  blessing  safely  reached  the  city  of  Antwerp.  After 
niiie  years'  residence  with  the  Poor  Clares  there,  the  growing 
ascendancy  of  the  Calvinists  in  the  town  compelled  them 
to  abandon  these  happy  cloisters ;  and  on  20th  July,  1581, 
they  took  shipping  for  St.  Omer's.  In  this  city  they  expe- 
rienced every  charitable  attention  from  the  English  Jesuits, 
who  procured  for  them  quarters  in  the  "  Archers'  House," 
then  belonging  to  the  Government ;  and  at  the  expiration  of 
thirteen  years,  the  use  of  all  those  premises.  But  as  these 
were  found  inconvenient,  their  friends,  Count  de  Gournerall 
and  Edward  Gage,  of  Bentley,  Esq.,  especially,  aided  Mrs. 
Mary  Ward  to  obtain  an  eligible  site  in  Gravelines  for  a  new 
convent  in  1607.  With  the  approbation  of  the  bishop  of 
St.  Omer's,  sister  Mary  Stephana  Goudge,  with  four  religious, 
left  St.  Omer's  fur  Gravelines  on  7th  November,  1608,  to 
commence  this  new  house  of  Nazareth ;  and  on  3rd  of  May 
following,  all  the  community  was  installed  in  it,  and  Mary 
Stephana  Goudge  was  declared  its  first  abbess.  During 
the  five  years  of  her  superiority,  slie  is  thus  described,  "  Non 
tam  imperio  prsefuit,  quam  exemplo  profuit."  Ob.  33rd 
November,  1613,  set.  thirty-six. 

But  to  confiue  our  attention  to  the  house  at  Aire,  in 
Artois,  which  was  founded  in  1629,  their  first  abbess  was, 

1.  Margaret  RadcUffe,  a  lady  of  great  experience  in 
spiritual  life.  She  held  her  rank  for  seven  years.  She  died 
26th  July,  1654,  set.  seventy-two,  rel.  forty-four. 

2.  Catharine  Clare  Keynes  governed  the  house  for  eight 
years.  Ob.  20th  November,  1646,  set.  twenty-seven,  rel. 
thirty-four. 

3.  Frances  Golding  served  for  one  triennium.  She  sur- 
vived until  17th  October,  1658,  set.  thirty-nine,  rel.  nineteen. 

4.  Elizabeth  Eveling  for  upwards  of  twenty  years  was 
superioress.  Ob.  23rd  September,  1669,  set.  seventy-two, 
rel.  fifty. 

5.  Mary  Giffard  held  the  ofBce  but  eight  months,  dying 
6th  September,  1670,  set.  forty- eight,  rel.  thirty-three. 

6.  Martha  Wilford  presided  for  eight  years.  Obiit  14th 
August,  1678,  set.  sixty-two,  rel.  thirty-nine. 

7.  Etheldred  Audry  Randolph  was  abbess  for  the  next 
twenty  yeai^s.  Ob.  24th  February,  1698,  set.  sixty-seven, 
rel.  thirty. 

8.  Winejred  Orrell  succeeded;  but  died  8th  December 
1702. 

9.  Margaret  Dodd  was   permitted  to  resign  her  dignity 


RELIGIOUS    ESTAPLI^HMENTS.  133 

27th   April,    1719,    from   old  age  and  deafness.      She   died 
3rd  May,  1726,  set.  eighty-five,  rel.  fifty  nine. 

10.  Jane  Metcalfe  for  the  next  twenty  years  continued  in 
oflSce.  Ob.  26th  February,  1743,  set.  seventy-one,  rel.  fifty- 
one. 

11.  Magdalen  Clare  Hales  held  superiority  eight  years, 
and  died  7th  September,  1748,  set.  seventy-seven,  rel.  fifty- 
one. 

12.  Elizabeth  Theresa  Sykes  was  abbess  for  thirteen 
months  only,  when  she  was  hurried  to  the  tomb. 

13.  Jane  Pye  governed  the  house  for  six  years.  Ob. 
21st  April,  1756,  set.  sixty-six,  rel.  forty-two. 

14.  Agnes  Wcurner  died  two  years  after  her  election,  viz. 
4th  July,  1759,  aet.  forty-five,  rel.  nineteen. 

15.  Bridget  Clare  Blundell  supplied  the  next  triennium, 
and  died  2nd  February,  1763,  set.  seventy-five,  rel.  forty- 
two. 

16.  Mary  Frances  Dickinson. — This  venerable  mother, 
after  presiding  for  twenty-one  years,  died  on  6th  January, 
1780,  aged  eighty-two,  rel.  sixty -two,  jubilariau  twelve. 

17.  Mary  Catherine  Hodgson,  elected  in  1780,  and  hers 
was  truly  a  painful  pre-eminence.  After  her  community 
had  lived  in  peace  and  comfort,  she  had  to  experience  the 
desolating  hurricane  of  the  French  Revolution.  They  were 
confined  and  guarded  as  prisoners  in  their  own  convent; 
their  confessor,  F.  Pacificus  Kingston,  was  torn  from  them, 
and  thrown  into  a  dungeon  preparatory  to  his  execution, 
as  expected  the  next  morning;  this  would  have  taken 
place,  if  the  news  had  not  reached  Aire  the  night  before 
that  Robespierre  had  been  executed  on  28th  July,  1794.* 
But  these  ladies  were  doomed  to  strict  confinement  for 
a  lengthened  period,  and  were  denied  permission  to  pro- 
ceed to  England  until  the  autumn  of  1799.  In  the  late 
Thomas  Weld,  of  Lullworth,  they  met  a  soothing  comforter 
and  generous  protector.     His  only  sister,  Mary  Euphrasia,t 

*  In  page  14  of  the  Directory  of  1795,  I  read,  "  Their  chaplain,  tlie 
Rev.  Mr.  Kington,  is  reported  to  have  been  guillotined  for  having  ven- 
tured to  exercise  his  spiritual  functions."  The  truth  is,  he  providentially 
escaped  the  fate  prepared  for  him,  as  I  have  hfard  him  relate  the  story. 
More  of  him  in  the  Second  Part.  He  died  at  Osmundley,  corruptly 
called  Osmotherley,  co.  York,  18th  February,  1727,  sot.  seventy-thi-ee. 
As  for  Robespierre,  the  follovving  epitaph  was  made  for  him  : — 

"  Passant,  ne  pleure  pas  son  sort ; 
Car,  s'il  vivait,  tu  serais  mort." 

t  Tliis  venerable  lady  died  at  Clare  House,  Plymouth,  on  12th  March, 
1823,  aged  sixty-nine. 


134  HISTORICAL    REPORT    OF    THE 

who  had  long  been  a  religious  of  this  monastery,  was,  with 
her  community,  complimented  with  the  free  use  of  his  seat 
at  Britwell,  in  Oxfordshire ;  and  here  they  remained  until 
1813,  when  they  were  transferred  to  their  abode  at  Coxside, 
near  Plymouth,  which  they  denominated  Clare  House. 

On  4th  September,  1812,  obtaining  permission  to  resign 
her  office,  the  venerable  ex-abbess  quitted  Britwell  House 
with  her  sisters,  for  Plymouth,  and  died  at  Clare  House  on 
19th  November,  1813,  at  the  age  of  seventy-three,  and 
fifty-sixth  of  her  religious  profession. 

18.  Susannah  Mills  was  elected  abbess  on  the  resigna- 
tion of  the  Reverend  Mother  Hodgson.  She  also  obtained 
permission  to  resign  her  dignity  on  2nd  July,  1818.  She 
died  on  8th  Mai-ch,  1823. 

19.  Clare  Conyers,  who  had  been  professed  at  Aire,  on 
13th  September,  1770,  aet.  twenty-one,  was  elected  abbess 
on  the  resignation  of  the  Reverend  Mother  Mills. 

20.  Mary  Lucy  Crump,  elected  abbess  5th  June,  1830, 
and  served  the  office  for  three  years.  Her  death  occurred  on 
11th  June,  1835,  set.  forty-six. 

21.  Josephine  Simmons  was  elected  6th  May,  1833.  To 
the  regret  of  numerous  friends,  and  whilst  in  the  enjoyment 
of  many  comforts,  and  several  advantages,  this  abbess  de- 
termined to  quit  Clare  House  for  GraveUnes.  Accordingly, 
with  her  community,  she  bade  adieu  to  Plymouth  on  28th 
May,  1834 ;  and  after  an  unusually  tedious  passage,  reached 
Gravelines  on  6th  June.  There  she  died  four  mouths  later, 
on  24th  October,  1834,  set.  fifty-three,  rel.  twenty-four. 
The  community,  naturally  enough,  grew  very  disssitisfied 
with  their  new  quarters,  and  made  arrangements  with  the 
nuns  at  Scorton,  in  Yorkshire,  to  admit  them  into  their 
convent.  These  Poor  Clarists,  a  filiation  also  from  Gravelines 
monastery,  had  resided  at  Dunkirk  from  1655,  respected 
and  honoured,  for  nearly  a  century  and  a  half,  when  they 
were  driven  away  by  the  terrors  of  the  French  Revolution. 
In  May,  1794,  they  fortunately  found  a  refuge  at  ChurchiU 
Wood,  near  Worcester,  where  they  tarried  until  1807,  when 
they  removed  to  Scorton  aforesaid. 

In  conclusion  I  may  add,  that  during  the  residence  of  the 
worthy  community  at  Clare  House,  Plymouth,  eleven  of  their 
members  diedj  also  two  Franciscan  Friars,  FF.  William 
Casemore  and  James  Summers,  were  buried  in  their  con- 
ventual cemetery.  It  may  also  be  proper  to  notice,  that  a 
few  children  of  their  gardener,  Mr.  Collins,  were  interred 
there  by  permission. 


RELIGIOUS    liSTABLlSHJlliNTS.  135 


3.   The  Lodge  at  Taunton. 


This  convent  is  of  the  third  order  of  St.  Francis  of  Assisium, 
— a  rule  originally  (1221)  intended  for  persons  of  either  sex, 
single  or  married,  who  desired  to  lead  a  life  of  particular 
devotion  and  penance  in  the  world.  Within  a  century  later, 
from  a  mere  confraternity,  it  was  raised  to  the  rank  of  a 
religious  order  in  the  Church. 

I  compiled  the  history  of  this  English  convent  of  St. 
Elizabeth  for  "  Dolman's  Magazine,"  and  refer  the  reader 
to  it  for  detailed  information.  Suffice  it  to  relate  here,  that 
two  English  widows,  Mrs.  Lucy  Sleford  and  Mrs.  Petronilla 
Kemp,  under  the  direction  of  F.  John  Gennings,  the  reviver 
of  the  English  Province  of  Friars  Minors,*  had  assumed  the 
habit  of  this  third  order  at  Brussels,  in  1619,  under  the 
firm  resolve  to  erect  a  monastery  of  this  order  for  the  Enghsh 
nation, — that  they  made  their  solemn  profession  29th  May, 
1620, — that  Isabella  Kemp  was  summoned  over  to  England 
by  F.  William  Stanney,  and  returned  to  Brussels  with 
Mrs.  Wilcox  {olim  Greenbury),  the  widow  of  Rowland 
Wilcox,  a  silk-merchant,  and  citizen  of  London ;  and  shortly 
after,  she  was  sent  back  to  escort  six  young  ladies  from 
England;  amongst  whom  were  the  two  Misses  Hockley, 
whose  mother,  Dorothy,  was  niece  to  the  Venerable  Richard 
Whiting,  last  abbot  of  Glastonbury,  so  revengefully  and 
iniquitously  executed  by  Henry  VIII.  on  15th  November, 
1539. 

With  this  accession  of  numbers  and  means,  they  were 
enabled  to  purchase,  for  £750  sterling,  a  house  in  Brussels, 
in  a  street  called  "  Buckbuere  Straet,"  and  on  9th  August, 
1621,  F.  Andrew  k  Soto,  the  Commissary-General,  residing 
at  Brussels,  duly  sanctioned  this  establishment,  and,  tid 
interim,  deputed  Margaret  de  Castro,  a  nun  of  St.  James's 
Convent  at  Ghent,  and  Beatrix  Raminas,  of  Valenciennes, 
to  superintend.  This  arrangement  continued  until  the  year 
following,  when  two  English  sisters  of  the  convent  at 
Gravelines,  Margaret  and  Elizabeth  Radcliflfe,  were  directed 
to  undertake  the  government  and  direction  of  this  interesting 
community.  These  excellent  ladies,  after  deeply  implanting 
the  spirit  of  their  seraphic  founder  in  the  hearts  of  their 
precious  charge,   returned  to   their   convent  at  Gravelines, 

*  This  venerable  patriarch,  the  restorer  and  first  provincial  of  his 
brethren,  died  in  St.  Bonaventiire's  Convent  at  Douay,  according  to  the 
inscribed  slab  in  its  church,  12th  November,  1660,  cet.  ninety  ;  Miss. 
GO,  Prof.  44. 


136  HISTORICAL    IIEPOIIT    OF    THE 

loaded  with  tli«  blessings  and  homage  of  the  grateful  chil- 
dren in  Jesus  Christ.  During  their  four  years'  stay  at  Brussels 
thirty-nine  had  taken  the  veil,  and  thirty-two  were  professed. 

The  community  was  now  enabled  to  choose  a  superior 
from  their  own  members,  and  their  election  fell  on  Catharine 
Frances  Wilcox  {olim  Grr'eenburyj  above  mentioned),  about 
Michaelmas,  1626.  Everything  promised  well,  and  the 
numbers  increased ;  yet  such  is  the  uncertainty  of  all 
earthly  affairs,  such  the  intermixture  of  prosperity  and  tribu- 
lation in  human  life,  that  during  her  government  it  was 
deemed  indispensable  to  remove  their  residence  from  Brus- 
sels to  Nieuport,  near  Ostend.  This  measure  was  adopted  in 
1637,  on  account  of  the  difficulty  of  subsistence  in  so  dear  a 
place  as  Brussels,  and  the  confined  limits  there  of  their  con- 
ventual premises.  Yet  what  they  gained  for  the  next  quarter 
of  a  century  in  cheapness  and  room,  they  lost  in  the  unwhole- 
someness  of  the  climate.  No  less  than  thirty-seven  of  the 
community  fell  victims  to  its  influence.  Add  to  this,  in 
consequence  of  the  troublesome  times  in  England,  their 
resources  from  that  quarter  sensibly  diminished ;  and  then 
the  wars  between  Spain  and  France  added  greatly  to  their 
anxieties  and  miseries.  But  that  loving  providence  of  God, 
who  permits  all  the  trials  of  His  servants  (as  St.  Paul  so 
beautifully  sets  it  forth  in  his  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews)  for 
their  greater  good,  and  has  pledged  Himself  never  to  leave 
and  abandon  them,  now  visibly  appeared  in  their  rescue. 
At  the  restoration  of  monarchy  in  England,  their  hopes 
revived;  friends  and  benefactors  generously  came  forward,* 
and  purchased  for  them  the  large  antiquated  palace  once 
inhabited  by  the  dukes  of  Burgundy,  and  in  which  Philip  I. 
of  Spain  was  born.  It  was  called  Princenhoff,  in  the  city 
of  Bruges. 

On  13th  June,  1663,  the  vicaress,  the  B.ev.  Mother 
Eyston,  was  sent  to  Bruges  with  eleven  nuns,  and,  pro  tem- 
pore, took  up  their  lodgings  in  the  house  of  Mr.  Ford,  an 
English  merchant,  James-street.  In  November  the  Rev. 
Mother  Abbess  Brenkurst  joined  {hem  with  the  rest  of  the 
community;  and  on  1st  March,  all  repairs  being  completed, 
they  joyfully  entered  the  very  capacious  and  convenient  monas- 
tery of  Princenhoff.  Their  church  of  our  Blessed  Lady  of 
Dolors  was  solemnly  blessed  and  dedicated  by  the  bishop  of 
Bruges  on  18th  May,  1664.  Here  the  convent,  with  the  excel- 

*  Amongst  them  we  may  specify  Henry,  duke  of  Norfolk  ;  the  Oneate 
family  ;  Henry,  earl  of  Dover,  who  gave  them  £500  and  the  beautiful 
plate  of  his  private  chapel ;  the  Ravenscroft  family,  &c.  Lady  Mary 
Tenyham  (olim  Englefield)  gave  them  the  Remonstrance. 


RELIGIOUS    ESTABLlSHMliNTS.  137 

lent  school  for  a  limited  number  of  young  ladies^  continued 
to  flourish,  with  God's  blessing,  for  more  than  130  years, 
when  the  successes  of  the  French  arms  and  the  advance  of 
the  revolutionary  troops  compelled  them,  on  15th  June, 
1794,  to  bid  adieu  to  their  peaceful,  happy  abode,  and  look 
for  safety  in  old  England. 

But  we  will  briefly  supply  the  list  of  abbesses.  Consider- 
ing that  the  elections  are  triennial,  and  that  the  nuns  are  at 
liberty  to  re-elect  the  old,  or  substitute  a  new  superior,  it  is 
pleasing  to  observe  how  few  changes,  comparatively,  have 
taken  place  within  the  last  230  years.  I  may  also  add, 
that  this  community  dates  its  commencement  from  the  date 
of  the  professiqp  of  Mrs.  Wilcox  and  her  six  companions, 
viz.,  10th  August,  1621. 

The  first  abbess,  Catharine  Frances  Wilcox,  elected  in 
1626,  governed  the  house  with  deserved  commendation.  In 
the  eleventh  year  of  her  presidency  (1637)  she  had  to  remove 
with  her  charge  to  Nieuport.  Resigning  her  dignity  in 
November,  1640,  she  meekly  departed  to  our  Lord  on  17th 
February,  1642,  set.  forty-seven. 

2.  Margaret  Clare  West  succeeded,  and  died  in  office  in 
1653,  fet.  fifty-two. 

3.  Barbara  Paul  Perkins  presided  from  the  last-mentioned 
year  until  her  happy  death  in  October,  1661,  set.  fifty-one. 
And  thus  the  three  first  abbesses  were,  in  great  measure,  early 
victims  to  the  insalubrious  atmosphere  of  Nieuport. 

4.  Susan  Gabriel  Brinkhurst  was  unanimously  elected 
abbess  late  in  1661.  Soon  after  her  appointment,  the  trans- 
migration took  place  to  Bruges.  During  her  lengthened 
term  of  government,  she  endeared  herself  to  her  subjects  by 
her  patience  and  courage  under  every  difficulty.  The  vene- 
rable lady  resigned  her  office  in  1694,  and  died  at  Princenhoflf 
in  the  following  February,  set.  seventy-four. 

5.  Elizabeth  Mary  Walton  was  elected  in  1674,  but  after 
a  short  illness,  two  years  later,  was  summoned  to  a  better 
world,  and  her  predecessor  was  re-elected  to  the  office. 

6.  Mary  Magdalen  Smith,  on  the  retirement  of  the  fourth 
abbess  in  1694,  succeeded ;  and  at  the  end  of  a  triennium, 
obiit  1713. 

7.  Henrietta  Maria  Moore,  a  very  accomplished  and 
talented  religious,  served  the  office  for  the  next  three  years. 
Obiit  1704. 

8.  Margaret  Clare  Roper,  distinguished  by  birth  and 
abilities ;  she  governed  the  house  with  admirable  discretion 
for  nineteen  years,  and  died  in  office  in  1719,  set.  sixty-four. 

9.  Alethea  Helen  Metham.— After  nine  years  of  superiority. 


138  HISTOllICAL    REPOaT    OF    THE 

she  prevailed  on  her  children  to  release  her  from  her  charge, 
in  consideration  of  her  precarious  health,  in  1738.  She 
survived  two  years  after  her  retirement. 

10.  Frances  Theresa  Hill  was  elected  abbess  at  the  age  of 
sixty- two;  but  she  was  wonderfully  vigorous  in  mind  and 
body.  At  the  age  of  eighty  she  could  hardly  obtain  her 
provincial's  consent  to  retire  from  active  duty.  This  vene- 
rable lady  survived  till  1st  May,  17.57,  set.  ninety-two,  rel. 
seventy-two,  jub.  twelve. 

11.  Mary  Ignatia  Lawson  was  judged  the  fittest  person  to 
succeed  the  Abbess  Hill  in  the  eventful  year  of  1745,  and 
held  the  reins  of  government  for  thirty-seven  years,  when 
she  was  reluctantly  permitted  to  resign  her  dignity;  and 
gently  slept  in  our  Lord  on  the  eve  of  Holy  Innocents,  1783, 
aged  seventy-two,  rel.  fifty-five. 

12.  Mary  Gertrude  Simeon  Weld,  the  only  child  of 
Thomas  Simeon  Weld,  of  Aston  Hall,  Staffordshire,  Esq., 
and  Mary  Fitzherbert  his  wife,  who  had  been  great  benefac- 
tors to  the  convent,*  was  the  very  image  of  their  piety  and 
goodness.  In  her  seventeenth  year  she  consecrated  herself 
to  God;  in  due  time  she  was  appointed  vicaress,  in  1774,  and 
in  1779  was  placed  at  the  head  of  the  scholars,  winning  the 
hearts  of  all  under  her  charge.  In  October,  1782,  she  was 
called  to  fill  the  office  of  abbess.  The  growing  discontents 
in  the  Low  Countries,  the  progress  of  revolutionary  princi- 
ples, and  the  subsequent  successes  of  the  French  armies, 
excited  her  acute  solicitude  for  the  safety  of  her  dear  com- 
munity, and  demanded  the  exercise  of  all  her  energies. 
Though  it  must  have  gone  to  her  heart  to  think  of  bidding  a 
final  adieu  to  their  charming  convent,  where  lay  the  remains 
of  her  honoured  parents,  she  clearly  foresaw  the  sacrifice 
must  be  made ;  but  she  meekly  bowed  to  the  holy  will  of 
her  God,  and  her  self-possession  and  tranquillity  of  soul 
kept  alive  the  courage  and  confidence  of  her  attached  sub- 
jects. On  Trinity  Sunday,  15th  June,  1794,  after  an  early 
Mass  and  Communion,  and  their  last  looks  of  their  sweet 
convent  taken,  they  proceeded  to  Delft,  waiting  there  for  a 
passage  to  England.  On  7th  August  they  reached  Green- 
wich.     Her  cousin-german,  Thomas   Weld,    of   Lullworth, 

*  The  father  died  at  Brussels  in  1764,  but  his  remains  were  brought 
to  Princenhoff  for  interment.  His  widowed  lady,  who  had  been  educated 
there,  now  petitioned  to  be  received  as  a  novice,  and  after  a  twelve- 
month's probation  made  her  religious  vows.  Almighty  God  accepted 
her  self-sacrifice,  and  in  October,  1766,  called  her  up  to  receive  her 
retribution  in  her  forty-ninth  year,  leaving  the  legacy  of  the  best 
example  to  this  edifying  community. 


RELIGIOUS    ESTABLISHMENTS.  139 

Esq.,  came  forward  as  a  protector  and  father.  Already  he 
had  secured  the  Abbey  House  in  Winchester  for  their  recep- 
tion. About  the  middle  of  August,  the  mother  abbess,  and 
a  few  of  her  thirty-five  subjects,  were  enabled  to  take  posses- 
sion of  the  premises,  and  by  the  28th,  all  had  been  collected 
together,  besides  three  French  nuns,  O.S.A.,  to  whom  this 
charitable  abbess  had  afforded  hospitality  during  the  reign 
of  terror.  But  here  another  tribulation  awaited  her.  The 
very  first  person  she  professed  at  Winchester,  the  eldest 
daughter  of  her  generous  kinsman  and  benefactor,  Mr.  Weld, 
Juliana  Frances  de  Sales  Weld,  a  most  promising  and  edify- 
ing religious,  was  called  away  to  her  eternal  recompense 
on  37th  October,  1800,  set.  twenty-seven,  rel.  eight.  She 
shortly  survived  this  severe  trial,  and  died  on  12th  May 
following,  set.  sixty-four. 

13.  Jane  Frances  de  Chantal  Howse,  whom  to  know  was 
to  venerate,  was  unanimously  elected  to  supply  the  loss  of 
the  late  beloved  abbess. 

Within  very  few  years  after  her  appointment,  it  was  found 
indispensable  either  to  build  considerably,  or  to  remove 
elsewhere.  The  latter  was  resolved  on.  Their  friends  were 
on  the  look-out,  and  recommended  at  last  the  site  intended 
for  a  general  hospital,  near  Taunton,  the  foundation-stone  of 
which  had  been  laid,  on  a  gentle  and  healthy  eminence,  by 
Lord  North,  29th  September,  1772.  After  covering  in  the 
buildings,  the  design,  in  consequence  of  the  failure  of  funds, 
was  laid  aside,  and  the  premises  were  sold  to  defray  ex- 
penses, and  purchased  by  the  Cole  family,  who  called  it 
the  Lodge.  With  this  family  a  satisfactory  bargain  was 
concluded  in  May,  1807.  All  friends  agreed  that  a  more 
eligible  situation  could  not  be  desired  for  convenience,  for 
health,  for  the  respectability  of  the  neighbourhood,  and  the 
superiority  of  the  markets.  The  abbess,  with  a  colony  of 
nuns,  and  the  young  ladies  of  the  school,  were  the  first 
arrivals  at  the  Lodge;  the  remainder  by  2nd  June,  1808, 
were  all  safely  and  happily  reunited  in  this  very  cheerful 
and  roomy  mansion.  They  were  thirty-five  in  community 
when  they  quitted  Winchester. 

This  reverend  mother  had  cause  to  rejoice  in  this  change 
of  locality,  and  the  progressive  prosperity  of  her  establish- 
ment, the  visible  benediction  of  Heaven  resting  upon  it. 
Having  now  presided  for  thirty  years,  she  obtained  permis- 
sion to  resign.  Seven  years  later  she  resigned  her  precious 
soul  into  the  hands  of  her  Creator  on  11th  October,  1838, 
set.  eighty-six,  rel.  sixty-nine.* 

*  See  Appendix  No.  VI. 


140  HISTORICAL    REPOKT    01'    THE 

14.  Winefred  Theresa  Berington,  elder  sister  to  the  prioress 
of  Spetisburg,  born  35th  October^  1773,  was  elected  in  1831. 
After  gaining  all  hearts  by  her  gentle  virtues,  at  the  end  of 
sixteen  years'  faithful  administration  she  was  permitted  to 
resign  her  dignity,  but  continued  to  benefit  the  community 
by  her  wisdom  and  luminous  example  until  her  happy  death 
on  27th  January,  1855,  set.  eighty-two,  rel.  sixty-five. 

15.  Prances  Agnes  Jerningham,  daughter  of  William  Jer- 
ningham,  Esq.,  who  took  the  religious  habit  in  1838,  and 
made  her  profession  a  twelvemonth  later,  on.  the  anniversary 
of  the  foundation  of  the  convent  (10th  August),  was  elected 
abbess  on  4th  May,  1847,  and  does  honour  to  her  station. 

4.  Canford. 

This  Carmelite  community  was  settled  for  thirty  years  at 
Canford  House,  near  Poole,  in  Dorsetshire.  It  was  originally 
a  filiation  from  the  Theresians  of  Antwerp  (see  p.  139),  and 
was  founded  at  Hoogstraet  on  18th  August,  1678,  under 
the  title  of  "Domus  B.  TeresiEcS,  Jesu,"  by  the  Lady  Gabriel 
de  la  Laing,  born  Countess  of  Hoogstraet  and  Renenbourg, 
widow  of  Charles  Florentine  Wild  Rheingrave,  count  of 
Salm,  &c.,  Lieutenant-General  of  the  infantry  of  the  United 
Provinces,  and  Governor  of  Breda.  There  these  holy  recluses 
flourished  in  peace  and  comfort  until  the  French  anarchists 
lighted  up  the  torch  of  war,  and  spread  consternation  and 
panic  around  tliem.  Quitting  their  happy  home  on  7th  July, 
1794,  they  reached  England  on  the  13th,  and  took  up  their 
residence  at  Eriars-place,  Acton,  until  December,  when  Sir 
John  Webb  and  his  only  daughter  and  heiress,  Lady  Barbara, 
fifth  countess  of  Shaftesbury,  afforded  them  a  much  better 
asylum  at  Canford  House.  I  proceed  to  offer  the  succes- 
sion of  the  prioresses. 

1.  Ann  Harcourt,  who  held  office  but  for  three  weeks, 
dying  on  11th  September,  1678. 

3.  Aloysia  Wright  succeeded  for  the  next  three  years.  She 
died  in  1694,  set.  fifty-seven. 

3.  Theresa  Wakeman,  after  presiding  for  six  years,  re- 
turned to  the  mother  house  at  Antwerp,  vifhence  she  passed 
to  eternity. 

4'.  Mary  Howard,  elected  30th  September,  1687,  and 
served  a  triennium.     Ob.  8th  April,  1738. 

5.  Margaret  Burlan  was  prioress  for  six  years  successively ; 
after  an  interval  of  another  six  years  she  was  re-elected 
prioress,  and  died  in  ofiBce  an.  1713. 

6.  Mary  Theresa  Rheingrave,  daughter  of  the  pious  foun- 


IlELKilOUS    KSTABLISHMENTS.  141 

dress.  She  took  the  habit  15th  October,  1679,  and  was 
professed  in  the  following  year.  On  22nd  September,  1696, 
she  was  elected  prioress,  and  governed  the  house  for  six  years. 
On  the  death  of  Prioress  Burlan  she  was  reinstated,  and  died 
in  office  6th  February,  1715,  ajt.  fifty-four. 

7.  Theresa  Stepney  succeeded  in  1715,  and  filled  the  place 
of  superioress  for  three  years. 

8.  Seraphina  Busby  followed  in  1722,  and  remained  in 
office  for  a  triennium. 

9.  Agnes  Frances  Burton,  formerly  prioress  of  Lierre  con- 
vent, was  elected  in  1725. 

10.  Mary  Burnett  was  the  next  superioress,  but  died  within 
a  twelvemonth. 

11.  Mary  York,  who  died  in  office  21st  September,  1742. 

12.  Isabella  Burnett,  after  presiding  for  fourteen  years, 
died  also  in  office  in  1756. 

13.  Mary  Ann  Hunter  was  elected  28th  July,  1756,  and 
held  her  rank  until  her  happy  death  25th  April,  1765. 

14.  Mary  Parkinson,  elected  23rd  May,  1765,  died 
prioress,  on  Lady-day,  1774. 

15.  Bernardine  Theresa  Matthews,  elected  13th  April, 
1774.  After  governing  her  house  for  sixteen  years  with 
much  commendation,  with  episcopal  sanction  she  departed 
with  two  other  members  to  establish  a  Carmelite  nunnery  in 
Maryland,  on  19th  April,  1790.  There  she  died  12th  June, 
1800,  set.  sixty-seven. 

16.  Ann  Hill,  elected  24th  April,  1790,  had  to  expe- 
rience the  miseries  of  emigration  from  her  convent.  She 
ended  her  days  at  Canford  House  on  29th  October,  1813, 
aet.  seventy-nine,  rel.  fifty-nine. 

17.  Mai-y  Errington  (in  religion,  Magdalen  of  St.  Theresa) 
was  elected  at  Canford  on  2nd  February,  1795,  and  con- 
tinued her  superiority  until  her  lamented  death  on  14th 
December,  1810,  eet.  sixty-two,  reJ.  forty-six. 

18.  Mary  Oswaldine  Errington  succeeded  14th  January, 
1811,  and  died  in  office.on  9th  May,  1813,  set.  seventy-one, 
rel.  fifty-three. 

19.  Mary  Jessop,  elected  13th  May,  1813. 

20.  Mary  Theresa  Duck. — Lady  Barbara  (the  only  child 
of  Anthony  Ashley,  fifth  earl  of  Shaftesbury,  by  his  wife 
Barbara,*  olim  Webb),  having  married  the  Hon.  William 
Francis  Spenser  Ponsonby  on  5th  August,  1814,  created  Lord 
De  Mauley,  and  they  requiring  ten  years  to  take  possession  of 

*  The  eail  died  in  1811,  and  allowed  his  Catholic  wife  to  retain 
her  private  chaplain  at  St.  Giles's,  Doiset.  Her  ladyship  lived  till 
5th  October,  1815.     Lady  De  Mauley  died  on  5lh  June,  1844. 


143  HISTORICAL    EEPORT   OP    THE 

Canford  House,  the  nuns  had  to  provide  for  themselves  another 
residence.  Under  the  direction  of  their  excellent  friend  and 
chaplain,  I'Abbe  Marest,  they  quitted  Canford  in  September, 
1825,  and  sailing  on  14th,  arrived  on  24th  at  Torigni,  on  the 
opposite  coast  of  France,  between  Cherbourg  and  Coutance. 
After  full  five  years'  settlement  there,  they  moved  to  a 
more  convenient  seat  at  Valognes  in  September,  1830,  where 
I  hope  they  proceed  prosperously.     Quodfaxit  Deus ! 

5.  Cannington. 

The  Benedictine  Dames  of  Paris,  in  the  Champ  de 
I'Alouette  (Lark  Field),  were  a  filiation  from  that  English 
convent  at  Cambray,  founded  in  December,  1623,  and  which 
was  also  a  colony  from  the  mother  house  at  Brussels,  the 
first  of  all  our  continental  nunneries,  for  it  dates  its  origin 
from  the  year  1587. 

From  the  chapter  archives  and  other  documents  I  wiU 
condense  my  historical  synopsis  of  this  interesting  convent 
at  Paris. 

In  consequence  of  the  failure  of  both  interest  and  prin- 
cipal of  considerable  funds  during  the  civil  wars  in  England, 
and  likewise  the  impoverished  state  of  our  English  Catholic 
families  during  that  calamitous  epoch  of  persecution,  the 
monastery  at  Cambray  was  reduced  to  such  extremity,  that 
the  very  rev.  president  of  the  English  Benedictines,  F.  Placid 
Grascoigne,  decided  on  drafting  off  several,  and  placing  them 
at  Paris.  With  this  view,  he  selected  Dame  Clementia 
Gary,  and  her  sister  Mary,  with  a  lay  sister,  as  harbingers, 
to  begin  with.  Accompanied  by  the  Rev.  F.  Serenus 
Cressy,  O.S.B.,  they  were  lodged  at  the  convent  of  the 
Austin  Nuns  on  their  arrival  at  Paris.  Their  first  appeal  was 
to  Henrietta  Maria,  the  queen-mother  of  King  Charles  II., 
who  had  been  well  acquainted  formerly  with  Dame  Clementia 
Gary  at  the  English  court.  This  lady  and  her  sister  Mary 
could  not  be  the  daughters  "  of  the  great  and  gallant 
Lord  Viscount  Falkland,  so  celebrated  for  his  life  and  his 
death  in  the  time  of  Charles  I."  (as  Dr.  Milner  asserted  in 
the  Dii'ectory  of  1796,  p.  10),  but  his  sisters*  The  kind 
reception  they  met  with  from  her  majesty  and   suite,   and 

*  Their  father,  Henry  Gary,  was  created  Lord  Falkland  10th  Novem- 
ber, 1620,  and  within  two  years  was  made  Viceroy  of  Ireland.  He  died 
in  September,  1633,  leaving  a  son,  Lucius,  who  fell  in  the  first  battle 
of  Newbery,  20th  September,  1643,  set.  thirty -four.  —  The  queen- 
dowager  above  mentioned  was  privately  married  to  Henry  Jermyn,  earl 
of  St.  Alban's,  and  died  at  St.  Colombis  10th  August,  1669. 


RISLIGIOUS    ESTABLISHMENTS.  143 

from  the  nobility  and  gentry  of  the  French  courts  encouraged 
the  said  F.  President  to  send  from  Cambray  four  other  choir 
nuns  and  a  lay  sister;  viz.  Dame  Bridget  Moore,  Dame 
Elizabeth  Brent,  Dame  Justina  Gascoigne,  Dame  Marina 
Appleton,  and  sister  Gertrude  Hodgson.  All  went  into  a 
hired  house  prepared  for  them  on  20th  February,  1652,  and 
Dame  Bridget  Moore  was  appointed  superioress ;  for  Mother 
dementia  Gary  could  never  be  prevailed  upon,  from  her 
extraordinary  humility,  to  accept  any  office  of  distinction. 

"We  continued  in  hired  houses,"  says  a  correspondent, 
"  until  12th  March,  1664,  when  a  gentleman  (Monsieur  de 
Touche)  waited  upon  us,  and  conducted  in  a  coach  Mother 
Clementia,  and  some  of  the  community,  to  have  our  opinion 
of  another  residence  that  he  had  been  looking  out  for  us. 
On  our  arrival  we  were  wonderfully  surprised  at  meeting 
several  of  our  friends  there,  with  lawyers,  notaries,  architects, 
and  masons.  We  could  not  but  express  how  pleased  we 
were  with  the  house  and  its  situation,  when  the  gentleman 
aforesaid  led  us  into  a  private  room,  and  thus  addressed  us : 
'  My  reverend  mother,  it  is  not  without  mystery  that  I  made 
a  particular  choice  of  this  day,  the  festival  of  St.  Gregory 
the  Great,  by  whose  means  the  whole  English  nation  was 
converted  through  the  preaching  of  St.  Augustine,  of  the 
holy  order  of  St.  Bennet.  So  I,  though  unworthy,  am 
desirous  on  this  day  to  be  instrumental  in  beginning  a 
monastery  of  the  same  holy  order  and  nation,  trusting  it 
will  prove  a  work  much  to  the  honour  and  glory  of  God ; 
and  that  this  place  of  solitude  may  become  a  dwelling  for 
many  souls,  and  true  spouses  of  Jesus  Christ,  who  wUl  seek 
and  aspire  after  nothing  but  Him.'  We  returned  home 
transported  with  joy,  blessing  and  praising  God  for  His 
infinite  goodness  and  providence  towards  us.  This  happening 
on  St.  Gregory's  day,  much  increased  our  devotion  to  this 
glorious  saint ;  and,  conformably  to  the  offering  we  make  of 
ourselves,  immediately  after  pronouncing  our  solemn  vows, 
we  add, — 

" '  I,  Sister  N.  N.,  do  further,  according  to  the  vocation 
and  holy  institute  of  this  convent,  offer  myself  and  all  my 
actions  for  the  conversion  of  England,  &c.,  for  which  this 
monastery  was  particularly  instituted.'  " 

Into  their  new  residence  the  whole  community  was  enabled 
to  remove  on  2nd  April,  1664,  and  it  proved  to  them  a  terres- 
trial paradise  for  nearly  130  years,  when  they  had  to  pass 
through  the  ordeal  of  persecution. 

Before  their  arrestation  on  3rd  October,  1793,  they  had  to 
suffer  occasionally  from,  the  domiciliary  visits  of  the  French 


144  HISTORICAL    REPORT    OF    THE 

democrats,  and  others ;  but  they  still  enjoyed  the  consolation 
of  remaining  alone  within  their  own  walls,  and  pursuing 
their  routine  of  religious  exercises.  In  the  beginning  of 
December  their  confessor  was  takea  from  them,  and  their 
convent  was  filled  with  prisoners  of  all  classes.  This  sadly 
incommoded  them;  and  their  feelings  ^vere  acutely  pained  at 
witnessing  several  of  these  victims  led  off  to  the  guillotine, 
not  knowing  if  their  turn  would  be  next,  and  suffering 
much  during  their  confinement  from  cold,  and  hunger,  and 
destitution  of  every  comfort.  On  loth  July,  1794,  they 
received  their  last  domestic  search,  which  lasted  from  late 
that  evening  until  the  following  afternoon,  and  then  at  night 
all  were  consigned  to  a  dark  dungeon,  which  their  jailers  had 
prepared  for  refractory  prisoners.  Here  they  waited  until 
the  coaches  were  ready  to  convey  them  to  the  Castle  of 
Vincennes,  about  three  leagues  distant  from  Paris.  They 
arrived  at  their  destination  about  one  o'clock  in  the  morning, 
and  had  then  to  mount  to  their  apartments,  which  were  four 
rooms  at  the  top  of  the  tower.  In  these  dreary  quarters, 
where  they  had  very  little  light,  they  tasted  what  real 
poverty  was ;  and  what  added  to  their  distress  was  the 
alarming  illness  of  their  reverend  mother.  It  was  generally 
believed  that  they  were  marked  victims  of  death;  indeed, 
they  fully  expected  this  would  be  the  case  ;  but  the  death  of 
Robespierre,  on  28th  July,  1794,  prevented  this  consumma- 
tion. Still,  their  miserable  confinement  here  lasted  until 
7th  August,  when  they  were  carted  off  to  the  convent  of 
the  English  Austin  Dames  in  the  Fosse  St.  Victor.  Those 
good  ladies  received  them  most  cordially.  They  were  to  be 
allowed  three  livres  per  day  for  each.  Here,  comparatively, 
they  were  at  ease ;  and  by  management  every  member  of  the 
community  experienced  the  happiness  of  confession  and 
communion,  of  which  they  had  been  bereaved  since  1st 
December,  1793.  This  return  of  spiritual  consolation  was 
effected  on  17th  January,  1795.  At  last  permission  was 
obtained  to  have  Mass  celebrated.  The  Austin  Nuns 
immediately  prepared  an  altar  in  their  infirmary,  and  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Fitzpatrick,  chaplain  to  the  Conceptionists,  or 
Blue  Nuns  of  Paris  (who  were  likewise  confined  with  them), 
said  this  first  Mass,  at  which  all  three  English  communities 
assisted  with  inexpressible  joy,  reciting  the  "  Veni  Creator  " 
and  "  Te  Deum." 

The  narrative  proceeds:  "Our  bodily  sustenance  became 
very  sparing, — a  pound  of  meat  once  in  ten  days,  very  little 
bread,  and  sometimes  an  egg.  Salad  was  the  only  thing  we 
could  procure,   of  which  we  partook  twice  a   day."     The 


RELIGIOUS    ESTABLISHMENTS.  145 

prioress,  seeing  her  community  wasting  away,  after  due 
consultation,  applied  for  passports  to  return  to  England, 
which,  by  great  interest,  and  after  much  hesitation  and 
delay,  were  finally  granted.  The  first  division  left  Paris  on 
19th  June,  1795.  All  landed  safe  at  Dover  on  3rd  July, 
and  recognized  a  kind  benefactress  in  Mrs.  Tunstall,  who 
had  prepared  a  house  in  London  for  their  reception.  They 
lost  no  time  in  obtaining  leave  to  keep  the  blessed  Sacrament 
in  this  house,  and  then  resumed  their  choir  duties,  rising  to 
Matins  at  four  a.m.,  which  they  had  been  unable  to  do  from 
24th  November,  1793,  till  the  9th  or  10th  July,  1795.  Here 
they  continued  for  fully  three  months.  Lady  Arundell,  whose 
tender  heart  had  wept  for  their  distresses,  in  the  mean 
while  was  arranging  for  their  reception,  Marnhull  House,* 
CO.  Dorset,  into  which  part  of  the  community  was  transferred 
on  30th  September,  and  soon  after  they  became  conventually 
settled.  Until  a  chaplain  could  be  procured,  in  the  person, 
of  I'Abbe  Pelletier,  they  were  obliged  to  attend  the  Sunday 
Mass  at  the  village  chapel ;  but  on  the  feast  of  the  Presenta- 
tion of  our  Lady,  the  community,  with  tears  of  joy,  and 
with  grateful  hearts  to  God,  resumed  their  religious  habit 
and  observances.  In  1807',  circumstances  rendering  it 
necessary  for  the  Hussey  family,  the  owners  of  Marnhull, 
to  resume  possession,  Charles  Lord  Clifford  generously 
afforded  them  an  asylum  in  Court  House,  Cannington.  This 
delightful  residence  had  special  charms  in  their  eyes,  as 
having  been  a  priory  of  Benedictine  Dames  before  the 
suppression  of  monasteries  in  England.  Here  they  flourished 
greatly,  and  edified  and  sanctified  the  vicinity;  here  they 
commenced  the  perpetual  adoration  of  the  blessed  sacrament 
on  2nd  February,  1829 ;  and  here  they  opened  a  large  and 
beautiful  chapel  on  7th  July,  1831.  To  the  regret  of  the 
poor,  of  the  neighbourhood,  and  the  diocese,  they  left  Can- 
nington for  a  freehold  property  called  Mount  Pavilion,  now 
St.  Benedict,  co.  Stafford.  It  was  an  estate  of  fifty  acres, 
with  a  capital  mansion,  erected,  without  regard  to  expense, 

*  During  their  twelve  years'  residence  there,  a  credulous  magistrate,  of 
the  name  of  Frampton,  waited  upon  these  religious  ladies,  and  informed 
tliem  that  he  must  search  their  premises  for  Napoleon  Buonaparte,  who 
he  was  credibly  instructed  lay  concealed  there, — that  he  had  a  painful 
duty  to  perforin, — that  resistance  was  unavailing,  as  he  had  abundant 
force  to  back  him,  and  demanded  their  keys  and  aid  to  apprehend  the 
king's  enemy.  The  seai"ch  was  rigorously  made,  but  proved  abortive. 
On  quitting,  the  prioress  assured  him  she  was  not  surprised  at  the 
result, — that  her  convent  at  Paris  had  been  a-s  strictly  searched  for 
William  Pitt  by  the  French  authorities,  and  with  similar  success ! 

L 


146  HISTORtCAIi    REPORT    OF    THE 

by  Lord  Tamworth;  and  was  purchased  on  21st  March, 
1835,  for  £5,230.  Into  this  charming  residence  the  com- 
munity removed  early  in  August,  1836. 

During  their  residence  at  Cannington,  nineteen  members 
were  buried. 

I  may  now  be  permitted  to  furnish  a  list  of  the  prioresses 
from  the  beginning. 

1.  Bridget  More,  a  descendant  in  a  direct  line  from  the 
immortal  Sir  Thomas  More.  She  was  elected  20th  February, 
1652;  after  governing  the  house  for  thirteen  and  a  half 
years,  she  was  released  from  superiority.  Ob.  12th  October, 
1692,  set.  eighty-three. 

2.  Justina  Gascoigne,  daughter  of  Sir  Thomas  Gascoigne, 
Bart.,*  that  venerable  confessor,  and  niece  to  the  president 
of  his  brethren,  F.  Placid  Gascoigne,  succeeded  6th  August, 
1665,  and  after  presiding  for  a  quarter  of  a  century,  died  in 
office,  17th  May,  1690,  set.  sixty-seven. 

3.  Agnes  Temple,  elected  24th  May,  1690,  and  for  twenty 
years  successively  held  the  reins  of  government.  In  August, 
1714,  she  was  re-elected,  and  served  eight  years  longer. 
Ob.  3rd  July,  1726. 

4.  Agatha  Gillebrand,  elected  6th  August,  1710,  and 
presided  for  four  years.     Ob.  10th  February,  1726. 

5.  Mary  Buckingham  succeeded  in  1722,  and  administered 
for  one  quadriennium.     Ob.  14th  March,  1732. 

6.  Christina  Witham  was  prioress  from  1726  to  1734. 
Ob.  3rd  September,  1740. 

7.  Mary  Benedict  Dalby  followed  for  four  years.  Ob. 
16th  April",  176-. 

8.  Mary  Ann  Woodman,  elected  6th  August,  1738 ;  and 
continued  superioress  for  twenty-eight  years.  Ob.  23rd  March, 
1780,  set.  eighty-four. 

9.  Mary  Magdalen  Johnson,  elected  6th  August,  1 766,  and 
died  in  office,  13th  June,  1784,  set.  fifty-nine. 

10.  Mary  Clare  Bond,  elected  14th  September,  1784. 
Ob.  22nd  November,  1789,  set.  fifty- three. 

11.  Theresa  Joseph  Johnson,  elected  11th  January,  1790; 
whose  painful  pre-eminence  was  characterized  by  the  most 
exemplary  resignation  to  the  divine  pleasure,  and  by  the 
most  tender  charity  to  all  her  spiritual  children.  She  died 
in  office  31st  August,  1807,  set.  fifty-five. 

12.  Theresa  Catharine  McDonald,  elected  on  Michaelmas- 

*  He  survived  his  two  reverend  Benedictine  brothers,  Placid  and 
Michael,  and  closed  his  holy  life  at  Lambspring  Abbey  in  1686,  £et. 
ninety-three.  I  hope  to  see  engraved  his  beautiful  portrait  at  the 
chapel-house,  Cheltenham. 


RELIGIOUS    ESTABLISHMENTS.  147 

day,  1807 ;  resigned  from  illness  within  two  years,  and  died 
29th  November,  1831. 

13.  Mary  Bernard  Frost,  elected  3rd  September,  1809; 
died  in  office,  26th  April,  1813,  set.  thirty-three. 

14.  Mary  Benedict  Hardwidge  succeeded.  Ob.  2nd  March, 
1823. 

15.  Mary  Clare  Knight,  elected  6th  May,  3818,  and 
under  whose  government  the  house  has  singularly  prospered. 
To  her  courtesy,  I  am  proud  to  acknowledge  myself  princi- 
pally indebted  for  the  substance  of  this  article, 

6.  Spetisbury. 

This  monast&'y  of  Austin  Nuns  was  founded  at  Lomain, 
in  1609,  under  the  title  of  the  Conception  of  the  Blessed 
Virgin  Mary,  St.  Michael  and  St.  Monica.  At  the  suppres- 
sion of  religious  houses  in  England,  Sister  Elizabeth 
Woodford,  a  professed  nun  of  the  Augustine  priory  at 
Dartford,*  in  Kent,  retired  abroad,  and  was  admitted  into 
St.  Ursula's  monastery,  of  the  same  order,  at  Louvain.  In 
process  of  time,  this  Flemish  community  received  several 
English  ladies,  whose  exemplary  fervour  and  religious  pru- 
dence won  for  them  the  general  esteem  and  confidence.  One 
of  them,  Sister  Margaret  Clement,  aunt  to  Dr.  Clement, 
dean  of  St.  Gudules,  Brussels,  grew  into  such  favour  as  to 
be  elected,  in  1569,  prioress  of  the  community,  then 
consisting  of  nearly  eighty  members.  This  circumstance 
induced  many  other  ladies  of  the  English  nation  to  conse- 
crate themselves  to  God  under  her  government.  It  was, 
indeed,  edifying  to  witness,  that  national  distinction  caused 
no  difference  in  their  mutual  charity  ;  that  all  were  animated 
but  with  one  heart  and  one  soul ;  that  in  the  midst  of  holy 
poverty,   all  was  content,  peace,  and  happiness. 

At  the  expiration  of  thirty-eight  years,  the  Rev.  Mother 
Clement  was  permitted  to  resign  her  dignity  of  abbess,  and 
within  two  years  later,  the  increasing  wants  of  this  numerous 
community  called  for  a  division  of  the  members.  After 
much  deliberation,  it  was  agreed  to  establish  a  separate 
English  monastery  in  the  place.  With  the  aid  of  friends,  a 
respectable  residence  was  obtained,  into  which  the  reverend 

•  This  convent  of  St.  Margaret,  as  the  common  seal  showed,  was 
founded  hy  King  Edward  III.  about  the  year  1355,  and  was  in  such 
repute,  according  to  Dugdale,  that  "  the  best  and  noblest  families  of  the 
country  sent  their  relatives  both  for  education  and  as  nuns."  Bridget, 
tlie  fourth  daughter  of  King  Edward  IV.,  took  the  veil  here.  Jane 
Vane,  or  Fane,  was  the  last  prioress,  and  was  granted  a  pension  of 
£66.  ]3s.  4d.     Her  twenty-three  subjects  were  also  pensioned  off. 

L   2 


148  HISTORICAL    EEPOKT   OF    THE 

and  venerable,  and  even  learned*  Mother,  Margaret  Clement, 
Catherine  Allen,  niece  to  the  immortal  cardinal  of  that 
name,  Margaret  Garnet,  sister  to  F.  Henry  Garnet,  S.J.,  of 
happy  memory,  Elizabeth  Shirley,  Barbara  Wilford,  Mary 
Welsh,  and  Elizabeth  Dunsford,  were  enabled  to  remove  on 
10th  Eebruary,  1609.  Within  a  few  months  their  numbers 
were  increased  from  the  mother  house,  and  on  19th  Noverpber 
that  year  they  proceeded  to  the  election  of  a  prioress, 
viz. : — 

1.  Mary  Wiseman.  She  was  the  daughter  of  Thomas 
Wiseman,  of  Broadoak,  Essex,  by  Jane  Vaughan,  his  wife. 
She  died  in  office  on  8th  July,  1633,  set.  sixty-three.  About 
four  years  before  her  death,  she  had  the  consolation  of 
settling,  on  14th  September,  1629,  a  filiation  of  nine  of  her 
subjects  at  Bruges,  under  Mother  Frances  Stanford.  This 
community  still  flourishes  there  in  all  its  integrity. 

2.  Mary  Magdalen  Throgmorton,  of  Coughton,  was  elected 
22nd  July,  1633.  A  splendid  Remonstrance  was  presented 
to  her  by  her  family  and  friends,  bearing  on  its  foot  this 
inscription  : — 

"Ex  liberalitate  Amicorum  Margaritee  Masdalense  Thrograorton, 
PriorisSEB  per  20  annos  Monasterii  S.  Monies,  Religiosarum  Anglarum 
Lovaniffi,  Anno  1660." 

Her  end  was  peace  on  26th  October,  1668,  rel.  fifty-six, 
set.  seventy-eight. 

3.  Mary  Winifred  Thimelby,  of  Irnham,  succeeded.  Her 
death  occurred  31st  August,  1690,  set.  seventy-two,  rel. 
fifty-five. 

4.  Marina  Plowden,  of  a  family  fruitful  of  religious  of 
both  sexes.  After  twenty-five  years  of  superiority,  she  rested 
in  our  Lord,  1st  November,  1715,  set.  seventy-eight,  rel. 
sixty. 

5.  Mary  Delphina  Sheldon  was  the  next  prioress,  and  died 
in  office,  23rd  February,  1727,  set.  sixty-six. 

6.  Mary  Genevieve  Worthington  governed  the  house  for 
seven  years,  when  God  called  her  to  her  recompense  on 
20th  November,  1734. 

7.  Mary  Cecilia  More,  who  retained  her  dignity  until  her 
happy  death  on  the  feast  of  St.  George,  1755. 

8.  Mary  Aurelia  Crathorne,  of  Ness,  co.  York,  professed 
12th  June,   1701,  was  elected  prioress  in  the  seventy-first 

*  Towards  the  decline  of  life  she  was  afflicted  with  blindness. 
Her  d6ath  occurred  in  the  New  Convent,  25th  May,  1612  ;  Rel.  43. 
The  MS.  history  of  her  life  relates  that  she  had  received  a  superior 
education,  and  was  well  versed  in  the  Greek  and  Latin  languages. 


BELIGIOXJS    ESTABLISHMENTS.  149 

year  of  her  age,  and  died  19th  April,  1762,  set.  seventy- 
eight. 

9.  Marina  Smith,  elected  prioress  the  same  spring,  and  died 
in  office  20th  February,  1784,  set.  eighty-two. 

10.  Mary  Benedict  Stonor  (sister  to  Frances,  who  married, 
first,  Thomas  Gifford,  of  Chillington,  Esq. ;  second,  George 
Gary,  Esq.,  fourth  possessor  of  Tor  Abbey,  and  died  1st 
August,  1808,  set.  sixty-three)  was  professed  5th  May,  1755, 
and  elected  to  govern  her  house  in  critical  times.  Forced 
at  last  to  abandon  her  beloved  convent  with  her  dear  com- 
munity on  28th  June,  1794,  they  took  ship  at  Rotterdam  on 
5th  July,  and  on  thel7th  reached  Greenwich.  Bishop  Douglass 
found  them  an  asylum  in  Hammersmith  for  the  next  five 
months,  when  they  removed  into  the  abbey-house,  Amesbury, 
the  last  day  of  the  same  year ;  and  on  the  first  day  of  the 
new  one  resumed  their  choral  services.  At  the  expira- 
tion of  their  term  of  five  years  they  were  enabled  to  take 
possession  of  their  present  convenient  mansion-house  and 
premises  at  Spetisbury,  near  Blandford,  and  on  Christmas- 
day,  1799,  resumed  their  former  conventual  observances. 
This  venerable  prioress  resigned  her  office  two  years  before 
her  death,  which  took  place  amidst  the  regrets  of  her 
attached  sisters  on  13th  May,  1814,  set.  seventy -eight,  rel. 
fifty-eight. 

11.  Mary  Frances  Tancred  was  elected  prioress  14th  April, 
1812,  and  died  in  office  6th  October,  1818,  set.  seventy-seven, 
rcl.  fifty-four. 

12.  Aloysius  Joseph  Tuite  professed  at  Louvain  24.th  Octo- 
ber, 1793,  being  then  twenty-one  years  old.  Her  merits 
occasioned  her  election ;  but  she  resigned  in  her  tenth  year 
of  office,  and  died  a  few  months  later,  on  10th  May,  1828 ; 
set.  fifty-six,  rel.  thirty-five. 

13.  Catherine  Berington  succeeded  11th  February,  1826; 
her  kind  attention  to  my  inquiries  and  researches  I  can 
never  forget.  Under  her  government  the  school  greatly 
prospered,  and  the  convenient  and  spacious  chapel  was  opened 
on  8th  September,  1830.  In  the  midst  of  a  most  useful  life, 
she  was  attacked  with  influenza  accompanied  with  inflamma- 
tion, and  was  carried  off  most  rapidly  on  the  night  of  the  6th 
February,  1848.  But  she  met  death  with  the  same  serenity 
as  she  had  ever  lived,  set.  fifty-nine.     R.  I.  P. 

14.  Elizabeth  Poynter  (niece  to  the  truly  learned  and 
exemplary  Bishop  Poynter,  whose  praise  is  in  all  the  churches) 
is  the  present  prioress,  and  promises  to  rival  all  the  merits 
of  her  worthy  predecessors.  Her  election  took  place  17th 
February,  1848. 


150  HISTORICAL    REPORT    OF    THE 

7.  Stapehill. 

In  page  43  I  have  briefly  alluded  to  the  establishment 
here  of  the  Trappist  Nuns.  It  was  first  organized  in  the 
Valais,  Switzerland,  in  1795.  In  1798  the  successes  of  the 
French  armies  compelled  them  to  abandon  their  monastery 
of  La  Sainte  Volonte  de  Dieu,  and  to  retreat  for  safety  into 
Germany,  and  afterwards  into  the  Russian  dominions.  The 
Emperor  Paul  I.  and  his  consort  received  them  with  every 
mark  of  condescension;  but,  shortly  before  his  majesty's 
barbarous  assassination  on  12th  March,  1801,  they  had 
deemed  it  expedient  to  look  for  refuge  in  England,  which 
they  reached  in  the  course  of  that  year.  For  ten  months  they 
resided  at  Hammersmith;  thence  they  removed  to  Burton, 
near  Christchurch.  To  their  superioress,  Madame  Marie 
Rosalie  Augustine  de  Chabanne,  Henry,  the  eighth  Lord 
Arundell,  generously  offered  his  property  of  Stapehill,  of 
which  she  took  possession  on  13th  November,  1802. 

On  the  night  of  3rd  May,  1818,  the  monastery  was  exposed 
to  imminent  danger  by  a  fire  that  broke  out  in  the  outhouses. 
The  damage  was  estimated  at  £1,400. — (See  the  abbess's  letter 
in  the  Catholicon  of  the  time,  p.  79.)  The  confidence  of  the 
abbess  in  God's  mercifnl  providence  was  manifested  on  this 
occasion. 

Pope  Leo  XII.,  who  governed  the  Church  from  28th  Sep- 
tember, 1823,  until  his  saintly  death,  10th  February,  1829, 
taking  into  consideration  the  awful  number  of  deaths  in  mem- 
bers of  this  community,  too  often  the  victims  of  privations 
and  rigoui-s  beyond  the  strength  of  human  nature,  authorized 
a  mitigation  of  their  rule.  This  was  adopted  under  the  direc- 
tion of  the  late  Bishop  CoUingridge,  and  the  beneficial  efi'ects 
of  this  altered  discipline  are  apparent  in  the  health  and  com- 
fort of  these  children  of  penance. 

The  community  now  consists  of  eighteen  choir  nuns  and 
seventeen  lay  sisters.  Their  worthy  director.  Father  Andrew 
Hawkins  (of  whom  more  in  the  second  part),  has  also  the 
charge  of  the  congregation  of  the  mission,  which  numbers 
about  180  souls.  In  page  42  I  have  mentioned  their  new 
and  convenient  church,  opened  on  16th  July,  1851.* 

SUPERIORS. 

1.  Madame  de  Chabanne  before  mentioned,  born  at  Lozere, 
in  Gascony,  19th   May,    1769,  professed  in  the  Cistercian 

*  When  some  old  walls  were  pulled  -down  to  make  room  for  this  new 
church,  hiding-holes  were  discovered.  In  one  had  previously  been 
found  a  chalice  with  its  paten. 


RELIGIOUS    ESTABLISHMENTS.  151 

monastery  of  St.  Antoinej  at  Paris,  3rd  June,  1787.  Released 
from  prison  by  tlie  death  of  Robespierre,  she  sought  refuge 
in  Switzerland,  was  placed  at  the  head  of  her  religious  sisters, 
accompanied  them  in  all  their  emigrations,  and  continued  to 
administer  to  their  comfort,  until  she  was  called  to  her  crown 
13th  June,  1844,  set.  seventy-six. 

2.  Mary  Joseph  Troy  succeeded. — N.B.  The  elections  are 
triennial. 

3.  Rev.  Mothier  Aloysius  O'Brien. 

4.  Rev.  Mother  Josephine  Campion  was  elected  in  1851, 
and  is  the  present  prioress. 

8.  Sales  House. 

This  invaluable  institution  of  Visitation  Nuns  may  be  said 
to  be  of  English  growth ;  its  first  house  was  at  Acton, 
near  London,  a  mansion  purchased  by  Mrs.  Mary  Frances 
{olim  Markham),  relict  of  Cuthbert  Tunstall,  Esq.  After  six 
years'  residence  there  they  removed  to  Shepton  Mallett  in 
1810.  Their  first  superioress,  Louise  Therese  Granden,  resign- 
ing 19th  March,  1804,  and  their  second  superioress,  Theresa 
Chantal  Hurard,  returning  to  Prance  in  1816,  they  were  suc- 
ceeded by  Mary  Sales  Weld,  who  took  the  habit  on  27th 
January,  1805.  At  the  end  of  three  years'  government.  Sister 
Mary  Francis  Den,  was  elected  j  and  at  the  expiration  of  her 
triennium,  the  Rev.  Mother  Weld  was  recalled  to  office.  On 
17th  May,  1831,  she  removed  from  Shepton  Mallett  to  far 
more  eligible  premises  for  situation,  convenience,  and  salu- 
brity. During  their  residence  there,  a  period  of  full  twenty 
years.  Dr.  Coombes,  the  pastor  of  Shepton  Mallett  mission, 
was  their  enlightened  director ;  and  in  his  chapel- vault  he 
allowed  the  remains  of  thirteen  of  the  community  to  be 
deposited,  as  also  those  of  their  most  pious  and  charitable 
foundress,  Mrs.  Tunstall. 

I  may  now  subjoin  an  accurate  list  of  the  prioresses  of 
this  interesting  community  : — 

1.  Therese  Chantal  Hurard  was  elected  at  Acton  House 
above  mentioned  on  19th  March,  1804,  re-elected  in  1807. 
Seeing  the  convent  rooted  and  flourishing,  she  returned  to 
France,  and  died  at  Dijon  3rd  March,  1829,  aged  eighty-one, 
prof,  sixty.  This  good  mother  had  been  accompanied  to 
England  by  Sister  Magdalene  Angela  Heugue  for  the  purpose 
of  organizing  this  Visitation  convent ;  but  the  latter  died 
11th  February,  1812,  set.  sixty-six,  prof,  forty-five. 

2.  Mary  Sales  Weld  was  elected  superioress  7th  June, 
1810;  re-elected  3rd  June,  1813;  ditto  28th  May,  1819; 
ditto  23rd  May,  1822    ditto  22nd  May,  1828 ;  ditto  2nd  May, 


153  HISTOEICAL    KEPORT    OF    THE 

1831 ;  ditto  4.th  June,  1840 ;    and  lastly,   1st  June,  1843— 
altogether  presiding  twenty-one  years. 

3.  Mary  Francis  Den  was  elected  30th  May,  18^16;  re- 
elected 19th  May,  1825;  ditto  15th  May,  1834-;  and  again 
11th  May,  1837. 

4.  Mary  Francis  Angela  Vaughan  was  elected  28th  May, 
1846,  re-elected  24th  May,  1849. 

5.  Mary  Francis  Sales  Weld  (olim  Clare  Weld,  and  sister 
to  the  above-mentioned  superioress,  who  received  her  profes- 
sion 25th  August,  1813)  was  elected  27th  May,  1852;  re- 
elected 24th  May,  1855. 

9.  St.  Gregory's  Monastery  at  Downside,  near  Bath. 

In  the  "  Eambler "  of  December,  1850,  I  commenced  a 
series  of  papers  on  the  truly  venerable  English  Benedictine 
congregation ;  and  the  very  first  chapter  was  devoted  to  illus- 
trate the  history  of  the  Gregorian  Convent  and  College  at 
Douay,  from  the  year  1608.  To  that  report  I  must  refer 
the  reader  of  this  compilation.  Like  the  rest  of  the  Catholic 
establishments  in  France,  these  good  Benedictines  had  to 
drink  the  chalice  of  Jesus  to  the  very  dregs.  Forced  to 
emigrate  in  1793,  they  experienced  a  welcome  reception  at 
Acton  Bumell,  a  seat  of  Sir  Edward  Smythe,  the  fifth  baronet 
of  his  family.*  There  they  continued  for  twenty  years  pur- 
suing their  conventual  and  collegiate  life,  when  an  eligible 
opportunity  presenting  itself  of  pnrchasing  Downside,  they 
availed  themselves  of  it,  and  on  25th  April,  1814,  the  com- 
munity entered  into  possession.  This  epoch  was  duly  com- 
memorated a  quarter  of  a  century  later  (25th  April,  1839), 
when  the  Smythe  family  generously  invited  all  the  Bene- 
dictines who  had  been  educated  at  Acton  Bumell  to  enjoy 
their  hospitality  in  that  ancient  mansion.  Of  the  nineteen 
Benedictines  then  in  England,  fifteen  attended  that  happy 
re-union  of  friends  and  brothers.  To  the  generous  foundersf 
of  that  cordial  and  gratifying  festivity,  I  believe,  that  re- 
compense will  be  made  at  the  resurrection  of  the  just. — 
Luke  xiv.  14. 

All  true  English  Catholics  must  rejoice  and  praise  God  at 
witnessing  the  increasing  prosperity  and  renown  of  this  estab- 
lishment. In  page  62  I  have  cursorily  noticed  the  services 
its  members  are  doing  to  religion,  and  shall  confine  my 
attention  to  the  list  of  its  priors  since  the  French  Bevolution. 

»  Ob.  11th  April,  1811. 

t  I  I'egret  to  learn  that  Sir  Edward  Joseph  Smythe,  this  sixth 
baronet,  died  on  11th  March,  1856,  aged  sixty-eight. 


RELIGIOUS    ESTABLISHMENTS.  153 

1.  James  {Jerome)  Shamrock. — He  was  younger  brother 
of  Prior  William  (Gregory)  Sharrock,  on  whose  promotion 
to  the  see  of  Telmessus  (of  whom  more  hereafter  in  the 
second  part),  he  was  by  unanimous  voice  elected  in  1780.  Like 
his  saintly  brother,  he  had  the  talent  of  gaining  the  hearts 
of  all  his  subjects.  Forced  by  the  iniquity  of  the  times  to 
abandon  his  monastery,  he  found  an  asylum  at  Acton  Burnell. 
His  episcopal  brother,  anxious  'to  secure  such  an  associate  in 
the  government  of  the  Western  District,  applied  to  Rome  for 
him.  The  selection  was  approved,  and  I  have  seen  the  Bulls 
expedited  on  19th  April,  1806,  constituting  him  Bishop  of 
Themiscyra ;  but  the  humility  of  the  good  prior  could  not  be 
prevailed  on  to  accept  the  mitre,  and  he  died  at  Acton 
Burnell  in  the  arms  of  his  beloved  monks,  on  1st  April,  1808, 
set.  fifty-eight. 

2.  Richard  {Peter)  Kendall,  a  priest  of  great  merit.  He 
had  hardly  completed  the  purchase  of  Downside,  near  Bath, 
for  the  present  convent  and  college,  when,  I  believe,  he  was 
translated  into  the  eternal  Tabernacles,  on  the  26th  March, 
1814. 

3.  Thomas  Lawson  was  elected  10th  May,  1814,  and  was 
the  first  prior  of  Downside.  He  resigned  the  office  on  23rd 
July,  1818,  and  ended  his  useful  life  at  Salford  Nunnery*  on 
23rd  April,  1830. 

4.  iMke  Barber. — He  received  the  habit  from  the  hand  of 
Prior  James  Sharrock,  and  took  the  religious  name  of  Bernard, 
26th  April,  1807.  During  the  twelve  years  of  his  govern- 
ment St.  Gregory's  College  wonderfully  prospered..  On  10th 
July,  1823,  he  opened  its  new  and  elegant  church,  which,  as 
he  truly  thought,  should  be  the  principal  object  of  attention 
in  every  well-regulated  community.  On  the  death  of  P. 
Lawson  his  services  were  required  to  supply  the  station  at 
Salford,  and  Stanbrook  subsequently.  In  1842  he  was,  to 
the  joy  of  his  friends,  elected  president  and  created  D.D. ; 
but  to  my  inexpressible  grief  he  suddenly  passed  away,  God 
giving  sleep  to  his  beloved  servant  on  the  29th  of  December, 
1850,  in  the  sixty-first  year  of  his  age,  and  thirty-sixth  of  his 
priesthood. 

5.  George  Turner. — After  serving  the  Bellingham  mission 
for  thirty  years,  this  experienced  clergyman  was  elected 
prior  on  24th  November,  1830.    After  nearly  completing  his 

*  I  have  given  the  history  of  this  excellent  convent,  founded  at  Cam- 
bray  1 623,  in  the  "  Rambler  "  of  June,  1851 .  At  tlieir  emigration  in  1 TSS, 
they  went  first  to  Wootton,  near  Liverpool,  thence  removed  to  Abbot's 
Salford,  in  Warwickshire,  in  1807,  but  wisely  transferred  themselves  in 
May,  1808,  to  their  presenteligible  situation  at  Stanbrook,  near  Worcester. 


154  HISTORICAL    REPORT    OF    THE 

quadriennium,  he  was  appointed  director  to  the  convent 
at  Princethorpe,  near  Coventry,  and  there  the  venerable  man 
rested  from  his  labours  on  15th  February,  1854,  aged  eighty- 
four. 

6.  Thomas  Joseph  Brown,  D.D.—Of  this  eminent  luminary 
of  our  English  Church  I  shall  have  to  treat  largely  in  the 
second  part.  He  was  chosen  prior  on  F.  Turner's  retirement, 
18th  July,  1834,  and  his  si^  years'  government,  until  his 
merits  summoned  him  away  to  become  the  first  Bishop  of  the 
new  vicariat  of  Wales  (to  which  he  was  consecrated  38th 
October,  1840),  greatly  redounded  to  the  fame  and  prosperity 
of  the  college. 

7.  Joseph  Wilson.  — I  have  briefly  referred  to  this  able 
priest,  in  page  58.  This  fit  successor  to  Dr.  Brown  exerted  his 
characteristic  energy  for  the  good  of  his  establishment.  He 
commenced  with  obtaining  the  royal  charter  for  enabling  its 
eleves  to  graduate  in  the  London  University.  During  his 
fourteen  years'  administration  he  endeared  himself  to  all  by 
his  business-like  habits,  and  considerate  attention  to  the 
comforts  of  all  under  his  charge. 

8.  James  [Norbert)  Sweeney,  since  his  election  in  July, 
1854,  emulates  the  merits  of  his  able  predecessors. 

10.  Dominicanesses  at  Hartpury. 

This  English  community  of  the  Rosary  was  first  established 
in  1661,  at  Vilvorden,  seven  miles  from  Brussels,  by  the 
Hon.  and  Rev.  Philip  Thomas  Howard,  O.S.D.  He  began  with 
three  ladies  trained  in  the  Dominican  Nunnery  at  Temsche, 
near  Bornhem,  but  on  the  other  side  of  the  Scheldt.  His 
sister  Henrietta  joined  them,  with  several  other  persons  of 
distinction ;  but  for  the  first  quarter  of  a  century  they  had 
to  encounter  many  inconveniences  and  difficulties.  But  their 
founder,  now  a  cardinal,  was  enabled  to  purchase  for  them  a 
commodious  house  in  Brussels,  into  which  they  were  trans- 
ferred in  1690,  and  here  these  good  religious  pursued  the 
even  tenor  of  their  way  until  23nd  June,  1794,  when  the 
rapid  approach  of  the  French  armies  compelled  them  to 
speed  their  flight  towards  their  native  country.  On  16th 
July  they  reached  the  British  shore  in  safety,  and  on  3nd 
September  found  a  comfortable  asylum  in  Hartpury  Court, 
near  Gloucester,  for  the  next  forty-five  years.  On  19th 
September,  1839,  they  removed  to  their  present  convenient 
residence  at  Atherstone,  in  the  county  of  Warwick.  I 
proceed  to  offer  a  list  of  the  prioresses,  after  premising  that 
Dr.  Milner  incorrectly  stated  in  the  Directory  of  1795,  p.  20, 


RELIGIOUS    ESTABLISHMENTS.  155 

that  Ileuriettaj  the  founder's  sister,  ever  presided  over  tlie 
convent. 

1.  Ijucy  Hurlock,  one  of  the  three  religious  taken  from  the 
nunnery  at  Temsche,  in  1661,  was  declared  prioress  by  the 
founder,  and  served  the  office  for  six  years. 

2.  Barbara  Boyle  for  thirty  consecutive  years  governed 
her  sisters,  and  removed  with  them  from  Vilvorden  into 
Brussels.  With  a  short  interval  for  repose,  she  was  called 
upon  to  serve  the  oflBce  for  two  other  trieuniums. 

3.  Mary  Crofts  was  prioress  from  1697  to  1700. 

4.  Dorothy  Canning,  the  first  of  the  convent  professed  at 
Brussels,  supplied  from  1703  to  1706. 

5.  Ann  Bushby  was  elected  in  1709. 

6.  Agnes  Atmore  governed  the  convent  altogether  for  nine 
years,  but  not  continuously. 

7.  Constantia  Mildmay,  elected  in  1715. 

8.  Mary  Rose  Howard,  of  Norfolk,  niece,  I  apprehend,  of 
the  cardinal,  succeeded  to  superiority  in  1721  for  three  years. 

9.  Letitia  Barber  was  elected  in  1727. 

10.  Julia  Brown  followed  in  1730. 

11.  Mary  Ann  Chilton  elected  in  1733;  re-elected  in  1736. 

12.  Mary  Theresa  Sarsfield  elected  1739,  and  died  in 
February,  1740. 

13.  Mary  Young  was  substituted  for  the  deceased  prioress. 

14.  Margaret  Joseph  Compton  elected  in  1742;  re-elected 
in  1751, 

15.  Mary  Agnes  Short  governed  the  house  for  a  very  long 
period ;  but  owing  to  the  loss  of  documents  I  cannot  speak 
with  precision.  In  all  probability  she  presided  from  1745  to 
1751 ;  and  then  from  1754  to  1780.  She  died  10th  December, 
1782,  set.  eighty-three,  prof,  fifty-two. 

16.  Mary  Hyacinth  Wilkinson  elected  1780.  Ob.  27th 
December,  1789. 

17.  Dominic  Brooke  elected  1783;  re-elected  in  1789.  Ob. 
8th  March,  1816,  set.  eighty-seven,  rel.  sixty. 

18.  Mary  Ann  Calvert,  elected  1786. 

19.  Mary  Louisa  AUgood,  elected  in  1792,  was  under 
the  painful  necessity  of  abandoning  her  beloved  convent,  and 
with  her  children  looking  for  refuge  in  England.  She  re- 
signed in  1803. 

20.  Mary  Magdalen  Bastow  was  elected  in  1803 ;  re-elected 
in  1821,  again  <n  1830 ;  died  in  office. 

21.  Catherine  Theresa  Dartan  elected  in  1806  and  1815. 
Ob.  8th  February,  1824,  set.  seventy-one,  prof  thirty-four. 

22.  Mary  Theresa  Leadbitter  elected  in  1809,  1824,  1832. 
Ob.  21st  August,  1848,  set.  seventy,  rel.  fifty-eight. 


156  HISTORICAL    REPORT    OF    TIIK 

23.  Mary  Rose  Stowers,  elected  in  1812,  again  in  1818. 
Ob.  2nd  April,  1847,  set.  eighty-five,  rel.  fifty-eight. 

24.  Mary  Dominica  Stennet  elected  in  1827  and  1835.  Ob. 
5th  June,  1848,  aet.  seventy-five,  rel.  fifty-four. 

25.  Mary  Hyacinth  Malthouse,  elected  in  1838 ;  and  the 
next  year  conducted  her  community  to  Atherstone,  viz.  19th 
September,  1839. 

11.  The  English  Liege  Nuns  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre. 

This  respected  community  from  Liege  is  entitled  to  notice 
in  these  pages,  by  having  taken  up  their  residence  at  Dean 
House,  Wiltshire,  from  the  year  1796  until  they  transferred 
their  establishment  to  New-hall,*  Essex.  They  had  justly 
acquired  the  renown  of  giving  a  superior  education  to  young 
ladies  of  the  first  distinction ;  and  thus  deserved  the  protec- 
tion and  encouragement  of  all  well-regulated  governments. 
But  the  vertigo  of  infidelity  had  cast  to  the  winds  all  right 
principle,  and  visited  with  proscription  the  best  benefactors 
to  their  fellow-creatures.  These  ladies  found  it  necessary  for 
their  personal  safety  to  retire  from  the  approaching  hurricane 
of  the  French  revolutionists.  After  incredible  privations  and 
fatigues,  they  reached  Greenwich  on  18th  August,  1794; 
remained  in  London  two  months ;  thence  proceeded  to 
Holme  Hall,  in  Yorkshire;  then  happily  transferred  them- 
selves to  Dean  House,  Wilts,  in  1796.  Here  they  continued 
to  render  incalculable  services  by  their  admirable  system  of 
education  until  January,  1799,  when  they  exchanged  the 
locality  for  New  Hall. 

In  its  early  days  the  community  experienced  in  Mrs.  Mary 
Ward  a  zealous  friend  and  benefactress.  This  lady  was 
daughter  of  Marmaduke  Ward,  Esq.,  by  his  wife  Ursula 
Wright.  Her  death  occurred  at  Heyworth,  near  York, 
on  20th  January,  1645,  set.  sixty ;  and  her  funeral  in  the 
adjoining  churchyard  was  marked  by  unusual  respect  and 
honour. 

I  may  now  ofi'er  the  regular  succession  of  prioresses. 

1.  Susan  Hawley  was  canonically  chosen  perpetual  prioress 

*  It  appears  to  have  been  built  by  the  Butlers,  earls  of  Orinoud. 
King  Henry  VIII.  purchased  it  of  the  Boleyns  for  a  royal  residence, 
and  erected  a  noble  gateway,  inscribed  thus  : — 

Henricus  Rex  Octavus,  Rex  inclytus  armis 
Magnificus,  struxit  hoc  opus  egregium. 

The  gateway  has  been  destroyed,  but  the  inscription  and  escutcheon 
may  be  seen  in  the  convent  chapel.  The  famous  General  Monk  resided 
here. 


RELIGIOUS    ESTABLISHMENTS.  157 

on  25th  November,  1652 ;  she  had  entered  religion  at  Tongres 
in  IGll.  Thence,  with  some  other  English  ladies  of  the 
same  order,  she  had  removed  with  Rev.  Mother  Margaret, 
mistress  of  novices,  into  Liege,  to  commence  a  convent  of 
their  nation.  When  that  reverend  mother,  who  had  been 
regarded  as  superior,  returned  to  Tongres,  Mrs.  Susan 
Hawley  was  appointed  ad  interim  to  replace  her  before  the 
above  canonical  election.  She  held  office  forty-seven  years, 
and  lived  to  the  advanced  age  of  eighty-four,  dying  on 
Christmas-day,  1706. 

2.  Marina  Doleman  presided  for  thirty  years,  and  died  in 
office  25th  September,  1722. 

3.  Susan  Roucroit. — She  died  6th  October,  1739,  ffit. 
seventy-one. 

4.  Christina  Percy  died  10th  January,  1749,  set.  fifty- 
eight. 

5.  M.  Xaveria  Withenbury  died  29th  May,  1775,  set. 
eighty-two,  prof,  fifty-three,  having  held  her  dignity  twenty 
years. 

6.  M.  Christina  Dennett  died  12th  July,  1781,  set.  fifty- 
one. 

7.  M.  Austin  Westby  died  3rd  March,  1786. 

8.  Aloysia  Clough,  for  thirty  eventful  years  endeared 
herself  to  her  subjects  by  her  exemplary  prudence,  conde- 
scension, and  amiable  manners.  Almighty  God  called  away 
the  venerable  lady  on  6th  July,  1816,  at  New-hall,  at  the  age 
of  seventy-nine.  She  had  been  a  religious  fifty-nine  years 
and  five  months. 

9.  Elizabeth  Mary  Regis  Gerard,  eldest  daughter  of 
Sir  Robert  Gerard,  Bart.,  was  elected  16th  July,  1816,  and 
governed  the  house  until  her  lamented  death,  13th  June, 
1843,  set.  seventy-two. 

10.  Ann  Mary  Clifford,  elected  22nd  June,  1843;  but 
was  prematurely  taken  off  on  14th  January  following, 
set.  seventy-four,  prof,  fifty. 

11.  Theresa  Joseph  Blount  is  the  present  reverend  mother 
of  this  flourishing  community. 

12.  Convent  of  our  Lady  of  Mercy,  Dighton  Street,  Bristol. 

This  establishment  was  founded  on  20th  February,  1846. 

The  first  superior  was  Sister  Mary  Jane  Frances  Beau- 
champ,  who  governed  the  house  to  which  she  had  been  a 
principal  benefactress.  She  was  succeeded  in  office  by 
Sister  Mary  Stanislaus  Savage,  elected  24th  May,  1855. 

Attached   to   the   convent  is  a  house   of  refuge,  where 


158  HISTORICAL    REPORT    OP    THE 

servants  out  of  place  are  received  until  they  can  be  provided 
with  suitable  situations.  Part  of  this  house  is  occupied  by  a 
limited  number  of  orphans,  who  are  fed  and  clothed  by  the 
nuns.  Is  not  this  pure  and  undefiled  religion  before  God 
and  the  Father  ? 

13.  Monastery  of  La  Trappe,  at  Ijullworth,  Dorset. 

The  original  house  of  our  Lady  de  la  Trappe  was  an 
ancient  Cistercian  monastery,  situate  in  the  diocese  of  Seez, 
in  Normandy.  By  degrees  its  inmates  had  notoriously 
degenerated  from  the  primitive  fervour  of  their  institute, 
when  the  Almighty  inspired  a  distinguished  ecclesiastic, 
Armand  Jean  le  Bonthillier  de  Ranee,  to  revive  the  spirit  of 
their  founders.  This  extraordinary  man  had  renounced  all 
his  prospects  and  fortune  to  embrace  a  poor  and  penitential 
life,  and  his  admirable  example  and  zealous  persuasions  pro- 
duced the  happiest  reformation  amongst  his  brethren  and 
disciples.  He  lived  to  see  his  monastery  become  the  admi- 
ration "of  the  Christian  world,  and  so  deeply  did  he  sink  the 
foundations  of  his  own  religious  spirit  in  the  hearts  of  his 
subjects,  that  no  appearance  of  decay  was  visible  when  the 
monastery  was  swept  away  in  the  hurricane  of  the  French 
B,evolution. 

That  blessed  solitude  had  special  attractions  for  devout 
souls,  and  we  find  many  illustrious  characters  in  church  and 
state  impatient  to  visit  it,  and  dwell  for  a  time  in  the  shade 
of  its  peaceful  cloisters.  Here  King  James  II.  made  his 
annual  retreat,  and  learned  to  despise  earthly  grandeur,  and 
to  aspire  after  that  which  is  eternal.  Here  Archbishop 
Beaumont,  the  Athanasius  of  France,  armed  himself  with 
fresh  zeal  and  constancy  to  combat  infidelity,  and  face  the 
persecution  of  courts  and  parliaments.  Here  that  gem  of  the 
episcopal  order,  Monseigueur  de  la  Motte,  used  joyfully  to 
repair  to  burnish  up  his  spiritual  weapons,  and,  like  the  hart, 
to  take  in  copious  draughts  of  fervour  to  run  the  course  of  the 
divine  commandments. 

When  we  read  the  rules  of  La  Trappe,  nature  startles,  and 
is  disposed  to  censure  what  it  has  not  courage  to  imitate.  But 
the  love  of  Jesus  Christ  crucified  softens  and  subdues  every 
difficulty,  and  makes  these  victims  of  penance  exult  in  their 
multiplied  austerities.  These  devout  solitaries  have  ever 
present  to  their  mind  the  moving  example  of  their  blessed 
Redeemer,  of  St.  John  the  Baptist,  of  the  martyrs,  of  the 
fathers  of  the  desert;  they  treasure  up  the  maxims  of  self- 
denial  and  renunciation  recorded  in  the  Gospel, — they  are 


RELIGIOUS    ESTABLISHMENTS.  159 

convinced  of  the  great  difficulty  of  salvation ;  in  the  silence 
of  human  passions  they  meditate  on  the  hatred  which  God 
bears  to  sin,  and  on  the  eternity  of  hell's  avenging  flames. 
Hence  they  imbibe  a  sincere  attachment  to  their  happy 
vocation,  and  are  firmly  persuaded,  with  St.  Paul,  that  all 
the  penitential  rigours  of  this  life  are  much  too  light  for  the 
joys  of  heaven.  Let  any  one  read,  "  Relation  de  la  Vie  et  de 
la  Mort  de  quelques  Religieux  de  La  Trappe  (Paris,  1755)," 
and  he  will  be  delighted  with  the  cheerful  service  of  these 
holy  penitents, — he  will  rejoice  that  the  Almighty  Father  is 
so  much  honoured  by  His  children, — his  notions  of  the 
efficacy  of  grace  cannot  fail  to  be  exalted, — he  will  feel  a 
contempt  of  all  that  passes  with  time,  be  encouraged  to  lead 
a  penitential  life,  and  to  sanctify  himself  in  his  particular 
calling. 

ABBOTS    OF    OLD    LA    TRAPPE. 

1.  John,  the  founder,  already  mentioned,  was  professed 
26th  June,  1662;  ob.  27th  October,  1700,  set.  sixty-five. 
King  Louis  XIV.  allowed  him,  five  years  before  his  resigna- 
tion and  death,  to  appoint  his  successor — 

2.  Zozimus,  called  in  the  world  Peter  Foisel. — He  was  a 
native  of  Belleme,  and  was  professed  19th  August,  1681 ; 
in  the  course  of  1695  was  nominated  abbot ;  but  died  after 
a  short  illness,  on  3rd  March  following. 

3.  Gervaise  Armand  ¥ranqpis  succeeded ;  but  at  the 
expiration  of  eighteen  months  consented  to  resign  his 
dignity.  He  survived  till  1751,  having  attained  his  ninety- 
first  year. — (See  art.  Gervaise  (Dom.  Armand  Fran9ois), 
Feller's  Diet.  Historique.) 

4.  Jacques  de  la  Cour  was  appointed  abbot  towards  the 
close  of  1698,  abdicated  his  office  in  1713,  and  died  2nd 
June,  1720.  At  the  petition  of  the  duke  of  Tuscany,  he 
sent  a  colony  of  his  religious  to  the  old  Cistercian  Abbey  of 
Buon  Solazzo,  near  Florence,  in  1704. 

5.  Isidore  Dennetieres,  professed  25th  May,  1698;  installed 
abbot  in  January,  1714,  and  died  in  office  24th  June, 
1727. 

6.  Franqois  Augustin  Gonche,  professed  9th  November, 
1716;  appointed  abbot  5th  September,  1727;  died  11th 
September,  1734. 

7.  Zozime  Hurel,  professed  3rd  October,  1707;  nominated 
abbot  late  in  the  year  1734;  died  7th  February,  1747. 

8.  Malachy  Le  Brun  for  more  than  twenty  years  governed 
the  community  with  the  highest  reputation  for  zeal  and 
wisdom.     He  was  the  bosom  friend  of  La  Motte,  the  vene- 


160  HISTORICAL    REPORT    OF    THE 

rable  bishop  of  Amiens.  We  learn  from  the  life  of  that 
saintly  prelate,  that  a  destructive  fire  took  place  in  the  abbey 
in  1664.  The  good  superior  survived  this  trial  about  two 
years,  dying  10th  June,  1766. 

9.  Theodore. — In  him  the  desert  of  La  Trappe  witnessed 
the  becoming  successor  of  so  many  worthy  predecessors  in 
office.     He  died,  I  conjecture,  in  1783. 

10.  Pierre  died  at  the  end  of  the  year  1789,  when  his 
authority  descended  of  light  to  Louis  Marie  Rocourt,  abbot 
of  Clairvaux.  Seeing  that  the  revolutionary  storm  was 
ready  to  burst,  that  the  religious  would  be  scattered,  and 
that  the  conventual  houses  and  estates  would  be  seized,  and 
sold  as  national  property,  he  authorized  Dom.  Augustin 
Lestrange,  the  master  of  novices,  by  letter  of  12th  May, 
1791,  to  abandon  his  monastery,  and  repair  to  an  old 
Carthusian  abbey,  called  Val-Sainte,  within  the  canton  of 
Friburg.  On  the  1st  of  June  that  year,  he  entered  that 
asylum  with  about  twenty  religious;  and  shortly  after, 
Pope  Pius  VI.  confirmed  Dom.  Augustin  in  the  dignity  of 
abbot.  For  a  further  account  of  this  persecuted  man,  see 
the  Address  in  the  Ordo  of  1813. 

A  colony  of  six  monks  from  this  Abbey  of  Val-Sainte 
arrived  in  London  during  the  month  of  August,  1794. 
Their  superior,  Dom.  Jean  Baptiste  de  Noyer,  had  received 
his  appointment  the  preceding  year.  Their  intention  was  to 
proceed  forthwith  to  Canada;  but  Providence  had  other 
designs  upon  them.  The  late  Thomas  Weld,  Esq.,  always 
ready  to  assist  and  harbour  the  harbourless,  invited  them  to 
Lulworth,  where  they  arrived  in  October,  1794,  and  placed 
them  in  the  chaplain's  house  near  his  castle.  Here  they 
remained  till  March,  1796,  when  they  removed  into  a  new 
monastery  in  East  Lulworth,  which  he  had  provided  for 
them  in  a  dry  and  sheltered  situation, — the  very  reverse  of 
the  old  house  of  La  Trappe.  It  was  dedicated  under  the 
name  of  the  Holy  Trinity  and  St.  Susan,  and  here  they 
increased  and  prospered.  The  first  prior  was  John  Baptist, 
already  mentioned.  He  quitted  England  in  the  summer  of 
1801,  when  he  was  succeeded  by  Dom.  Marie  Bernard 
Benoit,  who  died  in  July,  1805.  Dom.  Maur  Adam  was  the 
third  prior ;  but  he  was  hurried  to  the  tomb  in  May,  1810. 
Then  was  called  to  the  helm  a  very  distinguished  character, 
Dom.  Antoine  Saulnier  de  Beaureaund,  a  quondam  canon  of 
Sens  Cathedral,  and  in  every  sense  of  the  word  a  superior 
man.  Pope  Pius  VII.,  in  consideration  of  his  merits,  raised 
him,  in  May,  1813,  to  the  rank  of  abbot,  and  as  such  he 
was  blessed  by  Bishop  Poynter,  in  London,  in  the  August 


RELIGIOUS    ESTABLISHMENTS.  161 

following.     Under  his  direction.  La  Trappe   attracted   the 
attention  and   wonder  of  all  classes.      Every  unprejudiced 
visitor*  must  have  departed  from  the  sight  of  these  holy 
men,  delighted  with  their  indefatigable  industry,  their  admi- 
rable frugality,   and   their   cheerful   and  unaffected   piety. 
And  yet  persons  were  found  who  frightened  themselves  into 
the  persuasion  that  their  example  might  contribute  to  the 
multiplication  of  such  establishments  in  Protestant  England. 
Had  they  reasoned,  had  they  inquired,  their  terrors  must 
have  vanished ;  for  in  all  Catholic  Prance,  before  the  Revolu- 
tion, there  was  but  one  single  convent  of  La  Trappe  !     Until 
the  beginning  of  1816,  these  good  religious  had  experienced 
the  most  profound  tranquillity,  when  they  had  to  feel  expe- 
rimentally the  force  of  Christ's  words,  "  A  man's  enemies 
are  those  of  his  own  household."     One  James  Power,t  a 
native  of  Waterford,  after  seven  years  spent  in  the  order, 
decamped  towards  the  end  of  January,  1816,  and  soon  after 
publicly  abjured  the  Catholic  faith  in  the  parish  church  of 
Blandford.     Not  satisfied  with  this  scandal,   the  heartless 
man,  on  16th  March  that  year,  swore  to  several  charges, 
as  may  be  seen  in   the  Appendix.     But  the   unprincipled 
apostate  was  soon  after  summoned  before  the  tribunal  of 
Heaven,  to  answer  for  his  hypocrisy,  false  testimony,  and 
violation  of  his  solemn  vows.     The  result   of  the  business 
was,  that  the  abbot,  with  much  reluctance,  decided  on  trans- 
porting his  establishment  to  France,  as  soon  as  circumstances 
would  permit.     On  application  to  the  French  authorities, 
permission   was    granted,   and    Lewis  XVIII.  assisted  the 
abbot  in  purchasing  the  ancient  Bernardino  Convent   and 
domain  of  Melleray,   in  the   diocese   of  Nantes,   and  sent 
the  La  Revanche  frigate  to  Weymouth,  to  take  on  board 
their  community,  as  also  a  lugger  to  convey  their  goods  and 
chatties  to  France.     On  7th  July,  1817,  this  band  of  holy 
monks,  fifty-nine  in  number,  embarked,  reached  the  French 
coast  on  the  23rd,  and  entered  their  new  monastery,  with 
imposing  solemnity,  on  7th  August.     There,  as  at  LuUworth, 
they  proved  a  daily  source  of  benediction  to  the  surrounding 

_  *  Having  had  the  comfort  and  blessing  of  witnessing  their  fervid 
piety  and  their  industrious  and  penetential  life  in  the  years  1810  and 
1816,^  I  could  not  help  comparing  what  I  saw  and  admired  with  a 
description  of  a  monastery  of  penitents,  as  described  by  St.  John  Cli- 
macus.  It  is  truly  in  such  places  men  learn  how  to  live  and  how  to 
die.  The  reader  will  be  edified  with  the  account  of  a  visit  made  here, 
as  detailed  in  vol.  v.  of  the  Catholicon,  as  also  with  the  visit  of  the 
lamented  Princess  Charlotte  of  Wales,  in  the  same  volume,  p.  242. 
t  See  Appendix  No.  VII. 

M 


163  HISTORICAL    REPORT   OF    THE 

country  by  their  virtues  and  superabundant  charity.* 
(2  Kings  vi.)  During  their  stay  at  Lullworth,  tbey  buried 
fwenty-seven  of  their  brethren;  viz.  seven  priests,  thirteen 
ohoir-religious,  the  rest  postulants  or  lay-brothers. 

I  have  remarked^  that  the  abbot  quitted  his  peaceful 
abode  with  reluctance.  He  was  a  man  of  deep  penetration, 
and  he  was  far  from  being  at  his  ease  as  to  the  political 
horizon  of  France.  But  he  had  a  precious  fltick  to  feed, 
guide,  and  protect.  How  they  occupied  themselves  at 
Melleray,  and  what  good  they  rendered  to  society  at  large, 
is  set  forth  in  the  letter  of  Monsieur  Richer  describing  his 
visit ;  which  may  be  seen  in  the  first  volume  of  the  "  Catholic 
Miscellany"  of  1823,  pp.  108-155,  303-369.  But  France 
proved  herself  unworthy  of  possessing  siich  meritorious, 
patriotic,  and  edifying  fathers  of  the  desert.  The  cancerous, 
revolutionary  spirit  of  France  had  extended  to  the  provinces, 
and  though  the  political  authorities  were  eager,  in  the  early 
part  of  1831,  to  dissolve  the  establishment,  still  the  firmness 
of  the  abbot,  who  stood  upon  his  rights  as  a  French  citizen, 
and  a  proprietor  of  the  house  of  Melleray,  kept  them  at  bay. 
But,  after  nine  months'  annoyance  and  menace,  more  than  a 
thousand  troops  entered  the  abbey,  on  38th  September,  1831, 
with  drawn  swords,  loaded  muskets,  and  fixed  bayonets,  and 
commanded  the  saintly  inmates  to  be  driven  from  this 
earthly  paradise ;  with  difficulty  could  sixty-four  (another 
account  says  seventy-eight)  of  this  commimity  that  were 
British  subjects  obtain  license  to  remain  until  the  British 
consul  at  Nantes  was  able  to  procure  them  a  passage  to  their 
native  country.  From  the  5th  of  October  none  of  the 
brethren  were  suffered  to  wear  their  religious  habit,  or  to 
say  Mass,  but  in  their  chambers,  and  no  two  persons  were 
permitted  to  pray  together  !     On  13th  November  the  British 

*  I  believe  that  no  individuals  with  the  same  amount  of  means  can 
exercise  so  much  charity  as  the  monks  of  La  Trappe.  When  France 
was  devastated  with  famine  and  epidemy  in  1709,  the  poor  and  infected 
of  an  immense  district  looked  to  La  Trappe  for  relief  and  comfort.  In 
that  year  more  than  80,000  persons  received  assistance  from  that  single 
convent !  In  one  day  no  fewer  than  1-2,000  persons  were  relieved  !  The 
heroic  sacrifices  of  the  monks  raised  them  above  all  praise  as  men,  as 
citizens,  and  as  Christians. — See  the  above-quoted  work,  "  Relation  de 
la  Vie,"  &o.,  vol.  v.  p.  28.  After  paying  a  visit  to  La  Trappe,  Monseig- 
neur  La  Motte,  writing  to  a  friend,  thus  expresses  himself  :  "  Je  dis  a 
M.  le  Cardinal  Ministre,  que  je  voyais  en  quatre  jours  les  deux  extre- 
mit^s  du  monde,  la  cour  d'un  grand  roi,  et  le  monastere  de  La  Trappe. 
Je  recommandai  beaucoup  cette  Sainte  Abbaie,  ou  avec  18,000  livres  de 
rent  (^720)  on  trouve,  par  les  ressoiu-ces  que  fournit  la  frugalite,  le 
secret  de  nourir  160  personnes  et  de  recevoir  jusqu'a  deux  milles  hotes 
par  an." 


RELIGIOUS    ESTABLISHMENTS.  163 

Trappists,  guarded  by  an  armed  escortj  were  conducted,  like 
so  many  malefactors,  to  Nantes,  where  they  arrived  the  same 
evening,  and  were  quartered  at  St.  James's  Hospital.  On 
19th  November,  in  spite  of  their  repeated  protestations,  they 
were  put  on  board  a  steamboat,  and  descended  the  Loire. 
At  length  they  embarked  on  board  the  Hebe,  which  con- 
veyed them  to  the  cove  of  Cork,  where  they  landed  on 
St.  Andrew's  Day.  During  their  voyage,  were  they  not 
justified  in  applying  to  those  infidel  and  inhospitable  rulers 
of  France  the  words  of  iEneas  : — 

"  Quod  genus  hoc  hominum?  Quern  hunc  tarn  bavbara  morem 
Permittit  Patria  ?  Hospitio  prohibemur  arenae  1 " 

But  they  saw  tte  will  of  God  in  everything.  In  reward  of 
their  meek  submission,  God,  who  holds  the  hearts  of  men 
and  is  truly  wonderful  in  his  holy  servants,  raised  up  a  host 
of  benefactors.  The  principal  was  Sir  Richard  Keane,  a 
Protestant,  who  granted  to  them  560  Irish  acres  of  waste 
land  in  the  parish  of  Cappoquin,  near  Dungarvon,  within  the 
county  of  Waterford.  He  foresaw  that,  by  their  industry  and 
taste  and  indomitable  energy,  the  land  would  be  reclaimed, 
and  a  spirit  of  enterprise  enkindled  in  the  people.  The 
extraordinary  change  of  that  bleak  country  reminds  us  of  the 
words  of  Isaiah  (chap.  xxxv.  1,  3)  :  Lsetabitur  deserta  et 
invia,  et  exultabit  solitude,  &c.  &c.*  The  foundation-stone 
of  their  new  abbey  was  laid  with  great  solemnity  on  23nd 
August,  1833.  I  thank  Almighty  God,  the  Father  of  the 
poor,  for  having  bestowed  the  blessing  of  such  an  establish- 
ment on  faithful  Ireland ;  as  also  for  having  vouchsafed,  in 
his  mercy,  to  restore  to  our  own  dear  country,  through  the 
pious  generosity  of  Ambrose  Lisle  Phillipps,  Esq.,  a  monas- 

*  In  the  Dvhlin  Evening  Post  of  16th  June,  1836, 1  read  that  the 
Right  Rev.  Abbot  Ryan,  of  this  new  monastery,  had  given  notice  in  the 
Dublin  Gazette  of  his  having  planted  9,012  trees  of  various  kinds 
around  his  premises.  The  reader  would, be  gratified  with  the  report 
of  a  "  Visit  to  the  Abbey  of  Mount  Melleray,  in  Ireland,"  in  "  Tail's 
Edinburgh  Magazine  "  of  March,  1837. 

In  the  Sun  of  28th  February,  1838,  is  given  the  account  of  a  meeting 
of  the  directors  and  proprietors  of  the  Irish  waste  lands,  at  Broad- 
street,  London,  holden  the  preceding  day.  Lord  Devon  in  the  chair. 
Major  Beamish,  in  moving  that  the  report  then  read  be  adopted,  stated 
that  "  the  monks  at  Mount  Melleray  had  obtained  a  grant  of  600  or 
700  acres  of  waste  from  Sir  Richard  Keane ;  and  not  only  had  they 
succeeded  in  raising  fine  crops  of  rye,  turnips,  potatoes,  &c.,  but  an 
adjacent  district  of  5,000  acres,  which  had  been  an  unprofitable  waste 
to  the  proprietor,  was  now  tenanted,  and  under  cultivation.     (Cheers.)" 

This  Abbot  Vincent  Ryan,  such  a  benefactor  to  his  native  country, 
died  9th  December,  1845. 

M    2 


164  HISTORICAL    EEPOET    OF    THE 

tery  of  the  same  institute,  near  Lougliborough,  county 
Leicester.  And  how  it  must  have  revived  the  heart  of  their 
venerable  patriarch,  Dom  Antoine,  the  old  abbot  of  Melleray, 
to  hear  these  glad  tidings  of  his  children,  before  God  called 
him  to  himself!  Thus  the  Lord  blessed  the  latter  end  of 
his  servant  more  than  his  beginning. 

14.  The  Passionists  and  Dominicans  at  Woodchester. 

In  pages  121  and  137  I  have  briefly  alluded  to  this 
monastery.  Having  obtained  more  detailed  information,  I 
proceed  to  submit  it  to  my  indulgent  readers. 

William  Leigh,  Esq.,  of  Woodchester  Park,  near  Stroud, 
whose  praise  is  in  all  the  churches,  anxious  to  extend  the 
blessing  of  Catholic  faith  in  his  neighbourhood,  decided  on 
establishing  a  religious  community  on  his  property.  At  the 
recommendation  of  Bishop,  now  Cardinal,  Wiseman,  he  in- 
vited F.  Dominic,  the  vice-provincial  of  the  Passionists,  to 
meet  him,  and  to  fix  on  an  eligible  site  for  a  church  and 
monastery.  On  9th  February,  1846,  F.  Dominic  reached 
Woodchester  Park,  where  he  was  heartily  welcomed  by 
Mr.  Leigh  and  his  family.  A  proper  selection  of  a  site 
being  concluded  on,  Mr.  Leigh,  desirous  of  losing  no  time, 
engaged  for  the  temporary  accommodation  of  the  community 
a  mansion  called  Northfield  House,  Forest  Green  Village, 
near  Nailsworth,  about  a  mile  distant  from  the  site  of  the 
intended  monastery.  On  34th  March,  1846,  F.  Dominic,  in 
the  company  of  Brother  Thomas,  took  possession  of  this  tem- 
porary abode,  and  on  the  next  day,  the  feast  of  the  Annuncia- 
tion of  Our  Lady,  F.  Dominic,  for  the  first  time,  celebrated 
the  holy  sacrifice  in  a  room  hastily  fitted  up,  in  the  presence 
of  six  Catholics.  Four  days  later  two  other  Passionists 
joined  them,  and  on  the  following  Sunday  they  had  a  public 
service.  F.  Dominic  delivered  a  discourse  to  about  twenty 
Catholics,  several  of  whom  had  come  from  distant  places. 
For  the  holy  week  they  fitted  up,  for  a  temporary  chapel,  a 
large  room,  previously  occupied  as  a  Dissenting  school-room 
(for  these  premises  belonged  to  a  Dissenting  minister),  and 
on  Palm  Sunday  F.  Dominic  preached  three  several  times. 
This  zealous  father,  writing  at  a  subsequent  period,  expresses 
himself  thus  : — "  The  concourse  of  people  to  our  little  chapel 
from  the  very  first  has  been  great ;  so  much  so,  that  it  could 
not  afford  sufficient  accommodation.  Surely  all  do  not 
attend  with  good  dispositions ;  some  to  criticize,  some  through 
curiosity,  and  finally,  some  to  disturb  the  devotion  of  this 
little  congregation.    However,  with  patience  and  perseverance, 


RELIGIOUS    ESTABLISHMENTS.  165 

wc  have  been  enabled  to  get  on.  Several  Protestants  have 
been  received  into  the  bosom  of  the  Catholic  Church  (the 
first  of  whom  is  already  dead  and  buried  where  the  new 
church  is  being  erected) ;  many  are  under  instructions,  and 
amongst  others,  a  person  of  great  piety,  Mrs.  Evans,  who, 
from  the  first  arrival  of  the  religious  here,  has  shown  a 
maternal  charity  towards  us."  By  the  end  of  the  year  1846, 
the  community  was  increased  to  ten ;  some  were  engaged  in 
the  affairs  of  the  house — others  were  occupied  in  administer- 
ing to  the  spiritual  concerns  of  the  rising  congregation. 

In  page  121  I  have  described  the  laying  of  the  foundation- 
stone  of  the  new  church  of  the  Annunciation  of  our  Lady 
on  26th  November,  1846,  the  solemn  consecration  of  the 
sacred  edifice  on  10th  October,  1849,  and  its  glorious  opening 
on  the  following  day.  On  Sunday,  14th  October,  Dr.  UUa- 
thorne,  after  assisting  at  High  Mass,  preached  an  admirable 
sermon.  On  the  same  evening,  after  solemn  vespers,  F. 
Ignatius  (Spenser)  commenced,  for  the  benefit  of  the  congre- 
gation, a  course  of  spiritual  exercises,  which  concluded  on  the 
following  Sunday. 

I  must  not  omit  to  state  that  on  Tuesday,  20th  March, 
1849,  the  community  had  removed  from  Northfield  Ilouse  to 
a  large  cottage.  Park-hill,  above  the  new  monastery,  which 
Mr.  Leigh  had  fitted  up  for  a  temporary  residence.  But  as 
there  was  no  sufficient  room  in  it  to  serve  as  a  chapel  for  the 
increasing  congregation,  the  spacious  room  over  the  sacristies 
of  the  new  church  was  prepared  for  this  purpose. 

On  7th  October,  1850,  the  Passionists  removed  from  Wood- 
chester  to  Broadway,  in  Worcestershire,  having  several  Pro- 
testants under  instructions.  In  1846  they  had  reconciled  4 
to  the  Catholic  faith,  12  in  1847,  11  in  1848,  14  in  1849, 
and  21  in  1850.     Total,  62. 

Their  first  superior  at  Woodchester,  as  we  have  seen,  was 
F.  Dominie,  a  man  of  superior  merit,  known  in  the  world  as 
Domenico  Barbieri :  he  was  born  near  Viterbo  on  4th  August, 
1793  (another  account  states  on  22nd  June,  1792) ;  took  the 
religious  habit  of  the  Passionists  on  14th  November,  1814, 
and  made  his  profession  on  15th  November  of  the  following 
year.  Dr.  "Wiseman,  who  had  made  his  acquaintance  at 
Rome,  having  been  consecrated  Bishop  of  Melipotamus  8th 
June,  1840,  and  coadjutor  to  Bishop  Walsh,  V.A.  of  the  Mid- 
land District,  invited  his  zealous  friend  F.  Dominic  to  come 
over  and  establish  a  congregation  of  his  order  in  England. 
He  consented,  and  made  two  journeys  for  the  purpose.  In 
the  second,  after  staying  five  months  at  Oscott  College,  he 
was  put  in  possession  of  Aston  Hall,  near  Stone,  on  17th 


166  HISTORICAL    REPORT   OF    THE 

February,  1843,  where  his  brethren  immediately  began  to 
follow  the  regular  observances  of  their  institute.  From  this 
mother-house  he  was  enabled  to  colonize  Woodchester,  and 
Poplar  House,  London,  since  his  death  removed  to  the 
Hyde. 

F.  Dominic,  beloved  of  God  and  man,  went  about  doing 
good  to  all,  like  his  blessed  Master;  and  like  St.  John  the 
Baptist,  giving  knowledge  of  salvation  to  his  people  by  the 
remission  of  their  sins.  The  following  narrative  of  events, 
which  occurred  shortly  before  his  arrival  at  Woodchester, 
must  edify  the  reader  : — 

"  On  Michaelmas-day,  1845,  he  received  into  the  church 
at  Aston  Hall  Mr.  Dalgairns,  now  one  of  the  Oratorians  at 
Birmingham.  On  9th  October  next  ensuing  he  admitted 
Dr.  Newman,  under  the  following  circumstances : — Mr.  Dal- 
gairns, on  his  return  from  Aston  to  Littlemore,  near  Oxford, 
wrote  to  the  rev.  father  to  come  thither  without  delay.  He 
started  at  once,  and  arrived  as  an  outside  passenger  by  the 
coach  to  Oxford,  at  ten  p.m.  on  8th  October,  completely 
drenched  with  rain.  He  was  met  at  Oxford  by  Messrs. 
Dalgairns  and  St.  John,  who  accompanied  him  to  Littlemore. 
The  first  words  they  uttered  were  that  Dr.  Newman,  their 
master  and  friend,  had  decided  on  following  their  example. 
This  announcement  made  him  forget  the  fatigue  of  his 
journey.  Stepping  into  a  conveyance,  they  reached  Little- 
more by  eleven  that  night.  The  rev.  priest  was  introduced 
into  a  parlour,  and  whilst  standing  by  the  fire  to  dry  his 
clothes  Dr.  Newman  entered,  and  kneeling  at  his  feet  and 
begging  his  blessing,  entreated  him  to  hear  his  confession, 
and  receive  him  into  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ.  F.  Dominic 
was  moved  to  tears ;  and  after  a  short  interval  proceeded  to 
hear  his  general  confession.  On  the  following  morning 
Messrs.  Bowles  and  Stanton  made  their  confessions  also,  and 
in  the  evening  all  read  the  profession  of  faith  in  the  private 
chapel  of  the  house.  On  the  10th  of  October  F.  Dominic 
celebrated  Mass  there,  and  administered  the  holy  communion 
to  Dr.  Newman,  and  Messrs.  Dalgairns,  St.  John,  Bowles, 
and  Stanton.  He  was  afterwards  introduced  by  Mr.  Dalgairns 
to  Mr.  Woodmason,  his  wife  and  two  daughters,  who  begged 
the  benefit  of  his  ministry  to  be  reconciled  to  the  Church. 
All  this  was  accomplished  to  their  mutual  comfort.  When 
F.  Dominic  first  saw  Dr.  Newman,  he  said,  good-humouredly, 
'  Little  more,  and  you  will  be  right.'  " 

The  duties  of  vice-provincial  obliging  him,  in  January, 
1847,  to  resign  the  government  of  his  little  community  at 


RELIGIOUS    ESTABLISHMENTS.  167 

Woodchester,  he  appointed  for  his  successor  F.  Marcellian,  of 
St.  John  the  Evangelist^  an  Italian,  called  in  the  world  John 
Anthony  Pini.  He  was  born  on  Christmas-eve,  1819,  and 
was  admitted  to  his  religious  profession  as  a  Passionist  on 
10th  August,  1837.  He  had  Tjeen  sent  by  his  general  to 
England  in  the  spring  of  1845,  and  within  a  twelvemonth 
later  was  called  by  F.  Dominic  to  Northfield  House.  He 
was  certainly  a  man  of  great  promise ;  but  his  constitution 
was  very  delicate,  and  he  was  prematurely  cut  off  on  the 
morning  of  14th  March,  1848,  and  his  precious  remains  were 
deposited  in  Mr.  Leigh's  vault,  under  the  chapel  of  the  Forty 
Martyrs,  which  I  have  mentioned  in  page  127. 

This  regretted  superior  was  succeeded  by  F.  Vincent,  of 
St.  Joseph,  wHo  continued  to  preside  at  Woodchester  until 
their  removal  to  Broadway.  I  conclude  this  narrative  by 
a  brief  notice  of  the  end  of  the  saintly  F.  Dominic,  who  died, 
alas  I  too  soon  for  others,  but  not  for  himself,  at  the  Railway 
Hotel,  Reading,  on  Monday  afternoon,  37th  August,  1849. 
He  had  started  that  morning  from  St.  Joseph's,  Poplar  House, 
in  the  company  of  F.  Lewis,  an  Italian  Passionist,  in  order 
to  visit  his  dear  religious  at  Woodchester.  For  some  time  he 
must  have  been  suffering  from  ossification  of  the  heart.  The 
travelling  brought  on  such  excruciating  pain,  that  he  was 
obliged  to  be  lifted  out  of  the  train  at  the  Pangboum-station. 
As  the  cholera  was  then  prevalent  in  England,  and  his  attack 
was  presumed  to  be  cholera,  he  was  refused  accommodation 
at  the  inns,  and  was  obliged  to  lie  for  an  hour  on  a  little 
straw  in  a  cottage.  How  this  must  have  reminded  him  of 
the  suffering  babe  of  Bethlehem.  At  the  arrival  of  the  next 
train  he  was  lifted  in  and  conveyed  to  Reading,  where,  at  the 
Railway  Hotel,  he  experienced  every  attention.  But  his 
complaint  was  beyond  all  human  succour,  and  about  three 
P.M.  he  slept  in  the  Lord.  The  corpse  that  evening  was 
removed  to  London,  and  thence  to  Stone,  in  Staffordshire. 
On  the  following  Friday,  31st  August,  the  community  of 
Aston,  in  all  fifteen  religious,  and  the  Rev.  John  Harkness, 
of  Swynnerton  Park,  met  at  the  Catholic  chapel  at  Stone, 
and  after  a  solemn  High  Mass  started  in  procession  from  the 
chapel  to  Aston  Hall,  a  distance  of  two  miles,  followed  by  an 
immense  multitude,  who  conducted  themselves  with  the 
utmost  decency  and  respect  to  departed  worth.  When  the 
procession  arrived  St.  Michael's  Church,  Aston,  the  coffin 
was  placed  in  the  centre,  and  the  Rev.  John  Harkness  deli- 
vered a  most  impressive  discourse,  which  drew  abundance  of 
tears  from  the  audience  and  spectators.    On  the  conclusion  of 


168 


HISTORICAL    REPOET,    ETC. 


the  burial  service,  the  coffin  was  deposited  in  a  vault  pre- 
pared on  the  gospel  side  of  the  sanctuary,  where  it  awaits  a 
glorious  resurrection. 

F.  Eugene,  of  St.  Anthony,  whom  the  general  of  the 
Passionists  had  delegated  to  be  his  visitor,  arrived  in  England 
during  the  month  of  August,  1850.  He  much  objected  to 
Mr.  Leigh's  wish,  that  his  community  should  be  charged  with 
the  care  of  a  secular  congregation,  and  that  the  church  should 
also  be  parochial.  It  was  then  amicably  arranged  that  his 
Passionist  brethren  should  be  removed  to  Broadway.  During 
these  negotiations  the  Dominicans  were  actually  holding  their 
provincial  chapter,  where  the  propriety  was  debated  and 
agreed  upon,  of  establishing  a  novitiate,  where  the  rule  of 
St.  Dominic  should  be  in  all  things  strictly  observed.  The 
locality  of  the  novitiate  was  to  form  the  subject  of  considera- 
tion for  the  next  day.  But  behold  !  that  very  evening  Mr. 
Leigh,  who  knew  nothing  of  the  Dominicans  before,  having 
merely  seen  some  of  them  at  the  opening  of  Mr.  Haigh's 
beautiful  church  at  Erdington,  co.  Warwick,  that  summer, 
came  and  offered  the  premises  at  Woodchester  for  their  ac- 
ceptance. The  providence  of  God  appeared  so  manifest  in 
the  transaction,  that  there  was  little  hesitation  in  embracing 
the  oJSfer ;  and  accordingly  P.  Augustine  Procter,  accompanied 
by  brother  Lewis  Weldon,  on  8th  October,  ]  850,  took  pos- 
session, and  was  soon  after  joined  by  F.  Augustine  Maltus 
and  some  postulants.  In  the  next  summer  the  vicar-general 
of  the  Dominicans,  the  very  Rev.  F.  Vincent  Jandel,  made  a 
visitation  of  this  province,  and  shortly  after  sent  over  F. 
Thomas  Burke  from  the  convent  of  Sancta  Sabina,  as  vice- 
master  of  novices.  I  praise  and  bless  Almighty  God  for  the 
bright  prospects  opening  to  religion  in  this  convenient  and 
spacious  monastery.  Under  the  presiding  genius  of  the 
present  superior,  F.  J.  Dominic  Aylward,  I  anticipate  a  host 
of  luminaries,  like  the  Kilwardebys  and  Trivets  of  ancient 
days  in  England.  Will  no  one  attempt  to  do  justice  to  this 
noble  order,  and  supply  that  great  desideratum — an  Anglia 
Dominicana  ? 


169 


CHAPTER  XV. 

REPOllT   TO    GOVERNMENT   OF   THE   CATHOLIC /PKOPERTY,    IN    1715 
AND   1718,    IS    THESE   SIX   WESTERN    COUNTIES. 

Cornwall. 

Richard  Arundell,  Esq. 

William  Plowden,  Esq.* 

Richard  Rawe'of  St.  Colomhe,  Esq. 

Thomas  Rawe,  of  St.  Cleather 

"William  Couche,  of  St.  Sampson 

Nicholas  James,  of  Newlyn    . 

James  Lincolne,  of  ditto 

Richard  Rawe,  of  St.  Colombo 

John  Hanne,  of  Cardinham    . 

Margaret  Hayman's  Annuity  out  of  St.  Maw- 

gan  in  Pydre      .... 
John  Pearse,  of  St.  Mawgan  in  Pydre 
William  Rawe,  estate  in  Pillaton,  in  possession 

of  John  Pickard 
Mary  Evans,  estate  in  Pydre,  in  possession  of 

William  Pearse 
John  Pearse,  of  St.  Ervan 
Julian  Pearse,  of  ditto    . 
John  Randal,  of  St.  Mawgan  in  Pydre 
Henry  Lord  Arundell     . 
John  Hussey,  Esq. 
Richard  Crossman,  of  Cardinham    . 

N.B.  The  blanks  had  not  yet  registered  their  estates. 


.J737  2 
.   67  11 

5  10 
,  104  5 

9  19 

2i 
7 
0 
4 
10 

'.        5  0 

.  241  9 

4  15 

0 

4 
0 

.   17  10 
,   23  0 

0 
0 

a 

.   16  0 

if 

0 

.   17  0 
.   67  0 
.   22  0 
.   18  0 

0 
0 
0 
0 

.'   97  18 

10 

Devonshire. 

Hugh  Lord  Clifford £596    7 

William  Salisbury,  of  Alwington     .         .         ,       17     0 

Edward  Southcote,  of  Bliboro',co.  Lincoln,  Esq.     231  13 

William  Thorold,  of  Little  Panton,  in  co.  Lin 

coin,  Esq.  ..... 


44 

0 

8 


55     0    0 


*  The  ^ 
Lewanick 
St.  Michael' 


property  of  W.  Plowden,  I  imagine,  was  partly  at  Trelask,  in 
Ic  parish,  and  partly  at  Upton,  in  St.  Winnows,  and  Carhays 
jel's.     It  had  helonged  to  the  Trevanions. 


170 


REPORT    TO    GOVERNMENT 


Wm.  HalljCovent  Grarden,  Middlesex^  grocer 
Margaret  Green^  of  Elworthy,  spinster 
Edward  Gary,  of  Tor  Abbey,  Esq.   . 
Edward  Blount,  of  Blagdon,  Esq.    . 
William  Culcheth,*  of  King's  Teignton 
Henry  Lord  Arundell     . 
George  Arundell,  of  Croscombe 
Giles  Chichester,  of  Arlington,  Esq. 
Clement  Tattershall,  of  Paignton,  Gent, 
Jane  Tattershall,  of  King's  Kerswell 
Henry  Tattershall,  of  Paignton 
Laurence  Tattershall,  of  Berry  Pomeroy,  Gent 
Thomas  Tucker,  of  Newton  St.  Gyres 
Mary  Goughton,  of  Arlington,  widow 
John  Snow,  of  Berry  Narber 
Thomas  Rowe,  of  Staverton    . 
Osmond  Mordaunt,  of  Stoke  Fleming 
Frances  Kirkham,  of  Newton  St.  Cyres 
Thomas  Granmer,  of  W.  Teignmouth,  cooper 


£34     0  0 

30     4  0 

312  17  10 

175     8  7i 

13    4  10 

134    6  0 

7  15  3 

134     6  0 

80     7  9 

80     0  0 

37     0  0 

10  0 

33     0  0 

39     0  0 

47     0  0 

45     0  0 

330     6  3i 

5     5  0 


Dorset. 

John  Hussey,  of  MarnhuU,  Esq. 
George  Arundell,  of  Benville,  Gent.t 
John  Arundell,  of  Netherbury,  Gent. 
Henry  Lord  Arundell,  Baron  of  Wardour 
Stephen  Peck,  of  Stower  Provost,  yeoman 
Jeffry  Lodder,  of  ditto    .... 
George  Penu,  of  Weston,  Esq. 
Martin  Lodder,  of  Stower  Provost,  yeoman 
Rebecca  Hussey,  of  MarnhuU,  widow 


140  0  7 

94  0  0 

45  0  0 

384  6  41 

3  15  0 

369  0  4 

46  0  0 


*  He  was  great  gi-andfather  of  the  present  Parmenas  Pearce,  of 
Teignbridge,  Esq.  He  was  of  tlie  good  old  family  at  Culcheth,  co. 
Lancashire,  which  estate,  by  the  marriage  of  Melior,  an  heiress,  passed  to 
the  Diconsons  and  Scarisbricks.  By  his  wife,  Clara  GifFard,  who  had 
died  three  months  before  him  (he  died  10th  December,  1739),  he  left  three 
children, — Thomas,  who  died  coelebs  at  Newton  Abbot  30th  December, 
1759  ;  Clara,  who  married  Mr.  James  Puddicombe  ;  and  William,  who 
married,  on  21st  June,  1764,  Jane  Coleman,  and  died  17th  September, 
1801,  set.  eighty-three,  leaving  Mary,  an  only  child,  who  married  Par- 
menas Pearce,  Esq.,  30th  November,  1796.  Dying  20th  December,  1841, 
in  the  fortieth  year  of  her  widowhood,  she  is  represented  by  her  only 
surviving  son,  Parmenas,  born  10th  February,  1798. 

+  I  observed,  in  the  parochial  register  of  Whitchurch  Canonicorum, 
to  which  Chidiock  is  a  daughter  church,  that  George  Arundell,  of 
Netherbury,  had  been  buried  at  Chidiock  20th  April,  1682,  and  Mary 
Arundell,  of  ditto,  gentlewoman,  was  buried  at  Chidiock  6th  Novem- 
ber, 1689. 


OP  CATHOLIC  PROPKRTy. 


171 


Bartholomew  Keepers,  of  Langham,  yeoman 
Martin  BidcUecombe,  of  Merrytown,  Hants 
Alice  Petwin,  of  Watleton,  co.  Oxford,  spinster 
John  Early,  of  Mannington,  yeoman 
Mary  Stricldand,  of  Canford  Magna,  widow 
Elizabeth  Frampton,  of  Kingston,  widow 
Mary  Budden,  of  Longham,  spinster 
Winifred  Wareham,  of  St.  Andrew's,  Holbom 

estate  at  Croscombe,  occupied  by  F.  Allen 
George  Harcourt,  of  Lake,  yeoman 
Edward  Brown,  of  Bradpole,  yeoman 
Thomas  Daniel,*  of  Chidiock,  yeoman 
John  Mullins,  charged  under  Somersetshire 
John  Colmer,  8f  Chidiock,  yeoman 
Anne  Freke,  of  Chidiock,  widow 
Barbara  Develin,  of  Chidiock 
John  Wakely,  of  ditto,  yeoman 
Elizabetli  Copthorne,  of  ditto 
Francis  Norris,  of  ditto,  yeoman 
Ann  Mayrs,  of  ditto 
Edward  Matthews,  of  ditto 
Richard  Orchard,  of  Yenbay,  yeoman 
Honourable  Charles  Stourton 
Thomas  Knipe,  of  Sembly,  co.  Wilts 
Dorothy  Barns,  of  Stourton,  widow 
Henry  Wall  .... 

William  Lodder,  of  Stour  Provost  . 
Gilbert  Lodder,  of  ditto,  blacksmith 
Thomas  Wilkins,  of  Tisbury,  Gent. 
James  Prim,  or  Trim,  of  Moorton  . 
Thomas  Champion,  of  Sutton,  Gent. 
Margaret  Lacy       .... 
Jane  Lacy      ..... 
Jane  Strode,  estate  of  Stoke  Abbas 
Denny  Metch,  of  Over  Moigne,  yeoman 
James  Browne,,  of  Wells,  Mercer    . 
John  Brown,  of  Bothenhampton 
Mary  Brown  .... 

Mary  White,  of  Bradpole,  widow    . 
Richard  Arundell,  of  Lanheme,  Esq. 
Henry  Wells,  of  Brambridge,  Hants 


*  At  the  east  end  of  Chidiock  churchyard  is  an  altar  tomb  to  the 
parents  of  this  Thomas  Daniel.  His  father,  Thomas  Daniel,  had  died 
9th  January,  1670,  set.  sixty-six  ;  his  wife  Margaret  survived  until 
30th  January,  1680,  O.3.,  set.  eighty-nine.  They  must  have  witnessed 
the  siege  and  dismantling  of  Chidiock  Castle. 


;€  8  0  0 

20  15  0 

18  5  0 

24  0  0 

30  0  0 

10  0  0 

4  8  3 

It   10  0 

7  0  0 

2  10  0 
46  6  0 

10  0  0 
10  0 

15  0  0 

28  0  0 

3  0  0 

39  0  0 

15  0  0 

2  5  0 
12  0  0 
27  6  0 

3  9  0 

30  0  0 
0  4  0 

11  0  0 

4  5  0 
14  0  0 

40  0  0 
6  10  0 

10  0  0 

82  10  9^ 

16  10  0 

31  15  0 

8  10  0 
10  0  0 
10  0  0 

256  1  0 

16  6 


172 


REPORT   TO    GOVERNMENT 


Humphry  Weld,  of  LuUworth  Castle,  Esq. 
Agatha  Morgan,  of  S  tower  Provost,  widow 
Sir  John  Webb,  of  Great  Canford,  Bart. 
Mary  Long,  of  Mumphin,  co,  Wexford,  widow 
Richard  Gold,  of  Odstock 
Elizabeth  Clarke,  of  Motcombe,  spinster 
Eleanor  Wilson,  of  Bridzor,  widow 
Henry  Lacy,  of  Wardour,  Gent. 
Isabella  Brayne,  of  Swillets,  widow 


£846    2    2 I 


1,030  17     6 

339    2     1 

7  10     0 


16     0     0 
40    0    0 


Somerset. 

John  Acton,  of  Kindley,  co.  Lancaster    . 

Henry  Lord  Arundell 

Mary  Barnes,  of  Stourton,  spinster 

Walter  Barnes,  of  Rode  in  Gasper,  Gent. 

Francis  Came,  of  Bath,  Gent. 

Francis  Cottington,  of  Fonthill  Gifford,  Esq. 

Margaret  Coffin,  of  North  Cadbury 

Thomas  Clifford,  of  Cannington,  Esq. 

John  Cottington,  of  Goodmanstor,  Esq. 

Thomas  Davies,  of  Stower  Provost,  Gent. 

Mary  Evans,  of  WeUs,  spinster 

Charles  Fairfax,  of  York,  Esq. 

William  GiUder,  of  Chidiock,  Dorset,  Gent. 

Dorothy  Green,  estate  at  Willet,  in  the  parish 

ofElworthy         ..... 
Margaret  and  Mary  Green,  of  Willet 
Gabriel  Green,  of  Morchard  Bishop,  Devon 
John  Hussey,  of  Marnhull,  Dorset,  Esq. 
Margaret  Harvey,  of  Waves  Wotton,  co.  War 

wick,  widow        .         ... 
John  Horton,  of  Woolverton,  Gent. 
Samuel  James,  of  East  Harptree     . 
Thomas  Knoyle,  of  Sampford  Orias 
William  Knight,  of  Cannington 
George  Kenton,  of  Shepton  Mallett 
John  Molins,  of  Bishop's  Hull,  Gent. 
Joseph  Pearce,  of  Wells,  inn-holder 
Elias  Pearce,  of  Wells,  baker 
Anne  Poyntz,  estate  at  Carhampton 
William  Richardson,  of  Gasper 
Robert  Rowe,  of  Leighland,  Esq.    . 
Samuel  Richard,  of  HolweU,  Esq.,  and  his  wife 

Elizabeth 

John  Stibbs,  of  Bath,  Gent.  . 


37  6  0 
246  0  0 

20  0  0 

0  4  6 

103  19  2 
60  0  0 
23  0  0 

375  17  0 

120  3  7 

3  10  0 

208  2  4 
60  0  0 

38  0  0 

8  0  0 

16  0  Ok 
0  19  0 

31  2  6 

50  0  0 

209  6  7 

2  11  6 

17  0  0 
100  0  0 

8  10  0 

104  5  2 
20  0  0 
22  0  6 
54  0  0 

3  0  0 
323  1  8i 

246  0  0 

45  2  0 


OF    CATHOLIC    PROPERTY. 


173 


Thomas  Stourton,  estate  at  Bonham 

Edward   Southcote,  Esq.,  of  Bliborough,  co, 

Lincoln,  Esq.  .... 

Humphry  Steere,  estate  at  Sandford 
John  and  Maud   Stodden,  of  Shiverton  Sto 

gursey 

Joice  Shephard,  of  Weston,  juxta  Bath,  spinster 

John  Taunton,  of  West  Lydford,  mercer 

John  Taunton,  estate  of,  Bedminster 

Thomas  Taunton,  of  West  Lydford,  yeoman 

Henry  Wall,  of  Stourton 

James  Lord  Waldegrave 

Margaret   Woolener,    estate    at   Burcott,   St 

Cuthbert's  parish         .... 
Henry  Waldegrave,  Esq.,  annuity  . 


£7-1    3  4 

55     0  0 

199  4  8 

23     8  0 

2     0  0 

10  19  1 

18    0  0 

0    2  0 

380  15  44 

15     0  0 

200  0  0 


Wiltshire. 

Mary  Anne  (Q.  Hanne  ?),  of  Sutton  Mande. 
ville  ...... 

Henry  Lord  Arundell,  of  Wardour 

Richard  Bruning,  of  Winchester,  Gent.  . 

George  Brookman,  of  Ansty,  yeoman  or  weaver 

Mary  Butt,  of  Bridzor 

Francis  Cottington,  of  Fonthill  Giflford,  Esq. 

Gaynor  Cruise,  of  Wootton  Bassett,  widow 

Edward  Gary,  of  Tor  Abbey,  Esq.   . 

Elizabeth,  Countess  Dowager  of  Castlehaven 

Francis  Came,  of  Bath,  Gent. 

Anne  Cruise,  of  Greenhill,  widow    . 

Mary  CoflSn,  of  Stourton,  widow     . 

John  Cottington,  of  Goodmanston,  co.  Somerset 
Esq 

Thomas  Champion,  of  Sutton  Mandeville,  lea- 
ther-cutter ..... 

John  Dancastle,  of  Binfield,  Berks,  Gent. 

William  Estcourt,  of  Bumham,  Esq. 

Edward  Farnhill,  of  Fonthill  Giffard,  Gent. 

John  Hussey,  of  Marnhull,  co.  Dorset,  Esq 

John  Horton,  of  Woolverton,  co.  Somerset, 
Gent 

John  Haylock,  of  Tisbury 

Matthew  Haylock,  of  Bridzor 

Mary  Jenkins,  of  Wardour  Castle,  spinster 

Susannah  Kenyon,  of  Bath,  widow  . 

John  King,  of  Warblington,  Hants,  yeoman 


.   44  10 

0 

.  1,396  18 

3 

5  16 

8 

r    1  12 

0 

3  0 

0 

.  795  4 

8 

.   64  0 

0 

.  560  12 

6 

.  537  12 

10 

.   11  0 

0 

.   30  0 

0 

.   50  0 

0 

'.     110  0 

0 

6  16 

0 

.   94  0 

0 

.  224  9 

0 

.   28  0 

0 

2  5 

4 

'.        0    5 

4 

.   20  0 

0 

.   15  10 

0 

.   19  0 

0 

.   20  0 

0 

10  0 

0 

174 


REPORT   TO    GOVERNMENT 


Thomas  Knype,  of  Semley       .... 

George  Knype,  of  Semley       .... 

Abigail  Kyngsmill,  co.  BuckSj  widow 

Jeffry  Lodder,  or  Lodge,  of  Stower  Provost, 
yeoman      ....... 

Richard  Lee,  of  Hasledon       .... 

James  Morgan,  of  St.  Giles's,  annuity  out  of 
Ansty  mansion  ..... 

William  Moore,  of  St.  Giles's,  co.  Middlesex, 
estate  of  Hedington,  in  possession  of  Anthony 
Brook         .         

Anne  Perkins,  from  Cheesegrove  estate,  in  pos- 
session of  Wilham  Green     .... 

Thomas  B,ippen,  or  Pippin,  of  Bridzor,  yeoman 

Bartholomew  Smith,  of  Winchester,  Esq. 

Mary  Watson,  of  Bestford,  co.  Worcester, 
spinster       ....... 

Catherine  Watson,  of  ditto      .... 

Charles  Woolmer,  of  Fonthill  Giffard,  Gent.    . 

Thomas  Wells,  of  Brambridge,  Hants,  Gent.    . 

John  Wright,  of  Kelvedon  Hall,  Essex,  Esq.   . 

Simon  White,  of  Wardour  Castle    . 

Cecil  WUaon,  of  Bridzor         .... 

Eleanor  Wilson,  of  ditto,  widow 

Sir  John  Webbe,  of  Great  Canford,  Dorset 


J24     0  0 

30     0  0 

100     0  0 

30    0  0 

68  10  0 

20     0  0 


130    2  6 

7  10  0 

13  15  0 

12     0  0 

20    0  0 

100     0  0 

15  10  0 

200    0  0 

12  10  6 

20     0  0 

52  10  0 

12     0  0 

405  10  2 


Gloucestershire. 
Rowland  Bartlett 
Richard  Bartlett 
Anne  Bartlett 
Richard  Blore 
Mary  Bubb    . 
Margaret,  Mary,  Frances,  Conquest,  and  Eli 

zabeth  Brent 
Mary  Gassy   . 
Francis  Canning     . 
Charles  Eyston 
James  Fermour 
Richard  Fermour 
Margaret  Greenwood 
Charles  Greenwood 
Giles  Harding 
Anne  Hinde 
Matthias  Harris     . 
Jane  Hynson 


220     0  0 

2  13  4 

50    0  0 

18  0 

24    0  0 


457     0  0 

42     5  0 

50     0  0 

197  12  4 

80  19  4 

200    0  0 

75     4  8 

73     5  0 

10  16  3 

31     0  0 

4     7  6 

10  0 


OF    CATHOLIC    PROPERTY. 


175 


Benedict  Hall 
John  Jernegan 
Francis  Jernegan 
Anthony  Kemp 
John  Latham 
Richard  Latham 
Ann  Dame  Litcott 
John  Moore  . 
Robert  Needham 
Thomas  Neville  and  wife 
John  Paston 
William  Reeves 
Mary  Shir  man 
Edward  Sheldon  * 
Anne  Simons 
Earlof  Stafiford* 
Mary  Smith 
Ann  Stafford 
Sarah  Trinder 


.  £630 

12 

0 

.  314 

1 

4 

.   30 

0 

0 

.  215 

19 

9 

.   18 

13 

0 

6 

0 

0 

.   91 

8 

0 

.  284 

12 

0 

8 

6 

0 

.  1,162 

14 

8 

.  727 

6 

2 

.   25 

0 

0 

2 

15 

0 

1 

0 

H 

.   28 

0 

0 

.  350 

14 

04 

.   50 

0 

0 

.  140 

0 

0 

.   26 

0 

0 

*  This  must  have  been  Henry  Howard,  son  of  William,  Viscount 
Stafford,  legally  murdered  for  Gates's  plot,  on  29th  December,  1080, 
rot.  sixty-eight.  King  James  II.,  in  consideration  of  his  father's  suffer- 
ings and  noble  descent,  on  6th  October,  1688,  created  this  Henry,  earl 
of  Stafford,  with  remainder,  for  want  of  issue  male,  to  his  brothers  John 
and  Francis,  and  their  issue  male  respectively.  On  his  death,  in  April, 
1719,  s.p.,  the  earldom  descended  to  his  nephew  William,  the  son  of 
John,  by  his  wife  Ann  Holman.  This  second  earl  died  in  France, 
January,  1734,  leaving  an  only  son  and  heir,  William  Matthias  :  he 
died,  s.p.,  in  February,  1761,  when  the  title  devolved  on  his  uncle  John 
Paul,  at  whose  death,  1st  April,  17(52,  aet.  sixty-two,  without  issue 
male,"'  tlie  viscounty  and  earldom  of  Stafford  ended  with  him  ;  but  the 
barony  of  Stafford  was  claimed  by  Sir  William  Jerningham,  of  Cossey, 
Bart.,  as  lineally  descended  from  the  Lady  Anastasia,  the  fifth  sister  of 
the  first  earl :  and  after  much  unreasonable  delay,  the  House  of  Lords, 
on  the  6th  of  July,  1826,  resolved,  that  Sir  George  Jerningham,  son 
and  heir  of  the  late  Sir  William  (who  had  died  14th  August,  1809),  had 
fully  made  out  his  claim  to  the  title,  dignity,  and  honour  of  Baron 
Stafford.  Our  readers  are  aware  that  the  said  Lady  Anastasia  married 
George  Holman,  of  Warkworth,  co.  Northampton,  Esq., — that  William, 
the  second  Earl  Stafford,  married  his  first  cousin,  Anne,  daughter 
to  George  Holman,  Esq.,  by  his  wife  the  Lady  Anastasia, — that  his 
sister  Mary  married  Francis  Flowden,  Esq., — and  that  their  daughter 
and  heir;  Mary  Plowden,  married  in  1733  Sir  George  Jerningham,  Bart., 
the  mother  of  Sir  William  and  grandmother  of  Sir  George  Jerning- 
ham, the  seventh  baronet,  who  established  his  claim  to  the  barony  of 
Stafford. 

*  His  lady,  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  John  St.  Albyn,  of  Alfoxton,  co. 
Somerset,  Esq.,  survived  her  lord  until  25th  January,  1783.  The  reader 
will  be  edified  and  dehghted  with  the  account  of  her  conversion  in  the 
Memoires  of  La  Motte,  Bishop  of  Amiens,  vol.  ii.  p.  95. 


176 


REPORT    TO   GOVERNMENT,    ETC. 


Charles  Trinder 
John  Talbot 
Johu  Vaugh^n 
John  Vaughan 
John  Wright 
Joseph  Wakeman 
Henry  Wall 
Benedict  Wakeman 
Henry  Wakeman 
John  Webster 


£26 
65 
41 

171 
81 
39 
47 

375 
40 

795 


9 
0 

14 
0 
8 
0 
5 

15 
0 
9 


0 
0 
8 
0 

lOi 
0 
0 
8 
O 
6 


177 


CHAPTER  XVT. 

TABLES    OP   SUCCESSION    OP    THE    INCUMBENTS    OF    THE    PRINCIPAL 
MISSIONS    IN   THE   COUNTIES    AFORESAID. 

In  the  days  of  persecution,  when  the  pastors  were  afraid 
of  keeping  registers,  lest  they  might  furnish  evidence  of  their 
priesthood,  and  ijpaperil  those  who  harboured  them — when 
the  clergy  could  have  little  intercourse  with  each  other,  and 
bishops  could  but  seldom  perform  their  visitations,  the 
wonder  ceases,  that  it  is  such  a  difficult  task  to  make  out 
the  succession  of  our  Catholic  incumbents.  Most  of  the 
regular  and  secular  clergy  were  private  chaplains;  some 
were  itinerant  missionaries  over  a  wide  extent  of  country, 
without  any  fixed  abode — shepherds  to  use  the  words  of  the 
Prophet  Ezekiel  (xxxiv.  12)  "to  seek  out  the  sheep  and 
deliver  them  out  of  all  places,  where  they  have  been  scattered 
in  the  cloudy  and  dark  day."  In  vain  have  I  attempted  to 
form  out  the  list  of  incumbents  at  Lanherne,  Arlington, 
Stourton,  Hatherop,  Canford,  and  several  other  ancient 
missions;  and  for  the  present  must  be  contented  to  enrol 
what  disjointed  names  I  can  recover,  in  the  second  and  BiO' 
graphical  part  of  this  feeble  compilation. 

1.  Incumbents  of  Axminster. 

In  page  26  I  have  given  the  origin  of  this  mission. 

1.  Rev.  William  Sutton,  after  thirty-two  years'  residence, 
died  here  23rd  January,  1800.  See  his  Biography  in  the 
second  part. 

2.  Messrs.  le  Blaise  and  le  Mare,  two  French  emigres, 
divided  the  pastoral  duty  between  them,  until  the  treaty  of 
Amiens,  25th  March,  1802;  soon  after  which  they  returned  to 
France. 

3.  L'Abbi  de  la  Brecque  succeeded.  Ob.  3rd  February, 
1819,  set.  sixty-nine. 

4.  Rev.  Charles  Haly,  from  2nd  July,  1819,  until  his 
resignation,  5th  September,  1821. 

5.  Cornelim  Magrath,  who  left  at  Midsummer,  1824. 

6.  Robert  Piatt  arrived  on  1st  October,  1824;  was  trans- 
ferred to  Lanherne  at  Christmas,  1826. 


178  TABLES    OF   SUCCESSION    OF    INCUMBENTS. 

7.  Jonathan  Furlong  supplied  till  Michaelmas,  1827. 

8.  Robert  Gates  foUowed  until  August,  1828. 

9.  Henry  Riley  from  29tli  August,  1828,  until  he  left, 
28th  April,  1834,  to  take  charge  of  the  Plymouth  mission. 
He  opened  the  new  chapel  of  St.  Mary  on  the  feast  of  the 
Assumption,  1831. 

10.  John  Larkan  arrived  on  25th  April,  1834;  but  on 
17th  July  next  ensuing  was  ordered  to  Torquay. 

11.  Charles  Fisher,  who  had  arrived  on  17th  July,  1834, 
was  off  to  Lyme  in  the  first  week  of  October  following. 

12.  Peter  O'Lmghlin  followed  on  8th  October,  1834,  but 
from  ill  health  was  obliged  to  leave  before  Christmas-day  that 
year. 

13.  John  Aloysim  Gregory  Swabrick  arrived  from  Christmas, 
1834 ;  but  quitted  for  Lyme,  when  he  was  replaced  by 

14.  Henry  Norrington,  on  27th  October,  1837.  This  ex- 
cellent priest  died  here  on  8th  December,  1848,  set.  forty. 

15.  Patrick  Kelly  came  to  Axminster  2nd  January,  1849, 
and  quitted  at  the  end  of  a  twelvemonth  for  Salisbury. 

16.  Francis  Keary  served  from  22nd  March,  1850,  until 
he  left,  12th  October,  1851. 

17.  Charles  Cook  arrived  17th  July,  1851,  and  continued 
for  seven  months  only. 

18.  Thomas  Lynch,  born  at  Loughree,  Galway,  in  1802 ; 
was  ordained  at  Maynooth  in  1829 :  after  serving  Spetisbury 
and  Salisbury,  became  the  incumbent  of  Axminster  on  10th 
September,  1852,  and  took  conge  on  26th  July,  1855.  He 
returned,  however,  on  10th  November,  but  quitted  on  2nd 
February,  1856,  to  settle  in  his  own  country,  at  Shinrone. 

.  19.  Rev.  John  TooJwy,  who  had  served  Bodmin  from  the 
Lanheme  Convent  during  a  year  and  eight  months,  reached 
Axminster  on  Saturday  15th  March,  1856. 


2.  Bath. 

Of  this  Benedictine  Mission  ab  initio,  the  first,  I  believe, 
was — 

1.  F.  Anselm  Williams,  see  page  55. 

2.  F.  Bernard  Quin. 

3.  F.  William  Bannister,  who  died  16th  May,  1726. 

4.  F.  Francis  Bruning. 

5.  Right  Rev.  Dr.  Laurence  York,  I  think,  from  1732  to 
1745. 

6.  F.  Anselm  Bradshaw,  for  twelve  years. 

7.  F.  Placid  Nay  lor,  for  nineteen  years. 

8.  Dr.  John  Bede  Brewer,  for  five  years. 


TABLES   OP    SUCCESSION    OP    INCUMBENTS.  179 

9.  F.  Michael  Pembridge,  who  was  allowed  an  assistant 
priest  by  the  chapter. 

10.  F.  Ralph  Ainsworth  was  chief  pastor  from  1 796  to  1814. 

11.  F.  James  Calderbank,  upwards  of  three  years. 

13.  Right  Rev.  Dr.  Augustine  Baines,  from  July  1817 
until  his  episcopal  consecration,  1st  May,  1823. 

13.  Rev.  Tfiomas  Brindle,  for  six  years. 

14.  F.  Ralph  Maurus  Cooper,  from  1830  to  1846. 

15.  F.  John  Jerome  Jenkins,  to  1850. 

16.  John  Clement  Worsley,  from  1850. 

3.  For  the  Bristol  Mission,  seepage  108. 

4.  Chidiock. 

1.  F.  Thomas  Pilchard,  martyred  21st  March,  1587. 

2.  F.  John  Cornelius,  S.J.,  martyred  4th  July,  1594. 

3.  F.  Hugh  Green,  martyred  19th  August,  1642. 

4.  F. Higgs. 

5.  F.  William  By  fleet,  iA\aa  Oildon,  O.S.B.  This  venerable 
man,  at  the  age  of  100,  suffered  the  amputation  of  a  leg :  at 
the  age  of  102  he  baptized,  at  Chidiock,  the  late  Thomas 
Taunton,  Esq.,  bom  9th  June,  1745.  Eetiring  to  Bonham, 
the  patriarchal  priest  died  there  19th  October,  1746. 

6.  Richard  Shimell*  died  at  Chidiock  in  December,  1763, 
set.  seventy-six. 

7.  Philip  Compton  served  Chidiock  twenty-five  years. 

8.  Thomas  Lewis,  S.J.,  altogether  twenty-three  years, 
until  his  death  5th  September,  1809,  set.  sixty-nine. 

9.  Thomas  Tilbury,  from  14th  November,  1809,  till  20th 
November,  1840.  * 

10.  William  Peter  Bond  quitted  for  Hobart  Town  with 
Bishop  Willson  29th  January,  1844. 

11.  F.  Robert  Piatt  supplied  until  October,  1844. 

12.  F.  John  Ryan  succeeded — opened  the  new  chapel  at 
Bridport  on  2nd  July,  1846  j  quitted  in  November,  1850. 

13.  F.  Henry  O'Shea,  O.S.F. 

14.  F.  J.  J.  Gallagher. 

15.  F.  Basil  Thomas,  O.S.B.,  reached  early  in  1853,  but 
died  7th  September,  1853,  set.  thirty-nine. 

16.  F.  Wilfrid  Price,  O.S.B.,  ordained  priest  at  Ample- 
forth  December,  1849. 

17.  F.  Placidus  Sinnett,  O.S.B.,  in  1855. 

*  I  am  credibly  infoiined  that  his  nephew,  the  Rev.  Charles  Shimell, 
had  assisted  him,  and  even  succeeded  him,  but  died  of  a  rapid  decline 
at  the  Bear  Inn,  Exeter,  in  April,  1764. 

N    2 


180  TABLES    OP    SUCCESSION    OF    INCUMBENTS. 


5.  Exeter. 

After  the  death  of  F.  Richard  Norris,  S.  J.  mentioned  in 
page  35,  all  that  I  glean  is,  that  the  handful  of  the  faithful 
here  were  occasionally  visited  by  some  zealous  itinerant 
missionary  charged  with  the  care  of  a  considerable  portion 
of  Devon.  One  old  man  of  the  name  of  John  Flood,  a 
convert  in  1745,  informed  me,  fully  forty-six  years  ago,  that 
he  remembered  the  Rev.  Messieurs  Rigby,  Hussey,  Williams, 
Parry,  and  Sutton,  performing  divine  service.  At  length, 
about  the  year  1763,  F.  William  Gillibrand,  S.J.,  was  ap- 
pointed a  resident  incumbent,  and  took  up  his  quarters  with  a 
Mr.  Truscott  in  the  island ;  the  site  is  now  occupied  by  the 
gas-works.  I  have  seen  a  letter  of  his,  dated  Exeter, 
14th  January,  1765.  He  was  still  in  Exeter  in  1768. 
F.  Anthony  Carroll,  S.J.,  succeeded  him  for  about  two 
years;  then  P.  Joseph  Barron,  S.J.,  who  left  in  1773  for 
Arlington,  when  the  Rev.  John  Edisford  followed.  Shortly 
after  his  arrival  he  took  a  lease,  at  Christmas,  1775,  of 
Mr.  Abraham  Gibbs'  premises  in  the  Mint,  which  he 
finally  agreed  to  purchase  on  33rd  July,  1788.  By  the  aid 
of  public  and  private  subscriptions  the  purchase  money, 
£400,  was  paid.  A  public  chapel  in  the  garden  was  then 
considered  and  resolved  on.  Mr.  Edisford  assisted  at  the 
deliberations  of  the  committee  on  19th  August,  1788 ;  3nd 
September,  1788 ;  4th  May,  1789 ;  but  on  the  30th  November 
following  he  was  snatched  away  by  death,  aged  fifty-one, 
leaving  a  surplus  of  about  j6400,  subscribed  towards  the  con- 
templated chapel. 

At  the  next  meeting  of  the  committee,  on  3rd  March, 
1790,  at  which  the  Rev.  Joseph  Reeve  of  Ugbrooke  presided, 
the  Rev.  William  Poole,  S.J.,  the  newly-arrived  successor  to 
the  late  Mr.  Edisford,  was  duly  introduced  as  a  member. 
On  6th  May  the  foundation-stone  of  the  chapel  was  laid. 
Mass  was  first  celebrated  in  it  on  the  feast  of  the  Epiphany, 
1793.  On  Father  Poole's  quitting  Exeter  in  January,  1807, 
the  Rev.  Thomas  Lewis  was  transferred  from  Chidiock  to 
Exeter.  He  continued  to  officiate  here  until  October  of  that 
year,  when  he  was  relieved  by  the  collector  of  these  memo- 
randa ;  who,  after  forty -four  years  of  niissionary  service,  was 
replaced  by  the  Rev.  James  Austin  Eccles,  S.J. 

"Benedic,  Domine,  fortitudini  ejus,  et  opera  manuum 
illius  suscipe." — (Deuterou.  xxxiii.  11.) 


TABLES    OP   SUCCESSION    OP    INCUMBENTS.  181 

6,  Falmouth,  page  30. 

1.  Rev.  William  Ignatius  Casemore,  O.S.F.,  arrived  in 
January,  1805,  and  was  incumbent  for  thirteen  years,  when  he 
resigned,  and  retiring  to  Coxside,  Plymouth,  there  died, 
29th  November,  1824,  set.  seventy-three. 

2.  L'AbM  Grezille,  alias  Hoche,  arrived  6th  August,  1818, 
opened  the  new  chapel  24th  October,  1821 ;  and  dying 
17th  August,  1822,  was  buried  therein. 

3.  ThaddcEus  O'Meally  arrived  to  succeed  the  Abbe,  and 
continued  one  twelvemonth. 

4.  Peter  Hartley  followed,  coming  from  Chepstow,  and 
served  the  plaqe  until  March,  1827,  when  he  was  ordered  to 
Poole. 

5.  Robert  Gates  resided  here  from  Lady-day,  1827,  until 
13th  September,  1828,  when  he  went  to  Axminster. 

6.  Robert  Piatt  arrived  8th  September,  1827,  but  left  for 
Swansea  in  January,  1831.  , 

7.  Maurice  O'Connor,  then  tried  it  for  a  twelvemonth, 
when  F.  Robert  Piatt  was  appointed  again,  and  remained  in 
possession  until  Saturday,  17th  June,  1843,  when  the  Re- 
demptOrists  came  in  to  serve  the  missions;  but  on  1st 
September,  1848,  they  quitted  it  altogether  for  Clapham.* 
Since  their  departure,  there  has  been  a  rapid  passage  of 
incumbents,  as  FF.  Michael  Carrol  and  John  llyan. 

But  see  the  biographical  part. 

7.  Leighland,  see  p.  62. 

.This  ancient  mission  was  certainly  served  chiefly  by 
Benedictines. 

F.  Richard  King,  alias  Scott,  was  chaplain  to  the  Poyntz 
family  here  at  his  death,  2nd  July,  1664. 

P.  Bernard  Millington  ended  his  days  attached  to  the 
family,  4th  August,  1667. 

Other  monks,  FF.  Joseph  Berriman,  Francis  Mildmay 
Richard  Isherwood,  Joseph  Hanmer,  or  Starkey,  Paul 
AUanson,  Anselm  Geary,  followed  in  succession;  but  I 
cannot  ascertain  their  length  of  services.  William  Anderson, 
a  Jesuit,  was  certainly  stationed  there  about  the  year  1750. 
The  venerable  monk,  F.  Bernard  WarmoU,  was  chaplain 
there  in  1754-5,  as  one  who  remembered  him  then  informed 
me.     He  was  followed  by  his  brother  Benedictines,  Alfred 

*  It  is  consoling  to  find  that  at  Easter,  1850,  at  their  church  of 
Clapham,  they  had  more  than  600  communicants,  and  that  their  poor- 
sdiools  were  well  attended. 


182  TABLES   OF   SUCCESSION   OF    INCUMBENTS. 

Struttj  Anselm  Bolton,  and  Maurus  Barrett.  Soon  after 
the  last-mentioned  left,  in  1767,  George  Clarkson,  a  Jesuit, 
arrived  there ;  but  when  he  left  for  Stapehill,  and  finally  for 
his  native  place,  Southill,  near  Chorley,  I  cannot  discover. 

I  remember  an  old  French  Abbe,  Monsieur  Benoult, 
coming  from  Leighland,  in  1808,  to  serve  Calverleigh,  where 
he  died,  14th  November,  1810 ;  but  he  was  not  a  person  to 
afford  much  information. 


8.  Plymouth,  p.  26. 

1.  F.  Edward  Williams,  whose  head-quarters  were  at 
Bearscombe,  the  seat  of  Richard  Chester,  Esq.,  in  the  parish 
of  Buckland  Tout  Saints,  was  long  in  the  habit  of  rendering 
occasional  assistance  to  the  faithful  in  Plymouth  and  its 
vicinity.     His  death  occurred  30th  January,  1776. 

2.  Rev.  George  Baudouin  was  then  appointed  to  that 
charge;  but  he  was  so  alarmed  at  the  Gordon  riots  in  the 
summer  of  1780,  that  he  quitted  the  neighbourhood  alto- 
gether. 

3.  Rev.  Charles  Timings,  who  had  come  from  St.  Alban's 
College,  Valladolid,  in  March,  1782,  paid  ministerial  visits  at 
Plymouth  before  the  arrival  of 

4.  F.  Thomas  Flynn,  a  gentleman  of  Herculean  strength 
and  vigour,  who  became  the  first  resident  incumbent.  About 
ten  years  later  he  resigned  his  charge,  in  February,  1803, 
to  proceed  to  Bardstown,  in  Kentucky. 

5.  Abbe  Jean  Louis  Guilbert,  an  emigre  from  Normandy, 
arrived  from  Shepton  Mallett,  to  administer  to  the  spiritual 
wants  of  this  increasing  flock.  To  his  credit  be  it  said,  that 
he  boldly  undertook  to  lay  the  foundation-stone  of  St.  Mary's 
church  at  Stonehouse  on  28th  May,  1806,  which  was  opened 
for  public  worship  20th  December,  1807 ;  and  he  erected  the 
priest's  house  adjoining.  Towards  the  close  of  1815,  he 
resigned  his  pastoral  office  to  return  to  France,  where  he 
died  27th  July,  1822,  set.  fifty-nine. 

6.  Rev.  Samuel  Spooner  succeeded,  10th  December,  1815  j 
but  quitted  at  the  end  of  four  years  and  eight  months. 
After  an  eccentric  life,  he  died  in  London  8th  August,  1839, 
and  was  buried  at  Moorfields  Church. 

7.  L' Abbe  Alexandre  Simon  arrived  in  August,  1820;  but 
died  suddenly  of  apoplexy  on  5th  of  the  ensuing  April,  in  his 
fifty-first  year. 

8.  Thomas  Costello,  B.I).,  was  prevailed  upon  by  Bishop 
Collingridge  to  accept  the  charge  in  April,  1821.  He  held 
it  until  1st  May,  1834,  when  he  resigned  it  to 


TABLES    OP    SUCCESSION    OP    INCUMBENTS.  183 

9.  Rev.  Henry  Riley,  under  whose  efficient  management 
and  zeal  the  numbers,  so  increased,  that  he  obtained  a  coad- 
jutor, first,  in  the  Rev.  George  Bampton,  who  began  his 
missionary  career  2l8t  October,  1842,  but  left  to  join  the 
Society  of  Jesus  23rd  January,  1845  ;  and,  secondly,  the 
Rev.  Michael  Carroll,  who  arrived  two  days  later.  From 
declining  health,  F.  Riley  bade  farewell  to  Plymouth, 
4th  March,  1848,  and  died,  universally  lamented,  at  Spetis- 
bury  on  Maundy  Thursday,  5th  April,  1849,  set.  fifty-five. 

9.  Shortwood,  p.  61. 

Mr.  William  James,  of  East  Harptree,  was  a  wealthy 
grazier,  and  possessed  considerable  property  in  the  parishes 
of  East  Harptree  and  Ninton  Bluett.  He  had  hired  a 
drover  in  Salisbury  market,  and  subsequently  noticing  that 
he  did  not  attend  the  parish  church,  but  often  engaged  in 
his  devotions  in  the  out-buildings,  was  led  by  curiosity  to 
examine  his  books.  Their  perusal  induced  him  to  ask  ques- 
tions, and  he  became  so  edified  with  the  example  of  his 
faithful  Catholic  servant,  and  so  satisfied  with  his  explana- 
tions and  instructions,  that  he  was  reconciled  to  the  Church 
of  God.  At  his  death,  about  the  year  1720,  he  left  three 
children,  who  were  brought  up  Catholics, — first,  William; 
second,  Philip,  who  died  ccelebs ;  third,  Elizabeth,  who  left 
no  issue. 

William  James,  jun.  married  Hannah,  daughter  of 
Joseph  Beaumont,  a  good  Catholic,  residing  at  Wells,  and 
who  had  a  decent  property  at  Stone  Easton.  By  his  wife, 
a  Miss  Harding,  he  had  three  sons,  all  of  whom  took  to  the 
Church ;  John  was  a  Franciscan,  William  and  Joseph  became 
Jesuits,  and  of  them  more  will  be  found  in  the  biographical 
part.  Mr.  Beaumont,  by  his  will,  gave  his  Stone  Easton 
estate  to  his  grandson,  John  Hunt,  but  required  that  he 
should  assume  the  name  of  Beaumont.  Letters  patent  were 
obtained  to  this  effect  on  10th  March,  1775, 

Mr.  WiUiam  James  aforesaid  died  in  March,  1774, 
leaving,  by  his  wife  Hannah  (Beaumont),  four  daughters, — 
Elizabeth,  married  to  Mr.  John  Hunt;  Hannah,  to  John 
Sanders  Tudor ;  Mary,  to  Mr.  Richard  Trappel ;  and  Ann, 
who  married  the  Rev.  John  Brookes,  the  rector  of  Hinton 
Bluett. 

This  reverend  and  liberal-minded  gentleman  sold  the 
advowson  of  the  church  at  Hinton  Bluett  in  1804,  and  some 
time  after  embraced  the  Catholic  faith,  and  was  a  special 
benefactor  to  St.  Michael's  mission  at  Shortwood.     His  will 


18  li  TABLES    OP    SUCCESSION    OP    INCUMBENTS. 

bears  date  37th  April,  1824 ;  his  death  took  place  19th  May  of 
that  year,  set.  eighty-three,  and  his  mortal  remains  repose  in 
Hinton  Bluett  churchyard. 

I  now  proceed  to  give  the  list  of  its  incumbents ;  and  for 
their  biography  must  refer  the  reader  chiefly  to  tbe  second 
part  of  this  compilation. 

The  first,  I  believe,  was  the  Rev.  Joseph  Hunt,  vere  Beau- 
mont)  the  son  of  John  and  Elizabeth  Beaumont,  after  his 
father  had  changed  the  name  of  Hunt  for  Beaumont,  as 
already  mentioned.  He  reached  England,  after  his  educa- 
tion, and  receiving  orders,  in  March,  1795,  from  Douay,  and 
resided  until  1799  among  his  family  connections,  until  he 
accepted  the  mission  of  Usk,  which  he  served  for  three  years. 
He  was  then  prevailed  upon,  by  the  grand  vicar,  the  Rev, 
William  Coombes,  and  his  relatives,  to  come  and  settle  among 
them.  On  15th  May,  1806,  he  was  enabled  to  open  a 
chapel,  which  he  continued  to  serve  until  old  age  compelled 
him  to  resign  his  charge  in  March,  1838 ;  when  retiring  to 
Clifton,  he  finished  his  earthly  course  there  on  1st  December 
of  that  year,  aged  seventy-six.  AH' his  successors  must  hold 
memory  in  grateful  veneration. 

2.  John  Aloysius  Gregory  Swabrick  came  and  supplied 
for  about  a  month,  and  was  off  in  June,  1838. 

3.  John  Larkan,  after  running  the  gauntlet  of  missions  in 
the  Western  District  arrived  here  on  22nd  June,  1838,  and 
continued  until  19th  May,  1841. 

4.  James  Dawson  came  in  July,  1841 ;  but  left,  19th 
August,  1842. 

5.  Moses  Furlong,  who  had  often  supplied  from  Prior 
Park  during  the  illness  and  absence  of  Mr.  Dawson,  now 
succeeded  him,  and  quitted  for  Lanherne,  12th  August,  1842. 

6.  Thomas  Danson  (alias  Douthwaite)  followed,  but  left 
37th  May,  1844. 

7.  Thomas  Tierney  Fergusson,  D.D.,  served  the  place  for 
about  three  months,  when  he  was  ordered  to  Tawstock, 
3rd  October. 

8.  Patrick  Kelly  arrived  as  his  successor,  6th  October, 
1844,  and  left  within  a  twelvemonth. 

9.  Thomas  Francis  Rocker  arrived  in  August,  1845,  and 
quitted  9th  March,  1852,  for  Bridgewater. 

10.  Thomas  M.  McDonnell  arrived  1st  April,  1853,  whom 
may  God  long  preserve  ! 


TABLES    OF    SUCCESSION    OP    INCUMBENTS.  185 

10.  Taunton,  page  61. 

1.  Rev.  George  Baudouin,  died,  14tli  May,  1818,  after  a 
residence  of  about  thirty-six  years. 

2.  Samuel  Fisher,  until  1822. 

3.  Adrian  Towers  from  Christmas,  1822,  to  July,  1830; 
and  affain  from  1834,  until  the  autumn  of  1841. 

4.  Pierre  Chanteloup  served  between  the  first  and  second 
incumbency  of  F.  Towers,  with  the  exception  of  one  year, 
when, 

5.  Andrew  Byrne  supplied  from  1833  to  1834. 

6.  John  Fanning  arrived  16th  October,  1841 ;  after  nearly 
seven  years'  residence  was  solicited  by  the  bishop  to  take 
charge  of  Tiveulon  for  two  years ;  but  returned  to  Taunton, 
his  first  mission,  vacant  by  the  death  of  Mr.  Fogarty,  for 
Christmas,  1850,  and  quitted  for  the  diocese  of  Birmingham 
on  30th  January,  1853. 

7.  Henry  O'Shea,  1849. 

8.  John  Fogarty,  who  died  3rd  November,  1850,  set. 
twenty-seven. 

9.  John  Mitchell  succeeded  F.  Fanning  in  January,  1853. 

11.  Tawstock  and  Barnstaple,  page  27. 

The  death  of  Sir  Bourchier  Wrey,  the  seventh  baronet  of 
his  family,  having  taken  place  on  20th  November,  1826,  set. 
seventy,  the  title  and  estate  descended  to  his  eldest  son, 
Bourchier,  by  his  first  wife,  Anne,  daughter  of  Sir  Robert 
Palk,  Bart.  This  young  gentleman  had  been  bom  at  Hatton 
House,  10th  December,  1788,  and  was  educated  for  the  bar. 
Having  married  a  Catholic  widow,  he  generously  afiforded 
to  her,  and  to  his  children  by  her,  every  facility  to  exercise 
their  religion ;  he  fitted  up  a  domestic  chapel  in  Tawstock 
House  for  their  use,  kept  a  chaplain  for  them,  and  provided 
a  poor-school  for  children  to  be  educated  in  the  Catholic 
faith.  Foreseeing  that  in  the  event  of  his  death  without 
male  issue,  the  entailed  estate  must  descend  to  his  Protestant 
heirs,  he  readily  assented  to  the  suggestion  of  his  zealous 
wife  to  provide  a  chapel  in  Barnstaple  itself  for  the  benefit 
of  Catholics  in  the  North  of  Devon.*  This  exemplary  lady, 
to  whom  religion  will  be  ever  indebted,  was  called  to  the 
reward  of  her  piety  on  23rd  July,  1842:  R.  I.  P.  Her 
liberal  husband  has  carried  all  her  wishes  into  effect ;  their 
eldest  daughter,  Helena  Carolina,  married  at  Tawstock,  on 

*  Since  the  above  was  written  I  am  happy  to  record,  on  the  baronet's 
own  authority,  that  he  was  received  into  tlie  Church  at  Dover,  by  tlie 
Hev.  Joseph  Savage,  on  15th  September,  1856. 


186  TABLES   OF   SUCCESSION    OF    INCUMBENTS. 

9th  August,  1838,  to  Edward  Joseph  Weld,  the  heir-apparent 
to  Lullworth  Castle,  has  fully  entered  into  her  parent's  views; 
and  by  the  blessing  of  God,  and  the  unceasing  exertions  of 
their  present  chaplain,  Canon  Brindle,  a  very  handsome 
church  has  been  dedicated  on  the  24th  October,  1855,  and 
solemnly  opened  on  the  ensuing  day  by  Archbishop 
Errington  and  Bishop  Vaughan,  assisted  by  nine  priests, 
amidst  a  vast  concourse  of  respectable  attendants.  Never 
did  Barnstaple  witness  such  a  spectacle  before.  May  the 
word  of  God  increase,  and  the  number  of  disciples  greatly 
multiply,  and  many  of  the  ministers  become  obedient  to  the 
faith,  as  it  was  in  Jerusalem  !   (Acts  vi.  7.) 

The  first  chaplain  at  Tawstock  House  was  the  Rev.  Peter 
Hartley,  who,  after  serving  Chepstow,  Falmouth,  and  Poole, 
arrived  at  Tawstock  in  July,  1827,  and  continued  his  services 
until  20th  November,  1829,  when  he  quitted  for  Weymouth. 
But  on  the  subsequent  resignation  of  his  successor  here,  he 
was  prevailed  upon  to  return  and  resume  his  pastoral  duties, 
from  the  latter  end  of  1832  until  the  July  following. 

The  2nd,  William  Aloysius  O'Meara,  from  November,  1829, 
to  July,  1831. 

The  3rd  was  the  Rev.  John  Williams,  who  officiated  from 
9th  July,  1831,  to  the  winter  of  1832,  when  F.  Hartley  was 
reinstated.  Mr.  Williams  resumed  the  charge  of  this 
mission  on  Dr.  Fergusson  leaving  it,  early  in  1846 ;  but 
finally  left  it  on  31st  May,  1849. 

4.  Maurice  O'Connor  came  in  July,  1833;  but  hurried 
away  in  May,  1835,  and  -finished  his  course  in  Trinidad, 
December,  1840. 

5.  Leonard  Calderbank  was  incumbent  from  12th  June, 
1835,  to  20th  September  that  year. 

6.  Michael  Francis  Crowe,  D.D.,  became  the  pastor  of  this 
mission  20th  September,  1835,  and  so  continued  till  10th 
April,  1837.     He  was  the  first  to  commence  a  register. 

7.  Thomas  Costello,  then  at  Tiverton,  agreed  to  supply  from 
April,  1837,  until  June  following.  Subsequently,  on  22nd 
May,  1840,  at  the  earnest  invitation  of  his  old  friend  Lady 
Wrey,  whose  health  was  declining,  he  returned  to  Tawstock ; 
but  after  her  ladyship's  decease  went  back  to  Tiverton. 
See  his  biography  in  the  second  part  of  this  compilation. 

8.  Joseph  Dwyer  reached  Tawstock  21st  June,  1837,  but 
three  months  later  was  called  away  to  Thurles  to  assist  in 
the  organization  of  the  new  college ;  he  returned,  however, 
on  17th  April,  1838 ;  but  left  in  the  ensuing  spring  for  Bangor. 

9.  John  Larkan  was  sent  to  supply  from  20th  September, 
1837,  to  20th  April  followin_g. 


TABLES    OF    SUCCESSION    OF    INCUMBENTS.  187 

10.  William  Casey  arrived  from  Mamhall  5th  April,  1839, 
until  18th  May,  1840,  to  return  to  his  former  mission. 

11.  Patrick  Kelly,  who  had  come  from  the  Clonfert  diocese 
on  a  visit  to  the  venerable  F.  Costello,  became  his  assistant, 
and  finally  successor.  This  reverend  gentleman  quitted  on 
3rd  October,  1844,  for  Shortwood. 

12.  Thomas  Tiemey  Fergusson,  D.D.,  replaced  from  Short- 
wood  the  preceding  incambent  on  6th  October,  1844,  and 
served  here  for  the  best  part  of  two  years. 

13.  John  Lynch  supplied  for  six  weeks. 

14.  Joseph  Kerin  had  charge  of  the  faithful  from  August, 
1849,  until  February,  1850. 

15.  Ralph  Brindle,  after  serving  Upton  for  ten  years,  took 
possession  on  8th  February,  1850,  and  under  his  steady 
guidance  the  flock  has  sensibly  increased.  By  his  energetic 
exertions  a  convenient  house  for  the  incumbent  has  been 
erected  contiguous  to  his  new  church,  and  now  there  is  every 
prospect  that  the  Lord  has  opened  the  door  of  faith  to  many, 
and  that  Barnstaple  will  become  a  permanent  and  important 
mission. 

13.  Calverleiffh  and  Tiverton,  page  27. 

After  the  defection  of  John  Palmer  Chichester,  Esq.,  as 
mentioned  in  page  19,  the  oldest  chaplaincy  in  Devon,  Arling- 
ton, was  closed  up,  and  the  incumbent.  Rev.  Henry  Innes, 
was  turned  adrift,  to  the  grief  of  Mary,  the  mother*  of  the 
unfortunate  youth.  This  pious  lady  interested  herself  with 
Joseph  Nagle,t  of  Calverleigh,  Esq.,  to  avail  himself  of  the 
services  of  her  reverend  friend,  who  was  the  spiritual  guide 
of  her  ojther  son,  Charles  Chichester.  This  young  gentleman 
had  fortunately  married,  on  29th  December,  1791,  Honora 
French,  the  niece  of  Mr.  Nagle,  and  the  arrangement  was 

*  This  lady  was  second  daughter  to  Major  Donald  Mac  Donald,  of 
Ternadrist,  co.  Inverness.  She  survived  her  husband,  John  Cliichester, 
Esq.,  thirty-two  years.  Dying  in  Queen-square,  Bath,  fith  December, 
1815,  aged  seventy-seven,  she  was  buried  in  the  chapel  vault  there, 
Pierrepoint-street. 

t  This  venerable  gentleman,  of  Bally  Griffin,  co.  Cork,  on  2nd  July, 
1768,  had  purchased  the  manor  of  Calverleigh,  the  rectory  of  Bampton, 
and  certain  lands  in  Templeton,from  the  trustees  of  Charles  Lord  Viscount 
Fane,  for  10,000  guineas ;  but  chiefly  resided  at  Bath,  until  he  had  fitted 
up  Calverleigh  for  his  abode,  about  the  year  1796,  and  shortly  after 
engaged  the  Rev.  Philip  Compton  for  a  chaplain,  who  remaiued  there 
six  years.  David  Nagle,  Esq.,  brother  of  the  purchaser,  died  here  4th 
June,  1800,  aged  eighty-one.  Joseph,  as  I  well  remember,  died  at  Cal- 
verleigh Court  29th  January,  1813,  set.  eighty-nine.  By  his  will  the 
property  descended  to  his  nephew-in-law,  Charles  Joseph  Chichester, 
Esq.,  who  survived  until  17fli  January,  1837,  set.  sixty-seven.  His 
lady  had  preceded  him  to  the  grave  26th  September,  183L 


188  TABLES    OV   SUCCESSION    OF    INCUMBENTS. 

concluded  between  the  reverend  gentleman  and  the  family  to 
their  mutual  satisfaction.  At  the  end  of  seven  years  Mr. 
Innes  returned  to  his  native  countryj  Scotland,  and  died  at 
Ballogie  in  the  winter  of  1833,  aged  eighty-six. 

3.  UAbbe  Henri  Jacques  Marquant  succeeded  Mr.  Innes 
in  1803,  and  left  in  the  spring  of  1808. 

4.  Monsieur  Renault  came  from  Leighland;  but  died  at 
Calverleigh  14th  November,  1810,  and  was  buried  in  the 
parish  church. 

5.  Paul  Augustin  Fournier,  of  Vitre,  arrived  at  Calverleigh 
15th  March,  1811;  dying  there  of  apoplexy  18th  January, 
1819,  aged  sixty-seven,  he  was  buried  in  the  churchyard. 

6.  Jean  Marc  Romain  Mouiier  (whose  biography  will 
appear  in  Part  II.)  served  this  mission  very  diligently  until 
his  lamented  illness  in  1831.     For  the  present  see  page  37. 

7.  Barnabe  Yraizoz,  of  Navarre,  succeeded  my  pious  friend, 
Mr.  Moutier,  14th  June,  1831 ;  but  left,  from  bad  health,  14th 
October,  1835.  Dying  in  London,  33nd  January,  1836,  set. 
fifty-three,  he  was  buried  on  the  38th  in  Moorfields  Chapel. 

8.  James  Joseph  Lyons,  O.S.D.,  came  to  Calverleigh  from 
Usk  38th  November,  1835;  left  for  Lyme  38thDecember,1836. 

9.  Thomas  Costello  arrived  on  Sunday,  39th  January,  1837, 
and  to  the  regret  of  many  quitted  for  Tawstock  33nd  May, 
1840 ;  he,  however,  in  the  sequel  re-assumed  the  charge  in  the 
Lent  of  1843,  and  held  it  until  his  lamented  death,  31st 
March,  1846.     He  is  buried  at  St.  John's  Tiverton. 

10.  Rev.  Thomas  Danson  arrived  at  St.  John's,  Tiverton, 
31st  June,  1843 ;  but  finding  that  Bishop  Baines  had  just 
before  given  up  on  trial  the  premises  to  some  religious  sisters 
of  the  Order  of  Mercy,  he  left  for  Shortwood  on  8th  August 
following. 

11.  Thomas  Francis  Rooker  reached  St.  John's  13th  August, 
1843 ;  but  to  the  regret  of  his  increasing  flock  was  summoned 
to  St.  Joseph's,  Bristol,  in  the  beginning  of  Lent,  1843. 

13.  Herbert  Aubrey  Woollett  was  placed  here  3rd  April, 
1846,  and  on  5th  August  following  was  drafted  to  Poole. 

13.  Thomas  Shattock  succeeded  7th  August,  1846;  but 
within  two  months  returned  to  Prior  Park. 

14.  Rev,  William  Sheehy,  an  able  and  active  missionary, 
came  in  October,  1846,  but  left  on  8th  June,  1848. 

15.  Rev.  Henry  Riley  went  there  on  7th  June,  1848,  but 
was  obliged  by  his  rapidly- declining  health  to  resign  all  pas- 
toral duty  on  11th  July  following. 

16.  Rev.  Henry  Keary  succeeded  15th  July,  1848,  but  was 
necessitated  to  leave  before  Christmas,  as  he  could  obtain  no 
part  of  the  Moutier  funds  from  Prior  Park. 


TABLES   OF    SUCCESSION    OP    INCUMBENTS.  189 

17.  Rev.  John  Fanning!  was  then  sent  by  Bishop  Hendren 
from  his  comfortable  situation  at  Taunton;  but  after  two 
years'  exertion  to  have  justice  done  to  the  incumbent  in  con- 
formity to  the  terms  of  the  foundation,  all  to  no  purpose, 
he  obtained  permission  to  return  to  Taunton,  in  the  Advent 
of  1850. 

18.  Rev.  John  Ryan  left  Chidiock  at  the  end  of  November, 
1850,  and  was  stationed  here  for  six  months,  when  he  was 
ordered  to  Falmouth.  He  was  succeeded  by  the  present 
incumbent,  the 

19.  Rev.  Michael  Carroll,  the  seventeenth  that  I  have  seen 
in  this  mission. 

I  am  in  possession  of  the  evidences  that  relate  to  the 
foundation,  and  tim  not  surprised  that  a  prelate,  who  knows 
well  all  the  merits  of  the  case,  should  write  to  me  as  follows : 
— "  Hereafter,  good  people  wishing  to  endow  churches,  mis- 
sions, &c.,  will  be  induced  to  employ  none  but  lay  trustees." 

14.  Tor  Abbey.— Tages  30,  24. 

The  first  priest,  I  believe,  was  a  worthy  secular,  Robert 
Hilt,  alias  Turner.  He  was  of  the  ancient  family  of  the  Hills, 
of  Shilston ;  but  of  the  term  of  his  pastoral  office  I  cannot  re- 
cover any  precise  information :  he  was  certainly  living  in  1695. 

The  second,  John  Lewis,  alias  Kemys,  related  to  the  Tynte 
family.  I  have  met  with  him  at  the  abbey  in  1685,  and 
probably  is  the  priest  referred  to  by  the  fanatical  Whittie, 
p.  21.  On  26th  August,  1708,  he  made  his  will,  which  was 
proved  in  the  Bishop's  Court,  Exeter,  on  9th  May,  1709, 
and  was  a  special  benefactor  to  his  successors. 

The  third  that  I  can  learn  (though  some  others  must  have 
intervened — I  think  Mr.  Vincent,  who  went  to  Sparkwell) 
was  John  Beaumont,  of  Stone  Easton,  O.S.F.  I  am  told  that 
he  served  six  years.  He  died  a  Jubilarian  at  St.  Bonaven- 
ture's  convent,  Douay,  1774. 

The  fourth  was  Charles  Needham,  of  Hilston,  co.  Mon- 
mouth. This  gifted  6lh)e  of  Douay  College  and  polished 
gentleman  arrived  at  Tor  Abbey  10th  December,  1745,  where 
until  the  autumn  of  1788  he  continued  his  invaluable  services 
to  religion  and  to  the  family.  Retiring  from  the  charge  of 
the  flock,  he  took  up  his  quarters  in  the  village  of  Tor 
Mohun  until  22nd  February,  1798,  when  he  left  for  London, 
where  he  died  10th  September,  1802,  at  the  patriarchal  age 
of  eighty-eight. 

5.  John  Halford,  another  talented  and  exemplary  alumnus 
of  Douay  College,  succeeded  the  venerable  Mr.  Needham  at 


190  TABLES    or   SUCCESSION    OF    INCUMBENTS. 

Michaelmas,  1788,  and  resided  with  the  family  for  seventeen 
years.  Declining  health  compelled  him  to  resign  his  charge. 
He  died  at  Henley-on-Thames  8th  December,  1805. 

6.  L'Abbe  Thibault,  followed  for  a  short  time,  when  he 
removed  to  Sidmouth,  where  he  was  universally  esteemed. 
Returning,  at  the  restoration  of  the  Bourbons,  to  Avranches, 
he  there  ended  his  days  14th  July,  1823,  set.  sixty. 

7.  L'Abbe  Moriland  succeeded,  but  quitted  late  in  1807 
for  Wappenburg,  co.  Warwick. 

8.  L'Abbe  Michel  supplied,  but  for  a  short  period, 

9.  Mom.  Gabriel  Franqois  Le  Hericy,  a  priest  of  great 
merit,  commenced  his  mission  here  3nd  June,  1808,  and  for 
eight  years  made  himself  universally  beloved.  He  then 
returned  to  France,  and  died  at  Bayeux  25th  November, 
1844,  set.  eighty-seven.  I  shall  enlarge  on  this  good  man 
in  the  biographical  part. 

10.  L'AbbeNm-mand,  born  1st  January,  1760,  was  a  bouche- 
trou  here  for  some  time,  then  retreated  to  Spetisbury,  and 
finally  to  Stapehill,  where  he  rested  from  his  labours  14th 
January,  1842. 

11.  L'Abbe  Jean  Coupe.  For  the  history  of  this  dear  friend 
see  the  second  part.  After  serving  the  place  efficiently  the 
best  part  of  four  years,  he  left  15th  June,  1820,  to  visit 
France.  On  my  recommendation  he  accepted  the  Poole 
mission  at  Christmas,  1820,  which  he  left  at  Michaelmas, 
1825,  to  return  to  his  native  country.  He  died  at  B,ennes 
31st  December,  1842,  set.  seventy-seven. 

12.  William  Pursell,  O.S.F.,  reached  Tor  Abbey  in  bad 
health,  23rd  September,  1820.  Dying  on  29th  July  following, 
he  was  buried  in  Tor  Mohun  churchyard,  set.  fifty-seven. 

13.  John  McEnery,  a  very  able  and  kind-hearted  ecclesi- 
astic, of  whom  I  shall  treat  fully  in  the  second  part.  The 
hope  of  recovering  his  impaired  health  induced  him  to  travel 
much  abroad.  Indeed,  we  all  missed  him  much.  He  had 
arrived  here  on  9th  March,  1822,  and  for  several  years  ren- 
dered important  services  to  religion.  Returning  to  his  post 
in  1840,  we  hoped  against  hope  that  his  constitution  would 
have  been  recruited ;  but  no, — on  Thursday  evening,  18th 
February,  he  died  quietly  in  his  chair  at  the  abbey,  aged 
forty-five.  During  his  absence  and  sickness  several  priests 
attended. 

14.  Rev.  John  Williams,  from  3rd  April,  1830,  till  9th 
July,  1831, 

15.  John  Larkan  supplied  from  19th  July,  1834,  to  the 
April  following,  when  he  was  ordered  to  FoUaton. 

16.  John  McDonnell,  hastily  ordained  at  the  age  of  thirty- 


TABLES    OF   SUCCESSION   OF    INCUMBENTS.  191 

eight,  in  the  advent  of  1834,  reached  the  ahbey  15th  April, 
1835  ;  abruptly  quitted  ISth  May,  1836  ;  died  at  Trinidad 
in  February,  1839. 

17.  Rev. Griffiths  supplied  for  about  ten  weeks. 

18.  L' Abbe  Signole  took  charge  of  the  flock  1st  Septem- 
ber, 1836,  but  shortly  after  Mr.  McEnery's  return,  embarked 
for  France  15th  April,  1839. 

19.  Charles  Fisher  assisted  my  invalided  friend  for  several 
months. 

20.  Rev.  Patrick  Woods  arrived  on  18th  July,  1841,  and 
left  it  15th  September  following. 

21.  Thomas  Michael  Macdonnell  succeeded  Mr.  Woods, 
and  did  good  service  until  Midsummer,  1844',  when  Bishop 
Baggs  called  him* to  Clifton. 

22.  William  Sheehy  replaced  F.  Macdonell,  but  was 
transferred  to  Tiverton  in  October,  1846. 

23.  Rev,  Thomas  Danson  made  but  an  apparition  in  the 
place. 

24.  Rev.  Maurice  Power  was  transferred  from  Penzance  to 
Torquay  in  October,  1846 ;  and  religion  must  ever  be  indebted 
to  his  successful  ze^d  in  undertaking  and  completing  a  church, 
amidst  many  difficulties,  to  the  glory  of  God  and  the  benefit 
of  many  souls. 


15.  f/^6roo*c.— Pages  22,  25, 

I  have  mentioned  before,  that  Thomas,  the  first  Lord 
Clifford,  had  erected  at  Ugbrooke  a  domestic  chapel  and 
cemetery  in  honour  of  St.  Cyprian,  the  consecration  of  which 
was  performed  on  17th  July,  1671,  by  Dr.  Anthony  Sparrow, 
Lord  Bishop  of  Exeter.  About  a  twelvemonth  later  the 
founder  was  reconciled  to  the  Catholic  Church.  From  the 
following  bill  for  plate  to  be  used  for  this  chapel  it  appears, 
that  he  wished  it  to  be  furnished  most  becomingly.  On 
11th  January,  1673,  Mr.  John  Lindsay  sent  the  articles 
according  to  order,  and  the  bill  was  paid  28th  June  follow- 
ing :— 

2  Gilt  Candlesticks,  weight,  263  oz.  5  dwt.,  at  ds.  per  oz. 
1  Gilt  Chalice,  weight,  41  oz.  16  dwt.  12  gr.,  at  9s.  per  oz. 
1  Gilt  Bason,  106  oz.  17  dwt.,  at  8s.  &d.  per  oz.    • 
1  Gilt  Paten,  32  oz.  19  dwt.  12  gr.,  at  Ss.  6d.  per  oz. 
1  Gilt  Flagon,  64  oz.  19  dwt.  at  8s.  6d.  per  oz.     . 
The  Engraving  of  Gilt  Plate         .... 
For  Cases  of  the  said  Gilt  Plate     . 


£.    s. 

d. 

.  113  19 

6 

.    18    6 

0 

.    44  19 

0 

.    13  16 

3 

27  12 

0 

1     4 

0 

8     0 

0 

£227 


192  TABLES   OF   SUCCESSION    OF    INCUMBENTS. 

Perhaps  he  never  saw  it  unpacked.  Towards  the  end  of 
August,  1673,  he  left  London  :  he  must  have  suffered 
much  on  the  journey  from  his  disorder  the  stone.  He 
hegins  his  will  on  the  7th  October,  professing  that  he  was 
"  weak  in  body ;"  and  had  ceased  to  live  ten  days  later. 

Chaplains  and  Incumbents. 

1.  Thomas  Risdon  alias  Blewett,  S.J.  The  first  time  I  meet 
■with  him  in  these  parts  is  in  the  year  1701,  and  again  in  1710. 
He  occurs  in  the  will  of  Dame  Gratiana  Carew,  relict  of  Sir 
Henry  Carew,  Baronet,  made  24th  May,  1728-9,  and  proved 
3rd  December,  1730,  thus: — 

"  I  give  unto  Mr.  Thomas  Risdon,  of  Ugbroke,  the  charge 
and  care  of  all  such  things  as  shall  be  in  the  upper  closet  of 
Bickleigh,  if  he  be  living  at  the  time  of  my  decease,  other- 
ways  to  such  parsone  who  shall  have  the  care  of  my  soul  at 
the  time  of  my  departure  hence,  to  fitt  itt  for  its  eternal 
abode."  Lady  Ann  Clifford  {olim  Preston)  in  her  will,  dated 
Ugbrooke,  13th  September,  1733,  bequeaths  "  to  Mr.  Risdon, 
■who  lives  with  me,  twenty  pounds."  Her  ladyship  died 
5th  July  following.  Soon  after  the  reverend  gentleman 
retired  to  Watten,  where  he  died  12th  February,  1744,  set. 
eighty-two. 

2.  Dominic  Derbyshire,  O.S.D.,  succeeded  in  February, 
1735.  He  was  called  away  twelve  years  later  to  fiU  the 
office  of  sixteenth  prior  of  Bornhem;  but  as  soon  as  the 
triennial  term  of  government  expired,  he  returned  to  Ugbrooke, 
where  he  ended  his  days,  as  I  found  written  in  the  Prayer- 
book  of  one  who  knew  him,  on  Friday,  7th  January,  1757, 
and  was  buried  in  the  cemetery  behind  the  chapel.  The 
Bornhem  Rolls  testify  that,  at  the  time  of  his  death,  he  was 
sixty-eight  years  of  age,  professed  forty-six,  and  priest  forty- 
four.  But  I  never  could  learn  who  was  his  substitute  during 
his  absence  at  Bornhem  Convent  of  the  Holy  Cross. 

3.  James  Price,  O.S.B.,  who  had  been  superior  of  St. 
Edmund's  at  Paris,  reached  Ugbrooke  about  Michaelmas, 
1757,  in  a  confirmed  dropsy,  and  died  three  months'  later. 
His  remains  lie  in  the  chancel  of  Chudleigh  Church,  where 
he  was  buried,  according  to  the  parish  register,  4th  January, 
1758. 

4.  Frost,  James,  O.S.F.  (in  religion,  Peter).  This  amiable 
priest  resided  at  Ugbrooke  from  1758  until  June  1766,  when 
he  was  ordered  by  his  superiors  to  take  charge  of  their  school 
at  Edgbaston,  near  Birmingham.  In  July,  1770,  he  was 
elected  guardian  of  St.  Bonaventure's  Convent  at  Douav, 


TABLES    OF    SUCCESSION    OF    INCUMBENTS.  193 

and  provincial  of  his  brethren,  30th  August,  1782.  He  had 
hardly  completed  his  triennial  period  of  government,  when 
he  died  at  Wootton,  3rd  October,  1 785,  set.  fifty-four. 

5.  William  Strickland,  S.J.,  after  some  time  was  appointed 
to  supply  at  Ugbrooke  until  the  Rev.  Joseph  Reeve  could 
arrive  from  the  Continent.     See  the  second  part. 

6.  Joseph  Reeve,  S.J.,  a  man  of  extraordinary  merit,  who 
arrived  at  Ugbrooke  on  5th  August,  1767,  and  there  ended 
his  days  2nd  May,  1820,  aged  eighty-seven.  I  shall  dwell 
on  his  merits  at  length  in  the  second  part. 

7.  Felix  Vauquelin.  This  learned  friend,  who  had,  from 
the  first  French  Revolution,  enjoyed  an  asylum  at  Ugbrooke, 
undertook  the  charge  of  the  congregation  when  Mr.  Reeve's 
sight  began  to  fail  him,  and  returned  to  his  native  city, 
Rouen,  in  September,  1816.  Its  archbishop,  acquainted 
with  his  distinguished  merits,  soon  appointed  him  a  grand 
vicaire.  There  he  died,  universally  respected  and  esteemed, 
7th  February,  1840,  set.  eighty-three. 

8.  James  Laurenson,  (S.J.,  succeeded  27th  September,  1816, 
and  continued  his  zealous  services  until  10th  January,  1831, 
when  he  was  transferred  to  Lincoln. 

9.  James  Brownbill,  S.J. — This  worthy  succcessor  to  F. 
Laurenson  had  arrived  on  Saturday,  27th  November,  1830. 
To  his  great  comfort  and  joy,  he  removed  from  Ugbrooke 
House  to  Ashwell  within  the  Park,  on  Wednesday,  26th 
June,  1832 ;  but  to  the  deep  regret  of  his  congregation  and 
numerous  friends  of  all  denominations  of  religion,  he  was 
forced  to  retire  on  27th  September,  1835.  See  the  Appendix, 
No.  VIII. ;  and  also  Part  II. 

10.  William  Cot  ham,  S.J. — He  had  been  ordained  priest 
at  Stonyhurst  in  the  Ember  week  of  Advent,  1834,  and 
reached  Ugbrooke  24th  September  following,  to  succeed  F. 
Brownbill.  After  ten  years  of  indefatigable  labour,  obedience 
calling  him  away  to  the  arduous  mission  of  Wigan,  he  bade 
adieu  to  Ugbrooke  on  4th  November,  1845. 

11.  Charles  Lomax,  S.J.,  arrived  at  Ugbrooke  on  16th 
October,  1845,  where,  I  trust,  he  has  found  a  resting-place. 
In  page  29  I  have  briefly  alluded  to  his  zeal  for  souls. 

12.  Henry  Brigham,  S.J.,  succeeded  28th  February,  1856. 

15.   Wardour  Mission. 

1.  William  Smith,  S.J.—Ohiit  13th  September,  1658,  set. 
sixty-four. 

2.  Richard  Mason,  O.S.F. — See  second  part. 

3.  John  Weldon,  S.J. — See  second  part. 

o 


194  TABLES    OF    SUCCESSION    OF    INCUMBENTS. 

4.  Thomas  Fairfax,  alias  Beckett,  S.J. — Ob.  2nd  Marchj 
1716,  set.  sixty. 

5.  Richard  Holland,  S.J. — He  left  in  July,  1734. 

6.  Hubert  Hacon,  S.J.,  succeeded ;  but  must  have  resigned 
the  charge  of  the  congregation  some  time  before  his  death, 
which  occurred  at  Wardour  9th  May,  1751,  set.  seventy- 
three. 

*7.  Michael  Poole,  S.J.,  was  pastor  for  some  years.  Obiit 
in  Anglic  23rd  April,  1748,  set.  sixty-one,  soc.  forty-one. 

8.  Robert  Constable,  S.J.,  served  the  family  and  mission 
from  1746  to  1759. 

9.  John  Jenison,  S.J.,  from  1759  to  1774. 

10.  Augustine  Jenison,  S.J.,  who  after  three  years  and  a  few 
months,  in  October,  1774,  abandoned  all ! 

11.  Charles  Forrester,  vere  Fleuri,  arrived  at  Wardour  10th 
February,  1775.  This  reverend  gentleman,  accompanying 
the  eighth  Lord  Arundell  and  family  during  a  residence  of 
two  years  on  the  Continent, — 

12.  Joseph  Clossette,  S.J.,  was  sent  at  Michaelmas,  1781, 
to  supply ;  but  melancholy  to  relate,  on  23rd  October  of  that 
year  he  was  thrown  from  his  horse  at  Ludwell,  near  Wardour, 
and  killed  on  the  spot,  in  his  thirtieth  year. 

18.  Edward  Wheble,  who  had  lived  as  private  chaplain  in 
the  family,  now  undertook  the  charge  of  the  congregation 
until  F.  Forrester  could  resume  his  post.  This  eloquent  man, 
dying  at  Wardour  29th  January,  1788,  set.  sixty-three,  was 
buried  at  the  entrance  of  the  chapel. 

14.  Edward  Nichell,  S.J.,  on  F.  Forrester's  resigning  the 
incumbency  for  the  post  of  domestic  chaplain.  After  dis- 
charging his  pastoral  oflSce,  with  an  affectionate  zeal  that 
must  ever  endear  his  memory  to  the  Wardour  congregation, 
during  fourteen  years,  he  left  for  Trinidad,  where,  on  4th 
November,  1806,  he  fell  a  victim  of  charity  in  attending  the 
poor  negroes,  set.  fifty-four. 

15.  Jean  Baptiste  Mar  est  succeeded  F.  Nichell,  and  for 
sixteen  years  discharged  the  duties  of  a  good  shepherd.  On 
his  retirement  to  Canford,  1817, — 

16.  F.  Joseph  Postlewhite  served  Wardour  from  March, 
1817,  until  October,  1820. 

17.  F.  Richard  Parker,  S.J.,  from  6th  October,  1820,  until 
March,  1832. 

*  I  am  at  fault  where  to  place  F.  Edward  Withie,  S.J. ;  tut  after 
serving  at  Wardour  he  died  at  Liege  22nd  November,  1769,  set.  eighty. 
According  to  the  Provincial's  book,  he  was  succeeded  at  Wardour  by 
F.  Joseph  Wright,  who  died  in  England  14th  March,  1760,  set.  sixty- 
one. 


TABLES    OV    SUCCESSION    OP   INCUMBENTS.  195 

18.  F.  James  Carr,  S.J.,  supplied  from  March  until  20tli 
Juue,  1833.  lie  was  born  at  Preston  4th  June,  1795;  was 
educated  at  Stonyhurst ;  succeeded  P.  Brice  Bridge  at  Nor- 
wich, in  August,  1822;  transferred  to  Worcester,  vice  P. 
Richard  Norris,  in  1826;  quitted  the  Society  in  the  summer 
of  1827 ;  re-admitted  in  December,  1829 ;  but  withdrew 
again  after  his  departure  from  Wardour  at  the  end  of  three 
months.     He  is  still  living. 

19.  F.  James  Laurenson,  S.J. — Of  this  very  old  and  dear 
friend,  I  shall  have  to  treat  at  large  in  the  second  part. 
The  late  Everard  Lord  Arundell  had  witnessed  at  Ugbrooke, 
during  his  long  ministry,  his  undeviating  example  of  pro- 
priety and  enligttened  zeal,  and  earnestly  petitioned  his 
superiors  that  Wardour  might  be  privileged  with  obtaining 
such  a  pastor.  His  request  was  granted,  and  F.  Laurenson 
arrived  at  Wardour  on  the  23rd  June,  1833,  in  the  place  of 
F.  Carr.  I  can  hardly  trust  myself  to  speak  of  his  merito- 
rious services  to  the  family,  and  to  the  increasing  congrega- 
tion. By  his  active  industry,  he  succeeded  in  creating  the 
spacious  and  most  convenient  Catholic  cemetery,  which  was 
first  opened  with  imposing  solemnity  on  the  occasion  of  the 
first  interment  of  an  infant  (Elias  Peter  Burton)  on  1st  January, 
1836.  Owing  to  the  rapid  progress  of  the  cause  of  religion 
in  this  extensive  mission,  he  was  at  length  allowed  an  assist- 
ant, first,  in  F.  Henry  Mahon  ;  second,  F.  Walter  Clifford ; 
third,  F.  William  Lomax,  who  arrived  14th  October,  1843; 
fourth,  F.  William  Waterton  (of  all  whom  I  shall  report 
in  the  biographical  part) ;  and  fifth,  of  F.  James  Clough, 
who  arrived  in  July,  1848,  and  died  3rd  November  fol- 
lowing, set.  forty-five.  But  from  1st  November,  1848,  until 
2nd  September,  1853,  he  was  left  to  perform  double  duty; 
and  then  abruptly  transferred  to  Worcester,  where  he  is 
now  pursuing  his  apostolic  labours,  set.  seventy-four. 

20.  F.  John  Grimstone,  S.J.,  arrived  30th  June,  1853. 
He  was  allowed  an  assistant,  first,  in  F.  Edward  Hood,  for 
about  a  year  and  a  half;  second,  in  F.  George  Lambert; 
and  since  20th  October,  1855,  in  F.  Henry  Walmesley,  of 
whom  more  in  Part  II. 

21.  F.  Ralph  Cooper,  S.J.,  formerly  at  Worcester,  is  the 
present  incumbent  at  Wardour,  in  consequence  of  P.  Grim- 
stone  being  obliged  to  retire  by  reason  of  bad  health. 

It  may  not  be  amiss  to  observe,  that  a  small  community 
of  Carthusians  from  Gallion,  near  Rouen,  emigrated  into 
this  country  at  the  French  Revolution,  and  that  through  the 
generosity  of  the  Arundell  family,  they  found  an  asylum  at 
Coomb,   near  Shaftesbury.     They  were  eight  in  number; 

o  2 


196  TABLES   OF   SUCCESSION    OF    INCUMBENTS. 

their  prior  died  there,  and  was  buried  at  Donhead,  St.  Mary, 
with  the  following  inscription  : — 

D.    O.    M. 

Dom.  Anthelni.  Guillemet, 

A  Carthusian  Monk, 

Of  the  Convent  of  Bourbon,  in  Normandy. 

Banished  from  his  native  country  for  his  religion. 

Died  at  Coomb  April  21st,  1798, 

In  the  84th  of  his  age,  and  55th  of  his  profession. 

May  he  rest  in  peace. 

Amen. 

"  He  died  in  a  good  old  age,  full  of  days." 

Gen.  XXV.  8. 

In  the  "Catholic  Magazine''  of  January,  1835,  is  an 
interesting  report  of  a  visit  to  the  Grande  Chartreuse,  made 
in  October,  1833.  Pere  Antoine  Latarre,  set.  eighty-four,  who 
had  been  afforded  shelter  and  protection  at  Coomb,  was  then 
living,  and  retained  the  warmest  sense  of  gratitude  towards 
the  Arundell  family.  He  made  numberless  inquiries  con- 
cerning its  surviving  members,  and  declared  that  he  never 
passed  a  day  without  earnestly  recommending  these  his 
ancient  benefactors  to  Almighty  God. 


APPENDIX. 


No.  I. 
Referable  to  page  3. 

In  page  3  I  have  stated  that  the  Petre  family  had  derived  their 
origin,  and  had  acquired  considerable  property,  in  the  diocese  of 
Exeter.  Though  they  ceased,  for  the  most  part,  to  reside  on  it, 
it  may  be  desirable  to  give  a  brief  synopsis  of  the  family. 

The  founder  of  this  family  was  William,  son  of  John  Petre, 
by  his  wife  Alice  Colin.  At  Tor  Newton,  a  very  small  estate  in 
Tor  Brian  parish,  Devon,  he  first  saw  the  light  of  day.  In 
process  of  time,  he  got  admission  into  Exeter  College,  Oxford, 
and  was  early  introduced  at  court,  where  we  meet  him  as  a 
protegS  of  that  unprincipled  minister  Thomas  Cromwell,  on  24th 
November,  1535.  By  his  obsequious  acquiescence  to  four  suc- 
cessive sovereigns, — viz.  Henry  VIII.,  Edward  VI.,  Mary,  and 
Queen  Elizabeth, — he  succeeded  in  retaining  their  confidence, 
and  largely  sharing  in  their  bounty.  The  estate  that  he  acquired 
by  crown  grants  was  truly  immense ;  in  Devonshire  alone  the 
property  amounted  to  36,000  acres,  and,  which  is  singular,  he 
obtained  of  Pope  Paul  IV.  a  confirmation  of  this  strangely- 
acquired  property.  The  Bull,  dated  28th  November,  1555,  may 
be  seen  in  vol.  vi.  of  the  Monasticon  Anglicanum,  p.  1645.  It 
must,  however,  be  said  in  his  commendation,  that  he  was  a 
generous  benefactor  to  Exeter  College,  Oxford,  and  that  he 
handsomely  endowed  an  almshouse  for  twenty  poor  persons  at 
Ingatestone,  Essex.  He  died  on  13th  January,  1572,  and  was 
buried  in  the  parish  church  of  Ingatestone. 

A  younger  brother  of  his,  Itichard,  was  installed  precentor  of 
Exeter  Cathedral,  28th  December,  1557,  and  was  certainly 
averse  to  Queen  Elizabeth's  change  of  the  national  religion 
(see  Alley's  Eegister,  p.  62)  ;  but  stiU  retained  his  office  until 
December,  1571  (see  Bradbridge's  Eegister,  fol.  67),  when  \.Q 
resigned  it  during  his  knightly  brother's  last  illness.  I  can 
discover  nothing  in  the  Acts  of  our  bishops  of  Exeter  to  warrant 
Dodd's  assertion  (Church  History,  vol.  ii.  p.  127),  that  he  was 
deprived  for  opposing  the  Eeformation  in  the  beginning  of  Queen 
Elizabeth's  reign. 

Sir  "William  Petre  left  an  only  son,  John,  whom  King  James  I., 
on  21st  July,  1603,  created  Lord  Petre,  baron  of  Writtle,  in 


198 


APPENDIX. 


CO.  Essex.  He  married  Mary,  eldest  daughter  of  Sir  Edward 
Waldegrave,  who  had  died  a  confessor  of  the  Catholic  faith  in  the 
Tower  of  London,  1st  September,  1561.  There  is  cause  for 
believing  that  he  made  conscience  too  subservient  to  his  political 
interests.  Dying,  11th  October,  1613,  he  was  buried  near  his 
father.  Exeter  College  honoured  his  memory  by  a  thin  4to. 
of  Epicedia,  entitled,  "Threni  Exoniensium  in  obitum  illus- 
trissimi  Yiri  D.  Johannis  Petrei,  Baronis  de  AVrittle,  Eilii 
D.  G-ul.  Petrei."  Oxon,  1613,  pp.  48.  These  poems  are  in 
Hebrew,  Greek,  Latin,  and  other  languages.  It  should  be 
remembered  that  Dorothy,  his  lordship's  sister,  and  wife  of 
Sir  Nicholas  "Wadham,  so  heartily  concurred  with  her  husband, 
whom  she  long  survived,  in  the  foundation  of  Wadham  College, 
Oxford,  as  to  be  called  "  foundresse,"  in  her  monument  at 
Ilminster.     Ob.  16th  May,  1618,  set.  eighty-four. 

2.  William,  the  eldest  son  of  the  first  Lord  Petre,  succeeded  to 
the  title  and  estates.  He  married  Catherine,  second  daughter 
of  Edward  Somerset,  earl  of  Worcester.  Her  ladyship  died  on 
31st  October,  1625.  Her  noble  Lord  had  much  annoyance  and 
persecution  to  endure  for  his  attachment  to  the  old  religion. 
Dr.  G-eorge  Abbot,  the  puritanical  archbishop  of  Canterbury, 
summoned  him  before  the  Ecclesiastical  Court  in  consequence. 
His  name  was  struck  out  from  the  list  of  magistrates.  He  seems 
to  have  taken  a  delight  in  forming  a  collection  of  armoury ;  but 
it  was  seized  by  the  Government,  which  still  was  mean  enough  to 
saddle  him  with  the  cost  of  keeping  it  in  proper  order.  At 
Thorndon  he  died  piously  on  5th  May,  1627  ;  and  his  last  words, 
says  E.  Henry  More  (Hist.  Prov.  Angl.  S.J.,  p.  467),  were, 
"  I  am  now  going  where  I  shall  never  ofiend  God  any  more." 

3.  Hobert  Lord  Petre,  was  the  eldest  son  of  the  last-mentioned 
peer.  Seven  years  before  his  accession  to  the  title,  he  had  con- 
tracted marriage  with  Mary,  daughter  of  Anthony,  Lord  Viscount 
Montague;  and  it  is  worthy  of  remark  that  their  three  sons, 
William,  John,  and  Thomas,  were  successively  Barons  Petre. 

In  the  Diary  of  Walter  Tonga,  Esq.,  from  1604  to  1628, 
printed  for  the  Camden  Society  in  1848,  I  read,  in  page  108  : 
"  July  21st,  1627. — -About  two  months  since,  the  Lord  Petre's 
two  sons  were  taken,  going  to  the  University  in  Spain ;  and 
were  this  week,  together  with  the  Lord  Harbert's  son,  committed 
to  the  custody  of  the  bishop  of  London"  (George  Montague). 
According  to  one  account,  the  noble  lord  died  23rd  October, 
1637 ;  but  probably  on  23rd  October,  1638.  That  he  proved  a 
distinguished  benefactor  to  the  English  Jesuits,  is  evident  from 
the  following  letter  of  the  provincial,  E.  Richard  Blount,  dated 
London,  27th  August,  1632,  to  the  sixth  general  of  their  Society, 
Mutius  Vitelleschi : — 

"  Admodum  Eevde.  in  Christo  Pater  Noster — Pax  Christi. 

"  lUustrissimus  Dominus  Baro  Cephalini  (sic  enim  vocari  cupit 
llospes   Henrici    More),    Baro    Petri,   zelo   fidei   ac    religionis 


APPENDIX.  199 

Catholicaj  propagandse  accensus,  cum  liberis  suis  omnibus  jam 
providerit,  excepto  natu  maxirao,  pietatis  in  patriam  suam  monu- 
mentum  quoque  aliquod  relinquere  poet  se  optat.  Collegium 
itaque  Societatis  noatrse  fundare  in  animo  habet,  cui  dotando 
prsBter  redditum  annuum  perpetaum  quasi  mille  scutorum, 
Bummam  capitalem  sexdecim  millium  scutorum  in  parata  pecunia 
seposuit,  quse  si  ad  nummum  duntaxat  decimum  quintum  expo- 
iiatur,  ad  alendos  viginti  quinque  personas  oranino  sufficiet. 
Quod  si  DivinsB  Bonitati  vitam  ipsi  ad  aliquot  annos  prorogare 
visum  fuerit,  paratis  quae  Alio  natu  minimo  sufficiant,  dotem  etiam 
collegii  aucturum  se  sperat.  Dignabitur  Paternitas  Vestra  banc 
optimi  sane  viri,  et  Societatis  nostras  studiosissimi,  piam  volun- 
tatem  gratam  habere,  et  collegium  sic  dotandum  ad  majus  Dei 
obsequium  et  animarum  auxilium  admittere,  quod  ipse  Chelms- 
fordii  (hoc  prsecipTium  illius  comitatus  est  oppidum  et  nostris 
niinisteriis  percommodum)  sub  nuncupatione  Sanctorum  Aposto- 
lorum  coUocandum  censet.  Quod  eo  etiam  nomine  libentius 
concessura  spero  Paternitatem  Vestram,  quia  idem  illustrissimus 
Domiuus  ab  obitu  parentis  per  complures  jam  annos  insignis 
benefactor  estitit,  donatis  Societati  in  singulos  annos  mUle  scutis, 
quam  eleemosynam  hodieque  dat,  et  ad  obitum  usque  daturus  est, 

"  Et  quidem  est  Oxonii  Collegium  quod  ab  ejus  majoribus 
fundatum,  ob  couditiones  in  ejus  traditione  pactas,  sed  jam  mani- 
feste  ruptas,  secundum  jura  ad  ipsum  devolutum  censetur  ;  cujus 
possessionem  baud  dubio  jam  adiisset,  si  per  temporum  iniqui- 
tatem  jus  suum  prosequi  licuisset.  Itaque,  lite  pendente,  sed 
nou  adjudicata,  Collegium  illud  (Exoniense)  si  quando  a  posteris 
recuperabitur,  Societati  nostrfe  per  codicillum  donandum  ordi- 
nabit ;  quae  sane  res  eximiam  ejus  in  nos  benevolentiam  satis 
ostendit.  Ceterum  ubi  perlatum  fuerit  responsum  Paternitatis 
VestrsB,  si  collegium  admittendum  videbitur,  pecunia  aupradicta 
cum  redditu  annuo  mibi  statim  legitime  consignabitur.  Simul 
vero,  si  placet  P.V.,  mittatur  diploma,  quo  hujusmodi  collegium 
a  se  rite  admissum  testetur;  cujusmodi  diploma  missurum  etiam 
se  promisit  D.  Carolo  Shirebundo,  quod  tamen  hactenus  non 
suscepi.  Quod  reliquum  est,  Sanctis  me  P.V.  sacrificiis  et 
orationibus  humillime  commendo.   Loudini,  27  Augusti,  1632. 

"  Adm.  E.P.V.  indignus  in  Christo  filius  et  servus, 

"ElCAEDTJS   BlONDrS." 

The  regular  diploma  duly  reached  his  lordship,  which  he 
acknowledged  to  the  said  G-eneral  Vitelleschi  by  letter,  dated 
London,  3rd  April,  1635. 

4.  William,  the  eldest  son  of  Lord  Eoljert,  succeeded  to  the 
peerage,  and  had  to  encounter  most  difficult  times  in  consequence 
of  his  loyal  and  religious  principles.  "When  a  regiment  refused  to 
march  until  it  received  its  arrears  of  pay,  amounting  to  £3,000, 
the  Puritanical  Parliament  (Journals,  vi.  .519)  ordered  the  sum  to 
be  raised  by  the  sale  of  his  lordship's  woods  in  Esses.  In  the 
State-Paper  Office   is  a  "  certificate,  according  to  order,  of  9th 


200 


APPENDIX. 


May,  1650,  upon  petition  of  Edward  Beston  and  Edward  White, 
gentlemen,  trustees  for  the  younger  children  of  the  late  Eobert 
Lord  Petre,  desiring  allowance  of  a  deed  for  raising  portions,  &c." 

"  That  the  said  Eobert  Lord  Petre  had  been  seized  of  the 
manor  of  S.  Brent,  Devon,  of  the  value  of  £411.  15s.  Id.,  and  of 
about  £300  old  rents. 

"  Of  the  manor  of  Patworth,  co.  Somerset,  £14.  18s.  9d. 

"  Of  the  manor  of  Writtle,  in  Essex,  and  other  lands  in  the 
same  county,  £1,034.  lis.  4>d.  value,  did  by  deed,  dated  11th 
October,  1638,  bargain  and  sell  to  petitioners  for  a  term  of  thirty 
years  the  abovesaid  manors  and  lands  under  the  yearly  rent  of 
£100  per  annum,  to  the  heirs  of  the  same  Lord  Petre,  upon  trust 
to  raise  £35,000  for  the  advancement  of  Mary,  John,  Francis, 
Thomas,  Dorothy,  and  Anthony,  his  children,  in  shares  following : 
to  Mary  six,  John  ten,  Prancis  five,  Thomas  five,  Dorothy  four, 
and  Anthony  five,  to  be  paid  at  their  attaining  the  age  of  twenty- 
one.  Proviso  for  avoiding  payment  of  the  portions  of  such 
as  should  prove  dissolute  and  ungoverned  either  in  course  of  life, 
or  in  marriage  without  the  consent  of  parents.  That  the  portion 
of  Mary  had  been  paid  on  her  marriage  with  Edward  Stourton, 
Esq. ;  that  Erancis  and  Anthony  had  died  before  the  age  of 
twenty-one  ;  that  trustees  had  received  further  in  this  charge  of 
their  trust  £5,930.  10s. ;  and  petitioners  were  in  possession,  by 
virtue  of  the  order  of  commissioners  for  sequestration,  dated 
7th  April,  1647,  until  hindered  by  the  new  commissioners  in  the 
Beveral  counties." 

Particulars  of  the  estates  in  Devon. 

The  manor  of  South  Brent £142     0  0 

—  Churchstowe 64  11  11 

—  Kingsbridge 18  12  7 

—  Shute     55     2  4 

—  Southleigh    16     5  8 

—  Northleigh    11  15  7 

—  Werrington  5  16  0 

—  Hitway 2  14  2 

—  Uphay 9    8  4 

—  Humfraville  10     9  0 

—  Aiminster , 61     6  8 

—  Dowleshays  8     6  4 

—  Haccombe  Fee 4  18  2 

—  Challenger    5  17  0 

—  Combpyne    17     5  6 

—  Dounehumfraville    15  12  5 

—  Lands  called  Sparkhays  2  18  4 

—  Littlecombe ' 4  10  6 

—  Laggesmore,  alias  Euxmore    2     5  3 

—  Deane  and  Brannomb 2     0  4 

Carried  forward 461  11     1 


APPENDIX.  201 

Brought  forward  £46111    1 

The  Manor  of  Borcombe 4  13    4 

—  Hunthayes    2     1     1 

—  East  Membury 2  10    0 

—  Kellene     1  13  10 

—  Sidford,  Sidbury,  and  Hartcombe  .       2  10    4 

Totalof  rents £474  19    8 

Though  King  Charles  II.  did  not  possess  a  more  loyal  subject, 
yet  during  the  national  delirium  excited  by  Oates's  plot, — "  which 
plot  his  Majesty  was  satisfied  was  all  a  fiction,  never  believing 
one  tittle  of  it "  (Life  of  James  II.  vol.  i.), — this  illustrious 
peer,  on  29th  November,  1678,  was  consigned  to  the  Tower,  and 
was  suffered  to  remain  there  and  die  a  prisoner  without  trial  on 
3rd  January,  1683.  Just  before  his  death  he  addressed  the 
following  letter  to  his  ungrateful  sovereign.  I  may  pre- 
mise, however,  that  this  excellent  nobleman  had  been  committed 
to  jail  by  the  usurper  Cromwell  (for  his  loyalty  had  made  him 
suspected)  on  30th  June,  1655.  On  8th  August  he  solicited 
Secretary  Thurloe's  interest  with  the  Protector,  "  that  in  regard 
of  certain  great  business,  which  lies  gasping  by  reason  of  my 
restraint,  he  would  be  pleased  either  to  grant  me  a  full  liberty, 
or  fredom  upon  my  own  engagement,  to  follow  my  said  occa- 
sions." The  usurper,  I  believe,  was  more  lenient  than  his 
legitimate  sovereign: — 

"  Mat  it  please  toue  Majesty, — I  give  myself  the  hopes 
that  your  Majesty  will  pardon  this  presumption  of  a  dying  but 
dutiful  subject,  in  giving  you  the  trouble  of  this  short  account 
and  declaration  of  myself,  by  which,  in  the  first  place,  I  offer  to 
God  my  hearty  prayers  for  your  Majesty's  long  life  and  happy 
reign,  with  all  the  blessings  of  this  life,  and  eternal  happiness  in 
the  next. 

"  I  having  been  now  above  five  years  in  prison,  and  what  is 
more  grievous  to  me,  lain  so  long  under  a  false  and  injurious 
calumny  of  a  horrid  plot  and  design  against  your  Majesty's 
person  and  Grovernment,  and  am  now,  by  the  disposition  of  God's 
providence,  called  into  another  world  before  I  could,  by  a  public 
trial  make  my  innocence  appear,  I  conceived  it  necessary  for  me, 
as  an  incumbent  duty  I  owe  to  truth  and  my  own  innocence,  to 
make  this  ensuing  protestation  to  your  Majesty  and  the  whole 
world. 

"That  whereas  one  Titus  Oates  hath  maliciously  and  falsely 
sworn,  that  he  saw  me  receive  a  commission  directed  to  me  from 
Joannes  Paulus  de  Oliva  constituting  me  lieutenant-general  of 
an  army  which  he  pretended  was  to  come  to  England,  I  declare 
in  the  presence  of  the  all-seeing  God,  before  whose  just  tribunal 
I  am  shortly  to  appear,  that  I  never  saw  any  such  commission 
directed  to  me,  or  any  other  person  whatsoever,  and  do  firmly 
believe  there  never  was  any  such.     But  of  the  folly  as  well  as  the 


203  APPENDIX. 

falsehood  of  the  information,  the  sober  part  of  mankind,  as  I 
conceive,  sufficiently  ere  this  are  convinced. 

"  And  as  for  those  aspersions  which  the  ignorant  and  malicious 
have  thrown  upon  the  Eoman  Catholic  Church  (of  which  I  am, 
and  by  the  grace  of  God  do  die  a  member),  as  if  murdering  of 
kings  and  taking  up  arms  against  our  sovereigns  was  an  authorized 
principle  of  that  religioh,  I  do  knowingly  affirm,  there  is  nothing 
with  more  horror  detested  by  the  Catholic  Church,  as  being  ex- 
pressly contrary  to  the  command  of  our  Saviour  and  to  Christian 
doctrine  ;  and,  as  such,  I  renounce  and  detest  it,  as  I  do  aU  plots 
and  conspiracies  against  your  sacred  person. 

"  Having  thus  briefly,  and  with  all  sincerity  of  a  dying  man, 
discharged  my  conscience,  I  shall  end  where  I  began,  and  with 
my  last  breath  beg  of  G-od  to  defend  your  Ma-iesty  from  all  your 
enemies,  and  to  forgive  those  who  by  their  perjuries  have  endea- 
voured to  make  me  appear  to  be  one,  who,  living  and  dying,  am 
as  in  duty  bound,  &c. 

"  Tour  most  obedient  and  loyal  subject, 

"  W.  Petee." 

Thus  died  this  much-injured  nobleman,  leaving  a  bright  example 
of  innocence  and  charity,  as  well  as  of  inviolable  loyalty.  His 
brother  John,  fifth  Lord  Fetre,  succeeded,  but  survived  his  la- 
mented predecessor  but  one  twelvemonth. 

6.  Thomas,  the  third  brother,  was  the  next  peer.  King 
James  II.  highly  esteemed  and  favoured  him,  as  well  on  account 
of  his  own  merits,  as  for  the  distinguished  virtues  of  his  perse- 
cuted brother,  the  Lord  WUliam.  At  the  Eevolution  he  was 
consequently  subjected  to  much  vexation ;  but  he  lived  to  a  good 
old  age,  dying  4th  June,  1707.  By  his  lady,  Mary,  daughter  of 
Sir  Thomas  Clifton,  Bart.,  he  left  an  only  son  to  inherit  his 
honours,  viz., 

7.  Bohert. — This  is  the  "  adventurous  baron  "  in  Pope's  "Eape 
of  the  Lock."  The  young  nobleman,  shortly  after  marrying  that 
great  heiress  Miss  Catherine  Walmesley,*  of  Dunkenhalgh, 
Lancashire,  was  rapidly  carried  off  by  small-pox.  His  will  was 
timely  made  on  21st  March,  1713.     His  posthumous  son, 

8.  Rolert  James,  now  became  the  eighth  Lord  Petre.  The 
family  chaplain,  the  Eev.  Eobert  Manning,  a  consummate  theo- 
logian, paid  extraordinary  attention  to  the  cultivation  of  his  mind 
and  understanding.  From  Nicliol's  Illustrations,  vol.  i.  p.  327,  it 
appears  that  his  lordship  was  an  eminent  florist,  and  fellow  of  the 
Koyal  and'  Antiquarian  Societies.  On  25th  April,  1732,  he  married 
at  St.  Paul's,  London,  the  Lady  Mary,  daughter  of  James  Earl  of 
Derwentwater.  He  died  2nd  July,  1742,  and  was  succeeded  by 
his  only  son, 

9.  Rohert  Edward. — His  family  must  be  ever  indebted  to  him 
for  building  his  princely  mansion  of  Thorndon.    That  he  possessed 

*  She  afterwards  married  Charles,  14th  Lord  Stourton,  and  surviving  him 
iifty-two  years,  died  31  January,  1785,  set.  eighty-eight. 


APPENDIX.  203 

many  estimable  qualities,  was  a  munificent  encourager  of  men  of 
letters,  and  very  charitable,  is  undeniable ;  but  unfortunately  he 
became  a  tool  in  the  hands  of  some  designing  members  of  the 
Cisalpine  Committee,  and  was  betrayed  in  consequence  into  in- 
discretions. His  letter  to  Dr.  Horsley,  Bishop  of  St.  David's, 
dated  17th  Pebruary,  1789,  would  better  have  remained  unpub- 
lished. But  before  his  death,  the  noble  lord  expressed  his  deep 
sorrow  for  every  act  and  writing  inconsistent  with  his  faith  and 
religious  dut^  into  which  he  had  fallen  in  the  management  of 
Catholic  affairs ;  and  he  caused  all  the  papers  of  that  nature  in 
his  possession  to  be  burnt  in  his  presence.  See  Dr.  Milner's  - 
Supplementary  Memoirs,  p.  333.  Ob.  2nd  July,  1801,  set.  sixty. 
He  was  succeeded  by  his  eldest  son, 

10.  Robert  iEdward,  who  enjoyed  his  honours  but  a  short  time, 
dying  29th  March,  1809,  set.  forty-six. 

11.  William  Francis  Senry. — This  nobleman  parted  with  the 
remainder  of  the  family  property  in  Devon.  Ob.  3rd  July,  1850, 
aged  fifty-seven. 

12.  William  Henry  Francis,  his  eldest  son,  and  now  twelfth 
Lord  Petre,  married  on  26th  September,  1843,  Maria  Theresa, 
eldest  daughter  of  Hon.  Charles  Thomas  Clifford. 

"  Stet  t'ortuna  Domus  et  avi  numerentur  avoium." 


No.  II. 
Meferdble  to  pages  2  and  9. 

Ex  vita  D.  Francisci  Tregian,  Authore  Francisco  Plunketto, 
Nepote  ejus  Paterno,  Ulissipone  impressa.     Amio  1655  in  12°. 

"  Aulara  Elizabethoe  adit  (ingruente  persecutione)  ut  Catholicia 
opem  aliquam  ferret,  ductd  jam  in  conjugem  Maria,  Baronis  Stur- 
tonias  filiS,.  Eegina  per  pedissequam  iUum  invitat  ad  cubiculum 
intempesta  nocte ;  recusantem  adit,  lectoque  assidens  ad  impudica 
provocat,  recusantem  increpat.  Castitatis  suae  curam  gerens,  ex 
AulS,  se  proripuit  iusalutat^  Eegina  ;  quae  idcirco  furit  et  in  car- 
cerem  detrudi  jubet.     Factum  id  8  Junii,  1577." 

"  16  Septembris,  ad  tribunal  ductus  est  Cuthbert  Manus, 
sacerdos  ejus,  cum  quindecira  famulis;  hi  perpetuo  carceri  manci- 
pati;  sacerdos  condemnatus,  et  postea  more  proditorum  suspensus." 

Page  13. — "Franciscus  perpetuo  carceri  damnatus ;  bona  omnia 
fiscp  adjudicata." 

Page  17. — "  Triennio  et  amplius  crudelissime  tractatur  in  carcere 
Londinensi,  ad  quern  pro  magno  favore  translatus  fuerat  ex  alio, 
ubi  tribus  mensibus  nou  minus  inhumaniter  habitus  fuerat." 

Page  32. — "  Viginti  septem  annos  in  vinculis  transegit ;  tum 
liber  fugit  Madritum,  ubi  a  Philippo  111°  humanissime  tractatum, 
sexaginta  aureis  Uli  in  menses  singulos  assignatis.  Valetudinis 
causa  Olissiponem  migravit,  ubi  sancto  obiit  25  Septembris, 
1608;  17  post  annos  corpus  repertum  incorruptum,  et  plurima 


204 


APPENDIX. 


per  reliquias  patrata  miraeula,  quae  recensentur  ab  ordinario 
approbata." 

N.B.  The  style  of  the  work  is  obscure  and  unclassical.  In.  the 
Epistle  to  the  Reader  he  relates  the  miserable  deaths  of  the  per- 
secutors of  Sir  Francis  Tregian. 

Cornelius  a  Lapide,  in  his  Commentary  on  St.  Paul's  Epistle  to 
the  Hebrews  (chap,  x.),  says : — "  Eerunt  D.  Eranciscum  Tregianum 
cum  sententia  de  amissione  bonorura  et  perpetuis  carceribus 
ferenda  esset,  bysso  Candida  vestitum  comparuisse,  et  post  latam 
sententiam  dixisse  :  Pereant  bona,  quae  si  non  periissent,  fortassis 
Dominum  perdidissent." 

In  the  "  Catholic  Miscellany "  of  June,  1823,  I  inserted  an 
unpublished  letter,  written  from  Lisbon  by  E.  Ignatius  Stafford, 
8.J.,  to  Erancis  Eorcer,  of  the  same  society,  at  Madrid,  bearing 
date  26th  April,  1625.  Dodd,  in  his  Church  Hist.  vol.  ii.  p.  171, 
had  lost  sight  of  this  great  confessor  after  his  visit  to  Douay 
College  in  July,  1606. 

"  Eeteeend  Eathee, — I  will  rehearse  unto  you  the  sequent 
case  which  happened  yesterday,  the  25th  of  this  present,  by 
reason  of  a  certain  grave  was  then  opened,  wherein  an  English 
knight  had  been  formerly  buried,  as  in  the  book  of  the  Prefect  of 
the  Church  is  found  briefly  set  down  as  follows  : — 

"  '  Nesta  cava  esta  enterrado  Don  Erancisco  Tregian,  Cavallero 
Ingles,  qui  estuve  preso^  em  Inglaterra  por  la  saneta  Ee  28  anos  ; 
sendo  Sno'  principal  de  multos  vasallos  con  chez  tomarem  tota  sua 
fazenda ;  em  fim  desterrado  de  Inglaterra  neo  para  esta  ciudad  de 
Lisboa,  com  entretenimento  que  o  Key  che  deo  de  60  cruzados 
cada  mes  ;  e  sendo  da  idade  de  60  anos ;  e  levado  a  nosto  Sen"^  em 
Paraiso  25  de  Setembro,  1608.'* 

"This  is  verbatim  that  which  is  found  in  the  prefect's  book, 
which  some  three  weeks  agone  I  read ;  by  chance  finding  the  book 
open  in  the  same  place,  and  then  understood  what  this  gentleman 
was,  and  found  in  the  house  by  fathers  who  knew  him  great  tes- 
timonies of  his  sanctity.  His  grave  being  yesterday  opened,  his 
body  was  found  incorrupt  and  entire,  without  corruption  in  any 
part,  so  much  as  in  nose,  ears,  or  stomach,  or  any  other  part  most 
subject  unto  corruption  ;  yea,  even  his  bowels  were  whole ;  neither 

*  Mr.  Madden  discovered  recently  in  this  church  of  St.  Rock  the  sepulchral 
stone  and  epitaph  of  this  illustrious  confessor  of  Catholic  faith ;  but  I  much 
regret  his  inattention  to  dates.  He  has  recorded,  however,  the  daily  form  of 
prayer  of  this  victim  of  Elizabeth's  remorseless  vengeance,  during  his  long 
captivity. 

"  Deus  Immortalis  !  Solamen  peccatorum  !  abige  &  me  procul  omnem  pusil- 
lanimitatis  speciem,  nee  me  obruat  servilis  metus.     Amen." 

It  reminds  one  of  the  prayer  of  that  other  victim,  Mary  Queen  of  Scots. 

"  O  Domine  Deus,  confido  in  Te : 
O  care  mi  Jesu,  nunc  libera  me  : 
In  dura  catend,  in  misers,  poena,  speravi  in  Te  ; 
Languendo,  gemendo,  et  genuflectendo, 
Adoro,  imploro,  ut  liberes  me." 


APPENDIX.  205 

did  any  evil  savour  or  smell  proceed  from  it.  His  hair  is  upon  Lis 
head  and  heard ;  his  nails  upon  his  hands  and  feet ;  and,  as  I  said, 
all  whole  and  entire  ;  his  flesh  soft,  and  being  pressed  down, 
riseth  up  again ;  his  arms,  fingers,  and  legs,  flexible.  Finally,  all 
that  have  resorted  hither,  physicians  and  others,  judge  the  matter 
to  be  miraculous.  For  it  is  seventeen  years  since  he  was  buried ; 
and  some  five  years  ago  there  was  buried  in  the  same  grave  a  young 
youth  (though  not  laid  so  deep  as  this  body),  which  is  altogether 
consumed.  Moreover,  in  this  our  church,  we  find  by  experience 
that  all  such  persons  as  are  buried  therein  are  soon  corrupted. 
Some  have  confessed  they  endeavoured  to  pull  off  his  fingers  and 
nails,  but  could  not.  J^lao  another  particular  circumstance  happened 
to  be  found,  and  was  that  aU  the  Franciscan  habit  wherein  he  was 
buried  was  consumed,  save  only  so  much  as  was  sufficient  to  cover 
his  members  about  %  span  length  and  breadth,  which  was  found 
entire.  This  is  the  present  case  briefly  (hereafter  we  shall  have  more 
to  write)  which  hath  so  sounded  in  this  city,  that  although  we  do 
not  show  the  body  in  public,  until  the  matter  be  juridically  ex- 
amined and  allowed  by  the  archbishop  ;  yet  the  concourse  of  people 
of  all  sorts  both  yesternight  aud  this  day  is  so  extreme,  that  both 
the  street,  church,  and  courts  are  thronged  in  ^  such  sort,  that 
we  cannot  resort  to  the  gate  to  speak  with  such  as  come  to  visit 
and  with  business ;  and  whether  we  will  or  no,  many,  especially 
gentlemen  and  religious,  enter.  This  is  all  for  the  present.  Thus 
I  rest  this  26th  of  April,  1625,  Lisbon. 

"  Vestrse  Eeverentiae  in  Christo, 

"  Ignatius  Staeeoed."  * 

The  reader  may  see  prefixed  to  the  Eev.  Eichard  Verstegan's 
"  Eestitution  of  Decayed  Intelligence,"  a  complimentary  sonnet 
to  the  author  by  this  F.  Tregian. 

In  the  "Catholic  Miscellany"  of  1823,  p.  193,  may  be  seen  a 
life  of  this  honoured  confessor  ;  but  it  has  many  strange  mistakes. 


No.  III. 
deferable  to  page  20. 

In  the  chancel  of  the  parish  church  of  Marldon,  near  Paignton, 
Devon,  I  copied  from  the  gravestone  the  following  epitaph : — 

"  Sub  hoc  tumulo  jacent  Eduardus  Carseus,  Auratorum  Equitum 
insigne  Decus,  et  uxor  ejus  Margeria,  senile  admodum  Par, 
singulari  Numinis  favore  tam  in  exitu,  quam  in  decursu  vitse, 
donatum.  Cum  enim  annos  ultra  quinquaginta  conjugal!  federe 
traduxissent,  octogenariam  animam  reddente  Eduardo,  corripitur 
et   morbo   baud  invite   Margeria    ceditque  mox   consimili   fato, 

*  This  reverend  father  died  at  Lisbon  on  11th  February,  1642,  aged  forty- 
three.     F.  Forcer  survived  until  5th  March,  1655,  tet.  seventy-two. 


206  APPENDIX. 

superesse  Viro  nescia :  sic  uterque  vixit,  sic  iiterque  moritur : 
difficile  dixeris,  num  vivos  magis  coluerit  Patria  an  mortuos 
luxerit.  Quid  plura?  Hoc  uno  tantum  infelices  extitere,  quod 
infelicem  Patriam  sua  morte  reddidisse  videantur. 

"  Obiit  uterque  Ann.  Dom.  1654  :  ille  14  Junii,  atatis  suae  80: 
ilia  vero  19  ejusdein  Junii,  S3tatis  suse  85." 

N.B.  She  was  of  the  Blackhurst  family  in  Lancashire. 


No.  IV. 
lieferable  to  page  86. 

The  following  document  I  copied  from  the  handwriting  of 
John  Arundell,  and  dated  "  Lanherne,  the  8th  day  of  November, 
1697,"  throws  light  on  his  family.     The  writer  died  in  1701. 

"  My  grandfather,  or  rather  my  grandmother  who  governed  all 
his  affairs,  had  so  great  an  apprehension,  or  at  least  pretended  to 
have,  of  my  father's  consuming  all  the  estate  after  them,  that  they 
tied  him  up  with  such  an  entail,  as  that,  if  he  had  kept  up  to  the 
strict  letter  of  it,  he  would  scarce  have  had  a  very  bare  subsist- 
ence out  of  it.  As  it  was,  what  with  my  grandmother's  funeral, 
whom  he  brought  out  of  Wales  into  Cornwall,  and  cost  him,  as  I 
have  been  informed,  £800— my  education  abroad,  which  came  to 
a  great  deal — his  repairing  my  mother's  house,  Longwood,  in 
which,  as  his  servant  has  told  me,  he  laid  out  £600,  and  some 
other  accidents,  forced  him  to  leave  a  considerable  debt,  somewhat 
above  £3,000,  which  I  bave  not  only  faithfully  paid,  but  even  his 
very  legacies  to  the  last  farthing,  although,  by  the  known  law  of 
England,  I  was  not  liable  to  either.  It  lay  always  heavy  upon  me 
to  consider  how  open  to  question  many  of  those  estates  were,  his 
necessities  forced  him  to  grant ;  and  resolved,  whensoever  I  could 
find  an  expedient  for  it,  to  make  them  good,  which  by  all  -the 
advice  I  could  take,  there  was  no  other  way,  than  when  my  son 
should  come  to  be  of  age,  to  cut  off  the  entail.  It  pleased  G-od 
that  both  my  sons  died  before  they  came  to  be  of  age  ;  so  I  was 
forced  to  have  recourse  unto  my  brother,  to  join  me  in  the  docking 
of  the  entail,  of  which  I  had  as  good  advice  as  was  to  be  had  in 
England,  and  for  the  which  I  gave  him  one  way  or  other,  £4,000, 
and  after  certain  conditions  agreed  to,  the  estate  resettled  upon 
him  and  his  heirs  male,  which  I  did,  as  greatly  apprehending  the 
credit  his  wife  had  with  him  (who  was  able  to  persuade  him  to 
anything  was  in  her  power).  There  was  in  this  new  settlement, 
provision  for  my  two  daughters,  and  for  his  daughter ;  and  as 
much  as  was  then  due,  has  been  accordingly  paid,  and  what 
remains,  secured.  After  this  there  is  a  proviso,  that  in  case  I 
outlived  him,  and  he  left  no  issue  male,  it  should  be  in  my  power 
to  dispose  of  the  estate  as  I  pleased,  either  by  any  writing  under 
my  hand  and  seal,  or  by  my  last  will  and  testament.  Now  it 
hath   pleased  Almighty  God,  that  I  have  outlived  my  brother 


APPENDIX.  207 

(who  left  no  heir  male)  these  many  years ;  wherefore,  finding 
myself  absolutely  free  to  dispose  of  my  estate  as  1  think  best,  I 
have  given  it  to  my  daughter,  Dame  Frances  Belling,  for  the 
reasons  here  following : — 1st,  because  my  own  child  is  nearer  and 
dearer  to  me  than  any  other  relation,  she  being  no  less  nearer  in 
nature,  or  dearer  to  me  than  if  she  were  a  son,  and  I  tliink  it  a 
barbarity  not  to  prefer  my  own  child  before  any  relation.  And 
tell  me  not  of  perpetuating  a  family ;  it  is  a  vanity  and  pride  dis- 
pleasing to  the  Great  Disposer  of  all  things,  to  think  to  make 
that  for  ever  durable,  that  he  has  determined  shall  be  subject  to 
the  common  mutability  of  all  earthly  things.  Next,  I  have  stipu- 
lated, that  her  children,  who  I  hope,  will  live  to  succeed  her,  shall 
take  the  name  of  ArundeU,  and  so  maintain  it  as  long  as  it  shall 
please  God  to  permit,  I  have  not  (although  my  youngest  daughter 
has  left  children)  divided  the  estate,  as  it  is  too  little  to  bear  that. 
To  one,  it  will  give  a  fair  subsistence  :  betwixt  two,  it  will  signify 
little :  besides  that,  I  have  given  a  very  considerable  portion  to 
my  youngest  daughter,  £4,000  at  present,  and  £4,000  more  is 
secured  to  her  husband,  after  my  decease. 

"  Notwithstanding  the  many  difficulties  I  have  run  through  the 
whole  course  of  my  life,  yet  it  has  pleased  Almighty  God  to 
preserve  me  to  a  great  old  age  without  want,  and  when  I  consider 
what  I  have  gone  through,  I  cannot  but  with  the  highest  sense  of 
gratitude  and  thanks  acknowledge  the  infinite  bounty  of  God  to 
me.  I  came  to  my  estate  almost  in  the  midst  of  the  civil  war.  I 
have  paid  for  my  father's  debts  and  legacies  £3,300  and  odd 
pounds.  I  underwent  many  years  sequestration,  I  know  not  well 
how  many  myself.  It  cost  me  very  near  £3,000  to  get  off  at  last. 
I  have  married  my  two  daughters  and  given  them  £4,000  apiece. 
I  have  paid  to  my  brother's  daughter  £2,000,  and  secured  to  her 
husband  £1,000  more  after  my  decease.  I  have  given  and  paid 
£5,000  to  my  granddaughter  Hales.  I  have  bought  an  estate  for 
my  grandson  Dick  Belling,  which  cost  me  near  £3,000,  and  I 
hope  to  leave  him  and  his  brother  John,  and  his  little  sister,  some 
further  remembrance  of  my  kindness,  notwithstanding  the  infi- 
delity of  a  servant  I  too  much  trusted  in  my  troubles,  by  whom  I 
have  suffered,  one  way  or  other,  to  well  near  the  value  of  £4,000. 

"  John  Aetotdell." 


No.  V. 

JReferdble  to  page  105. 

In  page  105  I  have  spoken  of  the  sanguinary  farce  and 
tragedy  of  Oates's  plot,  but  to  show  the  system  pursued  by  the 
English  cabinet  from  Queen  Elizabeth's  reign  I  copy  part  of  a 
letter  written  by  Anthony  "Windsor,  who  died  in  the  year  1697. 
He  was  son  of  Sir  Edmund  "Windsor,  Knight,  and  great-grandson 
of  Sir  Anthony  "Windsor,  Knight,  brother  of  the  Andrew  "Windsor 
who  was  created  Baron  of  Stanwell,  and  summoned  to  Parlia- 


308  APPENDIX. 

ment  3rd  November,  anno  21  Henry  VIII.  The  learned  and 
pious  Paciflcus  Baker,  O.S.I'.,who  died  16th  March,  1774,  set.  80, 
copied  it  from  the  original. 

"  SiE, — Being  now  in  the  75th  year  of  my  age,  and  thinking  it 
proper  to  leave  you  some  memoirs  of  the  transactions  of  my  time, 
I  shall  in  the  first  place  set  down  as  a  key  to  all  the  rest,  a 
remarkable  passage  that  happened  some  time  before  the  restora- 
tion of  the  late  King  Charles  II.  In  the  time  of  Oliver's  usurpa- 
tion the  reputed  delinquents  and  recusants  were  necessitated  to 
endeavour  to  make  their  compositions  as  well  as  they  could  ;  and 
for  that  purpose  to  attend  upon  the  several  committees,  both  at 
London  and  in  the  country,  as  their  different  circumstances 
required,  and  make  what  interest  they  could  for  the  mitigation  of 
the  high  impositions  laid  upon  them.  On  this  troublesome  occa- 
sion Sir  Wilham  Pershall,  a  gentleman  of  my  acquaintance,  who 
had  been  cotemporary  student  and  fellow-reveller  with  the  great 
Bradshaw  at  Gray's  Inn,  and  by  that  means  had  contracted  a 
great  friendship  with  him,  found  himself  obliged  to  apply  to  him 
for  assistance.  Many  years  had  intervened  since  they  had  lived 
together;  but  yet,  upon  Sir  William's  first  address  to  Bradshaw, 
he  assured  him  of  the  continuance  of  his  friendship,  and  that  he 
would  confirm  it  by  any  favours  he  would  do  him,  or  any  friend 
of  his.  And  I  have  heard  Sir  William  affirm  it  to  the  gentlemen, 
his  friends,  at  the  club  or  meeting  then  held  in  Hen  and  Chickens 
Court,  near  St.  Dunstan's  Church  in  Pleet  Street  (where  Sir 
William  constantly  resorted),  that  he  had  experienced  his  favour 
both  to  himself  and  others,  and  that  he  gave  him  freedom  of 
access  to  him  at  any  time  since  upon  his  occasions.  And  I 
remember  he  told  us,  that  he  had  waited  upon  him  once  at  his 
closet,  in  or  near  to  the  council  chamber ;  and  bping  thus  alone, 
Bradshaw,  after  his  free  and  familiar  way,  asked  him,  '  Sir 
William,  what  do  you  think  I  am  doing  ?' 

"  Sir  William  answered  he  could  not  guess,  no  otherwise  than 
that  he  was  busy  about  the  affairs  of  his  great  employ. 

"  '  *&>,'  said  Bradshaw,  '  I  am  studying  politicks.  They  have 
made  me  president  of  their  council ;  and  lam  reading  Mr.  Secretary 
Cecil's  instructions  left  them  :  and  pray  you,  see  how  you  Papists 
are  to  ie  dealt  with.  'For  this,  I  assure  you,  is  the  Secretary's  own 
hand,'  giving  him  a  loose  sheet  of  paper,  out  of  many  others.  Sir 
William  read  it  carefuUy  ;  and,  I  remember,  told  us  of  the  club, 
that  the  substance  of  it  was — 

"That  the  ministry  should  by  no  means  be  ever  induced  to 
take  off  the  penal  laws ;  but  that  when  they  perceived  that  by 
their  connivance  and  forbearing  to  put  them  in  execution,  the 
Papists  began  to  be  too  popular  and  agreeable  both  to  their  neigh- 
bours in  the  country  and  to  their  relations  and  friends  at  court, 
as  by  their  moral  and  charitable  way  of  living  they  would  not  fail 
to  do,  and  even  to  be  thought  to  deserve  the  privileges  and 
freedom  of  other  subjects,  and  not  the  severity  of  persecution. 


APPENDIX,  209 

merely  for  their  conscience ;  then  to  obviate  and  allay  this  good 
opinion  of  their  relations  and  neighbours,  the  ministry  must  be 
sure  to  fix  some  odious  design  upon  them,  which  would  never  fail 
to  be  believed  by  the  generality  of  the  common  people,  and  then 
they  might  put  the  penal  laws  in  execution  to  what  degree  they 
should  think  necessary  against  them;  and  people  would  think 
them  kind  and  favourable  to  let  the  Papists  live.  But  they  must 
never  permit  or  suffer  themselves  to  be  prevailed  with,  to  take  off 
the  penal  laws  ;  but  reserve  them  as  a  bridle,  to  keep  the  Papists 
out  of  aU  public  employ  in  their  country,  and  to  depress  them, 
whenever  they  should  think  it  necessary,  or  find  them  grow 
more  numerous,  or  in  greater  favour  and  esteem  with  their 
neighbours." 

This,  sir,  I  remember  very  well  was  the  substance  of  what  Sir 
William  told  us  he  had  read  in  that  paper.  And  I  give  you  this 
account  of  it  the  rather,  because  as  I  heard  him  speak  it  and  attest 
it  as  a  matter  of  fact  and  a  real  truth,  so  I  have  often  reflected 
upon  it,  finding  our  modern  state  ministers  pursuing  the  said 
method  exactly.  !Por  upon  the  restauration  of  King  Charles  II., 
when  the  poor  Catholics,  to  a  man  almost  able  to  bear  arms,  had 
either  fought  or  suffered  for  his  father,  addressed  his  first  Parlia- 
ment, and  petitioned,  that  in  consideration  of  what  they  had  done 
and  suffered  in  his  service,  and  of  their  having  been  so  signally 
instrumental  (as  it  had  pleased  God  to  make  them)  in  securing 
his  then  present  Majesty's  person  from  falUng  into  his  enemies' 
hands,  after  the  battle  of  Worcester,  they  might  be  favourably 
looked  upon  and  admitted  into  the  rank  and  privileges  of  his 
other  subjects,  by  removing  those  heavy  penal  laws  so  long  kept 
hanging  over  their  heads,  and  debarring  them  from  all  the  privi- 
leges of  their  birthright,  and  even  enjoyed  by  those  that  had  been 
in  that  long  rebellion  against  his  father  and  himself;  it  was 
opposed  by  a  great  statesman  and  could  not  be  obtained.  A 
toleration  and  connivance,  however,  was  thought  fit  to  be  per- 
mitted them,  with  a  cessation  from  the  execution  of  those  penal 
laws  during  their  pleasure.  And  this  the  Catholics  very  con- 
tentedly acquiesced  unto,  till  about  the  middle  of  King  Charles 
II.'s  reign,  as  being  no  ways  ambitious  of  bearing  any  public 
offices.  About  that  time  the  restless  Presbyterian  humour  began 
again  to  work ;  and  it  was  urged  in  Parliament,  that  the  exemption 
granted  to  the  Papists  was  a  greater  benefit  and  advantage  than 
the  rest  of  the  Dissenting  subjects  enjoyed,  and  therefore  it  was 
thought  fit  that  they  ought  at  least  to  bear  a  double  share  of  the 
taxes.  But  the  king,  being  very  well  satisfied  of  the  loyal  prin- 
ciples and  practices  of  his^  Catholic  subjects,  took  off  that  pretence 
by  setting  forth  his  proclamation  for  a  general  toleration  and 
indulgence  to  all  his  subjects  in  the  exercise  of  their  religion,  that 
should  not  by  their  preaching  and  practices  disturb  the  peace  of 
the  kingdom.  But  this  gave  so  great  a  disgust  to  some  of  our 
principal  ministers  of  state,  that  Prince  Eupert  and  some  of  the 
king's  chief  court  favourites  were  employed  to  solicit  and  press 


210  APPENDIX. 

him  to  recal  that  proclamation,  and  to  suggest  to  him  that  it 
would  be  resented  by  his  Parh'ament  at  their  next  session— that 
they  would  give  him  no  aids  nor  taxes  till  he  had  recalled  it,  and 
perhaps  would  vote  him  incapable  of  doing  it  without  them.  This 
moved  the  king,  whose  profuse  expenses  made  him  always  wanting 
of  money,  to  recal  the  proclamation  ;  and  thereby  he  encouraged 
our  discontented  cunning  statesmen,  and  gave  them  an  occasion 
to  forge  and  foment  that  execrable  pretended  Popish  plot,  which 
was  set  on  foot  soon  after,  to  the  destruction  of  divers  honest, 
innocent  gentlemen  and  others,  and  to  the  hazard  of  ruining  the 
whole  body  of  them  throughout  the  nation.  But  that  being 
blown  over  with  time,  and  the  Government  grown  weary  of 
shedding  so  much  innocent  blood  merely  upon  the  oaths  of  a 
pack  of  perjured  villains  and  gaol-birds  (indemnified  and  pen- 
sioned for  that  end)  as  having  found  by  aU  the  strictest  searches, 
imprisonments,  secret  usage,  examinations,  and  executions,  and 
even  by  the  dying  speeches  of  those  that  suffered,  they  could  not 
discover  the  least  tendency  to  or  footsteps  of  such  a  horrid 
design  as  the  infamous  Gates,  his  tutors  and  accomplices,  had 
suggested  and  sworn  against  the  Catholicks  (they  all  at  their 
deaths  protesting  their  innocence,  and  the  inconsistency  of  such 
damnable  designs  with  their  faith  and  religion).  However,  the 
late  memory  of  it  served  our  malicious  Presbyterians  to  screen 
their  own  wicked  and  real  plot  to  destroy  the  king  and  duke  of 
York,  and  then  (had  it  not  pleased  Grod  to  prevent  them  in  the 
very  execution  of  it)  to  lay  it  upon  the  Catholics  and  spread  the 
report  of  it  through  the  whole  nation,  in  order  to  their  destruc- 
tion. This  was  confessed  by  some  of  the  chief  actors,  who  were 
condemned  aud  executed,  and  by  others  who  were  convicted  of 
that  cursed  design,  and  had  their  pardon.  The  king  dying  some 
few  years  after,  &c.  Here,  the  fait  aeeompli  of  the  revolution 
suggested  caution  to  Anthony  Windsor,  the  writer. 

"  Periculosse  plenum  opus  aleae 
Tractas ;  et  incedis  per  ignes 
Suppositos  cineri  doloso." 


No.  VI. 

Beferable  to  page  139. 

I  have  seen  a  letter  of  the  Abbess  Howse  addressed  to  Thomas 
Weld,  of  LuUworth,  Esq.,  detailing  the  wonderful  cure  wrought 
on  a  lay  sister  of  her  convent  at  Taunton,  29th  August,  1809. 
Dr.  Woodford,  who  had  attended  the  patient  from  March  that 
year,  and  had  given  his  decided  opinion  on  the  impossibility  of  a 
cure,  on  witnessing  this  extraordinary  event,  "  burst  into  tears, 
and  declared  he  must  acknowledge  it  was  an  evident  miracle,  and 
a  wonderful  interposition  of  divine  Providence  to  show  the  efficacy 


APPENDIX.  211 

of  faith  and  prayer."    I  subjoin  a  certificate  of  this  supernatural 
event,  in  perpetudm  rei  memoriam. 

"  Attestation  and  account  of  a  miraculous  cure  of  the  arm  of 
sister  Mary  Ann  "Wood,  one  of  our  community,  in  the  year  1809. 

"  On  the  15th  of  March,  1809,  she  went  to  open  a  sash-window 
in  the  washhouse,  to  let  out  the  steam,  and  in  doing  so  ran  her 
hand  and  arm  through  a  pane  of  glass,  by  which  her  arm  was  cut 
transversely  to  a  great  depth.  The  surgeon  declared  the  muscles 
and  nearly  the  whole  of  the  tendons  to  be  divided ;  she  suffered 
for  above  four  months  the  most  acute  pain.  Though  the  wound 
itself  was  (outwardly)  healed  in  three  weeks  after  the  accident, 
the  swelling  continued  much  longer;  but  in  proportion  as  it 
abated  the  mischief  done  became  more  apparent.  The  hand  and 
arm  remained  entirely  useless ;  and  the  surgeon  remarked  it  was 
a  necessary  and  natural  consequence  of  the  division  of  the  muscles 
and  tendons.  The  ends  of  one  of  the  tendons  were  visibly  two 
inches  asunder ;  gradually  the  arm  seemed  to  contract,  and  with 
the  hand  appeared  to  wither.  After  various  trials  of  skill,  the 
surgeon  declared  it  his  opinion  that  she  never  could  again  have 
the  entire  use  of  her  hand,  though  she  might  of  the  fore-finger 
and  thumb ;  but  that  all  the  ligaments  or  support  of  the  two 
middle  fingers  were  gone.  Sister  Mary  Ann,  with  the  approbation 
of  the  reverend  mother  abbess,  determined  to  make  a  novena  in 
honour  of  St.  Winifred :  she  had  no  idea  of  asking  for  a  miracle ; 
but  confidently  believed  and  hoped,  that  He  who  made  her 
arm,  would  restore  to  her,  through  the  intercession  of  the  Saint, 
some  small  use  of  it.  On  the  6th  of  August  she  put  a  piece  of 
moss  from  Holywell  on  her  arm,  and  began  her  novena  ;  after  this 
she  suffered  excruciating  pain  in  it,  so  that  she  was  tempted  to 
take  off  the  moss,  till  she  reasoned  with  herself  that  it  could  not 
naturally  occasion  sucli  pain.  She  continued  particularly  col- 
lected all  that  evening,  and  praying  mentally  without  taking  notice 
of  her  arm.  To  her  great  surprise,  when  she  got  up  the  next 
morning,  she  found  it  perfectly  cured !  Her  joy  and  gratitude  were 
unbounded,  when,  on  repeated  trials,  she  found  her  hand  and  arm 
really  restored  to  their  full  strength.  The  surgeon  at  first  de- 
clared the  cure  a  miracle ;  but  human  respects  prevented  him  from 
publicly  attesting  it. 

"  The  bishop  of  the  district,  the  right  Eev.  Dr.  Collingridge, 
after  having  consulted  Dr.  Carpenter,  an  eminent  surgeon  of 
London,  and  verified  the  accident  and  cure  throughout  every  cir- 
cumstance, gave  it  as  his  decided  opinion  that  the  cure  was  super- 
natural and  an  evident  miracle. 

"  That  the  particulars  may  be  accurately  and  authentically  re- 
corded, we  the  undersigned  have  drawn  up  this  account,  and  set 
our  names  to  it  as  eye-witnesses  of  the  facts  herein  contained." 

(Signed  by  the  Abbess,  Discretes,  and  Infirmarian.) 

"  This  copy  is  taken  from  the  Archives." 

p  3 


213  APPENDIX. 

Bishop  Collingridge  informed  me  that  he  subsequently  met 
Dr.  "Woodford  in  the  Market-place  of  Taunton,  who  affirmed  to 
him,  in  the  presence  of  the  Eev.  Edward  Weetman,  that  he  had 
no  doubt  that  the  cure  was  supernatural  and  an  evident  miracle. 
I  saw  the  arm  in  November,  1810,  and  was  quite  satisfied  on  the 
point. 

This  worthy  lay  sister  survived  until  16th  January,  1847,  and 
would  have  completed  ninety  years  of  age,  had  she  lived  a  day 
longer. 

In  the  sacristy  of  the  convent  church  at  Taunton  is  the  fol- 
lowing tribute  of  gratitude  to  the  memory  of  their  great  bene- 
factor, the  late  Thomas  Weld,  Esq. : — 

Virgines 
Deo  Sacrse 

Sacerdotes  quotquot  hue  sacra  facturi  Kal.  Sextil.  accessistis 
precamur  qufesumusq,  uti  memoriam  agatis  viri  clarissimi 
Thomas  Weld,  qui  pridie  Kalend.  Sextiles,  anno  M.DCCC.X.,  festq 
S.  Ignatii  die,  cum  de  more  sacra  de  Altari  reverenter  libasset, 
morbo  repentino  correptus,  postridie  magno  bonorum  omnium 
luctui  placido  exitu  e  vita  emigravit.  Is  a  pueritia  ad  omnem 
pietatem  excultus,  divitiarum  contemptor,  egenorum  alter  ac 
solator,  justitia  et  beneficentia  omnibus  charus.  Nobis  prsecipuo 
jure  cbarissimus  semper  audiet,  quod  super  csetera  beneficia,  in 
immani  ilia  totius  Belgii  vastitate  anno  M.DCC.LXXXXIV.  cum 
Brugensi  nostro  Coenobio  essemus  dilapsse,  tot  casibus  exhaustaa, 
omnium  egenas  dome  sociavit,  ad  reliqui  temporis  spem  erexit,  et 
ad  sedem  stabilem  hie  moliendam  consilio  atque  opibus  adjuvit. 
Ne  tantae  pietatis  memoria  intercideret,  hsec  Litteris  consignari 
placuit,  cum  majorem  Patrono  bene  merenti  gratiam  habeamus, 
quam  titulo  scribi  possit. 

E.  I.  P. 

The  above  inscription  was  from  the  pen  of  their  friend,  the 
Eev.  Charles  Plowden,  S.J. 


Tbe  following  anniversaries  I  copied  from  an  old  Prayer-book 
once  belonging  to  a  member  of  the  Howard  family : — 

Jem. — Henry  Howard,  duke  of  Norfolk 11  Jan.  1684 

William  Lord  Petre 5   do.    1683 

WiUiam  Dormer    27   do. 

Lady  Molineux 29   do. 

MH. — Eobert  Browne 27  Feb.  1673 

Francis  Hyldesley 26   do.    1682 

March — Francis,  earl  of  Shrewsbury 16  March 

William  Moore 17   do.      1671 


APPENDIX.  213 

March — The  Lady  Ann  Shrewsbury 22  March 

Anne,  duchess  of  York 31   do.     1671 

April — Charles,  earl  of  Berkshire    14  April,  1679 

Lady  Ann  Worcester   9   do. 

Elizabeth  Phillipson 27   do.    1681 

Jfoy— Old  Lady  Moore  died  on 12  May,  1653 

Ann  Moore    13   do. 

Sir  "Walter  Blount    19   do.    1671 

P.  Dormer 17   do. 

Edmund  Ployden  24  do.    1673 

Charles  Blount 29   do.    1685 

James  Grifford    30   do. 

E.H 31   do. 

Jwne — Thomas  Moore  2  June,  1688 

Lady  Fftinces  Tates 8   do. 

Margaret  Phillipson 9  do.      1681 

Lady  Marshall  13   do. 

My  dearest,  child  Fra.  Moore,  died...    3   do.    1683 

Catherine  Browne 25   do.    1688 

July — Lady  Alice  Dormer  2  July,1650 

Charles  Prothero  4   do. 

John  Hide 15   do.    1676 

Henry  Arlington  28   do. 

Aitg. — T.  Howard 3  Aug. 

Lord  "William  Stourton    8   do.    1685 

David  Lewis,  at  Uske  27   do. 

Sept. — Old  Sir  Francis  Moore 2  Sept. 

Elizabeth  Dormer 14   do. 

My  Lady  Caruaby    21    do. 

My  deare  father,  W.  H 24   do. 

Ocf.— Henry  Jernegan 6  Oct.  1680 

My  own  mother's  anniversary 11   do. 

My  brother,  E.  H 13  do. 

Eiichard  Dormer    17   do. 

Sir  "William  Dormer 22   do. 

Egbert  Dormer,  at  Peterly 23   do. 

Nob. — George  Phillipson 9  Nov. 

Anne  Byron  11   do.    1652 

Mary  Dormer    11   do.    1679 

Lord  Eobert  Dormer    18   do. 

Edmund  Ployden 23   do.    1677 

In  the  handwriting  of  Henry,  the  8th  Lord  Arundell  (who  died 
at  "Wardour,  4th  December,  1808,  sst.  68),  I  found  the  following 
family  anniversaries : — 

Jan.  14. — Margaret  Lady  Arundell. 

22.— Sir  Matthew  Arundell,  Knt. 
Feb.  10. — Thomas  Lord  Arundell. 

24.— Eichard  Arundell,  of  Lanherne,  1725. 


214  APPENDIX. 

Feb.  26.— Sir  Thomas  Arundell,  Knt. 

28.— Frances  Lady  Giffard,  1752. 
March  10. — Mrs.  Mary  Arundell,  my  great  aunt,  1777. 

21. — Cecily  Lady  Arundell. 

22. — Mary  Lady  Arundell,  my  mother,  1769. 

— . — Mrs.  Mary  Arundell,  of  Princess'-street. 

31.— Thomas  Arundell,  Esq.,  of  Bath,  1784,  set.  66. 
April  21. — Henry  Lord  Arundell. 
May   9. — Elizabeth  Lady  Arundell. 

19. — Thomas  Lord  Arundell. 

22. — Elizabeth  Eleanor  Lady  Arundell. 
June  28. — Ann  Lady  Arundell. 

30. — Henry  Lord  Arundell. 
July  21. — Mr.  Thomas  Aiundell,  my  brother,  1781. 

28. — Margaret  Lady  ArundelL 
Aug.  12. — Maria  Lady  Arundell. 

25. — Ann  Arundell,  of  Lanherne,  my  grandmother, 
in  1718. 
Sept.  12. — Henry  Lord  Arundell,  my  father,  1756. 

29. — Ann  Lady  Arundell. 
Oct.  10. — Hon.  Ann  Arundell,  my  great  aunt,  1778. 

28. — Blanche  Lady  ArundeU. 
Nov.  7. — Thomas  Lord  Arundell. 
Dec.  23. — Margaret  Lady  Arundell. 

27. — Henry  Lord  ArundelL 


No.  VII. 

Referable  to  page  161. 

Synopsis  of  the  informations  against  St.  Susan's  monastery  at 
Lullworth,  in  1816,  and  of  the  correspondence  with  the  English 
Government  in  consequence. 

That  false  brother,  James  Power,  mentioned  in  page  161,  made 
an  affidavit  on  16th  March,  1816,  to  the  following  effect  before 
James  Erampton,  Esq.,  "William  Clavell,  Esq.,  and  Henry 
Seymour,  Esq.,  magistrates  of  the  county  of  Dorset. 

"  That  he  was  then  twenty-four  years  of  age  ;  that  at  the  age 
of  seventeen  he  had  entered  the  monastery  of  La  Trappe,  in  East 
Lullworth ;  that  he  had  been  admitted  to  the  religious  profession, 
and  had  been  ordained  sub-deacon  in  London ;  that  the  general  of  his 
order,  Dom  Augustine  de  Lestrange,  coming  to  England  engaged 
deponent  to  accompany  him  to  Martinique ;  that  deponent  had 
laid  his  complaints  against  that  superior  before  General  Wale, 
governor  of  Martinique,  to  whom  he  refers  for  all  particulars  ; 
that  on  returning  to  England  he  came  back  to  Lullworth  monas- 
tery in  July,  1814,  with  the  view  of  receiving  deaconship  and 
priesthood ;  that,  about  nine  weeks  ago  he  escaped  from  that 
convent,   ha\dng  in   the   course   of  the  summer   of  1815  made 


APPENDIX.  215 

acquaintance  with  a  neighbouring  gentleman  (Colonel  "Wood- 
forde),  who  provided  him  with  clothes  for  making  such  escape ; 
that  he  had  since,  from  conviction  of  the  errors  of  the  Church  of 
Eome,  made  a  public  recantation  of  that  faith  in  Blandford 
church ;  that,  about  three  months  ago,  an  Irishman  from  Carrick, 
called  Gregory,  having  succeeded  in  escaping  from  the  convent, 
was  brought  back,  was  degraded,  closely  confined,  and  barba- 
rously treated,  and  beaten;  that  Protestant  children  were 
received  in  the  monastery,  and  educated  in  the  Eoman  Catholic 
faith ;  that,  in  returns  of  persons  liable  to  serve  in  the  militia,  the 
lay  brothers  are  described  as  clerRy  to  evade  the  ballot.  Depo- 
nent believes  that  Thomas  Weld,  Esq.,  is  ignorant  of  the  forcible 
detention  of  persons  in  the  monastery,  and  of  the  other  abuses 
therein." 

This  affidavit  was  forwarded,  on  the  said  16th  of  March,  1816, 
to  Lord  Sidmouth,  Secretary  of  the  Home  Department. 

On  6th  April,  1816,  Mr.  Becket,  the  Under-Secretary  of  that 
Department,  requested  of  the  magistrates  further  information 
respecting  the  monastery.  Their  answer,  dated  Dorchester, 
10th  April,  1816,  was  signed  by 

James  FKAnrpToif,     ^ 
William  I'itt,  I  -r, 

William  Clayell,    ^  Esquires, 

Henry  SEXMorK,  &  ) 

Eet.  William  England,  archdeacon  of  Dorset. 

It  sets  forth,  that  they  know  not  whether  Gregory  be  still  con- 
fined ;  that  ten  members,  they  believe,  had  left  the  house  since 
Power's  deposition  was  taken ;  that  General  Wale's  letter  to  the 
bishop  of  Bristol  confirms  Power's  statement  of  Lestrange's 
conduct ;  that  it  is  very  true,  much  difficulty  does  exist  in  pro- 
curing the  returns  of  the  members  liable  to  serve  in  the  militia ; 
that  a  monk,  called  Dosithee  had,  according  to  Power's  informa- 
tion, been  subjected  to  very  cruel  treatment;  that,  notwithstanding 
the  return  of  peace,  the  monastery  wore  every  appearance  of  a 
permanent  establishment ;  and  that  they  firmly  believe  it  would 
give  the  greatest  satisfaction  if  the  Society  could  be  dissolved. 

On  26th  April  Lord  Sidmouth  sent  to  the  said  Mr.  Weld  the 
deposition  of  Power,  and  the  complaint  of  the  magistrates,  and 
observed  that  the  monastery  had  undergone  a  complete  change 
from  its  original  institution,  and  was  viewed  now  as  a  refuge  for 
fugitives  ;  that  he  hoped  Mr.  Weld  would  take  such  measures  as 
would  prevent  the  interference  of  Government. 

In  reply,  Mr.  Weld  thanked  his  lordship  for  his  communica- 
tion, and  lamented  that  the  magistrates  had  thought  proper  to 
conceal  from  him  the  charges  against  the  establishment.  He 
expressed  his  perfect  conviction  of  the  innocence  of  its  members, 
and  signified  the  anxious  wish  of  the  superior,  Pere  Autoine,  to 


216 


APPENDIX. 


be  allowed  the  opportunity  of  justifying  himself,  and  of  being 
confronted  with  his  accusers.  Mr.  "Weld  concluded  with  pro- 
fessing his  readiness  to  assist  Q-overnment  in  making  every 
inquiry. 

On  2nd  May  Lord  Sidmouth  signified  to  Mr.  "Weld,  that  he 
should  proceed  to  adopt  such  measures  as  might  be  necessary  for 
bringing  back  the  establishment  at  LuUworth  within  its  original 
limits,  both  with  respect  to  the  number  and  description  of  persons 
who  were  permitted  to  resort  to  it.  How  far  it  might  be  deemed 
advisable  to  sanction  the  continuation  of  the  establishment  when 
so  limited,  might  be  matter  for  further  consideration. 

On  13th  May  Mr.  Weld  signified  to  Lord  Sidmouth,  Pere 
Antoine's  arrival  in  London,  and  his  anxiety  to  have  the  honour 
of  an  audience.  Mr.  "Weld  proposed  that  Lord  Clifford  (who  had 
been  particularly  intimate  with  the  late  Thomas  Weld,  Esq.,  from 
the  foundation  of  the  monastery)  might  be  allowed  to  be  present. 

On  17th  May  the  audience  took  place,  and  proved  tolerably 
satisfactory.  It  appeared  that  no  active  measures  would  be 
directed  against  the  establishment;  and  that  an  opportunity 
would  be  afforded  of  clearing  up  its  credit.  Still  nothing  conclu- 
sive was  settled. 

A  few  days  after  the  interview  of  the  17th,  Lord  Clifford 
waited  on  Lord  Sidmouth,  who  stated  that,  all  circumstances 
taken  into  consideration,  he  deemed  it  unnecessary  to  enter 
further  into  the  business ;  but  that  he  wished  the  superior  would 
not  increase  the  present  number  of  his  community,  and  would 
embrace  the  first  opportunity  to  remove  elsewhere. 

On  12th  June,  1816,  the  superior  addressed  the  following  note 
to  Lord  Sidmouth  : — 

"  MiLOBD, — Je  m'engage,  aussitot  que  I'etat  de  la  France  et 
nos  propres  affaires  permitteront,  k  j  transporter  notre  etablisse- 
ment  et  toute  notre  colonic ;  et  jusqu'  a  cette  epoque,  je  promets 
de  ne  pas  augmenter  le  nombre  des  habitans  de  notre  maison." 

This  note  was  delivered  to  his  lordship  by  the  bishop  of  TJsez, 
who  received  for  answer,  that  the  declaration  of  I'Abbe  Saidnier's 
intentions  had  given  him  great  satisfaction. 

N.B.  Mr.  Joseph  Staines,  surgeon,  of  Wareham,  in  his  letter 
to  the  abbot  on  9th  May,  1816,  expressly  declares  that  Brother 
Gregory  laboured  under  violent  mental  derangement,  and  that  in 
consequence,  he  (Mr.  Staines)  had  recommended  confinement ; 
that  he  had  not  the  smallest  doubt  of  the  propriety  with  which 
that  restraint  was  exercised  "  from  the  decorum  and  good  order 
which  is  always  kept  in  your  establishment,  which,  from  my 
frequent  visits,  I  have  had  many  opportunities  of  witnessing,  and 
which  I  shall  always  be  ready  to  attest  in  any  mode  that  shajl  be 
proposed." 

That  Dosithee  was  a  perfect  madman,  is  evident  from  the  letter 
he  wrote  to  Mr.  Hyde,  the  rector  of  "Wareham,  and  a  magistrate 
of  Dorset.     It  bore  date  29th  May,  1815. 


APPENDIX.  217 

The  venerable  abbot,  in  a  letter  to  the  said  Lord  Clifford, 
dated  LuUworth,  Sth  June,  1816,  after  stating  that  calumny  had 
obliged  him  to  visit  London,  and  that  his  recent  return  had 
comforted  and  tranquillized  his  dear  community,  feelingly  and 
justly  remarks,  "  La  tranquillite  et  la  pais  sent  les  richesses 
d'un  religieux.  Le  bonheur  gist  principalement  dans  I'imagina- 
tion,  et  il  est  dangereux  d'inquilter  les  hommes,  qui  n'etant 
distraits  par  aucune  affaire,  s'affectent  et  se  troublent  plus 
ais^ment  que  d'aiitres.  J'ai  garde  des  lors  un  profond  silence 
sur  toutes  mes  idees  de  transmigration."  He  then  proceeds  to 
observe  that  he  had  been  willing,  in  conformity  to  the  wishes  of 
his  friends,  to  decline  for  a  year  or  eighteen  months  to  admit 
British  subjects  into  his  order ;  but  such  an  arrangement  could 
be  but  temporary,  as  otherwise  the  existence  of  the  convent 
would  be  endangered ;  and  that  he  had  come  to  the  decision,  as 
soon  as  he  could  settle  the  business  of  the  premises  with 
Mr.  Weld,  of  passing  over  to  France.  "  En  cela  j'agis  par  devoir 
et  par  conscience ;  mais  nullement  par  inclination  et  par  goiit. 
J'aime  I'Angleterre ;  je  suis  fortement  attache  a  des  lieux,  oil 
nous  vivons  en  paix  depuis  vingt  ans,  que  nous  avons  arros^s  de 
nos  sueurs,  que  nous  avons  en  quelque  sorte  cre^s,  et  ou  jusqu'a 
ce  moment  nous'  avons  joui  d'une  tranquillity  profonde.  Je  ne 
me  fais  pas  illusion  sur  I'^tat  de  la  France :  elle  n'a  rien  ^ui 
m'attire ;  maisj'ai  d6p6t  pr6cieux.  J'en  suis  comptable  a  Dieu 
et  a  I'Eglise :  je  dois  prendre  tous  les  moyens  en  mon  pouvoir 
pour  le  perpetuer :  ma  negligence  et  mon  indifference  me 
rendroient  coupable."  He  adds,  if  Lord  Sidmouth  would  agree 
to  a  maximum, — if  the  community  might  be  allowed  to  consist  of 
forty,  or  even  thirty,  members  invariably,  and  no  more,  he  would 
cheerfully  acquiesce  in  such  arrangement.  The  Government 
might  look  upon  the  community  as  a  society  of  agriculturists, 
and  very  reasonably ;  for  the  convent  undeniably  excelled  their 
neighbours  in  the  cultivation  of  potatoes ;  they  fed  eightj^  pigs 
during  the  winter  with  sea-weed ;  they  were  then  preparing  to 
bum  their  collection  of  weeds  for  glass  and  soap,  and  by  this 
process  the  soap  they  made  was  as  good  as  the  article  manufac- 
tured at  Cherbourg,  or  at  Alicant.  Their  little  manufactory  of 
cloth  might  also  deserve  encouragement.  They  took  the  entire 
charge  of  their  own  sick  and  aged  without  any  assistance  from 
the  parish.  Nor  was  it  possible  that  the  severity  of  the  rule 
could  add  to  the  number  of  convents.  In  the  whole  of  Catholic 
France  before  the  Eevolution,  there  was  but  one  house  of  La 
Trappe,  so  that  from  multiplication  the  British  Government  had 
no  cause  for  alarm. 

This  highly-gifted  religious,  Anne  Nicholas  Charles  Saulnier, 
was  born,  on  20th  August,  1764,  at  Joigny  in  Champagne,  of  a 
very  respectable  family.  His  father  was  the  principal  magistrate 
there.  At  the  age  of  twenty-five  he  was  a  licentiate  in  law,  and 
D.D.  at  Paris.     He  joined  the  Trappists  at  Lullworth,  with  Pere 


218  APPl)NDIX. 

Palemon,  in  June,  1795.  Chosen  the  fourth  prior  of  St.  Susan's, 
Pope  Pius  YII.  raised  him  to  the  dignity  of  abbot  in  1813,  and 
month  of  May;  and  in  August  following,  as  he  informed  me 
himself,  he  was  blest  as  such  by  Bishop  Poynter  in  London. 
This  accomplished  scholar  and  gentleman,  considerate  superior, 
and  solid  religious,  died,  universally  lamented,  at  Meilleraye,  near 
Nantes,  on  6th  January,  1839,  set.  seventy-four. 

I  cannot  do  better  than  transcribe  his  letter  to  his  English 
subjects,  written  12th  November,  1881,  after  their  wanton  expul- 
sion from  Meilleraye. 

"  Mes  eien-aimes  Peeees  et  Enfans, — Je  partage  avee  bien 
de  la  tendresse  votre  affliction  et  vos  souffrances :  je  voudrais 
qu'il  fut  en  mon  pouvoir  de  m'ofFrir  pour  soufirir  a  votre  place  ; 
mais  prenez  courage :  souvenez-vous  de  ce  que  dit  I'Evangile  que 
nous  lisions  hier,  a  la  fete  de  tous  les  Saints  de  notre  Ordre : 
Heurenx  ceux  qui  souffrent  persecution  pour  la  justice ;  car  le 
Eoyaume  des  Cieux  leur  appartient.  Je  remercie  Dieu  du  fond  de 
mon  coeur  de  la  fortitude  et  du  courage  avec  lesquels  vous 
supportez  cette  injuste  et  severe  epreuve ;  mais  continuez  de 
mettre  en  Lui  toute  votre  conflance.  II  est  bien  glorieux  pour 
vous  de  porter  maintenant  I'illustre,  I'honorable  titre  de  Con- 
fesseurs  de  la  Poi:  mais  rendez-vous  dignes  d'un  nom  aussi 
grand,  par  votre  entiere  soumission  a  la  sainte  volonte  de  Dieu. 
Benissez  ceux  qui  vous  persecutent,  loin  de  les  maudire ;  rappelez- 
vous  que  tout  ce  qui  est  passager  est  Mger,  et  que  les  tribidations 
de  cette  vie  n'ont  aucune  proportion  avec  la  gloire  qui  vous  est 
preparee.  Je  ne  sais,  si  je  serai  assez  heureux  pour  vous  voir 
encore,  pour  vous  serrer  dans  mes  bras  sur  cette  terre  d' affliction ; 
mais  j'ai  la  ferme  confiance  en  Dieu,  que  par  les  merites  et  le 
sang  sacre  de  notre  Divin  Maitre  et  Hedempteur  notre  Seigneur 
Jesus-Christ,  par  la  protection  de  notre  bonne  et  tendre  Mere 
la  glorieuse  Yierge  Marie,  et  sous  la  tutelle  de  tous  les  Anges  et 
de  tous  les  Saints,  bient6t  nous  nous  trouverons  tous  reunis  dans 
cet  etemel  S6jour,  dans  lequel  nous  aimerons,  louerons,  et  adorerons 
Dieu  pendant  toute  Teternite. 

"  C'est  dans  ces  dispositions,  mes  chers  et  bien-aimes  Preres  et 
Enfans,  qu'avec  un  coeur  dechire,  et  la  plus  tendre  affection,  en 
priant  Dieu  de  vous  benir,  je  vais  vous  donner  ma  plus  sincere  et 
plus  paternelle  benediction. 

"  Au  nom  du  Pere,  et  du  Pils,  et  du  Saint-Esprit.  Votre  Pere, 
Prere,  et  Ami. 

"  P.  Antoine,  Abb6  de  Meilleraye, 
"  Superieur-General." 

By  a  letter  received  from  P.  A.  Hawkins,  dated  Stapehill, 
23rd  October,  1855, 1  learn,  that  this  excellent  abbot,  P.  Antoine, 
after  witnessing  the  dispersion  of  more  than  150  of  his  brethren 
in  1831,  was  permitted  to  retain  from  25  to  30  with  him; 
and  that  as  the  times  grew  more  settled,  the  scattered  sheep 
rejoined  their  pastor  to  the  number  of  60  before  his  death — that 


APPENDIX.  219 

presently  the  community  at  Meilleraye  consists  of  about  130 
fervent  members,  after  having  sent  out  4  or  5  colonies — that  in 
the  monastery  of  Aqua  Bella,  in  Trance,  there  are  now  230 
monks,  and  that  in  another  convent  there  are  220  nuns ! " 
Blessed  be  Q-od  for  thus  baffling  the  malice  of  man.  "  Sicut 
tenebrjB  ejus,  ita  et  lumen  ejus"  (Ps.  138). 


No.  VIII. 
Alluded  to  in  page  193. 


The  following  address,  signed  by  150  members  of  the  congrega- 
tion at  IJgbrooke,  was  presented,  27th  September,  1835,  to  F.  James 
Brownbill : — 

"  To  the  Eev.  James  Brownbill,  S.J. 

"  "We,  the  undersigned  members  of  your  congregation,  on  the 
eve  of  your  quitting  us  to  return  to  the  cottage  of  Stonyhurst,  beg 
respectfully  to  express  to  you  our  heartfelt  regret  at  this  painfid 
separation.  How  can  we  but  be  overwhelmed  with  affliction,  at 
losing  a  pastor  endeared  to  us  during  a  residence  of  nearly  five 
years,  by  such  parental  vigilance  and  solicitude,  who,  in  the  days 
of  sickness  and  tribulation,  has  proved  himself  to  be  our  kindest 
visitor,  friend,  and  counsellor  ?  "We  could  never  forgive  ourselves, 
reverend  sir,  if  we  failed  to  convey  to  you  this  testimony  of  our 
gratitude,  and  if  we  did  not  assure  you  that  we  must  ever  take  a 
special  interest  in  your  health  and  happiness.  Accept  our  humble 
but  constant  and  fervent  petitions  to  the  throne  of  grace  for  your 
temporal  and  eternal  welfare ;  and  deign  occasionally  to  remember 
at  the  altar  your  now  sorrowful  and  ever-attached  children  in 
Jesus  Christ. 

"  JJgbrooke,  21tTi  September,  1835." 


230  APPENDIX 


NOTES  AND  QUEEIES. 

I.  "Who  were  John  and  Jane  "Walker,  whose  arms  appear  on  a 
chalice  at  Chidiock  Chapel  ?  On  the  hexagon  foot  I  observed 
engraved  the  crucifixion,  the  Virgin  Mary  with  twelve  stars  encir- 
cling her  head,  and  her  feet  resting  on  the  crescent — Ora  pro 
animabus  Johannis  "Walker  et  Johanne  uxoris  ejus. 

II.  My  readers  are  aware  that  Dr.  John  Carroll  was  the  first 
bishop  appointed  for  the  "United  States  of  America;  that  the 
Bull  of  Pope  Pius  VI.  so  appointing  him  Bishop  of  Baltimore, 
bears  date  6th  November,  1789  ;  and  that  the  consecration  of  his 
lordship  was  performed  in  Lullworth  Chapel  by  Bishop  "Walmesley 
on  15th  August,  1790.  But  it  is  not  generally  known  that  Charles, 
the  late  Lord  Clifibrd,  furnished  the  design  of  the  official  seal 
for  the  new  prelate.  The  form  was  circular.  Beneath  the  hat 
and  tasseUs,  in  the  centre  of  a  circle,  stood  the  Virgin  Mother  and 
the  Divine  Infant ;  over  her  head  are  thirteen  stars,  emblematical 
of  the  thirteen  United  States  ;  at  her  feet  are  the  keys  in  saltier. 
The  legend  of  the  obverse  was  johajstnes  episcoptjs  balti- 
MOEiENSis.  In  the  reverse  appears  the  Blessed  Virgin  as  before, 
with  the  legend  ne  nEEELurQUAS  nos,  domine  detts  nostee. 

Q.  Is  the  seal,  mutatis  mutcmdis,  still  in  use  at  Baltimore  ? 

N.B.  At  the  synod  holden  at  Baltimore,  9th  May,  1852  (mirabile 
dictu),  6  archbishops,  25  bishops,  and  about  60  priests  attended! 
Deo  Qratias.  In  1856  the  Catholic  population  of  the  Tlnited 
States  is  nearly  two  millions  and  a  half,  with  7  archbishops  and 
35  bishops,  1,760  priests,  about  2,000  churches,  24  colleges, 
37  seminaries,  and  130  French  schools, 

III.  "When  at  LuUworth  in  1810  I  saw  a  picture  of  a  deceased 
person  laid  out  in  the  Franciscan  habit,  with  this  inscription ; — 

"  Vera  effigies  lUustrissimi  Domini  Edwardi  "Widdrington, 
Equitis  et  Baronetti,  setatis  susb  57.  Obiit  anno  1671,  13 
Junii." 

Q.  1.  Was  he  the  third  son  of  "William,  the  second  Lord 
"Widdrington  ?  And  if  so,  2.  Was  he  uncle  to  Hon.  Peregrine 
Widdrington,  who  married  Mary,  Duchess  of  Norfolk,  relict  of 
Thomas,  eighth  Duke  of  Norfolk.  Ob.  1747.  3.  When  was  this 
Edward  Widdrington  created  a  baronet  ? 

IV.  Was  Dr.  Bonaventure  Giiford  born  at  Wolverhampton,  as 
Dodd  asserts  (vol.  iii.  Church  History,  p.  469)  ?  Secondly,  Was  his 
surname  Bishop,  as  Hals,  the  contemporary  Cornish  historian, 
contends  ?  His  report  of  the  doctor,  under  the  parish  of  St. 
Mawgan,  in  Pydre,  is  circumstantial  and  curious : — 

"  One  Bishop,  of  this  parish,  in  his  youth,  after  his  school  edu- 
cation at  EetaUock,  in  St.  Columb  Major,  in  the  Latin  and  Greek 


APPENDIX.  221 

tongues  under  Mr.  John  Coode,  that  famous  schoolmaster,  was 
taken  by  the  cost  and  care  of  Sir  John  Arundell,  of  Lanheme, 
from  thence,  and  placed  by  him  in  Douay  College,  in  Flanders, 
where  he  took  orders  as  a  Catholic  Eoman  priest,  and  became 
house-chaplain  to  the  said  Sir  John  Arundell,  Knt. ;  and  from 
thence  visited  and  confirmed  the  Eoman  Catholics  in  those  parts 
for  many  year  by  the  pretended  name  of  Mr.  Oiffard.  He  died  at 
Hammersmith,  near  London,  20th  March,  1733,  aged  ninety-nine 
years,  and  ordered  his  body  to  be  opened,  and  his  heart  to  be 
taken  out  and  sent  to  Douay  aforesaid,  and  kept  in  spirits,  and 
his  body  to  be  buried  in  St.  Pancras  Church,  London.  (London 
Gazette,  23rd  March,  1733.)     He  was  made  D.D.  by  the  college 

aforesaid,  and  consecrated  Bishop  of in  the  banqueting- 

house  at  Whitehall,  in  the  last  year  of  King  James  II."  So  far 
Hals. 

Certainly,  he  was  consecrated  Bishop  of  Madura,  a  city  on  the 
north  of  Africa,  by  the  papal  nuncio  Ferdinand  D'Adda  on  22nd 
April,  1688,  and  was  appointed  first  V.A.  of  the  Midland  District, 
On  the  death  of  Bishop  John  Leybum  he  was  transferred  to 
London.  His  epitaph  in  St.  Pancras  shows  he  was  born  in  1644, 
and  that  he  died  12th  March,  1733,  consequently  but  eighty-nine 
years  old. 

His  junior  brother  Andrew,  D.D.,  had  died  14th  September, 
1714,  having  refused  the  Bishopric  of  C»sarea,  and  the  govern- 
ment of  this  Western  District,  void  by  the  resignation  of  Bishop 
Philip  Ellis,  promoted  to  Segni  by  Pope  Clement  XI. 


PART    II. 


BIOGEAPHICAL  LIST  OF  THE  CLEEGY 

IN  THE   OOTJlfTIES   OP 

CORNWALL,  DEVONSHIEE,  DORSETSHIEE,  SOMEESETSHIRE, 
WILTSHIRE,  AND  GLOUCESTERSHIRE, 

FROM    THE 

PERIOD  OF  THE  REFORMATION  UNTIL  THE  PRESENT  YEAR  1856. 


Quidnam  dulcius,  quam  majomm  recensere  gratiam,  ut  eornm 
acta  cognoscas,  a  quibus  acceperis  et  rudimenta  fidei  et  incitamenta 
bene  vivendil — (Gul,  Malmesb.  de  Gestis  Pontif.  Angl.) 


PREAMBLE. 


In  looking  over  this  catalogue,  the  reader  may  be  sur- 
prised at  the  vast  proportion  of  members  of  religious  orders 
that  have  been  employed  in  cultivating  the  western  part  of 
this  English  vineyard  of  our  blessed  Lord  and  Saviour  j  and 
if  his  heart  be  truly  inflamed  with  the  zeal  of  God's  house, 
— if  he  seek  not  his  own,  but  the  things  that  are  of  Christ, — 
he  will  rejoice  at  the  loyal  co-operation  of  the  secular  with 
the  regular  clergy  in  promoting  the  salvation  of  immortal 
souls  purchased  by  the  blood  of  a  common  Redeemer.  Had 
not  these  efficient  men  considered  themselves  as  officers 
engaged  in  the  same  honourable  service,  with  a  community 
of  feelings  and  interests,  though  arrayed  in  different 
uniforms,  and  marshalled  under  distinct  regimental  colours, 
— if  they  had  not  scorned  that  party  spirit  which  induced 
the  Corinthian  converts  to  cry  out,  "  I  am  of  Paul,  and  I  of 
Apollos,  and  I  of  Cephas,"  (1  Cor.  i.),  "  as  if  Christ  was 
divided,"  says  the  Apostle, — had  they  yielded  to  such  per- 
sonal jealousies  and  such  pitiful  feelings,  the  sacred  fire 
of  religion  would  long  since  have  been  extinguished 
amongst  us. 

At  the  express  recommendation  of  Dr.  Allen,  the  founder 
of  Douay  College,  that  sanctuary  of  learning  and  nursery 
of  martyrdom,  the  Jesuits  were  sent  to  the  aid  of  the 
secular  clergy  in  1580 ;  the  children  of  St.  Benedict  added 
their  reinforcement  about  the  end  of  Queen  Elizabeth's 
reign,  and  the  sons  of  SS.  Dominic  and  Francis  eagerly 
volunteered  into  the  same  distinguished  service.  All  these 
men  of  God  were  intimately  persuaded  that  the  King  of 
kings  and  Lord  of  lords,  in  His  sovereign  independence, 
stands  in  no  need  of  any  of  His  creatures ;  but  that  if  He 
condescend  to  employ  any  of  them  to  perform  His  work, — 
if  He  engage  them  as  ministering  spirits  to  do  His  will, — 
they  should  feel  it  as  a  gratuitous  honour,  and  exclaim  with 
the  blessed  Virgin,  "Fecit  mihi  magna  qui  potens  est, — 
exaltavit  humiles."  For  it  is  God  alone  who  gives  the 
increase,  who  bestows  the  victory.     It  is  He  who  crowns  His 

Q 


226  PREAMBLE. 

own  gifts;  and  provided  He  be  honoured  and  glorified,  we 
ought  to  feel  indifferent  as  to  the  instruments  whom  He 
selects  for  His  purposes.  Hence  F.  Rothaan,  the  late  General 
of  the  Jesuits,  in  his  encyclical  letter  to  his  subjects,  dated 
1st  January,  1847,  properly  condemns  those  as  guilty  of 
great  indiscretion  and  folly  who  imagine  that  Jesuits  were 
necessary  for  the  maintenance  of  God's  Church,  which  is 
built  on  the  adamantine  rock  of  ages.  "  Procul  absit  h 
nobis  hujusmodi  cogitatio,  probe  scientibus,  Deo,  cum  seternis 
promissis  Ecclesiae  institutio  innixa  est,  nullum  hominem, 
neque  ullam  hominum  congregationem,  esse  necessariam : 
qui,  si  cujus  oper^  uti  dignatur  in  Ecclesiae  suse  caus^  promo- 
vend&,  vel  tuendS.,  insigne  beneficium  prsebet,  non  meritum 
rependit :  qui  potest  etiam  de  lapidibus  suscitare  filios 
Abrahse ;  cui  proinde  supplicandum  est :  Conserva  me, 
Domine  "  (Psalm  xv.),  "  quoniam  speravi  in  te.  Dixi  Domino, 
Deus  meus  es  tu,  quoniam  bonorum  meorum  non  eges." 
It  would  be  absurd,  however,  to  deny  that  occasionally,  in 
times  happily  gone  by,  the  enemy  of  human  tranqaillity  and 
prosperity  did  succeed  in  sowing  the  tares  of  jealousy  and 
factious  disunion  in  some  portion  of  the  English  vineyard. 
But  this  is  only  a  proof  of  the  infirmity  of  poor  human 
nature,  that  priests  are  not  angels,  but  men,  liable  to  forget 
the  divine  counsel,  "Be  ye  perfect,  even  as  your  heavenly 
Father  is  perfect." — (Matt.  v.  48.)  Therefore  we  are  not  to 
be  surprised  that  such  events  have  transpired ;  but  we  are  to 
lament  them,  to  cast  a  veil  over  them,  to  pray  and  to  watch 
against  their  recurrence.  Let  it  be  our  study  to  show  that 
we  consider  ourselves  as  the  citizens  of  the  saints  and  the 
domestics  of  God;  let  us  seek  to  rejoice  Heaven  by  our 
union  of  heart  and  soul,  by  being  lovers  of  harmony,  and 
delighting  in  our  respective  vocations.  And  let  every  priest 
implore  God  to  say  to  us  all,  in  His  mercy,  "  Reddam  populis 
labium  electum  :  ut  invocent  omnes  in  nomine  Domini,  et 
serviant  ei  humero  uno." — (Sophonias  iii.  9.) 


§iagntpljital  fbt  of  t^c  Ckrgg. 


Adams,  John,  ijom  at  Martin's  Town,  Dorset,  from  a 
Calvinist  minister  became  a  fervent  Catholic,  and,  eager  to  be 
an  instrument  in  the  conversion  of  erring  souls,  crossed  over 
to  Rheims  to  qualify  himself  for  the  priesthood.  He 
returned  home  a  missionary  in  1581.  Apprehended,  he  was 
sent  into  banishment  four  years  later ;  but  his  zeal  for  his 
neighbours'  salvation  induced  him  to  re-appear  in  the  vine- 
yard, where  he  soon  fell  into  the  persecutors'  hands  :  and  on 
8th  October,  1586,  he  expiated,  by  a  glorious  death  at 
Tyburn,  that  crime  of  high  treason  affixed  by  English  law  to 
the  character  and  functions  of  the  priest  according  to  the 
order  of  Melchizedec.  Father  Warford,  S.J.,  who  had 
known  him,  relates  that  Hampshire  was  the  chief  arena  of 
his  apostolic  labours ;  that  he  was  of  the  middle  size,  appa- 
rently about  forty  years  of  age,  had  a  darkish  beard,  cheerful 
countenance,  black  eyes,  ready  speech,  and  was  "ingenii 
simplicis  et  admodum  pii :  laboriosus  imprimis." 

Adamson,  Vincent  Robert,  O.S.D.,  a  native  of  Lan- 
cashire, who  consecrated  himself  early  to  his  Maker  in 
the  Order  of  St.  Dominic.  On  29th  September,  1825,  he 
reached  Harpury  Court  as  assistant  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  Brittain, 
the  director  of  the  Dominicanesses  there.  But  his  career  of 
usefulness  was  destined  to  be  short  indeed;  for  God  was 
pleased  to  take  him  to  Himself  on  10th  May,  1831,  in  the 
thirty-second  year  of  his  age. 

Agak,  William  Seth,  born  near  York  on  Christmas-day, 
1815,  was  ordained  at  Prior-park,  and  succeeded  the  Rev. 
William  Joseph  Vaughan  as  incumbent  of  Lyme,  at  mid- 
summer, 1845.  Unquestionably  he  added  much  to  the 
improvement  of  its  church.  On  15th  July,  1849,  he 
presented  twenty-three  for  confirmation.  We  have  from  his 
pen  "A  Catholic  Catechism,  methodically  aiTanged  for  the 
Use  of  the  Uninstructed,"  which  is  a  translation  from  the 

Q  2 


328  BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST    OF    THE    CLERGY. 

Italian  of  Dr.  Rosmini  Serbati.  Mr.  Agar's  state  of  health 
at  length  dictated  the  expediency  of  a  relaxation  from  the 
labours  of  his  mission.  After  an  excursion  amongst  his 
fiiends,  he  supplied  at  Salisbury  for  a  time;  but  feeling 
much  recovered,  he  resumed  his  pastoral  duties  at  Lyme. 
However,  the  place  again  disagreeing  with  him,  the  Bishop 
transferred  him  to  Spetisbury,  where  he  is  rendering  valuable 
service ;  and  on  16th  September,  1856,  he  was  installed  a 
canon  of  the  Plymouth  chapter  in  the  room  of  Canon  Tilbury, 
deceased. 

AiNswoRTH,  Ralph,  O.S.B. — This  exemplary  missioner 
served  Bath  for  two  years  as  assistant  priest,  and  for  twenty 
years  as  chief  pastor.  Finding  the  chapel  in  Corn  Street  much 
too  contracted  for  his  increasing  flock,  he  boldly  purchased 
the  old  theatre  and  some  adjoining  premises,  and  succeeded, 
by  the  3rd  December,  1809,  in  converting  that  theatre  into 
the  present  spacious  chapel  of  St.  John  the  Evangelist. 
From  its  wall  I  copied  the  following  epitaph  : — 

In  a  vault 

Beneath  this  chapel. 

In  the  hope  of  a  glorious  Resui'rection, 

Repose  the  mortal  remains 

of 

The  Rev.  Ralph  Ainswnrth, 

Who  for  the  long  period  of  20  years 

Pilled  the  important  office 

Of  chief  Pastor  of  this  Congregation, 

Respected  and  beloved, 

And  to  whose  memory  this  monument  is  erected 

By  the  gratitude  of  his  numerous  friends. 

Obiit  5  Februarii,  1814,  setatis  50. 

Allam  (Ambrose),  William,  O.S.B. — All  that  I  can 
collect  of  this  religious  is,  that  he  succeeded  F.  John 
Panting,  S.J.,  at  Bonham,  in  1783 ;  and  that  at  the  end  of 
six  years  he  removed  to  Coventry,  where  he  concluded  his 
pious  course  on  5th  September,  1812,  deeply  regretted. 

Allen,  Francis. — That  he  was  a  secular  priest,  and  was 
stationed  in  Cornwall  during  the  reign  of  King  Charles  I., 
is  certain.  Dodd,  in  his  Church  History  (vol  iii.  p.  149), 
has  recorded  one  of  his  letters  from  that  county ;  but  in 
vain  I  look  for  other  particulars. 

AnderdoNj  William  Henry. — While  vicar  of  St.  Mar- 
garet's, Leicester,  he  embraced  the  Catholic  faith.  I  under- 
stand that  he  has  recently  been  appointed  chaplain  to 
Viscount  Campden,  eldest  son  and  heir  of  the  earl  of  Gains- 
borough, at  Campden  House,  co.  Gloucester. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST    OF    THE    CLERGY.  229 

Anderson,  William,  S.J.,  born  12th  June,  1689; 
admitted  into  the  order  7th  June,  1721,  and  distinguished 
himself  by  his  mathematical  and  astronomical  science.  One 
who  knew  him  assured  me  that  he  resided  for  some  time  at 
Leighland,  the  seat  of  the  Rowes,  in  Somersetshire.  But 
he  was  subsequently  transferred  into  Lincolnshire,  where  he 
died  superior  of  his  brethren  of  the  College  of  St.  Hugh,  at 
Kingerby,  the  seat  of  the  Youngs,  near  Market  Rasen,  on 
25th  August,  1764. 

Angeltis,  a  Sto.  Francisco,  O.S.F.,  alias  Richard 
Mason,  whom  Dodd  by  mistake  divides  into  two  distinct 
persons. —  (Church  History,  vol.  iii.  pp.  100,  113.)  That  he 
was  an  Englishiaan  is  certain, — probably  a  Yorkshireman ; 
yet  Harris,  in  his  "  Writers  of  Ireland,"  claims  him  for  a 
native  of  that  country.  In  the  "  Rambler  "  of  July,  1850, 
I  have  given  a  catalogue  of  the  writings  of  this  learned 
scholar.  For  a  time,  it  appears  that  he  was  chaplain  at 
Wardour.  Worn  out  with  labours  in  the  service  of  religion, 
he  obtained  permission  at  length  to  quit  England,  and  retire 
to  St.  Bonaventure's  Convent  at  Douay,  11th  October,  1675, 
"ut  sibi  et  Deo  ibidem  vacet;"  and  there  he  slept  in  the 
Lord  on  30th  December,  1678,  set,  seventy-eight,  prof, 
forty-eight,  sac.  forty-four. 

Aprice,  Ildefonsus,  O.S.B.,  probably  a  native  of  Somer- 
setshire, and  perhaps  a  descendant  of  William  Aprice, 
gentleman,  who  is  mentioned,  in  Rishton's  Diary  of  the 
Tower,  to  have  been  thrown  into  the  Pit  on  27th  August, 
1584,  for  twenty-three  days,  and  again  on  24th  September 
dropped  into  that  horrible  dungeon  for  forty-eight  days.  I 
think  this  religious  father,  like  his  brother  Joseph,  was  pro- 
fessed at  St.  Laurence's  Convent,  Dieulwart.  Subsequently, 
he  was  one  of  the  monks  appointed  to  serve  St.  James's 
chapel,  London,  and  at  the  Revolution  had  to  share  in  all 
the  reverses  of  his  brethren.  But  he  died  quietly  in  London 
on  18th  March,  1712. 

Aprice,  Joseph,  O.S.B.,  brother  of  the  above.  This 
chaplain  of  King  James  II.  grew  into  such  favour,  that  F. 
Weldon,*  in  his  "  Chronological  Notes,"  a  work  to  which  I  am 

*  F.  Ralph  (Bede)  Weldon,  of  the  ancient  family  of  Weldon,  of 
Swanscombe,  near  Gravesend,  was  the  seventeenth  child  of  his  parents 
Colonel  George  Weldon  and  Lucy  (Necton)  his  wife  ;  Ralph  was  born 
in  London  12th  April,  1674,  and  was  christened  at  the  Savoy.  He  lost 
his  father  on  30th  March,  1679 ;  but  his  mother  survived  until  26th 
April,  1702.  Converted  to  the  Catholic  faith  by  that  zealous  monk 
¥.  Joseph  Johnston,  he  made  his  abjuration  at  St.  James's,  on  12'.h 


230  BIOGEAPHICAL   LIST    OF   THE    CLERGY. 

singularly  indebted,  informs  us  that  "  his  Majesty  would  have 
him  in  his  service  wherever  he  went,  and  that  he  died  in  the 
fifty-third  year  of  his  age  at  St.  Edmund's  House,  Paris,  on 
25th  July,  1703,  in  the  very  chamber  where  James  II.  used 
to  lie,  when  he  honoured  that  house  with  his  pious  retreats." 
Q.  Was  not  his  friend,  Mr.  Charles  Penruddock,  who  died  at 
Paris  in  March,  1679,  set.  twenty-eight,  and  in  whose  vault 
at  St.  Edmund's  P.  Aprice  was  buried,  son  of  the  Colonel 
John  Penruddock,  beheaded  at  Exeter  by  order  of  Oliver 
Cromwell,  May,  1655,  for  proclaiming  Charles  II.  King  of 
England  ? 

In  Hayward's  Vindication  of  Charles  Fox's  history  may 
be  seen  (No.  3,  Appendix)  a  letter  of  this  P.  Aprice,  on  the 
death  of  King  Charles  II.  and  the  accession  of  King  James  II. 

Aylward  (Dominic),  John,  O.S.D.,  born  at  Leeds  4th 
April,  1813.  In  early  life,  viz.  15th  January,  1834,  he  was 
professed  among  the  Dominicans  at  Hinckley,  where  he  was 
ordained  priest  by  Bishop  Walsh,  10th  March,  1838.  After 
succeeding  his  former  Master  of  Novices,  P.  Procter,  in  the 
office  of  provincial,  he  was  in  1854  appointed  his  successor 
also  in  the  priorship  of  the  monastery  at  Woodchester,  which 
he  most  worthily  governs. 

B. 

Bacon,  Gregory,  O.S.B.,  ob.  apud  Stoke,  co.  Gloucester, 
4th  April,  1663.  ^ 

Baggs,  Charles  Michael,  Right  Rev. — In  the  "  Weekly 
and  Monthly  Orthodox  Journal,"  of  June,  1849,  I  published 
a  full  account  of  this  amiable  and  learned  prelate.  He  was 
the  eldest  son  of  Charles  Baggs,  Esq.,  by  his  wife  Eleanor 
Kyan,  and  was  born  in  the  county  of  Meath,  on  21st  May, 
1806.  His  father  was  a  Protestant  barrister,  and  destined 
his  son  also  for  the  legal  profession;  but  a  sad  reverse  of 
fortune,  and  his  sudden  death  in  1820,  induced  his  pious 
mother  to  withdraw  her  child  from  the  Protestant  school 

October,  1687.  On  17th  December,  1690,  he  took  the  Benedictine 
habit  at  Douay,  and  was  professed  13th  January,  1692.  Of  his  congre- 
gation and  of  religion  he  deserves  every  praise  for  his  two  folio  volumes 
of  "Chronological  Memoirs,"  all  written  in  his  own  bold  hand,  now  at 
Ampleforth.  At  the  beginning  of  volume  ii.  I  read,  "  These  two  tomes 
cost  me  from  the  evening  or  dusk  of  Trinity  Sunday,  about  the  middle 
of  June,  that  half  month,  July,  August,  September,  October,  to  the 
7th  of  November,  1707,  on  which  day  I  finished  them.  Glory  be  to  the 
eternal  wisdom  of  God."  Perhaps  he  made  the  abridgment  of  that  work, 
now  at  Downside,  continued  till  1713 ;  for  he  died  23rd  November  of 
that  year. 


BIOOKAPHICAL   LIST   OF   THE    CLERGY.  231 

in  June  that  year,  and  place  him  first  at  Sedgley-park 
Academy  for  a  twelvemonth,  and  then  transfer  him  to 
St.  Edmund's  College.  In  the  spring  of  1825  his  superiors, 
charmed  with  his  docility,  industry,  and  talent,  sent  him  to 
the  English  College  at  Rome,  where  in  due  time  he  was  pro- 
moted to  priesthood ;  and  so  rapidly  did  he  rise  in  the  esti- 
mation of  all  around  him,  that  he  was  appointed  vice- 
president  of  the  college,  and  finally  president,  when  Dr. 
Wiseman  was  nominated  to  the  see  of  Melipotamus,  to  which 
he  was  consecrated  14th  June,  1840.  Pope  Gregory  XVI., 
an  excellent  judge  of  merit,  treated  Dr.  Baggs  with  marked 
distinction ;  he  made  him  his  honorary  chamberlain,  giving 
him  the  privilege  of  introducing  to  an  audience  all  the  British 
gentry  ;  and  he  &ecuted  this  office  with  admirable  tact  and 
courtesy,  so  as  to  win  golden  opinions. 

When  the  news  reached  the  Eternal  City  that  Dr.  Baines, 
Bishop  of  Siga,  was  no  more,  the  eyes  of  the  public  were 
directed  to  our  English  president  as  the  fit  person  to  succeed  \^ 
to  the  charge  of  this  Western  District.  His  Holiness  coin- 
cided in  this  opinion,  and  Dr.  Baggs  was  consecrated  to  it  by 
the  title  of  Bishop  of  Pella,  in  St.  Gregory's  Church  at  Rome, 
on  28th  January,  1844,  by  Cardinal  Fransoni,  assisted  by 
Dr.  Brown,  then  Bishop  of  Tloa,  now  of  Liverpool,  and  Dr. 
Collier,  Bishop  of  Port  Louis,  in  the  Mauritius.  I  have 
heard  Bishop  Baggs  repeat,  that  on  taking  leave  of  that 
illustrious  Pope,  his  Holiness  enjoined  him  above  all  things 
to  inculcate  union  and  charity  amongst  his  flock.  Circum- 
stances prevented  the  bishop  from  taking  possession  of  his 
diocese  before  Thursday,  30th  May,  1844.  His  arrival  at 
Prior-park  was  welcomed  by  the  clergy  and  laity.  On  1st 
June  he  held  an  ordination,  when  three  were  promoted  to  the 
priesthood,  and  four  were  made  deacons.  The  summer  was 
spent  in  visiting  his  extensive  diocese.  On  2nd  September 
he  opened  at  Prior-park  a  general  spiritual  retreat  for  his 
clergy.  On  2nd  October  he  divided  the  diocese  into  four 
deaneries,  to  enable  his  clergy  to  meet  together  for  theological 
discussions ;  but  whilst,  like  his  patron,  St.  Charles  Borromeo, 
pastoral  solicitude  was  rendering  him  glorious,  it  was  truly 
painful  to  us  all  to  witness  that  our  variable  climate  was 
impairing  and  destroying  his  delicate  constitution.  We  had 
hoped,  almost  against  hope,  that  he  might  recover  his  pristine 
elasticity ;  but  alas  !  he  rapidly  succumbed  under  prostration 
of  strength,  and  gently  expired  at  Prior-park  on  16th  October, 
1845.  On  the  23rd  his  precious  remains  were  laid  by  the  side 
of  his  immediate  predecessor.  Bishop  Baines,  in  the  new  church 
commenced  at  the  college. 


232  BIOGRAPHICAL   LIST    OF   THE    CLEKGY. 

His  coflBn  was  thus  inscribed  : — 

Carolus  Michael  Baggs, 

Episoopus  Pellensis,  V.  A.  D.  O. 

Obiit  XVII.  Kalendas  Novembris, 

Anno  Domine  mdcccxlv., 

Episcopatus  sui  secundo. 

Vixit  Annos  xxxix.  Menses  v. 

Cujus  animae  propitietur  Deus. 

In  consequence  of  the  breaking  up  of  the  college  at 
Prior-park,  his  remains  have  been  recently  removed  to  a 
vault  in  Midford  Chapel,  by  the  kindness  of  the  Conolly 
family. 

A  high  encomium  of  this  estimable  prelate  appeared  in  the 
columns  of  the  Morning  Post,  of  November  3,  1845. 

Dr.  Baggs  published — 1.  At  Rome,  in  1836,  a  Letter  ad- 
dressed to  the  Rev.  R.  Burgess,  B.D.,  the  Protestant  chaplain 
in  that  city. 

2.  A  Discourse  on  the  Supremacy  of  the  Roman  Pontiffs, 
delivered  in  the  Church  of  Gesu  e  Maria,  in  the  Corso,  Rome, 
on  Sunday,  February  7th,  1836,  and  dedicated  to  Cardinal 
Weld.  This  discourse  was  translated  into  Italian,  by  Augusto 
Grarofolini,  and  afterwards  printed  at  the  Tipografia  delle  Belle 
Arti :  at  Rome  that  year  Dr.  Baggs  translated,  himself,  into 
Italian,  his  letter  to  Mr.  Burgess,  which  was  printed  also 
in  1836. 

3.  The  Papal  Chapel,  described  and  illustrated  from  History 
and  Antiquity,  1839,  and  dedicated  to  Cardinal  Acton. 

4.  The  Ceremonies  of  Holy  Week, -at  the  Vatican,  and 
St.  John  Lateran's ;  with  an  account  of  the  Armenian  Mass 
at  Rome,  on  Holy  Saturday,  and  the  Ceremonies  of  the 
Holy  Week,  at  Jerusalem  :  Rome,  1839.  Dedicated  to  the 
present  Hugh  C.  Lord  Clifford. 

5.  The  Pontifical  Mass,  sung  at  St.  Peter's  Church  on 
Easter  Sunday,  on  the  Festival  of  SS.  Peter  and  Paul,  and 
Christmas-day ;  with  a  Dissertation  on  Ecclesiastical  Vest- 
ments :  Rome,  1840.  Dedicated  to  Cardinal  James  Gius- 
tiniani.  Bishop  of  Albauo,  and  Protector  of  the  English 
College. 

6.  Funeral  Oration,  delivered  at  the  solemn  obsequies  of 
the  Lady  Guendaline  Talbot,  Princess  Borghese,  in  St.  Charles' 
Church,  in  the  Corso,  on  23rd  December,  1841.  On  this 
mournful  occasion.  Dr.  Baines  sung  the  High  Mass. 

Two  Dissertations  of  Dr.  Baggs  were  printed  and  published 
separately. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST    OF    THE    CLERGY.  233 

1.  Dissertazione  sul  sistema  Teologico  degli  Anglicani 
detti  Puseyisti.     8vo.,  35  pp. 

It  was  read  in  the  Academia  di  Religione  Cattolica,  at 
RomCj  30th  June,  1842 ;  and  was  published  in  the  "  Annali 
delle  Scienze  Religiose."     Vol.  xv."  No.  43. 

2.  Dissertazione  suUo  Stato  Odierno  della  Chiesa  Anglicana. 
8vo.,  pp.  28.  Published  in  1843  in  the  same  Annali,  &c. 
Vol.  xvii.  No.  49. 

In  the  words  of  Cowper  I  maj  add : — 

"  Peace  to  the  mem'ry  of  a  man  of  worth, 
A  man  of  letters  and  of  manners  too. 
Of  manners  sweet,  as  virtue  always  wears." 

Baines  (Axjgustin)  Peter,  Right  Rev.,  born  at  Pear-tree 
Farm,  within  Kirkley  township,  near  Liverpool,  on  25th 
January,  1787.  In  company  of  John,  Edward,  and  Vincent 
Glover,  three  brothers,  he  left  England  to  study  for  the 
Church  in  the  Englisli  Benedictine  Abbey,  of  Lambspring, 
where  they  arrived  on  7th  November,  1798.  "Within  four  years 
later,  the  good  monks  were  compelled  to  leave  their  beloved 
monastery,  and,  at  the  invitation  of  the  Rev.  John  Bolton, 
they  repaired  to  Ampleforth,  in  the  parish  of  Oswaldkirk, 
near  York.  Here  Lady  Ann  Fairfax,*  of  Gilling  Castle,  had 
founded  a  mission  as  early  as  1780  for  the  Benedictines. 
This  hospitable  and  considerate  monk  was  her  chaplain ;  his 
house  was  commodious  ;  he  gave  them  every  encouragement 
to  commence  a  college  at  once,  and  he  ended  his  da3s  amongst 
them  on  20th  December,  1805.  Heaven  blessed  the  under- 
taking ;  the  pious  Peter  Baines  pursued  his  studies  with  in- 
defatigable assiduity;  at  the  canonical  age  he  consecrated 
himself  to  God  in  the  order  of  St.  Benedict,  on  8th  June, 
1804,  taking  St.  Augustine  for  his  patron.  The  talented 
youth  was  soon  employed  to  teach,  and  he  laudibly  exerted 
his  abilities  in  improving  and  enlarging  the  system  of  educa- 
tion in  this  rising  establishment.  At  the  age  of  thirty  the 
chapter  judged  him  to  be  the  best  qualified  to  succeed  to  the 
important  mission  of  Bath,  void  by  the  retirement  of  his 
confrere,  the  Rev.  James  Calderbank.  He  arrived  in  that 
city  in  July,  1817;  and  it  is  true  to  say,  that  the  mission 
under  his  auspices  assumed  a  renovated  appearance  and 
splendour.  Bishop  CoUingridge,  sadly  disappointed  in  not 
securing  for  his  coadjutor  the  Rev.  Charles  M'Donnell,  O.S.F., 
who  had  actually  been  nominated  Bishop  of  Sonopolis  by  his 
Bull,  dated  26th  January,  1816,  but  could  not  be  prevailed 

*  Tliis  great  benefactress  to  religion  died  on  2nd  May,  1811. 


334  BIOGEAPHICAL   LIST   OF    THE    CLERGY. 

upon  to  accept  the  proflPered  dignity,  charmed  with  the  pulpit 
eloquence  of  this  gifted  missioner,  and  the  unprecedented 
progress  of  religion  in  Bath,  now  selected  Dr.  Baines  for  his 
associate  in  the  episcopal  ofi&ce,  and  as  such  he  was  consecrated 
to  the  see  of  Siga  by  Archbishop  Murray,  in  Townshend- 
street  Chapel,  Dubhn,  on  1st  May,  1823.  The  friends  of  our 
holy  faith  hailed  this  promotion,  for  the  reverend  doctor  was 
looked  up  to  as  possessing  a  soul  superior  to  pitiful  jealousy 
and  party  prejudice ;  and  in  his  letter  to  me,  dated  20th 
August,  1823,  from  No.  4,  Belvidere,  Weymouth,  where  he 
accepted  for  a  time  the  charge  of  the  congregation,  his  lord- 
ship thus  expressed  himself: — "  Stonyhurst  has  not  a  more 
sincere  well-wisher,  or  truer  friend,  than  myself.  As  far  as 
my  little  means  extend,  I  shall  be  happy  at  all  times  to  render 
it  service.  I  am  a  decided  and  open  enemy  to  all  party  dis- 
tinctions ;  and  I  hope  I  am  perfectly  free  myself  from  what 
I  hate  in  others — ^party  prejudice."  This  was  language 
worthy  of  a  Catholic  bishop  !  And  is  not  party  spirit,  which 
chills  the  heart,  like  an  ague,  checking  the  circulation  of 
vital  charity  ? 

For  the  benefit  of  his  health  Dr.  Baines  was  recommended 
to  make  a  tour  on  the  Continent,  and  he  made  a  lengthened 
residence  at  Rome.  By  his  Holiness  Leo  XII.  he  was  ap- 
pointed a  domestic  chaplain  shortly  before  that  Pontiff's 
death,  which  lamentable  event  occurred  on  10th  February, 
1829.  Within  two  months  later  he  received  the  unexpected 
intelligence  that  Bishop  CoUingridge  was  no  more.  As 
soon  as  he  could  arrange  his  affairs,  he  hastened  back  to  this 
vacant  diocese,  and  obtained  permission  from  Pope  Pius  VIII. 
to  become  secularized,  after  an  attachment  to  the  Benedictine 
order  for  the  quarter  of  a  century. 

In  the  December  of  the  same  year  (1829)  he  concluded 
the  purchase  of  the  magnificent  mansion  of  Prior-park,*  near 
Bath,  with  its  annexed  leasehold  estate  in  Lyncombe  and 
Wydecombe  parishes,  of  171  acres,  and  a  freehold  estate  of 
twenty-seven  acres.  To  the  splendid  mansion,  which  he  ap- 
propriated for  the  episcopal  residence,  he  added  two  handsome 
wings,  St.  Peter's,  to  serve  for  a  lay  college,  and  St.  Paul's, 

*  Erected  by  Ralph  Allen,  Esq.,  who,  from  being  the  son  of  an  ina- 
keeper  in  a  village  on  the  road  side,  called  St.  Blazey  Highway,  Corn- 
wall, raised  himself,  by  energy  of  mind  and  indefatigable  perseverance, 
to  become  the  originator  and  affluent  farmer  of  the  Cross  Postage. 
Pope,  Swift,  Arbuthnot,  Gay,  Thompson,  &c.,  partook  of  his  hospitalities 
at  Prior-park.  Ob.  29th  June,  1764,  set.  seventy-one,  and  was  buried 
at  Cloverton.  I  have  seen  some  of  his  portraits  by  Hudson.  Davies 
Gilbert,  in  his  "  Cornwall,"  vol.  i.  p.  57,  doubts  whether  Fielding's 
"  Alworthy  "  was  really  meant  to  pourtray  Mr.  Allen. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST   OF   THE    CLERGY.  335 

to  be  an  ecclesiastical  seminary.  Such  was  the  progress  of 
the  works,  that  in  July,  1830,  Prior-park  was  opened  for  the 
reception  of  students,  though  the  foundation  of  the  college 
takes  date  from  1st  May  that  year.  Some  of  his  lordship's 
friends  and  admirers,  considering  his  lordship's  present  ways 
and  means,  and  calculating  on  his  probable  resources  and 
prospects,  were  fearful  that  the  enterprise  was  too  venture- 
some, and  that  it  might  involve  and  swallow  up  the  funds  of 
the  missions.  Amongst  others  who  could  be  mentioned,  that 
cautious  and  discreet  nobleman,  Charles,  the  late  Lord  Clifford, 
in  his  letter  to  me  bearing  date  Mansfield-street,  London, 
5th  November,  1830,  remarked,  "I  have  my  doubts  of  the 
propriety  of  endeavouring  to  support  a  seminary  of  the  mag- 
nitude of  Prior-park."  It  was  even  prognosticated  by  some 
eminent  divines  that  it  must  perish.  The  outlay  was  truly 
terrific;  the  demands  continually  increasing,  vehemently 
pressing,  and  creating  feverish  anxiety  ;  and  in  the  midst  of 
this  misery,  to  the  regret  of  all  lovers  of  architectural  beauty, 
the  centre  of  this  imposing  pile  of  buildings  accidentally  took 
fire  on  the  evening  of  30th  May,  1836.  This  was  a  distress- 
ing trial  to  our  zealous  prelate,  yet  it  served  to  rouse  his 
energy  to  redoubled  exertions.  He  no  longer  confined  his 
appeal  for  succour  "  to  the  narrow  limits  of  the  Catholic  body," 
but  he  extended  it  "  to  the  Protestant  public ;"  and  he  openly 
proclaimed  in  that  appeal,  "  independently  of  the  late  calamity, 
the  institution  of  Prior-park  could  not  possibly  support  itself 
without  the  public  aid." 

Over-exertion  and  solicitude  undermined  a  constitution 
naturally  delicate .  and  inflammatory ;  and  I  was  not  sur- 
prised to  hear  of  his  sudden  dissolution.  It  was  an  event 
which  he  himself  had  anticipated  ;  indeed,  he  had  experienced 
a  slight  paralytic  afi"ection  early  in  March,  1843.  But  at 
length  he  nobly  fell  at  the  post  of  honour,  within  twelve 
hours  after  opening,  with  a  discourse,  St.  Mary's  new  church 
on  Bristol  Quay.  Early  on  the  following  morning  he  was 
found  a  corpse  in  his  bed  at  Prior-park,  6th  July,  1843.  At 
his  obsequies  on  13th,  Bishops  Briggs,  Griffiths,  Morris,  and 
Gillis  assisted,  with  about  forty  priests.  The  brass  plate  on 
his  coffin  bore  the  following  inscription  :* — 

Petrus  Angustimis  Baines, 

Episcopus  Sigensis,  V.  A.  D.  0. 

Obiit  Anno  Domini  mdcccxliii. 

Prid.  Non.  Julii.    Vixit  An.  lvii.  Dies  xii. 

*  Probably  this  and  Di-.  Baggs'  inscription  came  from  the  same  pen. 
As  the  division  of  the  Eastern  and  Western  Districts  had  already  taken 


336  BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST   OF    THE    CLERGY. 

Confessedly,  Dr.  Baines  was  possessed  of  considerable 
tact,  winning  address,  and  easy  eloquence ;  but  perhaps  was 
inferior  to  his  predecessors  of  the  Western  Vicariat  in  accu- 
racy of  mind  and  gravity  of  judgment,  especially  in  financial 
matters.  Constitutional  infirmity  may  have  contributed  to 
render  him  more  excitable  and  irresolute.  Be  this  as  it  may, 
his  name  will  ever  rank  amongst  the  luminaries  of  our 
English  Catholic  Church. 

In  the  "Weekly  and  Monthly  Orthodox  Journal"  of 
June,  1849,  I  gave  a  list  of  his  numerous  publications;  and 
hope  to  see  a  copious  life  of  the  prelate  compiled  "  by  a  bold 
and  impartial  hand." 

Baines,  James,  nephew  to  the  last-mentioned  prelate, 
educated  and  ordained  at  Prior-park.  For  a  short  time  this 
promising  ecclesiastic  was  stationed  at  Poole,  but  was 
recalled  to  the  college  to  fill  the  office  of  procurator.  Here 
his  course  of  usefiJness  was  arrested  by  a  fatal  fever  on 
30th  August,  1844,  set.  thirty-two. 

Baker  (Augustine),  David,  O.S.B. — "Clarum  ac  vene- 
rabile  nomen,"  born  at  Abergavenny  in  December,  1575. 
In  the  "  Rambler  "  of  March,  1851,  I  gave  a  brief  memoir  of 
this  profound  scholar.  He  died  of  the  plague  in  London, 
19th  August,  1641,  aet.  sixty-six,  and  was  buried  in  St. 
Andrew's,  Holborn.  He  is  connected  with  our  west  by 
having  resided  as  chaplain  with  Philip  Fursdon,  of  Fursdon, 
in  Cadbury  parish,  Devon,  Esq.  (See  Dodd's  History, 
vol.  iii.  p.  116.)  Bishop  ChaUoner  also  mentions  him  as 
connected  with  Devon,  in  his  interesting  memoir  of  that 
Benedictine  martyr,  F.  Philip  Powell. 

Baldwin,  M'^illiam,  S.J.,  of  Cornwall,  and  schoolfellow  of 
F.  Cornelius,  of  whom  hereafter.  After  five  years  spent  at 
Oxford  University,  he  proceeded  to  Rheims,  and  thence  to 
the  English  College  at  Rome ;  and  after  his  promotion  to 
priesthood,  enrolled  himself  amongst  the  Jesuits  on  26th 
February,  1595,  aged  twenty-six.  Twelve  years  later  he  was 
advanced  to  the  rank  of  a  professed  father.  For  the  life  of 
this  blameless  religious,  I  refer  the  reader  to  the  eighth  book 
of  F.  More's  "  History  of  the  English  Province  of  the  S.J." 
Elected  the  fifth  rector,  but  first  English  rector  of  St.  Omers' 

place  three  years  before,  OC.  to  O.  might  have  been  preferable,  to 
avoid  ambiguity.  In  the  above,  Menses  V.  is  omitted  in  the  age  of 
Bishop  Baines.  The  remains  of  this  bishop  and  his  reverend  nephew- 
James  Baines  have  recently  been  translated,  on  17th  June,  1856,  to  the 
monks'  cemetery  at  Downside. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST   OP    THE    CLERGY.  237 

College,  he  died  in  office  26th  September,  1632,  with  the 
highest  reputation  for  wisdom  and  piety. 

Ballyman  (Gregory),  John,  O.S.B.,  born  in  Devon, 
26th  October,  1734;  clothed  at  Lambspring  21st  April, 
1753,  and  professed  5th"  May,  1754.  Subsequently  he  filled 
the  office  of  prior  of  that  noble  abbey,  and  there  died, 
13th  September,  1811. 

Ballyman,  Thomas,  O.S.B.,  younger  brother  of  the  above, 
born  in  1737;  reached  Lambspring,  26th  July,  1751;  clothed 
31st  October,  1755;  and  professed  7th  November,  1756. 
After  serving  Salford  for  some  time,  he  retired  to  Bath, 
whe  he  died  6th  August,  1795. 

Bampton,  GEorfoE,  S.J.,  was  born  in  London  26th  July, 
1816.  Educated  for  the  medical  profession,  and  having 
passed  his  examination,  he  began  to  practise  as  a  surgeon  in 
Plymouth ;  but  after  his  conversion  to  the  Catholic  faith, 
was  privileged  with  the  grace  of  vocation  to  the  ecclesiastical 
state.  His  spiritual  father,  the  Rev.  Henry  Riley,  the 
incumbent  of  Plymouth,  conducted  him,  in  May,  1840,  to 
Prior-park,  where  eventually  Bishop  Baines  ordained  him 
sub-deacon  18th  December,  1841 ;  deacon  2nd  October, 
1842;  and  seven  days  later  promoted  him  to  priest- 
hood. On  21st  of  the  same  month  and  year,  he  made 
his  missionary  dSbut  at  Plymouth,  as  assistant  to  his 
dear  friend,  F.  Riley.  His  inaugural  discourse  on  "the 
Love  of  God,"  delivered  in  St.  Mary's  Chapel,  Stone- 
house,  on  Sunday,  23rd  October,  1842,  merited  and  obtained 
publication.  FuU  of  zeal,  talent,  and  tender  piety,  and 
desirous  of  greater  perfection,  his  heart  yearned  for  the  reli- 
gious state ;  and  having  at  length  received  permission  from 
the  Holy  See,  to  the  deep  regret  of  his  congregation,  he 
quitted  Plymouth  on  23rd  January,  1845,  to  become  a 
humble  novice  of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  At  the  end  of  his 
probation  he  was  sent  to  render  missionary  service  at  Rich- 
mond, in  Yorkshire;  but  when  Bishop  Ullathome  directed 
the  provincial,  F.  Lythgoe,  to  resume  possession  of  Trenchard- 
Street  Chapel  by  Sunday,  31st  October,  1847,  F.  Bampton 
was  ordered  to  proceed  thither  for  the  purpose.  He  filled 
this  incumbency  until  6th  December,  1849,  when  his 
increasing  reputation  as  a  preacher  induced  his  superiors  to 
call  him  up  to  the  church  of  the  Immaculate  Conception  in 
London.     At  present  he  is  at  Stonyhurst. 

Bannister,  William,  O.S.B.— Of  this  early  missionary 
of  Bath  I  regret  to  say,  that  I  can  learn  only  that  he  died 
there,  after  some  years'  service,  on  16th  May,  1726. 


238  BIOGRAPHICAL    tIST    OF    THE    CLERGY. 

Barber,  Joseph  (Stephen),  O.S.B. — This  good  religious 
was  assistant  priest  at  Spetisbury  for  a  time;  but  finished 
his  course  at  Salisbury  on  30th  September,  1847,  in  his 
sixty-third  year.     Eel.  forty-six,  sac.  thirty-eight. 

Barber,  Luke  (Bernard),  D.D.,  O.S.B.,  younger  brother 
of  Joseph,  and  born  at  Macclesfield,  took  the  habit  at  Acton 
Burnell  26th  April,  1807.  Seven  years  later,  the  commu- 
nity removed  to  Downside ;  and  when  the  prior,  F.  Lawson, 
resigned  his  office  on  23rd  July,  1818,  the  solid  virtues  and 
valuable  services  of  Father  Barber  recommended  him  as  the 
fittest  successor  to  that  pre-eminence.  Under  his  auspices, 
during  the  twelve  years  of  his  government,  and  amidst  much 
vexatious  trials,  the  establishment  of  St.  Gregory's  increased 
in  numbers  and  reputation.  On  10th  July,  1823,  he  opened 
the  beautiful  collegiate  church,  which  he  justly  considered 
should  be  the  principal  feature  in  every  well-regulated  com- 
munity. On  the  death  of  F.  Lawson  aforesaid,  at  Salford 
Convent,  on  23rd  April,  1830,  F.  Barber's  experience  and 
services  were  required  for  the  spiritual  direction  of  that 
Benedictine  convent  and  school.  And  again,  twelve  years 
later,  he  was  elected  the  president  of  all  his  English  bre- 
thren. For  the  last  ten  years  of  his  life,  this  most  amiable 
friend  endured  a  species  of  martyrdom  from  angina  pectoris. 
Some  professional  men  treated  it  as  a  stomach  affection,  but 
the  event  demonstrated  that  it  was  disease  of  the  heart 
progressing  unto  ossification.  As  he  did  not  appear  in  time 
for  the  nuns'  Mass  on  the  29th  of  December,  1850,  F.  Spain, 
the  assistant  chaplain,  was  sent  for,  to  officiate,  in  order 
to  allow  the  venerable  president  a  longer  repose ;  but  not 
being  seen  later,  his  chamber  was  entered,  when  he  was  found 
a  corpse !  His  appearance  in  bed  proved  that  he  died  in 
sleep,  without  a  struggle.  In  this  kind  and  amiable  father 
I  lost  a  very  dear  friend ;  but  in  my  breast  will  ever  be 
embalmed  the  memory  of  his  solid  virtues,  and  the  recollec- 
tion of  the  warmest  attachment. 

He  was  sixty-one  years  of  age,  and  in  the  thirty-sixth  of 
his  priesthood,  when  the  Prince  of  Pastors  called  him  to  be 
crowned.  "  Bonse  vitse  numerus  dierum ;  bonum  autem 
nomen  pennanebit  in  sevum." — (Eccl.  xli.  16.) 

Barlow,  Lewis,  of  Gloucestershire.  He  was  the  first 
missionary  sent  from  Douay, — viz.,  in  1574.  Twice  banished 
the  realm,  he  still  returned,  and  finally  died  in  England,  full 
of  days  and  merits,  in  1610. 

Barnes,  Laurence,  O.S.B.,  was  stationed  at  Bonham  for 
some  time.     Obiit  31st  May,  1803. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST   OF    THE    CLERGY.  239 

Barnes,  Stephen,  I  believe  of  Wilts,  was  educated  in  the 
English  College  at  Rome ;  in  the  sequel  he  was  appointed 
director  of  the  English  Canonesses,  O.S.A.,  then  at  Louvain 
(now  at  Spetisbury),  and  died  in  that  office  1st  January, 
1653,  aet.  seventy-seven.  Another  F.  Stephen  Barnes  is 
mentioned  by  Bishop  Challoner*  under  E.  White,  M. 

Barnes,  William,  son  of  Helen  and  Grace  Barnes,  of 
Tisbury,  Wilts,  born  on  8th  November,  1764,  left  Rome  for 
the  English  mission  in  1793.  After  supplying  in  a  variety 
of  places,  he  died  at  Madeley,  in  Shropshire,  28th  April,  1845. 

Barret,  Maurxis,  O.S.B. — He  certainly  left  the  Leighland 
mission  in  1767.     He  died  3rd  December,  1794. 

Barrow,  Joseph,  S.J.,  born  at  Westby,  co.  Lancashire, 
27th  February,  1740.  At  the  age  of  eighteen  he  offered 
himself  to  God  in  the  Society  j  for  a  short  period  was  the 
incumbent  at  Tusmore,  then  was  transferred  to  Exeter,  and 
thence  to  Arlington  Court,  near  Barnstaple.  On  1st  July, 
1786,  he  reached  St.  Helen's  in  his  native  county,  and  opened 
the  convenient  chapel  at  Lowe  House  on  1st  September, 
1793.  Here  he  consummated  his  earthly  course  on  5th 
January,  1813. 

Bastard,  Robert. — This  worthy  secular  priest,  I  appre- 
hend, was  a  native  of  Devon.  Called  up  from  his  prison,  he 
was  sentenced  to  perpetual  banishment  in  1606;  after  which 
I  lose  sight  of  him. 

Baudouin,  George,  born  at  Monkton,  near  Taunton; 
educated  partly  at  Douay,  and  partly  at  Valladolid.  He  came 
to  the  mission  in  1775,  and  was  appointed  by  Bishop 
Walmesley  to  look  after  the  dispersed  faithful  in  the  vicinity 
of  Plymouth.  This  duty  he  continued  to  discharge  until  the 
riots  of  1780,  when  he  returned  to  his  native  place.  After  a 
short  time  he  took  up  his  quarters  at  Taunton,  where  his 
placid  virtues  gained  him  general  esteem.  There  he  ended 
his  labours  on  14th  May,  1818,  aged  sixty-nine,  comforted 
with  the  bright  prospect  of  religion  around  him. 

"  Sunk  to  the  grave  with  unperceived  decay, 
Whilst  resignation  gently  sloped  the  way, 
And  all  his  prospects  brightening  at  the  last, 
His  heaven  commencing  ere  the  world  be  past." 

Beaumont,  John,  O.  S.  F.,  eldest  son  of  Joseph  and 
Hannah  [olim  Harding)  Beaumont,  of  Stone-Easton,  co. 
Somerset.     In  early  life  he  was  clothed  in  the  Franciscan 

*  See  the  "  Memoirs,"  lOth  December,  1591. 


240  BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST    OP    THE    CLERGY. 

convent  of  St.  Bonaventure,  at  Douay.  I  find  by  the  Chapter- 
books  that  he  was  appointed  Guardian  of  the  Custody  of 
Bristol,  on  3rd  May,  1734;  for  six  years,  at  least,  before  the 
arrival  of  Rev.  Charles  Needham  in  the  winter  of  1745,  he 
was  Chaplain  at  Tor  Abbey.  After  the  death  of  his  father, 
his  conduct  in  the  disposal  of  the  family  patrimony,  in  de- 
fiance of  the  remonstrances  of  his  Jesuit  brother,  William, 
and  his  throwing  off  the  yoke  of  all  submission  and  respect 
to  his  religious  superiors,  became  so  extraordinary,  to  say  the 
least  of  it,  that  he  was  sentenced  to  be  removed  from  all 
missionary  duty,  and  placed  under  surveillance  at  Douay 
Convent  (7th  Sept.  1764.  Act  Book,  p.  403).  There  this 
jubilarian  father  concluded  his  eccentric  course  in  the  year 
1774. 

Beaumont,  John,  S.J.,  bom  at  Stone-Easton,  in  June, 
1787.  I  remember  his  arrival  at  Stonyhurst,  with  his  younger 
brother  Henry,  in  September,  1800.  John  was  admitted  a 
novice  at  Hodder,  seven  years  later,  and  was  promoted  to 
priesthood  by  Bishop  Milner  on  18th  December,  1812.  After 
serving  Alnwick  for  eighteen  years,  he  was  transferred  to 
Stockeld-park,  where  he  continued  for  eight  months,  and 
thence  was  stationed,  26th  November,  1832,  at  South  Hill, 
Chorley,  where  he  still  is  (December,  1855) . 

Beaumont,  Joseph,  S.  J.,  youngest  brother  of  the  Francis- 
can, born  in  June,  1702  ;  admitted  into  the  order,  7th  Sep- 
tember, 1723;.  and  professed  of  the  four  vows,  2nd  February, 
1741.  For  many  years  he  resided  with  Mrs.Winefred  Gorsuch 
Eccleston,  at  Cowley  Hill,  St.  Helen's,  co.  Lancaster.  There 
he  died,  13th  February,  17'73,  and  was  buried  at  Windleshaw. 

Beaumont,  William,  S.J.,  the  middle  brother,  between 
the  Franciscan  John  and  the  last- mentioned  Joseph;  born 
29th  January,  1697;  joined  the  Society  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
one;  and  was  professed  2nd  February,  1737.  After  serving 
Bonham  and  LuUworth,  he  retired  to  Stone-Easton,  where 
he  died  on  15th  October,  1764. 

Beeston,  Henry,  S.J.,  born  at  Carlogas,  near  Lan- 
herne,  on  19th  June,  1797.  After  distinguishing  himself  as 
a  classical  scholar  at  Stonyhurst,  he  entered  the  novitiate, 
7th  September,  1816.  At  Rome  he  finished  his  higher  course 
of  studies,  and  there  was  promoted  to  priesthood  on  11th  July, 
1824.  Several  missions  enjoyed  the  benefit  of  his  exemplary 
zeal;  but,  to  the  dismay  of  his  attached  congregation  at 
Worcester,  and  the  distress  of  an  increased  circle  of  friends 
and  acquaintance,  he  was  suddenly  taken  off  by  gout  in  the 
stomach  on  the  night  of  12th  December,  1846. 


BIOGEAPniCAL    LIST   OF   THE    CLERGY.  241 

Beeston,  James  PhxliPj  S.J.,  veri  Bouegeois,  born  in 
French  Flanders,  5th  January,  1738,  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
two  enlisted  under  the  banner  of  St.  Ignatius.  In  1779, 
I  meet  him  as  chaplain  at  Cherry  Orchard,  afterwards 
at  Courtfield.  He  is  connected  with  the  west  by  having 
resided  at  Canford  for  the  last  two  years  of  his  life  as  director 
to  the  Theresian  nuns,  with  the  charge  of  that  mission.  His 
sudden  death  occurred  19th  May,  1811. 

Begin,  Nicholas. — The  best  account  I  can  render  of  this 
respected  French  abb^  whose  society  I  enjoyed  in  May,  1810, 
is  extracted  from  the  "  SaUsbury  Journal "  of  20th  March, 
1826.  "On  Thursday,  16th  of  March,  died  the  Rev. 
Nicholas  Begin,  wjjo  was  upwards  of  thirty  years  pastor  of 
the  Catholic  congregation  of  this  city.  His  unaffected  piety, 
goodness  of  heart,  and  cheerful  disposition,  procured  him  the 
esteem  of  many  valuable  friends  while  living,  and  his  loss 
will  be  sincerely  lamented,  not  only  by  his  friends,  but  by 
many  of  the  poor,  to  whom  he  was  a  liberal  benefactor." 

Bennet,  Placid;  O.S.B.  — This  good  religious  is  well 
remembered  at  Lanherne  for  his  zeal  and  piety ;  but  he  died 
at  Liverpool,  1st  March,  1795. 

Bennet,  Thomas,  S.J. — This  humble  and  indefatigable 
pastor  had  long  been  going  about  doing  good.  Habited  hke 
a  peasant  (as  we  learn  from  the  annual  letters  of  1647),  as 
he  was  proceeding  on  the  road  between  Bridgewater  and 
Poole,  he  was  overtaken  by  some  of  the  Somersetshire  cavalry 
in  the  service  of  the  Parliament.  He  was  exposed  to  much 
buffoonery  and  insult,  and  it  required  all  his  address  and 
shrewdness  to  extricate  himself  from  their  clutches.  Had 
they  suspected  him  to  be  a  priest,  they  would  probably  have 
killed  him  outright.  The  good  old  man  ended  his  days 
quietly  at  Ghent,  10th  December,  1664. 

Bentley,  Edward,  S.J.,  a  Londoner,  joined  the  order  at 
the  age  of  twenty-one,  and  in  due  time  was  numbered 
amongst  its  professed  fathers.  For  some  time  he  filled  the 
office  of  Penitentiary  at  Bome ;  but  the  climate  and  the  con- 
finement incidental  to  his  function  impairing  his  constitution, 
he  was  ordered  to  England.  The  last  thirty-one  years  of  his 
life  were  spent  in  the  service  of  the  mission,  especially  within 
the  residence  of  St.  Stanislaus,  which  included  Devon  and 
Cornwall.     He  died  on  19th  May,  1656,  set.  sixty-eight. 

Berriman,  Alban,  O.S.B.,  a  native  of  Somersetshire.  All 
that  I  can  glean  of  him  is,  that  he  died  in  a  good  old  age  on 
18th  January,  1715. 


242  BIOGKAPHICAL    LIST    OF    THE    CLEEGY. 

Blair,  James,  S.J.,  wtom  I  find  described  as  "a  man  of 
singular  prudence  and  sanctity/'  was  certainly  exercising  the 
ministry  in  the  diocese  of  Exeter  in  1746;  but  how  long 
before  or  after  I  cannot  discover.  Recalled  to  Liege,  to  be 
the  Professor  of  Scripture,  he  died  there  on  28th  May,  1759, 
set.  sixty-six,  soc.  forty-six. 

BiHDSALL  (Augustine),  John,  O.S.B. — This  gifted  religious 
was  born  at  Liverpool,  27th  June,  1775,  and  studied  first 
amongst  the  Dominicans ;  but  in  October,  1795,  entered 
himself  amongst  the  Benedictines  at  Lambspring.  Admitted 
to  his  profession  on  6th  November,  1796,  he  was  promoted  to 
priesthood  at  Hildesheim  on  20th  May,  1801.  Five  years 
later  he  was  sent  to  assist  the  incumbent  at  Bath ;  but  after 
rendering  valuable  service  for  three  years  and  a  half,  he  was 
encouraged  to  undertake  a  new  mission  at  Cheltenham,  late 
in  1809,  and  there  succeeded  in  opening  its  first  public  chapel 
on  3rd  June,  1810.*  Twenty  years  later  this  energetic 
father  commenced  another  mission  at  Broadway.  Few  men 
indeed  have  deserved  better  of  his  order  and  of  religion 
generally.  Appointed  president  of  his  brethren  in  1 836,  his 
was  a  painfur  pre-eminence ;  but  by  his  consummate  tact 
and  decision  of  character  he  saved  Ampleforth  College,  on 
which  the  blessing  of  heaven  visibly  rests.  This  truly  good 
father,  after  struggling  most  meekly  with  a  tedious  and  severe 
illness,  died  at  Broadway  on  2nd  August,  1837.  A  tablet 
in  the  Cheltenham  Chapel  commemorates  his  meritorious 
services. 

Bishop. — In  a  letter  of  the  late  Richard  Rowe,  Esq.,  I 
read  that  he  was  chaplain  at  Marnhull  about  the  year  1773. 
Can  this  be  the  F.  Henry  Bishop,  O.S.F.,  who  departed  this 
life  at  Baddesley  on  19th  June,  1811,  set.  eighty-six  ? 

Blount  Henry  Joseph  (Benedictine),  O.S.B.,  son  of 
Edward  Blount,  Esq.,  born  in  London  5th  June,  1821 ;  clothed 
by  Dr.  Brown,  then  Bishop-elect  of  Wales,  30th  September, 
1840,  at  Downside,  and  professed  there  11th  November,  1841 ; 
ordained  priest  by  Bishop  Hendren  22nd  September,  1849. 
After  filling  the  offices  of  Master  of  Novices,  Prefect  of  Studies, 
and  pastor  of  the  Downside  congregation,  he  was  appointed  the 
assistant  priest  of  Cheltenham,  at  the  chapter  in  July,  1854. 

Bolton  (Anselm),  John,  O.S.B. — I  suspect  that  this  is 
the  worthy  monk  who  served  Leighland,  and  Cannington 

*  A  French  emigrant,  I'Abbe  Csesar,  before  this,  "  had  said  Mass  on 
Sundays  and  hoUdays,  in  a  back  room  of  a  low  public  house,"  for  the 
handful  of  Catholics  there.  At  his  death,  24th  September,  1811,  set. 
eighty,  F.  Birdsall  had  him  decently  buried  in  the  parish  churchyard. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST    OF    THE    CLERGY.  243 

also,  for  a  time  previous  to  his  becoming  chaplain  to  Lady 
Ann  Fairfax,  at  Ampleforth,  where  he  closed  his  meritorious 
life  on  20th  December,  1805. 

Bond. — A  pious  couple,  William  Vincent  Bond  and  Nancy 
his  wife,  settled  in  St.  Maugan's  parish,  near  Columb's,  Corn- 
wall, have  given  many  of  their  oflfspring  to  God's  Church,  viz. 

1.  James  Isidore,*  the  sixth  child  but  fourth  son,  born 
4th  April,  1819 ;  after  studying  for  some  time  at  Douay, 
Prior-park,  and  Oscott,  he  repaired  to  the  English  College  at 
Rome,  where  he  was  ordained  priest.  After  serving  St.  Chad's 
Cathedral,  at  Birmingham,  for  some  time,  he  has  been  trans- 
ferred to  the  new  church  of  Snow-hill,  Wolverhampton. 

2.  Joseph  John  Bond,  S.J.,  the  fourth  child  of  his  parents, 
born  27th  October,  1814,  left  his  home  for  Stonyhurst  Col- 
lege 27th  January,  1828.  With  his  fellow-religious  the  Rev. 
James  Eccles,  now  the  incumbent  of  Exeter,  he  received  the 
order  of  subdeacon  in  the  chapel  of  Tronchiemes,  near  Ghent, 
on  25th  May ;  of  deacon,  in  the  cathedral  of  Ghent,  on  29th 
May ;  and  of  priest,  on  Corpus  Christi  day,  3rd  June,  1847, 
in  the  chapel  aforesaid,  at  the  hands  of  the  Right  Rev.  Louis 
Jacques  Delebecque,  Bishop  of  Ghent.  F.  Bond  was  attached 
to  St.  Walburge's  Church,  Preston.  He  removed,  I  am  told, 
to  the  Isle  of  Man,  and  is  now  attached  to  the  cathedral 
church  of  St.  Nicholas,  at  Liverpool. 

3.  Bond,  William  Peter,  eldest  brother  of  the  foregoing, 
born  1st  August,  1811;  left  home  7th  January,  1824,  for  Lisbon 
College,  where  he  was  ordained  priest  29th  March,  1835,  and 
celebrated  his  first  Mass  on  4th  of  April.  Swansea  was  his 
first  mission,  whence  he  removed  to  Marnhull,  in  1839.  In 
October,  1840,  he  succeeded  F.  Tilbury  at  Chidiock.  This 
talented  and  zealous  priest  quitted  29th  Januaiy,  1844j  to 
accompany  Bishop  Wilson  to  Van  Diemen's  Land. 

BoNOMi,  John. — This  amiable  ecclesiastic  was  born  in  Lon- 
don June  9th,  1816 j  partly  educated  at  Prior-park;  ordained 
there  by  Bishop  Baines  on  Saturday  in  Whitsun-week  (May21), 
1842.  During  the  space  of  nearly  twenty  years  he  acted  as  the 
accomplished  Master  of  Ceremonies  at  the  grand  functions  of 

*  John  Isidore  Bond,  S.J.,  the  third  son,  born  11th  April,  1817, 
admitted  into  the  Society  7th  September,  1839,  died  at  Calcutta 
23rd  March,  1844,  before  his  promotion  to  priesthood.  His  bones  were 
brought  over,  and  interred  at  Stonyhurst,  1st  March,  1847. 

Stephen  Bond,  the  ninth  child,  born  24th  March,  1826i  as  well  as  his 
brother  Vincent,  the  eleventh  child,  born  8th  July,  1828,  have  also  con- 
secrated themselves  to  God  in  the  Society  of  Jesus;  and  four  of  their 
sisters  have  become  nuius. 

B    2 


244  BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST   OF   THE    CLERGY. 

Bishops  BaineSj  Baggs,  Ullathorne,  Hendren,  and  Burgess,  in 
the  West.     He  is  now  serving  the  Monmouthshire  mission. 

Booth,  Charles,  S.J.  (brother  to  James,  the  eminent 
lawyer,  father  of  the  modern  practice  of  conveyancing,  and 
whose  treatise  on  "  Eeal  Actions  "  is  in  such  repute  with  the 
legal  profession),  was  the  tutor  of  Henry,  the  eighth  Lord 
Arundell.  For  several  years  before  his  death  the  venerable 
man  lived  entirely  at  Wardour,  and  there  finished  his  earthly 
course,  at  the  age  of  ninety,  on  11th  May,  1797.  His  lord- 
ship did  honour  to  his  remains,  by  depositing  them  in  his 
own  family  vault  under  his  princely  chapel. 

BoSGRAVE,  James,  S.J.,  was  born  at  Goodmanston,  Dorset, 
"  of  a  very  worshipful  house  and  parentage,"  as  F.  Persons 
informs  us.  Whilst  yet  a  youth,  with  the  approval  of  his 
pious  parents,  he  quitted  England  for  Borne,  where  he  studied 
a  course  of  rhetoric  and  philosophy.  He  had  entered  the 
Society  on  17th  November,  1564,  and  was  ordained  priest  at 
Olmutz  in  1573.  During  twelve  years  Germany  and  Poland 
witnessed  with  delight  and  admiration  his  increasing  fame  as 
a  professor  of  philosophy,  of  mathematics,  of  Hebrew  and 
Greek.  Declining  health  at  Wilna  induced  his  superiors  to 
order  his  return  to  England,  in  the  hope  that  his  native  air 
might  renovate  his  constitution.  His  parents  were  still  living ; 
but  he  had  hardly  reached  the  British  shores  in  the  spring  of 
1580,  when  he  was  apprehended  and  consigned  to  the  Tower 
of  London.  His  lengthened  absence  from  England  had  caused 
him  to  forget  his  mother  tongue.  On  14th  November,  1581, 
he  was  arraigned  at  the  Queen's  Bench,  with  F.  Edmund  Cam- 
pian  and  others,  and  on  the  20th  of  that  month  was  sentenced 
to  the  death  of  a  traitor ;  but  in  consequence  of  the  powerful 
interest  which  Stephen  (Battori),  the  learned  and  valiant  king 
of  Poland,  manifested  in  his  behalf.  Queen  Elizabeth  con- 
sented not  to  dip  her  hands  in  his  blood,  and  at  length  to 
discharge  him  from  the  Tower,  on  21st  June,  1585.  Eeturn- 
ing  to  Poland,  the  illustrious  confessor  finished  a  meritorious 
life  by  a  saintly  death,  at  Calizzi,  27th  October,  1621,  or,  ac- 
cording to  another  account,  1623.  "  Septuagenario  major." 
Q.  What  relation  was  he  to  Thomas  Bosgrave,  gentleman, 
who  was  taken  at  Chidiock  Castle,  14th  April,  1594,  and 
executed  for  his  religion,  4th  July  next  ensuing,  at  Dorchester  ? 

Boucher,  Eichard,  S.J.,  born  17th  August,  1696;  was 
admitted  into  the  Society  of  Jesus  on  7th  September,  1713. 
For  many  years  he  was  chaplain  to  the  Chichesters  at  Arling- 
ton, and  amongst  them  ended  his  ministry  on  18th  December, 


BIOGRAPHICAL   LIST   OP   THE    CLERGY.  245 

1760.     From  the  parish  registry  I  copied  this  entry  :  "  1760. 
Mr.  Richard  Bourchier  was  buried  December  20th." 

BouRCHiER,  William,  S.J.,  elder  brother  of  the  pre- 
ceding, bom  14th  July,  1682,  was  aggregated  to  the  Society 
in  1700.  For  several  years  he  lived  at  Aston  Hall,  in  co. 
Stafford,  a  property  then  belonging  to  the  Welds,  afterwards 
he  resided  a  LuUworth  Castle.     Ob.  28th  September,  1757. 

BouGENOMs,  Louis,  O.S.R.,  as  he  informed  me  himself, 
was  born  at  Liege  2nd  March,  1816 ;  was  professed  in  the 
order  of  the  Redemptorists  8th  September,  1838;  ordained 
priest  on  24th  May,  1840.  He  is  connected  with  our 
Western  District  Jpy  having  been  the  incumbent  of  Falmouth 
from  16th  June,  1843,  to  1st  September,  1848,  when  he 
removed  to  Clapham.  From  the  public  journals  I  now  learn 
that  he  is  zealously  promoting  the  cause  of  religion  in 
Ireland,  as  superior  of  his  brethren  of  Mount  St.  Alphonsus, 
Limerick. 

Bowes,  alias  Lane,  Robert. — This  man  of  God  exercised 
for  a  considerable  time  the  ministry  at  Hatherop,  and 
there  composed  a  volume  of  "Practical  Reflections," — the 
fruits  of  solid  piety,  and  tender  unction.  Retiring  to  Bath, 
his  useful  life  was  crowned  with  a  happy  death  on  17th 
December,  1735. 

BowRiNG,  Charles  Algernon  (Aloysius),  S.J.,  fifth  and 
youngest  son  of  Sir  John  Bowring,  Knight,  of  Exeter,  by 
his  wife  Maria  (Lewin),  was  born  19th  March,  1828.  At  a 
suitable  age  he  was  sent  to  Trinity  College,  Cambridge, 
where  he  distinguished  himself  by  his  exemplary  assiduity 
and  proficiency.  But  whilst  applauded  by  others  for  his 
successful  exhibition  of  talents,  he  was  little  at  ease  within 
himself.  Doubts  about  his  Protestant  religious  opinions 
arose, — he  felt  dissatisfied, — he  prayed  Heaven  to  assist  him, 
— he  followed  the  guidance  of  the  Star,  which  brought  him 
to  the  Author  of  faith,  and  to  the  work  of  His  visible 
church.  Within  a  year  after  his  conversion  he  received  the 
special  grace  of  vocation  to  the  Society  of  Jesus,  and 
promises  to  become  a  leading  man  in  its  English  province. 

Bradshaw  (Anselm),  Bernard,  O.S.B.,  succeeded  Bishop 
York  as  missionary  of  Bath ;  but  died  at  Acton  Burnell  on 
9th  August,  1774.  I  think  he  was  of  Preston  Heballs, 
CO.  Salop,  and  that  he  was  clothed  at  Lambspring  on  28th 
March,  1723.  He  had  a  nephew,  Anselm  Bradshaw,  clothed 
there  31st  August,  1760,  who  died  at  Warrington  20th  June, 


346  BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST   OF    THE    CLERGY. 

1799;  and  I  think  Basil  also,  clothed  there  on  24th  June, 
1763,  who  died  13th  April,  1770. 

Breoque,  de  la. — This  exemplary  French  ahbe,  after  the 
French  Revolution,  took  up  his  residence  at  Axminster. 
When  his  confreres,  Messrs.  le  Blaise  and  le  Marc,  returned 
to  France,  after  the  treaty  of  Amiens,  which  was  concluded 
on  Lady-day,  1803,  he  undertook  the  pastoral  charge  of 
that  little  flock,  and  died  there,  universally  esteemed, 
3rd  February,  1819,  set.  sixty-six. 

Brent,  Henry,  S.  J.,  an  eminent  divine  and  good  religious, 
was  employed  both  at  Stapehill  and  Wardour ;  but  for  the 
last  ten  years  of  his  life  resided  at  Irnham  Hall,  co.  Lincoln. 
His  gravestone  in  the  parish  church  is  inscribed : — 

To  the  Memory  of  the  Rev. 

Mr.  Henry  Brent,  many  years 

Chaplain  to  Lord  and  Lady  Arundell, 

Who  departed  this  life  the  9th  of 

January,  1784,  aged  69. 

R.  I.  P. 

Brett  (Gabriel),  Robert,  O.S.B.,  son  of  Sir  Alexander 
Brett,  of  Whitestaunton,  co.  Somerset,  and  nephew  of  his 
Grace  the  Most  Rev.  Dr.  William  Giffard,*  the  founder 
and  first  prior  of  St.  Malo's  English  Benedictine  convent. 
Under  this  superior  the  pious  youth  made  such  pro- 
gress in  religious  perfection,  as  to  win  the  hearts  of  his 
brethren,  and  be  thought  worthy  to  govern  that  convent 
for  twelve  years.     He  died  13th  August,  1605,  set.  sixty-six. 

Brett,  Robert,  S.J.,  nephew,  I  suspect,  of  the  last- 
mentioned  prior,  and  of  a  most  amiable  and  cheerful  dispo- 
sition. He  died  at  St.  Omer's  on  3rd  November,  1678, 
having  been  enrolled  amongst  the  professed  fathers  of  the 
Four  Vows  three  months  only. 

Brewer,  John,  S.J.,  born  at  Fishwick,  near  Preston, 
29th  December,  1733;  joined  the  order  at  the  age  of  twenty. 
In  June,  1764,  he  commenced  his  missionary  career  at 
Odstock,  near  Salisbury,  thence  was  removed  to  Shepton 
Mallett,  where  he  continued  until  carried  off  by  apoplexy, 
1st  September,  1797.  His  remains  were  deposited  in 
St.  Joseph's  Chapel,  Bristol,  to  which  he  had  been  a  liberal 

*  This  illustrious  doctor  was  son  of  John  Giffard,  Esq.,  hy  his  wife 
Elizabeth  (Throckmorton),  and  was  born  in  1566.  Whilst  prior  at 
St.  Malo's,  Louis,  cardinal  archbjshop  of  Rheims,  the  brother  of  Henry, 
duke  of  Guise,  obtained  him  for  his  coadjutor  "  cum  jure  successionis." 
Obiit  11th  April,  1629. 


BIOGRAPHICAL   LIST   OF    THE    CLERGY.  247 

benefactor.     Shepton  and  Exeter  missions  shared  also  in  his 
bounty. 

Brewer,  Thomas,  S.J.,  younger  brother  of  the  last-men- 
tioned, was  bom  19th  June,  1743.  At  the  age  of  eighteen 
he  was  admitted  into  the  Society.  After  serving  Lydiate  and 
Fazakerly,  near  Liverpool,  he  was  sent  to  Bristol,  where  he 
ended  his  useful  life  on  18th  April,  1787. 

Brewer  (Bede),  John,  O.S.B.  and  D.D. — In  page  56  of 
the  first  part  I  have  treated  of  this  brilliant  ornament  of  the 
Benedictine  Congregation,  who  died  its  president,  at  Woolston, 
near  Liverpool,  on  18th  April,  1822,  and  was  buried  in  Peel- 
street  Chapel,  This  very  learned  and  experienced  religious 
edited,  in  1774,  *the  second  edition  of  Hooke's  "  Religionis 
Naturalis  et  Revelatae  Principia,"  in  three  volumes,  which 
he  enriched  with  several  dissertations. 

Briant,  Alexander,  S.J.,  of  Somersetshire. — This  able 
and  zealous  secular  priest  had  vowed  to  embrace  the  Society 
of  Jesus,  and  whilst  a  prisoner  for  the  faith,  God  satisfied 
the  desire  of  his  heart.  His  letter,  full  of  the  heavenly 
spirit,  addressed  to  his  brethren  of  the  Society,  is  given 
in  Tanner's  Lives,  pp.  16,  17.  From  the  hands  of  this 
man  of  God,  the  last  consolations  of  religion  were  adminis- 
tered to  Henry  Persons,  of  Nether  Stowey  (father  of  the 
celebrated  Robert  Persons,  S.J.),  late  in  the  year  1579.  Of 
the  excruciating  tortures  which  this  heroic  priest  had  to 
suffer  in  the  Tower  before  he  consummated  his  martyrdom 
at  Tyburn,  1st  December,  1581,  aged  twenty-eight,  see 
Rishton's  Diary,  Challoner's  faithful  Memoirs,  and  F.  More's 
History. 

Briant,  Robert,  S.J.,  of  Somersetshire. — At  the  age  of 
thirty-seven  he  joined  the  order,  and  in  the  following  year 
was  sent  to  the  English  mission.  He  was  chiefly  employed 
in  the  residence  of  St.  Stanislaus,  which  then  included  the 
diocese  of  Exeter ;  and  there,  I  apprehend,  he  finished  his 
career  of  earthly  labours  on  29th  March,  1658,  set.  seventy. 

Bridgewater,  John,  of  an  ancient  family  in  Somerset- 
shire. In  Bishop  Veysey's  Register,  vol.  i.  fol.  136,  I 
discover,  that  on  the  presentation  of  King  Edward  VI.,  he 
was  admitted  to  the  living  of  St.  Blase  and  St.  Austle,  in 
Cornwall,  on  2nd  April,  1550.  In  the  reigns  of  Queens 
Mary  and  Elizabeth  many  ecclesiastical  preferments  were 
showered  upon  him ;  but,  in  obedience  to  the  voice  of  con- 
science, he  abandoned  them  all  in  1574.  He  was  still  living, 
twenty  years  later,  at  Treves,  where  he  published  an  enlarged 


248  BIOGRAPHICAL   LIST   OF    THE    CLERGY. 

edition  of  F.  John  Gibbon's  "  Concertatio  Ecclesise  Catholicse 
in  Anglic."  Collii)son  ("  History  of  Somerset,"  vol.  ii.  p.  40) 
admits  that  "  he  was  held  in  general  esteem,  as  a  sensible 
ecclesiastic."  That  he  was  admitted  a  member  of  the 
Jesuits  at  Treves,  appears  more  probable ;  but  the  date  of 
such  admission,  and  even  of  his  death,  have  eluded  hitherto 
all  investigation. 

Brigham,  Henry,  S.J.,  born  in  Manchester  33rd  June, 
1796;  studied  with  distinction  at  Stonyhurst,  and  at  the  age 
of  seventeen  entered  the  society:  was  ordained  priest  at 
Maynooth  on  1st  June,  1821.  This  very  polite  scholar  twice 
filled  the  office  of  Prefect  of  Studies.  Hereford,  Preston, 
Bury  St.  Edmunds,  Pontefract,  Oxford,  and  London,  have 
had  the  benefit  of  his  missionary  zeal,  and  have  admired  his 
pulpit  eloquence,  since  23rd  December,  1854.  The  new 
church  of  Teignmouth  was  privileged  to  possess  him  for  its 
pastor,  tiU,  on  28th  February  of  this  year,  1856,  .he  was 
removed  to  Ugbrooke,  vice  F.  Charles  Lomax,  transferred  to 
Teignmouth. 

Brindlb  (Basil),  John,  O.S.B.,  born  at  Clayton,  near 
Chorley,  30th  December,  1746;  went  to  St.  Gregory's  Con- 
vent, Douay,  28th  April,  1761.  For  several  years  this  amiable 
religious  was  stationed  at  Lanherne,  where  he  was  respected 
and  esteemed  by  all  parties.  He  left,  before  the  Theresian 
nuns,  in  August,  1794,  were  put  in  possession  of  Lanherne 
House,  to  succeed  to  the  mission  of  Bonham,  but  from  which 
he  retired  7th  September,  1801,  from  ill  health,  and  even- 
tually settled  himself  down  with  his  brother  at  Claybrook. 
Dying  of  dropsy  on  8th  December,  1802,  he  was  buried  on 
the  south  side,  of  .Walton  churchyard,  near  Preston.  His 
tombstone  bears  his  simple  initials,  J.  B. 

Brindle,  Ralph,  born  6th  January,  1814,  and  nephew  to 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Brindle,  studied  at  Prior-park,  where  he  was 
ordained  priest  by  Bishop  Baines  on  14th  March,  1840,  and 
said  his  first  Mass  on  St.  Joseph's  feast,  five  days  later. 
For  ten  years  he  served  Upton,  in  Dorsetshire,  but  left  it  for 
Tawstock  on  8th  February,  1850.  Religion  must  ever  be 
indebted  to  him  for  his  personal  sacrifices  and  indefatigable 
exertions  in  completing  and  opening  the  church  of  Barn- 
staple on  25th  October,  1855.  It  had  been  consecrated  on 
Wednesday,  the  preceding  day,  with  imposing  solemnity. 
At  the  formation  of  the  Plymouth  chapter  this  exemplary 
priest  was  nominated  a  member. 

Brindle,  Thomas,  D.D.,  born  at  Walton  18th  December, 
1791 ;  studied  at  Ampleforth,  where  he  took  the  Benedictine 


BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST   OF    THE    CLERGY.  249 

habit,  and  was  professed,  with  Mr.  Metcalf,  25th  October, 
1811 ;  was  ordained  a  priest  in  September,  1815,  and  two 
years  later  was  appointed  by  the  chapter  assistant  to  Dr. 
Baines,  of  the  same  order,  to  their  Benedictine  mission  of 
Bath.  On  the  death  of  Bishop  Collingridge,  which  occurred 
at  Cannington  on  3rd  March,  1829,  being  notified  to  his 
coadjutor  Dr.  Baines,  then  at  Rome,  his  lordship,  as  successor 
to  the  Western  Vicariat,  appointed  Dr.  Brindle  to  be  the 
administrator  of  the  diocese  and  grand  vicar  until  he  could 
return  home.  His  lordship  further  obtained  for  him  letters 
of  secularization,  and  in  the  summer  of  1830  made  him 
regent  of  his  newly-established  college  at  Prior-park,  with 
the  history  of  which  his  name  must  be  for  ever  identified.  In 
November,  1849,  Dr.  Rooker  succeeded  him  as  regent.  He 
is  now  (1856)  a  Monsignore,  and  Provost  and  Vicar-general 
of  the  diocese  of  Clifton. 

Brittain,  Lewis,  O.S.D.  and  S.T.P. — This  distinguished 
religious  was  born  near  Chester,  and  at  the  age  of  sixteen 
was  reconciled,  with  his  brother  WUliam,  to  the  Catholic 
Church.  Two  years  later  Lewis  passed  over  to  France,  to 
perfect  himself  in  the  French  language.  Falling  in  with  an 
exemplary  priest  in  Picardy,  his  mind  became  absorbed  with 
heavenly  desires ;  and  at  length,  at  the  age  of  twenty- three, 
he  devoted  himself  to  God  in  the  order  of  St.  Dominic.  For 
many  years  he  taught  at  Bornhem  with  the  highest  reputa- 
tion; but  before  the  commencement  of  the  French  Revolu- 
tion he  accepted  the  oflBce  of  director  of  the  English  Domi- 
nicanesses at  Brussels,  an  ofifice  that  he  retained  until  his 
death,  i.  e.  for  the  space  of  thirty-six  years  and  nine  months. 
When  the  French  army  was  daily  expected  at  Brussels,  this 
experienced  counsellor,  faithful  friend,  and  afiectionate  father, 
escorted  his  dear  community  from  their  convent  of  the 
Rosary  on  22nd  June,  1794,  conducted  them  safely  to  Eng- 
land, saw  them  comfortably  settled  at  Harpury  Court,  and 
ended  his  days  amongst  them  on  3rd  May,  1827,  aet.  eighty- 
three,  rel.  sixty.  He  had  served  the  office  of  provincial  of 
his  brethren  from  1814  to  1818.  The  works  of  this  gifted 
scholar  and  divine  are  well  known  and  appreciated. 

Brooke,  Charles,  S.J.,  son  of  James  and  Sarah  Brooke,* 
bom  in  the  Second  Back-lane,  Exeter,  8th  August,  1777. 
Naturally  he  was  of  a  strong  constitution ;  but,  as  his  mother 
told  me,  in  consequence  of  three  successive  falls,  through  the 

*  They  were  married  at  Arlington  on  27tli  November,  1766.  The 
elder  brother,  James  Henry,  bom  25th  May,  177],  is  still  living,  at 
Clapham  Rise.    Theu-  father  died  27th  July,  1783. 


250  BIOGKAPHICAL    LIST   OF    THE    CLERGY. 

carelessness  of  his  nurse,  he  became  feeble  and  attenuated. 
By  the  charity  of  his  patron,  the  Rev.  Joseph  Reeve,  of 
Ugbrooke,  he  was  admitted  into  the  Academy  of  Liege  on 
16th  July,  1788.  For  his  age,  he-  was  already  tolerably 
advanced  under  the  instructions  of  Mr.  Laurence  Halloran 
and  the  Rev.  Joseph  Bretland.  Of  the  latter  I  have  heard 
him  speak  in  terms  of  high  commendation.  At  Liege  he  was 
placed  under  the  Rev.  John  Laurenson,  and  distinguished 
himself  amongst  his  fellow-students  by  his  piety  and  diligence. 
After  passing  with  credit  the  course  of  humanities  and  phi-- 
losophy,  his  assiduous  attention  to  divinity  was  interrupted 
by  the  successes  of  the  French  republican  forces,  and  at 
length  he  had  to  share  in  the  miseries  of  the  emigration  in 
the  summer  of  1794,  and  was  amongst  the  earliest  of  the 
arrivals  at  Stonyhurst  on  29th  August  that  year.  To  the 
organization  of  the  collegiate  course  of  studies  all  must  admit 
that  he  rendered  very  important  service  by  his  classic  taste, 
discrimination,  and  judgment;  and  several  of  his  pupils^ — ■ 
Shiel  amongst  the  restr— did  honour  to  his  tuition;  yet  per- 
haps he  was  too  fastidious,  too  wasteful  of  time  in  pondering 
the  minutim  of  criticism. 

After  a  splendid  defension  of  the  whole  course  of  theology, 
he  was  promoted  to  the  priesthood  at  Maynooth  by  Arch- 
bishop Troy,  on  12th  June,  1802,  and  on  26th  September  of 
the  following  year  consecrated  himself  to  his  God  in  the 
revived  Society  of  Jesus.  On  8th  September,  1818,  he  was 
numbered  amongst  its  professed  fathers. 

To  the  Enfield  mission  he  had  been  appointed  in  1817,  and 
there  he  opened  its  present  chapel  on  11th  July,  1819;  but 
on  15th  February,  1826,  he  was  called  from  the  missionary  life 
to  fill  the  office  of  provincial  for  six  years,  and  at  an  eventful 
period.  At  the  expiration  of  his  government,  he  rendered 
invaluable  aid  to  the  seminary  as  well  as  to  the  college,  as 
spiritual  father  and  director,  of, studies. 

The  last  seven  years  of  his  life  he  spent  in  his  native  city. 
Whilst  on  a  visit  to  me  in  the  autumn  of  1845  (he  had  arrived 
on  10th  September),  for  the  benefit  of  his  health,  he  received 
a  letter  from  the  provincial,  F.  Lythgoe,  dated  Lincoln,  18th 
October  that  year,  commencing  thus :  "  My  wish  is,  after 
having  taken  counsel  from  those  whom  it  is  my  duty  to  con- 
sult, that  you  should  collect  and  arrange  the  materials  which 
may  serve  for  a  continuation  of  the  history  of  the  province, 
where  the  history  written  by  F.  More  stops.  It  is  thought, 
and  I  believe  with  reason,  that  you  will  be  able  to  do  this 
better  at  Exeter,  assisted  by  Dr.  Oliver,  than  in  any  other 
place.     My  wish,  therefore,  is,  that  you  should  take  the  house 


BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST    OF   THE    CLERGY.  251 

uext  to  him.  Whatever  is  necessary  to  make  it  comfortable 
shall  be  furnished  to  you.  I  should  have  stated  all  this 
before  to  your  reverencej  had  I  not  thought  it  expedient  to 
mention  my  intention  first  to  P.  General,  in  order  that  if  his 
paternity  had  any  views  with  respect  to  your  reverence  which 
would  be  incompatible  with  your  proposed  office,  he  might 
state  them. 

"  I  feel,  and  so  do  others,  that  no  one  is  so  capable  as  your 
reverence,  assisted  by  Dr.  Oliver,  to  perform  this  most  im- 
portant task,  and  that  if  the  work  be  not  performed  wow,  much 
valuable  information,  known  to  yourself  and  Dr.  Oliver,  will 
be  lost.  I  trust  that  your  reverence's  zeal  for  the  public 
good  will  therefore  lead  you  to  undertake  this  important  duty 
with  cheerfulness  and  energy.  I^.  O.  has  nearly  finished 
his  Monasticon,  and  will  therefore,  I  hope,  be  at  liberty  to 
co-operate  with  you.     I  beg  my  kind  regards  to  him." 

I  wrote  back  that  "  I  should  be  a  willing  pioneer  in  the 
service ; "  but  what  progress  my  learned  friend  made  in  his 
history  I  could  never  ascertain.  He  took  possession  of  the 
adjoining  house  on  5th  November,  1845,  and  continued  his 
reserve  and  seclusion  until  his  death,  6th  October,  1852, 
expiring  in  the  very  room  wherein  his  good  mother  had  died 
in  my  arms  on  18th  July,  1828,  set.  ninety-four.  He  was 
buried  over  her,  behind  St.  Nicholas's  Chapel.  Eight  priests 
assisted  at  his  dirge,  and  the  first  High  Mass  sung  at  Exeter 
since  the  Reformation  was  celebrated  at  his  obsequies  on 
11th  October.     R.  I.  P. 

Brooke,  Leonard,  S.  J.,  born  in  Maryland,  14th  January, 
1750;  at  the  age  of  nineteen  he  entered  the  Novitiate;  for 
some  years  was  chaplain  at  Slindon ;  but  spent  the  greater 
part  of  his  missionary  life  at  LuUworth,  where  he  was  much 
admired  as  a  catechist.  Dying  7th  July,  1813,  his  remains 
were  deposited  in  the  vault  of  the  Weld  family,  with  this 
epitaph  from  the  hand  of  his  confrere  F.  Charles  Plowden. 

A.    i    Q. 

H.  S.  E. 

Leonardus  Brooke  olim 

Soc.  Jesu  Alumnus  :  annos  amplius  xx. 

Hujus  SacrjE  MAis  Sacerdos  et 

Gustos,  cui  locum  sepulturse  inter 

Suos  dedit  Thomas  Weld 

Pietatis  causa.    Decessit  Non.  Julii 

An.  MDCccxiii. 

R.  I.  P. 

Brooke,  Thomas,  was  born  in  Exeter,  of  Protestant  pa- 
rents, and  baptized  at  St.  Edmund's  Church  14th  May,  1727. 


252  BIOGKAPHICAL    LIST    OF    THE    CLEEGY. 

The  father  becoming  a  Catholic,  though  subsequently  he 
gave  up  the  practice  of  his  religion,  young  Thomas  was  sent 
to  the  English  College  at  Lisbon,  where  he  qualified  himself 
for  the  priesthood;  and  is  said  to  have  been  nominated  a 
chaplain  to  the  queen  of  Portugal.  He  was  in  the  college 
when  the  frightful  earthquake,  on  1st  November,  1755, 
spread  consternation  and  ruin  in  the  city.  All  his  commu- 
nity escaped  with  their  lives,  with  the  exception  of  the  presi- 
dent, Mr.  Manley,  whose  body  could  not  be  extricated  from 
the  mass  of  stone  and  timber  until  three  days  after  the 
mournful  catastrophe.  The  Rev.  Thomas  Brooke  never 
recovered  from  the  calamitous  shock,  and,  as  I  find  by  a 
mourning  ring,  died  3rd  May,  1756,  set.  29. 

Beown  (Joseph),  Thomas,  Right  Rev.,  S.T.P.,  O.S.B. — 
Of  this  luminary  of  the  Benedictine  congregation  and  orna- 
ment of  the  episcopal  order,  a  volume  might  be  written. 
I  must  leave  it  to  posterity  to  do  justice  to  his  merits  j  mine 
is  the  humble  task  to  record  a  few  facts  connected  with  his 
biography. 

He  was  born  in  the  city  of  Bath  on  2nd  May,  1798 ;  and 
made  his  studies  at  Acton  Burnell,  where,  in  1813,  he  took 
the  Benedictine  habit.  Both  there  and  at  Downside  he  pur- 
sued his  studies  with  such  assiduity  and  success,  as  soon  to 
be  qualified  to  take  the  chair  of  philosophy,  and  not  long  after 
of  divinity.  As  early  as  1826  he  published  an  able  letter 
addressed  to  Archdeacon  Daubeny,  prebendary  of  Sarum, 
exposing  his  misrepresentations  of  the  Eucharist  (8vo.  London, 
pp.  45).  On  18th  July,  1834,  he  was  appointed  prior  of 
Downside,  and  six  days  later  was  awarded  by  the  president 
the  title  and  insignia  of  D.D.*  "When  Pope  Gregory  XVI., 
by  his  brief,  dated  3rd  July,  1840,  doubled  the  number  of 
English  vicars-apostolic,  the  Western  Vicariat  was  divided 
into  two;  and  Dr.  Brown,  then  prior  of  Downside,  was 
selected  to  govern  the  whole  of  North  and  South  Wales, 
with  the  counties  of  Monmouth  and  Hereford  attached. 
His  consecration  to  this  see,  by  the  title  of  Bishop  of  ApoUonia, 
in  the  archdiocese  of  Thessalonica,  was  solemnly  performed 
on  28th  October,  1840,  in  St.  John's  Chapel,  Bath,  by 
Bishop  GrifiSths,  assisted  by  Bishops  Wareing  and  Collier, 
and  on  that  occasion  Bishop  Wiseman  delivered  a  most 
appropriate  address.     Whilst  all  friends  of  religion  hailed 

*  This  was  done,  in  consequence  of  the  privilege  granted  by  Pope 
Pius  VII.,  on  1st  June,  1823,  to  the  president  of  the  English  monks,  of 
creating  three  of  his  subjects,  who  had  taught  a  course  of  theology, 
Doctors  of  Divinity. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST   OF    THE    CLERGY.  253 

this  happy  choice,  he  might  well  say,  "  Ostium  mihi  magnum 
apertum  est  et  evidens,  et  adversarii  multi"  (1  Cor.  xvi.  9), 
but  could  add  with  the  same  apostle,  "  Omnia  possum  in 
Eo  qui  me  confortat"  (Phil.  iv.  13).  Heaven  manifestly 
blessed  and  prospered  his  apostolical  exertions.  And  yet,  after 
having  done  so  much,  and  deserved  so  well  of  North  Wales 
during  ten  years,  it  must  have  been  an  acute  trial,  when,  at 
Michaelmas,  1850,  the  hierarchy  was  established,  to  submit 
to  the  amputation  of  that  large  member  from  his  diocese. 
But  I  know  from  his  own  letters  how  meekly,  how  dis- 
interestedly he  acquiesced  in  the  sacrifice,  comforting  himself 
with  the  hope,  that  what  he  lost  in  temporal  resources  might 
be  indemnified  bj  the  gain  to  religion. 

The  pen  and  the  eloquent  tongue  of  this  scholar  and  divine 
have  always  been  at  the  command  of  faith  and  of  charity. 
Who  has  not  read  with  admiration  his  vindication  of  Catholic 
truth  against  Messrs.  Batcheller  and  Newenham  in  1833  ? 
his  exposure  of  the  ingenious  devices  of  M'Ghee  in  1838?  and 
his  triumphant  controversy  with  the  Rev.  Joseph  Baylee,  of 
Birkenhead,  in  1851  ?  To  this  friendly  prelate  of  Menevia 
I  may  apply  the  words  of  St.  Jerome  to  St.  Augustine 
(Epist.  57),  "Macte  virtute:  in  Urbe  celebraris.  Catholiei 
te  conditorem  antiquse  rursum  Fidei  venerantur  atque  suspi- 
ciuntj  et  quod  signum  majoris  glorise  est,  omnes  Hseretici 
detestantur." 

Brownbill,James,  S.J.,  bom  at  Gillmoss,  co.  Lancashire, 
on  31st  July,  1798;  studied  at  Stonyhurst,  and  on  7th  Sep- 
tember, 1815,  followed  the  example  of  his  saintly  brothers 
Thomas  and  Francis,  by  enlisting  under  the  standard  of 
St.  Ignatius.  James,  after  teaching  humanities  and  filling 
the  office  of  prefect,  was  ordained  priest  at  Stonyhurst  by 
Bishop  Penswick,  on  30th  July,  1839,  and  the  next  day,  his 
birthday  and  the  feast  of  his  holy  founder,  celebrated  his 
first  Mass.  Quitting  the  college,  where  he  had  endeared 
himself  to  all  who  came  under  his  charge,  he  reached 
Ugbrooke,  to  succeed  F.  James  Laurenson,  on  37th  November, 
1830.  To  his  great  comfort  and  joy,  he  removed  from  the 
great  house  to  the  convenient  presbytere  formed  for  him  at 
Ashwell,  on  Wednesday,  26th  June,  1832.  In  the  Appendix 
to  the  first  part  of  this  compilation  I  have  inserted  the  part- 
ing address  of  his  attached  flock  on  Sunday,  27th  September, 
1835,  when  his  patron  sternly  insisted  on  their  separation. 

By  his  immediate  superiors  he  was  duly  honoured  on  his 
return  to  the  college.  After  filling  the  office  of  its  rector 
from  26th  May,  1836,  till  3rd  June,  1839,  then  supplying 


354  BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST   OF    THE    CLERGY. 

the  place  of  its  minister  for  a  twelvemonth,  and  for  another 
year  the  incumbency  of  the  Bedford  mission,  near  Leigh,  in 
his  native  county,  he  was  appointed  rector  of  the  establish- 
ment in  London.  Here,  during  the  space  of  fourteen  years, 
he  laboured  like  an  apostle,  becomiiig  all  to  all.  In  con- 
sequence of  impaired  health,  he  has  been  released  from  that 
arduous  charge  since  25th  August,  1855,  and  has  been 
transferred  to  the  comparatively  easy  iaission  at  Bury  St. 
Edmunds. 

Bruning,  Francis,  O.S.B.,  was  professed  at  Lambspring 
1st  May,  1699  ;  succeeded  P.  Bannister  as  the  incumbent  of 
Bath,  and  served  that  Benedictine  mission  for  six  years. 
Ob.  18th  August,  1748. 

Bruning,  Thomas,  O.S.B.,  a  native  of  the  diocese  of 
Exeter.  All  that  I  can  glean  of  him  besides  is,  that  after 
five  years'  service  at  Bonham,  he  died  there  on  6th  August, 
1719. 

Brushford,  John,  of  the  diocese  of  Exeter,  arrived  at 
Borne  14th  June,  1581.  Towards  the  end  of  chapter  X.  of 
first  part,  p.  99,  I  have  mentioned  him  as  a  priest  on  the 
Plains  of  Salisbury,  anno  1594;  after  which  he  eludes  my 
researches  (vol.  III.  of  Canon  Tierney's  Dodd,  p.  137). 

BucKLAND,  Ralph,  of  Somersetshire. — After  his  conver- 
sion he  renounced  a  plentiful  estate  to  follow  Christ.  His 
zeal  for  the  salvation  of  souls  obtained  for  him  the  honour, 
like  St.  Paul,  of  being  the  "  Vinctus  Christi  Jesu." — (Ep.  ad 
Philem.)  He  was  one  of  the  forty-seven  priests  sent  from 
difierent  jails  in  1606  into  perpetual  banishment,  and  sur- 
vived five  years. 

Buckle,  William. — This  reverend  gentleman  was  bom  at 
Stinchcombe,  co.  Gloucester,  on  5th  July,  1836;  sent  to 
Winchester  school  in  July,  1843 ;  matriculated  at  Oxford  in 
March,  1845;  was  received  into  the  Catholic  Church  at  Oscott 
on  7th  February,  1847;  went  to  Eome  in  September  following, 
where  he  was  admitted  to  minor  orders  19th  March,  1848 ; 
to  sub-deaconship,  3rd  March,  1849.  Quitting  then  the 
Eternal  City,  he  was  promoted  to  deaconship  at  Ushaw 
College  on  18th  September,  1853,  and  finally  to  priesthood 
on  31st  May,  1853.  Eeturhing  to  his  native  diocese,  Bishop 
Burgess  appointed  him  to  St.  Mary's  Chapel,  Montpelier, 
Bath,  which  situation  he  resigned  to  become  secretary  to 
Dr.  Vaughan,  who  was  installed  bishop  of  Plymouth  on 
35th  September,  1855.  I  may  truly  say  of  him,  in  the 
words  of  Cicero,   de  Amicitia,  "Bonam  spem  prselucet  in 


BIOGRAPHICAL    tIST   OP   THE    CLERGY,  255 

posterum."  What  a  comfort  it  must  have  been  to  him  to 
behold  his  parents  and  sister  admitted  into  the  one  fold  of 
the  one  Shepherd !— (See  "  Directory"  of  1849,  p.  177.)  Since 
writing  the  above,  the  reverend  gentleman  has  been  trans- 
ferred to  Lyme  Regis,  vice  Bunn. 

BuNN,  Joseph  Walstan*  (son  of  Francis  and  Mary 
Bunn,  olim  Conolly),  born  at  Cossey,  near  Yarmouth,  11th 
December,  1823  ;t  educated  at  Oscott,  where  he  was  pro- 
moted to  priesthood  in  the  Ember  Week  of  Lent,  1847. 
After  unceasing  exertions  of  zeal  in  the  metropolis,  his 
health  became  so  impaired,  that  the  faculty  urged  the 
expediency  of  the  sea-side.  Cardinal  Wiseman  and  Arch- 
bishop Errington.who  appreciated  his  merits  at  Oscott,  have 
stationed  him  at  Lyme  since  7th  July,  1855,  vice  Rev.  James 
Conolly.  1  am  happy  in  the  belief  that  the  change  has 
proved  beneficial  to  his  valuable  health.  On  25th  April, 
1856,  he  left  for  Poole  to  succeed  Canon  WooUett. 

Burgess,  Thomas,  Right  Rev.,  D.D.,  born  1st  October, 
1791,  in  CO.  Lancashire;  was  nephew  to  that  holy  monk  the 
Rev.  James  Burgess,  who  died  at  Myddelton  Lodge  on 
22nd  August,  1837,  set.  seventy,  after  being  forty  years 
chaplain  to  the  Middelton  family.  In  early  life  Thomas 
devoted  himself  to  his  Creator  in  the  order  of  St.  Benedict, 
and  was  professed  at  Ampleforth,  with  Dr.  Rooker,  on  13th 
October,  1807,  where  he  received  his  education.  His  solid 
virtues  and  urbanity  of  manners  won  for  him  the  love  and 
confidence  of  his  religious  brethren,  insomuch  that  he  was 
elected  prior  in  July,  1818.  Whilst  still  holding  that  office, 
in  the  spring  of  1830,  he  was  over-persuaded,  with  Dr.  Rooker 
and  P.  Edward  Mecalfe,  that  they  would  do  a  better  thing  to 
forsake  their  first  love,  or  vocation  to  the  Benedictine  order, 
obtain  their  secularization,  and  concentrate  their  talents,  and 
energies,  and  influence,  in  raising  up  a  new  collegiate 
establishment  at  Prior-park.  Their  abrupt  withdrawal,  as 
weU  as  of  several  students,  excited  alarm,  and  threatened 
shipwreck  to  Ampleforth;  but,  like  a  gallant  vessel,  she 
righted  again,  and  most  prosperously  f  continues  her  course. 

*  Walstan  was  a  saint  from  his  cradle,  and  died  in  the  vicinity  of 
Cossey  on  20th  May,  1016. 

t  Dr.  Husenbeth,  the  missionary  of  St.  Augustine's,  of  Canterbury, 
baptized  the  infant  on  the  day  of  his  birth.  Walstan  Francis  Xavier 
Joseph  was  the  name  assumed  on  his  becoming  a  Passionist. 

f  In  the  autumn  of  1865  Ampleforth  Could  count  seventy-two  stu- 
dents, eight  professors,  and  besides  nine  others  who  had  taken  their 
solemn  vows,  two  novices,  and  two  lay  brothers.  A  new  collegiate 
church,  100  feet  in  length,  was  in  course  of  erection ;  and  the  fathers 


256  BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST  OF    THE    CLERGY. 

After  staying  some  time  at  Prior-park,  Bishop  Baines  trans- 
ferred him  to  Cannington,  and  after  fifteen  months'  service 
there,  appointed  him  to  the  charge  of  Portland  chapel,  dedi- 
cated to  St.  Augustine,  near  Queen  Street,  Bath,  which  he 
opened  on  26th  May,  1832;  and  finally  ordered  him  to 
Monmouth,  where  his  peaceful  virtues  made  him  esteemed 
and  beloved.  On  the  resignation  of  the  Eight  Eev.  Dr.  Hen- 
dren,  the  first  bishop  of  the  new  see  of  Clifton,  Dr.  Burgess 
was  selected  to  succeed  him,  and  was  consecrated  27th  July, 
1851.  Superhuman  were  the  efforts  of  this  prelate  to  rescue 
Prior-park  from  its  overwhelming  incumbrances.  After  a 
very  short  illness,  this  amiable  bishop  sunk  in  the  arms  of 
death  at  Westbury-on-Trym,  27th  November,  1854.  "  Now 
to  his  ashes  honour ;  peace  be  with  him." 

Well  might  the  administrator  of  the  diocese  of  Clifton, 
Archbishop  Errington,  in  his  Pastoral  of  30th  January, 
1856,  announcing  the  dissolution  of  the  college  at  Prior- 
park,  observe  to  the  public,  that  "the  late  bishop  fell  a 
victim  to  the  burden  he  had  undertaken,  and  that  his 
exertions  to  save  it  had  been  unceasing." 

Burke,  John. — This  native  of  Tipperary  was  educated  in 
St.  John's  College,  Waterford.  Bishop  CoUingridge  em- 
ployed him  at  St.  Joseph's,  Trenchard  Street,  Bristol,  after 
the  departure  of  the  Rev.  John  Williams,  in  May,  1823 ; 
but  in  the  spring  of  1825  he  was  transferred  to  Gloucester, 
where  he  remained  about  two  years,  when  he  was  removed 
to  Usk,  where,  in  1831,  "  ashamed  of  the  testimony  of  our 
Lord,  and  rejecting  a  good  conscience,  he  made  shipwreck  of 
the  faith"  in  1831,  and  winged  his  flight  to  America.  After 
this  fall,  he  vanishes  from  my  research. 

Butler,  alias  Berry,  O.S.B.,  was  the  resident  priest  at 
Hartpury  Court  in  1769;  but  how  long  before,  I  cannot 
ascertain.  Is  this  the  F.  Jerome  Berry  who  died  at  Cowley 
Hill  4th  October,  1786  ? 

Butler,  Thomas,  D.D.,  born  at  Limerick  in  1800. — Of 
this  ex-Dominican' — this  renegade  and  impugner  of  the 
known  truth — I  have  treated  at  length  under  Weymouth,  in 
the  fifth  chapter  of  part  first.  May  God  give  him  repent- 
ance, and  may  the  unfortunate  man  recover  himself  from 
the  snares  of  the  devil,  by  whom  he  is  held  captive! 
(2  Tim.  ii.  25,  26.) 

ButterfielDj  James,  a  very  different  character  from  the 

had  purchased  an  excellent  farm  of  100  acres  in  Byland  Abbey,  three 
miles  distant. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST   OF    THE    CLERGY.  257 

last-mentioned,  bom  at  Waterford,was  educated  at  Carlow  and 
Rome.  Full  of  the  ecclesiastical  spirit,  he  accepted  the  mission 
of  Salisbury  in  the  spring  of  1831;  but  in  August,  1833, 
■was  translated  to  Swansea,  where,  in  the  fuU  vigour  of  youth, 
he  was  carried  oflf  by  fever,  on  2nd  April,  1835,  deservedly 
lamented.  By  his  own  desire  his  remains  were  conveyed  to 
Waterford. 

Byfleet,  John,  O.S.B.  —  I  meet  with  three  of  this 
surname.  The  two  first,  John,  O.S.B.,  died  at  Stourton, — 
the  senior  in  1652,  the  junior  on  29th  August,  1700.  The 
third,  William,  who  often  passed  by  the  name  of  Gildon. 
In  the  list  of  Popish  Recusants  in  Dorset  in  1718,  "  Gent." 
is  affixed  to  his  name,  and  an  income  of  j638  per  annum  is 
attributed  to  him.  I  suspect  that  he  was  a  secular  priest. 
The  following  particulars  I  learnt  from  the  mouth  of  that 
veracious  gentleman  the  late  Thomas  Taunton,  Esq.,  who 
was  born  at  Veers  Wootton,  near  Bridport,  on  9th  June, 
1745,  and  died  at  Axminster  17th  March,  1828:  "I  was 
baptized  by  the  Rev.  William  Byfleet,  who  had  succeeded 
Mr.  Higgs  as  missionary  at  Chidiock.  When  he  took 
possession,  in  the  reign  of  William  III.,  Mr.  Byfleet  found 
most  of  his  flock  immured  in  Dorchester  jail  for  refusing 
to  take  the  oaths.  He  frequently  visited  them,  and  occa- 
sionally managed  even  to  say  Mass  for  them.  At  the  age  of 
one  hundred  the  venerable  man  submitted  to  the  amputation 
of  a  leg,  and  what  is  remarkable,  survived  the  operation  for 
three  years.  Retiring  to  Stourton,  or  rather  Bonham,  he 
died  on  19th  October,  1846,  the  year  after  baptizing  me." 

Byrne,  Andrew,  born  in  Newland,  co.  Kildare,  in 
November,  1798 ;  was  educated  at  Carlow  and  at  Rome,  where 
he  was  ordained  priest  29th  June,  1830.  He  then  served 
Spetisbury  for  nearly  three  years.  In  November,  1833, 
he  succeeded  I'Abbe  Chanteloup  at  Taunton,  and  after  one 
year's  residence  there  returned  to  Spetisbury,  which  after  some 
time  he  left  for  his  native  country.  He  often  wields  his 
pen  in  defence  of  religion. 

G. 

Caestryck  (Benedict),  Charles,  O.S.D.,  was  by  birth  a 
Flandrian.  At  the  emigration  from  Bornhem,  he  was 
appointed  to  the  Leicester  mission,  where  he  exhibited  the 
genuine  spirit  of  zeal  and  charity  which  characterized  his 
sainted  founder.  On  the  death  of  F.  Adamson  at  Hartpury 
Court,  in  1831,  he  succeeded  him  on  4th  June  of  that  year; 


358  BIOGRAPHICAL   LIST   OF    THE    CLERGY. 

and  when  the  Dominicanesses  had  to  quit  that  mansion  on 
19th  September,  1839,  after  an  occupation  of  forty-five 
years,  this  friendly  and  venerable  father  accompanied  them 
to  their  new  convent  of  the  Rosary,  at  Atherstone.  He 
remained  with  them  until  he  had  seen  them  comfortably 
settled;  and  then  retired  to  Hinckley,  where  he  surren- 
dered his  pious  soul  into  the  hands  of  the  God  he  had  so 
faithfully  served  from  his  youth  upwards  to  the  age  of  eighty- 
four,  on  Sunday,  2nd  June,  1844.  On  the  following 
Wednesday  his  precious  remains  were  deposited  in  St.  Peter's 
conventual  Church.. 

At  Woodchester  I  saw  a  pleasing  etching  of  the  portrait 
of  this  apostolic  man. 

Caldebbank,  James,  O.S.B. — This  zealous  religious,  after 
serving  Weston,  came  to  Bath,  vice  Birdsall,  as  assistant  to 
F.  Ainsworth,  on  whose  death  he  succeeded  to  the  chief 
pastorship  5th  February,  1814.  F.  Calderbank's  "  Series  of 
Letters  in  Answer  to  Questions  proposed  by  a  Clergyman 
of  the  EstabHshed  Church"  (8vo.  pp.  236.  1814),  for  per- 
spicuity, good  sense,  and  moderation,  do  credit  to  his  heart 
and  understanding.  After  presiding  over  the  Bath  mission 
for  three  years,  he  retired  to  Liverpool,  where  he  died  9th 
April,  1821. 

Caldebbank,  Leonard,  nephew  to  the  preceding,  was 
born  at  Standish,  near  Wigan,  3rd  June,  1809 ;  he  studied 
at  Rome,  and  was  there  ordained  priest  by  dispensa- 
tion, 11th  November,  1832.  He  made  his  debut  on  the 
mission  at  Trelawny  on  1st  November,  1833,  and  left  it  for 
Tawstock  10th  June,  1835 ;  but  on  20th  September,  the 
same  year,  made  way  for  Dr.  Crowe,  and  proceeded  to 
Weobly,  co.  Hereford,  where  he  opened  St.  Thomas's  Chapel 
on  15th  October,  1835  j  afterwards  he  was  despatched  to  the 
Welsh  mission,  thence  to  Poole,  then  to  Cannington ;  but 
on  18th  January,  1840,  was  ordered  to  Spetisbury  Convent, 
where  he  found  rest  for  nine  years  and  nearly  eight  months. 
On  9th  November,  1849,  he  was  called  away  from  that 
peaceful  abode.  It  was  a  painful  separation;  but  he  sub- 
mitted in  the  spirit  of  obedience,  and  on  reaching  Prior-park 
was  appointed,  pro  tempore,  Vice-President,  and  also  to 
teach  a  theological  class.  This  experiment  continued  until 
9th  October,  1850,  when  he  was  put  in  charge  of  the 
Gloucester  mission. 

Campian,  Richard,  S.J.,  of  a  respectable  family  in  Here- 
fordshire. He  joined  the  order  at  the  age  of  twenty-two ; 
for   thirty-six  years  he  laboured  in  the  English  vineyard. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST    OP    THE    CLEEGY.  259 

twenty-four  of  which  period  were  spent  in  these  western 
parts.  He  was  called  up  to  receive  his  retribution  on  9th 
July,  1677,  set.  seventy-two. 

Carey,  James,  was  bom  in  the  parish  of  Kinnetty,  in  the 
diocese  of  Killaloe,  on  25th  February,  1815.  In  1841  he 
volunteered  for  the  Madras  mission,  went  to  India,  and 
finished  his  ecclesiastical  studies  in  the  seminary  of  that 
place.  He  was  afterwards  ordained  Priest,  on  11th  March, 
1843,  by  the  Right  Rev.  Dr.  Fennelly,  bishop  of  Costoria, 
and  Vicar-Apostolic  of  Madras.  In  1853  he  returned  to 
Europe  in  consequence  of  ill-health,  which  being  somewhat 
restored,  he  went,  in  June,  1854,  to  Plymouth,  where  he 
was  received  hy  the  Right  Rev.  Dr.  Errington,  on  the 
recommendation  of  his  Grace  the  Most  Rev.  Dr.  Cullen, 
archbishop  of  Dublin,  to  whom  Mr.  Carey  had  been  specially 
recommended  by  Bishop  Fennelly.  On  15th  July,  1854,  he 
received  charge  of  the  Falmouth  mission.  His  immediate 
predecessor  was  the  Rev.  Tiberius  Sodorini. 

Carpenter,  Hermenegild,  S.J.,  a  native  of  France,  but 
aggregated  in  early  life  to  the  English  province.  He  had 
been  employed  in  the  missions  of  Brinn  and  Liverpool,  before 
he  was  stationed  at  Stapehill,  in  Dorsetshire.  At  length, 
retiring  to  Bury  St.  Edmund's,  he  passed  to  eternal  rest  on 
12th  April,  1770,  set.  sixty-seven,  rel.  forty-nine,  professed 
of  Four  Vows  thirty-one. 

Carr,  James,  born  at  Preston  4th  June,  1795,  was 
educated  at  Stonyhurst ;  he  was  admitted  into  the  Society, 
and  was  ordained  one  of  its  priests,  and  had  served  the  Nor- 
wich and  Worcester  missions,  when  he  was  sent  to  Wardour. 
He  arrived  there  in  March,  1832,  but  not  giving  satisfaction, 
quitted  on  20th  June  that  year.  He  has  long  since  left  the 
Society,  but  is  still  living. 

Carroll,  Anthony,  S.J.,  born  in  Ireland  10th  September, 
1722;  began  his  noviceship  in  1744,  and  in  1762  was  en- 
rolled amongst  the  professed  Fathers.  Shortly  after  receiving 
priesthood  at  Liege,  in  1754,  he  exercised  his  zeal  and 
talents  at  Shepton  Mallett,  Exeter,  and  other  places.  In 
1776  he  published  at  London,  a  translation  of  Bourdaloue's 
Sermons,  under  the  title  of  "  Practical  Divinity,"  in  four 
vols.  8vo. 

The  end  of  this  good  old  man  was  tragical.  By  the 
"  Gentleman's  Magazine  "  of  1794,  p.  1055,  it  may  be  seen 
that  he  was  knocked  down  and  robbed  in  Red  Lion  Court, 
Fleet  Street,  London,  on  5th  September  of  that  year,  and 

s  2 


260  BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST   OF    THE    CLERGY. 

was  conveyed  speechless  to  St.  Bartholomew's  Hospital,  where 
he  died  at  five  o'clock  on  the  following  morning. 

I  am  credibly  informed  that  he  was  cousin  to  F.  John 
Carroll,  S.J.,  founder  of  episcopacy  in  the  United  States, 
consecrated  in  Lullworth  Chapel  15th  August,  1790,  and 
who  died  archbishop  of  Baltimore  on  Sunday,  3rd  December, 
1815,  set.  eighty. 

Carroll,  Michael,  born  in  co.  Tipperary,  1808;  he 
received  his  education,  for  the  most  part,  at  Maynooth ;  but 
was  promoted  to  the  priesthood  at  Prior-park  on  16th 
November,  1838,  and  on  15th  December  next  ensuing  was 
placed  at  PoUaton.  Thence,  on  25th  January,  1845,  he 
was  transferred  to  Stonehouse  as  assistant,  vice  Bampton,  to 
P.  Henry  Riley:  three  years  later  he  was  despatched  to  Glou- 
cester; after  a  twelvemonth,  to  Falmouth;  and  thence  to 
Tiverton,  in  May,  1851,  where  he  had  to  eke  out  a  sub- 
sistence from  the  impoverished  funds  of  Mr.  Moutier's 
noble  endowment.  After  struggling  with  poverty  and  a 
most  lingering  iUness,  during  which  ordeal  he  experienced 
the  generous  consideration  and  attentions  of  Joseph  Chi- 
chester Nagle,  of  Calverleigh,  Esq.,  this  worthy  man  died 
on  the  morning  of  7th  September,  1856,  and  was  interred 
on  the  11th  in  the  chapel-yard. 

CarylLj  Charles,  S.J.,  died  the  incumbent  of  Stapehill, 
12th  June,  1745,  set.  sixty,  Soc.  forty-one.  A  gravestone 
in  the  nave  of  the  parish  church  (Ham-Preston)  is  thus 
inscribed : — 

"  Here  lyeth  the  hody  of  Mr.  Charles  Caryll,  S.J.,  who  died  the  12th 
day  of  June,  1745." 

Caryll,  Richard,  S.J.,  brother,  I  think,  to  Charles 
Caryll,  and  his  successor  at  Stapehill.  There  he  died  18th 
February,  1750,  O.S.,  set.  fifty-three,  and  was  buried  also  in 
Ham-Preston  Church.  He  had  previously  been  stationed  at 
Bonham. 

Q.  Were  not  these  Jesuits  members  of  the  respectable 
family  of  Caryll,  of  East  Grinstead,  Sussex?  In  looking 
over  the  chapter-books  of  the  English  Franciscan  province, 
I  find  that  Edward  Caryll,  Esq.,  founded  a  mission  for  them 
at  the  cost  of  £1,300  (15th  July,  1758,  p.  352) ;  but  fixed 
{inter  alia)  the  following  obligation  of  Masses  : — 

For  his  father,  John  Caryll,  24th  April;  for  his  mother, 
Elizabeth  Caryll,  2nd  November;  for  Catherine  his  wife. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST   OF    THE    CLEKGY.  261 

7th  January;  Nathaniel  Pigott,  15th  February;  John  Gary  11, 
jun.,  17th  April;  Henry  Caryll,  11th  February;  Richard 
Caryll,  10th  February ;  Ralph  Pigott,  9th  January. 

Casemore,  William  Ignatius,  O.S.F.,  bom  at  Reading 
13th  September,  1751,  after  making  his  first  studies 
amongst  the  Jesuits,  embraced  the  holy  rule  of  St.  Francis. 
He  had  been  employed  in  several  parts  of  the  English  vine- 
yard, before  he  tendered  his  services  to  Bishop  Sharrock, 
V.A.  of  the  Western  District,  who  sent  him,  in  January, 
1805,  to  Falmouth  as  its  first  incumbent.  Here  he  conti- 
nued for  thirteen  years  and  a  half,  when  decHning  health 
occasioned  his  retirement  to  the  Convent  of  Poor  Clares,  at 
Coxside,  Plymoufh,  where  he  died,  29th  November,  1824, 
and  was  buried  in  their  cemetery. 

Cary,  Edward. — Judging  from  the  family  pedigree,  I 
infer  that  he  was  the  third  son  of  George  Cary,  of  Coekington, 
Esq.,  by  his  wife  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Sir  Edward  Sey- 
mour, of  Berry  Pomeroy,  Bart.  During  the  civil  wars, 
Edward,  like  his  elder  brother  Sir  Henry  Cary,  Knight, 
served  as  an  oflScer  in  the  royal  army.  When  the  King's 
cause  became  desperate,  he  embraced  the  ecclesiastical  state, 
and  became  a  missionary.  At  the  accession  of  King  James 
II.,  he  was  appointed  chaplain-general  to  his  Majesty's 
Catholic  forces,  and  after  the  Revolution  was  employed  in 
confidential  negotiations  with  the  friends  of  legitimate 
monarchy.  He  died  in  1711,  and  according  to  Dodd  was 
author  of  the  "  Catechist  catechized  concerning  the  Oath  of 
Allegiance,"  1681,  in  12mo.j  under  the  name  of  Adolphus 
Brontius. 

Cary,  Francis,  S.J. — In  the  Provincial  Catalogue  he  is 
described  as  having  been  bom  in  Devonshire  in  1610;  but 
from  the  Cary  pedigree  I  can  learn  nothing  to  throw 
further  light  upon  him.  That  he  joined  the  Society  at  the 
age  of  thirty-seven  is  certain.  Perhaps  he  was  then  in 
priest's  orders.  Having  taught  philosophy  at  Liege  for  some 
time,  he  returned  to  England,  and  died  in  the  London 
mission  19th  June,  1655. 

Casey,  William,  born  in  Tipperary,  a.d.  1800. — He  was 
educated  in  St.  John's  College,  Waterford,  and  there  was 
ordained  at  the  age  of  twenty -four;  he  succeeded  I'Abbe 
Dessaux  at  Marnhull,  and  on  3rd  July,  1832,  had  the  honour 
and  comfort,  after  much  anxiety,  to  open  his  beautiful  chapel 
there.     On  Friday,  April  5th,  1839,  he  left  for  a  time  to 


262  BIOGKAPHICAL    LIST   OF    THE    CLERGY. 

supply  at  Tawstock;  but  returned  to  MarnhuU  18th  May,  • 
1840,  to  the  joy  of  his  attached  congregation. 

Cass,  Patrick,  educated  at  All-Hallow's  College,  Dublin, 
was  ordained  at  Maynooth,  24th  June,  1852,  and  sent  to 
Plymouth  as  an  assistant  priest  at  St.  Mary's  under  the 
training  of  Bishop  Errington.  At  the  end  of  a  twelvemonth 
he  was  transferred  to  Bridport. 

Catrow,  Charles,  educated  at  Douay  College.  One  who 
knew  him  well  describes  him  as  "  a  gentleman  of  much  good 
sense,  good  temper,  and  merit."  He  is  connected  with  the 
west  by  holding  the  situation  of  director  to  the  Augustinian 
Nuns  at  Spetisbury,  where,  "  having  adorned  the  doctrine  of 
God  our  Saviour  in  all  things"  (Titus  ii.  10),  he  meekly 
resigned  his  soul  into  the  hands  of  his  Maker  on  12th  March, 
1804,  aged  fifty-one.  His  friend  the  Rev.  Ralph  South- 
worth  has  inscribed  the  following  verses  on  his  tomb  : — 

"  For  thee,  the  Virgin  wand'ring  in  this  grove. 
Sacred  to  solitude  and  heav'n-born  love. 
With  mournful  looks  shall  view  th'  azure  sky. 
The  tender  tear  stiU  trembling  in  her  eye. 
And  as  she  sighs,  a  vow  to  heav'n  shall  send, 
'  Peace  to  my  guide,  my  father,  and  my  friend.'  " 

Chanteloup,  Pierre,  a  very  worthy  French  ecclesiastic. 
In  the  historical  part  I  have  mentioned  his  acceptance  of 
the  incumbency  of  Taunton  in  1830 ;  but  at  the  end  of  three 
years  he  retired  from  all  pastoral  duty  to  prepare  himself 
for  eternity,  into  which  he  very  suddenly  entered,  a  few 
months  later,  in  his  native  country.  He  left  the  English 
mission  early  in  November,  1833;  but  I  cannot  ascertain 
precisely  the  date  of  his  death. 

Cheadset,  William. — This  eminent  theologian  reflected 
honour  on  his  native  county,  Somerset,  and  on  Exeter  Cathe- 
dral, in  which  Dr.  James  Turberville,  our  last  Catholic  bishop, 
collated  him  3rd  December,  1556,  to  the  canonry  and  prebend, 
void  by  the  death  of  Dr.  James  Haddon. — (See  his  Lordship's 
Register,  fol.  13.)  Though,  in  his  disputations  with  the  lead- 
ing Reformers,  he  had  signalized  himself  by  a  zeal  according 
to  knowledge,  with  temper  and  golden  moderation,  the  vin- 
dictive spirit  of  Elizabeth,  at  her  accession,  fastened  upon 
him,  stripped  him  of  all  his  preferments,  and  consigned  him 
to  the  Fleet  Prison,  where  he  breathed  his  last  in  1571. — 
(See  Dodd's  Ch.  Hist.  vol.  i.  p.  509.) 

Church,  Edward,  S.J.,  bom  at  St.  Columb  Major's^ 
Cornwall,  on  15th  November,  1728,  at  the  age  of  eighteen 
was  admitted  a  novice  of  the  order,  and  on  2nd  February, 


BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST    OF    THE    CLERGY.  263 

1766,  one  of  its  professed  fathers.  For  at  least  half  a  cen- 
tury he  was  employed  in  missionary  duty  at  Salisbury,  at 
Lulhvorth,  &c.  j  but  his  earthly  course  ran  out  at  Rixton, 
near  Warrington,  on  22nd  January,  1820,  set.  ninety -two. 
His  remains  were  deposited  in  a  vault  outside  St.  Joseph's 
Chapel,  Bedford  Leigh. 

Clarke,  John,  was  educated  at  Prior-park,  and  ordained 
priest  at  Clifton  by  Archbishop  Errington,  on  Low  Sunday, 
30th  March,  1856. 

Clarkson,  George,  S.J.,  bom  at  Slatedelft,  alias  Southill, 
near  Chorley,  4th  May,  1738.  At  the  age  of  twenty  he  was 
admitted  into  the  Society.  For  some  time  before  the  suppres- 
sion of  his  order,  he  resided,  as  I  was  informed  by  one  that 
knew  him,  at  Leighland,  near  Cleeve,*  thence  was  removed 
to  Stapehill,  finally  settled  in  his  native  place,  where  he 
created  a  considerable  mission,  and  erected  the  present  chapel 
and  presbytere  about  the  year  1793.  Worn  out  with  labour 
and  years,  this  man  of  God  gently  expired  5th  November, 
1813. 

Cliffords  of  Ugbrooke,  and  first — 

Clifford,  Edward  Charles  (Augustin),  O.S.B.,  fifth  son 
of  Charles  Lord  Clifi'ord,  the  sixth  baron  of  Chudleigh — 
"  Prseclaro  nomine  dignus," — was  bom  5th  February,  1803, 
professed  at  Ampleforth  9th  October,  1823,  ordained  priest 
there  by  Bishop  Smith  20th  January,  1827,  and  said  his 
first  Mass  three  days  later  :  soon  after — perhaps  too  soon — 
he  was  despatched  to  the  Bungay  mission,  thence  removed  to 
Netherton,  near  Liverpool,  which  he  quitted  to  go  to  the 
Mauritius  on  16th  October,  1832.  He  died  at  Mahebourg 
station  there  32nd  October,  1843,  and  was  buried  three 
days  later. 

Clifford,  Walter  Charles,  S.J.,  sixth  son  of  the  last- 
mentioned  nobleman,  was  born  at  Ugbrooke  26th  April, 
1804.  After  finishing  his  course  of  humanities  at  Stony- 
hurst,  he  entered  St.  Andrew's  novitiate  at  Rome,  November, 
1823.  Returning  to  Stonyhurst,  this  amiable  religious 
defended,  on  4th  July,  1832,  the  whole  theological  course 
with  distinguished  credit.  On  19th  September  following  he 
was  ordained  subdeacon  in  the  college  church  by  Bishop 
Penswick,  deacon  on  the  following  day,  and  priest  on  22nd 
of  the  same  month  and  year.     He  was  then  appointed  Pro- 

*  "  Capella  B.  Marise  de  Clyve,  Bathon  et  Wellens.  Dioc.  super  ripas 
maris  ab  antiquo  posita,"  occurs  12th  December,  1398,  in  Stafford's 
Register,  vol.  i.  p.  23. 


264  BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST   OF    THE    CLERGY. 

fessor  of  Logic  and  Metaphysics ;  on  9th  September,  1835, 
his  services  were  required  for  the  Preston  mission ;  hut 
before  the  termination  of  three  years,  on  20th  July,  1838, 
he  was  transferred  to  Wardour  as  assistant  to  the  Rev.  James 
Laurenson.  Yet  his  heart  yearned  for  the  salvation  of  souls 
in  foreign  countries,  and  the  superiors  consented  to  gratify 
his  zealous  wishes.  On  28th  February,  1841,  he  sailed  for 
Madura,  in  the  diocese  of  Pondicherry.  Here  an  extensive 
field  was  opened  for  his  ministerial  exertions  ;  but,  alas  !  in 
the  midst  of  his  spiritual  conquests, — in  the  very  height  of 
his  usefulness,  he  was  unfortunately  drowned  in  the  river 
Cavery,  under  the  fortress  of  Trichinopoly,  on  22nd  May, 
1844. 

Clifford,  William  Joseph  Hugh,  D.D.,  nephew  to  the 
two  last,  being  the  second  surviving  son  of  their  eldest  bro- 
ther, Hugh  Charles,  seventh  Baron  Clifford,  of  Chudleigh, 
was  born  at  Irnham  on  Christmas-eve,  1823.  After  studying 
for  a  time  at  Hodder-place,  near  Stonyhurst,  Prior-park,  and 
subsequently  in  the  College  of  Nobles  at  Rome,  he  delivered 
a  Latin  panegyric,  in  honour  of  the  blessed  Virgin  Mary,  in 
the  Templo  Liberiano,  on  15th  August,  1840,  before  Pope 
Gregory  XVI.  Eventually  he  was  ordained  sub-deacon  at 
Bruges  on  2nd  July,  1849,  and  deacon  on  26th  July  same 
year.  His  promotion  to  the  priesthood  was  accomplished  at 
Clifton,  in  the  Church  of  the  Twelve  Apostles,  by  Bishop 
Hendren,  on  25th  August,  1850.  To  the  service  of  that  church 
he  remained  attached  until  the  16th  September  of  the  follow- 
ing year,  when  he  started  for  Rome,  but  soon  returned  a 
D.D.  to  assist  Dr.  Errington,  the  recently-consecrated  bishop 
of  Plymouth,  as  secretary  and  parish  priest  of  St.  Mary's, 
Stonehouse.  His  lordship  took  him  with  him  to  the  first 
provincial  council  held  at  Oscott  in  July,  1852,  where  Dr. 
Clifford  was  appointed  one  of  its  three  secretaries.  When 
the  Plymouth  chapter  was  formed  late  in  1853,  Dr.  Clifford 
was  installed  canon,  theologian,  and  secretary  on  6th  Decem- 
ber that  year ;  he  kindly  consented,  also,  to  act  as  treasurer  of 
the  chapter,  and  was  the  generous  donor  of  their  official  seal, 
from  a  design  of  Charles  Weld,  of  Chidiock,  Esq.  When 
Dr.  Errington  was  advanced  by  the  brief  of  Pope  Pius  IX., 
bearing  date  30th  March,  1855,  from  Plymouth,  to  the 
archiepiscopal  see  of  Trebizonde,  with  the  permission  of 
not  residing  there  whilst  it  remained  in  the  hands  of  the 
infidels,  but  of  abiding  in  England  as  coadjutor  to  Cardinal 
Wiseman,  Archbishop  of  Westminster,  Dr.  Clifford  was  elected 
by  the  Plymouth  Chapter,  on  10th  May,  Vicar  Capitular 


BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST   OF    THE    CLERGY.  265 

during  the  vacancy  of  the  see.  In  that  capacity  he  assisted 
at  the  second  Provincial  Council,  holden  at  Oscott  two  months 
later.  And  when  the  hrief  of  the  above-named  Pope,  dated 
10th  July,  1855,  appointed  Dr.  Vaughan  to  the  see  of  Ply- 
mouth, his  lordship  wisely  selected  Dr.  Clifford  to  continue 
his  Grand  Vicar  until  his  own  consecration  at  Clifton  on 
16th,  and  his  installation  at  Plymouth  on  25th  September, 
1855.  Dr.  Clifford  was  afterwards  permitted  to  repair  to 
Rome  to  finish  a  course  of  canon  law.  If  it  shall  please  God 
to  re-establish  his  health,  which  has  been  impaired  by  over- 
exertion, it  is  easy  to  foresee  that  Dr.  Clifford  must  become 
a  prominent  character  in  our  English  Catholic  Church. 
Quod  faxit  Deus,  O.  M. !  * 

Clifton,  Francis,  S.  J.,  born  in  London  of  Irish  parents, 
6th  November,  1742,  joined  the  order  in  the  twentieth  year 
of  his  age,  and  for  a  lengthened  period  was  director  to  the 
English  Sepulchral  Nuns  at  Liege.  After  their  emigration, 
he  accompanied  them.  At  Dean's  House,  about  nine  miles 
from  Salisbury,  he  served  them  from  1796  to  1799.  Obiit 
33rd  May,  1812.— (See  First  Part,  p.  156.) 

Clinton,  Alexander,  S.J.,  whose  real  name  was  McKen- 
zie,  was  born  in  Scotland  23rd  March,  1730.  In  1756,  after 
seven  years'  training  in  the  Society  of  Jesus,  he  was  ordered 
to  the  London  mission,  where  he  signalized  himself  by  ener- 
getic zeal  and  glowing  charity  to  the  poor,  but  especially  to 
the  Catholic  prisoners  in  the  metropolis.  He  was  the  encou- 
rager  of  merit  and  genius  wherever  he  saw  it,  and  to  his 
recommendation  Dr.  Archer  owed  his  admission  into  Douay 
College.  The  late  Thomas  Weld,  of  Lull  worth  Castle,  charmed 
with  his  active  zeal  and  cheerful  piety,  engaged  him  for  his 
chaplain  in  1781,  and  for  about  fourteen  years  he  resided  in 
that  capacity.  The  venerable  man  then  retired  from  mis- 
sionary duty,  paid  a  visit  to  Stonyhurst,  and  passed  over 
to  Ireland,  where  his  lamp  of  life  went  out  on  5th  June, 
1800.  He  was  an  intimate  friend  of  the  saintly  Bishop 
Challoner,  to  whom  he  dedicated  his  treatise  on  Holy  Com- 
munion, in  1780. 

Clossettb,  Joseph,  S.J. — Though  born  in  Flanders,  he 
was  educated  entirely  amongst  the  English  Jesuits.  Soon 
after  his  ordination,  he  was  ordered  to  Wardour  to  supply 

*  The  doctor's  youngest  brother,  Walter  Charles  Ignatius  Clifford,  an 
eight  months'  child,  was  born  at  Rome  6th  December,  1830.  Cardinal 
Odescalchi  stood  his  godfather.  After  finishing  his  humanities  at 
Stonyhurst,  he  commenced  his  noviceship  in  S.  J.  on  28th  June,  1848, 
and  pronounced  his  scholastic  vows  on  29th  June,  1850. 


266  BIOGRAPHICAL   LIST    OF   THE    CLERGY. 

in  the  absence  of  F.  Forrester,  who  had  accompanied  Lord 
and  Lady  Arundell  and  family  to  the  Continent ;  but,  melan- 
choly to  relate,  he  was  killed  within  a  month  after  his  arrival 
by  being  thrown  off  his  horse  at  Ludwell.  This  unfortunate 
event  occurred  on  23rd  October,  1781 :  set.  thirty. 

Clottgh,  James,  S.J.,  born  in  Liverpool,  11th  January, 
1803 ;  entered  the  order  37th  September,  1827,  on  his 
promotion  to  priesthood  at  Yarmouth,  where  he  laboured 
with  exemplary  zeal;  but  on  30th  September,  1831,  was 
transferred  to  Pilewell,  vice  F.  Charles  Waterton.  In  1844 
he  was  called  to  Stonyhurst — thence  sent  to  Croft,  and  again 
to  Pilewell.  As  a  last  resource  he  was  placed  under  the  care 
of  F.  Laurenson,  at  Wardour ;  but  there  he  sunk,  within 
four  months,  from  exhaustion  of  physical  strength,  on  3rd 
November,  1848. 

CocHET,  Alexander,  an  excellent  French  priest,  who  did 
duty  for  several  years  at  Shapehill  before  he  left  for  Sopley 
in  1811.  I  think  he  returned  to  France  after  the  restoration 
of  the  Bourbons. 

Coffin,  Edward,  S.J.,  a  native  of  Exeter;  entered  an 
alumnus  of  the  English  College  at  Rome  in  1588,  and  ten 
years  later,  whilst  engaged  as  a  missionary  in  England,  enlisted 
under  the  banner  of  St.  Ignatius.  His  zealous  exertions 
procured  for  him  the  honour  of  becoming  the  "  Vinctus 
Christi  "  (See  the  Archseologia,  xiii.  p.  84) .  From  the  Tower 
of  London  he  was  removed  to  Framlingham  Castle;  but 
shortly  after  the  accession  of  King  James  I.,  imprisonment 
was  commuted  into  perpetual  banishment.  Proceeding  to 
Rome,  he  filled  the  office  of  confessor  in  the  English  College 
for  nearly  twenty  years.  On  10th  September,  1625,  he 
quitted  the  eternal  city  for  the  purpose  of  revisiting  his 
native  country  ;  but  fell  ill  at  St.  Omer's,  and  there  expired 
on  17th  April  following,  leaving  behind  him  the  reputation 
of  great  learning,  singular  discretion, , and  unaffected  piety. 
In  my  Collectanea  of  the  Jesuits,  p.  71,  I  have  enumerated 
his  publications. 

Coleridge,  Henry  James,  is  a  son  of  the  able  judge 
of  the  Queen's  Bench — Sir  John  Taylor  Coleridge.  Whilst 
fellow  of  Oriel  College,  Oxford,  he  became  a  convert  to  the 
Catholic  faith.  Repairing  to  Rome,  he  was  ordained  priest 
at  St.  John  Lateran's,  7th  April,  1855. 

Colleton,  John,  alias  Smith,  born  at  Milverton,  co. 
Somerset.  This  influential  secular  priest  had  the  honour  of 
being  sent  to  the  Tower  of  London,  on  22nd  July,  1581,  for 


BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST    OF   THE    CLERGY.  267 

his  constancy  in  upholding  the  Catholic  faith.  It  is  to  be 
regretted,  that  in  the  subsequent  affair  of  the  archpriest  he 
conducted  himself  with  unbecoming  warmth ;  insomuch,  that 
I  read  in  a  letter  of  Archpriest  Blackwell,  dated  12th  May, 
1599,  "  The  man  knoweth  not  himself."  Episcopacy  was 
restored  in  the  person  of  Dr.  William  Bishop,*  who  was  con- 
secrated at  Paris,  on  4th  June,  1623,  by  the  title  of  Epis- 
copus  Chalcedonensis,  in  virtue  of  the  Bull  of  Pope  Gregory 
XV.,  dated  15th  March,  1622;  but  as  Dr.  Lingard  justly 
observes,  his  Holiness  "  made  him  revocable  at  pleasure." 
(History  of  England,  vol.  vii.  p.  552,  also  the  Very  Rev.  Canon 
Tierney's  valuable  Note,  Dodd,  vol.  iv..  Appendix,  cclxxxv.) 
His  lordship  readied  Dover  on  21st  July,  1623,  but  to  the 
regret  of  the  faithml,  died  on  13th  April  following,  set.  seventy- 
one.  However,  on  the  previous  10th  September  the  new 
bishop  had  installed  his  chapter,  of  which  the  Rev.  John 
Colleton  was  the  dean,  who  survived  till  29th  October,  1635, 
set.  eighty-seven.  (See  Sergeant's  "  Account  of  the  English 
Chapter,"  by  Turnbull :  Dolman,  1853.)  In  considering  the 
acrimonious  feelings  and  disputations  of  this  period  of  our 
English  Catholic  history,  I  often  think  of  the  exhortation  of 
Pope  Leo  X.,  in  constitution  23,  §  23,  wherein  he  calls  upon  all 
Prelates,  by  the  bowels  of  God's  mercy,  to  treat  and  cherish 
the  regular  clergy,  as  fellow- labourers,  with  benevolent  affec- 
tion— to  exhibit  themselves  towards  them  "  faciles,  mites, 
propitios,  piS^que  munificenti^  liberales,"  and  to  maintain  and 
vindicate  their  rights  and  privileges;  so  that  both  bishops 
and  regulars,  "  quorum  opera,  veluti  lucernse  ardentes  supra 
montem  positse,  omnibus  Christi  fidelibus  lumen  prsebere 
debent,  ad  Dei  laudem,  Fidei  Catholicae  exaltationem,  popu- 
lorumque  salutem,  de  virtute  in  virtutes  proficiant." 

CoLLiNGRiDGE  (Bernardine),  Peter,  O.S.F.,  bom  in 
Oxfordshire,  10th  March,  1757.  In  early  life,  as  he  after- 
wards acknowledged  to  friends,  his  vocation  balanced  for  a 
time  between  adopting  the  institute  of  St.  Ignatius  and  the 

*  Thomas  Watson,  the  last  of  Queen  Mary's  Catholic  bishops,  died  a 
prisoner  at  Wisbech  on  27th  September,  1584.  The  Holy  See  judged  it 
unsuitable  to  the  circumstances  of  the  persecuting  times  to  send  over  a 
person  of  the  episcopal  order ;  and,  ad  interim,  an  archpriest,  with 
twelve  assistants,  was  appointed  to  superintend  the  secular  clergy.  The 
first  was  the  Rev.  George  Blackwell,  who  was  appointed  7th  March, 
1598,  and  remained  in  office  for  ten  years.  He  was  succeeded  by  the 
Rev.  George  Birkett  in  1608,  who  died  in  office  in  1614.  The  third  was 
William  Harrison,  admitted  11th  July,  1615,  and  retained  his  rank 
until  the  restoration  of  episcopacy  in  1623.  The  regulars  were  allowed 
to  retain  their  former  privileges  by  the  briefs  of  Pope  Urban  VIII., 
'^  Britannia,"  9th  May,  1631,  and  "Plantata,"  12th  July,  1633. 


268  BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST    OP    THE    CLERGY. 

rule  of  St.  Francis ;  but  at  length  he  decided  on  taking  the 
habit  from  the  hands  of  P.  Peter  Frost,  who  was  elected  the 
Franciscan  guardian  of  St.  Bonaventure's,  at  Douay,  16th 
July,  1770.  Nine  years  later  I  find  him  appointed  to  teach 
philosophy  to  his  brethren — an  office  which  he  filled  with 
credit  till  5th  August,  1785,  when  he  was  made  Lector  of 
Divinity.  The  chapter-books  show  that  he  was  elected 
guardian  of  that  convent  on  37th  August,  1788.  At  the 
expiration  of  the  term  of  his  triennial  government,  he  was 
nominated  president  of  the  Franciscan  Academy  at  Bad- 
desley,  near  Birmingham ;  thence  his  services  were  required 
at  the  Portuguese  Chapel,  in  London,  vice  F.  William  PilUng, 
O.S.F. ;  but  soon  after  he  was  made  assistant  to  the 
Rev.  John  Grifliths,  of  St.  George's  Fields.  In  1806  he 
was  elected  provincial  of  his  brethren.  In  the  following 
year  Bishop  Sharrock,  V.A.  of  the  Western  District,  secured 
him  for  his  coadjutor,  and  he  was  consecrated  at  St.  Edmund's 
College  on  11th  October,  1807,  as  bishop  of  Thespise.  For 
a  time  this  learned  and  saintly  doctor  resided  at  Chepstow, 
at  Taunton,  at  Clifton,  at  Trenchard  St.  Chapel  House, 
Bristol,  but  finally  at  Cannington,  where  he  died  suddenly 
on  3rd  March,  1829,  and  was  there  buried  on  the  10th,  his 
seventy-second  birthday.  A  more  zealous,  disinterested,  and 
unostentious  prelate  could  not  exist. 

CoLLYNs,  Charles  Henry,  S.J.,  born  in  Exeter  13th  Sep- 
tember, 1820,  whilst  his  father.  Rev.  Dr.  CoUyns,  was  master 
of  St.  John's  Free  Grammar  School  (he  had  been  elected  to 
the  ofifice  27th  January,  1819 ;  resigned  at  Christmas,  1835) ; 
after  an  education  under  his  father,  he  entered  Christ  Church 
College,  Oxford,  at  Michaelmas  term,  1837,  proceeded 
B.A.  in  1841,  and  M.A.  in  1844,  after  receiving  orders  in 
the  Established  Church  during  the  preceding  autumn.  The 
Church  of  St.  Mary  Magdalene,  Oxford,  was  the  scene  of  his 
ministrations.  But  in  the  words  of  Ecclesiasticus,  xi.  13, 
"  Oculus  Dei  respexit  ilium  in  bono,"  his  upright  heart 
listened  to  the  inspirations  of  grace ;  and  his  docility  was 
rewarded  with  the  gift  of  faith,  which  he  lovingly  embraced 
on  the  feast  of  All  Saints,  1845,  at  Prior-park.  A  year 
later,  on  13th  November,  1846,  he  entered  the  Novitiate, 
S.J.,  and  at  the  end  of  his  probation  applied  himself  to  a 
complete  course  of  theology  at  St.  Beuno's.  He  had  been 
promoted  to  priesthood  in  the  Ember-week  of  September, 
1851.  The  year  following  witnessed  his  appointment  as  the 
first  missioner  of  St.  Oswald's,  Accrington,  which  he  served 


BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST    OF    THE    CLERGY.  269 

nearly  a  twelvemouth,  when,  in  September,  1853,  his  services 
were  transferred  to  Liverpool. 

CoLUMB,  John,  S.J. — I  collect  from  F.  More's  History, 
page  21,  that  this  native  of  Devon  joined  the  Society  at 
Louvain  in  the  26th  year  of  his  age ;  that  he  was  received  as 
confessor  in  the  English  College  of  Douay ;  and  that  he  died 
in  1588,  after  passing  ten  years  in  the  order.  Dodd  seems 
not  to  have  been  aware  of  him. 

CoMPTON,  Philip,  bom  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Wells 
in  1734,  was  educated  at  Douay  College,  served  Chidiock 
twenty-five  years,  and  Calverleigh  for  about  six  years. 
Retiring  then  to  Dunster,  he  finished  his  course  on  23rd 
July,  1803.  He  «xcelled  chiefly  in  cabinet-work,  dialling, 
and  mechanical  science. 

Connor,  Maurice,  born  at  Killarney  in  February,  1791, 
was  educated  at  Maynooth.  On  8th  March,  1823,  Bishop 
Collingridge  appointed  him  confessor  to  the  Theresians 
at  Lanheme,  and  pastor  to  the  faithful  around ;  but  he 
quitted  that  post  for  the  Salisbury  mission,  on  31st  October, 
1826.  Early  in  1831  he  was  transferred  to  Falmouth; 
but  at  the  end  of  a  twelvemonth  he  was  off  to  Swansea.  In 
July,  1833,  he  reached  Tawstock,  which  he  quitted  abruptly 
in  May,  1835.  He  then  made  an  experiment  of  the  Trap- 
pists'  life,  and  this  not  suiting,  he  left  for  the  Trinidad 
mission,  where  a  fever  put  an  end  to  his  erratic  life  in 
December,  1840. 

CoNYEBs,  Thomas,  S.J. — It  is  evident  from  the  Provincial 
Catalogues,  that  he  was  employed,  in  1746,  in  the  residence 
of  St.  Stanislaus,  which  included  Devon  and  Cornwall ;  but 
I  cannot  ascertain  the  length  of  his  service,  nor  even  the 
precise  locality.  He  was  born  in  London  the  last  day  of  the 
year  1715.  His  missionary  career  terminated,  with  his  life, 
in  Lancashire,  on  20th  April,  1780.     Soc.  forty-four. 

Cooke,  Charles,  born  in  Yorkshire  in  1806.  —  After 
studying  well  at  Ushaw,  he  was  promoted  to  priesthood  at 
Prior-park  in  1834,  and  on  28th  March,  1835,  was  placed  at 
Salisbury.  Here  he  continued  for  five  years.  In  the  middle 
of  July,  1840,  he  was  sent  to  Lanheme,  which  he  quitted 
abruptly  on  6th  June,  1844.  Thence  he  removed  to  Prior- 
park  ;  but  after  some  months'  stay,  accepted  the  Uttoxeter 
mission,  which  he  soon  abandoned.  In  the  charity  of  his 
reverend  friend  F.  McDonnell,  he  found  a  protection  at 
Gloucester;    and    when    that    experienced    missionary   was 


270  BIOGRAPHICAL   LIST   OF    THE    CLERGY. 

appointed  to  the  charge  of  the  Stonehouse  congregation  by 
Bishop  Hendren,  he  proposed  to  take  Mr.  Cooke  with  him  as 
an  assistant  in  July,  1850 ;  here  much  work  was  to  be  done, 
and  under  the  auspices  and  inspection  of  such  a  veteran, 
Mr.  Cooke  did  his  part  con  amore.  But  when  that  fatherly 
guide  quitted  the  new  diocese  of  Plymouth  for  that  of 
Clifton,  and  was  stationed  at  Shortwood,  then  Bishop 
Errington  removed  Mr.  Cooke  to  the  pastoral  charge  of 
Axminster.  Oh  !  that  his  lordship  could  have  retained  him' 
under  his  immediate  presence ;  for  the  truth  must  be  told, 
he  was  unfit  to  be  his  own  master,  and  to  be  trusted  alone. 
Instead  of  becoming  his  own  enemy,  he  might  have  proved 
an  ornament  to  religion,  if  he  could  have  been  employed  in 
a  college,  or  in  a  monastery,  where  he  might  have  been  safe 
from  the  temptation  to  intemperance,  which  is  almost  an 
incurable  and  incorrigible  vice.*  Within  seven  months  he 
had  to  surrender  his  charge  of  Axminster  into  the  bishop's 
hands,  and  we  had  all  to  lament  that  a  mind  so  intellectual, 
a  heart  so  kind  and  generous,  a  constitution  naturally  so 
robust,  should  become  utterly  useless  in  the  service  of  our 
holy  Church.  The  grace  of  God  led  him  to  enter  into 
himself  like  the  prodigal,  and  to  throw  himself  on  the  cha- 
ritable protection  of  his  former  reverend  friend.  His 
reception  at  Shortwood  was  worthy  of  so  good  a  father. 
For  a  time  he  conducted  himself  to  the  satisfaction  of  his 
patient  sentinel ;  but  in  November,  1853,  there  was  a  fresh 
outbreak.  Notwithstanding  this,  F.  M'Donnell  consented 
to  give  him  another  trial,  and  the  poor  penitent  seemed  to 
be  perfectly  conscious  of  his  misery  and  degradation  of 
character.  In  the  temporary  absence  of  his  friend,  the 
passion  for  liquor  returned ;  and  he  made  his  escape  alto- 
gether on  21st  July,  1853.  After  wandering  about  the 
country,  he  reached  St.  Bernard's  Abbey  on  3rd  of  August. 
The  next  day  the  worthy  abbot  signified  his  arrival,  and 
described  him  "as  being  in  a  very  deplorable  state, — his 
health  and  spirits  broken  down.     It  is  providential  that  he 

*  This  was  the  opinion  of  Monseigneur  La  Motte,  the  venerable 
bishop  of  Anfiens.  In  the  Memoirs  of  the  prelate  by  I'Abbe  Proyart, 
vol.  i.  p.  198,  the  writer  states  that  his  lordship  related  a  frightful  anec- 
dote in  confirmation  of  his  opinion ;  viz.,  of  a  priest  of  his  diocese,  who 
for  habitual  excesses  of  this  kind  had  been  placed  in  confinement.  In 
this  state,  after  having  given  proofs  of  steady  sobriety  during  fifteen 
years  and  more,  no  sooner  was  he  restored  to  perfect  liberty,  than  that 
very  night  he  indulged  in  liquor  to  such  an  excess,  as  to  be  found  dead 
in  the  public-house  the  next  morning.  How  sage  the  advice  of  Ovid  : — 
"  Principiis  obsta  :  sero  medicina  paratur. 
Cum  mala  per  longas  invaluere  moras." 


BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST   OF    THE    CLERGY.  271 

reached  this  alive, — without  a  penny,  or  as  much  as  a  change 
of  linen,  or  clothes  of  any  kind.  He  promises  to  be  quite  a 
different  man,  and  from  henceforth  to  attend  in  right  earnest 
to  the  one  thing  necessary.     God  grant  it ! " 

But  he  soon  grew  weary  of  the  Trappists'  regular  diet, 
and,  leaving  St.  Bernard's,  relapsed  into  his  former  habit. 
After  rambling  over  the  country,  it  was  at  last  discovered 
that  he  had  reached  Nottingham.  Nature  could  hold  out  no 
longer,  and  he  sunk  into  the  sleep  of  death  on  1 7th  August, 
1854,  about  seven  o'clock  p.m. 

"  Deus  sit  propitius  huic  potatori."  And  may  his  example 
serve  as  an  awful  warning  to  us  all  1     Amen. 

CooMBEs,  WiLMAM,  boru  at  Meadgate,  in  Camerton 
parish,  co.  Somerset,  on  4th  August,  1743,  for  many  years 
shone  as  one  of  the  brightest  jewels  of  Douay  College, 
which  he  finally  quitted  in  1777.  He  was  never  attached  to 
any  mission;  but  during  a  long  period  was  the  respected 
Grand  Vicar  of  the  Western  District.  Whilst  residing  on 
his  property  at  Meadgate,  with  his  sister  and  niece,  he 
received  intelligence  that  the  rioters  of  Bath,  who  had  just 
destroyed  the  Catholic  chapel  there,  in  June,  1780,  were 
advancing  in  great  force  towards  Meadgate :  he  hastened 
for  protection  towards  the  parsonage-house  of  the  Rev. 
J.  Brooke,*  the  liberal  rector  of  Hinton  Bluett.  This  worthy 
gentleman,  who,  under  the  apprehension  that  his  own  house 
would  be  attacked  by  the  furious  mob,  on  the  ground  of 
his  wife  being  a  Catholic,  had  sent  off  his  plate  and  valu- 
ables to  a  trusty  cottager's  care,  and  removed  elsewhere  his 
best  furniture,  advised  Mr.  Coombes  to  conceal  himself  in 
Tucker's  Wood,  distant  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile,  and  there 
to  remain  until  he  should  hear  him  whistle  for  him.  Mr. 
Coombes  felt  the  prudence  of  his  friend's  admonition,  and 
there  lay  concealed  for  the  remainder  of  the  day.  At  length 
the  rector  received  the  satisfactory  tidings  that  a  strong 
military  detachment  had  arrested  the  advance  of  the  rioters, 
and  dispersed  them  without  effecting  their  intended  mischief. 
In  the  evening  the  rector  repaired  to  the  wood,   and,  on 

*  This  reverend  gentleman  had  married  Ann  James,  a  Catholic,  and 
was  known  to  be  favourably  disposed  towards  her  religion,  which  he 
subsequently  embraced.  He  sold  the  advowson  of  his  rectory,  and 
proved  himself  a  benefactor  to  the  Shortwood  mission.  Ob.^  1824,  at 
West-house,  near  his  old  parsonage.  During  these  Gordon  riots,  such 
was  the  fear  of  the  fanatical  mob,  that  it  was  thought  expedient  to  take 
down  the  cross  from  the  parish  church,  to  prevent  the  edifice  itself  from 
being  demolished. 


272  BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST   OF    THE    CLERGY. 

giving  the  preconcerted  signal,  Mr.  Coombe  emerged  from 
his  hiding-place. 

Thirty  years  after  this  event,  I  remember  to  have  had  the 
happiness  of  meeting  this  venerable  man  at  Shepton  Mallett. 
He  died  at  Bath,  on  18th  April,  1832,  set.  seventy-nine,  and 
was  buried  in  the  vault  of  St.  John's  Chapel  there. 

CooMBEs,  William  Henry,  D.D.,  nephew  to  the  last- 
mentioned,  was  born,  as  he  informed  me,  at  Meadgate,  on 
8th  May,  1767.  In  this  family  abode  had  been  a  chapel ; 
but  for  several  years  the  house  had  been  converted  into  an 
inn.  At  the  age  of  twelve  William  was  sent  to  Douay 
College,  where  he  arrived,  with  his  neighbour  Joseph  Hunt, 
on  11th  July,  1779.  Here  the  youth  gave  promise  of  what 
the  man  would  be, — amiable,  docile,  devout,  and  very 
studious, — eager  to  improve  and  enlarge  his  nlind.  In  the 
Ember  Week  of  Advent,  1791,  he  was  promoted  to  priest- 
hood, the  jubilee  of  which  the  dear  old  man  celebrated  so 
becomingly  at  Shepton  MaUett,  as  many  can  remember. 
Whilst  teaching  rhetoric  at  Douay,  the  French  Revolution 
broke  out,  and  the  Committee  of  Public  Safety,  as  it  was 
called,  as  an  earnest  of  their  regard  for  liberty,  justice, 
equality,  and  fraternization,  decreed,  on  10th  October,  1793, 
that  "AH  subjects  of  his  Britannic  Majesty  then  in  France 
must  forfeit  their  property,  as  well  as  personal  freedom." 
Our  young  professor,  little  fancying  such  prospects,  stole 
away  from  the  town,  and  reached  the  skirts  of  the  village 
of  Escherquin,  a  distance  of  three  miles  from  Douay,  in 
which  was  the  college  country-house,  when  a  stranger 
accosted  him,  and  inquired  if  he  had  no  apprehension  in 
appearing  so  publicly  at  such  a  critical  moment.  His 
manner  was  prepossessing  in  his  favour,  and  inspired  confi- 
dence; and  on  hearing  Mr.  Coombes's  wish  to  escape,  the 
stranger  advised  him  to  address  himself  at  once  to  the  mayor 
for  a  passport,  thence  to  proceed  to  Mons,  within  reach 
of  the  allied  armies ;  and,  in  order  to  disguise  his  project, 
made  him  the  bearer  of  a  large  commission  for  coals.  De- 
lighted with  the  proposal,  he  hurried  to  the  village,  went 
direct  to  the  country-house,  and  began  to  make  arrange- 
ments to  start  at  four  the  next  morning.  But  man  proposes, 
and  it  is  God  who  disposes;  for  behold,  about  six  o'clock 
the  same  evening,  who  should  make  his  appearance  in  the 
court  of  the  college  country-house,  but  the  mayor  himself! 
The  commissary  of  the  district  joined  his  worship  shortly 
after,  announcing  that  the  premises  were  now  surrounded  by 
forty  armed  men.     Submitting  patiently  to  this  disappoint- 


BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST   OP   THE    CLERGY.  273 

ment  of  his  hopes,  he  was  escorted  to  Douay  early  the  next 
morning,  and  consigned  to  the  new  prison,  recently  the 
Scotch  College.  On  the  fourth  day  of  his  confinement 
orders  arrived  to  convey  the  prisoners  in  waggons  to  the 
citadel  of  Dourlens,  in  Picardy.  That  same  evening,  whilst 
passing  through  the  village  of  St.  Laurent,  near  Arras,  our 
reverend  lover  of  personal  freedom  slipped  from  his  waggon, 
unperceived  by  his  guards,  and  got  into  a  cottage.  When 
the  train  had  passed  on,  he  quitted  this  asylum,  and  after 
perilous  rambling,  from  shortness  of  sight,  early  on  the 
17th  reached  a  friendly  house,  but  where,  to  prevent  all 
danger  of  discovery,  it  was  necessary  to  remain  in  a  retired 
apartment,  from  which  the  daylight  was  excluded.  Such  was 
his  distress  in  this'  particular,  that  he  was  obliged  to  place 
himself  in  the  chimney  in  order  to  gain  light  to  recite  his 
Breviary.  Late  that  evening,  he  had  the  comfort  of  meeting 
his  reverend  fellow-collegians,  Messrs.  Devereux  and  Rickaby, 
who  had  also  eluded  the  vigilance  of  their  guards.  This  union 
of  numbers,  whilst  it  animated  them  with  more  courage, 
perhaps  added  to  the  danger  of  discovery ;  but  after  excessive 
fatigue,  and  many  hair-breadth  escapes,  they  reached  the 
Austrian  lines,  about  four  o'clock  a.m.,  20th  of  October, 
1793 ;  surrendered  themselves  to  the  patrols  at  Contiches,  by 
whom  they  were  conducted  to  General  Kray  at  Orchies, 
who  treated  them  with  civility,  and  gave  them  a  guide 
to  Tournay. 

On  reaching  England  he  learnt  that  Bishop  Douglass,  the 
zealous  Vicar- Apostolic  of  London,  was  actively  engaged  in 
preparing  Old  Hall  Green  Academy  for  his  episcopal  semi- 
nary (see  the  History  of  St.  Edmund's  College  in  "  Catholic 
Miscellany,"  1826-29),  and  his  lordship  solicited  Mr.  Coombes' 
valuable  co-operation.  He  most  cheerfully  acquiesced  ;  and 
after  some  time  was  appointed  Professor  of  Divinity.  Many 
of  our  dignified  clergy  have  taken  their  seat  at  the  feet  of 
this  Gamaliel.  On  12th  December,  1801,  Pope  Pius  VII. 
awarded  to  him  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity.  In  1810 
he  accepted  the  mission  of  Shepton  Mallett,  which  he  held 
for  thirty-nine  years,  during  twenty  of  which  he  had  th^ 
direction  of  the  convent  of  the  Visitation  Nuns  there,  and 
they  enjoyed  this  privilege  until  their  removal  to  Westbury, 
near  Bristol,  in  May,  1830. 

Dr.  Coombes  was  an  enlightened  spiritualist  and  a  self- 
denying  priest :  as  a  Greek  scholar  he  had  few  equals.     To 
this  liberal-minded  friend,  this  gifted  scholar  and  divine,  we 
are  indebted  for  the  following  publications  :  — 
-  1.  Sacred  Eloquence.    8vo.    London :  1798.    Pp.  343. 


274  BIOGRAPHICAL   LIST    OP    THE    CLERGY. 

2.  Oration  on  Pius  VI.    London :  1800.    Pp.  129. 

3.  Letters  of  certain  French  Bishops  to  Pius  VI.  Pp.  24. 
1800. 

4.  Letters  on  Catholic  Affairs,  under  the  Signature  of 
"  The  British  Observer,"  which  appeared  in  "  Cobbett's 
Register"  in  the  years  1804,  1805,  and  1806. 

.   5.  Life  of  St.  Francis  de  Sales,  in  2  vols.    8vo.    Shepton 
Mallett :  1812. 

6.  Entertainments  of  St.  Francis  de  Sales,  with  an  addition 
of  some  Sacred  Poems.     Taunton:  1814.    Pp.515. 

7.  Essence  of  Religious  Controversy.  8vo.  1827.    Pp.  416. 

8.  Letter  to  the  Duke  of  Wellington  on  certain  Clauses  in 
the  Relief  Bill.    London :  1829.    Pp.  8. 

9.  Life  of  Jane  Frances  Chantal,  from  original  Records, 
London:  2  vols.    8vo.    1830. 

Retiring  from  all  missionary  duty  on  12th  June,  1849,  the 
venerable  doctor  passed  the  remainder  of  his  days  with  the 
dear  Benedictines  at  Downside,  who  studied  his  every  com- 
fort. There  he  slept  in  the  Lord  on  15th  November,  1850; 
and,  as  he  desired,  was  buried  in  their  cemetery.  His 
epitaph  is  as  follows  : — 

Orate  pro  aniniEi, 

Gul.  Hen.  Coombes,  S.  T.  P. 

CoUegii  Angl.  Duaoi  Sac. 

Glim  per  annos  fere  quadraginta 

Sheptonise  Missionaril. 

Obiit  in  Monasterio  S.  Gregorii  Magni 

de  Downside  die  16  Nov.  1850 

.     ^t.  84.     Sac.  69. 
Cujus  animse  propitietur  Deus. 
Amen. 

Cooper  (Maurus),  Ralph,  O.S.B. — Of  this  discreet  and 
efficient  missionary,  t  have  treated  in  the  seventh  chapter  of 
the  first  part.  At  present  I  shall  only  say,  that  he  was  born 
in  the  parish  of  Walton  le  Dale,  Lancashire,  on  4th  April, 
1799;  educated  at  Ampleforth;  there  professed  in  1817, 
ordained  priest  at  Ushaw  in  1823,  and  that  I  am  under  a 
deep  sense  of  gratitude  to  him  for  furnishing  me  with  many 
particulars  in  these  my  humble  researches.  Long  may  the  ■* 
mission  of  Chipping  Sodbury  be  enlightened  by  his  experi- 
ence and  be  edified  by  his  exemplary  life ! 

Constable,  Robert,  S.  J.,  born  at  Thirsk. — After  studying 
five  years  in  the  English  College  at  Rome,  he  was  permitted 
to  join  the  order,  and  in  due  time  was  numbered  amongst 
their  professed  fathers.     Prom  the  examination  of  his  register 


BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST   OF    THE    CLERGY.  275 

at  Wardour,  he  seems  to  have  superintended  that  important 
mission  from  1744  to  1759,  when  he  was  summoned  to 
govern  the  novitiate  at  Watton.  The  Rev.  Joseph  Reeve, 
in  his  narrative  MS.  of  the  breaking  up  of  St.  Omer's 
College  on  9th  August,  1762,  relates  that  he,  being  charged 
with  escorting  the  first  division  of  the  scholars,  reached 
Watton  that  evening,  and  that  "its  rector,  F.  Robert  Con- 
stable, received  us  with  all  the  feeling  and  tender  kindness 
of  a  father ;  for  he  was  a  good,  religious  man,  and  the  spirit 
of  God  was  in  him."  Shortly  after  the  removal  of  the  novi- 
tiate to  Ghent,  he  accepted  the  situation  of  chaplain  to  Lady 
Haggerston,  and  died  at  her  house  at  York,  3rd  February, 
1770. 

Corcoran,  James,  O.S.D.,  bom  at  Cashell  25th  July, 
1800;  ordained  at  Rome  10th  July,  1825;  arrived  at  Tre- 
lawny,  as  its  first  missionary,  12th  August,  1831 ;  removed 
to  Follaton  1st  November,  1833,  which  he  quitted  on  3rd 
August,  1834,  to  accompany  Bishop  (now  Archbishop) 
Polding  to  Sydney.  There  this  zealous  religious  met  with 
a  premature  death  on  5th  September,  1837,  by  the  over- 
turning of  a  gig.  His  solemn  funeral  was  described  in  the 
"  Sydney  Gazette  "  of  the  9th  September  of  that  year. 

Cornelius,  John,  S.J. — In  p.  37  of  the  first  part  I  had 
proposed  to  give  a  lengthened  memoir  of  this  very  illustrious 
champion  and  sufferer  for  the  faith  at  Dorchester  on  4th 
July,  1594;  but  after  the  admirable  narrative  of  Bishop 
Challoner,  and  some  additional  matter  related  in  p.  74  of  the 
Collectanea  S.J.,  it  would  be  superfluous.  See  also  the 
History  of  Father  More. 

CoRNFORTH,  Thomas. — This  apostolic  priest  long  resided 
at  Stour  Provost,  and  was  very  instrumental  in  creating  there 
a  fund  for  his  successors  in  that  mission,  which  usually 
passes  by  the  name  of  MarnhuU.  There  he  "  died  on  5th 
August,  1748,  on  Friday  evening,  about  8  o'clock,  aged 
seventy,"  as  I  found  in  the  memorandum  of  a  Prayer-book. 

CosTELLo,  Rev.  Thomas,  D.D. — Thomas  Costello,  de- 
scended from  an  ancient  and  respectable  family,  of  which 
the  original  name  was  Nangle,  or  Nagle  ("Hibernia  Domini- 
cana,"  p.  313),  was  born  in  the  county  of  Mayo,  on  21st 
December,  1769.  At  the  Irish  College  of  Bordeaux  he  went 
through  the  triennial  course  of  philosophy :  thence  he  pro- 
ceeded to  Salamanca,  where  he  took  the  degree  of  Bachelor 
of  Divinity  on  21st  July,  1797.  His  diploma  of  D.D.  he 
had  kept  secret  from  the  world,  and  the  truth  came  only  to 

T  2 


276  BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST   OP    THE    CLERGY. 

light  after  his  death.  Keturning  to  his  native  country,  he 
was  appointed  to  Eyrecourt  parish,  in  the  diocese  of  Clonfert, 
by  its  bishop,  his  uncle,  the  Right  Rev.  Dr.  Costello.*  Some 
business  having  called  Mr.  Costello  to  England  in  the  spring 
of  1831,  he  was  introduced  in  April  of  that  year  at  Bristol  to 
Dr.  Collingridge,  the  Vicar- Apostolic  of  the  Western  District. 
This  prelate  had  just  received  information  of  the  sudden 
death  of  the  Rev.  Alexander  Simon,  the  Catholic  incumbent 
at  Stonehouse,  and  well  knowing  the  importance  of  that 
place,  the  resort  of  so  many  foreigners,  and  the  station  of  so 
many  Irish  Catholics  in  the  military  and  naval  service,  he 
earnestly  requested  Mr.  Costello,  who  spoke  most  of  the  con- 
tinental languages,  and  was  well  versed  in  Irish,  to  under- 
take the  vacant  charge.  With  reluctance,  his  diocesan 
Consented  to  part  with  him  j  but  having  obtained  permission, 
Mr.  Costello  forthwith  proceeded  to  Plymouth,  and  during 
thirteen  years  laboured  at  his  post  with  the  zeal  of  an 
apostle,  and  ingratiated  himself  amongst  all  classes  by  his 
gentlemanly  deportment  and  universal  benevolence.  At 
length,  finding  the  increasing  duties  of  the  place  too  fatiguing 
for  his  constitution,  he  solicited  his  removal  to  some  easier 
situation.  -On  quitting  Plymouth,  the  townspeople,  of  all 
denominations,  presented  him  with  a  piece  of  plate,  "  as  a 
token  of  respect  and  esteem."  On  25th  May,  1834,  he  was 
transferred  to  Cannington  j  thence  he  was  moved  to  Calver- 
leigh  Court  on  29th  January,  1837,  until  the  establishment 
at  St.  John's,  near  Tiverton,  could  be  ready  for  him.  Here 
he  opened,  on  19th  May,  1839,  its  handsome  chapel,  which 
he  was  anxious  should  prove  a  temple  of  peace  and  concord 
to  all  around  him.  A  twelvemonth  later,  at  the  invitation 
of  his  special  friend,  the  late  Lady  Wrey,  which  occurred  23rd 
July,  1842,  he  accepted  the  situation  of  chaplain  at  Taw- 
stock  Court ;  but  after  the  death  of  that  kind  patroness,  his 
health  requiring  a  change,  he  returned  to  Tiverton,  to  the 
joy  of  many,  especially  of  the  poor.  During  the  three  last 
years  he  added  to  the  number  of  his  friends  many  of  the 
most  respectable  families  in  that  town  and  neighbourhood : 
in  fact,  he  was  a  general  favourite.  It  pleased  God  on  the 
16th  March,  1846,  to  visit  him  with  a  paralytic  attack,  which 
terminated  fatally  on  Saturday,  the  21st.  All  who  knew 
him  must  have  esteemed  and  loved  him  j  but  after  enjoying 
the  honour  of  his  friendship  for  a  quarter  of  a  century,  none 
can  more  sincerely  mourn  his  loss  than  I.  He  died  in  the 
seventy-seventh  year  of  his  age. 

*  This  venerable  prelate  died  8tli  October,  1831,  aged  ninety-one, 
and  forty-fourth  year  of  his  episcopacy. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST   OP    THE    CLERGY.  277 

Gotham  (Ambrose),  James,  O.S.B.,  born  12th  February, 
1810,  at  Liverpool ;  studied  at  St.  Edmund's,  Douay ;  entered 
his  venerable  order  18th  May,  1829;  ordained  priest  at 
Prior-park  20th  December,  1834,  for  the  Tasmanian  mission, 
where  he  arrived  on  8th  August,  1835.  For  eighteen  years 
he  served  there  as  colonial  and  convict  chaplain,  visiting  all 
parts  of  the  colony ;  but  for  the  first  nine  years  principally 
resided  at  Launceston  and  Richmond,  in  both  of  which  towns 
he  erected  a  church,  presbytery,  &c.  From  January,  1845, 
to  January,  1851,  he  had  charge  of  the  Queen's  Orphan 
Schools,  the  General  Hospital,  and  the  principal  convict 
establishments  in  the  vicinity  of  Hobart-town.  Having 
obtained  eighteen,  months'  leave  of  absence  from  the  govern- 
ment, he  sailed  for  England  17th  January,  1851,  and  on  the 
discontinuance  of  convict  transportation  to  Tasmania,  sub- 
sequent to  his  arrival  in  his  native  country,  the  government 
granted  him  a  retiring  pension  of  £57.  10«.  per  annum.  In 
July,  1852,  he  was  appointed  to  the  mission  of  Cheltenham. 

Gotham,  William,  S.J.,  elder  brother  of  the  preceding, 
born  at  Liverpool  30th  August,  1806 ;  admitted  a  novice  at 
Mount  Rouge  at  the  age  of  twenty ;  was  ordained  priest  in  the 
Ember-week  of  Advent,  1834,  and  said  his  first  Mass  at 
Stonyhurst  on  2l8t  December  that  year;  succeeded  F.  J. 
Brownbill  24th  September,  1835,  and  for  full  ten  years 
displayed  unwearied  zeal  in  the  discharge  of  his  missionary 
duties.  He  then  was  recalled  to  Stonyhurst,  where  he  was 
charged  for  a  time  with  the  care  of  that  large  congregation ; 
then  was  sent  to  the  arduous  mission  of  Wigan ;  but  is  now 
stationed  at  Portico. 

Couche,  John,  S.J.,  born  at  Tolfrey,  near  Fowey,  on 
14th  April,  1744,  and  joined  the  order  in  1762.  For  some 
time  was  incumbent  at  Ganford  and  at  Lullworth  ;  but  spent 
the  last  twenty-two  years  of  his  missionary  career  at  South- 
end, Hants.  Retiring  then  to  Greenwich,  he  there  died  on 
29th  December,  1813. 

N.B.  His  near  relation  William  Gouche,  son  of  William 
Gouche,  of  Tolfrey,  Esq.,  by  his  wife  Anne,  daughter  of 
Peter  Hoskins,  of  Ibberton,  Dorset,  was  born  on  5th 
February,  1732;  he  became  a  scholastic  of  the  Society  of 
Jesus,  and  promised  to  become  a  valuable  member  of  the 
order,  when  he  was  carried  oif  prematurely  at  Liege  on  23rd 
February,  1753.  Soc.  four.  I  have  read  with  admiration 
the  well-written  and  very  edifying  memoir,  "  De  Vita  Virtu- 
tibusque  Gulielmi  Couche,"  from  the  pen  of  his  friend. 
Father  Ralph  Hoskins. 


378  BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST    OF    THE    CLERGY. 

CouRBE,  Charles,  S.J. — This  good  French  Jesuit  was 
chaplain  to  WilHam,  the  late  Lord  Stourton,  soon  after  his 
marriage,  at  Deanslease ;  then  to  James  Everard,  ninth  Lord 
Arundell,  at  Ashcombe ;  but  ended  his  days  at  Rotherwaas 
22nd  June,  1815. 

Coupe,  Jean,  born  at  Romazy,  in  Higher  Brittany,  20th 
March,  1765;  ordained  at  Dol  in  December,  1789;  emi- 
grated in  September,  1792,  and  established  himself  in 
Exeter  as  a  teacher  ef  the  French  language.  I  found  him 
here,  in  1808,  generally  respected  for  his  gentle  virtues  and 
superior  talents:  as  an  English  scholar  he  was  unequalled 
any  of  his  countrymen,  except  M.  Premord.  At  my  recom- 
mendation he  accepted  the  charge  of  the  Tor-Abbey  mission 
after  the  retirement  of  M.  le  Hericy  in  1816,  and  continued 
there  his  efficient  services  until  15th  June,  1830,  when  he 
took  shipping  to  revisit  his  native  country.  After  a  few 
months'  stay,  he  came  back  to  me  at  Exeter;  and  on  28th 
December,  1830,  I  prevailed  upon  him  to  succour  the  con- 
gregation at  Poole,  which  remained  destitute  of  a  pastor. 
He  consented,  in  his  charity,  to  do  so ;  but  at  Michaelmas, 
1825,  surrendered  his  trust  into  the  bishop's  hands,  that  he 
might  return  to  France,  and  prepare  for  eternity.  He 
survived  until  31st  December,  1843. 

Cowley  (Gregory),  Wiiliam,  O.S.B.,  an  honoured  name 
amongst  his  brethren.  For  a  long  time  he  was  the  amiable 
and  accomplished  prior  of  St.  Edmund's,  at  Paris.  The 
celebrated  Dr.  Johnson  held  him  in  the  highest  esteem.  In 
1794  he  succeeded  to  the  dignity  of  president,  and  died  in 
office  at  Vernon  Hall,  co.  Lancaster,  19th  June,  1799, 
set.  sixty-seven.  He  is  connected  with  the  West,  by  being 
resident  chaplain  with  the  Hydes,  near  Marlborough,  from 
1790  to  1794. 

Crowe,  Michael  Francis,  D.D.,  born  near  Limerick  on 
4th  August,  1804.  After  receiving  the  earlier  part  of  his 
education  in  his  native  country,  he  repaired,  at  the  age  of 
seventeen,  to  Peiris,  and  entered  the  Royal  College  of 
St.  Stanislaus  as  a  lay  student.  At  the  General  Concursus, 
two  years  later,  he  obtained  the  first  prize  in  philosophy, 
and  received  the  degree  of  Bachelier  es  Lettres.  Shortly 
after,  he  commenced  the  study  of  divinity  in  the  College  of 
the  French  Missions,  was  ordained,  by  papal  dispensation, 
in  the  course  of  the  year  1827,  and  was  successively  appointed 


BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST   OF    THE    CJLEllGY.  279 

to  teach  philosophy  and  divinity  in  the  college  aforesaid.  The 
delicate  state  of  his  health  compelling  him  to  resign  this 
professorship,  he  was  nominated  priest  vicar  in  the  Church 
of  Notre  Dame  des  Victoires;  but  in  January,  1828, 
M.  de  Quelen,  archbishop  of  Paris,  transferred  him  to 
St.  Roch.  After  defending  a  thesis  at  Sorbonne,  the  degree  of 
B.D.  was  awarded  him,  and  in  1830  he  was  named  an  Hono- 
rary Clerk  to  the  Royal  Chapel  j  but  the  Revolution  of  July, 
that  year,  put  an  extinguisher  on  every  prospect  of  prefer- 
ment in  that  quarter.  Proceeding  to  Rome,  he  finished  the 
theological  course  at  the  Sapienza,  and  after  sustaining  a 
public  thesis,  in  1833  received,  from  the  hand  of  his 
Eminence  the  Archchancellor,  the  insignia  of  D.D.  He 
then  took  charge  of  the  sons  of  Sir  Edward  Smythe  and 
Sir  Thomas  Stanley,  Baronets,  and  after  accompanying  them 
through  Europe  and  the  East,  arrived  in  England  in  1835 ; 
and  on  20th  September,  that  year,  became  the  approved 
pastor  of  the  Tawstock  mission.  He  was  the  first  incumbent 
there  who  commenced  a  register,  and  many  are  indebted  to 
him  for  the  knowledge  of  Catholic  truth.  On  10th  April, 
1837,  he  resigned  this  situation  to  become  tutor  to  the  only 
son  of  Sir  Clifford  Constable,  Bart. 

This  charge  being  accomplished  to  the  satisfaction  of  all 
parties,  the  worthy  doctor,  in  his  zeal  for  souls,  undertook 
the  upper  mission  in  Bath.  Converting  the  ground-floor  of  his 
house  in  Brunswick -street  into  a  very  decent  place  for  public 
worship,  his  love  of  the  ministry  and  his  reputation  for 
eloquence  attracted  a  considerable  congregation.  Satan, 
jealous  of  the  progress  of  the  faith,  and  of  the  happiness  it 
diffuses,  tempted  some  emissaries  to  whisper  some  suspicions, 
and  gradually  to  broach  reports,  against  the  moral  character 
of  this  exemplary  priest  and  finished  gentleman.  When 
such  rumours  reached  his  ears,  he  at  once  demanded  an 
investigation,  and  good  Bishop  Hendren,  that  lover  of 
justice,  ever  mindful  of  St.  Paul's  command  to  Timothy 
(1  Epis.  V.  19),  "  Against  a  priest  receive  not  an  accusation, 
but  under  two  or  three  witnesses ;  "  and  again  of  the  admo- 
nition of  St.  Isidore,  "Nullum  damnare,  nisi  comprobatum; 
nullum  excommunicare,  nisi  discussum,"  appointed  a  com- 
mission of  inquiry  into  the  case;  and  the  result  was,  an 
honourable  acquittal  of  the  accused.  But  his  unscrupulous 
opposers  returned  to  their  dirty  work  again.  How  embit- 
tered and  disappointed  they  must  have  felt,  when  his 
attached  congregation  presented  him  with  a  valuable  silver- 
gilt  chalice  and  paten,  in  the  decorated  style  of  the  twelfth 


280  BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST   OF    THE    CLERGY. 

century,  as  a  testimony  of  their  gratitude  for  his  pastoral 
exertions  during  the  previous  four  years  : — 

Presented 

to 

The  "Very  Rev.  M.  F.  Crowe,  D.D., 

By  the  Members  of  this  Congregation 

.    And  other  Catholics  of  this  City, 

In  token  of  their   profound  respect 

For  his  many  eminent  virtues. 

And  in  grateful  aclcnowledgment 

Of  his  zealous  and  efficient  services 

In  the  Sacred  Ministry. 

Sath, 

Dec.  12th,  1861. 

It  was  accompanied  with  a  suitable  address,  in  which  they 
openly  state,  that  "  they  had  possessed  the  best  opportunities 
of  becoming  acquainted  with  the  many  excellent  qualities 
that  adorn  your  character  as  a  priest,  a  scholar,  and  a 
gentleman."  The  reader  will  be  interested  in  reading  this 
transaction  in  the  "  Catholic  Standard "  journal  of  20th 
Decemberj  1851. 

Bishop  Hendren's  resignation  of  the  see  of  Clifton  was 
an  ill  omen  to  the  doctor's  peaceful  prospects  at  Bath. 
Summary  power  passed  into  other  hands.  In  the  case 
before  us,  an  eminent  divine,  an  ecclesiastic  of  long  standing, 
who  had  been  employed  in  the  missions  of  Tawstock  and  of 
Bath  by  Bishops  Baines,  UUathorne,  and  Hendren,  is  simply 
told :  "  In  this  diocese  of  Clifton  we  are  supreme ;  we 
dispense  with  your  services."  In  vindication  of  his  character, 
—of  the  rights  and  honour  of  the  ministry, — the  injured 
doctor  appealed  to  Rome.  In  this  he  acted  with  becoming 
spirit  and  sober  wisdom ;  all  that  I  regretted  was,  that  in 
passing  through  London  to  Rome,  early  in  September,  1852, 
he  had  not  sought  an  interview  with  our  English  Cardinal, 
and  thus  have  obviated  the  delays  incidental  to  suits  in 
the  Ecclesiastical  Courts.  This  omission,  in  the  hurry  of  his 
movements,  and  whilst  his  mind  was  smarting  under  the 
sense  of  unmerited  wrong,  he  himself,  in  the  sequel,  most 
deeply  lamented.  He  arrived  in  the  Eternal  City  on  22nd 
September.  After  experiencing  almost  incredible  subter- 
fuges and  intrigue,  his  case  reached  the  ear  of  his  Holiness, 
who  declared  that  Dr.  Crowe's  services  entitled  him  to  the 
full  rights  of  incorporation,  and  to  the  same  privileges  as  the 
other  priests  attached  to  the  diocese  of  Clifton ;  and  it  was 
admitted  that  the  course  of  proceedings  against  him  was 
unjustifiable,  uncanonical,  and  in  every  way  irregular.  The 
result  of  the  suit  was,  that  Cardinal  Wiseman,  the  Archbishop 


BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST    OF    THE    CLERGY.  281 

of  Westminster,  came  forward  to  take  him  under  his  immediate 
protection,  and  oflfered  him  a  distinguished  position  in  the 
important  mission  of  Chelsea,  where  he  labours  with  an  assi- 
duity and  success  honourable  to  himself,  and  satisfactory  to 
his  friendly  promoter.  Had  the  doctor  been  of  a  litigious  and 
contumacious  temper,  it  is  frightful  to  think  what  mischief 
might  have  been  occasioned  to  religion  in  the  then  excited 
state  of  the  nation  against  the  newly-constituted  hierarchy  ! 

Whilst  life  remains,  I  can  never  forget  the  heroic  exer- 
tions of  Dr.  Crowe,  in  the  midst  of  his  sufferings,  to  rescue 
poor  Monsignore  Fisher,  of  Lyme,  from  disgrace  and  ruin. 
No  one  could  have  done  more  in  the  attempt  to  save  a  soul 
from  death.  -  Maj  Heaven  reward  such  disinterested  and 
enlightened  zeal  in  the  resurrection  of  the  just !     Amen. 

Since  writing  the  above,  I  regret  to  learn  that  his  health 
broke  down  from  over-exertion,  and  that,  with  the  advice  of 
Sir  Benjamin  Brodie,  he  resigned  his  pastoral  charge.  This 
eminent  surgeon  pronounces  the  ailment  to  be  sciatica.  I 
trust  that,  under  the  unremitting  care  of  Sir  Benjamin,  his 
patient  may  soon  be  enabled  to  resume  his  ofiB.cial  duties. 
But,  "  Honi  soit  qui  mal  y  pense  "  should  be  attended  to  by 
clergy  as  well  as  laity. 

Crowther,  Thomas  Timothy  Alphonsus,  O.S.A. — This 
English  convert  was  sent  from  Rome  by  Dr.  Joseph  Palermo, 
General  of  the  Augustinian  Order,  in  July,  1852,  to  assist 
F.  O'Donnell  at  the  Church  of  St.  Nicholas,  Bristol.  In 
consequence  of  the  supposed  invasion  of  the  rights  of  his 
order,  the  said  General  summoned  F.  O'Donnell  to  Rome,  to 
give  evidence.  Whilst  the  suit  was  pending,  F.  Crowther  was 
employed  by  Bishop  Burgess  at  St.  Mary's,  Montpellier, 
Bath ;  but  this  he  quitted  for  Liverpool. 

CuLLiNAN,  William. — This  zealous  priest  came  from 
Ireland  in  July,  1843,  and  was  appointed  successor  to 
F.  O'Ferrall  at  St.  Joseph's,  Trenchard  Street,  Bristol; 
thence  originated  a  new  mission  at  Bedminster,  but  early  in 
August,  1852,  was  directed  by  Bishop  Burgess  to  make  seisin 
of  the  Augustinian  Chapel  of  St.  Nicholas,  at  Bristol.  This 
act  of  authority,  under  pain  of  suspension,  was  submitted  to 
by  the  incumbent,  F.  O'Donnell,  O.S.A.,  but  under  protest. 
Mr.  Cullinan  was  succeeded  in  that  arduous  mission  by  the 
Very  Rev.  Canon  lUingworth  on  1st  September,  1853. 


283  BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST    OF   THE    CLERGY. 


D. 

Daly,  William,  was  born  at  Newton  Barry,  co.  Wexford, 
16th  October,  1814;  entered,  at  Marseilles,  into  the  new 
order  of  the  Conceptionists,  founded  by  Monseigneur  Eugene 
Mazenod,  who  was  consecrated  bishop  of  that  city  on  14th 
October,  1832,  and  who  ordained  him  priest  on  3rd  May, 
1841.  He  was  at  first  appointed  to  the  Penzance  mission. 
Removeifrom  the  order,  he  is  at  present  employed  in  the 
Failsworth  mission,  near  Manchester. 

Daniel,  Edward,  alias  Pickford,  D.D.,  a  native  of  Corn- 
wall, was  sent  early  to  Douay  College,  and  after  studying 
philosophy  and  one  year  of  divinity,  was  sent  with  nine 
others  to  Lisbon,  to  colonize  the  New  Secular  College  founded 
in  that  city  by  Don  Pedro  Continho.  These  promising 
youths  reached  their  destination  on  14th  November,  1628, 
and  on  the  22nd  of  February  following  the  college  was  solemnly 
opened,  and  has  continued  up  to  the  present  time  a  prolific 
nursery  of  able  scholars  and  missionaries.  Mr.  Daniel  having 
received  the  degree  of  D.D.  in  1640,  was  permitted  to  leave 
for  the  English  mission,  but  was  recalled  in  June,  1642,  to 
be  president  of  the  college,  an  office  which  he  filled  for  six 
years  with  distinguished  credit.  Shortly  after,  he  returned 
to  Douay,  where  he  rendered  invaluable  service  as  a  professor 
of  theology  and  a  confessarius.  In  July,  1653,  he  quitted 
for  England,  where  he  remained  until  his  death,  in  Septem- 
ber, 1657.  His  "  Book,  of  Meditations,"  for  the  use  of  the 
English  College  of  Lisbon,  published  in  1649,  republished 
and  enlarged  six  years  after  his  death  at  Douay,  I  should  be 
glad  to  see  re-edited  and  revised ;  but  could  wish  one  passage,^ 
in  the  third  meditation,  on  the  state  and  obligation  of  a  mis- 
sionary priest,  page  451,  were  expunged,  viz. :  "  Finally,  if 
thou  comest  to  want,  thou  must  even  sit  down  with  it,  and 
practise  that  poverty  which  others  profess  and  feel  not,  but 
are  on  all  sides  assisted,  respected,  and  honoured, — -nay,  will 
be  the  first  that  shall  work  thee  out  of  harbour,  if  good  luck 
have  any  way  accommodated  thee.^' 

Daniel,  John,  O.S.F.,  brother  to  the  preceding. — After 
finishing  his  education  at  Douay  College,  and  his  pro- 
motion to  priesthood,  he  joined  the  restored  English  pro- 
vince of  the  Franciscans  on  16tli  December,  1618.  He 
was  appointed  the  second  guardian  of  St.  Bonaventure's 
at  Douay,  and  on  30th  April,  1653,  was  chosen  provincial. 
He  died  between  the  Chapter  holden  30th  April,    1659, 


BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST    OF    THE    CLEEGY.  283 

and  the  Intermediate  Congregation  of  the  4th  November, 
1660. 

Qy.  Who  was  Hieronymus  Pickford,  O.S.F.,  often  called  a 
St.  Bonaventura? 

Danson,  Thomas,  ver^  Douthwaites,  bom  in  Yorkshire 
28th  February,  1798;  educated  at  Ushaw ;  reached  St.  John's, 
Tiverton,  2 1st  June,  1842 ;  but,  finding  that  he  was  not  master 
of  the  premises,  quitted  on  8th  August  following ;  proceeded 
to  Shortwood,  where  he  remained  until  27th  May,  1844.  He 
then  became  assistant  at  Formby,  near  Liverpool,  but  since 
20th  October,  1853,  has  been  serving  the  mission  of  Howden, 
in  his  native  county. 

Darbyshike  (DtfMiNic),  James,  O.S.D.,  took  the  habit  in 
the  English  Convent  of  the  Holy  Cross  at  Bornheim  on  1st 
January,  1714,  set.  twenty-four.  The  Chapter  Rolls  describe 
him  as  one  most  deserving  of  the  province,  who  had  filled 
various  ofiBces  with  commendation.  From  his  Journal,  still 
at  Ugbrooke,  commencing  with  August,  1726,  and  ending 
with  the  opening  of  January,  1757, 1  infer  that  he  was  chap- 
lain at  Standish,  and  afterwards  at  GifFord  Hall,  Suffolk, 
before  his  arrival  at  Ugbrooke  in  February,  1735.  He  was 
much  liked  by  the  Clifford  family,  and  to  their  deep  regret 
was  called  away  to  be  the  sixteenth  prior  of  Bornheim  from 
1747  to  1750.  He  was  then  allowed  to  return  to  Ugbrooke, 
where  he  died  on  Friday,  7th  January,  1757,  aet.  sixty-eight, 
prof,  forty-six,  sac.  forty-fbur,  and  was  buried  behind 
St.  Cyprian's  chapel  there. 

Davenport,  Christopher,  alias  Francis  Hunt,  alias 
Franciscus  a  Sancta  Clara,  O.S.F. — The  life  of  this  eminent 
man  might  fill  an  octavo  volume.  He  was  born  at  Coventry, 
and  reconciled  to  the  true  faith  whilst  a  student  at  Merton 
College,  Oxford,  and  shortly  after  entered  the  novitiate  of 
the  English  Friars  at  Ipres.  At  his  profession  he  passed 
over  to  Douay,  to  assist  at  the  commencement  of  St.  Bona- 
venture's  Convent  in  that  city.*  Before  the  auspicious 
restoration  of  the  English  Franciscan  province  by  the  letters 
patent  of  the  Minister-General  F.  Bernardine  de  Senis,  6th 
August,  1629,  which  created  F.  John  Gennings  the  first 
provincial,  he  had  been  appointed  guardian  of  the  convent 
aforesaid,  and  made  a  D.D.  by  his  general.  Thrice  he  was 
chosen  provincial,  as  I  have  shown  in  his  memoir  in  the 
«  Rambler"  of  August,  1850,  pp.  110,  111.  At  length,  this 
venerable  patriarch  of  his  brethren  expired  at  Somerset  House, 
London,  on  Whit-Sunday,  31st  May,  1680,  set.  eighty-two, 
*  I  find  it  was  first  inhabited  on  30th  October,  1618. 


284  BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST    OF    THE    CLERGY. 

and,  according  to  his  wish,  was  buried  in  St.  John's  church, 
of  the  Savoy.  In  page  118  of  the  Chapter  Book,  his  loss  is 
thus  recorded  :  "  Reverendus  admodum  ac  Venerabilis  in 
Christo  Pater  Frater  Franciscus  a  S.  Clari,  fselicis  inemoriBe, 
tertio  Provincise  nostrse  Minister  Provincialis,  qui  trinis 
persolutis  Jubilaeis,  Religionis,  Sacerdotii,  et  Missionis,  se 
Patrem  amantissimum  et  providentissimum  suis  Fratribus  et 
Filiis  exhibuit  usque  in  finem,  eorum  necessitatibus  in  omnibus 
abunde  occurrens  ;  se  Pastorem  vigilantissimum  et  Operarium 
fidelem  in  Missione  Anglican^  per  57  annos  prsebuit,  factus 
omnibus  omnia,  ita  ut  principes  et  pauperes  lucraretur; 
Urbi  et  Orbi  notus."  He  is  connected  with  the  West  by  having 
lived  in  Cornwall  before  the  civil  wars. —  (See  Alban  Butler's 
"Lives  of  the  Saints,"  May  17th,  St.  Maddern.) 

Davis,  William,  born  at  Usk,  educated  at  Douay. — This 
primitive  and  mortified  priest,  after  serving  Chepstow,  was 
sent  to  the  poor  mission  at  Dartmouth  in  1805,  void  by  the 
resignation  of  I'Abbe  Verrier.  Struggling  with  poverty  and 
illness,  he  quitted  it  just  before  his  death,  which  occurred  at 
Chepstow  30th  December,  1814.  N.B.  Charles  Henry 
Davis,  O.S.B.,  pastor  of  Downside  from  1844  until  he  was 
consecrated  bishop  of  Maitland,  25th  February,  1848,  died  at 
Sydney  17th  May,  1854,  set.  thirty-nine.  Rel.  twenty-two, 
sac.  fourteen. 

Davison  (Bernardine),  John,  O.S.F.,  born  at  Catterick, 
CO.  York,  27th  February,  1791. — This  humble  and  zealous 
Franciscan,  after  serving  Lea  House  mission,  near  Stony- 
hurst,  was  appointed  director  to  the  Poor  Clares  at  Plymouth, 
on  the  retirement  of  the  Rev.  Richard  Sumner.  Here  he 
continued  about  four  years,  when  in  August,  1820,  he  was 
reinstated  at  Lea  House ;  and  when  that  mission  was  given 
up  by  his  body  to  the  bishop  of  the  North,  he  retired  to 
Osmotherly  (properly  Osmundley),  a  retreat  for  superannuated 
members  of  the  province.  —  (See  note  in  "  Rambler "  of 
August,  1850,  p.  118.)  Understanding  that  the  Rev.  Edward 
Metcalf,  the  incumbent  of  Newport,  required  additional  aid 
in  the  arduous  duties  of  his  missio'n,  he  volunteered  his  gra- 
tuitous services  to  the  diocesan,  Bishop  Brown.  On  14th 
October,  1841,  he  commenced  his  zealous  labours.  In  a 
letter  written  to  me  by  his  bishop,  dated  2nd  February,  1842, 
his  lordship  thus  expresses  himself :  "  I  am  greatly  distressed 
by  the  death,  about  half-past  four  a.m.  yesterday,  of  F.  John 
Bernardine  Davison,  at  Newport.  He  caught  a  typhus  fever 
from  visiting  the  sick,  and  is  gone,  I  trust,  to  receive  the 
crown  of  a  martyr  of  charity." 


BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST    OF    THE    CLERGY.  285 

The  following  account  of  him  appeared  in  the  columns  of 
the  Monmouthshire  Merlin : — 

"  On  Tuesday,  the  Ist  of  February,  at  the  house  of  the 
Rev.  Edward  Metcalfe,  the  Rev.  John  Davison,  O.S.F.,  expired, 
aged  fifty-two.  The  circumstances  attending  the  demise  of 
this  amiable  and  zealous  minister  of  the  Gospel  have  caused 
very  general  sympathy  and  regret  throughout  the  town  aud 
neighbourhood  amongst  Christians  of  every  mode  of  faith. 

"  Mr.  Davison,  a  priest  of  artless  tenderness  of  heart,  pri- 
mitive simplicity  of  manners,  and  blameless  life,  had  been 
recently  appointed  coadjutor  to  the  Rev.  Edward  Metcalfe. 
He  came  to  this  town  but  three  months  ago  with  vigour  and 
energies  that  promised  to  the  Catholics  of  Newport  a  long 
and  useful  life  amongst  them.  He  immediately  commenced 
the  onerous  duties  of  his  sacred  calling  in  aid  of  a  clergyman 
of  whom  it  may  be  said  that  his  career  embraces  the  circle  of 
the  Christian  charities,  and  whose  health  is  now,  we  regret  to 
state,  seriously  impaired  by  the  labours  of  his  most  arduous 
mission.  Mr.  Davison  might  be  seen  at  all  hours  visiting  the 
cheerless  homes  of  the  desolate  poor,  '  plumbing  the  depths 
of  human  wretchedness,'  administering  food  to  the  famishing, 
or  teaching  the  best  of  lessons — '  how  to  die  ! '  During  the 
present  prevalence  of  poverty  and  sickness  among  the  poor, 
the  calls  upon  the  sacred  duties  of  the  clergy  are  imperative 
and  incessant.  On  Thursday  se'nnight  Mr.  Davison  was  sum- 
moned to  the  bedside  of  a  poor  man  who  was  sinking  in  typhus 
fever.  He  promptly  attended,  though  warned  of  his  danger 
from  the  malignant  nature  of  the  disease ;  for  he  felt  that  the 
good  shepherd  should  be  ready  to  give  his  life  for  his  flock. 
He  administered  to  the  dying  penitent  the  consolations  of 
religion,  and  returned  to  his  humble  home,  his  heart  throb- 
bing with  affliction  for  the  miseries  of  the  poor  around  him, 
but  still  ardent  to  benefit  his  fellow-creatures,  and  to  advance 
the  honour  of  his  God. 

"  Alas  !  he  had  caught  the  distemper  of  the  poor  sufferer ; 
the  fever  was  upon  him ;  and  then  came  the  patient  sickness, 
the  Christian  resignation,  and  the  quiet  death !  all,  all  of 
which  are,  and  long  wiU  be,  sorrowfiiUy  remembered,  only  to 
add  value  to  the  loss — to  aggravate  regret  for  what  in  this 
life  cannot  be  recalled.  An  event  like  this  is  surely  calculated 
to  come  home  to  the  sensibility  and  bosoms  even  of  those 
whose  eyes  wander  over  life — whose  fancy  dances  after  the 
'  meteors  of  happiness  kindled  by  itself.'  It  is  surely  calcu- 
lated forcibly  to  draw  our  attention  to  the  interest  of  immortal 
souls,  from  the  oft  and  awfully-illustrated  fact  that  '  in  the 
midst  of  life  we  are  in  death.' 


286  BIOGRAPHICAL   LIST   OF    THE    CLERGY. 

"  Deeply  is  the  lot  of  this  reverend  stranger  lamented 
amongst  those  who  have  known  him  even  for  the  brief  period 
that  he  has  been  amongst  us.  The  dictates  of  philosophy, 
which  win  command  us  to  look  up  with  indifference  on 
abstract  things,  may  dispose  to  conceal  our  sorrow,  but  cannot 
assuage  it.  Eeal  alleviation  for  the  loss  of  a  Christian  minister 
and  friend  can  only  be  obtained  from  the  sempiternal  source 
of  all  good — from  the  cheering  and  glorious  promises  of  Him 
in  whose  hands  are  life  and  death,  and  whose  Gospel  has 
'  brought  life  and  immortality  to  Ught.' 

"E.    DOWLING." 

"On  Friday,  February  4,  the  funeral  of  the  late  Kev. 
John  Davison  took  place  at  the  Catholic  Church  of  St.  Mary, 
on  which  occasion  the  Eight  Eev.  Dr.  Brown,  Vicar- Apostolic 
of  Wales;  Dr.  Eooker,  V.G. ;  the  Eev.  Edward  Metcalfe; 
the  Eevs.  Messrs.  Carroll,  Keely,  Cody,  and  WooUett,  offici- 
ated in  the  solemn  and  affecting  ceremonies  usual  on  such 
occasions  in  the  Catholic  Church.  There  was  a  numerous 
congregation  assembled,  amongst  whom  we  noticed  many 
members  of  the  Established  Church,  and  several  of  our  Dis- 
senting fellow-townsmen,  the  melancholy  circumstances  of 
poor  Mr.  Davison's  death  having  very  generally  excited  the 
sympathy  and  regret  of  the  neighbourhood.  The  Eev.  Dr. 
Eooker  said  Mass,  and  preached  a  very  eloquent  sermon  on 
the  occasion  from  Heb.  ix.  27  :  'It  is  appointed  to  men  once 
to  die,  and  after  that  the  judgment.'  The  discourse  was 
admirably  appropriate,  and  drew  tears  from  most  of  those 
present." 

Dawson,  James. — Soon  after  his  ordination  he  was  sent, 
in  July,  1841,  to  Shortwood,  where  he  continued  thirteen 
months,  and  thence  was  removed  to  Courtfield,  near  Eoss. 
In  1848  I  find  him  at  Merthyr  Tydvil.  In  1851  he  was 
stationed  at  Dowlais,  then  at  IJsk ;  but  since  the  summer 
of  1854,  he  has  been  resting  at  Shepton  Mallett.  On 
the  appointment  of  Dr.  English  to  Clifton  Church,  in 
April,  1856,  Mr.  Dawson  was  sent  to  replace  him  at  Can- 
nington. 

Day,  Samuel,  O.S.B.,  who,  in  taking  the  religious  habit 
in  1806,  adopted  the  name  of  Bede,  was  the  first  pastor  of 
the  Kemerton  mission,  near  Tewkesbury,  and  opened  its 
beautiful  chapel  18th  July,  1843.  He  left  in  1848,  and  is 
now  at  Felton-park,  Northumberland. 

Dempsey,  William. — This  young  Irish  ecclesiastic,  after 
combating  with  a  feeble  and  impaired  constitution  at  Upton, 


BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST   OF    THE    CLEKGY.  287 

near  Poole,  was  obliged  to  resign,  and  retire  to  Prior-park 
for  a  time.  With  difficulty  he  reached  his  native  country, 
where  he  died  in  July,  1840. 

Dessaux,  Romain,  an  emigrant  French  priest,  who  served 
MarnhuU  for  some  time;  then  returning  to  Trance,  died 
7th  January,  1835,  set.  seventy-eight. 

DiGBY,  Jerome,  O.S.B. — On  the  death  of  the  lamented 
Cuthbert  Simpson,  assistant  to  F.  Pembridge,  in  1785,  this 
good  monk  came  to  supply  for  a  time.  He  afterwards  served 
the  Warrington  mission.  Retiring  to  Downside,  after  some 
years,  he  rested  from  his  labours  on  7th  April,  1835,  set. 
eighty-five,  rel.  sixty-nine,  as  his  epitaph  testifies. 

9 

Dominic,  F.,  O.S.D. — Of  this  apostolic  man  I  have  treated 
largely  in  the  first  part,  under  Woodchester.  To  the  grief 
of  all  good  men,  his  course  was  rapidly  run  out  on  27th 
August,  1849,  set.  fifty-seven.  "  Of  him  it  may  be  said,  he 
consumed  like  incense  on  the  altar,  burning  bright  and 
diffusing  fragrance,  till  not  a  remnant  could  be  seen." 

Dormer,  Robert,  S.J. — This  worthy  Jesuit  had  resided 
at  Odstock,  StapehiU,  and  Beckford ;  but  I  look  in  vain  for 
his  period  of  service  in  these  places.  His  final  destination 
was  Wappenbury,  whence  he  passed  to  our  Lord  4th  May, 
1792,  in  his  sixty-seventh  year. 

Doublet. — In  1810  I  remember  this  French  abbe,  who 
had  long  been  resident  at  Shaftesbury,  and  had  the  charge 
of  the  faithful  there.  The  chapel  was  much  larger  than  I 
had  expected.  He  quitted  at  the  restoration  of  the 
Bourbons. 

DouRLENS,  Louis. — Before  the  French  Revolution,  he  was 
a  canon  of  Arras  Cathedral ;  at  the  emigration  he  took  up 
his  station  at  Bath,  where  he  was  much  respected  and 
esteemed  for  his  integrity  and  polished  manners.  At  the 
request  of  Bishop  Collingridge,  he  consented  to  become 
director  to  the  good  nuns  at  Lanherne,  where  he  arrived  on 
7th  September,  1827.  There  he  finished  his  earthly  course 
on  30th  October,  1839,  set.  eighty-five,  and  was  buried  in 
the  convent  cemetery.  The  venerable  man  had  never 
occasion  to  wear  spectacles. 

DowDiNG,  Hilary,  O.S.B.  —  This  amiable  monk  of 
Ampleforth,  since  1832,  gave  his  valuable  services  to  the 
Cheltenham  mission  from  1843  to  1849 ;  since  which  time, 
I  am  informed,  he  has  been  settled  at  Little  Crosby,  near 
Liverpool. 


288  BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST   OF    THE    CLERGY. 

Dtjbuisson. — This  abbe  was  long  a  resident  at  Weymouth, 
and  had  charge  of  the  Catholics  there.  He  quitted  in  July, 
1822,  for  his  native  country,  where  he  died,  that  winter, 
aged  seventy-six. 

DucHEMiN. — In  the  first  part  of  these  gleanings,  page  118, 
I  stated  that  this  respected  French  abbe  had  the  charge  of 
the  Gloucester  mission  from  January,  1804,  until  the  sum- 
mer of  1816.  He  then  returned  to  his  native  country.  In 
a  letter  which  I  received  from  Caen,  bearing  date  5th 
January,  1845,  I  read  that  he  died  at  Bayeux,  a  model  of 
the  ecclesiastical  spirit,  about  ten  years  before, — "  il  y  a  peu 
pres  dix  ans," — probably  late  in  1835. 

Duck  (Basil),  James,  O.S.B.,  born  July  13th,  1813,  at 
Berwick  Hall,  co.  Northumberland ;  professed  at  Downside, 
October  30th,  1831 ;  ordained  priest,  23rd  February,  1839. 
After  being  employed  at  Whitehaven  from  February,  1840, 
he  was  appointed  to  Cheltenham,  vice  Glassbrooke.* 

Dullard  (Benedict),  James,  O.S.B.,  born  in  Ireland, 
1793,  and  entered  amongst  the  Augustinians.  After  serving 
Cannington  for  a  time,  he  felt  a  vehement  desire  to  enlist 
himself  under  the  banner  of  St.  Benedict.  His  wish  was 
granted,  and  he  went  through  his  novitiate  at  Douay  with 
great  fervour  and  edification,  under  the  prior,  now  the 
bishop  of  Port  Louis,  in  the  Mauritius,  Dr.  William  Bernard 
Collier.  At  present  my  good  friend  is  attached  to  St.  Bene- 
dict's Convent,  near  Stafford. 

DuNscoMBE,  Augustine,  O.S.B. — All  that  I  can  collect  of 
him  is,  that  he  was  a  native  of  Devon ;  was  professed  at 
Lambspring  11th  July,  1722,  and  died  in  England  on  6th 
December,  1736. 

Duval,  Jacques  Florin,  formerly  cure  de  St.  Remi,  in 
the  diocese  of  Constance.  On  the  death  of  the  Rev.  James 
Willacey,  he  succeeded  to  the  direction  of  the  convent  at 
Canford,  and  died  in  that  office  twelve  years  later,  viz., 
30th  March,  1817,  »t.  fifty-six. 

Duval. — This  French  Lazarite  was  much  esteemed  by 
Bishop  CoUingridge.  He  was  the  author  of  the  "  Letters  on 
Quakerism."  For  many  years  he  was  attached  as  chaplain 
to  the  French  Prison  at  Stapleton,  near  Bristol,  where  he 
died  9th  March,  1814,  aged  eighty-four. 

*  Q.  Was  not  Dom  Ambrose  Duck  his  elder  brother?  This  good 
Benedictine  was  pastor  at  Downside  from  1836  to  1837,  and  finished  his 
earthly  course  at  Brislington  on  18th  September,  1848,  set.  fifty-two. 
Rel.  thirty-three ;  sac.  twenty-three. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST   OF    THE    CLERGY.  289 

DwYEB,  James,  born  in  the  parish  of  the  Holy  Cross,^^ 
Thurles,  9th  July,  1805 ;  he  was  educated  at  Carlow,  and 
proceeded,  in  1826,  to  the  English  College  at  Rome,  but 
finished  his  theology  at  St.  Sulpice,  at  Paris ;  he  was  ordained 
by  Bishop  Baines  in  1829.  After  making  the  round  of  the 
missions  of  Poole,  Weymouth,  and  Tawstock,  he  started  for 
Ireland  to  assist  his  bishop  in  the  organization  of  the  New 
College  at  Thurles,  but  was  soon  back  again  at  Tawstock ; 
thence  he  was  off  to  Bangor,  then  to  Poole  again,  thence  to 
Talacre ;  and  after  a  few  more  tossings  about,  he  sailed  for 
the  Mauritius  with  Bishop  Collier  in  June,  1845. 


E. 

EccLEs,  James,  S.J.,  born  14.th  October,  1822,  at  Wigan. 
After  studying  humanities  at  Stony  hurst,  he  entered  the  society 
7th  September,  1839,  and  was  sent  to  the  Jesuits'  College  at 
Tronchiennes,  near  Ghent,  where,  with  his  fellow  collegian, 
F.  Joseph  John  Bond,  already  mentioned  in  this  compilation, 
he  received  the  higher  orders.  On  his  return  to  England 
he  filled  various  offices  at  Mount  St.  Mary's,  near  Chester- 
field, and  succeeded  the  writer  of  these  notes,  as  incumbent  of 
St.  Nicholas,  Exeter,  on  6th  October,  1851.*  Proficias — 
"  Bene  prosperare,"  Ps.  117. 

Edgewortii,  Erancis,  O.S.F.,  born  in  London  26th  April, 
1799  ;  at  an  early  age  took  the  Franciscan  habit ;  after  his 
ordinations,  was  appointed  incumbent  at  St.  Peter's,  Bir- 
mingham, a  situation  which  he  resigned  in  August,  1821, 

*  Most  cordially  I  congratulate  this  my  successor  for  having  accom- 
plished the  poor  school,  attached  to  the  chapel,  as  mentioned  in  Part  I. 
p.  20.  For  several  years,  I  may  say,  in  justice  to  myself,  I  had  hired 
rooms  in  four  different  places  for  tlie  purpose  ;  but  when  a  committee 
of  the  congregation  applied  for  the  very  site  of  the  present  school  to 
erect  their  building,  P.  Charles  Brooke,  then  residing  in  the  court,  as 
well  as  myself,  alleged  as  reasons  for  declining  the  grant,  "  the  fear  of 
confining  the  air,  of  obstructing  the  light,  of  occasioning  much  noise, 
and  of  bringing  the  Catholic  and  the  numerous  Wesleyan  scholars,  at 
the  very  next  door,  into  too  much  contact  and  familiarity."  On  18th 
January,  1846,  the  committee  came  to  a  resolution  expressive  of  regret 
at  this  obstacle  to  their  wishes,  "  trusting  that  the  same  originates  with 
a  fear  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  O.  and  tlie  Rev.  C.  Brooke,  that  the  funds  for 
such  an  object  would  not  be  forthcoming."  The  sum  of  £44.  5s.  was 
subscribed  on  promise ;  and  of  this,  nearly  one  fourth  was  deducted  by 
death  or  emigration.  But  thanks  to  God,  better  times  came,  and  the 
work  has  succeeded. 


290  BIOGKAPHICAL    LIST   OF    THE    CLERGY. 

when  Bishop  Collingridge  placed  him  at  Weymouth,  where 
he  continued  until  the  spring  of  1835,  when  he  received  direc- 
tions to  succeed  the  Rev.  John  Burke  at  St.  Joseph's  Chapel, 
Bristol.  In  Chapter  XII.  of  the  first  part  I  have  followed 
out  the  rest  of  his  biography,  concluding  with  his  sudden 
death  16th  November,  1850 :  R.I.P.  But  I  am  anxious  to 
perpetuate  the  memory  of  the  decision  of  mind,  the  personal 
courage,  and  tender  humanity  which  the  reverend  gentleman 
displayed  during  the  outrageous  riots  of  Bristol  in  the  begin- 
ning of  November,  1831,  and  which  merited  for  him  a  civic 
crown.  And  I  cannot  do  so  better,  than  by  republishing 
the  letter  of  a  dear  old  friend.  Dr.  Carpenter,  Unitarian 
minister,  formerly  of  Exeter,  and  then  a  resident  in  Bristol. 
It  will  repay  the  perusal.* 

*  A  letter  respecting  the  late  outrages,  inserted  in  the  Bristol 
Mercury : — 

To  tlte  Editor  oftlw  Bristol  Mercmry. 

Monday,  Nov.  7,  1831. 

Sir, — In  Felix  Farley's  Bristol  Jmirnal,  of  Saturday,  are  inserted 
parts  of  a  letter  which  appeared  in  the  Globe  of  Thursday  last,  under 
the  signature  of  Publicola,  and  dated  November  the  1st.  As  Felix 
Farley  has  omitted  what  appears  to  me  important,  I  beg  you  to  do  me 
the  favour  of  inserting  the  whole,  as  it  appears  in  the  Globe,  excepting 
two  or  three  typographical  errors.  I  place  in  brackets  the  parts  Felix 
Farl^  has  omitted,  and  leave  your  readers  to  divine  his  reasons  for 
themselves. 

"  rin  your  journal  of  Saturday  night  you  say,  '  There  are  two  things 
which  must  strike  all  observers — by  how  small  a  band  of  persons  a 
formidable  riot  may  be  made  in  a  town ;  and  again,  how  vast  are  the 
crowds  in  England  who  have  every  temptation  to  make  riots,  from  their 
own  poverty,  and  the  want  of  any  organized  force  to  oppose  them.'  I  read 
the  passage  yesterday,  after  having  witnessed  the  truth  of  it  in  the  late 
horrid  outrages,  particularly  of  Sunday  afternoon  and  night.  I  think 
the  riot  of  Saturday  greatly  the  result  of  political  exacerbation  directly 
personal  to  Sir  Charles  Wetherell,  though  much  aided  by  the  purposes 
of  the  public  depredators  who  have  been  training  in  the  streets-of  Bristol 
for  the  last  six  or  eight  years.  There  was  no  disorder  when  the  199 
threw  out  the  Bill;  and  there' would  have  been  none  if  Sir  Charles 
Wetherell  had  stayed  away.  He  ought  to  have  resigned  his  post  as  judge, 
when  he  chose  that  of  a  violent  political  partizan.  But]]  the  aggressions 
on  Sunday  morning,  beginning  soon  after  seven  at  the  Mansion-house, 
were  for  plunder ;  and  the  consumption  of  intoxicating  liquors  there, 
the  perfect  nnrestrainedness  with  which  for  a  time  the  mob  went  on, 
and  afterwards  (between  ten  and  eleven)  the  firing  of  the  Blues  in 
College-green,  and  their  subsequent  removal  from  the  city,  gave  the 
next  stage  the  character  of  power  and  vengeance.  [About  half-past  one 
the  worst  began;  and  the  character  of  the  mob  was  much  changed. 
They  were  now  the  mob  of  destruction,  without  personality.]  There 
was  a  method  in  their  proceedings,  which  showed  men  practised  in 
villany  and  violence ;  and  a  compactness  in  their  movements,  which 
proved  that  they  were  under  leaders.  The  mob  that  committed  the 
subsequent  outrages  was  never  large  altogether  ;  and  in  its  parties,  as  at 


BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST    OK    THE    CLERGY.  291 

Edisford,  John,  S.J.,  whose  real  name  was  Swabrick, 
born  in  Lancashire  1st  February,  1738;  joined  the  society  in 
1760;  eleven  years  later  I  find  him  chaplain  to  the  Hon. 
Mr.   Arundell,   at    Salisbury.     Soon  after  he  removed  to 

the  Bishop's-palace,  it  was  a  small  number  that  did  the  mischief. 
When  the  greatest  outrages  began,  and  the  city  was  in  truth  surrendered 
to  them,  the  outside  number  was  from  five  to  six  hundred.  I  saw  them 
myself,  soon  after  two  on  Sunday,  coming  down  Clare-street  (our  prin- 
cipal street)  just  after  they  had  broken  open  the  Bridewell,  and  then  on 
their  way  to  the  jail.  They  had  bludgeons  generally ;  and  some  had 
axes,  iron  palisades  (from  the  Mansion-house  probably),  and  sledge- 
hammers. All  that  I  noticed  were  the  dregs  of  the  city ;  and  a  large 
part  were  under  twenty  years  of  age.  Proceeding  as  they  now  did, 
without  the  slightest  opposition,  they  went  on  in  the  work  of  destruction 
(still  principally  of  public  property)  ;  but  others  pillaging  in  the  line  of 
Queen-square  from  the  Mayoralty,  till  about  ten,  I  think,  the  Custom- 
house (about  ten  houses  from  it)  was  on  fire ;  and  from  that  period  the 
reckless  destruction  of  private  property  (ending  in  the  complete  burning 
of  two  sides  of  the  square,  which  is  about  650  feet  each  way),  and  the 
wildness  of  the  plunder,  were  liorrid  and  infamous  in  the  extreme.  It 
is  my  deliberat«  conviction,  that  a  firm,  prompt,  and  vigorous  magis- 
tracy might,  in  the  early  part  of  Sunday  morning,  by  requiring  (as 
yesterday)  the  constabulary  aid  of  the  inhabitants,  have  suppressed  the 
riot ;  and  that  even  when  the  mob  had  become  inflamed  by  mastership 
and  liquor,  eighty  or  a  hundred  regular  soldiers,  or  four  times  that 
number  of  resolute  and  partially  armed  citizens,  might  have  prevented 
all  that  folUowed.    But  all  was  helpless  and  hopeless." 

I  have  nothing  to  correct  in  the  foregoing,  except  that  the  sledge- 
hammers with  which  the  jail  was  broken  open  were  got  from  a  neigh- 
bouring manufactory,  and  were  all  returned  except  two  ;  and  nothing 
to  add,  in  this  connection,  but  that  the  attack  of  the  populace  on  the 
Blues  on  Sunday  morning  seems  to  have  been  much  owing  to  the 
melancholy  event  the  preceding  midnight,  when  a  man  was  sabred  who 
was  in  no  way  concerned  in  the  riot  at  the  Council  House,  though  he 
certainly  ought  not  to  have  been  in  the  streets.  But  I  proceed  to  other 
objects. 

It  was  with  sentiments  of  deep  indignation  that  I  read  the  commence- 
ment of  Felio!  Farias  leading  article  on  Saturday  last,  with  its  com- 
mentary in  a  letter  signed  "  M."  in  the  second  page  of  the  same,  inserted 
on  the  responsibility  of  the  acting  editor,  proceed  from  whatever  quarter 
it  may.  Many  of  your  readers  may  not  have  seen  the  passages  in  the 
Bfistol  Jommal  to  which  I  refer ;  and  I  here  offer  them  to  their  perusal. 
When  they  have  given  it,  I  expect  that  they  will  share  in  my  "  senti- 
ments of  deep  indignation." 

The  leading  article  of  FeUie  Fa/rley  thus  begins  : — 

"  THE   THREE    DATS    OP   BKISTOL  !  ! 

"  It  was  on  the  9th  day  of  September  last  year  tliat  Charles  Pinney, 
Esq.,  presided  at  a  public  meeting  of  some  of  the  inhabitants  of  this 
city,  held  in  the  GiiUdliall,  called  for  the  purpose  of  congratulating  the 
French  nation  upon  their  Revolution,  and  the  events  of  the  Three  Daj^s 
of  July! !  Strange  fatality ! ! — ^that  the  same  gentleman  should,  in  his 
capacity  as  Mayor  of  Bristol,  within  little  more  than  a  twelvemonth 
afterwards,  have  to  witness  the  first  act  of  the  ti-agedy  of  Reform,  if  not 

u  2 


393  BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST    OP    THE    CLERGY. 

Exeter,  where  he  cultivated  the  vineyard  with  exemplary- 
zeal  and  charity,  and  made  himself,  much  respected  by  his 
natural  bonhommie  and  frankness.      His  death  wlas  occa- 

of  Revolution,  which  has  been  since  commenced  in  his  own  country  !  ! 
With  what  deeds  of  incendiarism  and  outrage,  characterized  by  pusil- 
lanimity and  folly,  if  not  sanctioned  and  provoked  by  some  branches  of 
the  constituted  authorities  of  the  realm,  this  tragedy  has  been  perform- 
ing in  Bristol,  must  and  can  be  only  publicly  known  and  authenticated 
when  those  forms  of  legal  inquiry  have  been  gone  into,  which  it  is  the 
duty  of  his  Majesty's  ministers  without  an  hour's  delay  to  institute." 

This  is  in  the  third  page :  the  commentary  is  in  the  second,  and  in 
about  the  same  sized  type ;  it  caught  my  eye  before  the  leading  article. 
It  is  as  follows  : — 

"  THE    THREE    DAYS. 

"  To  the  Editor  of  the  Bristol  Journal. 

"  Sir, — Permit  me  to  congratulate  those  of  your  fellow-citizens  who 
met  last  year,  and  passed  resolutions  expressive  of  their  admiration  of 
the  conduct  of  the  Parisian  mob  during  the  celebrated  '  Three  Daj'S,' 
and  which  they  transmitted  by  a  deputation  to  the  French  capital. 
Permit  me  to  congratulate  those  gentlemen  that  they  have  had  thdr 
'  Three  Days,'  promoted  and  brought  about,  I  firmly  believe,  by  their 
conduct  and  that  of  their  party  here  and  elsewhere,  on  that  and  other 
occasions." 

In  that  solemn  investigation  which  all  demand,  and  which  ought  to 
be  searching,  comprehensive,  and  complete,  let  the  censure  of  occasion- 
ing or  of  not  restraining  the  riots  of  Saturday,  and  the  horrid  outrages 
of  Sunday  and  of  Monday  morning,  rest  wherever  truth  requires,  and 
in  the  degree  it  requires  ;  but  those  who  know  Mr.  Pinney  will  not, 
whatever  may  prove  to  be  his  just  share,  forget  his  known  humanity 
and,  I  doubt  not,  religious  conscientiousness ;  nor  the  extraordinary 
position  in  which  he,  whose  liberal  sentiments  are  on  record,  stood,  as 
associated  with  a  magistracy  whose  views  were,  on  almost  all  the  great 
topics  of  the  times,  diametrically  opposite  to  his  own.  But  the  very 
circumstance  that  such  an  investigation  is  called  for.  by  all  parties,  and 
must  be  instituted,  ought  to  have  prevented  the  exasperating  imputa- 
tions of  Felix  Farley  and  his  coadjutor  "  M." 

If  these  lines  should  reach  the  eye  of  Mr.  Pinney,  let  them  tell  him 
that  he  need  not  aggravate  his  present  emotions  by  reflecting  on  him- 
self for  the  honourable  share  he  took  in  the  most  honourable  meeting  I 
ever  witnessed  in  Bristol^-eminently  marked  as  it  was  by  order,  by 
elevated  sentiments,  by  tlie  eloquence  of  truth  and  of  hope  for  human 
welfare,  and  by  the  noblest  kind  of  enthusiasm  ;  that  it  may  be  confi- 
dently aflirmed  that  not  one  who  took  part  in  that  meeting,  by  speaking 
or  by  voting,  will  be  found  to  have  had  any  share  in  the  riots  of  Satur- 
day ;  that  nothing  which  passed  there  had  a  tendency  to  produce  a 
spirit  of  riot  and  of  outrage ;  that  neither  in  respect  to  its  speakers,  nor  to 
its  proceedings,  nor  to  its  spirit,  nor  to  its  tendency,  had  it  the  remotest 
connection  with  the  recent  evils  ;  and  (what  may  outweigh  all  the 
imputations  of  those  who  haw  scattered  firebrands)  that  to  that  meeting, 
and  other  similar  expressions  of  the  people  of  England,  may  be  mainly 
attributed  that  confidence  on  the  part  of  the  king  of  France,  and  the 
leading  men  of  that  country,  in  the  kindly  disposition  of  the  English 
nation  towards  them,  which  has  so  powerfully  aided  the  wise  and  tem- 


BIOGRAPHICAL   LIST    OP   THE    CLERGY.  293 

sioned  by  catching  the  jail  fever  in  his  attendance  on  the 
prisoners  in  the  Old  Jail,  near  the  Castle  of  Exeter,  on 
Saturday,  20th  November,  1789.     In  examining  the  parish 

perate  course  of  Lord  Grey  and  his  coadjutors  in  their  efforts  to  preserve 
peace  between  the  two  greatest  nations  in  Europe.  To  such  meetings 
may  be  greatly  attributed  the  joyful  fact  that  we  are  now  at  peace  and 
in  friendship  with  France,  and  with  her  aid  have  prevented  all  Europe 
from  being  again  involved  in  the  horrors  of  war. 

I  might  have  written  the  foregoing  even  if  Felix  Farlei/,  as  editor,  and 
as  responsible  for  "  M."  had  stopped  here  ;  but  to  "  M.'s"  charge  on  those 
friends  of  liberty  and  humanity  who  met  to  express  their  sentiments  on 
the  French  Revolution — (I  am  happy  that  I  was  myself  at  my  post) — 
that  they  have  had  their  "  Three  Days,"  promoted  and  brought  about 
by  their  conduct,  &c.,  ,i3  appended  a  postscript,  marked  by  base  and 
calumnious  insinuation,  and  (in  the  circumstances  of  the  case)  by  deep 
malignity  ;  the  more  aggravated  in  its  character,  because  the  humane 
and  honourable  individual  to  whom  it  alludes  is  so  noted  in  it,  that  there 
is  no  room  to  doubt  who  is  meant,  but  with  that  degree  of  caution  which 
prevents  the  legal  chastisement  that  either  "  M."  or  Felix  Farley  would 
have  incurred.     The  postscript  is  as  follows  : — 

"  P.S.  I  have  not  time  to  add  some  particulars  of  the  conduct  of 

.  and  of  an  Irish  priest  of  the  name  of ,  on  this  melanchoy 

occasion,  in  front  of  the  Mansion  House  and  elsewhere,  but  shall  hold 
them  in  reserve  to  be  communicated,  if  not  done  by  some  other  hand." 

There  are  but  two  Catholic  priests  in  Bristol ;  one  of  them  is  but 
recently  come  to  reside  here ;  the  other  is  well  known,  and  by  all  who 
know  him  regarded  as  a  gentleman  of  true  respectability.  Neither  of 
them  is  an  Irishman  ;  but  one  (with  a  name  of  Irish  associations)  was, 
during  the  fatal  afternoon,  and  during  a  larger  part  of  the  horrid  night, 
much  in  front  of  the  Mansion  House  and  elsewhere,  sometimes  attended 
by  his  colleague,  but  in  part  alone, — private  duties  requiring  the  attend- 
ance of  one,  and  the  one  most  and  longest  known  being  likely  to  be  most 
useful.  This  individual's  name  is  the  Rev.  Francis  Edgeworth.  I 
honoured  him  before ;  but  for  his  conduct  during  that  period  which 
succeeded  the  new  and  decided  stage  of  the  outrages  on  Sunday — the 
attack  on  the  Bridewell — I  honour  him  still  more  highly.  It  was  marked 
by  judgment,  by  promptness,  by  personal  courage,  by  humanity,  and  by 
moral  firmness.  If  four  or  five  men  could  have  come  forward  with  the 
offer  which  he  made  at  three  o'clock  on  Sunday  afternoon,  a  force  would 
have  been  at  the  magistrates'  command  sufficient  to  repel  the  outrages  ; 
for  he  and  his  colleague  pledged  themselves  to  them  to  find  immediately 
two  hundred  able  and  steady  men.  He  was  indeed  "  much  in  front  of 
the  Mansion  House  and  elsewhere  ; "  for  he  was  in  the  scenes  of  devas- 
tation from  eight  on  Sunday  evening  till  half-past  three  on  Monday 
morning.  During  that  period  he  was  engaged  in  endeavouring  (as 
opportunity  presented)  to  check  tlie  progress  of  depredation,  and  in  pre- 
vailing on  all  he  knew  to  desist  from  taking  that  which  they  pleaded 
would  otherwise  be  soon  destroyed.  When  he  saw  reason  to  think  that 
the  Custom  House  would  be  attacked,  he  obtained  admission  from  the 
King-street  side,  and  told  one  of  the  official  gentlemen  that  his  presence 
would  prevent  any  of  the  poor  Irish  from  assaulting  the  premises,  and 
offered  tliat  negative  assistance.  His  presence  and  assistance  were 
tliankfully  received,  and  he  continued  below  for  about  three  quarters  of 
an  hour,  till  few  remained  belonging  to  the  place,  and  in  less  than  a 


294  BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST    OF    THE    CLERGY; 

register  of  St.  Olave's  Churehj  in  which  he  was  buried^  I  find 
"  Rev.  John  Edisford,  minister  of  the  Catholics  in  this  city, 
was  buried  on  the  24th  of  November,  1789." 

Ellis,  Philip  Michael,  O.S.B.,  Right  Rev. — This  third 
son  of  Rev.  John  Ellis,  rector  of  Waddesden,  Bucks,  by  his 
wife  Susannah  Welbore,  whilst  a  pupil  at  Westminster 
School,  was  called  to  the  Catholic  faith  and  to  the  grace  of 
religion  in  St.  Gregory's  Convent,  Douay,  where  he  was  pro- 
fessed 30th  November,  1670,  set.  eighteen. 

quarter  of  an  hour  witnessed  the  assault  of  the  mob,  followed  by  the 
speedy  destruction  of  the  building.  "  Before  I  quitted  the  square,"  he 
says,  in  a  letter  with  which,  at  my  request,  he  has  favoured  me, "  I  looked 
on  all  sides  for  any  of  the  poor  Irish.  I  saw  none  of  them  but  as  spec- 
tators.  Those  I  earnestly,  and  I  believe  successfully,  exhorted  to  return 
to  their  homes.  But  now  spirits  and  wine  were  the  object  of  fierce  con- 
test in  various  parts  of  the  square.  I  had  no  hope  that  my  presence 
could  avail  any  longer.  Several  gentlemen  had  been  struck  and  robbed." 
I  pass  by  other  particulars,  but  must  add  one  extract  which  gives  a 
touching  picture  of  the  true  Christian  pastor.  I  belong  not  to  Mr.  Edge- 
worth's  communion ;  but  I  believe  that  the  Church  of  Christ  exists 
among  all  denominations ;  and  of  that  Church  he  is  one  : — 

"  The  Monday  I  spent  mostly,  as  did  my  friend  Mr.  O.  F."  (the  Rev. 
O.  Farrell,  his  colleague),  "  in  visiting  all  the  streets  and  lanes  with 
which  we  are  well  acquainted,  and  in  almost  every  house  and  every 
room,  explaining  to  the  poor  creatures  the  danger  of  even  standing  at 
their  doors,  much  moi-e  of  quitting  their  homes,  during  the  coming  night. 
We  warned  them,  too,  of  the  crime  of  keeping  any  part  of  the  plunder ; 
and,  as  we  knew  they  had  been  induced  to  receive  it,  we  urged  them  to 
place  it  wherever  the  mayor  should  direct.  Some  few  did  this  ;  many 
did  not,  or  at  least  hesitated,  until  the  active  force  of  constables,  of  Mon- 
day afternoon's  formation,  surprised  them  in  the  possession  of  stolen 
property,  and  left  no  time  for  voluntary  restitution," 

Many,  I  doubt  not,  in  the  horrid  night  of  Sunday,  showed  the  noble 
qualities  which  marked  the  conduct  of  Mr.  Edgeworth  ;  I  shall  rejoice 
to  hear  that  some  surpassed  him  in  the  efforts  for  useful  service.  If 
"  M."  has  a  mind  capable  of  generous  feeling,  I  have  heaped  coals  of 
fire  on  his  head. 

As  to ,  the  other  person  darkly  hinted  at  in  the  postscript, 

if  by  this  is  designated  one  of  those  to  whom  "  M.'s  "  letter  refers,  and 
who  also,  at  intervals,  was  much  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Mansion 
House  between  seven  on  Saturday  evening  and  half-past  three  on  Sun- 
day afternoon,  I  have  the  power  of  stating,  in  his  behalf,  that  whatever 
he  did  during  the  late  melancholy  period  was  in  the  discharge  of  public 
or  private  duty  ;  that  for  the  latter  he  had,  about  three,  the  thanks  of 
magistrates  in  their  room  at  Guildhall ;  -and  that  he  has  the  great  satis- 
faction, in  the  review  of  his  course  since  the  Three  Days  of  Paris  (and  he 
may  say  of  his  public  course  generally),  of  perceiving  tliat  every  step 
he  has  taken  has  been  designed,  and  (as  he  believes)  has  tended,  to  pro- 
mote the  good  order,  the  improvement,  and  the  general  welfare  of  society ; 
and  that  there  is  not  one  which,  in  similar  circumstances,  he  would  not 
readily  take  again,  Publicola. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST   OF    THE    CLERGY.  295 

The  editor  of  the  Ellis  Correspondence,  vol.  i.  p.  18, 
igiiorantly  asserts  that  "  Philip  was  kidnapped  by  the  Jesuits, 
and  brought  up  by  them  in  the  Roman  Catholic  religion  in 
their  College  of  St.  Omer."  After  duly  qualifying  himself 
for  the  ministry,  he  was  sent  to  labour  in  the  English  vine- 
yard. His  abilities  recommended  him  to  the  notice  of  King 
James  II.,  who  appointed  him  one  of  his  chaplains  and 
preachers.  Six  of  his  sermons,  the  first  delivered  at  Windsor, 
the  rest  at  St.  James's,  were  printed.  When  Pope  Innocent 
XI.,  on  30th  January,  1688,  requested  that  his  Majesty 
would  nominate  three  fit  subjects  to  fill  the  newly-constituted 
VicariatSj  the  Western  Midland  and  Northern  (for  the 
Southern  or  Eastern  was  to  be  reserved  for  Bishop  Ley- 
bourne,  bishop  of  i!drumetum,  formerly  president  of  Douay 
College,*  and  who  for  the  last  three  years  had  governed  the 
whole  of  England),  Dom  Ellis,  then  aged  thirty-six,  was 
selected  for  the  Western  Vicariat,  and  was  consecrated 
bishop  on  Sunday  6th  May,  1688,  at  St.  James's  (where  the 
king  had  founded  a  convent  of  fourteen  Benedictine  monks) 
by  the  title  of  Aureliopolis.  In  the  second  week  of  July  the 
new  prelate  confirmed  a  considerable  number  of  youths,  some 
of  them  were  converts,  in  the  new  chapel  of  the  Savoy.  In 
his  lordship's  letter  to  his  eldest  brother,  John,t  dated  from 
St.  James's  26th  August,  1688,  he  describes  the  uneasiness 
of  the  court  at  the  preparations  making  in  Holland  by 
William  Prince  of  Orange  (Ellis  Correspondence,  vol.  ii. 
p.  145).  I  doubt  if  this  Vicar  Apostolic  ventured  to  visit 
his  diocese.  At  the  eruption  of  the  Revolution  in  November 
that  year,  he  was  arrested  and  committed  to  Newgate;  but 
was  soon  restored  to  liberty.  Foreseeing  little  prospect  of 
serving  the  cause  of  religion  in  such  turbulent  times,  he  left 
England  for  St.  Germain's,  and  after  staying  some  time  at 
the  court  of  his  exiled  sovereign,  obtained  permission  to  visit 

*  On  his  arrival  in  London,  the  king  provided  him  with  suitable 
apartments  in  Whitehall,  with  a  pension  of  £1,000.  Mr.  Macaulay 
(Hist.  England,  vol.  ii,  p.  21)  will  have  it  that  Bishop  Leyboume  was 
a  Dominican/    Obiit  1703,  set.  eighty ^hree. 

t  This  John  became  Under-Secretary  of  State  to  King  William  III., 
and  died  s.p.  in  London  in  1738,  set.  ninety-three.  The  second  brother. 
Sir  William  Ellis,  Knight,  was  Secretary  of  State  to  his  exiled  sove- 
reign, and  died  at  Kome  in  1734,  also  without  issue.  The  younger 
brother  to  Philip,  viz.  Welbore  Ellis,  was  made  Bishop  of  Killala  in 
1705,  and  translated  to  the  valuable  See  of  Meath  in  1731  ;  he  died  in 
January,  1734,  leaving  a  family  ennobled  with  the  titles  of  Mendip, 
Clifden,  and  Dover.  The  next  brother,  Samuel,  was  marshal  of  the 
Kino's  Bench  ;  and  Charles,  the  youngest  brother,  took  orders  in  the 
Established  Church. 


296  BIOGRAPHICAL   LIST   OF    THE    CLERGY. 

the  eternal  city.  In  1693  Pope  Innocent  XII.  made  him  an 
assistant  prelate  to  the  throne  :  and  six  years  later,  says 
Weldon,  "  on  the  fea^t  of  St.  Louis,  he  sung  the  High  Mass 
in  the  French  church  at  Rome  before  many  cardinals,  invited 
and  received  by  the  Cardinal  de  Bouillon.  The  prince  of 
Monaco,  ambassador  of  France,  being  then  incognito,  assisted 
in  a  tribune."  Eesigning  his  Western  Vicariat,*  his  Holi- 
ness Clement  XI.  preferred  him  to  the  vacant  see  of  Segni 
in  Campagna  di  Roma  in  1708.  There  he  founded  a  semi- 
nary, over  which  he  vratched  with  parental  zeal  and  solicitude. 
In  November,  1710,  he  held  a  synod  in  the  choir  of  his 
cathedral,  which  was  hung  with  red  silk  for  the  occasion; 
about  seventy  of  his  clergy  attended,  all  of  whom  he  enter- 
tained with  generous  hospitality.  The  acts  of  this  synod 
were  much  approved  of,  and  were  ordered  to  be  printed  and 
published  by  the  above-mentioned  Pope.  In  addition  to  many 
meritorious  deeds,  he  substantially  repaired  and  embellished 
his  episcopal  palace;  to  his  cathedral  he  left  a  splendid 
mitre  and  some  costly  vestments ;  but  the  bulk  of  his  pro- 
perty he  bequeathed  to  his  beloved  seminary.  A  dropsy  of 
the  chest  carried  him  off  on  16th  November,  1726,  set. 
seventy-four,  and  his  honoured  remains  were  deposited  in  the 
centre  of  the  Seminary  Church.  Pope  Leo  XII.  kindly 
gave  Bishop  Ellis's  library  and  ring  to  Bishop  Baines  for  the 
use  of  his  successors  in  the  Western  District.  I  must 
refer  the  reader  to  the  Rambler  of  April  1851,  p.  351,  for  an 
account  of  the  sermons  of  this  eminent  divine. 

A  beautiful  portrait  of  the  bishop,  engraved  by  Meyer,  is 
prefixed  to  "  the  Ellis  Correspondence,"  edited  by  the  Hon. 
George  Agar  Ellis,  in  two  vols,  octavo,  1829. 

Elmer,  Jocelin,  O.S.B.,  a  native,  I  understand,  of  the  West 
of  England,  although  I  cannot  discover  the  precise  locality, 
was  elected  prior  of  St.  Laurence's  Convent  at  Dieulwart, 
near  Verdun,  in  the  diocese  of  Toul  and  Province  of  Lorraine, 
at  the  first  general  chapter  holden  at  St.  Andrew's  House, 
Paris,  1st  June,  1617 ;  and  his  system  of  government  gave 
such  satisfaction,  that  he  was  re-elected  on  2nd  July,  1629, 
for  twelve  consecutive  years.     According  to  Weldon,  he  died 

*  I  have  seen  in  a  M.S.,  written  more  than  a  century  ago,  that  when 
the  bishop  quitted  England,  and  could  not  presently  return,  he  applied 
for  a  coadjutor  to  act  for  him  until  his  majesty's  restoration,  which  it 
was  hoped  would  be  no  distant  event.  He  was  told  either  to  return  to 
the  Western  Vicariat  or  resign.  He  preferred  the  latter.  After  some  years 
Dr.  Andrew  GifFard  was  selected  by  the  title  of  Bishop  of  Ceuturise,  but 
declined,  on  the  plea  of  old  age.  Obiit  14th  September,  1714  ;  buried  at 
St.  Pancras. 


DIOORAPUICAL    LIST    OF    THE    CLERGY.  297 

on  Ist  July,  1651,  "famous  for  his  holy  and  severe  life,  by 
which  he  gave  great  edification  everywhere." 

English,  Ferdinand  Edward,  D.D.,  son  of  John  English, 

of  Bath,  Esq.,  by  his  wife  Frances  {nee  Huddleston),  born 

9th  June,  1819 ;  went  to  Rome  at  the  age  of  twenty ;  was 

made  D.D.  in  August,  1843,  and  in  December  the  same  year 

was  ordained  priest,  and  appointed  vice-rector  of  the  English 

College  under  Dr.  Baggs.     In  1846  he  revisited  England  for 

some  months ;  and  soon  after  his  return  went  on  a  mission 

to  Malta.     In  1848  he  finally  left  Rome  on  account  of  his 

^"ialth,  and  was  appointed  by  Bishop  Ullathorne  to  the  mis- 

■<--  •'if  Cannington.     In  1850  his  present  Holiness  conferred 

him  the  distination  of  Cameriere  di  onore;  and  in  1852 

as  installed  a  canon   of  Clifton   Cathedral.     But  his 

urs  cannot  stop  here. 

roLisH,  Lewis  Bernard,  D.D.,  a  brother  worthy  of  the 
iding ;  born  in  1826.  At  the  age  of  nineteen  he  went 
e  English  College  at  Rome,  and  five  years  later,  in  1850, 
ordained  priest;  and  received  the  doctor's  cap  and  the 
intment  of  vice-rector  of  the  college  under  Dr.  Grant, 
bishop  of  Southwark.  In  1852  his  Holiness  placed  him 
le  head  of  the  CoUegio  Pio  at  Rome,  which,  though  a 
Lct  establishment  from  the  Old  English  College,  having 
yn  superior  and  different  regulations,  is  for  greater 
mience  brought  under  the  same  roof.     Crescat  in  mille 


'.RiNGTON,  George,  Most  Rev.,   born    at  Clintz,   near 

y         y    ^mond,  in  Yorkshire,  about  the  Feast  of  the  Exaltation 

//      yy/^^^  Holy  Cross,  in  September,  1804;   was  educated  at 

''^  •  v/^*^  ^^^w,  and  formed  one  of  the  colony  of  students  to  open 

y  Did  English   College   at  Rome  in   1818,   which  Pope 

/fyl^  yVII.,  in  his  zeal  for  religion,  had  made  over  to  the 

*^f^^Xf~t/'*\^y^  clergy.     Since  that  era,  it  is  wonderful  to  enumerate 

lost  of  learned,  saintly,  and  efficient  ecclesiastics  that 

/y'    issued  from  its  inclosure.     Amongst  the  most  honoured 

^^^'^s,   is  the  subject  of  this  memoir.     Distinguished  by 

and  erudition,  after  receiving  the  priesthood  and  the 

3  of  D.D.,  he  returned  to  his  native  country.    For  some 

''he  presided  over  the  studies  in  St.  Mary's  College, 

Jscott;    then    Sf.  Nicholas's   Chapel,   Liverpool,   had  the 

benefit  of  his  pastoral  zeal ;  but  here  his  stay  was  short,  for 

his  services  were  required  at  Salford,  where  he  completed 

and  opened  the  noble  Church  of  St.  John,  which  stands  an 

eternal  monument   of    his    taste    and  piety.      When  the 


298  BIOGBAPHICAL    LIST   OF   THE    CLEKGY. 

hierarchy  was  estabHshed  for  England  at  Michaelmas,  1850, 
the  energetic  Dr.  Errington  was  thought  the  fittest  to  revive 
and  revigorate  the  poverty-stricken  and  forlorn  condition 
of  the  faithful  dispersed  over  Dorset,  Devon,  and  Corn- 
wall, which  was  assigned  for  the  diocese  of  Plymouth.  He 
saw  nothing  but  labour  before  him ;  but  he  knew  it  was 
the  work  of  God,  and  he  cheerfully  submitted  to  the  labour 
of  the  yoke  and  burden.  On  the  35th  July,  1851,  he  was 
consecrated  bishop  of  Plymouth,  in  his  Church  of  St.  John, 
by  Cardinal  "Wiseman,  together  with  his  old  college  friend, 
Dr.  William  Turner,  who  fortunately,  as  bishop  of  Salford, 
found  a  cathedral  church  already  prepared  for  him.  Our 
new  prelate  hastened  to  his  diocese.  It  was  amusing  to  see 
in  our  provincial  journals  what  rumours  were  rife  against 
him,— that  a  protest  was  to  be  handed  to  him  against  his 
"assumption"  of  the  title, — that  the  parsons  were  on  the 
qui  vive, — that  a  regular,  formal,  and  defiant  challenge 
would  be  given,  when  he  came  to  discuss  his  principles,  &c. 
(See  Devonpwt  Journal  7th  August,  1851,  &c.)  But  this 
bubble  of  excitement  soon  burst,  and  John  Bull  awoke  from 
his  dream  about  "Papal  aggression,"  and  recovered  his 
good-humour. 

On  reaching  his  diocese  in  August,  the  good  bishop,  at  the 
invitation  of  the  late  lamented  Edmund  P.  R.  Bastard,  Esq., 
took  up  his  residence  at  Kitley  until  October,  when  he  fixed 
himself  at  St.  Mary's,  Stonehouse,  and  won  the  respect  of 
the  public  by  his  affability,  business-like  habits,  self-denying 
character,  and  unobtrusive  conduct.  He  was  indefatigable 
in  visiting  every  part  of  his  diocese,  in  attending  the  confer- 
ences of  the  clergy,  and  the  meetings  of  his  chapter.  In 
1852  he  gave  a  spiritual  retreat  to  his  clergy  at  IJgbrooke,, 
and  there  also  held  a  synod  on  14th,  15th,  and  16tli 
February,  1854.  It  is  true  to  say  that  he  infused  a  new 
spirit  in  his  diocese;  and  I  may  apply  to  him  the  words  of 
Job  (chapter  iv.),  "Ecce,  docuisti  multos,  et  manus  lassas 
roborasti ;  vacillantes  confirmaverunt  sermones  tui,  et  genua 
trementia  confortasti." 

Cardinal  Wiseman,  archbishop  of  Westminster,  requiring 
a  coadjutor,  obtained  of  Pope  Pius  IX.,  that  Dr.  Errington 
might  be  his  associate.  The  necessary  bulls,  creating  his  lord- 
ship archbishop  of  Trebizonde,  bear  date  30th  March,  1855. 

In  consequence  of  the  vacancy  in  the  see  of  Clifton  by 
the  death  of  Bishop  Burgess,  27th  November,  1854,  his 
Grace  has  been  filling  for  some  time  the  additional  ofiice  of 
Apostolic  Administrator  of  that  diocese  also.  To  use  the 
words  of   the  old    registrar  of  St.  Alban's  Abbey :    "  Tibi 


BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST   OF    THE    CLERGY.  299 

igitur  ea  sit  merces,  quae  dari  solet  illis,  qui  ad  honorem 
Ecclesise  laudabiliter  student  opera  in  temporibua  suis." 

"  Facilis  minimorum  hsec  vota  clientum  suscipe.  Dent 
longae  superi  tibi  tempera  vitse  canitiemque  sacram  et  plenos 
virtutibus  annos," 


F. 

Fairfax,  Thomas,  S.J. — This  experienced  priest  and 
eminent  oriental  scholar,  often  passed  by  the  name  of 
Beckett ;  he  was  appointed,  in  the  reign  of  James  II.,  to  a 
Professorship  in  Magdalen  College,  Oxford ;  but  amidst  the 
fanatical  violence  of  the  Hevolution,  narrowly  escaped  with 
his  life.  In  1701  Ife  was  living  as  procurator  in  London. 
In  1710,  I  believe,  he  was  residing  at  Wardour.  In  the 
Annual  Letters  of  that  year  I  read,  "  eminet  zelo  et  fructu 
inter  alios  P,  Thomas  Fairfax."  I  meet  him  there  again, 
4th  April,  1711,  when  Bishop  Bonaventure  Giffard,  of 
London'  (who  had  the  charge  of  the  Western  District  also, 
from  the  resignation  of  Bishop  Ellis  until  the  appointment 
of  Bishop  Prichard),  visited  Wardour.  He  is  mentioned  by 
the  late  Dr.  Kirk  in  vol.  ii.  of  the  "  Catholicon,"  p.  131. 
His  death  occurred  on  2nd  March,  1816,  aged  sixty. 

Falkenbr,  John,  S.J.,  of  Dorsetshire.  —  This  learned 
missioner  was  banished  the  realm  in  1618,  but  returned  to 
his  apostolic  labours,  and  resigned  his  soul  to  God  on  7th 
July,  1656,  set.  eighty-three,  soc.  fifty-two.  I  have  described 
his  works  in  page  88  of  the  Collectanea  S.J. 

Fanning,  John. — This  able  and  zealous  ecclesiastic  was 
born  near  Thurles,  co.  Tipperary,  on  10th  November, 
1805.  After  completing  a  course  of  humanities  and  philo- 
sophy in  his  native  country,  he  proceeded  to  Prior-park, 
14th  September,  1836,  to  pursue  his  theological  studies,  and 
there  was  promoted  to  holy  orders. 

His  first  mission  was  Taunton,  on  which  he  entered, 
Saturday,  16th  October,  1841.  Under  his  charge  his  flock 
considerably  increased  in  number  and  merit.  To  oblige  his 
Right  Rev.  friend.  Bishop  Hendren,  he  consented  to  sepa- 
rate himself  from  his  attached  congregation,  and  to  expose 
himself  as  a  forlorn  hope  to  recover  the  misapplied  funds  of 
the  well-founded  but  impoverished  mission  of  Tiverton. 
Here  he  displayed  his  characteristic  tact  and  energy,  from 
the  Advent  of  1848  to  the  Advent  of  1850,  when  he  was 
allowed  to  return  to  the  scene  of  his  first  labours,  to  the 
delight   of    his   numerous    acquaintance.      But  trials  now 


300  BIOGRAPHICAL   LIST    OP    THE    CLERGY. 

awaited  him  with  the  appointment  of  the  new  bishop. 
Dr.  Burgess,  who  made  a  demand  of  j635  from  the  salary  of 
Taunton,  the  interest  of  moneys  supposed  to  have  been 
advanced  by  Bishop  CoUingridge  to  the  place  some  twenty 
years  before  Mr.  Fanning's  appointment  to  it.  To  such  a 
deduction  Mr.  Panning  very  properly  demurred.  The  bishop 
then  offered  him  an  exeat  into  the  Midland  or  Birmingham 
diocese,  but  not  into  the  Plymouth.  Finding  that  he  could 
not  remain  with  any  comfort  where  he  was,  and  that 
Dr.  Ullathorne,  who,  whilst  Vicar  Apostolic  of  the  Western 
District,  before  his  promotion  to  the  see  of  Birmingham,  had 
always  befriended  him,  and  now  offered  to  receive  him,  he 
bade  adieu  to  his  beloved  flock  on  Sexagesima  Sunday, 
30th  January,  1853.  His  sorrowing  congregation,  on  this 
parting,  presented  him  with  a  purse  of  sovereigns  and  the 
following  address. 

"  We,  the  undersigned,  have  heard  with  grief  and  dismay 
that  you  are  to  be  separated  from  us.  Since  you  became 
our  pastor,  on  16th  October,  1841,  you  have  been  all  to  all, 
— enlightening,  counselling,  edifying,  and  consoling  us.  The 
prospects  of  religion  have  wonderfully  brightened  here ;  for 
you  have  conciliated  the  good  opinion  of  our  brethren,  of 
every  creed  and  party,  by  the  urbanity  of  your  manners, 
and  the  benevolence  of  your  character.  We  had  hoped 
that  you  would  have  been  spared  to  us  for  many  years  to 
come ;  and  our  only  consolation  is,  that  you  will  be  received 
with  open  arms  in  another  diocese.  Though  absent,  you 
will  ever  live  in  our  hearts  and  memories. 

"  Be  pleased,  reverend  father,  to  accept  the  accompanying 
tribute  of  our  gratitude ;  and  be  assured,  that  our  prayers 
shall  never  cease  for  your  prosperity.  You  will  leave  us 
your  cherished  blessing,  and  we  feel  confident  that  you  will 
be  mindful  of  us,  your  now  sorrowful  and  very  attached 
children  in  Jesus  Christ,  when  you  stand  at  His  holy  altar. 

"  Taunton,  30th  January,  1853." 

My  reverend  friend  was  immediately  appointed  to  the 
vacant  mission  of  Chipping  Norton,  co.  Oxford;  but  his 
good  bishop,  on  30th  June,  the  same  year  (1853),  transferred 
him  to  the  important  station  at  Wolverhampton,  co.  Staf- 
ford, where  he  opened,  on  1st  May,  1855,  the  noble  Church 
of  SS.  Mary  and  John,  with  unprecedented  solemnity,  and 
where  he  continues  to  labour  with  apostolic  zeal  and  success, 
especially  amongst  the  poor  representatives  of  Jesus  Christ. 

Farmer,  alias  Venner,  Amandus,  O.S.B. — All  that  I 
can  glean  of  this  good  monk  of  Dieulwart  Convent  is  from 


BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST    OF    THE    CLERGY.  301 

Weldon's  Notes,  p.  138,  to  the  effect  that  he  was  a  native  of 
Devon,  a  sedulous  missioner,  and  a  great  sufiferer  in  long  im- 
prisonments and  other  persecutions  patiently  endured  for  the 
faith,  and  that  he  died  in  London  10th  November,  O.S.,  1628, 

Fenn,  John,  bom  at  Montacute,  co.  Somerset;  quitted 
England  soon  after  the  accession  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  and 
for  forty  years  was  chaplain  to  the  English  Augustinian  Nuns 
at  Louvain.  Full  of  days  and  merits,  he  ceased  to  live  on 
27th  December,  1615. 

Fenn,  James,  brother  of  John  aforesaid,  a  priest  of  pro- 
found wisdom  and  piety,  and  a  special  lover  of  holy  poverty. 
He  cultivated  the  vineyard  chiefly  in  his  native  county, 
where  he  reconciled*  several  persons  of  distinction  to  the 
Catholic  Church.  F.  Warford  assures  us  that  "  he  was 
apprehended  in  the  public  road  near  the  house  of  a  Catholic 
gentleman,  named  Giles  Bernard,  who  suffered  much  perse- 
cution on  that  account.  This  house  was  near  Sydney  House, 
London."  He  was  butchered  at  Tyburn  12th  February, 
1584.     See  Challoner's  Memoirs. 

Fenn,  Robert,  brother  to  the  two  preceeding  worthies,  of 
Douay  College,  that  storehouse  of  learned  and  pious  champions 
of  orthodoxy.  Dr.  Bridgewater  in  the  "  Concertatio,"  re- 
cords how  constantly  he  had  endured  imprisonment,  torture, 
and  banishment  in  testimony  of  the  truth. 

Fergtjsson,  Thomas  Tierney,  D.D.,  born  of  a  good  family 
17th  November,  1818.  He  was  destined  for  the  army — was 
duly  appointed  to  a  regiment  serving  in  the  East-Indies,  and 
actually  reached  Calcutta  to  join  it,  when  his  elder  brother, 
an  officer  in  the  same,  was  carried  off  by  death.  The  shock 
of  losing  him  at  such  a  moment  caused  him  to  throw  up 
his  commission,  which,  by  dint  of  family  influence,  was 
given  to  his  younger  brother,  William,  who  also  died  of 
fever  six  weeks  after  joining  the  regiment.  The  subject  of 
this  memoir  proceeded  to  Sidney  with  the  intention  of 
returning  to  his  family;  but  being  introduced  into  some 
Catholic  society,  studied  our  doctrines,  and  was  reconciled 
to  the  Church  in  the  course  of  the  year  1838.  Repair- 
ing to  Rome  he  was,  at  his  earnest  request,  admitted  a 
student  in  the  College  of  the  Propaganda.  By  his  ecclesias- 
tical fervor  of  spirit  and  assiduity  in  study,  he  won  the 
esteem  of  his  rector,  F.  Grassi,  and  of  Cardinal  Fransoni, 
who  promoted  him  to  subdeaconship,  on  Tuesday  19th  March, 
1844,  in  the  College  Church ;  to  the  rank  of  deacon  at  St. 
John  Lateran's  on  Saturday  23rd  March  the  same  year ;  and 


302  BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST   OF    THE    CLERGY. 

to  the  priesthood,  two  days  later,  by  Bishop  Baggs ;  and  the 
friendly  cardinal,  as  a  mark  of  his  special  approbation,  re- 
quired that  he  should  receive  the  ring  and  cap  of  D.D,  before 
he  qmitted  the  college.  He  had  proposed  to  return  to  Sidney 
to  diffuse  the  light  of  faith,  which  there  had  first  beamed  on 
his  soul;  but  the  cardinal  advised  him  to  accompany  to 
England  Dr.  Baggs,  who  had  been  appointed  to  the  charge  of 
the  Western  Vicariat,  vacant  since  the  death  of  Bishop  Baines. 
He  reached  Prior-park  with  his  lordship  on  SOth  May,  1844. 
After  remaining  there  for  some  time,  the  bishop  sent  him  for 
three  months  to  Shortwood ,  and  thence  to  Tawstock,  where 
he  arrived  on  5th  October,  1844.  Here  he  introduced  vocal 
and.  instrumental  music,  and  increased  his  congregation  by 
his  zeal,  and  won  the  esteem  of  the  neighbourhood  by  his 
polished  address.  But  his  letters  to  me  and  others  showed 
that  he  was  dissatisfied  and  uncomfortable  and  unhappy. 
He  quitted  in  disgust  during  the  Christmas  holidays  of  1845. 
Proceeding  to  London,  he  accepted  the  situation  of  secretary 
to  the  Catholic  Association,  and  when  that  was  broken  up, 
took  charge  of  the  small  congregation  at  Fairford,  co. 
Gloucester.  He  was  then  offered  the  incumbency  of  the 
Fulham  mission,  the  church  of  which,  under  the  patronage  of 
St.  Thomas  of  Canterbury,  had  been  commenced  by  his 
relative,  Mrs.  Bowden.  Bishop  Griffiths  laid  its 'first  stone 
on  16th  June,  1847,  and  it  was  opened  on  SOth  May,  1848. 
And  there  my  amiable  friend  is  happy  in  his  laborious 
duties. 

"  Serus  in  coelum  redeas ;  diuque  Iffitus  intersis." 

Since  writing  the  above,  I  regret  to  find  that  Dr.  Fergusson 
has  been  compelled  to  resign  his  mission,  in  consequence  of 
ill-health,  on  5th  October,  1856. 

Ferrall,0',  Patrick,O.S.F.,  son  of  Patrick*  and  Margaret 
O'Ferrall,  born  in  Bristol  21st  November,  1796,  and  bap- 
tized on  23rd  December  by  F.  Robert  Plowden ;  in  early  life 
joined  the  holy  order  of  St.  Francis,  and  eventually  became 
president  of  the  academy  at  Baddesley  Green,  between  Bir- 
mingham and  Warwick,  which  had  been  kept  up  by  his 
province  for  about  a  century..  This  having  been  dissolved  in 
1829,  Bishop  Baines  gladly  availed  himself  of  the  services  of 
this  able  and  worthy  son  of  St.  Francis,  and  on  24th  De- 
cember, 1830,  attached  him  to  St.  Joseph's  Chapel,  in  his 

*  From  the  Register  of  Baptisms  at  St.  Joseph's,  Bristol,  "  1706, 
21  Nov.,  medio  post  pomeridianum,  natus  Patricius  filius,  Patricii' et 
Margarita  Farrel.  Baptizatus  23.  Susceperunt  Patricius  Dillon  et 
Maria  Lee." 


BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST    OF    THE    CLEKGY.  303 

native  city.  Here  he  laboured  with  the  zeal  of  an  apostle. 
On  discovering  that  the  noble  religious  edifice  in  the  open 
part  of  the  Quay,  in  Bristol,  erected  at  the  expense  of 
j615,000,  measuring  90  feet  in  length,  42  in  breadth,  with  a 
transept  of  70  feet,  and  opened  but  in  1840,  was  to  be  sold 
for  £5,000  in  1 843 ;  that  the  purchaser  would  have  to  pay 
£500  on  the  1st  of  June  that  year,  and  on  1st  of  September 
£2,000,  the  rest  to  remain  in  mortgage;  considering  that 
such  an  acquisition  would  be  honourable  to  the  Catholic 
name,  and  highly  calculated  to  promote  the  spiritual  welfare 
of  innumerable  souls,  he  boldly  bid  for  it,  and  won  the 
prize.  It  seemed  already  prepared  for  Catholic  worship; 
and  on  5th  of  July  the  same  year  this  beautiful  church,  built 
by  the  Irvingites,  forsooth  "  for  all  the  members  of  the  one 
holy,  catholic,  apostolic  Church,"  its  title  being  changed  for 
St.  Mary's,  was  solemnly  dedicated  by  Bishop  Baines  on  5th 
July,  1843.  It  was  the  last  public  effort  of  that  eminent 
prelate,  for  he  was  found  a  corpse  the  very  next  morning. 
Most  properly  F.  O'Ferrall  was  installed  the  first  rector  of 
St.  Mary's,  and  I  cordially  hope  that  one  so  deserving  of 
religion,  and  who  requires  an  assistant  in  his  extensive 
mission,  will  meet  the  generous  support  of  the  public. 

Fitz-James,  Nicholas,  O.S.B.,  born  at  Redlinch,  co. 
Somerset ;  professed  on  15th  May,  1608,  and  for  some  years 
filled  the  office  of  Master  of  Novices.  The  venerable  man, 
at  the  age  of  ninety-two,  died  at  Stourton,  Wilts,  on  16th 
May,  1652. 

Fisher,  Charles. — In  page  44  of  Part  I.  I  have  spoken 
of  this  talented  and  wayward  priest.  He  was  born  at 
Teignmouth,  26th  November,  1806,  and  was  the  only  son  of 
Captain  Fisher,  by  his  wife,  Miss  Braham.  This  captain's 
vridow  subsequently  married  Joseph  Garrow,  of  the  Brad- 
dons,  Torquay,  Esq.  After  a  preparatory  education  at  the 
Charter-House,  Charles  was  sent  to  St.  John's  College, 
Cambridge,  with  the  view  of  becoming  a  minister  of  the 
Established  Church.  As  he  told  me  himself,  doubts  of  the 
truth  of  Protestantism  here  grew  upon  him  in  1827 ;  he 
discovered  amongst  Catholics,  he  believed,  a  manifest  supe- 
riority in  probity  and  integrity  of  morals,  and  aware  that 
Christ's  Church  was  to  be  recognized  by  its  fruits,  he 
hastened  to  join  the  Catholic  communion.  Proceeding  to 
Prior-park,  then  recently  opened,  he  commenced  a  course  of 
ecclesiastical  studies  to  qualify  himself  for  holy  orders. 
Knowing,  as  I  did,  his  impetuosity  and  excitability  of  tem- 
perament,   I  thought  it  a  duty  to   caution  Bishop  Baines 


304  BIOGKAPHICAIi    LIST    OP    THE    CLERGY. 

against  too  easily  admitting  him  to  the  subdiaconate ;  he 
acquiesced  in  my  opinion  :  and  sure  enough  he  broke  off  from 
this  bishopj  quitted  Prior-park  abruptly^  and  repaired  to 
St.  Edmund's  College.  There  he  conducted  himself,  how- 
ever, with  so  much  propriety,  that  he  gained  the  good 
graces  of  Bishop  Bramston,  who  ordained  him  subdeacon  in 
the  Advent  of  1831.  Soon  after  this,  he  sought  a  reconciha- 
tion  with  Bishop  Baines,  and,  having  obtained  it,  returned 
to  Prior-park,  and  showed  such  excellent  dispositions,  that 
his  Lordship,  in  the  Advent  of  1832,  made  him  deacon,  and 
on  Saturday  in  Pentecost  week,  1st  June,  1833,  promoted 
him  to  priesthood.  The  good  bishop,  on  the  following 
Monday,  3rd  June,  wrote  to  me  as  follows :  "  I  trust  he  will 
turn  out  well.  He  wiU  not  be  allowed  to  go  out  for  a 
considerable  time,  his  divinity,  &c.,  being  unfinished."  But 
he  was  unfortunately  allowed  almost  immediately  to  go  on 
the  Talacre  mission,  whence  he  was  recalled  to  the  college 
for  his  eccentricities ;  then  he  was  transferred,  in  the  middle 
of  November,  1833,  to  Chepstow,  where  he  did  remain  until 
30th  June,  1834;  and  then  he  was  hurried  to  Axminster, 
17th  July  next  ensuing.  Within  three  months  he  got 
permission  to  quit  for  Lyme,  where  he  laid  the  foundation- 
stone  of  the  present  Church  of  SS.  George  and  Michael,  on 
23rd  April,  1835.  With  his  characteristic  restlessness,  he 
was  off  to  Poole  soon  after  the  foundations  appeared  above 
ground.  Thence  he  made  a  tour  to  the  Continent,  and 
during  his  stay  at  Rome  was  made  a  prelate  by  Pope 
Gregory  XVI.,  27th  January,  1837;  but  the  title  of 
Monsignore  expired  with  his  HoUness  in  1846.  Returning 
to  England,  this  clever  but  wayward  priest  was  employed  at 
Torquay,  at  Chepstow  again,  at  Leamington,  at  Aldenham 
Hall ;  but  for  the  last  four  or  five  years  of  his  life  remained 
unemployed,  and  from  Ascension  Day,  1851,  was  not  per- 
mitted to  celebrate  Mass  even  in  private.  By  the  death  of 
his  mother  and  sister  he  had  succeeded  to  a  sufficient  main- 
tenance for  any  reasonable  ecclesiastic ;  but  he  was  naturally 
extravagant ;  and  fomenting  the  secret  passion,  after  many 
warnings,  and  in  spite  of  bitter  remorse  of  conscience, 
suffered  the  shipwreck  of  faith,  and  went  over  to  the  Pro- 
testant Church  at  Lyme  on  29th  February,  1852.  His  child, 
by  his  cook,  he  baptized  himself;  fortunately,  the  infant, 
dying  very  soon  after  the  ceremony,  was  translated  into 
paradise. 

My  unhappy  and  most  unfortunate  friend,  about  three 
weeks  before  his  death,  received  a  visit  from  the  priest  at 
Lyme.     Towards  the  end  of  the  interview  he  became  much 


BIOGRAPHICAL   LIST   OP    THE    CLERGY.  305 

affected;  and  at  parting  thus  addressed  him,  "Mr.  Kelly, 
you  say  Mass  to-morrow ;  pray  for  me,  and  recommend  me 
to  the  prayers  of  the  congregation."  Before  Mr.  Kelly 
could  commence  the  service,  he  received  from  him  the 
following  note  :  "  Mr.  Fisher  forbids  Mr.  Kelly  naming  him 
to  the  congregation  this  morning.  Mr.  Kelly  must  not 
answer  this,  nor  call  again  at  Mr.  Fisher's,  as  their  confer- 
ence has  ended."  Delirium  had  seized  upon  him,  and  never 
quitted  him  until  death,  on  Monday  night,  5th  September, 
1853.  He  was  buried  on  Saturday,  10th,  in  the  cemetery  of 
Monkton  Wyld,*  near  Charmouth. 

For  a  long  time  he  had  given  proofs  of  a  disordered  mind. 
I  trust  that  a  most  merciful  God  took  pity  on  him. 
"  So  may  he  rest — his  faults  lie  gently  on  him  ! " 

Fisher,  John,  S.J.,  at  the  age  of  twenty  joined  the 
Society,  and  eight  years  later  was  sent  to  the  Devonshire 
mission,  where,  I  think,  he  died  20th  October,  1645,  set. 
forty-six. 

Fisher,  Samubld,  O.S.F. — This  true  disciple  of  the 
seraphic  Father  was  born  at  Uppingham,  co.  Rutland, 
20th  October,  1792;  he  succeeded  Mr.  Baudouin  at  Taunton 
12th  November,  1818.  After  contributing  greatly  by  his 
zeal  and  abilities  to  the  propagation  of  the  Catholic  faith  in 
that  town  and  neighbourhood,  he  had  the  comfort  of  seeing 
the  foundation-stone  of  a  public  chapel  laid  in  the  Crescent  on 
13th'  April,  1821,  and  of  witnessing  its  opening  on  3rd  July, 
1822.  He  was  ordered,  within  six  months  later,  to  take 
charge  of  the  Poor  Clares  at  Plymouth,  where  he  arrived 
on  3rd  January,  1823,  and  continued  with  them  until  they 
left  Plymouth  for  Gravelines  on  28th  May,  1834 ;  but  busi- 
ness detained  him  on  the  premises  till  Midsummer  of  that 
year.  Since  that  period  he  has  been  stationed  at  Llanarth 
Court,  CO.  Monmouth. 

Flynn,  Thomas,  O.S.F. — This  native  of  Ireland,  a  man  of 
zeal  and  of  herculean  strength,  was  the  first  resident  incum- 
beut  of  the  laborious  mission  of  Plymouth.  His  chapel 
was  over  a  stable  in  the  rear  of  the  George  Inn,  Devonport. 
After  nearly  ten  years  of  indefatigable  zeal,  he  resigned  his 
charge  to  the  Rev.  J.  Lewis  Guilbert  in  February,  1803, 
and  went  to  Bardstown,  now  the  episcopal  see  of  Kentucky ; 
since  then  I  can  learn  nothing  of  him. 

FoGARTY,  John,  of  Ireland. — On  his  ordinations,  he  was 

*  A  perpetual  curacy  recently  formed  out  of  the  extensive  parish  of 
White  Church  Canonicorum. 


306  BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST    OF    THE    CLEEGY. 

sent  to  Glasgow,  where  over-exertion  induced  exhaustion. 
He  came  down  to  Taunton  for  the  benefit  of  his  health, 
and  for  a  short  time  felt  himself  equal  to  the  charge  of 
the  mission  there  j  but  was  soon  obliged  to  resign.  The 
good  nuns  of  the  convent  harboured  this  young  talented 
missioner,  who  died  3rd  November,  1850,  set.  twenty-seven, 
of  a  deep  decline,  and  honourably  buried  him  in  their  own 
cemetery.     May  Heaven  reward  their  charity  ! 

Ford,  Thomas. — This  native  of  Devon,  abandoning  his 
fellowship  in  Trinity  College,  Oxford,  and  all  his  worldly 
prospects,  passed  over  to  Douay  College  in  1571.  In  that 
seminary  of  martyrs  he  became  one  of  its  first  priests  two 
years  later.  After  spending  about  six  years  in  the  cultiva- 
tion of  the  vineyard,  he  was  arrested  at  Lyford,  co.  Berks, 
17th  July,  1581  j  and  on  28th  May  following  was  barba- 
rously butchered  at  Tyburn.  See  Challoner's  Memoirs ;  and 
also  note  in  the  Appendix. 

Forrester,  Charles,  alias  Fleury,  S.J.,  was  bom  in 
France  21st  April,  1739;  entered  the  Novitiate  in  1756. 
From  his  own  narrative  we  learn  that  in  company  with 
F.  Edward  Howard,  S.J.,  he  reached  Ostend  on  Saturday 
evening  3rd  August,  1767,  to  proceed  to  his  destined  mission 
at  Linstead  Lodge,  the  seat  of  Lord  Teynham.  Both  desired 
to  say  Mass  the  next  morning  before  they  sailed  for  Eng- 
land; their  host  managed  this,  and  served  them  himself  at 
three  in  the  morning,  but  warned  them  that  "  un  ministre 
Anglican  les  guettoit  soigneusement."  In  effect  this  plotter 
of  mischief  had  given  up  his  lodging  at  another  inn,  and  his 
place  in  another  vessel,  to  be  close  to,  and  embark  with  them. 
On  arriving  at  Dover,  his  information  procured  for  them 
a  strict  search  at  the  Custom  House ;  but  Mr.  Forrester  had 
previously  arranged  to  send  their  books,  relics,  &c.,  by 
another  way.  Their  prying  companion  stuck  close,  and 
followed  them  to  Canterbury  and  thence  to  Rochester. 
Here  Mr.  Forrester  fortunately  met  a  friend,  to  whom  he 
related  how  they  were  dodged.  It  was  then  settled  that  a 
postchaise  was  to  be  sent  for,  into  which  Mr.  Forrester  stepped 
and  drove  off  to  Linstead  Lodge  in  that  neighbourhood. 
Mr.  Howard's  destination  was  London.  Suddenly  the 
parson  missed  half  his  prey ;  his  untired  malice  vowed 
revenge;  and  in  consequence  of  his  misrepresentations, 
Mr.  Howard  had  to  experience  much  unworthy  treatment  at 
Deptford. 

When  F.  Forrester  had  been  between  two  and  three  years 
at  Linstead  Lodge,  a  young  woman  applied  to  him  for  in- 


BIOGIIAPHICAL    LIST    OF    THE    CLERGY.  307 

struction,  as  she  desired  to  become  a  Catholic.  The  zealous 
parson  of  the  parish,  Mr.  Fox,  got  intelligence  of  this,  and  in 
the  fermentation  of  his  spirit  acquainted  his  grace  of  Canter- 
bury of  the  impending  e\dl,  who  directed  him  to  prevent 
the  mischief  and  to  make  a  formal  visitation  at  Linstead 
Lodge,  and  severely  lecture  its  chaplain.  Arriving  in  his 
canonicals,  he  demanded  to  see  Mr.  Forrester,  and  was  shown 
into  a  small  parlour.  Mr.  Forrester  obeyed  the  impertinent 
summons,  when  the  following  dialogue  took  place. 

Parson.  Servant,  sir. 

Mr,  Forrester.     Yours,  sir. 

Parson.  You  are  a  Popish  priest,  I  believe. 

Mr.  Forrester.  I  ^ave  the  honour  to  be  Lord  Teynham's 
chaplain. 

Parson.  You  preach,  I  understand,  sir  ? 

Mr.  Forrester.  I  make  it  my  endeavour  to  give  every  one 
who  addresses  me  all  the  satisfaction  in  my  power. 

Parson.  And  pray  do  you  talk  to  such  persons  in  Latin  or 
English  ? 

Mr.  Forrester.  As  I  always  endeavour  to  speak  so  as  to  be 
understood,  I  should  defeat  my  own  purpose,  and  act  Uke  a 
fool  to  talk  to  persons,  mostly  of  the  lower  class  and  illiterate, 
in  the  Latin  language. 

Parson.  Oh,  very  well,  sir !  you  may  speak  as  you  please 
to  those  of  your  own  way  of  thinking,  but  I  understand  you 
are  tampering  with  N.N.  I  promise,  if  you  attempt  to  make 
proselytes,  I  shall  enforce  the  penal  laws  against  you ;  I  have 
full  authority,  and  even  orders  so  to  do. 

Mr.  Forrester  (rising  from  his  chair  and  presenting  his 
hand  cordially  to  his  visitor).  Give  me  leave,  dear  sir,  in 
such  case,  to  add  to  my  respect  for  you  the  warmest  assurance 
of  gratitude  as  to  a  person  whom  I  must  regard  as  singularly 
and  truly  my  benefactor. 

Parson.  What  do  you  mean,  sir  ? 

Mr.  Forrester.  Exactly  what  I  say,  sir.  For  in  the  event 
of  your  putting  your  threat  into  execution  I  shall  be  raised 
by  you  to  the  blessing  pronounced  by  Jesus  Christ  himself, 
upon  those  who  suffer  persecution  for  justice'  sake. 

Parson  (astonished  and  a  little  confused) .  I  don't  under- 
stand you.  What  do  you  mean  ?  I  never  heard  any  one 
talk  in  this  manner  before.     Are  you  in  earnest  ? 

Mr.  Forrester.  From  the  very  bottom  of  my  heart,  I 
assure  you,  sir,  such  are  my  real  sentiments. 

The  parson  gradually  calmed  down,  waived  the  subject, 
and  took  a  very  civil  leave.  A  few  weeks  later  he  sent  a 
polite  invitation  to  Lord  and  Lady  Teynham,  soliciting  the 

X  2 


308 


BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST    OF    THE    CLERGY. 


honour  of  their  company  to  a  fite,  and  specially  requested 
that  Rev.  Mr.  Forrester  might  be  one  of  the  party.  Nay, 
after  some  months,  he  actually  sent  his  two  sons  for  educa- 
tion at  St.  Otner's  College. 

So  much  for  consistency  of  principle,  and  still  more  for  the 
power  of  mildness  and  humility  ! 

F.  Forrester  continued  at  Linstead  Lodge  until  28th 
January,  1775,  and  on  10th  February  of  that  year  reached 
Wardour,  and  on  6th  October  following  removed  from  the 
old  house  under  the  ruined  castle  into  the  present  noble 
residence  of  the  family.  Two  large  rooms  served  the  pur- 
poses of  a  temporary  chapel  until  the  new  edifice  could  be 
solemnly  blessed  on  the  eve  of  All  Saints,  1776,  and  the  next 
day  was  opened  with  a  solemn  High  Mass,  unprecedented 
in  those  days,  except  in  ambassadors'  chapels.  At  the  end  of 
eighteen  years  he  formally  resigned  the  charge  of  the  Wardour 
Mission,  which  had  greatly  increased  under  his  zealous  adr 
ministration,  for  the  position  of  private  chaplain  to  his  illus- 
trious patrons.  In  1810  he  quitted  Wardour  with  the 
Dowager  Lady  Arundell,  for  her  seat  at  Irnham,  co.  Lincoln, 
and  adhered  to  her  until  her  pious  death  20th  June,  1813. 
Shortly  after  he  retired  to  Newhall,  near  Chelmsford,  where 
he  closed  an  honoured  life  by  the  death  of  the  just,  2nd  May, 
1823,  8et.  eighty-six. 

F.  Forrester  was  an  able  and  accomplished  gentleman,  and 
full  of  the  ecclesiastical  spirit.  In  his  goodness  of  heart, 
without  suflBcient  deliberation,  he  associated  himself  to  the 
Paquanarists,  who  had  an  establishment  at  Kensington ;  but 
he  soon  discovered  his  error,  and  eventually  reunited  himself 
to  the  restored  Society  of  Jesus. 

His  venerable  uncle,  F.  Peter  Anthony  Lawrence  Fleury, 
S.  J.,  was  hospitably  received,  at  the  French  Revolution, 
by  Lord  and  Lady  Arundell;  and  at  his  death,  6th  De- 
cember, 1797,  set.  seventy-one,  at  Wardour,  was  honour- 
ably interred  in  the  family  vault  beneath  the  church 
sanctuary. 

FossE,  DB  LA,  James,  an  exemplary  priest  of  Rouen,  who, 
in  the  autumn  of  1795,  accepted  the  place  of  director  of 
Lanherne  Convent,  and  seven  years  later,  on  the  departure 
of  L'Abbe  Riout  for  France,  the  additional  charge  of  the 
congregation.  He  died  there  27th  November,  1817,  set. 
sixty-nine,  and  was  buried  in  the  chapel  he  had  served, 

FouRNiER,  Paul  Augustin.  —  At  the  French  Revolution 
this  priest  of  Vitre  emigrated  to  Portugal.  After  some  years 
he  transferred  himself  to  England,  and  is  connected  with  the 


BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST    OF    THE    CLERGY.  309 

West,  by  having  had  charge  of  the  faithful  band  at  Calver- 
leigh,  from  15th  March,  1811,  until  his  sudden  death  by- 
apoplexy  on  18th  January,  1819,  aged  sixty-seven.  He  was 
buried  in  Calverleigh  churchyard.  I  never  knew  a  more 
methodical,  unobtrusive,  and  exemplary  priest. 

Fox,  Laurence  Charles  Prideaux,  O.M.I.,  born  at 
Kingsbridge,  Devon,  22nd  August,  1820.  His  parents, 
Robert  Ware  Fox  and  Rachel  Cookworthy  were  members 
of  the  Society  of  Friends.  Their  son,  after  practising  as 
a  dentist  at  Torquay,  received  the  grace  of  vocation  to 
the  Catholic  faith,  applied  to  F.  M'Donnell  for  instruction, 
and  by  that  experienced  guide  was  introduced  into  God's 
Church  on  1 5th  Au^st,  1843.  Piety  led  him  on  to  the  Insti- 
tute of  the  Oblates  of  Mary  the  Immaculate,  five  years  later, 
on  15th  August,  1848.  Bishop  Gillis  ordained  him  priest 
at  Galashiels,  Roxburghshire,  on  10th  August,  1853 ;  and  he 
said  his  first  Mass  on  15th  of  the  same  month,  at  Abbots- 
ford,  once  the  residence  of  the  celebrated  Sir  Walter 
Scott,  Bart,  (as  it  happened  on  the  birthday  of  that  illus- 
trious scholar),  but  now  the  property  of  the  learned  convert, 
Mr.  Hope  Scott. 

The  reverend  gentlemen  has  lately  moved  from  the  house 
at  Galashiels  to  Sickling  Hall,  near  Wetherby. 

Frost,  James,  O.S.F.,  a  man  of  real  merit  and  of  deserved 
distinction  in  his  order;  elected  13th  July,  1770,  guardian 
of  St.  Bonaventure's,  Douay,  and  provincial  30th  August, 
1782.  His  name  is  entitled  to  be  perpetuated  for  his  diligent 
cultivation  of  the  Ugbrook  mission  for  full  ten  years.  See 
Chapter  Book  of  30th  November,  1756,  though  his  register 
commences  only  with  October,  1757,  and  concludes  with 
June,  1766.  To  the  sincere  regret  of  the  ClifiFord  family,  he 
was  recalled  by  his  superiors  to  be  president  of  Edgebaston 
School.  This  amiable  gentleman  died  at  Wootton  3rd  October, 
1785,  aged  fifty-four. 

Fryer,  Charles,  nephew,  I  believe,  of  the  celebrated  pre- 
sident of  the  English  College  at  Lisbon.  After  serving 
Marnhull  for  some  time  he  was  transferred  to  London, 
where  he  died,  23rd  June,  1811.  His  brother,  William 
Victor  Fryer,  D.D.,  educated  at  Lisbon,  was  for  many  years 
the  first  chaplain  to  the  Portuguese  Chapel,  South-street, 
London ;  and  when  that  was  closed,  attached  himself  par- 
tially as  chaplain  to  the  Countess  de  Front ;  but  died  in  his 
own  house,  South-street,  on  the  6th  of  September,  1844, 
aged  seventy-nine. 


310  BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST    OF    THE    CLERGY. 

Pryer,  William,  born  of  an  ancient  family  in  co.  Somer- 
set ;  completed  his  studies  at  Douay  College ;  but  owing  to 
the  weak  state  of  his  health  was  obliged  to  return  to  his 
native  country  before  his  promotion  to  priesthood.  Bishop 
Challoner  having  at  length  ordained  him,  sent  him  to  St. 
Alban's  College  at  Valladolid.  Until  the  suppression  of  the 
S.J.  this  house,  and  the  two  smaller  ones  at  Madrid  and 
Seville,  founded  to  train  missionaries  for  England,  were  under 
the  government  of  the  fathers,  but  after  their  expulsion  from 
Spain,  were  made  over  to  the  jurisdiction  of  Bishop  Challoner. 

His  lordship  merged  the  two  minor  establishments  of 
Madrid  and  Seville  into  the  college  of  Valladolid.  In  this 
college  Mr.  Fryer  filled  the  office  of  vice-president  for  twelve 
years.  On  the  retirement  of  the  Rev.  James  Barnard  from 
the  presidency  of  the  Lisbon  College,  Dr.  Eryer  was  appointed 
his  successor  in  1783,  and  under  his  firm,  gentle,  and  eflS- 
cient  government,  the  house  assumed  a  renovated  appearance. 
This  worthy  superior  fell  a  victim  to  a  scorbutic  complaint 
on  15th  August,  1805. 

Another  priest  of  this  name  and  family  died  on  5th 
June,  1849,  at  Cowes,  Isle  of  Wight,  at  the  early  age  of 
thirty-one,  leaving  two  reverend .  brothers,  J.  and  Alfred 
Pryer. 

Furlong,  Jonathan,  born  in  co.  Limerick  27th  September, 
1796,  was  educated  at  Maynooth,  ordained  priest  there  on 
12th  June,  1824;  succeeded  the  Rev.  Maurice  O'Connor  at 
Lanherne,  30th  October,  1826;  but  two  months  later  ex- 
changed with  the  Rev.  Robert  Piatt  for  Axminster,  where  he 
exerted  himself  in  collecting  subscriptions  towards  the  erec- 
tion of  the  present  chapel  of  St.  Mary ;  but  he  quitted  the 
place  at  Michaelihas,  1827,  as  the  Bishop  of  Killala  required 
his  services. 

Furlong,  Moses,  O.C,  D.D.,  bom  in  co.  Lancashire  17th; 
March,  1810;  ordained  priest  with  Charles  Fisher,  already 
mentioned  at  Prior  Park,  on  1st  June,  1833.  After  render- 
ing valuable  service  to  that  college  as  vice-president  and 
occasional  missionary,  he  was  ordered  to  Lanherne  for 
St.  Clare's  feast  in  1842;  but  his  stay  was  short,  for  he 
became  a  member  of  the  Institute  of  Charity  at  Ratcliflfe 
College,  and  has  since  been  employed  at  Rugby. 

FuRSDON  (Cuthbert),  John,  O.S.B. — This  eldest  son  of 
Mr.  Fursdon,  of  Fursdon,  Cadbury,  Devon,  was  the  happy 
instrument  of  converting  the  Falkland  family.  He  died  in 
London,  2nd  February,  1638. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST    OF    THE    CLEfiGY.  311 

FiTESDON  (Cuthbert),  ThomaSj  O.S.B.,  I  think,  was 
younger  brother  of  John  Fursdon.  He  was  never  attached 
to  any  mission ;  but  died  in  the  convent  at  Dieulwart,  where 
he  had  passed  sixty  years,  on  21st  December,  1677,  set. 
ninety-two. 

G. 

Gallagher,  John  J. — After  trying  various  places,  Gibraltar 
amongst  the  rest,  he  was  accepted  for  Chidiock,  where  he 
took  rest  in  1853  and  1854.  He  is  now  stationed  at  Wolver- 
hampton. 

Gakoni,  Henry. — In  early  life  he  entered  amongst  the 
Benedictines.     Quitting  Italy  for  England,  he  was  admitted 
to  the  office  of  librarian  at  Oscott  College ;  and  has,  for  some 
years,  been  chaplain  to  Mrs.   Stonor  at  Ringrove   House,     / 
Selcombe,  and  at  Lyneham,  Devonshire. 

Gates,  Robert  Peter,  born  1st  February,  1787.  After 
trying  several  places,  in  March,  1827,  he  undertook  Falmouth, 
which  he  quitted  for  Axminster  on  13th  September  following.  / 
This  mission  proving  unsatisfactory,  he  left  it  at  the  end  of  a 
twelvemonth  for  Usk.  After  other  experiments,  I  find  that 
his  present  station  is  at  Ipswich. 

Gavan,  or  Gawen,*  John,  S.J.,  doubtless  intimately  con- 
nected with  the  Gawens  of  Norrington,  Wilts,  mentioned  in 
Part  I.,  chapter  ix.  In  early  life  he  was  sent  to  St.  Omer's 
College,  where,  by  his  dove-like  innocence,  he  merited  the 
name  of  the  "  angel."  On  28th  May,  1666,  I  find  him 
defending  the  whole  course  of  philosophy  at  Liege,  with  his 
talented  conffhre  Charles  Evans.  After  finishing  his  theolo- 
gical studies  and  receiving  the  order  of  priesthood,  P.  Gawen 
was  stationed  at  Wolverhampton,  a  fitting  theatre  for  his  zeal 
and  eloquence ;  but  when  the  perjuries  of  the  miscreant 
Gates  and  Dugdale  had  maddened  the  English  nation,  the 
course  of  the  practical  usefulness  of  our  pious  missionary 
was  closed,  by  his  arrest  and  imprisonment.  After  twenty 
weeks'  confinement  he  was  brought  to  trial,  at  the  Old  Bailey, 
in  June,  1672,  with  FF.  Whitbread,  Harcourt,  Fen  wick,  and 
Turner.  Their  innocence  of  the  plot  was  made  transparent 
to  every  calm  spectator ;  but  a  jury,  terrified  by  an  imaginary 
danger,  brought  in  a  verdict  of  Guilty,  and  all  five  were  led, 
like  their  blessed  Lord,  as  sheep  to  the  slaughter,  on  30th 
June,  N.S.     Father  Gawen  exchanged  a  miserable  life  for 

*  See  the  title-page  to  his  Trial,  as  published  by  authority  in  1679. 


313  BIOGRAPHICAI.    LIST   OF    THE    CLERGY. 

immortality  at  the  early  age  of  thirty-nine,  rel.  nineteen, 
prof.  one. 

N.B.  In  my  humble  opinion  F.  Ambrose  Gawen,  O.S.B., 
professed  at  Lambspring  31st  March,  1690,  and  who  died 
3rd  September,  1737,  was  a  member  of  this  respectable 
family. 

Geary,  Anselm,  O.S.B.,  professed  at  Lambspring  15th 
April,  1733;  served  Leighland  for  some  time;  died  at  Bath 
23rd  March,  1795,  set.  eighty-two. 

Gerard,  William,  born  at  Beerland  Farm,  near  Chidiock, 
11th  September,  1754 ;  was  chiefly  educated  at  Douay.  From 
1784  until  24th  May,  1830,  when  God  released  his  soul  from 
the  prison  of  the  body,  the  venerable  man  was  chaplain  at 
Llanarth  Court,  co.  Monmouth. 

Gibbons,  John,  S.J.,  born  in  the  city  of  Wells,  in  1544. 
This  learned  divine  resigned  his  canonry  at  Bonn,  to  which 
he  had  been  collated  by  Pope  Gregory  XIII.,  to  become  the 
humble  novice  of  the  Society  at  Triers  in  1578.  He  died 
rector  of  the  college  there,  3rd  December,  1589.  It  is  known 
that  he  had  the  principal  hand  in  the  "  Concertatio  Ecclesise 
Catholicae"  in  England,  though  after  the  first  edition  at 
Triers  in  1583,  Dr.  Bridgewater  augmented  the  work  in  his 
editions  of  1584  and  1588. 

Gibbons,  Richard,  S.J.,  younger  brother  of  John  afore- 
said, but  who  had  entered  the  Society  at  Rome  1st  September, 
1573.  Few  scholars  have  been  more  indefatigable  as  pro- 
fessors and  authors.  His  most  useful  life  closed  at  Douay 
33rd  June,  1633,  set.  eighty-three.  For  the  list  of  his  works 
see  Southwell's  "Bibliotheca  Scriptorum  S.J." 

Gibson,  Isaac,  S.J. — Of  his  early  life  I  can  barely  glean, 
that  at  the  age  of  nineteen  he  joined  the  Jesuits;  that  after 
his  promotion  to  the  priesthood  he  was  employed  in  the 
Gloucestershire  mission,  and  that  he  died  10th  November, 
1738,  aged  sixty-four. 

GiLDART,  George  Thomas. — In  the  twelfth  chapter  of 
the  first  Part,  page  117,  I  have  given  all  I  could  collect 
of  this  worthy  gentleman,  who  died  17th  February,  1827, 
aged  sixty-three. 

Gilbert,  William,  S.J.,  a  native  of  co.  Somerset. — At 
the  age  of  twenty  he  dedicated  himself  to  God  in  the  Society, 
and  was  enrolled  amongst  its  professed  fathers  8th  September, 
1645.  He  closed  his  missionary  life  23nd  December,  1677, 
set.  seventy. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST    OF    THE    CLERGY.  313 

GiLLiBRANDj  RicHARD,  S.  J.,  of  Chorley,  born  2nd 
March,  1717;  he  entered,  with  his  elder  brother  William, 
into  the  Watten  novitiate  in  1735.  He  is  connected  with 
the  west  by  having  been  for  some  time  the  incumbent  at 
Arlington,  near  Barnstaple.  His  death  took  place  at  Bath 
on  23rd  March,  1774. 

GiLLiBRAND,  WiLLiAM,  S.J. — After  serving  several  chap- 
laincies, he  came  into  the  west,  and  was  the  first  resident 
incumbent  of  Exeter, — a  situation  which  he  occupied  for 
about  four  or  five  years.  He  then  succeeded  to  the  patrimonial 
estate  at  Chorley,  where  he  ended  his  days  22nd  March,  1779, 
aged  sixty-four. 

GiLMORE,  Paul,  O.S.B. — From  the  profession-book  of 
Lambspring  Abbey,  I  learn  that  he  was  born  at  B,amsbury, 
in  Wilts ;  that  he  took  the  habit  there  on  27th  June,  1685. 
That  he  went  into  the  house  of  eternity  in  1748  appears  to  be 
certain.  I  suspect  that  this  religious  was  the  author  of 
"  The  Pious  Monitor  of  the  Divine  Presence." 

GiRARD,  l'Abbe  Bernard,  succeeded  the  worthy  M.  Du- 
cherain  at  Gloucester,  in  1816,  and  retained  that  incum- 
bency until  his  death  on  4th  November,  1825,  aged  sixty- 
four.— See  Part  I.  p.  117. 

Glassbrook,  AnselMj  O.S.B.,  was  born  at  Wigan  12th 
February,  1803;  went  to  St.  Edmund's  Convent,  Douay, 
in  September,  1818,  and  was  professed  there  13th  October, 
1823 ;  he  studied  theology  partly  there,  and  partly  at 
St.  Sulpice,  Paris;  and  was  ordained  priest  in  September, 
1828.  Twice  he  has  been  employed  at  Cheltenham;  but 
the  chief  scene  of  his  missionary  labours  has  been  in  the 
north  of  England,  especially  at  Workington,  Cumberland, 
in  which  county  he  had  the  satisfaction  of  establishing 
the  new  mission  at  Maryport.  After  serving  Fairford,  in 
Gloucestershire,  for  four  years,  and  understanding  that  the 
salary  would  cease  at  the  death  of  Lord  De  Mauley,  he 
managed  to  secure  an  eligible  spot  in  Cirencester,  where  he 
has  the  merit  of  having  opened  a  chapel. 

Godwin,  Ignatius,  S.J.,  of  Somersetshire. — ^At  the  age  of 
twenty-two  he  joined  the  order,  and  for  twenty  years  was 
employed  in  the  residence  of  St.  Stanislaus,  which  included 
Devon  and  Cornwall,  viz.  from  1631  to  1651.  He  then 
retired  to  Liege,  where  he  was  appointed  Professor  of  Moral 
Divinity  and  .Controversy;  and  there  published,  in  1656, 
that  excellent  treatise,  "  Lapis  Lydius  Controversiarum,"  in 
24mo.  pp.  446 ;  and  in  the  ensuing  year,  the  "  Pia  Exerci- 


314  BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST   OF    THE    CLERGY. 

tatio   Dlvini  Amoris."      Returning   to    England,    he   died 
quietly  in  London,  26tli  November,  1667,  set  sixty-five. 

Godwin,  Henry,  bom  at  Liverpool,  14th  December, 
1821 ;  he  made  his  studies  at  Lisbon,  and  at  the  age  of 
twenty-five  was  promoted  to  priesthood.  In  1847  he  was 
appointed  to  the  mission  of  Gloucester,  void  by  the  death  of 
F.  Hartley;  but  when  he  had  done  duty  there  for  seven 
months,  was  transferred  to  the  larger  field  of  Plymouth. 
This  also  he  left  in  January,  1850.  Thence  he  proceeded  to 
Fairford,  and  St.  Mary's,  at  Bristol. 

Good,  William,  S.J.,  a  native  of  Glastonbury,  and  one 
of  the  earliest  of  our  countrymen  who  joined  the  Jesuits  ; 
for  he  entered  their  novitiate  at  Tournay,  in  1562.  This 
truly  good  father,  as  Dr.  Allen  styles  him,  after  ren- 
dering important  services  to  religion,  closed  a  life  of  pious 
labour  at  Naples  5th  July,  1586. —  See  Collectanea  S.J., 
p.  105. 

Gordon. — All  that  I  can  as  yet  learn  of  this  reverend 
gentleman  amounts  to  this,  that  he  was  chaplain  to  Mrs. 
Bearcroft,  daughter  of  Sir  Walter  Compton,  Bart.,  at  Hart- 
pury-court,  about  the  year  1770. 

GosroRD,  Edward  Alfred,  was  serving  Bridport  in  1852, 
and  went  to  supply  in  other  districts.  He  then  went  to  the 
family  of  the  Biddells  at  Cheeseburn  Grange,  Northumber- 
land ;  but  he  quitted  this  mission  early  in  1856. 

Gossier,  Joseph  Francis,  born  at  Dieppe  in  1766;  he 
finished  his  studies  at  Rouen,  and  at  the  period  of  the  French 
Revolution  was  vicar  of  St.  James's  in  his  native  town.  This 
highly-gifted  and  much  respected  ecclesiastic  is  connected 
with  the  west  by  having  been  attached  to  the  Arundell 
family  from  26th  August,  1800,  residing  much  at  Ashcombe, 
near  Wardour.  Everard,  the  tenth  Lord  Arundell,  who  was 
his  pupil  for  several  years,  and  felt  under  deep  obligations  to 
such  a  tutor,  wished  me  to  retain  his  name  amongst  the 
Wiltshire  clergy.  On  10th  November,  1806,  he  succeeded 
to  the  charge  of  educating  Arthur  James,  Lord  Killeen,  now 
Lord  Fingall.  On  19th  May,  1813,  he  undertook  the  same 
office  for  the  Hon.  Edward  Petre.  At  length,  returning  to 
France,  he  settled  at  Rouen,  where  he  died,  honoured  and 
beloved,  on  22nd  March,  1840.  This  benevolent  man's  will 
bears  date  27th  February,  1839.  To  the  Carmelite  nuns  at 
Rouen  he  leaves  10,000  francs,  with  the  obligation  of  keep- 
ing his  anniversary,  and  of  having  Masses  celebrated  on 
26th  August  for  the  Arundell  family,  on  10th  November 


BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST   OP    THE    CLERGY.  315 

for  the  Fingall  family,  and  on  19th  May  for  the  Petre 
family :  "  Pour  les  membres  vivants  et  morts  des  families 
respectives  que  je  regarde  comme  raes  amies  et  bien- 
faitriees."  For  the  benefit  of  old  and  infirm  ecclesiastics 
of  the  diocese  of  Rouen,  he  bequeaths  the  interest  of  20,000 
francs.  To  the  three  poorest  parishes  in  Rouen,  he  gives 
20,000  francs ;  and  the  same  amount  (20,000  francs)  to  the 
Literary,  Scientific,  and  Agricultural  Societies  in  the  depart- 
ment "  de  la  Seine  Inferieure."  For  many  years  before  his 
death  he  had  been  nominated  "  chanoine  honoraire  de  la 
Cathedrale  de  Rouen." 

Gradell,  John,  S.J. — His  real  name  was  O'Neil,  bom 
in  Ireland  11th  May,  1716.  At  the  age  of  twenty-six  he 
joined  the  Society.  I  know  that  he  was  serving  the  Cornish 
mission  in  1746,  and  there,  I  believe,  he  died  on  6th 
January,  1760.  I  have  seen  his  signature  in  some  books : 
John  Gradell,  Cornub.  Ihs. 

Graves,  John,  S.J,,  of  Somersetshire. — After  filling  the 
office  of  Penitentiary  at  St.  Peter's  in  Rome,  and  serving 
the  English  mission,  he  retired  to  the  College  of  Liege,  and 
was  appointed  professor  of  Hebrew  and  Scripture.  There 
he  died  on  30th  August,  1652;  soc.  fifty-five,  set.  eighty- 
four. 

Grafton  (Stephen),  Thomas,  O.S.F.,  bom  at  Rowington 
31st  May,  1764  j  entered  St.  Bonaventure's  Convent  at 
Douay,  as  he  informed  me,  on  10th  October,  1780,  and  lived 
to  be  twice  provincial  of  his  brethren.  This  truly  man  of 
God  was  connected  with  the  Western  District  by  his  resi- 
dence at  Taunton  Convent,  where  he  edified  and  enlightened 
all  that  approached  him.  This  amiable  old  man  went  to  hia 
reward  on  23rd  December,  1847. 

Green,  Henry  James,  the  present  pastor  of  St.  Osmund's, 
Salisbury. 

Green,  Hugh,  alias  Brooks,  Ferdinand,  martyred  at 
Dorchester.  (See  Part  I.  p.  39;  and  Bishop  Challoner's^ 
Memoirs.)     He  was  butchered  alive,  19th  August,  1642. 

Greenway,  George,  son  of  Charles  Greenway,  of  Tiverton> 
bom  25th  July,  1779,  and  baptized  on  28th  of  the  same 
month  by  Rev.  John  Edisford,  S.J. ;  was  educated  at  Sedgley- 
park,  where  I  well  recollect  him,  and  St.  Alban's  College 
at  Valladolid;  but  was  ordained  priest,  as  he  told  me,  at 
St.  Edmund's,  Herts,  in  September,  1803.  For  seventeen 
years  St.  Mary's,  Moorfields,  had  the  advantage  of  his 
spirited  exertions  and  eloquence.     In  the  prime  of  life  he 


316  BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST   OF    THE    CLERGY. 

was  called  away^  to  my  deep  regret,  on  19tli  Octoberj  1821, 
and  his  remains  lie  in  the  vaults  of  this  Pro-Cathedral, 
where  a  mural  monument  thus  records  his  worth. 

Sacred  to  the  Memory  of 

The  Reverend  George  Greenway. 

Born  at  Tiverton,  in  the  county  of  Devon,  the   xxv""  July,  1779, 

And  educated  in  the  English  College  of  Valladolid,  in  Spain. 

His  virtues  and  exemplary  conduct, 

During  the  seventeen  years  he  was  Pastor  of  this  Congregation, 

Endeared  him  to  every  one  ;  and  his  death  hereft  those  who  knew  him 

Of  a  most  sincere  friend. 

He  departed  this  life  on  the  xix""  Oct.  mdoccxxi.  aged  xlii. 

Kequiescat  in  Face. 

Of  this  dear  old  friend  I  may  say, 

"  Flere  et  meminisse  relictum  est." 

Greenway,  John,  son  of  John  Greenway,  of  Tiverton. 
His  father  was  a  convert  to  the  Catholic  faith,  with  his  two 
uncles,  Stafford*  and  Charles.  Educated  at  Valladolid,  this 
young  priest,  with  the  reputation  of  being  a  poUte  scholar 
and  a  sound  Theologian,  was  appointed  pastor  of  the  rising 
congregation  at  Gloucester.  Under  his  auspices,  everything 
wore  an  improved  appearance;  he  purchased  the  present 
premises  for  the  mission,  erected  St.  Peter's  Chapel,  opened 
an  academy  for  young  gentlemen  of  family,  and  made  himself 
universally  respected,  when  in  the  mid-career  of  usefulness 
he  was  prematurely  carried  off,  29th  November,  1800,  set. 

fifty. 

Grezille,  alias  Hoche. — This  French  abbe  succeeded 
F.  Casemore,  at  Falmouth,  6th  August,  1818.  To  his  honour 
it  should  be  recorded  that  he  collected,  by  his  industry,  and 
chiefly  amongst  the  royal  family  of  France,  the  sum  of 
^6500  towards  the  erection  of  the  present  chapel  of  St.  Mary ; 
the  foundation-stone  of  which  was  laid  21st  February,  1819. 
It  was  opened  on  24th  October,  1821.  He  died  on  17th 
August  following,  and  was  buried  in  his  own  chapel. 

Grimston,  John,  S.J.,  born  at  Preston  23rd  November, 
1819;  entered  the  order  7th  -September,  1837,  and  was 
ordained  priest  25th  August,  1850.     Since  30th  June,  1853, 

*  Stafford  was  Master  of  the  Free  English  School  at  Tiverton ; 
hut,  on  account  of  his  conversion,  was  obliged  to  resign,  in  1767,  after 
holding  the  situation  twelve  years.  Obiit  Londini  13ih  April,  1797, 
aet.  seventy.  His  wife,  Lucy,  survived  until  20th  August,  1809,  set. 
seventy,  and,  with  his  sister,  Mary,  who  died  10th  May,  1821,  set. 
seventy-two,  lies  near  him  in  St.  Pancras,  London. 


BIOGRAPniCAL    LIST   OF    THE    CLERGY.  317 

he  has  been  the  pastor  of  Wardour,  vice  F.  J.  Laurenson, 
transferred  to  Worcester. 

GuiLBERT,  John  Lewis,  bom  in  Normandy  17th  January, 
1763;  at  the  emigration  settled  himself  at  Shepton  Mallett. 
Bishop  Sharrock,  who  knew  him  to  be  clever  and  zealous, 
appointed  him  in  the  spring  of  1803  to  succeed  F.  Flynn  at 
Plymouth.  Disgusted  with  the  mean  locality  of  the  chapel 
at  Dock,  now  Devonport,  he  took  a  lease  of  a  large  spot  in 
Stonehouse,  on  which  he  erected  a  presbytere,  and  on  28th 
May,  1806,  laid  the  foundation-stone  of  St.  Mary's  Chapel, 
which,  I  remember,  was  opened  for  public  worship  on  SOth 
December,  1807.  It  was  a  bold  undertaking  for  those  times. 
He  continued  his»indefatigable  exertions  in  this  increasing 
mission  until  the  close  of  1815,  when  he  returned  to  France. 
There  he  was  made  "  chanoine  honoraire  de  St.  Denis,"  and 
almoner  to  the  Dauphin  Cuirassiers.  He  died  on  27th  July, 
1822,  at  Epinal,  department  de  Vosges. 


H. 

Hacon,  Hubert,  S.J.,  was  admitted  into  the  order  at 
Watton,  7th  September,  1698,  and  after  finishing  his  higher 
studies  at  Liege,  was  sent  on  the  English  mission.  After 
acting  as  chaplain  to  the  Ferrers  family,  he  was  appointed 
successor  to  F.  Eichard  Holland,  at  Wardour,  in  1734. 
There  he  died  9th  May,  O.S.,  1751,  aged  seventy-three. 
His  gravestone  in  Tisbury  Church  is  thus  inscribed : — 

Hie  jacet  Hubertus  Hacon. 

Obiit   Maii  Jiono,   Anno   Dni   1751. 

Requiescat  in  Pace. 

Halkord,  John,  a  learned  and  exemplary  priest  of  Douay 
College.  He  succeeded  the  Rev.  Charles  Needham,  at  Tor 
Abbey,  at  Michaelmas  1788,  and  during  the  seventeen  suc- 
cessive years  discharged  all  the  duties  of  the  good  pastor. 
From  bad  health  he  was  forced  to  retire  from  the  situation 
he  filled  with  so  much  credit.  His  lamented  death  occurred 
at  Henley-upon-Thames  on  8th  December,  1805. 

Hall,  Boniface,  O.S.B.,  of  Lancashire,  bom  in  1737; 
professed  at  Lambspring  7th  November,  1756;  resided  at 
Lanheme  about  fifteen  years,  when  he  went  to  Cossey  Hall 
for  a  short  time.  Thence,  late  in  1771,  he  quitted  for  Lamb- 
spring,  where  he  terminated  his  days  on  16th  October,  1803, 
and  was  the  first  person  buried  in  the  Abbey  Church  after 
the  monastery  was  suppressed  by  the  Prussian  authorities. 


318  BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST    OF    THE    CLERGY, 

Hall  (Placid),  John,  O.S.B.,  born  at  Bamber-bridge,  co. 
Lancashire,  30th  October,  1819;  professed  at  Broadway  29th 
December,  1834,  by  the  president,  P.  Birdsall ;  left  Broadway 
for  Downside  3rd  November,  1841 ;  was  ordained  priest  by 
Bishop  Baggs  1st  June,  1844;  and  four  years  and  a  half 
later  was  appointed  the  missioner  of  Downside.  In  Part  I. 
p.  66,  I  have  alluded  to  his  zealous  labours  in  commencing 
the  mission  of  Frome.  Since  12th  April,  1853,  he  has  been 
stationed  at  Warrington. 

Haly,  Charles,  born  in  Bristol  29th  December,  1776; 
was  partly  educated  at  Rome,  and  St.  Edmund's  College, 
Herts ;  for  some  years  was  the  incumbent  at  Usk,  where  he 
took  pupils.  On  2nd  July,  1819,  he  became  the  pastor  of 
the  Axminster  congregation;  and,  as  I  well  recoUect,  sud- 
denly retired  from  its  charge  and  all  missionary  duty  on  5th 
September,  1821.  What  became  of  him,  I  could  never 
ascertain. 

Hambley,  John. — It  is  generally  stated  that  he  was  born 
in  the  diocese  of  Exeter ;  but  F.  Warford,  his  cotemporary, 
relates  that  Somersetshire  was  his  native  county,  and  then 
supplies  the  following  particulars  which  he  had  collected  from 
credible  persons :  that  he  was  betrayed  at  an  inn  by  a  gen- 
tleman's servant ;  that  he  fared  very  hard  during  two  years' 
imprisonment,  not  without  blame  to  some  Catholics  living 
at  no  great  distance,  who  might  have  relieved  him  in  his 
necessities.  At  his  arraignment,  a  verdict  was  found  against 
him.  The  judge,  cui  nomen  Gentius,*  addressed  him  in  such 
soft  and  pathetic  terms,  that  the  prisoner's  constancy 
appeared  to  the  court  to  be  staggering,  and  he  inclining  to 
conform,  when,  strange  to  say,  a  perfect  stranger  stepped 
forward  and  delivered  to  him  a  letter.  He  read  it  again  and 
again,  and  became  so  deeply  affected,  as  to  burst  into  tears ; 
but  declined  to  satisfy  the  bystanders  as  to  the  cause  of  his 
distress.  The  next  morning  he  announced,  in  open  court, 
his  deep  sense  of  shame  of  his  weakness,  and  bitterly 
lamented  that  the  solicitations  of  his  lordship,  and  the  terror 
of  impending  death,  had,  for  a  time,  shaken  his  resolution ; 
but  that  now  the  most  excruciating  torments  would  prove 
most  acceptable  to  him.  On  the  following  day  he  went 
rejoicing  to  the  place  of  execution.  F.  Warford  then 
observes,  "  that  it  was  manifest  that  the  letter  produced  this 
extraordinary  change,  yet  up  to  this  day,  notwithstanding 
the  most  diligent  inquiry  had  been  instituted,  it  remained  a 
secret  who  was  its  writer  or  its  deliverer,  whence  some,  and 

*  Thomas  Gent,  junior  Baron  of  Exchequer. 


BIOGRAPHICAL   LIST   OF    THE    CLERGY.  319 

not  witbout  reason,  believed  that  it  came  from  bis  angel 
guardian  :" — "  Unde,  et  a  nonnullis,  nee  immerito,  ab  angelo 
custode  illatse  literae  creduntur." 

It  is  nearly  certain  that  he  was  executed  at  Chard,  and  not 
at  York,  in  the  summer  of  1587.  Dodd  antedates  bis  death 
by  two  years. 

Hanne,  Charles,  S.J.,  born  at  Deviock,  in  Cardinham 
parish,  near  Bodmin,  on  14th  June,  1711.  At  the  age  of 
twenty  he  joined  the  order.  The  venerable  man  was  for 
some  years  superior  of  his  brethren  in  the  residence  of 
St.  George,  which  included  Worcestershire  and  Warwick- 
shire ;  but  for  the  last  forty  years  of  his  life,  he  was  stationed 
in  Northumberland,  He  died  at  Haggerston,  27th  April, 
1799. 

Harding,  Thomas,  D.D.,  born  at  Bickington,  or  Combe 
Martin,  Devon,  rose  by  his  talents  to  be  a  leading  professor 
of  the  University  of  Oxford,  and  to  hold  valuable  prefer- 
ments in  the  Church ;  all  which  he  resigned  to  follow  his 
conscience,  soon  after  Queen  Elizabeth's  accession.  Settling 
at  Louvain,  he  stood  forth  the  strenuous  champion  of  Catho- 
licity, especially  against  Jewell,*  his  near  countryman,  but 
bishop  of  Salisbury.  For  an  account  of  his  powerful  works, 
see  Wood's  "  Athense  Oxon.,"  Part  I.  p.  138.  This  learned 
divine  died  at  Louvain  aged  about  sixty,  and  was  there 
buried,  16th  September,  1572.  See  also  his  life  in  Prince's 
"  Worthies  of  Devon." 

Harrington,  alias  Drury,  Mark,  of  Douay  College, 
and  ordained  priest  7th  December,  1616.  Dodd  (vol.  iii. 
p.  304)  informs  us  that  he  was  living  in  the  Wiltshire 
mission  in  1635,  and  was  V.G.  of  Bishop  Richard  Smith. 
That  he  was  an  able  man  is  indisputable;  but,  Uke  his 
friend,  the  Rev.  Thomas  White,  was  unfortunately  a  lover  of 
the  profane  novelties  of  words.  His  death  occurred  in  July, 
]  657,  aged  sixty-six. 

Harrington,  William. — This  blessed  priest  and  martyr 
of  Rheims  College,  came  to  the  English  mission  in  1592, 
"and  lived  and  conversed  in  the  west  country,"  but  was 
apprehended  in   London.      Dr.  Challoner  in  his  Memoirs 

•  He  was  born  at  Bowden,  in  the  parish  of  Berry-Narbor,  24tli 
March,  1522. '  I  have  seen  the  will  of  his  maternal  uncle — I  believe,  John 
Bellamy, — the  incumbent  of  High  Hampton  and  Countisbury,  dated  6th 
December,  1643,  in  which  he  gives  "  to  John  Juell  the  younger,  now 
scholar  at  Oxford,  at  such  tyme  that  he  doth  procede  Master  of  Arte, 
£3.  6s.  8d.,"  and  to  every  other  child  of  John  JueU,  of  Bowden,  one 
sheep. 


320  BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST    OP    THE    CLERGY, 

(vol.  i.  p.  165  of  Manchester  edit.  1803)  laments  that  he 
was  not  able  to  learn  when,  how,  or  where  he  was  appre- 
hended, or  any  other  particulars  of  his  sufferings  or 
missionary  labours.  The  following  letter,  originally  written 
shortly  after  his  execution  at  Tyburn,  will  partly  supply  that 
deficiency. 

"He  was  apprehended  in  May  last  in  the  chamber  of 
one  Mr,  Henry  Dunne,  a  young  gentlemen  of  the  Inns  of 
Court,  by  Mr.  Justice  Younge,  and  by  him  committed  to 
Bridewell ;  from  thence  at  the  next  sessions,  about  the  end 
of  June,  he  was  removed  to  Newgate,  and  then  indicted  of 
of  high  treason.  He  pleaded.  Not  guilty.  Being  asked  by 
Mr.  Serjeant  Drew,*  the  Recorder,  how  he  would  be  tried? 
He  answered,  'By  God  and  the  Bench.'  He  was  told  to 
say,  '  By  God  and  the  country.'  He  replied  he  would  not 
have  a  jury  of  simple  men  determine  of  his  life.  The  Bench 
were,  or  should  be,  wise  and  learned,  and  thereby  knew 
whether  the  law  were  a  just  law,  and  himself  culpable ;  and 
other  trial  he  would  have  none.  He  was  told  they  would 
give  present  judgment.  He  said,  he  was  prepared  for  it. 
Upon  this  his  resolution,  judgment  was  respited  and  himself 
carried  back  to  Newgate.  From  thence  he  was  carried  to 
the  Attorney  and  Solicitor  (Generals)  to  be  by  them 
examined ;  from  them  he  was  committed  to  the  Marshalsea, 
He  then  wrote  a  letter  to  the  Lord  Keeper,  giving  him  to 
understand  the  reasons  of  his  refusing  ordinary  trial.  On 
15th  February,  at  the  sessions  held  at  Newgate,  he  was 
suddenly  sent  for  thither,  and  his  former  indictment  being 
again  read,  he  was  asked  whether  he  would  yet  put  himself 
in  trial  upon  the  country.  He  said,  as  before,  that  he  was 
resolved  not  to  do  it.  The  Recorder  said,  he  deceived 
himself  if  thereby  he  sought  to  save  his  life  ;  and  that  they 
might  and  would  give  him  his  judgment.  He  auswered,  he 
knew  very  well  they  might,  and  that  like  judgment  had 
been  given  at  York  against  two  other  priests,  which  was 
suflBcient  precedent  unto  him ;  and  as  they  would  not  lay 
the  burden  of  conscience  on  more  men,  as  contrivers  of 
their  death  than  needs  they  must,  so  he,  knowing  that 
after  the  jury  should  pronounce  him  guilty,  yet  the  judge 
must  give  sentence,  meant  to  free  the  jury,  and  lay  all  the 
guilt  of  his  death  on  the  judge  and  the  Bench,  'Then,' 
said  the  Recorder,  '  it  is  manifest  you  are  a  prie^,  and  come 
into  England  with  traitorous  intent,  and  therefore  I  will 
give  judgment.'   -'My   intent,'    said    Mr.  Harrington,    'in 

*  This  able  and  affluent  lawyer  of  Devonshire  died  at  his  seat,  Killer- 
ton,  in  1622,  and  lies  in  the  parish  church  of  Broad  Clist. 


niOGRAPIIICAL    LIST    OP    THE    CLERGY.  321 

coming  into  England,  was  and  is  no  other  than  St.  John  the 
Baptist's  in  coming  to  Herod ;  and  as  he  told  Herod  it  was 
not  lawful  for  him  to  marry  his  brother's  wife  ;  so  I  tell  my 
loving  countrymen,  it  is  not  lawful  to  go  to  church,  and  to 
live  in  schism  and  heresy.  So,  if  I  be  a  traitor,  St.  John 
was  a  traitor,  his  case  and  mine  being  all  one.'  Upon  this 
the  Recorder  gave  judgment,  as  in  case  of  treason,  whereat 
he  was  nothing  dismayed.  Then  said  the  Lord  Chief  Justice 
unto  him,  *  You  are  a  young  man,  and  the  queen  is  merciful ; 
go  but  to  church,  and  you  may  live.'  Mr.  Harrington 
turned  him  to  the  people  and  prayed  them  to  note  what 
goodly  treason  there  was:  if  he  would  go  to  church,  he 
should  live ;  but  becai^se  he  would  not  so  do,  he  must  die ; 
therefore,  his  not  going  to  church  was  all  the  treason.  And 
so  he  was  removed  from  the  bar  to  Newgate,  and  put  into 
one  of  the  limbos,  as  the  manner  is  j  there  he  continued  all 
that  night,  and  Saturday  and  Sunday  following.  On  Monday, 
being  18th  February,  between  seven  and  eight  in  the  morn- 
ing, after  he  had  given  his  benediction  to  some  poor  Catholic 
women  that  found  means  to  ^dsit  him,  and  by  them  sent 
his  handkerchiefs  and  some  other  necessaries  to  liis  particular 
friends  abroad,  he  was  brought  forth  and  laid  on  the  hurdle, 
and  thereunto  fast  bound,  and  was  drawn  towards  the  usual 
place  of  execution.  When  he  was  something  near  the  place, 
the  Serjeant  told  him  he  had  then  not  far  to  go,  and  willed 
him  to  prepare  himself  to  die  like  a  Christian.  One  of 
Mr.  Harrington's  brethren  being  near,  answered  the  serjeant, 
'  You  need  not  trouble  him,  you  see  he  is  willing  enough  to 
die,'  and  so  took  leave  of  him  and  returned.  He  was  no 
sooner  gone,  but  they  said,  '  It  had  been  a  good  deed  to  have 
apprehended  him,'  and  asked  him  what  he  was.  Mr.  Har- 
rington told  them  he  was  one  of  his  five  brothers ;  but  one 
that  had  no  cause  to  fear  them,  as  not  being  a  Catholic;  for 
which  cause,  and  to  think  of  the  lamentable  estate  of  his 
poor  countrymen,  his  very  heai't  did  bleed.  And  therewithal 
tears  fell  from  his  eyes.  '  Why,'  quoth  one  of  the  Serjeants, 
*  what  think  you  of  us  ? '  He  answered,  '  As  of  all  schis- 
matics and  heretics,  that  unless  you  repent,  you  cannot  be 
saved.'  Now  were  they  come  to  the  place  of  execution, 
where  ten  men  and  three  women  for  felony  being  first  in 
hanging,  and  the  Serjeants  thereabout  busy,  a  minister  came 
to  Mr.  Harrington,  and  proposed  many  questions  in  divinity 
unto  him,  lying  all  that  while  on  the  hurdle.  Mr.  Harrington 
said,  if  he  would  stand  upon  one  only  question  which  he 
list,  and  not  so  run  from  one  to  another,  he  would  answer 
him  ;  so  entering  into  disputation  about  St.  Peter's  primacy. 


322  BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST   OF    THE    CLERGY. 

Topcliffe  came  and  interrupted  them,  saying,  it  was  neither 
time  nor  place  to  dispute ;  but  because  he  heard  he  was  a 
gentleman,  he  wished  him  to  resolve  to  acknowledge  his  trea- 
son, and  to  ask  the  queen  forgiveness.  He  answered,  he  had 
never  offended  her ;  and  immediately  was  put  into  the  cart, 
and  the  halter  about  his  neck,  and  he  began  thus  to  speak, 
'Oh,  my  loving  countrymen,  I  thank  you  for  your  pains 
and  patience  in  coming  hither  to  bear  witness  of  the 
manner  and  cause  of  my  death.'  Here  Topcliffe  inter- 
rupted him,  saying,  he  was  not  at  Rome ;  it  was  no  place 
for  him  to  preach.  '  Why,'  said  Mr.  Harrington,  '  may  I 
not  speak  ? '  '  Yes,'  said  Topcliffe,  '  if  you  will  speak  to 
these  three  points;  that  is  to  say,  anything  that  tendeth 
to  the  good  of  her  Majesty's  person,  the  good  of  the  realm, 
or  the  reforming  of  your  conscience ; '  inferring,  further, 
that  though  he  himself  had  sufficient  authority  to  save  him, 
yet  it  might  be,  the  sheriff  had  it  more  particularly,  and 
therefore  willed  him  to  ejipect  mercy,  and  to  speak  plainly  of 
the  west  country,  where  they  knew  he  had  lived  and  con- . 
versed.  He  answered,  he  knew  nothing  but  that  Topcliffe's 
mercy  was  worse  than  the  Turks',  who,  having  the  body  in 
subjection,  sought  not  to  destroy  the  soul ;  but  Topcliffe  was 
never  contented  till  he  had  destroyed  both ;  concluding  that 
he  was  a  blood-sucker,  and  praiyed  God  to  forgive  him. 
Topcliffe  replied,  'Thou  liest;  and  so  thou  didst  say  the 
queen  was  a  tyrant  ? '  He  answered,  '  I  say  nothing  of  the 
queen,  but  that  I  never  offended  her ;  but  I  say  you  are  a 
tyrant  and  a  blood-sucker;  and  no  doubt  you  shall  have 
blood  enough  as  long  as  you  have  hands  and  halters  to  hang 
us.  You  shall  not  want  priests ;  we  were  300  in  England, 
you  have  put  to  death  100 ;  other  200  are  left.  When  they 
are  gone,  200  more  are  ready  to  come  in  their  places ;  and 
for  my  part,  I  hope  my  death  will  do  more  good  than  ever 
my  life  could  have  done.'  Being  ready  to  be  turned  from 
the  cart,  a  gentleman  called  out  unto  him,  and  asked  for 
what  religion  he  died.  'No  more  of  that,'  said  Topcliffe, 
'  he  dieth  for  treason,  and  not  for  religion ; '  and  so  willed 
the  cart  to  be  drawn  away :  he  was  forthwith  cut  down, 
dismembered,  bowelled,  and  quartered;  and  commandment 
given  that  the  blood  should  be  clean  dried  up,  that  no 
Catholics  might  remain.  And  thus  he  happily,  with  great 
fortitude,  obtained  his  crown  of  martyrdom. 

"  Mr.  Henry  Dunn,  in  whose  chamber  he  was  taken,  was 
committed  to  the  Clink,  where  he  persevered  very  constantly. 
His  father  in  his  lifetime  had  given  to  the  Chamber  of  London 
a  certain  sum  of  money,  for  which  they  were  to  pay  to  his 


BIOGiRAPHICAL    LIST   OP    THE    CLERGY.  323 

son  at  twenty-one  years  of  his  age  j6500,  if  he  lived  so  long. 
Being  now  near  twenty-one  years  old,  he  was  this  last  sum- 
mer (the  plague  being  then  in  Newgate)  removed  from  the 
Clink  thither,  and  within  a  few  days  after  he  there  sickened 
and  thereof  died ;  in  all  likelihood  his  remove  contrived  of 
purpose,  by  that  means  so  to  make  him  away,  to  defeat  him 
of  his  money. 

"  It  is  verily  reported,  that  seven  of  the  felons  were  recon- 
ciled by  Mr.  Harrington  the  night  before  his  execution; 
most  certain  it  is,  that  some  of  them  protested  they  would 
die  of  his  faith,  refusing  to  pray  with  the  ministers." 

Harrison,  Augustin,  O.S.B. — This  excellent  scholar  for 
a  time  had  rendered  *his  valuable  assistance  at  Beckford  and 
Spetisbury.  His  death  occurred  on  6th  March,  1846,  set. 
seventy-four,  rel.  fifty-five. 

Hart,  William. — This  young  and  accomplished  minister 
was  born  at  Wells,  in  co.  Somerset ;  after  studying  at  Douay, 
Eheims,  and  Rome,  he  was  sent  to  the  mission,  but  was  very 
soon  arrested  at  York,  at  Christmas  time,  1582,  and  on  15th 
March  following  was  hanged,  drawn,  and  quartered  for  his 
priestly  character.  The  reader  will  be  charmed  and  edified 
with  his  memoir  in  Bishop  Challoner's  Report  of  Missionary 
Priests.     He  was  but  twenty-five  at  the  time  of  his  death. 

Hartley,  Peter. — I  have  had  occasion  to  speak  of  this 
exemplary  and  zealous  priest  under  Weymouth  and  Gloucester, 
in  the  First  Part  of  these  gleanings.  He  was  born  at  Barnley 
on  28th  June,  1792,  and  finished  his  education  at  St. 
Edmund's  College.  He  was  first  appointed  to  Chepstow 
mission,  but  was  transferred  in  1823  to  Falmouth,  vice 
O'M^ally,  where  he  served  until  March,  1827,  when  obedience 
conducted  him  to  Poole ;  but  in  July  the  same  year  he  was 
selected  as  the  first  incumbent  of  Tawstock.  On  20th 
November,  1829,  he  was  ordered  to  Weymouth  j  and  to  him 
religion  is  indebted  for  the  purchase  of  the  present  site,  on 
which  he  erected  the  present  Presbytere  and  St.  Augustine's 
Chapel,  opened  on  22nd  October,  1835.  Having  achieved 
this  great  work  with  indefatigable  energy  of  mind  and  body, 
he  required  relaxation,  and  was  replaced  at  Chepstow.  The 
last  six  years  and  a  half  of  his  valuable  life  were  passed  at 
Gloucester,  where  he  caught  a  contagious  fever  in  visiting 
the  sick,  and  thus  fell  a  victim  of  charity  on  3rd  August, 
1847,  aged  fifty-five. 

Haskey,  Richard,  S.J.,  brother  to  the  Rev.  Joseph  and 
the  Rev.  Thomas  Reeve,  of  the  same  order.      He  is  con- 

Y  2 


324  BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST    OF    THE    CLERGY. 

nected  with  the  West  hy  having  served  both  Salisbury  and 
Lullworth,  amidst  a  variety  of  places  elsewhere.  This  original 
character,  but  honest-hearted  Englishman,  finished  his  days 
at  Stonyhurst  on  31st  May,  1816,  set.  seventy-six,  soc.  fifty- 
nine. 

Havers,  Robert,  S.J.,  bom  at  Thetton  Hall,  Norfolk, 
16th  August,  1813;  studied  at  Stonyhurst;  joined  the  Society 
26th  March,  1829.  For  many  years  he  was  one  of  the 
assistant  priests  at  Preston ;  but  after  finishing  his  tertian- 
ship,  was  appointed,  in  1851,  to  the  Shepton  Mallett  mission, 
and  on  the  retirement  of  Father  Moutardier  from  Lullworth, 
in  May,  1854,  succeeded  to  its  duties. 

Hayman,  alias  Pearse,  Richard,  S.  J.,  who  sometimes  used 
the  Christian  names  of  Edward  and  John  on  the  mission, 
entered  the  novitiate  in  1687,  and  was  enrolled  amongst  the 
professed  fathers  7th  July,  1705.  During  his  very  long 
missionary  life  he  resided  either  at  Trevithick  or  Tolfrey,  near 
Powey.  In  the  last-mentioned ,  place  he  finished  his  mortal 
course,  as  one  who  knew  him  informed  me.  This  event 
occurred  on  30th  April,  1756,  set.  eighty-seven. 

Hawkins  (Andrew),  Francis,  born  30th  November,  1795, 
entered  St.  Susan's  Monastery  of  La  Trappe,  at  Lullworth, 
13th  September,  1808;  emigrated  with  the  community,  in 
the  summer  of  1817,  to  Meilleray,  near  Nantes,  where  he 
was  professed  on  11th  July,  1819;  was  ordained  priest  in 
that  city  21st  December,  1822.  To  the  venerable  Abbot 
Pere  Antoine  he  was  an  invaluable  assistant  until  the  bar- 
barous expulsion  of  the  British  members  of  the  monastery 
in  November,  1831.  After  •  spending  some  years  with  his 
brethren  at  home,  he  was  appointed  coadjutor  to  Pere  Palemon 
at  Stapehill,  in  1840.  By  his  active  exertions  he  witnessed 
the  laying  of  the  foundation-stone  of  the  new  church  of  our 
Lady  of  Dolors,  on  25th  May,  1847,  and  its  solemn  opening 
on  16th  July,  1851.  To  his  oflSce  of  director  to  this  flourish- 
ing community  of  Trappist  nuns,  he  has-  annexed  the  charge 
of  a  congregation  of  nearly  200  souls.  He  has  recently 
added  to  his  church  a  noble  bell  of  1,150  lbs.  weight,  blessed 
by  Dr.  Vaughan,  Bishop  of  Plymouth,  29th  January,  1856. 

Hawkins,  James,  O.S.B.,  born  in  Gloucestershire,  professed 
at  Lambspring  15th  January,  1705.     Obiit  30th  June,  1752. 

Hawkins,  James  (Eugenius),  bom  23rd  July,  1797 ; 
entered  the  monastery  at  Lullworth  on  24th  March,  1813 ; 
was  professed  with  his  brother  Andrew  at  Meilleray  on  1 1th 
July,    1819,   and  was  ordained   priest   with  him  on  21st 


BIOGRAPHICAL   LIST    OP    THE    CLERGY.  325 

Decembcrj  1822.  When  lie  was  torn  from  his  dear  com- 
munity and  good  abbot,  in  November,  1831,  he  settled  at 
Nantes,  and  has  ever  since  been  attached  to  the  church  of 
St.  Croix  in  that  city,  with  the  full  approbation  of  the  bishop. 

Hawkins,  Francis  (Stephen),  was  uncle  to  FF.  Francis 
and  James  aforesaid.  He  had  entered  the  Cistercian 
Monastery  at  Lull  worth  as  early  as  1794,  and  received  the 
order  of  deacon,  but  his  humility  kept  him  from  accepting 
priesthood.  In  March,  1856,  aged  eighty-nine,  he  departed 
to  our  Lord  in  St.  Bernard's  Abbey,  Loughton. 

Heatley,  Hugh,  O.S.B.  —  This  devout  religious,  after 
edifying  Bath  by  his  apostolic  zeal  for  five  years,  fell  a  victim 
of  typhus  fever  on  58th  April,  1792,  at  the  early  age  of 
thirty-three. 

Hemehpord,  Thomas,  a  native  of  Dorset.  From  con- 
scientious motives  he  quitted  Hart's  Hall,  in  the  University 
of  Oxford,  to  proceed  to  Bheims  College.  Its  president. 
Dr.  Allen,  in  a  letter  to  F.  Agazzari,  S.J.  (3rd  August,  1580), 
then  recently  appointed  rector  of  the  English  College  at 
Home,  introduces  Mr.  Hemerford  to  his  notice  as  "  Vir 
honestissimus,"  and  mentions  that  he  had  started  two  days 
before  for  the  Eternal  City,  and  was  preparing  himself  for 
entering  into  the  Society  of  Jesus.  He  was  admitted  into 
the  English  College  at  Rome  on  9th  October  that  year,  and 
in  March,  1583,  was  ordained  priest  by  Dr.  Thomas  Goldwell, 
Bishop  of  St.  Asaph,  exiled  by  Queen  Elizabeth.  In  April 
he  left  Rome  for  England.  Shortly  after  landing  in  his 
native  country  he  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  persecutors,  was 
sentenced  to  death  on  5  th  of  the  following  February,  then 
thrown  into  the  pit  of  Newgate,  and  loaded  with  irons  for  six 
days  before  his  execution.  On  the  12th  of  February,  1584, 
he  was  hauled  out  to  be  dragged  to  Tyburn,  where  he  was 
literally  butchered  alive,  says  F.  Warford,  who  adds,  that  he 
was  remarkable  for  his  love  of  virginal  purity,  and  severe  to 
himself  in  this  point ;  of  moderate  stature,  a  blackish  beard, 
stern  countenance,  and  yet  of  a  playful  temper,  most  amiable 
in  conversation,  and  in  every  respect  exemplary. 

Hendren,  Joseph  William,  O.S.F.,  D.D.,  and  Right  Rev. 
— Of  this  learned  Franciscan,  illustrious  prelate,  and  most 
amiable  friend,  I  can  hardly  trust  myself  to  write. 

He  was  born  in  Birmingham  on  19th  October,  1791,  and 
baptized  by  the  Rev.  Pacificus  Nutt,  the  venerable  Franciscan 
missioner  of  that  town.  On  2nd  August,  1806,  he  received 
the  Franciscan  habit  from  F.  Grafton,  and  made  his  profes- 


3.26  BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST   OF    THE    CLERGY. 

sion  19th  November,  1807,  on  which  occasion  the  late  pro- 
vincial, but  then  Bishop  CoUingridge  (consecrated  Bishop  of 
Thespise  on  11th  October  that  year),  assisted  and  preached. 
In  the  beginning  of  the  following  summer,  his  lordship  con- 
ferred upon  him  minor  orders  at  Abergavenny.  On  15th 
October,  1808,  the  novitiate  was  removed  to  Perthyre.  Four 
years  later  brother  Hendren  was  sent  to  Baddesley  School  to 
teach  Latin,  Greek,  mathematics,  &c. ;  and  whilst  so  engaged 
was  ordained  subdeacon  by  the  illustrious  Bishop  Milner, 
at  Wolverhampton,  on  the  "4th  of  April,  1814  (on  the  very 
day  that  the  learned  Dr.  Weedall  was  made  priest),  deacon 
on  the  26th,  and  priest  on  the  28th  September,  1815.  In 
the  January  following  he  was  sent  to  Perthyre  to  teach 
philosophy  and  divinity ;  and  when  the  small  community  was 
transferred  to  Aston,  in  October,  1818,  he  was  continued  in 
the  same  employment  until  the  commencement  of  1823, 
when  the  unfortunate  determination  of  ceasing  to  attempt 
the  education  of  Franciscans  in  England  was  taken.  I  may 
mention  by  the  way,  that  my  reverend  friend,  whilst  at 
Perthyre  had  to  serve  the  congregation  at  Courtfield,  a 
distance  of  eleven  miles,  once  a  fortnight,  during  the  absence 
of  the  Vaughan  family  on  the  Continent;  and  whilst  at 
Aston  did  duty  at  Swynnerton  every  Sunday  and  holiday, 
from  16th  July,  1820,  until  the  end  of  April,  1823,  when  he 
was  ordered  to  take  charge  of  Baddesley  Academy.  His 
services  were  then  required  for  the  mission  of  Abergavenny 
in  the  beginning  of  1826,  and  there  he  was  suffered  toremaiti 
for  thirteen  years,  when  he  was  appointed  confessor  to  the 
nuns  and  pensioners  of  Taunton,  and  arrived  at  his  destina- 
tion on  9th  Pebruary,  1839.  There  I  had  the  honour  of 
forming  the  acquaintance  of  this  very  learned  and  agreeable 
friend,  whom  to  know  is  to  admire  and  love.  In  January, 
1847,  Bishop  Ullathorne,  V.  A.  of  the  Western  District, 
appreciating  the  treasure  he  possessed  in  this  learned  and 
experienced  theologian,  selected  him  for  his  grand  vicar,  and 
obtained  him  for  his  successor,  as  Bishop  of  UranopoUs,  by 
Bulls  bearing  date  30th  July,  1848.  To  this  see  he  was 
consecrated  10th  September  that  year;  for  Dr.  Ullathorne 
had  been  translated  to  Birmingham.  At  the  restoration  of 
the  hierarchy.  Bishop  Hendren  was  declared  Bishop  of  the 
new  see  of  Clifton,  on  29th  September,  1850.  This  he  held 
until  23nd  June,  1851,  when  he  was  translated  to  Notting- 
ham ;  and  on  2nd  Pebruary,  1853,  he  resigned  that  appoint- 
ment, accepting  the  see  of  Martyropolis  inpartibus  infidelium. 
Since  2nd  May,  1853,  he  has  been  residing  in  his  native 
town,  to  which  he  is  an  ornament.     Since  his  first  appoint- 


BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST    OF    THE    CLERGY.  327 

ment  to  the  post  of  grand  vicar,  in  January,  1847,  his  health 
has  been  much  impaired.  Wishing  him  health  and  every 
blessing,  I  can  only  add  at  present, — 

"  Laus  illi  debetur,  et  a  me  gratia  major." 

Hericy,  Gabriel  Francois. — This  edifying  French  priest 
and  father  of  the  poor  was  the  pastor  of  Tor  Abbey,  as  I 
well  remember,  from  2nd  June,  1808,  until  June,  1816,  when 
he  quitted  for  his  native  country.  Shortly  after  his  arrival 
he  was  appointed  Cure  de  Sully,  near  Bayeux.  After  dis- 
charging the  duties  of  a  parish  priest  for  many  years  in  the 
most  exemplary  manner,  "ce  vieillard  infiniment  respect- 
able," as  Monsieur  Guerin  described  him  in  a  letter,  dated 
Bayeux,  3rd  August^  1842,  retired  into  that  city,  where  he 
breathed  his  last  25th  November,  1844,  aged  eighty-seven. 

HiGGS,  . — All  that  I  could  recover  from  the  late  Mr. 

Taunton  was,  that  he  was  the  predecessor  of  F.  William 
Byfleetj  alias  Gildon  (before  the  Revolution),  in  the  Chidiock 
mission,  and  that  he  was  a  man  of  unbending  resolution. 

Hill,  alias  Turner,  Robert. — He  was  a  member  of  the 
respectable  family  of  the  Hills  of  Shilston,  near  Madbury,  and 
a  secular  priest.  He  was  living  in  1695,  and  was  intimate  at 
Tor  Abbey. 

Hodgson  (Maurus),  Nicholas,  O.S.B.,  born  at  Newcastle- 
upon-Tyne  9th  August,  1815.  After  studying  at  Ushaw  for 
four  years,  he  repaired  to  Downside  in  November,  1830,  where 
he  was  professed  24th  June,  1834,  and  ordained  priest  on 
8th  November,  1840,  by  Dr.  Brown,  who  had  been  consecrated 
bishop  of  Wales  within  the  preceding  fortnight.  This  able 
religious,  who  had  filled  many  collegiate  offices  with  the 
highest  credit,  was  elected  prior  of  St.  Gregory's  at  the 
general  chapter  held  at  Downside  in  July,  1850;  but  his 
humility  declined  the  proflTered  honour.  He  was  appointed 
to  the  Bath  mission  in  October,  1850 ;  but  this  he  quitted, 
to  the  regret  of  many,  five  years  later,  for  St.  Mary's,  Studley, 
CO.  Warwick. 

Hogan,  Patrick  Andrew,  bom  at  Limerick  28th  Feb- 
ruary, 1810;  educated  at  Maynooth;  became  chaplain  at 
Upton  1st  June,  1836,  where  he  continued  until  the  begin- 
ning of  the  following  year.  On  11th  February,  1837,  he 
was  transferred  to  the  charge  of  Follaton,  which  he  sustained 
for  about  eighteen  months.  Then,  after  rendering  occasional 
service  to  some  other  missions,  he  sailed  from  Plymouth 
for  Sidney,  at  the  end  of  November,  1840,  with  330  Irish 
emigrants  under  his  care. 


328  BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST    OF    THE    CLERGY. 

Holland,  Eichard,  S.J.,  born  in  1676,  in  Lancashire; 
admitted  a  novice  in  1697,  and  a  professed  father  in  1715. 
For  many  years,  I  believe  from  1716  till  July,  1734,  he  was  the 
incumbent  of  Wardour,  during  part  of  which  he  was  superior 
of  his  brethren,  dispersed  in  the  college  of  St.  Francis 
Xavier,  which  included  Gloucestershire,  Herefordshire,  Mon- 
mouthshire, and  South  Wales. 

It  seems  the  good  father  retired  abroad.  He  died  at  Paris 
4th  July,  1740,  set.  sixty-four. 

Howard,  Edward,  S.J.,  whose  real  name  was  Holme,  was 
born  in  Lancashire  29th  December,  1740;  was  admitted 
at  the  age  of  sixteen ;  accompanied  F.  Forrester,  before  men- 
tioned, into  England,  in  August,  1767,  and  like  another 
Matthias  was  sent  to  replace  the  unhappy  F.  Charles^  Billinge* 
at  Mosely  Hall.  After  some  time  he  was  transferred  to 
Stape-hill;  but  in  1786  to  Pontefract,  where  he  died  5th 
December,  1809. 

Howard,  Francis,  S.J.,  elder  brother  of  F.  Edward  Howard, 
born  in  May,  1724,  for  a  time  was  stationed  at  Lullworth; 
but  I  never  could  ascertain  the  period  of  his  service  there. 
He  was  also  at  Richmond,  in  co.  York ;  lastly  appointed  to 
Alnwick,  perhaps  as  successor  to  F.  William  Strickland. 
Theris  the  old  man  rested  from  his  labours  on  9th  March, 
1802,  aet.  seventy-eight,  rel.  sixty-two,  prof,  forty- six. 

Howard,  John,  son  of  Ralph  Holme  and  Mary  Yates, 
his  wife,  born  in  Lancashire  18th  November,  1764,  was  ad- 
mitted into  the  English  Academy  at  Liege  by  his  great-- 
uncle,  F.  John  Howard,  its  president.  The  youth  finished 
his  studies  there,  and  was  prefect  of  the  scholars  at  the  emi- 
gration to  Stonyhurst  in  the  summer  of  1794.  Soon  after 
receiving  priesthood  from  Dr.  Gibson,  bishop  of  Acanthus 
and  V,A.  of  the  Northern  District,  he  was  sent  to  Irnham, 
where  he  remained  the  attached  chaplain  to  the  Arundell 
and  CliflFord  families,  until  his  resignation  on  12th  May, 
1823.  After  rendering  assistance  in  some  minor  places,  as 
far  as  his  broken  constitution  would  permit,  he  took  Monsieur 
Begin's  duty  at  Salisbury;  but  died  8th  July,  1826,  and  was 
buried  near  that  worthy  abbe  in  St.  Martin's  churchyard  in 
that  city. 

*  This  unfortunate  Jesuit,  abandoning  by  degrees  the  duty  of  vigi- 
lance and  prayer  to  gratify  his  passion  for  music  and  company,  fell  an 
easy  victim  to  temptation,  and  suffered  the  shipwreck  of  faith.  In  the 
summer  of  1767  he  read  his  recantation  in  Lichfield  Cathedral.  Per- 
haps from  that  hour  no  man  lived  in  less  repute  for  the  residue  of  his 
days.    Obiit  apud  Wolverhampton  ;  sepultus  3  Aprilis,  1805,  pauper- 


BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST   OF    THE    CLERGY.  329 

Hood,  Edward  Theophilus,  S,J.,  born  14th  April,  1808. 
His  father  was  a  clergyman  of  the  Church  of  England,  very 
pious  in  his  way,  and  of  a  singularly  blameless  life.  At  the 
Manor  House,  Chiswick,  he  received  his  education  under  a 
gentleman  of  the  name  of  Home,  brother  to  the  late  Attorney- 
General,  Sir  William  Home.  Without  proceeding  to  the 
universities,  Mr.  Hood  devoted  himself  to  the  study  of  the  law, 
and  being  called  in  due  time  to  the  bar  as  a  member  of  the 
Inner  Temple,  practised  in  the  Court  of  Chancery  for  ten  or 
twelve  years.  At  the  mature  age  of  thirty-seven,  after  two 
years'  deliberation,  he  applied  for  instruction  in  the  Catholic 
faith  to  F.  James  Brownbill,  who  received  him  into  the  Church 
on  15th  November,  1845.  Within  six  months  after,  he  quitted 
London  to  make  a  spiritual  retreat  at  Hodder-place,  near 
Stonyhurst,  with  a  view  of  ascertaining  whether  he  had  a 
vocation  to  the  religious  state,  or  at  least  to  the  priesthood. 
It  ended  in  his  being  a  candidate  for  admission  into  the 
Society  of  Jesus.  His  wish  was  granted,  and  after  the  two 
years'  probation  he  pronounced  the  scholastic  vows  on  16th 
April,  1848.  After  three  years'  study  of  divinity  he  was 
ordained  priest  on  24th  August,  1850.  For  some  time  after 
he  was  stationed  at  St.  Mary's,  Westminster,  a  mission 
that  had  been  consigned  to  the  charge  of  the  Jesuits  by 
Cardinal  Wiseman ;  but  when  his  health  began  to  fail  from 
over  exertion  in  his  arduous  duties,  he  was  translated  to 
Wardour,  where  he  continued  to  labour  for  about  eighteen 
months,  when  his  business-like  habits  recalled  him  to  London 
in  the  autumn  of  1855,  as  successor  to  F.  George  Jenkins  in 
the  important  office  of  procurator  of  the  English  province  of 
the  society. 

HosKiNS  (Martin),  Thomas,  bom  at  Chilcompton,  co. 
Somerset,  11th  November,  1825;  baptized  at  Downside  two 
days  later;  left  England  for  the  Benedictine  College  at 
Douay,  in  February,  1847,  to  study  for  the  Church;  but 
quitted  for  Valladolid  six  years  later.  In  that  city  he  was 
promoted  to  subdeaconship  10th  June,  1854,  and  three 
months  later  to  deaconship.  On  32nd  September,  1855,  he 
was  ordained  priest.  Within  a  month  he  left  Spain  for 
England,  and  reached  Prior-park  on  31st  October.  But  on 
the  breaking  up  of  that  establishment  he  became  assistant 
missioner  at  Plymouth  on  11th  January,  1856,  the  duties  of 
which  he  dihgently  performed  until  his  removal  to  Wey- 
mouth on  26th  July. 

HowARDEN,  Joseph,  O.S.B.,  born  near  Wigan  in  1773; 
succeeded  the  Rev.  John  Brindle,  of  the  same  order,  in  1801, 


330  BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST    OF    THE    CLEKGY. 

at  Bonhainj  where  he  also  kept  a  school  for  young  gentlemen, 
but  from  misconduct  was  obliged  to  resign  in  March,  1833. 
Qui  existimat  se  stare,  videat  ne  cadat. 

Almighty  God,  in  his  mercy,  visited  the  unfortunate  man 
with  an  alarming  illness.  In  his  imminent  danger  he  was 
visited  by  a  confrere,  the  Rev.  Joseph  Wilson,  the  then 
assistant  priest  of  Bath,  whose  zeal  and  charity  moved  him 
to  repentance  and  to  a  separation  from  the  occasion  of  sin. 

On  the  29th  of  January,  1840,  the  poor  culprit  made  and 
signed  the  following  declaration :  "  I,  Joseph  Howarden, 
being  now  in  my  senses,  and  in  the  presence  of  Almighty 
God,  do  solemnly  declare  these  to  be  my  true  and  real  senti- 
ments of  heart  and  mind.  Fearing  God's  judgments,  and 
expecting  soon  to  be  summoned  before  His  dread  tribunal,  I 
■wish  to  make  every  satisfaction  and  atonement  in  my  power 
for  my  past  disreputable  and  sinful  life  to  the  Holy  Church, 
whose  disciphne  I  have  violated,  and  whose  precepts  I  have 
contemned — to  the  Benedictine  body,  which  I  have  scan- 
dalized by  the  public  violation  of  my  sacred  vows,  which  at 
the  altar  I  swore  to  observe  faithfully  till  death.  I  call  God 
to  witness  that  I  retract  most  solemnly  all  my  infidelities, 
disobedience,  and  scandals  which  I  have  committed  against 
His  Holy  Church  and  her  precepts.  I  am  sorry  from  my 
heart  for  having  broken  my  vows ;  and,  if  God  spare  my  life, 
I  will  embrace  the  first  opportunity  to  return  to  every  duty 
required  by  my  superior  the  president,  and  .do  penance  to 
the  best  of  my  power.  I  freely  ofier  myself  into  the  hands 
of  the  president,  and  promise  entire  obedience  to  him,  should 
he  deem  me  worthy  to  be  again  united  to  the  Benedictine 
fold.  I  beg  pardon  of  the  Church  in  general  for  all  my 
scandals,  and  of  my  Benedictine  brethren  in  particular,  as 
well  as  of  the  flock  once  committed  to  my  charge,  and  of  the 
whole  world.  I  beseech  every  confrere  to  pray,  that  God  in 
his  mercy  would  forgive  me  all  my  grievous  sins  and  oflences 
through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.  May  God  have  mercy  upon 
my  soul!     Amen.  "  Joseph  Howarden." 

Signed  in  the  presence  of  Joseph  Wilson,  January  29, 1840. 

"  I  hereby  empower  the  said  Joseph  Wilson  to  make  what 
use  he  may  deem  fit  of  this  document,  to  show  forth  to  the 
Church  and  the  body  of  my  profession  my  sincere  repentance, 
and  give  glory  to  God  for  His  merciful  interposition  in  my 
behalf  notwithstanding  my  great  unworthiness.  The  said 
Joseph  Wilson  has  also  full  powers  to  alter  the  above  docu- 
ment in  the  manner  he  may  judge  proper  more  fully  to 
express  my  real  sentiments." 


BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST   OF    THE    CLERGY.  331 

"  I  hereby  attest  that  ray  unfortunate  cmifrhre,  J.  Howarden, 
freely  and  sincerely  assented  to  all  and  every  particular  of 
the  above  document,  and  that  he  gave  me  full  liberty  to 
make  the  use  I  might  judge  most  fit  to  remove  all  the  scandal 
his  dereliction  of  duty  had  caused  to  the  Church.  I  certify 
that  he  put  his  signature  with  all  the  ardour  of  his  soul. 
His  infirm  state  of  health,  and  almost  total  blindness,  will 
explain  the  imperfection  of  the  writing  of  his  name.  I 
visited  him,  having  full  powers  from  Dr.  Baines  of  absolving 
all  irregularities,  excommunications,  and  suspensions,  or  any 
censures  he  might  have  any  ways  incurred.  On  this  day,  the 
feast  of  St.  Francis  de  Sales,  1840,  he  completed  his  confes- 
sion and  prayer  for  the  absolution  of  his  Church,  which,  in 
the  name  of  God,  1  pronounced  over  him. 

"Joseph  Wilson,  O.S.B." 

"  May  God  be  praised  for  all  his  mercies  to  the  children 
of  men  I" 

I  regret  to  add,  that  he  fell  away  again,  after  signing  the 
foregoing  document ;  but  I  trust  in  the  infinite  mercies  of 
God,  that  his  end  was  peace,  for  he  was  certainly  attended 
on  his  death-bed  by  that  pious  and  zealous  priest  Canon 
Parfitt.  He  died  at  Hinton,  near  Bath,  on  Easter  Monday, 
21st  April,  1851,  aged  seventy-eight. 

Hull,  Francis,  O.S.B.,  of  Devonshire,  professed  at  Dieul- 
wartj  a  man  of  excellent  parts,  and  an  eminent  spiritualist, 
according  to  Weldon,  so  often  cited.  He  ended  his  days 
at  St.  Malo's,  in  1645,  and  was  buried  near  the  pulpit  of 
the  Benedictine  Church  there. 

Hunt,  Joseph,  vere  Beaumont,  son  of  John  and  Elizabeth 
Beaumont,  of  Stone  Easton,  born  22nd  May,  1762 ;  went  to 
Douay  College  with  Dr.  Coombes  (see  Coombes)  ;  was  filling 
the  confidential  post  of  procurator  at  the  seizure  of  the 
college  by  the  French  authorities  in  1793,  and  consigned  to 
prison  with  many  of  his  confreres.  On  being  restored  to 
liberty,  he  returned  to  England  in  March,  1795.  In  Part  I., 
p.  184, 1  have  related  some  further  details  of  his  life ;  suffice 
it  to  add  here,  that  religion  is  indebted  to  him  for  founding 
in  great  measure  the  mission  of  Shortwood,  and  that  he 
served  it  diligently  until  March,  1838,  when  he  retired  to 
Clifton,  where  he  finished  his  useful  but  unostentatious 
course,  on  1st  December  that  year,  set.  seventy-seven. 

Husenbeth,  Frederick  Charles,  D.D.,  son  of  Mr.  Frede- 


333  BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST    OF    THE    CLEKGY. 

rick  Charles  Husenbeth*  and  his  wife  Elizabeth  James, 
was  born  in  Bristol  30th  May,  1796.  From  a  letter  dated 
Bristol,  15th  February,  1821,  addressed  to  me  by  his  worthy 
father,  I  learn  the  following  particulars  : — "  My  dear  son,  I 
firmly  believe,  has  been  chosen  by  Providence  from  a  child, 
to  become  a  faithful  teacher  of  truth.  None  of  my  family 
recollect  his  ever  having  given  offence  to  the  most  menial  of 
my  servants  j  but  much  less  to  his  parents.  At  the  age  of 
six  years  and  eleven  months  I  sent  him  to  Sedgley  Park 
school,  with  an  intention  of  having  him  educated  for  trade. 
Haviiig  myself  had  the  benefit  of  education,  and  finding  he 
was  endowed  with  the  best  natural  abilities,  and  an  early 
and  assiduous  application,  I  gave  him  every  opportunity  of 
calling  into  action  his  juvenile  genius,  which,  under  the  pious 
care  of  the  late  Rev.  Thomas  Southworth,  began  to  shine 
conspicuously  in  every  branch  of  the  education  given  at 
Sedgley  Park.  At  the  age  of  nearly  fourteen  I  took  him  to 
my  counting-house,  having  had  the  flattering  testimony  from 
Mr.  Southworth,  that  Frederick  was  the  only  boy  who  never 
stood  in  need  of  correction  during  the  whole  time  he  was  at 
the  school.  He  remained  in  my  counting-house  to  the  age 
of  nearly  seventeen,  and  performed  his  duties  as  a  child  and 
as  an  excellent  accountant,  when  by  a  letter  he  opened  his 
intentions,  to  which,  although  reluctantly,  I  acceded  j  and 
he  returned  to  his  studies  29th  April,  1813,  in  which  he 
made  such  progress,  that  Dr.  Miluer  and  his  superiors  found 
him  useful  in  the  sciences  necessary  for  his  calling  as  a 
churchman,  and  also  in  his  other  accomplishments,  such  as 
music  and  painting,  in  both  of  which  he  is  very  clever.  At 
his  late  tour  to  the  Alps  for  six  months,  he  took  about 
twenty  or  thirty  views  from  nature.  He  is  now  fixed  at 
Cossey,  and,  by  his  own  desire,  has  a  cottage  allowed  him 
in  the  village  instead  of  living  at  the  hall,  and  I  hope  he 
will  do  all  the  good  he  can."  In  addition  to  these  details  I 
may  add,  that  he  was  ordained  priest  by  Bishop  Miluer  at 
Oscott,  on  25th  February,  1820 ;  that  he  reached  Cossey  on 
his  father's  birthday,  7th  July  of  the  same  year,  having  pre- 
viously for  a  short  time  served  Stourbridge  mission ;  that  he 
built  and  opened  St.  Walstan's  Church,  at  Cossey,  on  26th 

*  This  respected  friend  was  born  at  Mentz  on  7th  July,  1766  ;  and  was 
educated  in  early  life  amongst  the  Jesuits,  in  whose  order  he  had  two 
relations,  who  were  professed  fathers.  To  perfect  himself  in  English, 
he  placed  himself  at  Dr.  Ireland's  academy  at  Brislington,  near  Bristol, 
in  December,  1787,  and  three  years  later  set  up  as  a  merchant  in  Bristol, 
where  he  died  on  15th  March,  1848.  His  wife,  a  convert,  died  29th 
June,  1816,  set.  forty-three,  and,  with  her  son  George,  was  buried  in  the 
lobby  of  St.  Joseph's  Chapel. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST   OF    THE    CLERGY,  333 

May,  1841 ;  that  the  bishop  entertained  such  an  opinion  of 
his  solid  learning  as  to  have  appointed  him  grand  vicar  as 
early  as  1827 ;  that  on  7th  July,  1850,  he  was  awarded  the 
degree  of  D.D. ;  that  he  was  appointed  provost  of  the  chapter 
of  Northampton  on  24th  June,  1852 ;  and  that  his  numerous 
publications  point  him  out  as  an  able  divine,  and  a  scholar  of 
deep  research,  taste,  and  erudition.  He  is  "  left  now  the  last 
of  his  family  and  even  name  upon  the  earth,"  as  he  has 
stated  to  me  more  than  once ;  adding,  in  the  words  of  the 
Psalmist,  cxl.,  "  Singulariter  sum  ego,  donee  transeam." 

HussKY,  Edward,  O.S.B.,  elder  brother  of  Giles  Hussey, 
the  eminent  painter,  whom  Hutchins  (Hist,  of  Dorset,  vol.  ii. 
p.  500)  calls  "  a  living  honour  to  the  country,"  was  bom  at 
Mamhull.  After  serving  Flixton,  he  came  into  Devonshire, 
in  1752,  and  seems  to  have  spent  two  years  in  assisting  the 
Catholics  of  Exeter  and  the  South  Hams.  He  then  went  to 
the  Hydes  of  Marlborough,  Wilts ;  finally,  retired  to  Mam- 
hull, where  he  ran  out  his  lengthened  course  25th  February, 
1786. 

HussEY,  James,  born  21st  April  1765,  was  educated  at 
Liege,  and  taught  with  credit  there  and  at  Stonyhurst.  On 
21st  November,  1797,  he  arrived  at  Shepton  Mallett,  as  suc- 
cessor to  the  liev.  John  Brewer.  There  he  laid  the  founda- 
tion of  the  new  Presbytere  and  chapel  in  a  field  he  pm-chased, 
on  15th  November,  1801,  which  was  opened  for  public 
worship  on  29th  April,  1804.  He  rested  from  his  labours  on 
30th  August,  1810,  aged  forty-five,  and  lies  on  the  south 
side  of  the  parish  church  cemetery. 


Illingworth,  Jacob,  born  9th  February,  1810,  in  Bolton, 
CO.  Lancaster;  he  removed  with  the  family  to  Blackburn, 
and  was  brought  up  in  error;  but  at  the  age  of  thirteen  was 
sent  to  Ampleforth  College,  where  he  was  received  into  the 
Church,  and  finished  a  course  of  humanities.  In  1830  he 
transferred  himself  to  Prior-park,  and  was  so  actively  engaged 
in  the  arduous  duties  of  teaching  in  that  college,  that  at  his 
own  request  he  was  not  ordained  subdeacon  until  1834, 
deacon  in  1837,  and  priest  in  1852.  At  length  he  was  trans- 
ferred to  the  Cannington  mission;  but  in  his  zeal  he 
commenced  a  new  chapel  at  Bridgewater,  which  he  opened 
on  17th  February,  1846,  and  for  one  year  served  both  places. 
His  services  were  then  required  for  Prior-park,  and  were 
continued  until  1850,  when  he  was  appointed  assistant  priest 


334  BIOGRAPHICAL   LIST    OF    THE    CLERGY, 

at  St.  Mary's,  Bristol.  At  midsummer,  1852,  he  was  recalled 
to  Prior-park  to  fill  the  office  of  vice-president;  but  since 
1st  September,  1853,  has  been  charged  with  the  laborious 
mission  of  St.  Nicholas,  Bristol. 

Ingleby,  Thomas,  S.J. — He  was  admitted  into  the  order 
7th  September,  1703,  and  at  the  usual  period  of  eighteen 
years  was  aggregated  to  the  professed  fathers.  For  some 
time  he  filled  the  office  of  pastor  at  LuUworth ;  but  retired 
from  that  situation  about  the  year  1728.  He  died  at  Paris 
on  12th  November,  1729,  aged  forty-five. 

Innes,  Henry,  of  Ballogie,  near  Aberdeen.  Early  in 
life  he  went  to  Prance,  and  for  many  years  occupied  a  pro- 
minent situation  in  the  Scotch  College  of  Paris.  In  1789 
he  succeeded  the  Rev.  Robert  Plowden  at  Arlington ;  but  in 
consequence  of  his  patron's  abjuration  of  the  Catholic  faith, 
he  left  for  Calverleigh,  near  Tiverton,  where  he  resided  for 
seven  years.  Returning  then  to  Scotland,  where  he  had  a 
decent  patrimony,  he  lived  to  the  advanced  age  of  eighty- 
six,  dying  at  Ballogie  in  the  winter  of  1833.  The  Edinburgh 
Journal,  in  reporting  his  death,  stated  that  "  Mr.  Innes  was 
a  man  of  great  benevolence,  superior  attainments,  and  most 
agreeable  manners  in  society." 

IsHERwooD,  Richard,  O.S.B.,  of  co.  Lancaster ;  professed 
at  Lambspring  27th  June,  1685  j  served  Leighland  for  a 
time.     Obiit  14th  April,  1745. 

IvERs,  William,  in  the  early  part  of  the  year  1837.  This 
zealous  priest,  commiserating  the  forlorn  condition  of  many 
Irish  travellers  and  labourers  in  and  around  Penzance,  who 
lay  like  sheep  without  a  shepherd  nearer  than  Palmouth, 
seated  himself  amongst  them,  and  gave  them  the  benefit  of 
his  ministerial  services.  After  a  trial  of  some  months,  neces- 
sity compelled  him  to  leave  the  vineyard. — (See  Part  I., 
p.  31.) 

J. 

Jackson,  John,  a  secular  priest  of  distinguished  reputation, 
and  as  such  was  appointed,  in  August,  1623,  by  Dr.  William 
Bishop,  Episcopus  Chalcedonensis,  as  his  lordship's  grand 
vicar  for  the  west  of  England,  and  archdeacon  of  Wilts  and 
Hants.  According  to  Dodd  (vol.  iii.  p.  88),  "he  was  pos- 
sessed of  a  handsome  patrimony,  and  living  otherwise  quali- 
fied, stood  candidate  for  a  mitre  in  1635,  being  then  sixty 
years  of  age."     From  that  pei'iod  I  lose  sight  of  him. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST   OF    THE    CLERGY.  835 

Jenison,  Augustin,  S.J.,  born  at  Lower  Walworth,  near 
Darlington,  20th  April,  1735 ;  at  the  age  of  twenty  placed 
himself  amongst  the  novices  at  Watten.  Soon  after  his 
promotion  to  holy  orders,  he  was  sent  to  the  EUingham 
mission  in  1763,  where  at  length  his  character  for  immorality 
gave  cause  for  suspicion.  Removed  to  Wardour  in  1771,  for 
some  time  his  conduct  was  edifying ;  but  growing  careless  of 
watchfulness  and  prayer,  he  yielded  to  the  secret  passion, 
and  suffered  the  shipwreck  of  faith ;  and  the  congregation  of 
Wardour  assembling  for  Mass  on  a  Sunday  in  October,  1774, 
was  filled  with  consternation  at  the  news  of  his  then  reading 
his  recantation  in  Lower  Donhead  Church.  Towards  his  noble 
patron  Henry,  eigh^  Lord  Arundell,  his  conduct  was  sullied 
with  the  foulest  ingratitude.  Threatened  with  a  prosecution 
for  "  scandalum  magnatum,"  he  hurried  away  into  Scotland, 
where  fanaticism  received  him  with  open  arms ;  for  a  time 
he  settled  at  Aberdeen,  where  he  was  prodigiously  followed 
as  a  preacher.  It  seems  that  he  subsequently  obtained  a 
more  lucrative  preferment  near  Edinburgh ;  but  by  a  special 
mercy  of  God,  the  poor  sinner,  in  the  very  pulpit,  felt  at 
once  the  misery  of  his  position — to  use  his  own  expression, 
in  a  letter  which  Bishop  Milner  saw  (see  his  lordship's  last 
pastoral,  dated  Wolverhampton  1st  February,  1826) — "he 
suffered  a  hell  upon  earth."  Docile  to  the  invitation  of  grace, 
which  admits  not  of  procrastination,  "  Nescit  tarda  molimina 
Sancti  Spiritus  gratia,"  the  prodigal  separated  himself  from 
the  occasion  of  sin,  renounced  all  his  worldly  comforts  and 
prospects,  withdrew  to  St.  Omer's  College,  where  he  passed 
the  last  nine  years  of  his  life,  until  December,  1793,  in 
compunction  and  perpetual  penance.  "  Qui  seminant  in 
lachrymis  in  exultatione  metent." — Psalm  cxxv. 

Jenison,  James,  S.  J.,  a  younger  brother  of  the  preceding, 
but  entered  the  Society  with  him  7th  September,  1755. 
For  a  time  he  was  chaplain  to  the  family  of  Porter,  who 
rented  Admiral  Sawbridge's  house  and  grounds  near  Wel- 
lington ;  and  for  a  short  time  supplied  at  Wardour  after  his 
brother's  abrupt  and  scandalous  withdrawal.  He  died  at 
Bath  22nd  January,  1799,  set.  sixty-two. 

Jenison,  John,  S.J.,  the  eldest  and  by  far  the  most  bril- 
liant of  the  three  Jesuit  brothers,  and  perhaps  the  best 
classic  scholar  of  his  time  in  the  English  province.  To  him 
Canon  Thomas  Phillips  addressed  his  "  Letter  to  a  Student 
at  a  Foreign  University  on  the  Study  of  Divinity,"  London, 
1756,  8vo.  pp.  126.    In  1759  he  succeeded  F.  R.  Constable 


336  BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST    OF    THE    CLERGY. 

as  pastor  at  Wardour,  and  at  the  neighbouring  mission  at 
Bonham  was  enrolled  amongst  the  professed  fathers  of  the 
Society  on  2nd  February,  1763.  Within  nine  years  he 
quitted  Wardour  to  go  to  Preston,  from  which  he  decamped, 
in  1775,  for  the  Continent.  He  outlived  his  intellects, 
dying  in  the  Liege  asylum  27th  December,  1792,  set.  eighty- 
four,  t 

Jenison,  Michael,  S.J.,  perhaps  uncle  to  the  three  pre- 
ceding Jesuits,  for  a  considerable  period  was  chaplain  to  the 
Webbs  at  Canford.  Retiring  to  Watten,  the  venerable  man 
closed  his  mortal  career  17th  November,  1735,  set.  eighty, 
rel.  sixty,  prof,  forty-two. 

Jenkins  (Jerome),  John,  O.S.B. — An  honoured  name 
amongst  his  brethren.  He  was  born  at  Sedgley,  co.  Stafford, 
25th  August,  1796.  On  5th  September,  1803,  piety  led  him 
to  the  Benedictine  College  at  Acton  Burnell ;  on  8th 
January,  1812,  he  took  their  holy  habit,  and  was  professed 
on  12th  January  of  the  year  next  ensuing.  Four  years  later 
he  removed  with  the  community  to  Downside,  and  was 
admitted  to  subdeaconship  on  29th  June,  1818;  to  deacon- 
ship  22nd  August,  1819;  and  to  priesthood  23rd  December, 
1820,  by  Bishop  Poynter,  at  St.  Edmund's.  His  first  mission 
was  Woolton;  and  after  a  few  years  he  was  appointed 
to  Standish,  when,  at  the  express  solicitation  of  the  late 
Mrs.  Wakeman,  he  was  transferred  to  Little  Malvern.  His 
respected  superior,  F.  Birdsall,  then  chose  this  active  and 
talented  monk  for  his  associate  at  Cheltenham.  In  the 
seventh  chapter  of  the  First  Part,  I  have  enlarged  on  his 
invaluable  services  to  the  Bath  mission.  Bungay  and  Red- 
ditch  are  also  indebted  to  his  pastoral  exertions ;  but  since 
12th  December,  1851,  the  Convent  at  Taunton  has  had  the 
comfort  of  possessing  him  as  their  chaplain  and  spiritual 
guide. 

Johnson,  David,  S.J.,  whose  true  name  was  Maghee, 
was  born  in  Ireland  22nd  February,  1737;  entered  the 
novitiate  at  W^atten  at  the  age  of  eighteen,  and  to  his  reli- 
gious merits  added  the  distinction  of  eminence  in  polite  and 
classical  Uterature.  In  1764  he  was  appointed  pastor  of  the 
Arlington  mission,  whose  patron,  John  Chichester,  Esq., 
showed  himself  unconscious  and  undeserving  of  the  treasure 
and  resource  he  might  have  possessed  in  such  a  chaplain  and 
companion.  Death  released  this  meritorious  father  from  his 
comfortless  situation  there  on  8th  November,  1768. 

Johnson,  William,  S.J.,  younger  brother  of  the  present 
provincial,   F.  Joseph    Johnson,   was   born    at  Liverpool  in 


BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST   OF    THE    CLERGY.  337 

1812,  and  entered  the  Society  31st  September,  1829.  After 
serving  the  Preston  mission  since  December  8th,  1849,  he 
has  been  stationed  at  St.  Joseph's  Chapel,  the  original  mis- 
sion of  Bristol.  He  must  be  gratified  with  the  progress'  of 
religion,  for  at  the  Easter  of  1856  he  had  upwards  of 
2,000  communicants. 

Johnson,  William,  was  born  at  Hindley,  co.  Lancaster, 
and  educated  partly  at  Stonyhurst,  Ampleforth,  and  Prior- 
park.  He  was  ordained  deacon  on  12th  March,  1853,  and 
priest  on  21st  September  following.  He  is  at  present  assistant 
at  St.  Mary's,  Bristol. 

Jones,  Charles,  of  Wolverhampton,  whose  four  brothers, 
educated  at  Oscott,*  all  took  to  the  Church,  was  appointed 
assistant  chaplain  to  the  Rev.  Joseph  Lee,  at  Spetisbury. 
Soon  after  his  arrival  there,  he  was  taken  ill,  and  dying  on 
4th  November,  1827,  aged  forty-three,  was  buried  in  the 
conventual  cemetery. 

Jones,  John. — This  worthy  priest  of  Douay  College  long 
served  the  Monmouth  mission,  and  twice,  as  I  have  men- 
tioned in  Part  I.  Chapter  XIL,  rendered  valuable  assistance 
at  Gloucester.  Retiring  from  the  heat  and  burden  of  mis- 
sionary duty  to  Manchester,  he  was  called  to  his  recompense 
on  11th  March,  1840,  aet.  eighty-one,  and  was  interred  in 
St.  Patrick's  churchyard. 

Jonis,  alias  George  Henry  John,  S.J. — For  many  years 
this  Belgian  father  was  director  to  the  English  Theresian 
nuns  at  Hoogstraet  (see  Part  I.  p.  129),  and  emigrated  with 
them  in  July,  1794.  He  continued  with  them  until  his 
pious  death  at  Great  Canford,  9th  July,  1796.  From  the 
parish  register  I  collect  he  was  buried  on  12th  July. 

JossB,  L.  (Augtjstin),  a  much-respected  French  abbe,  who 
accepted  the  charge  of  the  Gloucester  mission  in  February, 
1828,  and  held  it  until  three  days  before  his  lamented  death, 
which  occurred  on  28th  January,  1841,  at  the  venerable  age 
of  seventy-eight.  He  was  buried  in  the  vault  of  his  former 
friend  and  predecessor  there,  I'Abbe  Giraud,  in  the  cemetery 
of  St.  John  the  Baptist's  church. 


K. 

Keary,  Henry. — In  the  Tipperary  Vindicator  of  30th 
May,  1848,  it  is  stated  that  this  parish  priest,  of  Killeen,  near 
Nenagh,  in  the  diocese  of  Killaloe,  had  resigned  his  living, 
and  taken  leave  of  his  flock,  to  proceed  to  a  foreign  mission. 


338 


BIOGRAPHICAL   LIST    OF   THE    CLERGY. 


1 


and  that  his  departure  was  deeply  and  generally  regretted. 
But  he  was  prevailed  upon  to  accept  the  vacant  mission  of 
Tiverton,  where  he  arrived  on  15th  July  that  year,  and  served 
it  until  Christmas  without  having  received  any  salary  from 
Prior-park.  Salishury  then  had  the  benefit  of  his  services. 
On  22nd  March,  1850,  he  proceeded  to  Axminster,  but  quitted 
for  Stonyhurst  12th  October,  1851.  On  4th  March,  1852, 
he  went  to  St.  Patrick's,  Manchester.  This  did  not  suit ; 
but  where  he  is  now  I  know  not. 

Kelly,  Lewis. — This  worthy  Irish  priest  was  bom  about 
the  year  1820;  studied  at  St.  Kieran's  College,  Kilkenny, 
and  was  ordained  on  4th  of  August,  1844.  On  9th  June, 
1854,  he  came  to  Plymouth  to  assist  that  important  congre- 
gation, but  now  is  chaplain  at  Trelawny,  and  also  attends 
Liskeard. 

Kelly,  Patrick,  bom  19th  February,  1797,  in  the  diocese 
of  Clonfert.  Quitting  Tawstock  3rd  October,  1844,  after 
about  two  years' residence,  he  proceeded  to  Shortwood,  but 
left  within  a  twelvemonth,  when  he  started  for  Ireland,  and 
thence  to  Rome.  On  his  return,  he  went  to  Pairford  in 
May,  1848,  and  served  it  conjointly  with  Swindon  until  2nd 
January,  1849,  when  he  reached  Axminster.  A  year  later 
lie  got  to  Salisbury;  soon  after  to  Lyme,  which  he  quitted, 
and  the  district  also,  in  October,  1853. 

Kendall  (Nicholas),  James,  O.S.B.,  an  honoured  name 
amongst  his  brethren,  born  2nd  April,  1806,  in  Kensington- 
square,  London;  took  the  Benedictine  habit  12th  March, 
1824;  was  ordained  priest  in  September,  1831 ;  began  the 
charge  of  the  Downside  mission  first  Sunday  of  Lent,  1837  ; 
served  Cheltenham  for  at  least  two  years  and  a  half,  from 
February,  1850,  to  July,  1852;  since  which  time  he  has 
been  stationed  at  Redditch. 

Kendall,  Thomas,  S.J. — ^AU  that  I  can  glean  of  him  is, 
that  he  was  a  native  of  Devonshire,  that  he  enlisted  under 
the  standard  of  St.  Ignatius  in  1635,  and  that  he  died  at 
Madrid  2nd  July,  1672,  set.  sixty. 

Kenny,  Edward. — This  zealous  and  able  Irish  priest,  after 
rendering  valuable  service  for  some  years  at  Poole  and  at 
Spetisbury,  was  requested  by  the  bishop  to  take  charge  of 
the  faithful  of  Penzance. 

Kensington,  Edward,  S.  J.,  of  Lancashire,  whose  real  name 
was  Laithwaite.  He  was  younger  brother  of  Thomas,  who 
after  his  conversion  went  to  Seville,  where  he  was  ordained 
priest,  and  sent  to  the    mission    in  the    spring    of  1604. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST   OP    THE    CLERGY.  339 

Landing  at  Plymouth,  he  was  apprehended,  and  committed 
to  the  county  jail,  then  under  the  castle  of  Exeter.  After 
spending  three  months  in  that  sink  of  profligacy  and  misery, 
Thomas  was  arraigned  at  the  Lammas  assizes,  and  was  con- 
demned to  death  for  his  priesthood,  on  the  testimony  of  a 
man  who  swore  to  having  seen  him  celebrate  Mass  at 
St.  Lucar.  Edward,  the  subject  of  this  memoir,  was  a  most 
bigoted  Protestant ;  on  hearing  of  his  brother's  imprisonment 
and  condemnation,  he  hurried  down  to  reclaim  his  unfortunate 
brother  from  the  errors  of  Popery,  and  the  magistrates  wit- 
nessing his  enthusiastic  zeal  allowed  him  free  access  to  his 
priestly  brother.  But  at  the  end  of  eight  days  he  became 
satisfied  that  he  was  combating  shadows  instead  of  sub- 
stances,— that  he  had  mistaken  for  Catholic  doctrines  the 
base  misrepresentations  and  calumnies  of  the  enemies  of  God's 
Church.  The  discovery  of  such  unjustifiable  practices  served 
as  a  beacon  to  direct  him  through  the  surges  of  error,  and  to 
lift  him  upon  the  rock  of  truth.  By  the  end  of  the  Christmas 
holidays  he  himself  was  reconciled  to  the  Catholic  Church. 
Impressed  with  the  mercy  extended  to  him,  he  sought,  like 
another  St.  Paul,  to  become  the  instrument  of  salvation  to 
others.  After  studying  for  some  time  at  Douay  College,  that 
storehouse  of  learning,  piety,  and  martyrdom,  he  proceeded 
to  Rome  in  1608.  After  his  ordinations,  he  came  on  the 
English  mission.  Devonshire,  where  he  had  been  favoured 
with  the  light  of  faith,  now  profited  of  his  ardent  zeal  to 
propagate  it ;  and  this  laborious  champion  —  "  laboriosus 
athleta,"  as  F.  More  styles  him  in  his  History,  p.  392 — sur- 
rendered his  life,  full  of  merits,  on  34th  June,  1643,  set.  sixty- 
one.  Rel.  twenty-seven,  prof,  fifteen. — (See  also  Part  First, 
Chapter  I.,  page  5.) 

Kenyon  (Anselm),  Thomas,  O.S.B.,  took  the  habit  in 
1786.  I  meet  with  him  as  missionary  at  Beckford  in  1840; 
he  died  at  Stanbrooke  on  28th  July,  1850,  set.  seventy-nine. 

Kbrin,  Joseph. — This  young  and  promising  priest  of  the 
London  District,  for  the  benefit  of  his  health  came  to  the 
west,  and  accepted  the  charge  of  the  Tawstock  mission  from 
August,  1849,  until  February,  1850.  On  26th  October,  1851, 
at  the  early  age  of  forty-two,  he  was  released  from  pain,  and 
was  fit  for  Heaven. 

Keynes,  Alexander,  S.J.,  of  Somersetshire,  and  of  a 
family  fruitful  in  ecclesiastics  and  religious  ladies.  He 
entered  the  novitiate  of  Watten  on  the  evening  of  11th 
November,  1669.     After  many  years  of  labour  in  England 

z  2 


340  BIOGKAPHICAL   LIST    OF   THE    CLERGY. 

he  retired  to  Ghent,  where  he  died  in  peace  on  7th  June, 
1713,  set.  seventy-one. 

Keynes,  Charles,  S.J.,  a  young  Jesuit  of  great  promise. 
Soon  after  his  appointment  to  the  professorship  of  logic  at 
Liege,  he  was  hurried  to  an  early  tomb  on  20th  September, 
1673. 

Keynes,  Edward,  S.J.,  died  a  victim  of  charity  37th  July, 
or  6th  August,  1665,  during  the  plague  in  London,  set.  fifty- 
seven,  soc.  thirty-eight. 

Keynes,  George,  S.J. — There  were  two  of  this  name  in 
the  Society.  The  senior,  who  is  described  as  "  a  prudent  and 
most  virtuous  man,  and  a  general  favourite,"  died  at  St. 
Omer's,  late  in  1611.  The  junior,  ordained  in  1654  (the 
translator  of  the  "  Martyrologium  Romanum"),  sailed  in 
December  that  year  for  the  Chinese  mission,  and  died  in  the 
Philippine  Islands  in  1658. 

Keynts,  John,  S.J.,  born  at  Compton  Painsford,  co. 
Somerset,  whom  Dodd,  Hist.  vol.  iii.  p.  315,  incorrectly  calls 
James.  In  the  Collectanea  S.J.  p.  126,  I  have  given  a  full 
report  of  this  zealops  and  charitable  missioner,  polite 
scholar,  able  divine,  and  discreet  superior  and  provincial 
in  very  critical  and  eventful  times.  But  he  lived  to  God 
and  for  God,  and  could  say  with  David,  "  Dominus  mihi 
adjutor,  non  timebo  quid  faciat  mihi  homo." — (Ps.  cxvii.) 
This  great  and  good  man  died  at  Watten  15  th  May,  1697, 
set.  seventy-three,  soc.  fifty-two. 

Keynes,  Maurice,  S.J.,  entered  the  order  in  1616;  said 
his  first  Mass  at  the  Gesu,  in  Rome,  2nd  December,  1634; 
served  the  English  mission  for  nine  years ;  recalled  to  Liege 
to  teach  philosophy  and  moral  divinity ;  but  died  in  his  native 
country  1st  February,  1654,  set.  sixty-one. 

Keynes,  Maximilian,  S.J.,  became  a  novice  in  1674;  for 
many  years  he  was  employed  in  the  cultivation  of  the  English 
vineyard ;  at  length,  being  allowed  to  retire  to  Watten,  he  there 
surrendered  his  soul  to  his  Creator  on  3rd  March,  1720,  set. 
sixty-eight. 

Kington  (Pacificus),  Thomas,  O.S.F.,  born  at  Warwick, 
This  very  amiable  religious,  whilst  confessor  to  the  Poor 
Clares  at  Aire,  in  Artois,  was  arrested  in  the  beginning  of 
the  French  revolution  and  consigned  to  the  jail,  and  would 
have  been  guillotined  on  28th  July,  1794,  if  the  tyrant 
Robespierre  had  not  been  executed  on  the  preceding 
day.  In  fact,  in  Coghlan's  Directory  for  1795,  p.  14,  he  is 
reported  to  have  been  "  guillotined  for  having  ventured  to 


BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST   OF    THE    CLERGY.  341 

exercise  his  spiritual  functions."  On  returning  to  England, 
after  some  time  he  was  appointed  chaplain  at  Taunton  Lodge, 
where  I  had  the  comfort  of  meeting  him  in  November,  1810. 
Retiring  therefrom  in  1812,  he  died  18th  February,  1827, 
set.  seventy-three. 

King,  alias  Scott,  Richard,  O.S.B.,  of  Somersetshire. — 
From  F.  Weldon's  "  Chronological  Notes,"  I  learn  that  this 
good  religious  died  suddenly  at  Sir  Francis  Dorrington's 
house  in  that  county,  on  his  return  from  Wells  to  his  resi- 
dence at  Leighland,  on  2nd  July,  1664. 

Knight,  George,  S..T.,  third  son  of  Henry  Knight,  of 
Cannington,  Esq.,  by  his  wife  Elizabeth  Blake,  was  born 
12th  January,  1738;  began  his  noviceship  in  1754;  for  some 
time  was  employed  in  the  Cornish  mission.  He  died  suddenly 
at  Courtfield  ou  25th  May,  1790. 

Knight,  James,  S.  J.,  eldest  son  of  James  Knight,  of  Can- 
nington, Esq.,  by  his  wife  Mary  Diana  Rowe,  born  at  Can- 
nington 20th  July,  1780;  at  the  age  of  thirty-six  quitted  the 
profession  of  the  law  for  the  religious  state.  In  due  time 
he  was  promoted  to  holy  orders,  and  said  his  first  Mass  at 
Fribourg  on  Whitsunday,  6th  June,  1824.  Courtfield  was 
his  first  mission.  On  26th  August,  1830,  he  was  transferred 
to  Soberton.  When  that  mission  was  removed  to  Tunbridge 
(where  its  new  chapel  was  opened  17th  July,  1838),  F.  Knight 
repaired  to  Stonyhurst,  and  thence  to  Chipping,  where 
apoplexy  carried  him  off  on  12th  November,  1844. 

Knight  (Nicholas),  William,  O.S.F.,  brother  to  George, 
before  mentioned,  in  early  life  embraced  the  order  of  St. 
Francis ;  he  was  elected  a  definitor  on  27th  August,  1788,  and 
when  F.  Nutt  died  at  Birmingham,  27th  September,  1799,  was 
called  upon  to  supply  the  residue  of  his  term  of  provincialship, 
and  at  the  chapter  of  1800  was  himself  chosen  provincial. 
At  the  expiration  of  his  triennium,  he  retired  to  Osmotherly, 
where  he  resigned  his  soul  to  God  on  1st  April,  1806,  set. 
I  seventy-six. 

'  Knight,  William,  S.  J.,  son  of  Henry  Knight,  of  Axmin- 
ster,  Esq.,  by  his  wife  Mary  Barne,  was  born  at  Axminster 
3rd  August,  1813 ;  after  studying  at  Stonyhurst,  he  joined  the 
novices  at  the  age  of  nineteen ;  was  ordained  priest  at  Stony- 
hurst 21st  September,  1839,  and  after  saying  Mass  on  the 
following  day  in  the  College  Church,  was  despatched  at  once 
to  the  Preston  mission.  There  he  laboured  with  indefatigable 
zeal,  until  ordered  to  replace  F.  Mahon,  in  Trenchard-street, 
Bristol. 


34>'i 


BIOGEAPHICAL    LIST   OF    THE    CLERGY. 


LacYj  George  Michael,  S.J.,  born  at  Bristol  33rd  April, 
1793;  educated  at  Stonyhurst;  for  many  years  was  chap- 
lain at  Wingerworth,  co.  Derby,  where  he  died  of  an  enlarge- 
ment of  the  heart  on  16th  November,  1836. 

Laffan,  William.^A  native  of  the  county  of  Tipperary, 
studied  in  Drumcondra  College,  Dublin,  was  ordained  priest 
in  Pentecost,  1852,  and  since  September  of  that  year 
has  laboured  in  the  diocese  of  Plymouth.  Penzance  has  at 
present  the  benefit  of  his  zealous  services. 

Lallart,  John,  S.J. — The  first  priest  that  I  find  attached 
to  Bristol  was  this  Jesuit,  soon  after  the  accession  of 
King  George  II. ;  but  I  cannot  ascertain  the  period  of  his 
services.  He  died  at  Boulogne  on  25th  September,  1743, 
set.  fifty-one,  soc.  twenty-eight. 

Lambert,  George,  S.J.,  of  Norwich;  educated  at  Stony- 
hurst;  joined  the  society  in  1840;  for  some  months  in  1855 
was  the  assistant  priest  at  Wardour,  until  replaced  by 
F.  Henry  Walmesley  on  20th  October  of  that  year. 

Lancaster,  Joseph,  S.J.,  whose  real  name  was  La  Motte, 
born  13th  July,  1712,  was  an  alumnus  of  the  English  College 
at  Rome,and  joined  the  society  in  1734.  He  succeeded  F.Lodge 
in  the  Cornish  mission  in  1764,  after  he  had  discharged  the 
oflBce  of  penitentiary  at  Loretto  for  some  years,  and  finally, 
was  stationed  at  Slate  Delf,  near  Chorley,  where  death  closed 
his  eyes  on  17th  September,  1772. 

Lanquetuit,  Pierre. — This  good  abbe,  after  the  French 
Revolution,  established  himself  at  Poole  as  a  teacher  of  the 
French  language,  and  in  his  zeal  for  religion,  with  the  as- 
sistance of  Thomas  Weld,  Esq.,  who  died  1st  August,  1810, 
and  of  Lady  Mannock,  who  departed  in  peace  18th  April, 
1814  (a  benefactress  to  the  amount  of  j6800),  began  the 
Poole  mission,  which  he  conducted  with  credit  until  his  return 
to  France  in  October,  1820. 

Larkan,  John,  born  at  Newton,  near  Carrick-on-Suir, 
3rd  September,  1804 ;  educated  partly  at  St.  John's  College, 
Waterford,  and  partly  at  Rome ;  but  was  ordained  priest  at 
Prior-park  in  December,  1830.  His  first  mission  was  at 
Westbury,  near  Bristol,  at  Pentecost,  1831.  Here  he  was 
sufifered  to  remain  in  peace  above  a  year  and  a  half,  when  he 
was  doomed  to  run  the  gauntlet  of  our  missions.  On  4th 
January,  1832,he  was  transferred  to  Cannington;  on  25  th  April, 
1834,  was  removed  to  Axminster;  and  on  19th  July,  1834, 


BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST   OF    THE    CLEEGY.  343 

was  ordered  to  Torquay,  to  supply  during  Rev.  J.  M'Enery's 
absence  for  the  benefit  of  his  health.  In  April,  1835,  he  was 
despatched  to  FoUaton,  where  he  was  to  continue  until  18th 
November,  1836.  Obedience  then  summoned  him  to  Taw- 
stock,  where  he  was,  after  a  short  interval  of  repose,  allowed 
to  continue  from  20th  September,  1837,  to  20th  of  April, 
1838.  Thence  he  was  appointed  to  Shortwood.  Here  his 
health  and  spirits  literally  broke  down  for  some  time,  when  for 
his  recovery  he  was  permitted  to  spend  some  months  at  Prior- 
park,  and  to  supply,  at  Marnhull,  for  the  Easter  of  1839; 
but  as  soon  as  the  restored  tone  of  his  constitution  and 
spirits  would  admit,  he  returned  to  the  solitude  of  Shortwood. 
In  May,  1841,  he  accepted  the  Mauritius  mission  oflFered  him 
by  Bishop  Collier.  '  In  a  letter  which  this  dear  friend  wrote 
to  me  on  1st  June,  1841,  on  board  the  ship  Tanjore,  Cap- 
tain M'Leod,  he  says  : — 

"  In  about  an  hour  we  go  down  the  Thames,  commencing 
our  long  voyage.  Our  little  party  consists  of  Bishop  Collier 
and  four  priests,  two  of  whom  are  French.  Finding  myself 
in  delicate  health  and  unequal  to  the  eflBcient  discharge  of 
the  duties  of  au  English  mission,  I  acceded  to  Bishop  Collier's 
application  to  accompany  him  to  the  Mauritius,  in  hopes  of 
re-establishing  my  health  in  a  warmer  climate.  At  first 
Dr.  Baines  was  unwilling  that  I  should  leave  the  Western 
District,  but  afterwards  complied  with  Dr.  Collier's  request. 
I  subjoin  his  Exeat :  '  Cum  a  nobis  petierit  Rev™"^"  Ged, 
Bern.  Collier,  Vic.  Ap.  Insulse  Mauritii,  ut  liceat  tibi 
Rev**''  Frater  ex  nostro  districtu  exire,  et  sub  ejus  juris- 
dictione  Missioni  Apostolicse  inservire,  nos  venerabili  con- 
fratri  nostro  morem  gerere,  tuseque  infirmse  valetudini 
consulere  cupientes,  libenter  tibi  licentiam  concedimus 
ex  Vicariatu  nostro  exeundi  et  dicto  Rev"""'  Ep°'  te  sub- 
jiciendi,  declarantis.  Te  semper  bonis  moribus  fuisse 
instructum,  summumque  zelum  in  missionarii  munere  pera- 
gendo  exercuisse.  Quapropter  omnia  tibi  bona  exoptantes, 
Benedictionem  Apostolicam  peramanter  impertimur.' " 

For  full  seven  years  he  continued  to  labour  in  the  Mau- 
ritius to  the  great  satisfaction  of  its  bishop.  Late  in  1848 
he  returned  to  England,  but  without  the  renovated  constitu- 
tion we  had  hoped  for.  After  a  short  period  spent  at  St. 
Edmund's  College,  Herts,  he  was  appointed  assistant  to 
the  Rev.  Edward  Culler,  at  Brighton ;  but  to  the  grief  of  his 
flock  and  of  the  public  he  was  found  dead  in  his  bed  on  4th 
February,  1850,  holding  St.  Luke's  Gospel  in  his  hand. 
His  solemn  funeral  on  the  7th  of  February  was  described  in 
the  Brighton  Herald;   but  the  editor  strangely  confounds 


344  BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST   OF    THE    CLERGY. 

him  with  Rev.  John  Larkin,  S.J.,  bom  at  Ravensworth,  co. 
Durham,  2nd  February,  1801,  and  at  present  alive. 

Well  knowing  my  reverend  friend  during  the  ten  years  he 
was  serving  our  Western  missions,  I  may  be  allowed  to  add, 
that  I  h9,ve  rarely  met  a  more  talented,  modest,  self-denying, 
conciliating  priest — one  more  deeply  endued  with  the  apo- 
stolic spirit. 

Laurenson,  James,  S.J. — This  best  of  my  friends,  of  sixty 
years'  standing,  "animse  dimidium  mese,"  was  born  at  Witham, 
Essex,  8th  September,  1781 ;  and  was  educated  partly  at  Liege 
and  partly  at  Stonyliurst.  Devoting  himself  to  God  and 
religion,  after  rendering  invaluable  service  to  his  college  in 
the  capacity  of  prefect  and  deputy  procurator,  he  was  ap- 
pointed successor  to  the  Rev.  Felix  Vauquelin  in  the  Ugbrooke 
mission,  which  he  reached,  to  my  great  joy,  on  27th  Sep- 
tember, 1816.  For  full  fourteen  years  and  a  quarter  he 
superintended  with  pastoral  solicitude  his  rapidly  increasing 
flock,  and  published  a  very  useful  vade  mecum,  entitled 
"  The  Scriptural  Evidence  of  the  True  Catholic  Faith,"  a 
12mo.  of  140  pages,  in  the  year  1832.  To  the  regret  of  his 
flock,  and  a  numerous  acquaintance  of  all  denominations,  he 
quitted  Ugbrooke  on  10th  January,  1831,  to  take  charge  of 
the  faithful  at  Lincoln,  where  he  arrived  on  the  26th  of  that 
month  and  year.  Here  also  he  was  doing  incredible  good, 
when  his  friend  Everard,  the  tenth  Lord  Arundell,  who 
knew  and  appreciated  his  merits,  importuned  his  superiors  to 
transfer  him  to  the  important  mission  of  Wardour.  His 
lordship's  wish  was  granted,  and  my  old  friend  reached  his 
destination  on  23rd  June,  1832.  On  4th  November  that 
year  he  presented  to  Bishop  Baines  for  confirmation  no  less 
than  166  persons.  By  his  tact,  industry,  and  judicious 
system  of  management,  he  improved  the  temporalities  of  the 
place,  the  comforts  of  his  residence,  and  the  resources  of  the 
poor-school :  and  he  succeeded  in  attaching  to  the  mission  a 
convenient  and  spacious  cemetery,  which  was  opened  with  im- 
posing solemnity  on  1st  January,  1836,  to  the  unfeigned 
satisfaction  and  joy  of  the  spectators  and  friends  of  religion. 
But  after  twenty-one  years  and  nearly  a  half  of  incessant 
labour,  this  model  of  pastors  was  unceremoniously  parted 
with  by  the  family;  and  since  18th  November,  1853,  Wor- 
cester possesses  the  privilege  of  his  ministerial  services. 

Lawson,  Thomas,  O.S.B.  —  This  universally-esteemed 
religious,  after  serving  the  mission,  was  wisely  selected,  on 
10th  May,  1814,  to  be  the  first  prior  of  St.  Gregory's,  at 
Downside,  of  which  possession   had    been   taken   about   a 


BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST    OF    THE    CLERGY.  345 

fortnight  previously.  Resigning  his  office  on  23rd  July,  1818, 
he  retired  to  Salford  Nunnery,  where,  to  use  the  words  of 
St.  Maximus,  "  Sanctam  perfectamque  vitam  mors  Deo 
devota  conclusit,"  on  23rd  April,  1830. 

Lee,  John,  horn  in  London  28th  August,  1768.  Reserved 
Hatherop  for  several  years,  when  he  was  translated  to  the 
Bavarian  Chapel,  London,  to  which  he  was  attached  until 
his  pious  death  on  13th  July,  1839. 

N.B.  In  the  Directory  of  1831  it  is  recorded  in  the 
obituary,  "  1830.  February  6th,  the  B,ev,  Francis  Leigh, 
Hatherop  (Douay)." 

Lee,  Joseph,  elder  brother  of  John,  the  last  mentioned, 
born  also  on  28th  Atigust,  1765.  Like  his  brother,  he  was 
educated  at  Douay  College,  and  succeeded  the  Rev.  Ralph 
Southworth  at  Spetisbury.  When  Dr.  Moulins  quitted 
Blandford  in  1814,  this  good  priest,  in  his  zeal  and  charity, 
charged  himself  with  attending  the  faithful  in  Blandford 
also.  For  several  years  before  his  death  he  was  tried  by 
severe  bodily  suffering ;  but  meekly  departed  to  our  Lord  on 
Monday  morning,  20th  January,  1840. 

Lempfrid,  Prosper,  O.S.R.,  born  at  Leixham,  in  Lorraine, 
23rd  June,  1809 ;  was  professed  in  the  order  of  Redemp- 
torists,  8th  December,  1833,  and  was  ordained  priest  on 
18th  February,  1837.  He  is  connected  with  the  west  by 
his  appointment  to  the  Falmouth  mission,  where  he  arrived 
on  16th  June,  1843 ;  but,  to  the  regret  of  many,  left  in 
August,  1844.  He  is  still  living  in  some  English  mission. 
At  baptism  he  had  received  the  additional  Christian  names 
of  Augustus  Xaverius. 

Lengronne,  Charles,  born  in  Normandy  1st  January, 
1760  j  for  seventeen  years  he  resided  at  Lanherne,  where  he 
died,  as  he  had  lived,  the  model  of  the  ecclesiastical  spirit, 
on  9th  April,  1823,  and  was  buried  in  the  new  cemetery  of 
the  convent. 

Lewis,  John,  alias  Kemys,  was  connected  with  the  Tynte 
family,  co.  Somerset,  and  was  admitted  as  alumnus  of  the 
English  College  at  Rome  in  1653.  He  was  certainly  an 
inmate  chaplain  at  Tor  Abbey  before  the  year  1685.  By  an 
instrument  bearing  date  26th  August,  1708,*  he  assigned 

*  Mr.  Lewis's  will  was  made  also  on  26th  August,  1708,  and  was 
proved  in  the  Bishop's  Court  at  Exeter  on  9th  May,  1709,  when  admi- 
nistration was  granted  to  Martin  Giffard,  of  St.  Mangan's,  Cornwall, 
gentleman. 


346 


BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST   OF   THE    CLERGY. 


all  his  right,  title,  claim,  and  interest  in  and  unto  a  certain 
bond  (£600)  signed,  sealed,  and  delivered  by  Edward  Gary, 
of  Tor  Abbey,  Esq.,  and  George  Carey,  his  son,  Gent.,  for 
the  following  purpose,  "  that  the  principal  due  on  the  said 
bond  shall  remain  for  a  perpetual  fund,  at  £5  per  cent, 
interest,  for  the  maintenance  of  a  priest  of  the  secular 
clergy.".  The  obligation  which  the  grantor  annexed  was, 
that  "  the  priest  shall  at  all  times  assist  the  present  family  of 
Tor  Abbey,  and  their  Catholic  successors,  provided  that  they 
afford  him  decent  residence,  diet,  and  keeping  of  a  horse.* 
Moreover,  the  priest  shall  assist  such  poor  Catholics  as  shall 
happen  to  be  in  the  parishes  of  Pancras,  Parkham,  and 
thereabouts,  when  it  so  happens  that  the  said  poor  shall  not 
be  otherwise  provided  for.  Moreover,  the  said  priest  shall  say 
one  Mass  of  Requiem  upon  the  day  of  my  death,  and  seven 
more  annually  for  me,  the  donor,  for  ever."  From  the 
parish  register  of  Tor  Mohun  I  collect  that  "  Mr.  Lewis,  of 
Tor  Abbey,  was  buried  April  30th,  1709." 

Lewis,  Laurence,  O.S.B. — All  that  I  can  learn  of  him 
is,  that  he  was  professed  at  Dieulwart,  and  that  he  died  at 
Stoke,  CO.  Gloucester,  3rd  Oct.  1633. 

Lewis,  Thomas,  S.J.,  alias  CuLCHETH,t  was  born  in  Lan- 
cashire, 21st  April,  1741.  After  studying  at  Valladolid, 
he  embraced  the  Society  28th  June,  1763 ;  for  a  time  he 
assisted  as  missionary  at  Lindley,  Wappenbury,  and  War- 
dour,  and  then  was  stationed  at  Chidiock,  where  he  resided 
for  twenty-one  years.  On  the  Rev.  William  Poole's  quitting^ 
Exeter  in  January,  1807,  F.  Lewis  was  directed  to  replace 
him  until  October  of  that  year,  when  he  was  succeeded  by  the 
collector   of  these    memoranda,  and  the    venerable  father 

*  I  meet  with  a  similar  arrangement  by  Mrs.  Poyntz,  of  Leighland, 
made  about  twenty  years  before.  She  left  her  estate  to  her  nephew, 
Mr.  Rowe,  subject  to  the  condition  of  maintaining  a  Benedictine  chap- 
lain. If  he  lived  in  the  house,  he  was  to  have  his  diet,  and  a  horse  kept 
free  of  expense,  and  a  salary  of  £7  per  annum.  But  should  he  serve 
the  place  only,  and  not  reside  in  the  house,  he  was  to  receive  ^10 
per  annum.  In  either  case  he  was  to  celebrate  a  determined  number 
of  Masses.  And  should  the  family  cease  to  keep  a  priest,  then  £300 
were  to  be  paid  to  the  Benedictine  province. 

In  the  Gary  case,  as  Mr.  McEnery,  on  his  accepting  the  Tor  Abbey 
mission  in  1822,  expressed  a  decided  preference  to  live  out  of  the  house, 
the  family  agreed  to  raise  the  stipend  from  £30  to  £60. 

t  This  was  once  a  respectable  family  in  Lancashire,  and  maintained 
a  priest.  The  estate  came  to  the  Diconsons,  who  married  Melior  Cul- 
cheth,  a  heiress.  A  branch  of  the  family  is  represented  by  Parmenas 
Culcheth  Pearce,  of  Teingbridge  House,  Devon,  Esq.,  whose  mother's 
grandfather,  William  Culcheth,  came  into  this  county  about  the  time 
of  King  James  II.,  and  died  at  Kingsteignton  10th  December,  1739. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST   OF    THE    CLERGY.  347 

returned  to  Chidiock.  The  voice  of  obedience  called  him 
thence  to  serve  the  community  at  New  Hall  for  a  time. 
But  he  was  permitted  to  resume  his  favourite  station  at 
Chidiock,  where  he  died,  honoured  and  lamented,  on  5th 
September,  1809.  He  was  borne  to  his  grave  in  the 
Arundell  vault  of  that  parish  church  by  six  Catholic  brothers 
of  the  name  of  Tucker, — worthy  members  of  his  congrega- 
tion. 

Leyne,  . — All  that  I  can  glean  of  this  wandering 

priest  is,  that  he  took  charge  of  the  Poole  congregation  in 
the  summer  of  1835,  and  disappeared  after  a  service  of 
eleven  months. 

Lodge,  Thomas,  S.J.,  born  7th  July,  1726,  and  admitted 
a  novice  in  1744.  Soon  after  his  promotion  to  the  priesthood, 
he  was  sent  to  Lanherne,  and  conciliated  general  esteem; 
but  in  the  mid-career  of  his  usefulness  he  was  cut  off,  on  6th 
January,  1764,  by  having  slept  in  a  damp  bed,  as  I  was 
informed  by  the  gentleman  who  superintended  his  funeral. 

Logan,  Henry  Francis  Charles,  LL.D.,  bom  at  Poole, 
9th  September,  1800;  was  educated  at  Cowbridge  Grammar 
School,  in  Glamorganshire,  and  Corpus  Christi  College, 
Cambridge;  but  left  without  graduating.  After  his  con- 
version, he  was  admitted  into  the  English  College  at 
Rome,  where  he  completed  his  theological  course;  but 
received  the  higher  orders  at  Prior-park  in  the  Ember  weeks 
of  Advent,  1830,  with  the  Rev.  John  Larkan.  For  some 
time  he  was  professor  of  mathematics  at  Prior-park,  which 
he  left  for  St.  Mary's,  Oscott,  where  for  many  years  he 
rendered  important  services  and  filled  the  oiEce  of  vice- 
president.  After  serving  several  missions,  he  is  now  stationed 
at  Cale  Hill,  Kent. 

LoMAX,  Charles,  S.J.,  son  of  Richard  Grimshaw  Lomax, 
of  Clayton  Hall,  co.  Lancaster,  Esq.,  by  his  wife  Catherine 
Greaves,  born  8th  August,  1810,  and  educated  in  the 
adjoining  college  of  Stonyhurst ;  at  the  age  of  seventeen  he 
enrolled  himself  amongst  the  children  of  St.  Ignatius,  and 
was  ordained  priest  24th  September,  1836.  His  first  mis- 
sion was  Boston,  on  9th  May,  1837 ;  but  within  a  year  and 
a  half  he  was  transferred  to  Tunbridge  Wells.  In  February, 
1840,  he  was  removed,  for  the  benefit  of  his  health,  to 
Spinkhill,  now  St.  Mary's,  the  oldest  mission  of  the  province; 
in  September  the  same  year  he  was  charged  with  Hodder. 
In  September,  1841,  he  was  transplanted  to  Worcester ;  at 
at  the  end  of  a  twelvemonth  he  was  started  for  St.  Ignatius's 


348  BIOGRAPHICAL   LIST   OP    THE    CLERGY. 

Church,  Preston  j  within  three  months  later  he  was  placed 
at  Lydiate;  eleven  months  after  he  was  despatched  to  St. 
Acheul  J  eleven  months  later  to  Wigan ;  and  the  following 
year,  on  16th  October,  1845,  to  IJgbrooke,  where  he  found  a 
place  "  Ubi  requiesceret  pes  ejus." — (Gen.  viii.  9.)  In  the 
First  Part,  Chapter  III.,  I  have  mentioned  his  successful  zeal 
for  Teignmouth,  and  I  congratulate  its  people  on  having  now 
•^sinceSSth  February,  1856 — secured  the  undivided  services 
of  this  apostolic  missioner. 

LoMAx,  William,  S.J.,  the  elder  brother  of  F.  Charles,  as 
also  of  F.  Walter  Lomax,  S.J.,  was  born  26th  April,  1804; 
was  admitted  a  novice  at  Mont  Eouge,  Paris,  in  1832; 
ordained  priest  21st  September,  1833;  and  six  days  later 
made  his  debut  in  the  laborious  mission  of  Preston.  He  is 
connected  with  the  West  by  being  made  coadjutor  to  F.  James 
Laurenson  in  the  care  of  the  Wardour  congregation,  from  14th 
October,  1843,  to  7th  March,  1845,  when  he  was  summoned 
to  Stonyhurst.  Shortly  after  he  was  directed  to  supply  at 
Richmond,  co.  York ;  thence  was  transferred  to  Stockheld ; 
but  from  12th  January,  1849,  was  stationed  at  Ponte- 
fract,  where  this  friend  of  education  died  on  8th  May,  1856. 
His  funeral,  on  the  13th,  was  honourably  attended. 

LoRYMER,  . — A  gentleman  who  knew  him  well 

in  Cornwall  assured  me  that  he  was  a  secular  priest,  and  that 
he  died  at  Lanherne  in  1762.  I  have  searched  in  vain  for 
further  particulars. 

LovETT,  Albert,  O.S.D.,  resided  at  Ugbrooke,  partly  as 
tutor  to  the  sons  of  Hugh,  the  second  Lord  Clifford,  and 
partially  as  chaplain.  On  25th  April,  1738,  he  was  chosen 
twelfth  provincial  of  his  brethren,  and  had  hardly  completed 
his  quadriennium  of  superiority  when  lie  died  in  London  on 
1st  June,  1743. 

LouGHLiN,  O',  Peter,  born  4th  November,  1793  ;  ordained 
priest  by  Archbishop  Troy,  in  Dublin,  on  33rd  December, 
1815 ;  for  some  years  was  parish  priest  and  grand  vicar  of 
the  diocese  of  KUfanora  and  Kilmadugh  ;  but  from  bad  health 
was  compelled  to  resign  his  appointments.  I  have  seen 
Archbishop  Murray's  commendatory  letters  of  my  reverend 
friend,  dated  6th  May,  1834,  describing  him  as  "  religionis 
zelo  plenum,  fide  et  morum  integritate  laudabilem,  pietate, 
patienti^,  cseterisque  virtutibus  Christianis  et  ecclesiasticis 
prseditum."  In  the  hope  that  the  Devonshire  air  might 
revive  him,  he  accepted  the  easy  mission  of  Axminster,  where 
he  arrived  on  8th  October,  1834;  but  his  state  of  health 


BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST   OF    THE    CLERGY.  349 

obliged  him  to  cease  from  attempting  its  duties  just  before 
Christmas.  How  he  still  survives  is  almost  miraculous.  He 
may  truly  say,  "  Quotidie  morior." 

Lynass,  John  (Benedict),  born  at  St.  Helen's  6th  August, 
1823  J  professed  at  Ampleforth  15th  August,  1843.  Soon 
after  his  ordinations,  he  was  sent  to  Cheltenham  late  in  1851 ; 
but  his  stay  was  short.  He  is  now  serving  Leyland  mission, 
near  Preston. 

Lynch,  Thomas,  born  at  Loughrea,  Galway,  in  1802;  was 
ordained  at  Maynooth  in  1829.  After  serving  Spetisbury 
and  Salisbury,  he  became  the  incumbent  of  Axminster  on 
10th  September,  1852.  Here  he  gave  much  satisfaction  by 
his  blameless  life ;  but  getting  nervous  about  his  health,  he 
chose  to  depart  on  26th  July,  1855.  We  began  to  give  hira 
up,  when  he  reappeared  on  10th  November,  but  to  depart 
(finally?)  on  Candlemas-day,  1856,  to  take  charge  of  a 
community  of  nuns,  with  100  scholars,  at  Bawnpark,  in 
Ireland. 

Lyons,  Joseph,  O.S.D.,  born  at  CuUen,  co.  Louth,  in  June, 
1797 ;  professed  in  the  Order  at  Esker,  co.  Galway,  in  1818 ; 
studied  two  years  in  Rome,  and  four  at  Perugia ;  was  ordained 
priest  at  St.  John  of  Lateran,  in  1821,  by  Cardinal  Litta,  and 
was  employed  as  Lector  of  Theology.  With  the  consent  of 
his  superior,  he  was  allowed,  on  account  of  declining  health, 
to  come  on  the  English  mission ;  but  for  which  the  sequel 
proved  he  was  little  qualified.  For  a  short  time  he  was 
at  Canniugton  in  1830 ;  and  for  a  brief  space  was  Professor 
of  Theology  at  Ampleforth;  then  descended  to  the  mission 
of  Usk;  thence  came  to  Calverleigh  on  28th  November, 
1835,  to  quit  for  Lyme  on  28th  December,  1836.  His  presence 
was  afterwards  inflicted  on  the  communities  of  Lanherne  and 
Hartpury  Court ;  but  his  total  want  of  self-control  became  so 
notorious,  that  he  was  removed  to  Esker,  where  he  could  not 
but  practise  moderation ;  and  there  he  finished  his  course. 


M. 

MAcAtTLiFFE,  D.D.,  Thomas,  born  at  Cork  28th  April, 
1819;  created  D.D.  at  the  Propaganda  in  1843.  For  nine 
years  he  laboured  like  an  Apostle  in  the  East- India  missions, 
and  nearly  lost  his  sight  by  a  coup  de  soleil.  To  recover  his 
health  he  reached  London,  and  Cardinal  Wiseman  placed 
him  at  St.  Joseph's,  Bunhill-row,  and  at  SS.  Peter  and  Paul, 
Clerkenwcll.     It  was  agreed  in  August,  1855,  that  he  should 


350  BIOGKAPHICAL    LIST    OP    THE    CLERGY. 

be  employed  at  Stonehouse,  where  he  arrived  on  11th  of  that 
month,  and  when  Dr.  Vaughan  came  down  to  be  installed 
Bishop  of  Plymouth,  on  25th  September,  1855,  Dr.  McAuliffc 
was  declared  rector.  After  displaying  indefatigable  zeal,  he 
quitted  for  Rome  28th  July,  1856.  He  has  since  returned 
from  the  Eternal  City,  and  writes  to  me  that  he  met  with  a 
very  kind  reception  at  the  Propaganda.  They  have  sent  him 
ba,ck  to  Bishop  Grant,  with  a  promise  of  a  pension  from  the 
Vicariate  of  Madras. 

McDermot,  Anthony,  O.S.D.,  bom  at  Ramore,  co.  Galway, 
4th  December,  1800 ;  began  his  classical  education  at  Clon- 
gowes,  but  finished  his  higher  studies  at  the  College  of  the 
Minerva,  at  Rome,  where  he  entered  the  holy  order  of  St. 
t)ominic  15th  September,  1830.  In  the  following  year  he 
was  ordained  priest.  On  11th  August,  1833,he  entered  on 
the  Salisbury  mission,  which  he  left  for  Merthyr  Tydvil. 
The  Directory  shows  that  he  tried  his  luck  in  other  dioceses, 
and  at  last  settled  at  Berwick-upon-Tweed,  where,  after 
several  years'  service,  he  died  on  21st  February,  1855. 

McDonnell,  John,  bom  at  Limerick  10th  June,  1796. — 
He  had  been  a  reporter  for  the  London  press,  when  he  be- 
thought himself  of  embracing  the  ecclesiastical  state.  Too 
hastily  was  he  ordained  priest  at  Prior-park  in  December, 
1834,  and  within  four  months  was  sent  to  conduct  the  Tor- 
quay mission,  from  which  he  had  to  decamp  on  12th  May, 
1836,  to  seek  refuge  in  Trinidad,  where  he  ended  his 
career  in  February,  1839.  His  friend,  the  Rev.  J.  McEnery, 
writing  to  me,  says,  "  Considering  the  past — his  liability  to 
mental  derangement,  and  the  constant  outbreaks  of  that 
wound  in  his  leg,  his  decease  cannot  be  regarded  in  any 
other  light  than  as  desirable.     R.I. P." 

McDonnell,  James,  of  Ireland,  educated  at  Carlow  and 
Stonyhurst ;  succeeded  I'Abbe  Dubuisson,  at  Weymouth,  in 
1822;  at  the  expiration  of  eighteen  months  he  quitted  for 
Rotheraas,  whence  he  was  transferred  to  Leamington,  co. 
Warwick,  where  an  elegant  arid  commodious  chapel,  in 
honour  of  St.  Peter,  had  been  opened  in  October,  1828. 
(See  Ordo  of  1832,  p.  25.)  There  the  good  man  exerted  all 
his  talents  and  energy  of  character  for  the  benefit  of  souls, 
until  his  happy  death  on  26th  June,  1838.  On  1st  July 
following,  his  precious  remains  were  deposited  at  the  foot  of 
the  altar.     R.I.P. 

McDonnell,  Michael  Thomas,  a  radiant  name  among 
his  brethren,  born  4th  February,  1792,  at  East  Grinstead, 
Sussex;  entered  Sedgley-park  school  on  1st  February,  1802, 


BIOGRAPHICAL   LIST   OF   THE    CLERGY.  351 

and  began  Latin  together  with  Bishop  Briggs,  Rev.  Samuel 
Day,  O.S.B.,  and  several  other  worthies.  Four  years  later, 
26th  March,  1806,  he  was  transferred  to  St.  Mary's  College, 
Oscott,  in  the  company  of  the  present  Bishop  Wareing  (born 
16th  February,  1791),  and  the  Rev.  William  Foley,  who  died 
in  February,  1843.  In  this  excellent  seminary  he  pursued 
his  studies  with  distinguished  credit,  and  was  qualified  to 
receive  priesthood  from  the  hands  of  his  friend,  the  immortal 
Bishop  Milner,  on  19th  September,  1817.  His  first  mission 
was  Worksop,  where  he  arrived  on  Friday,  6th  February,  of 
the  year  1818.  Six  years  later,  on  llt'h  April,  1824,  the 
Feast  of  the  Dolors  of  our  Lady,  he  was  removed  to  a  much 
wider  field  for  his  ze^l  and  commanding  talents — St.  Peter's 
Church,  Birmingham.  There,  amidst  good  report  and  evil 
report,  he  laboured  with  an  apostolic  spirit,  and  extraordi- 
nary benefit  to  the  Catholic  cause,  in  most  critical  and 
eventful  times,  until  31st  July,  1841,  when  he  retired  from 
its  onerous  duties.  Bishop  Baines  was  anxious  to  employ 
him  in  the  Western  District,  and  had  mentioned  to  him 
Plymouth,  Bath,  and  Bristol ;  but  the  matter  ended  in  his 
accepting  the  mission  of  Tor  Abbey,  which  he  reached  on  21st 
December,  1841,  and  there  he  rendered  important  service  to 
religion,  until  Bishop  Baggs,  who  entertained  the  highest 
opinion  of  his  merits,  promoted  him  at  Midsummer,  1844, 
to  St.  Augustine's  Church,  at  Clifton.*  At  the  end  of 
October,  1847,  this  gifted  priest  repaired  to  Rome,  where 
he  arrived  8th  December,  and  on  his  return  in  July,  1848, 
was  stationed  at  St.  Peter's,  Gloucester,  where  he  continued 
two  years,  when  Bishop  Hendren,  in  July,  1850,  offered  him 
the  extensive  mission  of  Plymouth.  There  he  worked  with 
his  characteristic  energy  (see  Petition  in  the  Appendix)  until 
he  made  way,  on  13th  October,  1851,  for  the  Right  Rev. 
Dr.  Errington,  who  had  been  consecrated  the  first  bishop  of 
the  new  see  of  Plymouth  on  25th  July  that  year.  Since  1st 
April,  1852,  my  talented  friend  has  been  shelved  at  Short- 
wood.  Always  ready  with  his  pen,  and  his  fluent  tongue,  to 
uphold  the  cause  of  truth,  and  justice,  and  charity,  his  merits 
would  fill  a  volume ;  and  his  name  will  go  down  to  posterity 
as  one  of  the  ablest  and  most  honourable  of  the  secular 
clergy. 

McEnery,    John,    the    fourth    son,    I   believe,    of   Mr. 
Matthew  McEnery,  of  Limerick,  was  born  in  that  city  27th 

*  This  good  bishop,  an  example  of  mild  and  condescending  bearing, 
has  been  known  to  say,  "  I  have  not  a  more  docile  priest  in  my  diocese 
than  the  Rev.  Thomas  McDonnell." 


352 


BIOGKAPHICAL   LIST    OF    THE    CLERGY. 


November,  1796.  His  father,  being  burthened  with  a  large 
family,  quitted  Ireland  for  the  United  States  of  America, 
leaving  John,  who  had  manifested  a  strong  disposition  for 
the  ecclesiastical  estate,  to  pursue  his  studies  in  the  episcopal 
seminary  at  home.  And  how  well  the  youth  profited  of  the 
opportunity,  is  apparent  by  his  promotion  to  the  priesthood 
at  Limerick  on  1st  June,  1819,  and  by  the  testimonial  of  his 
professor  of  divinity.  Dr.  Charles  Hanrehan,  who  had  known 
him  from  childhood,  and  certified  on  7th  January,  1832,  to 
his  talents  and  virtues,  adding,  "  Eum,  ut  qui  sit  optimse  spei 
Presbyter,  plurimum  in  Domino  commendo ;" — and  by  the 
exeat  of  the  same  date  from  his  bishop.  Dr.  Charles  Tuohy, 
stating  him  to  be  worthy,  "  qui  ab  omnibus,  tanquam  plus 
Christi  Sacerdos  admittatur." 

On  the  8th  March,  1822  (Friday),  he  reached  Exeter, 
where  I  first  made  his  acquaintance,  and  the  next  day  he 
quitted  me  to  make  his  debut  in  the  Tor  Abbey  mission. 
During  the  nineteen  years  that  he  continued  attached  to  the 
Cary  family,  i.e.  until  his  lamented  death,  he  secured  their 
affection  and  confidence;  and  I  can  truly  say,  from  my 
intimate  knowledge  of  him,  that  as  far  as  his  delicate  health 
would  permit,  he  was  exemplary  in  the  discharge  of  his 
ministerial  duties ;  that  he  had  a  heart  formed  for  enduring 
friendships  ;  and  that,  in  my  long  experience,  I  have  met  with 
no  priest  who  inspired  and  conciliated,  to  a  greater  degree, 
the  respect  and  esteem  of  all  classes,  by  the  courtesy  of  his 
manners,  his  polished  taste,  his  vigorous  intellect,  and  varied 
learning.  The  Geological  Societies  of  London,  Paris,  &c., 
were  proud  to  number  him  among  their  members.  But  his 
health  was  very  delicate,  and  Bishop  Baines,  in  his  license 
for  his  travelling  abroad,  dated  Bath,  12th  April,  1836,  re- 
commended him  to  all  prelates  for  permission  to  celebrate 
Mass,  "aliasve  sui  ordinis  functiones  exercere,  prout  ipsi 
necessarium,  vel  ipsis  visum  fuerit,  permittere  dignentur." 
Returning  from  his  travels  with  no  improvement  to  his  health, 
he  led  a  lingering  life,  and  died  on  Thursday  evening,  18th 
February,  1841,  in  the  friendly  abbey.  His  mortal  remains 
were  deposited  near  his  pious  friend  the  Rev.  Charles  Timings, 
in  Tor  Mohun  churchyard. 

Maes,  Louis,  bom  in  Iweregham,  in  the  diocese  of  Bruges, 
on  29th  November,  1811 ;  was  promoted  to  priesthood  on 
20th  December,  1834,  by  Engelbert,  archbishop  of  Mechlin, 
and  created  Bachelor  of  Divinity  with  high  commendation, 
in  the  University  of  Louvain,  on  20th  March,  1837 ;  in  the 
ensuing  year  was  appointed  to  St.  James's  parish,  in  the  city 


BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST   OF    THE    CLERGY.  353 

of  Bruges ;  but  after  twelve  years'  discharge  of  its  pastoral 
duties,  this  amiable  and  enlightened  ecclesiastic  accepted  the 
direction  of  the  Visitation  Nuns  at  Westbury  super  Trym, 
where  he  arrived  on  29th  June,  1850. 

Mahon,  Henry,  S.J.,  born  in  Dublin  25th  September, 
1804;  studied  at  Stonyhurst;  commenced  his  novitiate  at 
Mont  Rouge  1st  November,  1833  ;  for  four  years  conducted 
the  little  school  of  the  order  in  London ;  was  ordained  priest 
at  Stonyhurst  20th  December,  1834,  This  very  intelligent, 
solid,  and  meek  father  was  appointed  assistant  missionary  at 
Wardour  from  3rd  April,  1835,  to  4th  July,  1838,  when  he 
was  transferred  to  Preston.  There  two  years'  hard  service 
so  impaired  his  health,  that  he  was  relieved  from  all  mis- 
sionary labour.  On  13th  September,  1843,  he  was  enabled 
to  take  charge  of  the  Spetchley  congregation  for  the  next 
four  years,  when  he  was  directed  to  assist  the  venerable 
Dr.  Coombes,  at  Shepton  Mallett.  In  March,  1848,  he  was 
ordered  to  Trenchard-street  Chapel,  Bristol ;  thence  recalled 
to  London,  where  he  is  now  stationed. 

Magrath,  Cornelius,  an  eccentric  young  priest  of  the 
sister  kingdom,  for  about  two  years  was  stationed  at 
Axminster,  but  quitted  at  Midsummer,  1824.  What  became 
of  him  I  never  could  learn.  Most  certainly  he  was  dis- 
qualified to  uphold  the  respectability  of  a  Catholic  clergyman, 

Mansfield,  Richard,  born  3nd  September,  1828,  at  Old 
Strancally  Castle,  parish  of  Kilcoker,  co.  Waterford;  made 
his  studies  at  St.  John's  College,  Waterford.  In  Pentecost 
week,  1851,  he  was  ordained  subdeacon  and  deacon,  and 
priest  on  Septuagesima  Sunday,  1852,  by  Dr,  Nicholas 
Foran,  bishop  of  that  city.  On  12th  March,  1853,  he  com- 
menced his  missionary  career  at  Stonehouse;  but  on  16th 
October  of  that  year  was  sent  to  Camborne,  where  he  is 
producing  much  fruit. 

Manger,  Thomas,  of  the  diocese  of  Winton ;  arrived  at 
Rome  in  1587.  He  is  mentioned  by  Bishop  Challoner  in  his 
Memoirs,  in  the  report  of  the  execution  of  William  Pikes,  the 
lay  martyr,  at  Dorchester,  in  1591.  All  that  I  can  glean 
farther  of  this  venerable  priest  is,  that  he  was  officially  ap- 
pointed archdeacon  of  Somerset  and  Dorset. 

Marcellian  (John  Anthony  Pini). — Of  this  Passionist 
father — ^born  24th  December,  1819;  admitted  to  his  religious 
profession  on  10th  August,  1837;  and  who  died  prior  of  his 
brethren  at  Woodchester,  so  prematurely,  on  14th  March, 

2  A 


354  BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST   OF    THE    CLERGY, 

1848 — I  have  treated  in  the  first  Part  of  this  compilation. 
Chapter  XIV.,  p.  167. 

Mark,  John,  S.J.,  was  born  in  Devonshire  in  1621 ;  at 
the  age  of  nineteen  he  consecrated  himself  to  God  in  the 
Society.  In  1652  he  was  ordered  to  the  Lancashire  mission, 
where  I  find  him  three  years  later,  after  which  I  lose  sight  of 
him. 

Marest,  Jean  Baptiste,  born,  as  he  told  me,  at  Tour  de 
Ville  1st  April,  1768  j  was  ordained  priest  at  Winchester  in 
the  Whitsun  week  of  1793,  by  the  bishop  of  Rhodez,  and 
soon  was  attache^  to  Lord  Arundell's  family  at  Wardour.  On 
the  retirement  of  F.  Edward  Nihell  he  succeeded  to  the 
charge  of  that  numerous  congregation,  and  for  sixteen  years 
held  it,  with  credit  to  himself  and  the  benefit  of  his  flock. 
Infirmities  led  him  to  resign  its  arduous  duties  in  March, 
and  on  26th  July,  1817,  to  succeed  to  the  direction  of  the 
Theresian  nuns  at  Canford ;  eight  years  later  he  escorted 
them  to  Torignij  and  at  the  end  of  five  years  to  a  more 
eligible  residence  at  Valognes,  There  the  venerable  abbe 
closed  a  life  of  usefulness  on  3rd  February,  1849,  at  the  age 
of  eighty-one. 

Marquant,  Henri  Jacques. — This  learned  and  solid  eccle- 
siastic succeeded  the  Rev.  Henry  Innes,  at  Calverleigh,  but 
quitted  in  the  spring  of  1808  to  become  director  to  the  Bene- 
dictine nuns  at  Winchester,  with  whom  he  remained  uutU  his 
death  in  August,  1831. 

Martin,  John,  O.S.B. — This  Douay  monk,  shortly  after 
being  made  priest,  was  sent  to  his  old  father  at  Balsbury,  in 
Somersetshire ;  but  fell  sick  of  the  small-pox,  and  before  he 
could  reach  his  father's  house,  died  at  Wells  on  30th  April, 
1672,  being  assisted,  says  Weldon,  by  the  Rev.  F.  Peter  Salvin, 
and  having  sent  for  and  seen  his  parent  before  his  death. 

Martin,  Thomas,  a  secular  priest  of  considerable  note,  and 
appointed  archdeacon  of  Cornwall  and  Devon. 

Mauron,  . — I  well  remember  this  respectable 

French  abbe  at  Truro,  in  October,  1810,  where  he  had  been 
stationed  some  time.  I  think  he  returned  to  France  at  the 
restoration  of  the  Bourbons. 

Mayhew,  Edward,  O.S.B.,  of  Dinton,  near  Salisbury. — 
After  being  a  secular  priest  on  the  mission  for  twelve  years, 
he  took  the  Benedictine  habit,  and  was  admitted  to  his  pro- 
fession by  the  venerable  restorer  of  his  brethren,  F.  Sigebert 
Buckley,  on  21st  November,  1607.  His  learned  labours 
are,  "Notes,  upon   the   Sarum   Manual";  "The  Grounds 


BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST   OF   THE    CLEKGY.  355 

of  the  New  and  Old  Religion ;"  "An  Answer  to  Mr.  Field's 
Objections;"  "A  Paradise  of  Prayers;"  " Congregationis 
Anglican8e  Ordinis  S.  Benedicti  Tropheea."  This  last  work  he 
dedicated  to  his  dear  friend.  Dr.  WiUiam  Gifford,  O.S.B. 
Dodd  could  not  ascertain  the  time  of  his  death ;  but  F.  Weldon 
(p.  124)  records  that  he  died  at  Cambray  14th  September, 
1625,  and  that  he  lies  buried  in  the  parish  chui'ch  of  St. 
Vedast. 

MaynEj  Cuthbert. — Of  this  Protomartyr  of  Douay  Col- 
lege, I  have  spoken  in  the  first  chapter  of  this  work.  He 
was  bom  at  Youlston,  near  Barnstaple.  At  Easter,  1576,  he 
reached  Golden,  the  seat  of  Francis  Tregian,  Esq.,  in  St. 
Probus'  parish,  Cornwall,  as  his  chaplain ;  but  passed  for 
his  steward.  In  June  of  the  following  year,  Dr.  William 
Bradbridge,  bishop  of  Exeter,  being  on  his  visitation  at 
Truro  in  that,  neighbourhood,  prevailed  on  Sir  Richard 
Grenville,  the  high  sheriff,  to  search  Golden  House,  and  there, 
says  Tonkin,  the  Cornish  historian,  "  the  priest  was  found 
concealed  under  an  old  tower."  Dr.  Challoner's  Memoir 
of  this  martyr,  who  suffered  at  Launceston  on  29th  November, 
1577,  is  particularly  interesting.  As  for  the  sanguinary 
bishop,  "  he  was  found  dead  at  his  living  of  Newton  Ferrers, 
no  one  being  about  him,  on  28th  June,  1578,  in  debt  for 
tenths  and  subsidies  received  to  the  amount  of  £1,400, 
whereupon  all  his  goods  were  seized  for  the  queen's  use." 

Meredith,  John,  a  native  of  Bristol ;  educated  at  Oxford, 
but  ejected  soon  after  the  accession  of  Queen  Elizabeth. 
From  Douay  he  was  sent  a  missionary  into  England  in  1576. 
Dodd,  vol.  ii.,  p.  109,  says,  that  after  labouring  in  his 
functions,  he  was  at  last  apprehended,  and  suffered  a  long 
imprisonment,  chiefly  at  Wisbech.  The  venerable  old  man 
was  banished  in  1603,  and  probably  died  abroad. 

Metcalf,  Edward,  O.S.B.,  in  religion  took  the  name  of 
Placidus.  He  was  a  most  promising  member  of  Ampleforth, 
when  he  accepted  Bishop  Baines'  offer  of  secularization,  and 
to  aid  his  lordship  in  the  organization  of  Prior-park  Colleg;e. 
Full  of  zeal  and  talent,  he  was  soon  after  sent  to  Talacre,  in 
Flintshire,  where  he  acquired  such  a  competent  knowledge 
of  the  Welsh  language,  as  to  translate  into  it  "  The  Douay 
Catechism,"  and  "The  Garden  of  the  Soul,"  "Reasons 
for  Embracing  the  Catholic  Religion,"  and  "Think  Well 
On't,"  for  the  benefit  of  his  flock  and  the  principality.  His 
next  mission  was  Newport.  There  he  laboured  with  apostolic 
fervor  for  several  years.  In  1844,  and  the  following  year,  he 
was  removed  to  the  easier  station  of  Trenchard- street,  Bristol, 

2  A  2 


356 


BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST   OF   THE    CLEEGV. 


— thence  transferred  to  Leeds,  where  he  died,  the  victim  of 
fever,  on  28th  May,  1847,  set.  fifty-six.  He  might  say, 
"  Vivus  docui ;  nee  cesso  docere  mortuus." 

Mitchell,  John,  born  2nd  February,  1811;  completed 
his  studies  at  Oscott,  and  on  18th  October,  1837,  was  pro- 
moted to  the  priesthood,  by  Bishop  Walsh,  in  company  with 
the  Rev.  James  Brown,  who  has  since  been  consecrated  the 
first  bishop  of  Shrewsbury.  For  a  short  period  my  reverend 
friend  was  coadjutor  to  the  Rev.  Thomas  Macdonnell,  of 
St.  Peter's,  at  Birmingham,  whence  he  was  transferred  to 
Chipping  Norton,  which  he  served  with  great  credit  for 
nearly  seventeen  years.  For  the  benefit  of  his  health  he 
sought  a  warmer  climate.  Bishop  Burgess  kindly  offered 
him  the  Taunton  mission,  which  he  reached  on  3rd  February, 
1853,  and  I  trust  it  will  long  experience  the  fruits  of  his 
experience  and  of  his  energetic  administration. 

MiLDMAY,  Matthew,  S.J. — Owing  to  the  loss  of  docu- 
ments, but  very  scanty  light  can  be  thrown  on  this  reverend 
father.  He  was  certainly  labouring  in  the  diocese  of  Exeter 
in  1701  and  1704 ;  but  of  how  long,  before  or  after,  no  trace 
remains.     He  died  on  5th  March,  1713. 

Millington,  George,  O.S.B.  —  In  religion  tqok  the 
name  of  Bernard,  succeeded  his  reverend  confrere,  F.  King, 
or  Scott,  already  mentioned,  at  Leighland  in  1664;  and,  like 
him,  died  suddenly  on  4th  August,  1667,  on  his  returning 
from  Taunton  to  his  home,  aged  about  forty. 

MioT,  L'Abbe. — This  amiable  and  talented  priest,  after 
serving  the  church  of  Clifton  for  seven  years  and  a  half,  was 
transferred,  in  the  middle  of  April,  1856,  to  Chelsea. 

Molyneux,  Richard,  S.J.,  senior  and  junior. — The  first 
was  born  10th  March,  1696,  and  entered  the  order  at  the 
age  of  nineteen.  For  a  time  he  was  stationed  at  Gateshead, 
and  professed  in  Maryland  13th  June,  1734,  where,  two 
years  later,  he  was  declared  superior.  Returning  to  England, , 
he  was  placed  at  Marnhull  for  a  short  time ;  thence  he  was 
transferred  to  Bonham,  where  he  closed  a  blameless  life  on 
17th  May,  1766. 

The  junior  was  born  3rd  May,  1700 ;  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
two  he  devoted  himself  to  God  in  the  Society.  I  meet  him  at 
Marnhull  on  25th  November,  1755,  and  there  he  ended  his 
course  5th  June,  1769. 

Molyneux,  William,  S.J.,  a  native  of  Lancashire,  and 
born  1st  February,  1726;   consecrated  himself  to  God  in 


BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST    OF    THE    CLERGY.  357 

religion  at  the  age  of  twenty-two,  was  ordained  priest  at 
Liege  on  13th  June,  1756,  and  was  promoted  to  the  rank  of 
a  professed  father  2nd  February,  1767.  He  had  served 
Stapehill  for  some  time,  before  he  was  called  away  to  serve 
the  missions  of  Ince-Blundell,  Stonyhurst,  and  Brinn,  in  his 
native  county.     Obiit  30th  April,  1789. 

MoEALL,  Alphonsus  Maria,  O.S.B.,  bom  at  Stoodley, 
CO.  Warwick,  20th  March,  1825.  After  completing  humani- 
ties at  Downside,  he  was  professed  in  the  order,  28th 
January,  1845,  and  promoted  to  priesthood  at  Prior-park  by 
Bishop  Burgess  on  21st  September,  1853,  and  soon  after  was 
appointed  pastor  of  the  Downside  congregation. 

MoREWooD  (Bernard)  James,  O.S.D.,  born  in  Warwick- 
shire 1st  May,  1824,  and  educated  at  Shrewsbury  School ; 
was  received  into  the  Catholic  Church  on  Whit-Saturday, 
1843  J  entered  the  Dominican  Convent  at  Hinckley,  in  the 
first  week  of  October,  1845 ;  professed  10th  October,  1846 ; 
and  ordained  priest  at  Oscott  by  Bishop  Ullathorne  22nd 
December,  1849.  Full  of  energetic  zeal  and  charity, — and 
of  the  spirit  of  his  holy  order, — it  is  wonderful  how  he  multi- 
plies himself  in  enkindling  the  fire  that  Christ  came  to  cast 
upon  the  earth.  Woodchester  and  Stroud  proclaim  his 
merits ;  but  I  forbear,  and  must  leave  it  to  posterity  to  do 
him  justice. 

Morgan,  Charles,  borne  at  Knowle  Manor  House,  near 
Bristol,  5th  September,  1830.  Converted  to  the  Catholic 
faith  in  1849,  he  was  inspired  with  zeal  to  become  the 
minister  of  salvation  to  others.  After  studying  at  Prior- 
park,  he  was  ordained  subdeacon  12th  March,  deacon  2l8t 
September,  1853 ;  and  priest  on  Epiphany,  1856.  He 
assisted  at  Axminster  for  a  month,  sailed  for  the  Crimea 
5th  March,  1856,  and  reached  Scutari  in  safety. 

MoRiLAND,  L'Abbe. — This  truly  amiable  priest  served  Tor 
Abbey  for  some  time ;  but,  as  I  well  remember,  quitted  soon 
after  my  arrival  at  Exeter.  He  went  direct  to  Wappenbury, 
near  Coventry,  and  there  contuiued  until  his  return  to 
France,  about  1816. 

Morris,  John  Brande. — This  eminent  scholar  was  bom 
at  Brentford,  Middlesex,  on  4th  September,  1812,  and  was 
nephew  to  the  distinguished  chemist,  Mr.  William  Brande, 
In  1831,  he  was  entered  a  commoner  of  Balliol  College, 
Oxford ;  two  years  later  was  elected  Fellow  of  Exeter  College ; 
and  subsequently  was  appointed  assistant  to  Dr.  Pusey  in 
the  Hebrew  Professorship  of  that  university. 


358  BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST    OF    THE    CLERGY. 

On  16th  January,  1846,  this  gifted  man  embraced  the 
Catholic  faith,  and  was  promoted  to  priesthood  at  St.  Mary's 
College,  Oscott,  in  1849.  To  sustain  the  credit  of  Prior- 
park,  he  lent  for  a  time  the  aid  of  his  great  talents  to  the 
students  there,  but  retired  much  dissatisfied.  On  30th  June, 
1852,  he  attached  himself  as  chaplain  to  the  late  Edmund 
Eodney  PoUexfen  Bastard,  of  Kitley,  in  the  parish  of 
Yealmpton,  Devon,  Esq.,  and  there  he  opened  the  new 
CathoUc  chapel,  near  the  parish  church,  on  Sunday,  4th  July, 
1852.  The  prospects  to  religion  grew  cheering,  and  he  had  the 
satisfaction  of  witnessing  his  patron's  marriage  to  his  early 
friend,  Florence  Mary,  eldest  daughter  of  Simon  Scrope,  of 
Danby,  Esq.,  at  St.  Mary's,  Chelsea,  on  22nd  November  of 
the  ensuing  year.  In  fact,  he  had  been  the  principal 
instrument,  under  God,  of  introducing  the  couple  to  each 
other. 

Bishop  Errington  nominated  my  reverend  friend  a  canon 
of  the  New  Chapter  of  the  Cathedral  of  Plymouth,  and  he 
was  duly  installed  on  6th  December,  1853.  We  hailed  him 
as  an  ornament  and  luminary  of  our  Body,  but  were  grieved 
to  hear,  in  the  autumn  of  1855,  that  there  was  a  probability 
of  our  losing  the  benefit  of  his  valuable  services.  Matters 
did  not  run  so  smoothly  and  comfortably  for  him  at 
Yealmpton  as  we  could  have  wished, .  and  he  accepted  the 
ofier  of  chaplain  to  his  former  pupil,  Sir  John  Acton,  of 
Aldenham  Hall,  near  Bridgnorth,  co.  Salop,  where  he  arrived 
on  29th  November,  1855. 

"  I  bone,  quo  virtus  tua  te  vocat :  i  pede  fausto, 
Grandia  laturus  meritorum  prsemia." 

We  have  from  the  pen  of  this  profound  thinker — 

1.  Nature,  a  Parable ;  a  Poem,  in  seven  books. 

2.  A  Translation  of  St.  Chrysostom's  Tome  on  St.  Paul's 
Epistle  to  the  Eomans. 

3.  An  Essay  for  the  Conversion  of  the  Hindus  (to  this  a 
prize  of  jS200  was  awarded  by  the  examiners.  Professor 
Wilson,  of  Oxford,  and  Dr.  Mill,  of  Cambridge) . 

4.  Select  Homilies  from  St.  Ephrem,  from  the  Syriac,  in 
1846. 

5.  A  Translation  from  the  Italian,  "  The  Months  of  May 
and  November ; "  written  by  P.  Alphonsus  Muzzarelli,  S.J., 
who  died  25th  May,  1813,  set.  sixty-four. 

6.  "Jesus,  the  Son  of  Mary,"  2  vols.  8vo.  1851. 

I  know  that  he  contributed  several  articles  to  the  Protestant 
Critic,  to  the  English  Churchman,  with  the  final  letters  of  his 
names,  "  N.  E.  S,,"  and  some  Essays  in  the  Dublin  Review 


BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST    OP    THE    CLEEGY.  359 

and  Rambler,     His  Letters  on  Education  appeared  in  the 
Weekly  Register. 

Morton,  David. — His  real  name  was  Lonreghan.  He  was 
educated  at  Carlow,  was  ordained  by  Bishop  Collingridge, 
and  employed  for  some  time  at  Poole,  at  Usk,  next  at 
Wrexham  in  Denbighshire,  then  at  Wellington  in  Shrop- 
shire J  after  which  he  eludes  my  research, 

Moulin,  Pierre,  D.D. — This  learned  divine  resided  for 
eight  years  at  Blandford,  up  to  1814,  and  had  charge  of  a 
little  flock.  He  then  removed  to  Brigg,  in  co.  Lincoln  j  but 
after  a  short  period  returned  to  France,  where  he  died  in 
1822. 

Moutier,  Jean  Marc  Romain,  was  born  in  the  parish  of 
N6tre  Dame  du  Havre  on  25th  February,  1767.  He  was 
educated  in  the  University  of  Caen,  and  ordained  priest  at 
Paris  by  Dominic  de  la  Rochefoucault,  cardinal  priest  of  the 
holy  Roman  Church,  archbishop  of  Rouen,  on  Saturday, 
18th  June,  1791;  emigrated  to  England  6th  September, 
1792;  for  some  time  resided  in  Berkshire,  but  in  1797 
settled  at  Bristol,  where,  during  twenty-six  years,  as  a 
teacher  of  the  French  language,  he  acquired  universal  esteem 
and  respect  by  his  attention  to  his  professional  duties  and 
most  exemplary  conduct.  Having  realized  a  competent 
fortune,  he  was  induced  to  accept  the  easy  situation  of  chap- 
lain to  the  Chichester  family  at  Calverleigh,  near  Tiverton, 
where  he  arrived  on  5th  August,  1823.  Here  he  endeared 
himself  to  every  one  by  his  obliging  and  cheerful  disposition, 
and  by  his  tender  regard  for  the  sick  and  the  poor.  It 
pleased  Almighty  God  to  visit  him  with  a  long  and  afflicting 
malady,  which  terminated  with  his  death  on  15th  April, 
1833,  at  Exeter.  His  mortal  remains  were  deposited,  with 
due  respect,  in  a  vault  behind  St.  Nicholas's  Chapel,  on  the 
18th,  and  the  following  epitaph  may  be  seen  on  the  tablet 
over  his  tomb  : — 

H.    S,    E. 

Reverendus  Dei  Sacerdos, 

Pietatis  et  Beneficentlis  Exemplar, 

Joannes  Marcus  Bomanus  Moutier, 

In  Urbe  Portus-Gratise  oriundus, 

Morbo  gravi  consumptus  est  Exoniae 

XVII  Kal.  Mail,  A.D.  mdcccxxxiii, 

Cum   sex  et  sexaginta    annos  complesset. 

Ave,  anima  candidissima, 

Et  vive  in  Deo,  memor  tuorum. 

I  may  now  proceed  to  give  an  analysis  of  all  the  docu- 


350  BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST   OF    THE    CLERGY. 

ments  relating  to  his  noble  foundation  of  the  Tiverton 
mission.  To  me  it  is  now  a  most  painful  task  to  relate  the 
gross  misapplication  of  the  funds,  which  he  had  generously- 
devoted  to  the  foundation  of  this  Tiverton  mission.  The 
reader  will  carefully  bear  in  mind  that  his  disposition  of  his 
property  for  the  purpose  had  been  legalized  full  eight  months 
before  his  death  by  the  passing  of  O'Connell's  Bill.  Alas  ! 
how  well  I  remember  the  good  man's  dwelling  on  the 
pleasing  prospect  of  religion  in  Tiverton,  and  the  comfortable 
provision  he  had  secured  for  its  incumbent ! 

On  my  communicating  to  BisTiop  Baines  the  intentions  of 
my  lamented  friend,  his  lordship,  on  8th  December,  1831, 
wrote  to  me  as  follows :  "  The  good  abbe's  intention  respect- 
ing the  foundation  of  a  mission  at  Tiverton  is  most  welcome. 
I  pray  that  God  may  bless  the  author  of  this  good  work 
both  here  and  hereafter.  Such  acts  of  munificent  charity  are 
rare  in  these  days."  Again,  on  8th  April,  1833,  the  bishop 
addresses  me  thus :  "  Make  the  poor  sufi'erer,  Mr.  Moutier, 
understand  how  much  I  feel  obliged  to  him  for  the  Christian, 
charitable,  and  benevolent  disposition  he  has  made  of  his 
property;  and  assure  him  that  his  intentions  and  wishes 
shall  be  scrupulously  attended  to."  On  25th  May,  1833,  the 
same  bishop  writes ;  "  Mr.  English,  my  solicitor,  received,  a 
week  ago,  the  probate  of  Mr.  Moutier's  will"  (the  testator 
had  died  on  15th  April  that  year).  On  1st  October,  1833 : 
"  I  shall  be  happy  to  co-operate,  to  the  best  of  my  power,  in 
establishing  the  mission  of  Tiverton  according  to  the  wishes 
of  the  worthy  Mr.  Moutier."  In  answer  to  the  remon- 
strances and  complaints  of  some  members  of  the  Chichester 
family  at  the  unaccountable  delay  in  commencing  operations, 
his  lordship  repeated  the  assurance,  that  "Mr.  Moutier's 
wishes  should  be  strictly  adhered  to."  Even  Dr.  Brindle,  in 
his  letter  to  me  of  1st  March,  1841,  concludes  thus  :  "  You 
need  not,  I  assure  you,  have  any  fear  that  Dr.  Baines  will 
not  scrupulously  fulfil  the  intentions  of  the  good  abbe,  who 
has  done  so  much  for  the  Tiverton  mission."  On  9th  June, 
1841,  his  lordship  assured  the  head  of  the  Chichester  family 
of  Calverleigh,  "I  will  fulfil  Mr.  Moutier's  intentions  of 
applying  his  money  to  Tiverton.  It  would  be  a  crying  injus- 
tice to  apply  elsewhere  the  funds  which  had  been  left  for 
Tiverton  alone.  However  others  might  misapply  money  left 
for  particular  purposes,  I  shall  act  up  to  the  intentions  of  the 
donor."  Out  of  an  immense  mass  of  letters,  which  are  in 
safe  custody,  his  lordship's  grand  vicar  coolly  wrote,  on  25th 
February,  1841 :  "Who  questions  that  Mr.  Moutier's  pro- 


BIOGKAPHICAL    LIST    OF    THE    CLERGY.  361 

perty  is  to  be   employed   in  any   way  but  that  which  he 
frequently  and  openly  spoke  of?  " 

It  is  but  truth  to  say  that  the  irregularity  and  uncertainty 
of  even  a  small  proportion  of  the  income  due  to  the  poor 
incumbent,  injured  the  credit  of  Prior-park,  and  shook  the 
confidence  of  charitably-disposed  persons.  And  when  I 
review  the  crying  injustice  exercised  towards  the  victimized 
clergymen  of  such  a  noble  foundation,  I  am  tempted  to  agree 
with  an  eminent  prelate,  well  acquainted  with  the  merits  of 
the  case :  "  Hereafter,  good  people  wishing  to  endow 
churches,  missions,  &c.,  will  be  inclined  to  employ  none  but 
lay  trustees,  who  will  not  surrender  their  trusts  for  the 
prayers,  commands,  or  threats  of  any  ecclesiastical  autho- 
rities." 

MouTARDiER,  Lewis  Benjamin,  S.J.,  bom  at  L'Aigle,  in 
Normandy,  22nd  November,  1786;  educated  principally  at 
Stonyhurst  j  was  admitted  into  the  novitiate  on  20th  June, 
1810;  ordained  priest  4th  September,  1813  ;  and  during  the 
long  period  of  nearly  thirty-seven  years,  viz.,  from  19th  July, 
1817,  until  May,  1854,  had  charge  of  the  Lullworth  congre- 
gation, and  displayed  the  uniform  example  of  enlightened 
zeal,  cheerful  piety,  and  sound  discretion.  No  Jesuit  could 
be  more  deeply  impressed  with  the  spirit  of  his  holy  founder, 
especially  as  regards  poverty  of  spirit,  and  implicit  obedience. 
He  is  now  at  Stonyhurst. 

MuNDYN,  John,  born  at  Maperton,  Dorset ;  educated  at 
Oxford ;  was  admitted  a  fellow  of  New  College  in  1562;  but 
refusing  to  conform  to  the  established  religion,  was  ejected 
by  Dr.  Robert  Home,  bishop  of  Winchester,  at  his  visitation 
of  that  college  (which  had  been  founded  by  the  immortal 
William  Wykeham) .  After  some  years  he  went  abroad,  and 
in  1 580  a{)plied  himself  to  the  study  of  divinity  at  Rheims,  but 
certainly  did  not  take  orders  there.  This  is  manifest  from 
Dr.  Allen's  letter,  bearing  date,  "Rheims,  11th  August, 
1581,"  to  P.  Alphonsus  Aggrati,  S.J.,  rector  of  the  English 
College  at  Rome,  in  which  he  writes  that  "  John  Mundeyn, 
who  will  deliver  this  dispatch,  has  left  with  us  '  20  aureos,* 
that  the  amount  may  be  paid  him  in  scudi  on  his  arrival  at 
Rome.  I  earnestly  recommend  him  to  your  paternity's 
attentions  and  favour.  He  was  never  an  alumnus  of  this 
college,  though  he  was  a  convictor  for  some  time  at  his  own 
charges.  Truly  he  is  a  good  and  honest  Catholic,  and  goes 
to  your  city  chiefly  for  devotion's  sake.  He  is  not  unfit  for 
the  priesthood ;   nevertheless,  he  has  not   hitherto  been  a 


363  BIOGKAPHICAL    LIST    OF    THE    CLEEGY. 

postulant  for  it ;  nor  have  we  urged  it  much^  because  he  did 
not  hve  at  the  college  expense.  But  if  he  should  now  express 
a  wish,  and  for  that  purpose  should  require  £8  or  j612  addi- 
tional, I  will  be  answerable  for  the  repayment.  In  the 
direction  of  such  extraordinary  men  there  always  must  be 
some  trouble  :  but  you  are  known  to  be  English  in  heart  and 
affection,  &c.     Farewell  in  Christ  Jesus, 

"G.  Alanus." 

In  the  following  year  he  became  a  candidate  for  the  priest- 
hood, and  was  ordained  in  the  Eterhal  City.  He  hastened 
back  to  his  own  country  to  exercise  his  apostolic  functions, 
but  soon  fell  into  the  hands  of  his  enemies.  At  the  end  of 
rebruary,  1583,  he  was  apprehended  on  Hounslow  Heath. — 
(See  Bishop  Challoner's  Memoirs.)  Rishton  adds  that  he 
was  brought  into  the  Tower,  and  put  into  irons  for  twenty 
days.  Within  a  twelvemonth,  viz.  13th  February,  1584,  he 
was  dragged  to  be  butchered  at  Tyburn.  The  night  before 
his  martyrdom  he  addressed  the  following  note  to  his  cousin, 
at  Rheims,  which  we  copy  from  the  original : — 

"  Cosyn  Ducke,  I  am  now  warned  to  prepare  against  to 
morrow  to  go  to  dye,  and  yet  I  hope  in  Jesus  Christ  to  live 
too  for  ever ;  and  having  almost  forgotten  you  and  others  my 
freinds,  was  like  to  have  passed  you  in  silence ;  but  I  pray 
you  make  my  humble  commendations  first  and  especially  to 
my  good  Mrs.  and  my  onely  patron  Mr.  Hyde ;  secondly,  to 
that  good  Dri  Farar,  the  sweetest  man  in  ChJristiendom  to  live 
withal ;  thirdly,  and  so  lastly,  to  Mr.  President,  Mr.  Baylyj 
Mr.  Rainolds,  and  all  other  my  good  freinds,  desiring  them 
all  most  hartely  to  pray  for  me;  and  if  ever  I  dyd  ever  offend 
any  of  them,  that  they  wiU  forgive  me :  so  I  committ  you  to 
God,  desiring  that  we  may  have  tog'ether  a  joyful  resurrec- 
tion, with  my  hearty  commendations  biddinge  you  farewell 
for  ever  in  this  worlde.     Your  loving  frynd  and  Cosyn, 

"  John  Mundyn." 

MuTTLEBURY,  Geoege  (Plapid),  O.S.B.,  bom  in  Somer- 
setshire :  whilst  a  priest  on  the  mission  came  to  Dieulwart 
to  petition  for  the  habit  of  a  monk ;  here,  says  F.  Weldon, 
his  pleasing  qualities  rendered  him  highly  grateful  to  all  his 
brethren  of  that  house,  amongst  whom  he  happily  ended  his 
life  in  a  good  old  age,  6th  July,  1633. 


BIOGBAPHICAL    LIST   OF    THE    CLERGY.  363 


N. 

Naylok,  PlaciDj  O.S.B. — This  good  monk  served  the 
Bath  mission  nearly  twenty  years,  from  1757  to  1776.  He 
ended  his  days  at  Paris  in  January,  1794. 

Nealb,  Thomas,  bom  at  Yeate,  co.  Gloucester ;  educated 
at  Winchester  School ;  elected  a  scholar  of  New  College, 
Oxford,  in  1538,  and  two  years  later  a  perpetual  feUow.  In 
1546  he  was  promoted  to  holy  orders,  and  as  Wood  relates  in 
his  Athense  Oxon.,  was  accounted  "  an  able  theologian,  and 
admirably  well-skilled  in  the  Greek  and  Hebrew  languages." 
Dr.  Bonner  chose  him  to  be  one  of  his  chaplains;  and  in  the 
reign  of  Queen  Mary  he  was  in  high  favour.  In  the  reign 
of  her  successor  he  retired,  after  some  time,  to  the  village  of 
Cassington,  aboiut  four  miles  from  Oxford,  where  he  seems  to 
have  been  buried.  In  1590,  set.  seventy-one,  he  composed  his 
epitaph  in  Latin,  wherein,  after  alluding  to  his  empty  fame  of 
a  linguist,  he  thus  appeals  to  his  pupils  for  their  charitable 
prayers. 

"  Vos  ergo  Thomse  Neli  quos  Lingua  juvabat, 
Elinguem,  lingua  (quseso)  jnvate  pia." 

,  He  is  thought  to  be  the  original  reporter  of  the  story  of 
Dr.  Matthew  Parker's  consecration  at  the  Nag's  Head, 
Cheapside,  London. 

Needham,  Charles. — I  think  was  the  third  son  of  John 
Needham,  Esq.,  of  Hilston,  co.  Monmouth,  by  his  wife 
Elizabeth  Howe  of  Leighland,  received  his  education  at 
Douay  College,  and  was  justly  esteemed  and  admired  for 
his  courtier-like  manners  and  polite  scholarship.  On  19th 
JDecember,  1745,  he  became  the  incumbent  at  Tor  Abbey,  and 
for  upwards  of  forty  years  continued  his  valuable  services  to 
the  Gary  family  and  his  little  flock.  At  Michaelmas  he 
retired  from  ministerial  duty  to  make  room  for  his  friend^ 
the  Rev.  John  Halford,  already  mentioned ;  but  took  up  his 
residence  for  the  ten  successive  years,  in  the  adjoining  village 
of  Tor  Mohun.  At  length,  ort  32nd  February,  1798,  he 
bade  adieu  to  a  spot  where  he  had  witnessed  fifty-two 
revolving  sims,  and  settled  himself  in  London,  where  he 
departed  in  peace  on  10th  September,  1802,  at  the  advanced 
age  of  eighty-eight. 

Nblson,  alias  Newton,  James,  S.J.,  born  in  London  10th 
June,  1736}  at  the  age  of  eighteen  joined  the  Society.  In 
declining  age  his  patience  was  perfected  by  increasing  in- 
firmities; but  he  rendered  what  assistance  he  could  to  his 


364  BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST   OF    THE    CLERGY. 

friend,  F.  Robert  Plowden,  the  laborious  missionary  at 
Bristol,  at  whose  house  he  finished  his  course  on  2nd  April, 
1803. 

Neve,  Frederick.  Robert,  born  at  Eton,  Bucks,  28th 
August,  1806.  His  father  was  the  Rev.  Frederick  Hervey 
Neve.  Educated  at  Eton  College,  and  at  Oriel  College, 
Oxford,  he  proceeded  A.M.  in  1828,  and  for  twelve  years 
was  rector  of  Poole  Keynes,  Wilts,  before  his  reconciliation  to 
the  Catholic  Church  in  October,  1845.  After  passing  a 
twelvemonth  at  Prior-park,  he  repaired  to  the  English  Col- 
lege at  Rome  in  October,  1846,  where  he  continued  until 
May,  1848,  having  been  admitted  to  priesthood  by  the 
Cardinal  Vicar  on  the  18tli  March  of  the  last-mentioned 
year.  Since  his  return  to  England  he  has  been  attached  to 
the  Church  of  the  Twelve  Apostles  at  Clifton. 

Newport,  Maurice,  S.J.,  a  native  of  Somersetshire; 
joined  the  Society  at  the  age  of  twenty-four,  and  was  ad- 
mitted amongst  the  professed  fathers  on  23rd  November, 
1643.  For  many  years  he  taught  humanities  at  St.  Omer's, 
and  for  a  considerable  period  was  employed  in  the  English 
mission.  After  spending  half  a  century  in  his  order,  he  died 
in  London  on  4th  December,  1687,  set.  seventy-six.  Dodd, 
in  his  "  Church  History,"  vol.  iii.  p.  319,  merely  says, 
"  I  take  it,  he  was  a  member  of  the  Society  of  Jesus."  In 
1665  this  classic  father  presented  his  "  Votum  Candidum,  seu 
Poema  congratulatorium "  to  his  Majesty  King  Charles  II. 
A  second  edition  appeared  in  1669,  and  a  third  in  London 
in  1676,  containing  368  pages,  revised  by  the  author. 
At  the  end  is  a  poem,  dedicated  to  James,  Duke  of 
York,  and  his  Duchess,  Mary  d'Este,  on  the  birth  of  their 
infant  son,  Charles,  Duke  of  Cambridge.  "Was  he  not  the 
author  of  "  A  Golden  Censer  full  with  the  pretious  Incense 
of  the  Praiers  of  Saints."  Paris,  1654,  pp.  142,  dedicated 
"To  the  High  and  Mighty  Princesse,  Henrietta  Maria, 
Daughter  of  England?" 

Newsham,  James. — I  am  informed  that  this  venerable 
priest  of  Douay  College  resided  for  a  time  at  Spetisbury, 
He  departed  to  our  Lord,  at  Hammersmith,  on  11th  June, 
1825,  aged  eighty-four  years. 

NiHELL,  Edward,  S.  J.,  born  in  Antigua  18th  January,  1752; 
in  the  seventeenth  year  of  his  age  embraced  the  pious 
Institute  of  Jesus.  At  the  expulsion  of  his  EngUsh  brethren 
from  their  college  at  Bruges,,  he  was  one  of  the  masters ;  and 
subsequently  at  Liege  filled  the  same  employment.     There 


BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST    OP   THE    CLEKGY.  365 

he  was  ordained  priest,  and  said  his  first  Mass  6th  June, 
1776.  Twelve  years  later  he  succeeded  F.  Charles  Forrester, 
as  the  pastor  of  the  Wardour  congregation.  After  dis- 
charging his  ministerial  duties,  during  fourteen  years,  in  a 
manner  that  endeared  him  to  the  Arundell  family  and  his 
increasing  flock,  he  quitted  for  Trinidad,  where  he  fell  a 
victim  of  charity  in  attending  the  poor  negroes,  on  4th 
November,  1806.  He  was  a  man  of  great  merit,  esteemed 
for  sound  sense  and  an  amiable  temper — full  of  kindness  and 
goodness. 

NoRMAND,  Nicholas,  of  the  diocese  of  Rouen,  born  1st 
January,  1760;  after  the  emigration  he  supplied  in  several 
places  in  the  Midland  district ;  for  a  short  time  resided  at 
Tor  Abbey,  then  fixed  himself  at  Spetisbury  j  but  finally  at 
Stapehill,  where  he  died  14th  January,  1843. 

NoRRiNGTON,  Hbnry,  bom  at  Plymouth  29th  April,  1809 ; 
whilst  qualifying  himself  for  the  chemical  profession,  he  was 
reconciled  to  the  Catholic  Church,  in  June,  1826,  by  that 
worthy  pastor  of  Plymouth,  Dr.  Costello.  Wishing  to  become 
a  minister  of  salvation  to  others,  he  obtained  matriculation  in 
the  English  College  at  Lisbon,  where  he  was  ordained  deacon 
29th  March,  1835,  and  priest  on  13th  March,  1836,  by  the 
bishop  of  Angra,  coadjutor  to  the  patriarch  of  Lisbon.  For 
the  benefit  of  his  health  he  travelled  much,  especially  through 
Palestine,  Syria,  and  Arabia,  and,  as  he  told  me,  had  made  a 
large  collection  of  materials  towards  printing  the  account  of 
his  tour,  as  also  a  new  version  of  the  Psalms  from  the  Hebrew 
text;  but  which,  increasing  and  painful  weakness  of  sight 
prevented  him  from  accomplishing.  Axminster  was  the  only 
mission  that  partook  of  his  ministerial  services.  There  he 
arrived  on  27th  October,  1837,  and  at  Terrace  Lodge,  the 
seat  of  Henry  Knight,  Esq.,  who  always  treated  him  as  one 
of  the  family,  he  closed  a  suffering  hfe,  by  a  most  edify- 
ing death,  on  8th  December,  1848.  At  his  own  desire  he 
was  buried  on  the  north-west  side  of  the  cemetery  of  SS. 
Michael  and  George,  Lyme  Regis,  where  I  copied  the  follow- 
ing inscription  on  the  edge  of  the  coffin-shaped-slab,  adorned 
with  a  cross  fleury,  chalice,  and  book,  which  covers  his 
grave. 

Hie  jacet  Henricus  Norrington,  Presbyter  Capellse  S.  Marite 
Apud  Axeminster,  qui 
Obiit  VIII  Dec.  A.D.  mdoccxlviii.  ^tatis  suae  anno  xl. 
Jesu  Domlne  miserere. 

NoRRis,  Richard,  S.J.,  of  Lancashire. — He  entered  the 
English  College  in  1677,  and  probably  joined  the  Society  in 


366  BlOaaAPHICAL    list   of    THte    CtERGY: 

that  eity.  He  was  stationed,  in  the  reign  of  James  11.,  at 
Exeter,  where  "a  Mass-house  was  opened,"  as  I  find  in 
Calamy's  "  History  of  Puritan  Ministers."  This  excited  the 
bile  of  the  fanatical  party,  and  especially  of  that  eccentric 
and  sour  bigot,  Creorge  Trosse,  who,  dying  on  11th  January, 
1713,  set.  eighty-two,  was  buried  in  St.  Bartholomew's  yard 
under  an  altar-tomb,  with  an  epitaph  composed  by  him- 
self:— 

Hie  jacet 

Peccatorum  maximus. 

Sanctorum  minimus, 

Concionatorum  indigniasimus, 

Qui  huic  maligno  valedixit  mundo. 

But  so  complete  was  the  demolition  of  this  chapel  at  the 
arrival  of  WiUiam,  Prince  of  Orange,  in  November,  1688, 
that  I  have  never  been  able  to  satisfy  myself  where  it' 
actually  stood.  During  the  hurricane  of  this  Revolution, 
F.  Norris  judged  it  advisable  to  give  way  to  wrath,  and  to 
attempt  his  escape  from  the  city.  But  he  fell  in  with  the 
sentinels,  one  of  whom  levelled  a  blow  at  him  with  a  battle- 
axe,  the  force  of  which  was  averted  by  a  comrade,  and  the 
father  luckily  got  off.  That  night  he  passed  in  a  hovel  on 
the  bare  ground.  Ascertaining  the  next  day  that  he  was 
diligently  searched  for,  that  a  reward  was  offered  for  his 
apprehension,  and  that  the  very  man  who  had  prevented  the 
intended  fatal  blow  from  having  effect  had  engaged  to 
discover  him,  wherever  he  should  be,  he  decided  on  taking 
some  other  direction.  For  two  days  he  lay  concealed  in  a 
damp  and  uncomfortable  room,  exposed  to  wind  and  weather 
in  that  inclement  season.  Understanding  that  the  troops 
had  quitted  Exeter  (the  Prince  of  Orange  had  reached  this 
city  on  9th  and  left  it  on  20th  November),  he  determined, 
say  the  Annual  Letters,  to  return  "  ad  Catholicos  infir- 
mandos ; "  he  was  then  distant  sixteen  miles,  and  he  made- 
the  journey  during  the  night  amidst  torrents  of  rain, 
dreadful  roads,  and  almost  barefoot.  On  his  arrival  he  found 
the  population  in  a  more  excited  state  than  before;  some 
one  had  threatened  to  put  the  mayor  (Sir  Thomas  Jefford, 
Knight)  to  trouble  for  not  having  arrested  the  father  before ; 
now  all  the  houses  of  the  Catholics  were  diligently  searched 
for  him,  and  a  reward  of  "200  aureorum"  was  offered  for 
his  apprehension.  Convinced  that  he  must  be  discovered  if 
he  remained,  he  left  the  city  in  the  dead  of  night,  and  under 
the  protection  of  Heaven,  though  the  roads  were  watched 
for  thirteen  miles  of  his  journey  by  armed  patrols,  he 
experienced  no  molestation.     After  a  delay  of  six  months. 


BIOGRAPHICAX    LIST   OF    THE    CLERGY.  367 

he  i^in  ventured  on  a  visit  to  his  afflicted  flock ;  his  resi- 
dence was  searched,  and  he  had  but  time  to  escape  along  the 
roof  to  an  adjoining  house.  On  one  occasion,  he  was 
actually  in  the  hands  of  some  soldiers,  who  were  sent  to 
apprehend  him ;  yet,  by  the  favour  of  Providence,  he 
succeeded  in  giving  them  the  slip. 

In  1701  and  1704  I  meet  with  this  good  father  as  the 
superior  of  his  brethren  in  Devon  and  Cornwall.  He  died 
21st  June,  1717. 

NoRKis,  Sylvester,  S.J.,  of  Somersetshire. — He  had  been 
created  D.D.  at  Rome  before  the  date  of  his  admission  into 
the  Society  of  Jesus.  His  learned  works, — "  The  Antidote, 
or  Treatise  of  Thirty  Controversies  against  Sectaries,"  4to. 
St.  Omer's,  1618,  pp.  322,  with  its  Second  Part,  1619, 
pp.  247 ;  "  The  Appendix  to  the  Antidote,"  4to.  London, 
1621,  pp.  107;  "The  Pseudo-Scripturist,"  4to.  1623,— must 
ever  rank  him  amongst  the  ablest  of  our  polemical  writers. 
After  serving  the  mission  with  great  zeal  and  ability,  he  died 
in  England,  16th  March,  1630,  aged  fifty-nine. 


O. 

O'DoNNELL,  NiCHOiAS,  O.S.A. — Bom  at  Cahir  17th 
December,  1802;  joined  the  Augustinian  Order  at  the  age 
of  twenty,  and  was  ordained  priest  at  St.  John  Lateran, 
Rome,  in  September,  1825.  For  a  long  time  he  served  the 
mission  and  taught  philosophy  at  New  York. 

The  reader  should  know  that  Bishop  Ullathorne,  the  suc- 
cessor of  Bishop  Baggs  in  the  Western  District,  consecrated 
21st  June,  1846,  was  most  anxious  to  establish  an  Augusti- 
nian mission  at  Bristol,  and  applied  to  the  General  of  the 
order,  the  Very  Rev.  Dr.  Joseph  Palermo,  for  the  purpose.  The 
General  accordingly  sent  Father  Nicholas  O'Donnell,  above 
mentioned,  in  February,  1848,  with  the  full  intention  of 
providing  him  shortly  with  another  member  of  the  order. 
But  owing  to  the  revolutionary  times  at  Rome,  the  assistant's 
arrival  was  delayed.  In  the  mean  time  F.  O'Donnell  was 
placed  by  the  bishop  at  Pennywell,  on  the  Stapleton-road. 
There  this  zealous  and  experienced  religious  man  erected  the 
Church  of  St.  Nicholas  de  Tolentino,  which  was  opened  for 
public  worship  on  21st  December,  1850.  There  was  now  a 
prospect  of  a  rich  harvest  of  souls,  and  when  tranquillity 
was  restored  at  Rome,  the  General  wrote,  on  4th  July,  1852, 
to  the  zealous  pastor,  that  he  had  sent  him  an  efficient, 
assistant  in  the  person  of  the  Rev.  Brother  Thomas  Crowther.; 


368  BIOGKAPHICAL    LIST   OF    THE    CLERGY. 

The  General's  letter  was  duly  notified  to  the  new  bishop  of 
Clifton,  Dr.  Burgess,  as  also  the  arrival  of  the  Rev.  Thomas 
Crowther,  on  26th  July.  His  lordship's  grand  vicar  replied 
on  the  following  day,  that  the  bishop  had  other  views  as  to 
that  mission ;  but  would  give  them  both  employment  else- 
where. F.  O'Donnell  sent  a  reply  three  days  later,  a  chef- 
d'ceuvre  of  the  kind,  in  which  he  modestly  states  the  con- 
scientious perplexity  of  reconciling  with  his  vow  of  obedience 
the  abandonment  of  a  post  assigned  to  him  by  his  General, 
until  he  received  his  orders,  to  whom  he  would  forward  the 
correspondence  without  delay.  On  2nd  August  P.  O'Donnell 
had  to  make  an  excursion  for  a  few  days,  leaving  his  assistant 
at  the  chapel-house.  During  his  absence  the  grand  vicar 
called,  charged  the  assistant  not  to  obey  his  superior,  who  on 
his  return  on  Saturday,  7th  of  August,  was  served  with  the 
bishop's  command  to  surrender  the  premises  and  the  care  of 
the  mission  to  the  Rev.  William  CuUinan,  under  pain  of 
suspension.  Of  course,  he  submitted,  under  protest,  and  was 
summoned  at  once  by  the  General  to  appear  before  the 
Congregation  of  the  Propaganda.  Leaving  England  on  8th 
September,  he  reached  Rome  on  the  22nd. 

Oleron,  Marc  Laurence  Thomas,  D.D.,  born  in  the 
diocese  of  Rennes  23rd  March,  1807. — This  amiable  French 
priest  came  over  to  Trelawny  on  27th  August,  1835,  and 
whilst  zealously  serving  that  place,  was  appointed  vicar- 
general  of  Cornwall,  by  Bishop  Ullathorne  in  September, 
1846.  On  the  Rev.  Henry  Riley's  resignation  of  Plymouth 
in  March,  1848,  he  was  removed  to  that  important  mission, 
where  he  laboured  with  distinguished  merit  until  8th  June, 
1850.  His  services  were  next  required  at  Lanherne  Convent, 
and  there  he  remained  from  1st  July,  1850,  until  13th 
October,  1851,  when  he  was  ordered  to  Plymouth  again  by 
the  newly-inducted  bishop,  the  Right  Rev.  Dr.  Errington. 
After  a  short  residence  with  his  lordship,  and  a  visit  to 
Prance,  he  accepted  the  invitation  of  Dr.  Wareing,  the  new 
bishop  of  Northampton,  to  teach  divinity  in  his  seminary. 
On  24th  June,  1852,  he  was  created  canon  and  theologian  of 
that  new  chapter,  and  on  25th  March,  1855,  was  awarded 
the  degree  of  D.D. 

Oliver,  George,  D.D.,  born  in  Newington,  Surrey,  9th 
February,  1781 ;  was  educated  at  Sedgley-park  and  Stony- 
hurst,  where  he  taught  humanities  for  five  years,  and  was 
promoted  to  holy  orders  at  Durham  by  Dr.  Gibson,  bishop 
of  Acanthus,  in  the  Ember-week  of  Pentecost,  1806.  He  was 
appointed  to  the  Exeter  mission  in  October,  1807,  and  fiUed 


BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST    OP   THE    CLERGY.  369 

It,  however  unworthily,  for  forty-four  consecutive  years.  On 
30th  March,  1843,  he  was  elected  an  honorary  memher 
of  the  Historical  Society  of  Boston ;  arid  also,  without  his 
knowledge,  made  D.D.  by  his  Holiness  Pope  Gregory  XVI. 
on  15th  September,  1844.,  He  can  trulysay,  that  his  only 
ambition  is,  that  his  name  may  be  written  in  the  book  of 
life.     "  Quod  faxit  Deus !»  .  , 

O'Meara,  William  Aloysius,  O.S.F. — This  Irish  Fran- 
ciscan served  the  office  of  provincial  of  his  brethren  from 
1822  to  1825;  reached  Cannington  mission  in  the  summer 
of  1826 ;  then  served  Tawstock  from  November,  1829,  to  July, 
1831,  when  he  returned  to  Cannington,  and  accompanied  the 
community  of  Benedictines  to  Mount  Pavilion,  in  Stafford- 
shire, and  continued  his  services  to  them -for  several  years. 

OThaddeus,  Meally,  bom  at  Limerick  24th  March, 
1797;  promoted  to  holy  orders  in  his  native  city.  He  is 
connected  with  the  West  of  England  by  having  accepted  the 
charge  of  the  faithful  at  Falmouth  in  August,  1822,  but  he 
had  to  resign  it  in  a  twelvemonth,  when  he  started  for  Phila- 
delphia to  serve  the  American  mission.  He  rieached  that 
city  in  October,  1823,-  but  its  bishop,  declined  his  services. 
Returning  to  Ireland  he  was  at  length  appointed  one  of  the 
chaplains  to  the  Metropolitan  Church  in  Dublin,  and  ob- 
tained unenviable  notoriety  by  his  harangues  at  the  general 
association  in  December,  1836.  Malta  soon  after  witnessed 
his  eccentricity  of  characjter.  Quitting  that  island  he  came 
to  England,  apd  I  shall  never  forget  his  unbepoming  letter 
published  in  London,  dated  27th  March,  1840,  and  addressed 
to  his  grace,  John  McHale,  archbishop  of  Tuam.  The  last  I 
heard  of  him  was,  that  he  became  editor  of  "  The  Christian 
Social  Economist,"  in  Dublin,  on  22nd  November,  1851. 


Padbury,  Joseph. — This  exemplary  London  priest  was 
lent  to  Bishop  Errington  for  the  benefit  of  the  faithful  at 
Bridport,  but  has  recently  been  charged  with  assisting  the 
congregation  of  Poplar. 

Paillet  (Bernard),  Edward,  O.S.B.,  bom  in  Bath  6th 
March,  1810 ;  professed  at  Downside  24th  June,  1834 ;  was 
ordained  priest  at  Prior-park  by  Bishop  Baines,  23rd  Feb- 
ruary, 1839 ;  left  Downside  in  November,  1840,  for  Chelten- 
ham; but  after  a  few  months  was  transferred  to  Chipping 
Sodbury,  and  thence  to  Acton  Bumell,  where  he  was  visited 
with  a  violent  brain  fever,  which  terminated  in  his  total 

2  B 


370  BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST   OP   THE    CLEKGY. 

blindness.  In  May,  1842,  he  returned  as  a  conventual  to 
Downside,  and  after  some  time  was  placed  as  an  assistant 
to  the  missionary  at  Whitehaven,  where  he  makes  himself 
most  useful  as  a  director,  a  catechist,  &c. 

Paine,  John. — Por  special  particulars  of  this  illustrious 
suflFerer  for  the  Catholic  faith,  see  Part  First,  Chapter  I.,  p.  3 ; 
as  also  Dr.  Challoner's  Memoirs.  It  is  sufficient  to  say 
here  that  he  went  to  his  glorious  crown  on  2nd  April, 
1582. 

Panting,  John,  S.J. — This  considerate  benefactor  of  the 
missions  of  Bristol,  Exeter,  and  Shepton  Mallett,  was  born 
26th  November,  1732;  entered  the  Society  7th  September, 
1749;  was  ordained  priest  at  Liege  17th  April,  1757;  and 
was  justly  reputed  a  polite  scholar,  an  excellent  critic,  and 
an  accomplished  gentleman.  For  many  years  he  was  the 
respected  incumbent  at  Bonham,  and  there  his  pious  career 
was  terminated  by  a  happy  death  on  30th  May,  1783.  Before 
he  came  to  the  mission,  he  was  director  to  the  English  nuns 
at  Gravelines,  and  published  a  translation  of  Pere  d'Orlean's 
"Life  of  St.  Aloysius,"  St.  Omer,  1761.  His  MS.  Lives  of 
St.  Mary  de  Pazzis,  pp.  403,  and  of  St.  Jane  of  Chantal, 
pp.  152,  were  afterwards  in  the  possession  of  Mary  Christina, 
the  dowager  Lady  Arundell,  and  at  her  death,  20th  June, 
1813,  came  to  her  daughter.  Lady  Clifford,  at  Ugbrooke, 
where  I  have  seen  them.  ^ 

Palemon,  Peke,  verh  Rousselin  Nicholas,  was  bdrn  at 
St.  Male's  in  1771 ;  began  his  noviceship  in  St.  Susan's 
monastery  of  La  Trappe,  Lull  worth,  with  Dom  Antoine 
Saulnier,  of  whom  more  hereafter.  This  saintly  religious, 
from  1810  till  1817,  was  in  the  habit  of  going  weekly  from 
his  monastery  to  Stapehill  to  hear  the  confessions  of  the 
Trappist  nuns  there,  and  on  the  departure  of  his  brethren 
for  France  in  July,  1817,  became  permanently  established 
in  their  service.  With  them  the  venerable  man  concluded 
his  innocent  life  on  19th  May,  1851;  sac.  fifty-four,  prof, 
fifty-six,  set.  eighty-two.  A  very  respectable  gentleman,  a 
convert,  in  a  letter  dated  24th  May,  writes  thus :  "  The  dear 
old  Pere  Palemon  departed  this  life  on  Monday  morning  last, 
at  seven  o'clock — a  glorious  change  for  one  who  in  this  world 
has  followed  our  blessed  Redeemer  with  humble  submission 
to  the  crosses  of  this  life  to  a  bright  and  immortal  change. 
His  memory  will  ever  be  cherished  in  my  bosom  v?ith  afiec- 
tion.  Considering  his  age,  and  the  race  he  has  run,  I  feel 
rather  disposed  to  say  quiescit  in  pace  than  reguiescat  in 
pace.  Would  that  my  end  would  be  like  to  his  when  death 
shall  summon  me  to  the  tomb  !" 


BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST   OF    THE    CLERGY.  371 

The  remains  of  this  good  father  are  deposited  in  the  con- 
ventual cemetery  of  Spetisbury. 

Palmer  (Bernard)  John. — The  history  of  this  Cistercian 
abbot  reminds  us  of  God's  providence  described  in  Chap- 
ter X.,  as  conducting  his  servants  in  a  wonderful  way, — "  in 
vik  mirabili." 

The  subject  of  this  memoir  was  born  at  Charmouth,  in 
Dorsetshire,  on  15th  October,  1782,  and,  as  I  learn  from  its 
parish  register,  was  baptized  in  the  church  there  on  11th 
November  that  year.  His  parents,  William  and  Ann  Palmer, 
gave  him  the  best  education  their  slender  circumstances  would 
admit,  and  trained  him  carefully  as  a  Protestant  of  the  Church 
of  England.  In  Ijis  letter  to  me  of  23rd  August,  1849,  he 
says :  "  You  may  judge  of  my  devotion  to  it,  when  I  tell 
you  that  I  burnt  the  pope  for  three  or  four  years  together 
with  great  zeal."  Losing  his  father,  he  went  to  London  to 
see  his  brother  James,  and  to  secure,  if  possible,  the  situation 
of  a  servant  in  a  family.  Here  curiosity  led  him  into  War- 
wick Street  Chapel.  He  was  much  taken  with  the  service. 
To  understand  things  better,  he  purchased  of  Mr.  Booker, 
the  worthy  Catholic  publisher,  a  "  Garden  of  the  Soul,"  and 
told  that  gentleman  how  much  he  wished  to  get  a  valet's  place. 
In  the  mean  while  he  had  addressed  himself  to  the  Rev.  William 
Wilds,  of  Warwick  Street  Chapel,  and  was  gratified  beyond 
measure  by  the  aflfability  with  which  he  was  received  by  this 
first  priest  he  had  ever  accosted.  Whilst  under  this  reverend 
gentleman's  instructions,  the  late  Thomas  Weld,  of  LuUworth 
Castle,  Esq.,  applied  to  Mr.  Booker  if  he  knew  of  any  proper 
young  man  to  fill  the  office  of  valet.  Mr.  Booker  at  once 
recommended  John  Palmer,  who  was  approved  of,  went  to 
Lullworth,  and  was  soon  fully  admitted  into  the  bosom  of 
the  Catholic  Church  by  the  chaplain,  the  Eev.  Leonard 
Brooke.  The  edifying  regularity  and  piety  of  the  Weld 
family,  and  the  fervent  examples  of  the  Cistercian  monks  of 
the  adjoining  monastery,  excited  in  his  breast  an  earnest 
desire  of  imitation :  his  sole  ambition,  however,  was  to  be 
admitted  as  a  lay-brother ;  but  Bishop  Collingridge,  with  the 
consent  of  the  Superior,  ruled  that  he  should  be  a  choir- 
religious;  and  at  length  he  made  his  solemn  profession  on 
21st  November,  1810.  Within  seven  years  after  this  he  was 
doomed  with  his  brethren  to  emigrate  from  their  monastery 
to  France,  as  related  in  the  first  part  of  this  compilation, 
and  also  to  suffer  expulsion  from  Melleray  Abbey  in  1830. 
After  some  years'  residence  at  Nantes,  he  was  invited  over  to 
the  infant  establishment  in  Chamwood  Forest,  now  St.  Ber- 
nard's Abbey,  near  Loughborough,  co.  Leicester.     Hitherto 

2  B  2 


372  BIOGKAPHICAL    LIST    OF    THE    CLERGY. 

humility  had  kept  him  in  minor  orders  only ;  but  now  ne 
■was  commanded  to  prepare  for  priesthood,  and  was  ordained 
by  Bishop  "V^alsh  on  31st  July,  1838,  celebrating  bis  first 
Mass  on  the  ensuing  feast  of  the  Assumption  of  Our  Lady. 
His  experience  of  a  religious  life,  and  his  talents  for  business, 
pointed  him  out  as  the  fittest  person  to  fill  the  office  of  Prior 
in  1841 ;  and  when  the  monastery  was  erected  into  an  abbey. 
Father  Bernard  was  unanimously  elected  its  first  abbot. 
Pope  Pius  IX.  confirmed  the  election,  and  on  Quinquagesima 
Sunday,  18th  February,  1848,  Bishop  Ullathorne,  assisted  by 
Bishop  Wareing,  two  abbots  from  France,  and  one  from  Ire- 
land, consecrated  him  to  that  dignity. 

I  had  hoped  this  friendly  abbot  would  have  been  spared 
many  years  to  religion,  when  I  received  a  letter  from  one  of 
his  subjects,  F.  Robert  Henry  Smith,  that  he  had  expired,  at 
nine  a.m.,  on  10th  November,  1852  :  "  We  had  just  finished 
a  solemn  requiem  Mass  for  the  members  of ,  our  Order  de- 
parted during  the  past  year,  when  we  were  summoned  to  his 
room.  .  He  was  then  evidently  dying,  and  we  had  scarcely 
time  to  administer  extreme  unction  before  he  breathed,  his 
last,  and  fell,  as  it  were,  into  a  gentle  sleep.  We  buried  him 
on  Saturday  last  (13th)  in  our  Chapter-room,  vested  in  alb, 
chasuble,  mitre,  and  crosier,  in  a  small  brick  vault,  without 
coffin.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Furlong  preached  on  the  occasion  a 
very  impressive  sermon.  Our  beloved  and  respected  abbot . 
appeared  in  a  gentle  sleep,  even  to  the  moment  we  lowered 
him  into  his  grave."  John  Hardman,  Esq.,  has  placed  over 
the  remains  of  the  venerable  abbot  a  tasteful  monumental 
brass.* 

Parfitt,  Charles,  was  born  of  Protestant  parents  at 
Bruton,  co.  Somerset,  10th  September,  1816,  and  received 
his  early  education  in  the  Free  Grammar  School  of  Bruton, 
which  had  been  originally  founded  by  Catholics  in  1520,  and 
refounded-by  King  Edward  VI.,  by  charter,  dated  1st  May, 
1550.  He  left  this  school  at  the  age  of  eighteen,  and  two 
years  later,  on  his  birthday,  was  reconciled  to  the  Catholic 
Church  at  Prior-park  by  Bishop  Baines.  On  quitting  Prior- 
park  19th  October,  1838,  he  proceeded  to  the  English  College 
at  Rome ;  and  whilst  there  was  promoted  to  subdeaconship 
by  Bishop  Wiseman  on  9th  June,  1840,  and  to  deaconship 
by  Monsignore  Piatto,  patriarch  of  Cpnstantinople,  on  6th 
December  the  same  year.  In  consequence  of  the ,  departure 
of  the  Rosminians  from  Prior-park,  Bishop  Baines  summoned 
Mr.  Parfitt  over ;  he ,  bade  adieu  to  the  eternal  city  on 
28th  November,  1842;  was  ordained  priest  by  Bishop  Baines 

*  A  brief,  but  interesting  sketch  of  his  life,  is  prefixed  to  the  "  Metro- 
politan and  Provincial  Catholic  Almanac  for  1855." 


BIOGRAPHICAL   LIST   OF    THE    CLERGY.  373 

on  29th  of  the  following  month,  a  few  days  after  his  re- 
turn, and  was  appointed  professor  of  classics  and  prefect  of 
St.  Paul's  College,  and  so  continued  until  the  death  of  Bishop 
Baines.  On  the  arrival  of  his  lordship'  successor.  Dr.  Baggs, 
this  able  professor  was  named  president  of  St.  Peter's,  and 
Pope  Gregory  XVI.  promoted  him  to  the  rank  of  one  of  his 
Camerieri  d'oriore.  He  retired  from  Prior-park  in  Septem- 
ber, 1846,  to  become  the  first  resident  missionary  at  Midford 
Castle,  about  three  miles  and  a  half  from  Bath,  where  he  has 
an  increasing  congregation,  and  has  established  a  poor- 
school.  At  the  formation  of  the  Clifton  Chapter,  on  28th 
June,  1853,  this  enlightened  clergyman  was  deservedly  en- 
rolled amongst  its  qanons. 

Parker,  James,  S.  J.,  was  bom  at  Liverpool  3rd  April,  1747; 
entered  the  nbvitiate  at  the  age  of  nineteen,  and  finished 
his  studies  at  St.  Alban's  College,  Valladolid.  For  many 
years  he  was  chaplain  to  Barbara,  Countess  of  Shaftesbury, 
at  St.  Giles',  Dorset.  This  Catholic  peeress  was  sole  daughter 
and  heiress  of  Sir  John  Webb,  of  Oldstock  and  Canford,  Bart. 
After  his  retirement  from  that  situation  he  resided  for  a 
lengthened  period  at  Bristol,  and  conciliated  universal  respect 
and  esteem  by.  his  polished  manners,  and  frank  and  liberal 
conduct.  Occasionally  he  would  preach  for  his  friend  the 
Rev.  Robert  Plowden,  the  inciunbent  of .  St.  Joseph's,  and 
was  greatly  admired  for  his  dignified  and  forcible  style,  of 
pulpit  eloquence.  For  some  time  before  his  death  he  settled 
at  Liverpool,  and  got  into  a  very  nervous  way.  His  Bene- 
dictine friend,  F.  Vincent  Glover,  understanding  that  he  was 
unwell,  waited  upon  him,  and  considering  him  to  be  in  a" 
precarious  state,  warned  him  of  it ;  upon  which  F.  Parker 
made  his  confession,  received  extreme  unction,  and  died 
within  five  minutes  later,  29th  October,  1822.  He  was  buried 
at  Sefton  with  this  original  epitaph  composed  by  himself. 

*       ■ 

Epitaphium  hoc 

Vivus  vidensque  scrips!. 

Hie  jaceo 

Jacobus  Parker, 

Olim  Societatis  Jesu  Sacerdos, 

Postea  Decreto  lieu  nimium  duro 

dementis  XIV.    Summi   Pontificls, 

E  priore  gradu  in  deliciis  habito 

Dejectus, 

Missionarius  in  Anglia  Apostolicus, 

Annos  quinquaginta,  etc. 

Vixi. 

Obiit  ^tatis  Anno  lxxv. 

ReparatiE  vero  Salutis,  mdcccxxii. 

But  an  English  one  ha&  replaced  it. 


374  BIOGRAPHICAL   LIST   OF   THE    CLERGY. 

Parker,  Richard,  S.J.,  was  born  at  Preston  23rd  July, 
1791,  and,  as  I  well  remember,  reached  Stonyhurst  College 
in  October,  1804,  where  he  was  placed  under  my  tuition. 
He  joined  the  society  in  1810 ;  was  ordained  priest  in  De- 
cember, 1819,  and  on  6th  October  following  became  the 
missionary  of  Wardour.  Here  his  discreet  zeal,  uniform 
piety,  charity,  and  suavity  of  manners  endeared  him  to 
all.  After  nearly  twelve  years'  service,  obedience  summoned 
him  away  from  Wardour  to  succeed  F.  Norris  in  the  presi- 
dency of  Stonyhurst  College.  It  was  a  painful  separation 
from  his  noble  patrons.  Lord  and  Lady  Arundell  and  his 
attached  congregation ;  but  there  was  no  remedy.  On  30th 
June,  1832,  he  entered  upon  his  office  of  rector,  and  was 
enrolled  among  the  professed  fathers  on  the  ensuing  2nd 
February.  For  the  last  year  of  his  life  it  pleased  God  to 
exercise  the  patience  of  his  faithful  servant  by  a  complication 
of  maladies  which  defied  all  medical  skill,  and  he  sunk  under 
them  on  3rd  September,  1836. 

Parker,  Thomas,  S.J. — ^After  finishing  his  studies  at  Val- 
ladolid,  was  admitted  into  the  society  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
four.  I  find  him  serving  the  Cornish  mission  in  1771,  but 
how  long  before  or  after  I  cannot  ascertain.  Thence  he 
removed  to  Heath  Green,  in  Beoley  parish,  co.  Worcester, 
where  he  died  26th  October,  1820,  set.  eighty-one. 

Parry,  . — A  convert,  of  1745,  who  knew  him 

at  Exeter,  remembered  well  that  he  paid  occasional  visits  to 
the  faithful  in  this  city  in  the  years  1754-5-6,  but  could  not 
inform  me  of  his  christian  name  or  supply  any  other  details. 

Pearce,  Thomas,  S.J.,  sometimes  called  Percy,  was  a 
native  of  Devonshire,  and  came  on  the  mission  in  1641. 
After  lengthened  services  he  retired  to  the  house  of  proba- 
tion at  Ghent,  to  prepare  himself  for  eternity,  into  which  he 
entered  on  25th  January,  1685,  set.  seventy-eight,  soc.  forty- 
seven. 

Pelletier,  Jean  Pierre,  S.J. — This  old  French  Jesuit 
was  at  MarnhuU;  he  quitted  for  France  in  1802,  and  died 
about  the  same  time  as  the  celebrated  Pere  Barruel,  who  is 
known  to  have  departed  this  life  on  5th  October,  1820. 

Pembridge,  Michael,  O.S.B.  —  I  have  treated  of  this 
saintly  and  learned  regular  in  the  first  Part,  p.  57.  For 
about  a  quarter  of  a  century  Bath  was  edified  and  enlightened 
by  his  apostolic  ministry ;  dying  there  on  20th  November, 
1806,  he  was  interred  on  the  25th  in  St.  Joseph's  Chapel, 
Bristol. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST   OF    THE    CLERGY.  375 

Pbniston,*  Jambs,  S.J.,  was  bom  at  Salisbviry  on  3rd 
March,  1809;  went  through  his  studies  at  Stonyhurst  with 
distinguished  credit;  and  was  admitted  into  the  society  at 
Chierri  18th  September,  1825.  After  teaching  humanities  at 
Stonyhurst,  and  again  at  Calcutta,  he  was  promoted  to  the 
rank  of  a  professed  father  on  25th  March,  1847.  When 
F.  John  Heariie  was  carried  off  by  fever  on  30th  April,  1847, 
F.  Peniston  was  sent  to  Wigan  to  succeed  him  at  Wigan, 
but  within  two  months  was  ordered  to  replace  F.  Connell  at 
Malta,  where  he  arrived  on  31st  July  the  same  year.  His 
future  progress  will  be  seen  below.  He  died  30th  June,  1856, 
and  the  following  extracts  fully  testify  in  what  estimation  he 
was  held  even  by  Protestants : — 

From  the  Bombay  Examiner  of  July  9. 

"  It  is  our  painful  duty  to  record  the  death  of  the  Rev.  J. 
Peniston,  S.J.,  which  took  place  at  his  residence  at  Upper 
Colaba,  on  Monday,  the  30th  June  last,  of  typhus  fever. 

"  We  regard  this  melancholy  event  as  a  calamity  with  which 
Almighty  God  often,  in  His  mercy,  visits  His  creatures  on 
earth.  It  is  for  the  sake  of  those  who  have  directly  benefited 
by,  and  are  now  deprived  of,  his  spiritual  ministrations,  that 
we  feel  his  loss  the  more  deeply.  We  sympathize  with  his 
lordship.  Dr.  Hartmann,  for  the  loss  of  so  worthy  a  member 
of  his  clergy,  and  we  sympathize  with  the  whole  Catholic 
body  of  this  vicariat  for  the  loss  of  one  who  was  deservedly 
regarded  as  an  ornament  to  his  profession  and  to  their  common 
religion. 

"  The  late  Father  Peniston  was  an  Englishman  by  birth. 
He  was  descended  from  a  respectable  and  eminently  Catholic 
family.  His  father  was  a  civil  engineer  of  good  repute. 
His  primary  education  Fr.  Peniston  received  in  his  mother 
country.  At  the  early  age  of  seventeen  he  resolved  upon 
embracing  the  monastic  hfe;  in  1826  or  1827  he  made  his 
profession  in  France,  where  he  prosecuted  his  theological 
studies.  From  France  he  proceeded  to  Belgium,  and  thence 
to  Rome,  where  he  entered  the  Society  of  Jesus,  of  which  he 
was  a  professed  member.  In  Rome  he  resided  for  a  number 
of  years,  where  he  acquired  so  perfect  a  knowledge  of  the 
Italian  language  that  he  often  said  he  could  converse  and 

*  His  father  was  the  surveyor  of  the  county  of  Wilts,  and  the 
architect  of  the  chapels  of  Spetisbury,  Cannington,  &c.  He  assisted  at 
laying  the  foundation-stone  of  St.  Osmund's,  Salisbury,  on  8th  April, 
1847  ;  but  before  it  could  be  solemnly  consecrated  on  6th  September, 
1848,  it  had  pleased  God  to  take  him  out  of  Ufe  22nd  June  previous, 
tet.  sixty-nine.  He  was  interred  within  its  walls  on  the  27th,  and  its  bell 
Was  first  tolled  at  his  funeral. 


376  BIOGRAPHICAL   USX   OP   THE    CLEKGY. 

preach  in  Italian  with  greater  ease  and  fluency  than  in  his 
own  language.  In  the  year  1843,  we  believe,  he,  in  com- 
pany with  other  members  of  his  order,  arrived  at  Calcutta, 
where  the  Society  was  entrusted  with  the  education  of  the 
Ca.tholic  youth;  but  they  had  scarcely  been  in  Calcutta 
many  years  when  troubles  began  to  thicken  around  them, 
and  they  were  obliged  to  quit  it  amidst  the  regret  of  the 
whole  Catholic  population  of  Calcutta.  Father  Peniston 
soon  made  himself  a. favourite  with  everybody  at  Calcutta, 
and  a  proof  of  this  is  to  be  found  in  the  fact  that  as  soon  as 
the  dispute  relating  to  the  maladministration  of  the  funds  for 
the  charitable  schools  at  Mazagon  arose,  the  Trustees  at  Cal- 
cutta immediately  withdrew  the  funds  from  the  hands  of  the 
former  administrator,  and  placed  them  in  those  of  Father 
Peniston  without  solicitation  on  his  part.  Father  Penision 
on  leaving  Calcutta  did  not  accompany  his  brethren  to 
Madura,  their  mission;  but  proceeded  to  Malta,  where  he 
was  appointed  one  of  the  principals  of  the  college,  and  had 
the  spiritualcharge  of  the  Catholic  soldiery.  He  remained 
at  Malta  until  1853,  and  was. very  miich  esteemed  for  the 
virtues  which  distingiushed  his  public  and  private'  lifei 
While  there  the  Right  Eev.  Dr.  Hartmann  made  him  press- 
ing and  earnest '  solicitations  to  join  this 'idission,' buf.he, 
though  willing  to  avail  himself  of  his  lordship's  invitation; 
was  undble  to  obtain' the  permission  of  his  provincial  to  leave 
his  charge ;  but  having  been  met  by  Father  Steins,  then  on 
his  way  to  Botdbay  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  a  college 
for  Catholics,  Father  Steins,  recognizuig  in  him  qualities 
which  eminently  fitted  him  to  be  his  coadjutor  in  his  future 
labours  in  the  cause  of  education,  succeeded  in  prevailing 
upon  him  to  relinquish  his '  post  at  Malta  and '  to  join  this 
mission.  He' arrived  in  Bombay  in  November,  1853.  That 
Father  Peniston  in  the  short  space  of  three  years  acquired 
great  popularity  in  'Bombay  atnongst  Catholics  and  Pro- 
testants is  too 'well  known  to  require  allusion  at  our  hands. 
His  intellect  was  of  a  high  order — he  possessed  great  powers 
of  argumentation'  and  eloquence.  His '  manner  was  bland 
and  winning.  In  a  word,  he  was  one  of  those  few  men  whom 
the  world  befriends  at  first  sight. 

"His  funeral,  which  took  place  at  the  Colaba  Military 
Chapel,  was  one  of  the  most  numerously  attended  that  we 
ever  remember  to  have  :witnessed,  notwithstanding  that  the 
evening  was  wet.  Colonel  Creagh,  H.M.'s  86th,  headed  the 
procession  a,nd  was  followed  by  a  number  of  oflBcers.  ^  His 
mortal  remains  were  interred  in  the  body  of  the  chilrch;  and  his 
is  the  first  grave  that  was  dug  in  that  church.   Dr.  Hartmann 


BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST   OF    THE    CLERGY.  377 

presided  at  the  ceremonies,  and  Father  Steins  delivered  the 
funeral. oration.  The  whole  of  the  party  separated  deeply 
sensible  of  the  loss  which  the  event  has  inflicted  upon  all. 
May  he  rest  in  peace." 

In  like  manner  the  Bombay  correspondent  of  the  Times 
writes : — 

"  Here,  too,  there  has  been  much  sickness  of  late.  One 
death  that  occurred  lately  from  fever,  that  of  Mr.  Peniston, 
one  of  the  Roman  Catholic  chaplains,  has  caused  a  deep  and 
general  feeling  of  regret.  This  gentleman  was  educated,  I 
believe,  in  the  English  College  at  Rome,  and  was  for  some 
years  in  the  college  at  Malta  before  his  coming  to,  India. 
Here  he  was  chaplain  in  a  part  of  the  island  where  there  is 
always  an  English  regiment  stationed, .  the ,  soldiers  .  from 
which  formed  the  greater  part  of  his  congregation.,  ,  A, man 
of  Retired  habits,  from  position  possibly,  -rather,  than,  from 
any  natural  bias,  it  was  comparatively  ..seldom  that  we 
enjoyed  the  grace  Of  his  presence,  and  the  charm  of  his  rare 
accomplishments.  But  no  one,  I  think,  ever;  knew  him 
slightly  without  being  won  to  him,  or  intimately ,  without 
loving  him.  And  how  deep  and  true  was  , the  affection  of 
those  who  knew  him  most  intimately,  those  who  were  bound 
to  him  by  the  ties  of  the  same  belief,  is  to  be  iii  some  measure 
understood  by  such  outward  tokens  of  their  grief  as  they  have 
permitted  to  appear.  To  the  Roman  Catholic  Qpmmunity^ 
indeed,  independent  of  the  personal  regard  entertained  for 
Mr.  Peniston,  I  suppose  the. magnitude  of  the  loss  of  such 
a  man  to  be  altogether  incapable  of  exaggeration.  Those 
who  are  acquainted,  with  the  condition  of  that  Church  aiidof 
its  priests  in  Western  India  will,  I  think,' agree  with  me  in 
thus  writing  of  a  man  who  was  at  once  a  sincere  and  earnest 
minister,  an  accomplished  gentleman  and  man  of  the  world, 
fitted  to  be,  as  in  fact  he  was,  a  bishop's  right  hand." 

Percy,  Thomas,  bom  at  Pimpern,  Dorset.  For  some 
time,  after  receiving  his  education  at  Old  HaU  Green,  he 
was  employed  in  London;  but  finally  was  stationed  at  So- 
dington,  where  he  died,  it  is  said,  in  consequence  of  injuries 
from  a  faU  off  his  horse  on  23rd  March,  1835,  aet.  thirty-six. 

Persons,  Robert,  S.J. — In  the  Collectanea  of  the  Scotch, 
English,  and  Irish  Jesuits,  I  have  given  an  extended  memoir 
of  this  champion  of  truth  and  Atlas  of  religion,  of  whom 
Dr.  Allen  pronounced  that  "the  industry,  prudence,,  zeal, 
and  dexterity  of  the  man,  both  with  his  pen  and  in  action, 
exceed  all  belief."     That   he  had  enemies, — that  he   may 


378  BIOGRAPHICAL   LIST   OF   THE    CLERGY. 

have  committed  errors,  —  that  he  may  occasionally  have 
exhibited  too  much  ardour  and  vivacity,  —  may  still  be 
admitted : — 

"  Nam  vitiis  nemo  sine  nascitur  :  optimus  ille  est, 
Qui  minimis  iirgetur." — Horace,  Sat.  lib.  i.  3. 

Yet  with  the  consciousness  of  pursuing  what  he  deemed 
most  pleasing  to  his  Grod,  and  beneficial  to  his  neighbour,  he 
might  say,  with  St.  Augustine, "  Intuentes  salutiferam  crucem 
Christi,  omnes  calumniantium  superhorum  virus  repellimus." 
— (Epist.  118.) 

Here  I  may  briefly  state,  that  Rohert  was  the  sixth  of 
eleven  children  of  Robert  and  Christiana  Persons,  of  Nether 
Stowey,  in  Somersetshire;  that  after  studying  letters  in  his 
native  village  and  at  Stogursey,  he  was  sent  to  the  Grammar 
School  at  Taunton,  then  kept  by  a  Catholic,  but  some  years 
later  ejected  for  his  religion.  He  was  of  exemplary  life,  but 
inflexibly  severe  to  his  pupils  who  could  but  would  not  learn. 
Young  Robert  loved  play  better  than  his  lessons,  and  in 
consequence  had  to  experience  the  severity  of  this  Orbiliua 
(Horace,  Ep.  lib.  ii.  1) ;  and  as  we  learn  from  his  brother 
Richard's  letter,  wrote  to  his  parents,  complaining  "  of  his 
master's  cruelty,  and  of  his  unfitness  of  being  a  scholar,  and 
of  the  great  desire  he  had  to  give  over  his  book."  But  they 
were  inexorable,  and  finding  no  remedy,  but  in  diligent 
application,  "he  fell  to  his  book  very  heartily,  and  became 
the  best  in  the  school,  and  so  continued  as  long  as  he  was 
there.  And  his  master,  that  knew  his  good  wit,  when-  he 
was  past  his  schools,  wrote  to  my  father,  wishing  to  send 
him  to  Oxford,  for  that  he  would  prove  a  rare  man."  This 
advice  was  adopted.  At  the  age  of  eighteen  this  promising 
youth  proceeded  to  St.  Mary's  Hall ;  two  years'  later  he  was 
entered  at  Balliol  College,  and  in  May,  1568,  was  made 
Bachelor  of  Arts,  and  eventually  Master  and  Fellow  of  the 
College.  As  a  tutor  he  maintained  a  distinguished  reputa- 
tion ;  but  in  the  midst  of  this  he  was  anything  but  happy ; 
for  he  was  a  Catholic  in  heart,  and  he  determined^  in  the 
spring  of  1574,  to  quit  England,  and  to  study  medicine  at 
Padua,  where  he  arrived  towards  the  end  of  September  that 
year.  Yet  here  his  mind  could  not  rest.  He  had  on  his 
way  stopped  at  Louvain,  and  made  a  spiritual  retreat  of 
eight  days  under  his  countryman,  P.  William  Good ;  and  he 
believed  that  Almighty  God  called  him  to  the  Society  of 
Jesus.  After  a  long  and  severe  conflict  with  himself,  he 
withdrew  secretly  from  that  noble  school  of  medicine,  arid 
performed  a  journey  on  foot  to  Rome,  where  he  entered  the 


BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST    OF    THE    CLERGY.  879 

Society  on  25th  July,  1575.  Three  years  after,  he  was 
ordained  priest,  and  oflFered  himself  for  the  Indian  mission, 
but  his  petition  was  denied ;  and  at  the  request  of  Dr.  ADen, 
the  English  mission  was  opened  to  the  Society  by  Pope 
Gregory  XIII.,  and  FF.  Persons  and  Campian  received 
orders  to  prepare  themselves  for  this  glorious  enterprise. 
F.  Persons  landed  at  Dover  on  12th  June,  1580,  and  spent 
the  summer  in  preaching  in  the  midland  counties;  but 
Gloucestershire  is  particularly  mentioned  as  having  partaken 
of  the  benefit  of  his  ministry.  About  August,  1581,  circum- 
stances obliged  him  to  cross  the  Channel,  and  proceed  to 
Rouen,  "with  full  intention  to  return  presently;"  but  he 
was  never  permitted  to  revisit  his  native  country.  And 
yet  his  presence  wds  felt  in  his  incessant  labours  to  maintain 
the  Catholic  cause  amongst  us, — by  multiplying  seminaries 
of  education  abroad,  and  by  his  numerous  and  learned  publi- 
cations for  the  enlightenment,  improvement,  and  conversion 
of  souls.  When  I  consider  his  extensive  correspondence,  his 
long  and  frequent  journeys,  the  perpetual  inroads  on  his 
time  by  visitors,  and  the  duties  of  his  office  and  ministry,  I 
am  utterly  astonished  at  the  number  of  his  volumes,  charac- 
terized by  such  masculine  vigour,  lucid  order,  and  purity  of 
diction,  as  to  extort  from  Dean  Swift  ("  Tatler,"  No.  230) 
this  commendation:  "The  writings  of  this  Jesuit  are  in  a 
style  that,  with  very  few  allowances,  would  not  oflFend  any 
present  reader." 

In  the  words  of  Ecclesiasticus  (chap.  xlix.  17),  this  "sup- 
port of  his  family,  the  ruler  of  his  brethren,  the  stay  of  the 
people,"  worn  out  with  labours,  died  the  death  of  the 
righteous  in  the  Enghsh  College  at  Eome  on  15th  April, 
1610,  aged  sixty-four.  Eel.  thirty-six,  a  professed  father 
of  twenty-three  years'  standing.  The  eye  of  God  looked 
upon  him  for  good,  lifted  him  up  from  his  low  estate, 
and  exalted  his  head;  many  have  wondered  at  him,  and 
have  glorified  God.  His  remains  were  deposited  near  his 
venerable  and  dearest  friend.  Dr.  Allen,  in  the  College 
Church,  and  on  the  slab,  which  covered  his  honoured  grave, 
was  inscribed  the  following  epitaph  : — 

D.    O.    M. 

Patri  Roberto  Personio 

Anglo  Somersetano 

Societatis  Jesu 

Sacerdoti  integerrimo  atque  doctissimo 

Et  hujusce  Collegii  optimo  Moderatori 

Qui  ad  animi  cultum,  et  studium  Pietatis 

Ad  AnglisB  conversionem  Collegiorum, 
Domiciliis  ac  Diversoriis  per  opportuna  loca 


380  BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST    OF    THE    CLERGY. 

Qua  per  ilium  ex  integi'O  constitutis 
Qua  coUocupletatis 
Ab  ipso,  magnse  Spei  convocavit,  magnis 
Laboribus  ihstituit,"  Juventutem,  Hispali 
Vallisoleti,  Gadibus,  TJlissipone,  Duaci 
Audomari,  Romse. 
Quo  Duce  et  Socio,  Pater 
Edmundus  Campianus, 
CathoIicsB  Beipublicee 
Propugnator  acerrimus. 
In  Angliam  primus  ex  Societate  trajecit. 
Quoque  Vindice      , 
Et  Patrona  Veritatis,  Hostium,  passim  exagitata 
/         Temeritas  libris,  Scriptis,  sermombusque,  Uteris : 
Exemplis  defensa  Beligio,  recreata  Sanctitas : 
.  Cum  inter  haec  ipse  nullam  caperet  partem 
Concessae  quietis,  nullum  a  suo  capite  recusaret 
Discrimen  honestissimse  Defensionis : 
,   Semper  paratus,  semper  ereotus, 
Semper  inediam  flammam  periculosissimse 
Concertationis  irrumpens,  animae  magnse 
.  Prodigus  omnino  vir 
Lxiv  explevit  annos 
Ex  quels  sex  et  triginta  in  Socitate  Jesu, 
Per  omnia  Virtutis 
Exempla  transegit 
Obiit  XV.  Aprilis,  mdcx. 

A  complete  and  uniform  edition  of  Father  Persons's  works 
is  a  great  desideratum  in  English  literature. 

Petcherinb,  Wladimir,  O.S.R.,  bom  at  Kiou.lSth  June, 
1807;  was  educated  in  the  Greek  Chiirch  of  the  rRiissian 
empire.  After  his  conversion  to  the  Catholic  faith  iii  Bel- 
gium, he  embraced  the  institute  of  St.  Alphonsus  de  Lig'uori, 
and  was  professed  26th  September,  1841;  two  years  later  he 
was  promoted  to  : priesthood.;  . This  eminent  scholar.' and 
eloquent  preacher,  is  connected  with  the  west  by  haying  suc- 
ceeded F.  Lempfrid  at  Falmouth  in  the  summer  of  1844y 
and  lent  the  aid  of  his  powerful  talents'  to  that^  mission  until 
he  removed  to  Clapham,  26th  September,  1848. 

Philips  (Maurus),  Samuel  Johnson,  O.S.B.,  bom  20th 
February,  1795,  at  Bristol;  joined  his  order  in  1810,  and 
was  professed  at  Downside  with  the  present  Archbishop 
Folding  and  Bishop  Morris,  on  18th  July,  1811.  For  many 
years  he  was  stationed  at  Woolton,'  near  Liverpool,  where 
he  died  on  3rd  April,  1855,  sac.  thirty-six. 

Pickpord,  Robert  (Jerome),  O.S.F.,  one  of  the  first 
members  of  the  restored  province,  brother,  I  believe,  of 
Edward  and  John  Daniel.  After  discharging  the  duties  of 
theologian,  definitor,  a,nd  provincial,  this  father  of  the  pro- 


BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST   OF    THE    CLERGY.  381 

vince  died  between  the  intermediate  Congregation  of  15th 
November,  1663,  and  the  Provincial  Chapter  of  the  4th 
June,  1665 ;  but  the  precise  date  of  his  death  is  unrecorded. 

PiCKPORD,  Thomas,  S. J.,  a  native  of  Cornwall,  perhaps 
nephew  to  the  preceding.  At  the  age  of  twenty-three  he 
joined  the  Society,  and  was  admitted  to  the  profession  of  the 
four  vows  on  21st  December,  1 642.  He  closed  a  long  mis- 
sionary life  through  diflScult  times  by  an  edifying  death  on 
5th  May,  1676,  set.  seventy. 

Pilchard,  Thomas.^^Iu  Part  I.,  chapter  IV.,  I  have  given 
a  full  report  of  this  illustrious  witness  of  the  faith,  to  which 
I  refer  my  readers.  It  may  be  sufficient,  therefore,  to  state 
here,  that  he  suffeted  for  religion  at  Dorchester  on  21st 
March,  1587. 

Platt,  James,  O.S.F.,  born  at  Liverpool  28th  January, 
1802.  From  a  convert  he  becaine  a  friar,  and  is  connected 
with  the  west  of  England  by  having  served  both  at  Can- 
nington  and  Upton. 

Platt,  Robert,  bom  in  Aldgate  parish,  Oxford,  27th 
July,  1795,  studied  at  Ampleforth,  thence  matriculated  in 
the  English  College  at  Rome.  In  that  city  he  was  ordained 
subdeacon  by  Cardinal  di  Genga  (afterwards  Pope  Leo  XII.) 
on  21st  December,  1822,  and  deacon  on  20th  May,  1823. 
His  promotion  to  the  priesthood  took  place  by  Cardinal 
Zurla  on  13th  March,  1824.  On  1st  October,  1824,  he 
reached  the  Axminster  mission,  vice  the  Rev.  Cornelius 
Magrath.  At  Christmas,  1826,  he  succeeded  the  Rev.  Moses 
Furlong,  at  Lanherne.  On  8th  September,  1827,  he  was 
transferred  to  Falmouth,  vice  the  Rev.  Peter  Gates.  In 
January,  1831,  he  was  appointed  to  Swansea.  In  January, 
1832,  he  was  recalled  to  Falmouth,  where  he  remained 
nearly  eleven  years  and  a  half,  when  he  was  ordered  to  retire 
to  make  room  for  the  Belgian  Redemptorists,  as  mentioned 
in  Part  I.,  chapter  III.  The  rumour  of  his  removal  fi-om  a 
place  where  his  blameless  life  had  won  for  him  golden 
opinions  from  all  classes,  excited  the  alarm  of  the  burgesses, 
who  remonstrated  with  Bishop  Baines  on  the  occasion,  to 
whom  his  lordship  returned  the  following,  answer  (I  should 
premise  that  the  petition  had  been  signed  by  the  JBaroness 
Basset,  lady  of  the  manor  of  Falmouth,  by  the  mayor,  by 
the  established  clergy,  and  the  respectability  of  the  place  and 
vicinity) : — 

"To  the  inhabitants  of  Falmouth  and  its  vicinity,  who 
subscribed  a  petition  on  the  27th  of  February,  1843,  praying 


382  BIOGRAPHICAL   LIST   OF   THE    CLERGY. 

that  the  Rev.  Robert  Piatt  might  not  be  removed  from  the 
mission  of  Falmouth. 

"  Your  petition  has  remained  so  long  unanswered,  because 
I  was  not  certain,  till  lately,  that  it  would  not  be  in  my 
power  to  comply  with  your  wishes,  the  arrangement  I  had 
made  being  liable  to  alteration  by  those  to  whom  I  had 
offered  the  charge  of  the  mission  of  Falmouth.  All  doubt 
on  this  head  is  at  last  removed ;  and  I  have  now  only  to 
express,  on  the  one  hand,  the  satisfaction  I  feel  that  the 
conduct  of  the  Rev.  Robert  Piatt  should  have  been  such  as 
to  call  for  your  flattering  approbation  ;  and  on  the  other,  my 
regret  that  circumstances  do  not  permit  me  to  reverse  an 
arrangement  which  was  made  without  the  intention  of 
casting  directly  or  indirectly  the  smallest  reflection  on 
Mr.  Piatt,  but  purely  from  an  anxiety  on  my  part  to  benefit 
religion  in  that  part  of  my  jurisdiction. 

"  I  have  the  honour  to  remain,  gentlemen, 

"  Your  obedient  servant, 

"  fi*  Pet.  Baines,  V.A.W. 
"  Prior-parS,  June  \&th,  1843." 

The  bishop,  on  5th  June,  had  announced  to  Mr.  Piatt  the 
approaching  arrival  of  these  Belgian  Fathers  into  England, 
adding,  "  You  may  rely  on  my  unaltered  anxiety  to  provide 
for  your  comfort  and  well-being,  to  the  very  best  of  my 
power.-"^  But  his  lordship  unfortunately  died  on  6th  July 
following,  and  the  half-year's  salary  then  due  (1843)  has  not 
been  paid  him  up  to  this  day,  31st  March,  1856  !  * 

During  the  vacancy  of  the  See,  he  remained  unappointed 
for  a  considerable  time.  At  last  the  Vicar-General  sent  him 
to  supply  for  some  months  at  Chidiock.  Since  1st  January, 
1845,  he  has  been  chaplain  at  Follaton.  On  the  formation 
of  the  Plymouth  Chapter,  he  was  selected  for  one  of  its 
canons. 

Plowden,  Charles,  S.J.,  born  at  Plowden  Hall,  Salop, 
1st  May,  1743.  For  his  life  I  must  refer  the  reader  to  the 
before-mentioned  Collectanea  of  the  English  Jesuits,  &c. 
He  is  connected  with  the  West  by  his  very  long  residence  at 
Lullworth  Castle,  as  tutor  to   Mr.  Weld's  sons,    and  the 

*  But,  indeed,  he  had  often  experienced  delays  and  difficulties  in 
receiving  Ms  salary  from  Prior-park.  Let  the  following  note  of  the 
Vicar-General  (of  which  I  saw  the  original)  speak  for  an  exempliiication, 
after  his  waiting  six  weeks ! : — 

"  Prior-park,  March,  1834 : — ^I  shall  have  to  deduct  from  your  account 
the  postage,  which  I  shall  direct  Mr.  Shattock  to  do !  " 


BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST   OP   THE    CLERGY.  383 

valuable  assistance  he  rendered  to  the  pastor  of  that  congre- 
gation. This  polite  gentleman  was  alao  a  universal  scholar. 
At  the  partial  revival  of  the  Society,  he  was,  from  his  deep 
experience  of  the  spiritual  life,  appointed  the  first  master  of 
novices  at  Hodder  Place  26th  September,  1803.  Fourteen 
years  later  he  was  declared  provincial  of  his  brethren,  and 
rector  of  Stonyhurst ;  but  died  suddenly  at  Jougne  13th 
June,  1831,  on  his  return  from  Rome. 

Plowden,  Robert,  S.J.,  elder  brother  of  the  preceding, 
born  27th  January,  1740.  In  the  Collectanea  aforesaid  I  have 
written  fully  concerning  him.  He  came  into  the  Western 
District  in  September,  1777,  and  was  stationed  at  Ardington, 
which  he  diligently  "Served  for  full  ten  years.  In  October, 
1787,  he  was  transferred  to  the  much  wider  field  of  Bristol 
for  his  indefatigable  exertions,  as  set  forth  in  Part  First, 
Chapter  XII.  of  this  compilation.  But,  in  looking  back  to 
his  history,  it  brings  tears  to  the  eyes,  and  agony  to  the  heart, 
to  witness  this  champion  of  religion,  venerable  by  his  hoary 
head,  and  after  nearly  forty  years'  ministerial  service,  forget- 
ting his  duty  so  far  as  to  refuse  to  publish,  on  5th  December, 
1813,  and,  again,  to  denounce  the  Lenten  Pastoral  of  his 
bishop,  dated  Taunton,  1st  February,  1815,  from  the  opinion 
that  erroneous  doctrine  was  lurking  under  those  official  docu- 
ments !  Such  manifest  dereliction  of  propriety, — such  out- 
rageous resistance  to  episcopal  authority,  met  with  exeinplary 
punishment.  Forced  to  bid  farewell  where  he  had  laboured 
so  long  and  so  successfully,  this  lion-hearted  but  wrong- 
headed  old  man  took  refuge  in  the  Midland  District.  His 
attached  friend,  Bishop  Milner,  employed  him  first  at  Syner- 
ton,  and  then  at  Wappenbury,  where  he  finally  rested  from  all 
his  troubles  on  17th  June,  1823,  in  his  eighty-fourth  year. 

Folding  (Bedb),  John,  O.S.B.,  The  most  Rev.— This 
nephew  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Brewer,  President  of  the  Benedictines, 
was  born  near  Liverpool  on  18th  November,  1794;  was  pro- 
fessed in  the  holy  order  of  St.  Benedict  18th  July,  1811 ; 
ordained  priest  4th  March,  1819  ;  and  for  sixteen  years  was 
pastor  of  the  congregation  at  Downside.  Such  was  the 
opinion  formed  of  his  merits,  that  he  was  nominated  to  the 
See  of  Madras  4th  July,  1832 ;  but,  in  consequence  of  his 
entreaty  to  be  excused  from  the  responsibility,  he  was  reluct- 
antly released.  But  he  was  compelled  to  accept  viceregal 
powers  over  New  Holland  and  Van  Diemen's  Land,  and  for 
this  purpose  was  consecrated  by  Bishop  Bramston  on  29th 
June,  1834,  as  Bishop  of  Nicero-Csesarea.  Inestimable  have 
been  his  services  in  that  district ;  and  such  the  progress  of 


384 


BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST    OF    THE    CLERGY. 


our  faith  under  his  zealous  auspices,  that  the  Holy  See  created 
him  in  1842  Archbishop  of  Sydney,  with  two  suffragan  pre- 
lates ;  nowj  in  1855,  increased  to  seven !  But  I  must  leave 
to  the  historian  to  descant  on  the  great  works  achieved  by 
this  founder  of  episcopacy  in  Oceania. 

Poole,  Michael,  S.J.— Of  this  incumbent  of  Wardour, 
who  often  passed  by. the  name. of  Foxe,  all  that, I  can  glean, 
is,  that  he  died  in  England  23rd  April,  1748,  set.  sixty-one, 
rel.  forty-onie. 

Poole,  William,  S.J.r-This  good  man  was  born  16th 
December,  1752;  at  the  age  of  eighteen  he  began  his  novi- 
tiate, and  soon  after  he  had  completed  it,  was  doomed  to 
witness  the  suppression  of  his  order.  On  his  promotion  to 
priesthood  h^  was  sent  to  the  Derbyshire  mission;  but  in 
January,  1790,  was  transferred  to  Exeter,  where  he  opened 
its  present  chapel  of  St.  Nicholas,  6th  January,  1792.  Here 
he  continued  until  January,  1807,  and  bore  the  cTiaracter  of 
the  unobtrusive  and  exemplary  priest.  Subsequently  he  was 
appointed  to  the  mission  of  JBedford,  near  Leigh,  co.  Lancaster, 
where  he  enjoyed  much  better  health  than  in  Deyonshire ; 
and  there  he  closed  his  blameless  life  on  Friday,  27th  Fe- 
bruary, 1828. 

Porte,  La  . — An  exemplary  French  abbe,  who 

succeeded  Monsieur  Cochet  in  the  charge  of  the  Stapehill  con- 
gregation, ^but  retired  in  1817  to  make  room  for  Pere  Palemon. 
After  this  I  lose  sight  of  him. 

Porter,  George,  S.J. — This  first-born  child  of  Mr.  John 
and  Isabella  Porter  (who  were  married  by  the  writer  in 
St.  Nicholas's  Chapel,  Exeter,  on  21  st  November,  1824)  saw 
the  earliest  light  of  day  in  Alphirigton-street,  St.  Thomas's 
parish,  beyond  Exeter-bridge,  on  27th  August,  1825,  and 
was  baptized  in  the  chapel  aforesaid.  After  a  preparatory 
education,  he  was  sent  to  Stonyhurst  College  in  Septeinber, 
1833,  where  he  distinguished  himself  highly  by  his  good  con- 
duct, and  assiduous'  and  successful  application  to  leariiing.  On 
10th  June,  1846,  he  defended  a  metaphysical  thesis;  aiid  in 
the  September  of  that  year  was  appointecl  to  teach  the  gram- 
marian class.  This  he  continued  to  do  for  several  years; 
and,  moreover,  was  selected  to  fill  the  important  post,  of 
prefect  of  studies.  Early  in  1852  he  published  a  translation 
of  Pere  Boone's  "  Instructions  on  Solid  Piety,"  a  12mo.  of 
ninety- three  pages.  On  the  following  year  he  removed  to 
St.  Beuno's  to  commence  his  course  of  theology,  where  he 
defended,  on  23rd  July>  1856,  the  theses  "De  Deo  Uno  et 


BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST    01'    THE    CLERGY.  385 

TrinOj  et  de  Ecclesid."  Within  two  months  later,  on  the  21st 
September,  he  was  promoted  to  the  priesthood.  Let  us  pray, 
that  he  may  do  his  great  Master's  work,  "until  he  comes  to 
his  grave  in  a  full  age,  like  as  a  shock  of  corn  at  its  season" 
(Job  V.  26). 

His  younger  brother  Thomas,  bom  in  the  Mint,  Exeter, 
1st  November,  1828,  was  baptized  by  the  writer  of  these 
notes  on  the  following  day.  In  April,  1839,  he  proceeded  to 
Stonyhurst  College,  and  followed  his  brother's  excellent 
example  of  piety  and  learning.  After  embracing  the  institute 
of  the  Society  also,  he  has  been  much  employed  in  teaching 
both  at  Stonyhurst  and  Malta.  His  ordinations  are  shortly 
expected ;  and  I  have  no  doubt  of  his  proving  an  ornament 
to  religion  and  his  holy  order. 

Porter,  James,  S.J.,  born  in  the  Low  Countries,  of  English 
parents,  9th  November,  1773  ;  enrolled  himself  amongst  the 
children  of  St.  Ignatius  in  1752,  and  eighteen  years  later  was 
numbered  amongst  the  professed  fathers.  He  had  made  the 
renunciation  of  a  considerable  estate  in  Lincolnshire,  content 
to  lead  the  life  of  a  poor  missionary  at  Salisbury  and  Stape- 
hill.  At  length  he  retired  to  Portico,  near  St.  Helen's,  co. 
Lancaster,  and  there  departed  in  peace  on  28th  March,  1810. 

PosTLEVFHiTE,  JosEPH,  S.J.,  bom  at  Wcstby,  CO.  Lan- 
caster, 7th  April,  1784,  was  younger  brother  of  my  lamented 
friend  William,  who  was  snatched  away  on  12th  ^lay,  1799, 
Whit-Sunday,  to  the  grief  and  dismay  of  us  all,  at  Stony- 
hurst.    R.I.P. 

Joseph  passed  the  curriculum  of  Humanities  with  credit, and 
was  one  of  the  foremost  to  join  the  standard  of  St.  Ignatius 
in  1803.  Thirteen  years  later  he  was  promoted  to  priesthood 
by  Bishop  Milner.  In  the  following  year,  in  March,  1817, 
he  succeeded  Monsieur  Merest  as  incumbent  at  Wardour. 
This  important  charge  he  filled  for  three  and  a  half  years. 
In  1820  he  published  a  sensible  tract  containing  the  Order 
and  Explanation  of  the  Morning  and  Evening  Services  as 
performed  in  Wardour  Chapel.  On  his  departure  from 
Wardour  he  served  Courtfield,  then  Wigan;  and  on  27th 
April,  1829,  succeeded  F.  George  Jenkins  at  Boston;  but  in 
May,  1837,  was  translated  to  Worcester.  In  December  of 
the  following  year  he  was  recalled  to  Stonyhurst :  thence  was 
sent  to  Irnham,  which  he  quitted  in  1840. 

Power,  Maurice  J.,  was  born  at  Dtmgarvan,  18th 
February,  1818.  After  studying  well,  he  was  ordained 
priest  at  Maynooth  10th  June,  1843;  for  three  years  he 
served  Penzance;  but  on  3rd  October,  1846,  he  was  trans- 

2  c 


386  BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST   OF    THE    CLERGY. 

ferred  to  Torquay,  vice  the  Rev.  William  Sheehy.  Here  he 
is  entitled  to  every  praise,  for  the  tact  and  zeal  with  which 
he  procured  a  most  eligible  site  for  the  new  Church  of  the 
Assumption  of  our  Lady,  the  foundation-stone  of  which  was 
laid  on  4th  April,  1853,  and  the  solemn  consecration  per- 
formed by  the  Right  Rev.  Dr.  Errington,  the  first  bishop  of 
Plymouth,  on  17th  February,  1854.  This  pleasing  edifice, 
with  its  appointments,  will  be  the  best  memorial  of  his  taste 
and  piety.  At  the  formation  of  the  Plymouth  chapter,  late 
in  1853,  my  reverend  friend  was  deservedly  named  one  of  its 
canons,  and  being  duly  installed  on  6th  December  that  year, 
has  since  proved  himself  a  very  efficient  member. 

Powell,  Philip,  O.S.B. — I  have  briefly  mentioned  him 
in  Part  I.,  chapter  ii.,  under  the  Risdon  family.  He  was  son 
of  Roger  Powell  by  his  wife  Catherine  Morgan,  and  was 
born  in  Brecknockshire.  From  being  a  pupil  to  that  rising 
lawyer,  David  (Augustine)  Baker,  of  the  Temple,  he  followed,  in 
becoming  a  disciple  of  St.  Benedict,  the  example  of  his  master, 
who  introduced  him  to  the  Risdons  in  the  north  of  Devon, 
where  in  a  short  time  he  endeared  himself  to  all,  insomuch 
that  when  Mr.  Risdon's  daughter  married  Mr.  Poyntz,  of 
Leighland,  in  co.  Somerset,  there  was  a  pious  strife  which 
family  should  have  the  benefit  of  his  services.  The  daughter 
prevailed,  and  F.  Powell  resided  with  the  couple  at  Leigh- 
land  for  upwards  of  twenty  years,  to  the  great  edification  of 
all.  The  civil  wars  forcing  the  dispersion  of  the  parties, 
F.  Powell  took  refuge  with  his  friend  John  Trevelyan,  of 
Yarnscombe,  and  Mr.  John  Coffin,  of  Parkham.  With  them 
he  remained  for  about  four  months,  when,  the  parliamentary 
forces  overrunning  the  country,  he  foimd  safety  for  a  time 
under  Goring's  protection;  but  after  six  months  spent  in 
Cornwall,  and  the  failure  of  this  resource,  he  took  passage  in 
a  vessel  bound  from  Cornwall  to  Wales.  Being  discovered 
on  board,  22nd  February,  1646,  he  was  sent  up  to  London, 
condemned  for  priesthood,  and  executed  at  Tyburn  on  30th 
June  that  year,  set.  fifty-three,  rel.  thirty-three,  mis.  twenty- 
six.  I  have  seen  the  "  Relation  du  Martyre "  of  this  holy 
monk,  8vo.  Paris :  1647,  pp.  29.  The  reader  of  Bishop 
Challoner's  Memoir  of  him  will  be  edified  and  delighted. 

PoYNTZ,  John,  S.J.,  of  a  good  famUy  in  the  north  of 
Devon,*  was  born  2nd  July,  1709,  and  admitted  into  the 

*  In  Bittadon  Church,  near  Barnstaple,  is  a  handsome  memorial  to 
Edward  Poyntz,  of  Northcote,  in  that  parish,  who  died  14th  September, 
1691,  cet.  eighty-one.  In  Arlington,  John  Poyntz,  recusant,  had  his 
estate  sequestered  in  May,  1646  ;  and  from  its  parochial  register  I  made 
the  following  extracts  : — f  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Poyntz,  who  lived  and  died 


BIOGEAPHICAL    LIST   OF    THE    CLERGY.  387 

Society,  by  the  name  of  Beaumont,  in  1732 ;  he  was  pro- 
fessed in  1750.  He  often  passed  by  the  name  of  Price,  and 
for  several  years  served  the  Cornish  mission,  and,  moreover, 
long  continued  to  fill  the  office  of  procurator  of  the  province. 
Though  a  gentleman  of  strict  integrity  and  honour,  he  vras 
virulently  persecuted  on  the  pretence  of  employing  undue 
influence  with  Mrs.  Rowe,  of  Trevithick,  in  Cornwall,  as  to 
the  disposal  of  her  property.  Deeming  it  prudent  to  give 
place  to  wrath,  he  quietly  retired  to  Liege,  where  he  died  in 
May,  1789,  set.  eighty. 

PoYNTZ,  Robert,  was  born  at  Alderley  in  co.  Gloucester. 
He  studied  at  Winchester  School,  and  thence  proceeded  to 
New  College,  Oxfond,  where  he  proceeded  Master  of  Arts 
and  Fellow  in  1554.  Early  in  Queen  Elizabeth's  reign, 
throwing  aside  his  preferments,  and  renouncing  all  his 
worldly  prospects,  he  retired  abroad  to  enjoy  that  religious 
freedom  which  was  denied  and  proscribed  in  his  own  country. 
His  chief  residence  was  Louvain,  where  he  published,  in 
1566,  some  treatises  to  establish  the  real  presence  of  our 
blessed  Lord  in  the  eucharist — that  pivot  of  the  Catholic 
religion ;  but  the  time  of  his  death  was  unknown  to  Pitts, 
Wood,  Dodd,  &c. 

Premord,  Cuarles  Leonard,  was  born  at  Honfleur  on 
30th  July,  1760.  His  father,  who  died  early  in  1794,  was 
regarded  by  his  fellow-townsmen  as  a  public  benefactor,  as 
the  following  inscription  proves  : — 

Ob  restituta 

Priscte  Urbis  Honflevii 

Privilegia 

Indulgentia  Regis 

Ludovici  XV. 

Curante  I.  B.  Jacobo 

Premord, 

E  Fonte  Publico  Rivum 

In  usum  Civis  optime 

Meriti 

Deduci  jusserunt 

Major  et   CEdiles. 

Anno  Doni.  mdcclviii. 


at  Braunton,  was  buried  in  Arlington  Church  17th  July,  1677." 
"  Mr.  Edward  Po3'ntz  was  buried  26th  November,  1678."  "  Mrs.  Mary 
Poyntz  buried  26th  October,  1703,  loUhout  a  priest."  "  Mrs.  Temperance 
Poyntz  buried  3rd  June,  1721,  without  a  priest."  Margaret  Poyntz,  a 
Papist,  buried  2nd  February,  1730."  "Edward  Poyntz  buried  22nd 
December,  1732,  without  a  priest.  N.B.  The  expression  tmthout  a  priest 
is  elsewhere  thus  explained  in  the  register — "  at  least,  unattended  by  a 
lawful  presbjrter  of  the  Church  of  England." 

2  c  3 


388  BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST    OF    THE    CLERGY. 

The  worthy  son  was  sent  to  Paris,  where  he  completed  all 
his  studies.  His  uncle,  as  he  told  me,  was  dean  of  the 
faculty  at  Sorbonne,  and  in  that  celebrated  college  the 
nephew  resided  from  1778  to  1784;  four  years  later  he  was 
enrolled  amongst  the  canons  of  St.  Honore,  at  Paris.  When 
the  tremendous  Revolution  burst  forth,  the  canon  emigrated 
to  England,  and  became  connected  with  the  Western  Dis- 
trict in  1803,  as  successor  to  P.  Pelletier,  in  the  direction  of 
the  English  Benedictine  nuns,  then  at  MarnhuU,  and  whom 
he  had  probably  known  before  at  Paris.  (See  Part  I.)  Pive 
years  later  he  accompanied  them  to  Cannington,  a  much 
more  eligible  situation  for  that  worthy  community ;  and  to 
their  singular  comfort  and  advantage,  this  enlightened 
spiritualist  and  able  scholar  continued  with  them  nearly 
sixteen  years  altogether,  when  business  called  him  to  Paris. 
He  was  at  once  appointed  to  a  canonry  in  the  cathedral  of 
Notre  Dame.  Charles  X.  made  him  his  chaplain,  and  in  that 
capacity  he  assisted  at  his  Majesty's  coronation  at  Rheims. 
At  the  expulsion  of  his  royal  master  and  patron,  he  quitted 
France,  and  reached  Cannington  13th  November,  1830. 
When  these  nuns  left  in  1836  for  Mount  Pavilion,  now 
St.  Benedict's  Priory,  near  Stafford,  he  joined  them  in 
October,  and  ten  months  later — on  36th  August,  1837 — 
died  amongst  them,  worn  out  in  the  service  of  religion.  He 
wrote  English  particularly  well,  as  is  evident  by  his  trans- 
lations from  the  French  of  the  Life  of  Madame  Louise,  of 
France,  and  the  Imitation  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary. 
But  his  own  great  work  is  the  Rules  of  a  Christian  Life,  in 
two  volumes, — a  work  of  extraordinary  knowledge  of  the 
interior  life,  deep  research,  and  golden  moderation.  His 
memory  will  ever  be  in  benediction  at  the  Priory,  to  which 
he  was  a  real  benefactor. 

Price,  John,  S.J.,  born  near  Lanherne,  in  Cornwall, 
3rd  August,  1739,  entered  the  Society  14th  February,  1758. 
For  many  years  he  was  a  missionary  at  Liverpool,  where 
he  died  5th  February,  1813,  after  renewing  his  religious 
vows  as  early  as  May,  1804. 

Price,  James,  O.S.B. — He  is  said  to  have  been  prior  of 
St.  Edmund's,  at  Paris,  before  he  arrived  at  Ugbrooke  about 
Michaelmas,  1757,  vice  Rev.  Dominic  Derbyshire.  But  his 
incumbency  was  short  indeed;  for  he  died  of  dropsy  on  31st 
December  following,  and  was  interred  in  Chudleigh  Church 
4th  January,  1758. 

Price,  Wilfrid,  O.S.B.,  joined  the  order  at  Ampleforth 
in  1834,  where  he  was  ordained  priest  in  December,  1849; 


BIOORAFHICAL    LIST    OF    THE    CLRKGY.  389 

he  was  sent  to  assist  his  dying  friend,  F.  Basil  Thomas  who 
was  carried  off  at  Chidiock,  7th  September,  1853,  and  suc- 
ceeded him  in  that  mission ;  but  fifteen  months  later  he  was 
sent  to  Coventry. 

Prichard,  Matthew,  O.S.F.,  Right  Rev. — Of  the  family 
of  the  PrichardSj  of  Graig,  about  half-way  between  Mon- 
mouth and  Abergavenny.  The  family  must  have  had  a 
decent  property;  for  the  estate  of  Mary  Prichard,  of  co. 
Monmonth,  a  Papist,  is  rated  at  j6116.  8s.  4>d.  per  annum  in 
the  Government  list  made  in  the  early  part  of  the  last 
century. 

At  the  age  of  eighteen  Matthew  was  received  a  novice  in 
St.  Bonaventure'B  Convent,  Douay.  His  maturity  of  judg- 
ment and  religious  virtue  endeared  him  to  his  brethren  and 
superiors ;  and  after  being  employed  as  Lector  of  Philosophy 
for  four  years,  and  of  Theology  for  several  years  at  his  con- 
vent, he  was  sent  to  the  Perthyre  mission,  in  his  native 
county.  Pope  Clement  XI.  having  preferred  the  first  Vicar 
Apostolic  of  this  Western  District,*  Bishop  Ellis,  to  the  see 
of  Segni,  and  having  admitted  the  excuse  of  old  age  made 
by  Dr.  Andrew  Gifl'ard,  whom  he  had  nominated  with  the 
title  of  Bishop  of  Centurise,  as  Vicar  Apostolic  in  his  place, 
now  turned  his  eyes  to  this  able  Franciscan,  and  issued  his 
Bulls  dated  Rome,  20th  September,  1713,  providing  him 
to  the  see  of  Myra,  and  three  days  later  instituted  him 
Vicar  Apostolic,  for  the  counties  of  Wilts,  Devon,  Cornwall, 
Somerset,  Dorset,  Gloucester,  Hereford,  and  the  Principality 
of  Wales.  Owing  to  the  renewed  persecution  of  Catholics 
at  the  accession  of  King  George  I.,  and  the  unusual  delay 
of  the  receipt  of  the  Bulls,  his  consecration  at  Cologne  did 
not  take  place  until  the  Whitsuntide  of  1715.  During  the 
'  lengthened  term  of  his  episcopal  government,  he  did  honour 
to  his  station  by  his  disinterested  zeal,  singular  prudence  and 
unfeigned  charity. 

*  Dr.  Bonaventure  Giffard,  the  senior  vicar  apostolic  of  London, 
occasionally  made  a  visit  to  our  western  district  during  the  vacancy  of 
this  see.  I  find  him  at  Wardour  in  1711.  In  those  days  the  visitation 
of  any  district  was  accompanied  with  so  much  personal  danger,  and  so 
much  risk  of  property  to  such  as  received  their  lordships,  that  I  am 
not  surprised  to  read  in  the  report  of  the  English  mission  to  -Pope 
Benedict  XIV.,  that  Bishop  Benjamin  Petre  of  London,  and  Bishop 
John  Talbot  Stonor  of  the  Midland  District,  had  not  for  fifteen  years' 
and  more  performed  the  visitation  of  their  vicariats  ;  that  in  Hants  and 
Warwicksnire,  persons  forty  years  old,  converts  of  ten  and  twelve  years 
standing,  had  been  unable  to  receive  confirmation.  Can  we  be  suffi- 
ciently thankful  to  God  for  the  happy,  thrice  happy  liberty  and  privilege 
we  now  possess? 


390  BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST   OF   THE    CLERGY. 

In  Dr.  Challoner's  Memoirs  of  the  Missionary  Priests, 
may  be  seen  our  prelate's  letter  illustrating  the  biography  of 
the  martyr,  the  Eev.  John  Kemble,  at  Hereford.*  He 
might  have  added  that  in  St.  Mary's  churchyard  at  Welsh 
Newton  in  the  deanery  of  Archenfield,  the  remains  of  the 
sainted  victim  are  covered  with  a  flat  stone  with  a  large  cross 
sculptured  on  it,  and — 

"J.  K.  dyed  Aug.  22, 1679." 

Also  that  his  hand  is  kept  at  the  Catholic  chapel  in  Hereford. 

His  lordship's  encouraging  approbation  of  that  valuable 
compilation,  "  CoUectanea  Anglo-Minoritica,"  on  3rd  April, 
1724,  may  be  seen  prefixed  to  its  first  Part,  p.  iv. 

Having  secured,  in  1741,  a  most  efficient  coadjutor  in  the 
episcopal  office.  Dr.  Laurence  York,  O.S.B.,  he  calmly  pre- 
pared himself  for  that  eternity  into  which  he  entered  at 
Perthyre,  22nd  May,  1750.  A  slab  covers  his  remains  in 
St.  Kenelm's  Church,  Rockfield,  deanery  of  Abergavenny, 
thus  inscribed  : — 

Hie  jacent  Exuviae  R"»'  et  111"'  in 

Christo  P.  D.  Matthsei  Prichard,  Ep' 

Myrinesis,  V.  Ap.  Ord.  FP.  M.M. 

Recoil.  Angl.  Conventus  Duaceni 

Alumni,  S.  T.  L.  Jub. 

Vir  erat 

Eruditionis  summae, 

Doctrinse  approbatse, 

Famse  integrae  et  plusquara  vulgaris  : 

Vixit  omnibus  cbarus, 

Pauperum  et  afBictorum  columen. 

Flent  ejus  oWtum  orphanus  et  vidua ; 

Collachrymantur  universim  omnes, 

Nobilis  et  Ignobilis, 

Dives  et  Pauper, 

Quibus  sequale  Pastoralis  Officii  Ministerium 

Semper  exhibuit. 

In  Perthyre  multis  annis  vixit,  et  ibidem 

Animam  Creatori  reddidit  anno 

JEtatis  suEe  81,  Rel.  63,  Sacer.  67. 

Ep.  85,  Jub.  13,  Die  22  Mail,  1750. 

R.  I.  P. 


*  The  following  is  from  the  Rev.  Charles  Carne  (called,  by  Dodd, 
Kerne,  vol.  iii.  p.  303),  chaplain  to  Mrs.  Monnington,  of  Sarrisfield. 

Hereffd,  June  Qth,  79. 

Madam, — I  hope  you  will  pardon  these,  though  from  an  unknowne 
hand,  it  is  to  acquaint  you  that  Mr.  Kemble  is  arriVd  to  Heft'',  but 
weary  and  sickly,  God  reward  you  and  all  other  benefactours  for  your 
verry  great  charity  to  him  and  his  companions.  I  am  desir'd  by  him 
that  good  friends  tak  care  there  be  a  stop  put  to  execution  ;  it  is  reported 


BIOGRAPHICAL   LIST   OF   THE    CLERGY,  391 

Procter  (AtrarsTiN),  Samuel,  O.S.D. — This  venerable 
religions,  after  filling  the  highest  offices  of  his  Order,  and 
training  many  in  the  spirit  of  its  holy  founder,  came  into 
these  western  parts,  as  first  prior  of  his  brethren  at  Wood- 
chester,  on  8th  October,  1850.  The  present  convenient 
monastery  was  solemnly  opened  on  11th  August,  1853. 
Having  completed  this  noble  work,  he  resigned  has  ofiice  in 
1854,  to  return  to  Hinckley. 

Prost,  Joseph,  O.S.R. — This  worthy  Redemptorist  served 
Lanherne  from  September,  1848,  to  July  1st,  1850. 

PuRCELL,  William,  O.S.F. — I  think  he  was  appointed  to 
the  London  mission  as  F.  Joseph  Purcell  by  the  chapter  on 
27th  August,  17^8,  and  was  attached  to  the  Sardinian  chapel. 
Late  in  life  he  accepted  the  mission  of  Tor  Abbey,  where  he 
arrived,  with  a  broken  constitution,  23rd  September,  1820; 
but  sunk  under  it  on  29th  July  following.  In  Tor  Mohun 
churchyard  his  patron  erected  a  tombstone,  thus  inscribed : — 

Cineribus  et  Alemorie 

Gulielmi  Purcell,  O.S.F., 

Sacerdotis  integerrimi,  pientissimi. 

Vixit  annos  67,  mens.  2. 

Decessit  4  Kal.  Augustl,  1821. 

H.  M.  P. 

Georgius  Gary 

Pietatis  causa. 


Q. 

Quick,  John  Francis,  was  born  in  Palmer's  Village, 
within  Tiverton  parish,  on  4th  January,  1777.  When  of  a 
competent  age,  he  was  taken  into  the  service  of  Joseph. 
Nagle,  of  Calverleigh,  Esq.,  whose  niece.  Miss  Honora 
French,  had  married,   29th  December,  1791,  Mr.  Charles 

here  (how  true  I  know  not)  that  the  day  is  appointed  for  that  dismall 
fact,  to  wit,  this  day  sennight ;  I  hope  good  friends  (if  possible)  will 
prevent  the  tragedy.  I  am  a  prisoner  in  the  same  place  on  the  same 
account,  though  not  yet  condemn'd  ;  next  assizes  I  am  to  receive  my 
doome.  Mr.  Kemble,  bejng  incapable  of  expressing  himselfe  your  peti- 
tioner, desired  me  to  be  soe  in  his  behalf :  he  gives  his  humble  service 
to  yourselfe  and  to  all  pious  benefactours,  the  same  do's, 

Hon*  Mad",  Your  truely  humble  servant, 

Cha.  Carne. 
Endorsed. 
flFor  M".  Elizabeth  Sheldon,  att  M'.  Sheldon's  hous  in  S'  James- 
streete,  att  the  iron  balcony,  London. 


39.2  BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST   OF    THE    CLERGY. 

Chicliesterj  brother  of  John  Palmer  Chichester,  of  Arling- 
ton, Esq.  All  this  family  was  Catholic;  but  young  Quick 
was  a  member  of  the  Established  Church.  He  had  received 
a  decent  education  at  Tiverton,  spent  much  of  his  leisure  in 
study,  was  very  moral  and  observant,  and  was  much  struck 
with  the  edifying  regularity  of  the  family ;  but,  particularly, 
the  exemplary  piety  of  Mrs.  Chichester's  maid.  Miss  Frances 
Westman,  made  a  deep  impression  on  him.  He  even  wanted 
to  pay  his  addresses  to  her ;  when  she  plainly  told  him  that, 
however  she  might  esteem  him,  she  could  never  consent  to 
a  union  with  one  of  a  different  creed.  This  set  him  upon 
investigating  the  grounds  of  the  Catholic  religion ;  and  whilst 
seriously  engaged  in  this  investigation  the  young  woman  was 
attacked  with  illness,  which  soon  proved  fatal.  Her  admirer 
placed  a  neat  head-stone  to  the  grave  on  the  north-west  side 
of  Calverleigh  churchyard,  with  the  following  inscription, 
which  I  copied  on  the  spot : — 

To  the  Memory  of 
Frances  Weitman,  daughter 
to  Clement  and' Ann  Weftman,  of       ^ 

Aston,  Staffordshire. 

Called  by  her  God,  she  willingly 

gave  up  her  sou],  Sept.  8th,  1802, 

aged  27  years  and  27  weeks, 

leaving  her  example 

more  worth  than  the  world 

to  that  part  of  life  lingering 

a  little  behind  in  J.  Q,. 

May   she   rest  in   Peace ! 

Subsequently,  Mr.  Quick  informed  me  that  his  doubts  and 
perplexities  so  much  increased,  that  he  thought  it  but  fair 
to  unbosom  himself  to  the  Rev.  John  Ley,  the  curate  of  Cal- 
verleigh church,  who,  respecting  his  sincerity,  advised  him  to 
follow  his  conscience.  I  knew  this  reverend  gentleman  well. 
With  coniidence  he  now  applied  to  the  family  chaplain, 
L'Abbe  Marquant,  who  satisfied  all  his  doubts,  and  reconciled 
him  to  the  Catholic  Church,  set.  twenty-six.  He  now  expe- 
rienced a  vehement  desire  of  communicating  the  blessing  of 
faith  to  others,  and  had  the  happiness  of  converting  his 
father,  his  mother-in-law  (for  his  father  had  married  a  second 
wife),  and  his  sister,*  the  present  prioress  of  the  English 
Augustinian  Nuns  at  Bruges,  all  of  whom  I  knew  personally, 
and  frequently  attended.     Anxious  to  foUow  his  vocation  to 

*  Late  in  1818  she  went  to  Bruges,  and  took  in  religion  the  name  of 
Theresa.  This  Maiy  Ann  Quick  was  horn  27th  April,  1800,  and  was 
baptized  on  10th  May,  in  Tiverton  Church,  by  the  Rev.  John  Pitman. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST    OF    THE    CLERGY.  393 

the  ecclesiastical  state,  and  to  be  the  instrument  of  salvation 
to  others,  his  first  wish  was  to  enter  the  Society  of  Jesus, 
and  he  consequently  applied  to  the  Rev.  Joseph  Reeve,  of 
Ugbrooke ;  but,  as  he  formally  objected  to  his  admission  at 
Stonyhurst,  the  pious  youth,  with  the  approbation  of  his  kind 
patron,  Mr.  Nagle,  offered  himself  to  good  Bishop  Milner, 
who  readily  accepted  him,  and  placed  him  under  the  priest 
of  Longbirch.  In  the  correspondence  of  my  very  dear  friend, 
the  Rev.  Clement  We^man,  of  Grafton,  I  meet  with  the 
following  details  : — 

"  Grafton,  August  17, 1.807. — They  are  building  at  Sedgley- 
park  a  species  of  secular  novitiate  for  the  education  of  young 
ecclesiastics,  which  is  a  plan  of  the  bishop's.  Mr.  Quick,  a 
young  man,  who  is  at  present  at  Longbirch,  studying  for  the 
Church,  and  who  is  destined  for  the  above-mentioned  training 
school,  called  upon  me  the  other  day.  I  had  long  been 
acquainted  with  him  by  fame,  but  had  never  seen  him  before. 
He  stayed  with  me  three  days.  He  is  blessed  with  good 
parts,  and  is  considered  by  all  who  know  him  as  a  singular 
example  of  piety.  He  was  converted  in  an  extraordinary 
manner  some  years  back.  He  had  received  a  tolerably  good 
education,  and  had  already  got  a  pretty  good  knowledge  of 
Latin.  My  opinion  is,  that  Stonyhurst  has  lost  in  him  a 
bright  ornament.  I  never  was  more  struck  with  a  young 
man's  appearance ;  and  everybody  who  knows  him  seems  to 
express  the  same  opinion." 

In  another  letter,  dated  Grafton,  February  1,  1808  : — 

"I  heard  of  Mr.  Quick  in  the  beginning  of  last  week;  he 
was  well,  and  perseveres  with  success  in  his  pious  under- 
taking, and  expects  to  enter  the  new  ecclesiastical  seminary 
at  Sedgley-park  about  May." 

"  Grafton,  March  2,  1808. — Mr.  Quick  has  lately  received 
minor  orders,  is  still  at  Longbirch,  and  doing  very  well.  He 
is  truly  a  virtuous  young  man,  and,  if  I  mistake  not.  Heaven 
has  great  designs  upon  him." 

"  Grafton,  July  24,  1808. — Perhaps  you  have  heard  that 
Oscott  is  given  up  to  the  bishop.  Dr.  Bew  leaves,  and  is 
going  to  Yoxall,  to  take  the  place  of  Mr.  Bricknell,  who  is 
to  be  travelling  chaplain  to  Lord  Shrewsbury.  Mr.  Potts 
continues  at  Oscott,  and  will  have  the  direction  of  the  literary 
department.  Mr.  Walsh,  a  priest  at  Sedgley-park,  is  to  have 
the  care  of  the  congregation  there,  and  of  the  spiritual  con- 
cerns ;  and  our  friend  Mr.  Quick  to  have  the  management  of 
the  temporals.     This  change  of  affairs  is  generally  considered 


394  BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST   OF   THE    CLERGY. 

to  be  greatly  for  the  better." — (N.B.  He  found  out  later  that 
Dr.  Bew  did  not  go  to  Yoxall,  but  to  London.) 

"  Grafton,  September  23,  1809. — About  a  fortnight  ago,  I 
paid  a  visit  to  Oscott.  Mr.  Quick  is  the  Procurator;  he  is 
in  good  health,  but  thinner.  The  number  of  students  is  about 
forty-five ;  they  have  not  convenience  for  more  than  fifty. 
There  is  every  reason  to  hope  that  it  will  prosper  under  the 
present  administration." 

So  far  my  reverend  correspondent. 

In  the  mean  while  Mr.  Quick  had  cultivated  his  excellent 
talents  with  such  extraordinary  success,  that  Bishop  Milner 
promoted  him  to  priesthood  in  December,  1811,  and  sub- 
sequently was  so  gratified  with  the  proofs  he  gave  of  soUd 
learning  and  discreet  zeal,  as  to  appoint  him  Professor 
of  Divinity,  and  Vice-President  of  the  college.  But  the  good 
man  had  over-exerted  his  strength ;  and,  alas  !  when  his  friends 
were  expecting  everything  from  his  merits  and  promise,  death 
interposed,  and  snatched  him  away  on  13th  August,  1818. 
His  constant  friend  and  promoter.  Bishop  Milner  (after  the 
interment  at  Handsworth),  placed  the  following  memorial  in 
the  college  chapel : — 

^  MB, 

To  the  Memory  of 

The  Rev.  John  Francis  Quick,  S.T.P., 

And  Vice-President  of  St.  Mary's  College, 

of  Oscott, 

Whose  body  rests  in  the  parish  cemetery. 

Whose  soul,  we  confide,  exults  in  the  joy 

of  its  Lord, 

And  whose  spirit,  we  pray,  may  ever  remain 

in  this  Seminary. 

Brought  up  in  religious  error. 

He  so  faithfully  followed  the  lights  given 

him. 

That  he  was  in  early  manhood  called 

By  God's  mercy 

To  the  true  faith,  to  the  priestly  ministry, 

And  to  the  pursuit  of  religious  perfection. 

Humble,  meek,  benevolent,  mortified, 

Indefatigable, 

But,  above  all,  zealous  for  the  Salvation 

of  Souls, 

And  the  Glory  of  his  Divine  Master  ; 

He  was  in  a  few  years  prepared  for  that 

Happy  summons  to  meet  Him, 

Which  he  received  August  13, 1818, 

in  the  4;lst  year  of  his  age. 

R.  I.  P. 

In  the  Birmingham  Chronicle,   20th  August,  1818,   was 


BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST    OF    THE    CLERGY.  395 

inserted  his  eulogium,  which  is  preserved  in  the  Directory  for 
1819. 

QuiN,  Bernard,  O.S.B. — This  good  religious  was  certainly 
serving  Bath  in  1713;  but  how  long  before  or  after  I  cannot 
determine ;  nor  can  I  learn  the  date  of  his  death,  except  that 
it  occurred  on  the  Ist  day  of  January. 


R. 

Rastal,  Edward,  S.J.,  bom  in  the  city  of  Gloucester,  was 
admitted  with  his  brother  John  into  the  Society  at  Rome  in 
1568.  He  was*  sent  to  Ingolstadt,  in  Germany,  to  complete 
his  theology,  according  to  F.  Henry  More's  Hist.  p.  19.  His 
death  took  place,  according  to  Drews,  nine  years  later,  viz. 
17th  June,  1577. 

"  lUe  potens  sui 
Lsstusque  deget,  cui  licet  in  diem 
Dixisse  vixi." 

Rastal,  John,  S.J.,  brother  to  the  above,  was  educated  at 
Wykeham's  College,  Winchester,  and  New  College,  Oxford, 
where  he  was  admitted  a  perpetual  fellow  in  1549.  Six 
years  later  he  was  ordained  priest  j  but  in  1560,  as  Wood  tells 
us  (Athense,  vol.  i.  p.  265),  "left  his  college  (wherein  he  had 
always  been  accounted  an  excellent  disputant),  his  friends, 
and  native  country,  and  went  to  Louvain  and  Antwerp,^' 
where  he  wielded  his  vigorous  pen  against  the  writings  of 
JeweU.  Having  vanquished  his  antagonist  in  argument,  he 
repaired  to  Rome  and  joined  the  Society,  and  became  one 
of  its  brightest  ornaments.  He  died  with  heroic  charity  at 
Ingolstadt  in  the  course  of  the  year  1600. 

Reeve,  Joseph,  S.J.,  son  of  Richard  Reeve,  of  Island 
Hill,  Stoodley  parish,  co.  Warwick,  and  the  eldest  of  three 
brothers  who  consecrated  themselves  to  God  in  religion,  was 
born  11th  May,  1733.  In  the  fourteenth  year  of  his  age  he 
was  sent  to  St.  Omer's  College,  where  he  distinguished  him- 
self by  his  classic  taste  and  industry.  On  7th  September, 
1752,  he  entered  the  novitiate  atWatten.  After  defending 
a  course  of  philosophy  at  Liege,  he  was  appointed  to  teach 
Humanities,  and  continued  to  do  so  for  eight  years  at  St. 
•  Omer's  and  Bruges,  with  honour  to  himself  and  advantage 
to  his  pupils.  Ordained  priest,  he  defended  the  whole  course 
of  theology  at  Liege  in  the  Lent  of  1767,  and  then  was  sent 
for  some  months  to  assist  the  Benedictine  nuns  at  Ipres. 
On  5th  August  that  same  year  he  reached  Ugbrooke,  and 


396  BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST    OF    THE    CLERGY. 

there  this  luminary  of  the  mission  continued  to  shed  the 
light  of  his  example  and  experiencej  until  his  happy  death 
on  2nd  May,  1820.  For  some  years  before  he  was  taken 
from  us,  God  was  pleased  to  try  this  faithful  servant  with 
blindness;  but  no  one  could  approach  the  venerable  man 
without  being  edified  with  his  profound  sense  of  religion,  his 
cheerfiil  resignation  to  the  wiU  of  Providence,  his  uniform 
and  fervent  discharge  of  his  spiritual  exercises,  and  his  readi- 
ness to  communicate  information  from  his  richly-stored  mind. 
A  solemn  dirge  was  performed  for  him  at  Ugbrooke  on 
Friday,  5th  May,  and  his  remains  were  deposited  behind  the 
chapel  with  a  tablet  thus  inscribed  : — 

H.     S.    E. 

Josephus  Reeve,  S.J., 

Hujus  ^dis  Sacrsa  annos  amplius  L. 

Sacerdos  et  Gustos, 

Vixit  Annos  Lxxxvii. 

Decessit  2  Maii,  A.D.  mdcccxx. 

R.  I.  P. 

The  reverend  father  will  live  for  ever  in  the  learned  works 
which  he  gave  to  the  press,  as  set  forth  in  the  Collectanea 
S.J.,  p.  178-9. 

On  the  occasion  of  the  funeral,  the  following  address  was 
delivered  in  St.  Cyprian's  Chapel  at  Ugbrooke : — 

"  Say  to  the  just  man  that  it  is  well :  for  he  shall  eat  the  fruit  of  his 
labours." — Isaiah  iii.  10. 

In  bidding  the  last  adieu'  to  the  mortal  remains  of  a 
,  venerable  friend  and  benefactor,  I  derive  comfort  from  the 
belief  that  it  is  really  well  with  this  just  man — that  he  is 
now  enjoying  the  reward  of  a  useful  and  well-spent  life.  If 
I  did  not  entertain  the  confident  hope  of  his  heing  happy,  I 
should  indeed  be  miserable.  For  where  do  we  meet  with  a 
more  unblemished  career  ?  Where  do  we  witness  a  more 
Christian  and  edifying  death?  His  uniform  example  of 
piety  and  religion  from  early  youth  to  the  latest  period  of  an 
honoured  old  age,  confounds  our  tepidity,  and  stimulates  us 
to  walk  worthy  of  the  vocation  to  which  we'  are  called. 
Though  dead,  he  speaks;  he  movingly  exhorts  us  to  serve 
our  Creator  in  holiness  and  justice  during  the  remainder  of 
our  existence,  and  to  spare  no  exertions  to  deserve  that 
diadem  which  the  Almighty  has  promised  to  those  who  love 
him.  "Be  thou  faithful  unto  death,  and  I  will  give  thee 
the  crown  of  life  "  (Apoc.  xi.  10) . 

Our  venerable  friend  was  born  on  the  11th  May,  1733. 
From  infancy  he  was  taught   by  his  exemplary  parents  to 


BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST    OF    THE    CLERGY.  397 

fear  God,  and  to  abstain  from  all  sin.  In  tlie  fourteenth 
year  of  his  age  he  was  sent  to  St.  Omer's  College,  where  he 
pursued  his  studies  with  great  assiduity  and  success,  and 
displayed  an  admirable  pattern  of  piety,  docility,  and  regu- 
larity. Feeling  himself  called  to  the  religious  state,  he 
solicited  and  obtained  admission  into  the  novitiate  of  the 
Society  of  Jesus,  on  7th  September,  1753.  I  pass  over  the 
proofs  of  his  brilliant  success  in  teaching  Humanities,  and 
in  defending  the  course  of  philosophy  and  divinity,  in  order 
to  follow  him  to  Ugbrooke,  where  Providence  conducted  him 
in  the  summer  of  1767,  as  chaplain  to  the  baronial  family 
of  Clifford.  Of  his  disinterested  zeal  in  the  ministry — of  his 
attention  to  the  flock  committed  to  his  charge — of  his  pru- 
dence in  difiiculf  times  and  conjunctures — of  the  undeviat- 
ing  example  that  he  presented  of  propriety,  integrity,  mode- 
ration, and  charity,  there  are  many  among  you  who  can  bear 
ample  and  cheerful  testimony.  Suffice  it  to  say,  that  for 
more  than  half  a  century,  he  exhibited  in  himself  the  model 
of  a  good  pastor,  devoting  himself  to  the  comfort  and  in- 
struction of  his  spiritual  children,  without  any  reference  to 
personal  ease  and  convenience.  Full  of  the  spirit  of  the 
priesthood  and  of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  he  sought  on  all 
occasions  the  greater  honour  and  glory  of  his  God,  and 
delighted  in  the  exact,  fervent,  and  constant  discharge  of 
his  sacred  functions. 

The  natural  and  acquired  talents  of  our  departed  friend 
would  have  commanded  success  in  any  literary  department. 
His  genius  was  eminently  polished  and  refined;  his  Latin 
versification,  especially,  combined  strength  with  grace  and 
harmony,  and  if  he  had  given  up  his  mind  to  the  charms  of 
verse,  he  might  have  insured  the  public  patronage,  and 
ranked  amongst  the  leading  bards  of  his  time.  But  he  pre- 
ferred what  might  be  more  generally  useful  to  his  neighbour, 
without  one  sidelong  glance  to  profit  or  applause,  and  he 
therefore  devoted  his  principal  attention  to  ecclesiastical 
studies  and  pursuits.  Anxious  to  promote  the  spirit  of  piety, 
he  published  in  1780  the  "Abridgment  of  the  History  of 
the  Inspired  Volume."  Deeply  lamenting  the  general  igno- 
rance of  the  only  knowledge  which  dignifies  the  Christian, 
and  makes  us  truly  wise  unto  salvation,  he  next  favoured 
the  world  with  "  Practical  Discourses  on  the  Attributes  and 
Perfections  of  God,  and  on  the  Divinity  and  wonderful  works 
of  Jesus  Christ."  And  lastly,  to  remove  misrepresentations 
and  prejudice  from  the  youthful  generation,  who,  for  the 
most  part,  imbibe  their  knowledge  of  ecclesiastical  history 
from  polluted  sources,  he  has  traced  out  the  "  Rise  and  Pro- 


398  BIOGKAPHICAL    LIST   OF   THE    CLEEGY. 

gress  of  the  Catholic  Church,  from  it  first  establishment  until 
the  present  period."  This  publication  reflects  singular  credit 
on  his  discriminatioUj  impartiality,  and  love  of  truth.  But 
what  shall  I  say  of  his  many  personal  sacrifices,  and  splendid 
generosity  in  educating  youth  for  the  sanctuary  ?  In  his 
ambition  to  do  good  during  life,  and  to  be  the  instrument 
of  good  after  death,  he  proved  that  he  was  a  man  according 
to  God's  own  heart — that  he  sought  nothing  but  the  interests 
of  Jesus  Christ.  For  his  munificent  exertions  to  perpetuate 
this  work  of  mercy  and  charity,  he  is  now  rewarded  by  the 
lover  of  human  souls.  Yes,  best-beloved,  the  most  acceptable 
of  all  sacrifices  is  to  co-operate  with  the  Redeemer  in  the 
salvation  of  our  neighbour.  And  the  prophet  Daniel  teaches 
(xii.  3),  that  they  who  instruct  many  unto  justice,  shall  shine 
like  stars  for  all  eternity. 

In  alluding  to  his  zeal  for  religion,  I  am  particularly 
obliged  to  acknowledge  his  unremitting  and  disinterested 
attentions  to  the  welfare  and  comfort  of  the  neighbouring 
mission  of  Exeter.  With  perfect  truth  he  is  entitled  to  the 
character  of  its  founder.  Without  his  active  industry,  libe- 
rality, and  good  management,  it  probably  would  have  sunk 
to  nothing,  and  the  faithful  there  would  have  been  lying 
hke  sheep  that  have  no  shepherd.  Of  the  committee  for 
erecting  the  convenient  chapel  of  that  city,  he  was  the  per- 
petual and  judicious  chairman.  Towards  the  purchase  and 
improvement  of  the  premises — towards  the  decent  mainte- 
nance of  the  incumbent,  he  was  a  liberal  benefactor.  Those 
amongst  you  who  can  remember  the  garrets  where  the  con- 
gregation used  to  conceal  themselves  for  divine  worship — 
those  who  can  recoUect  the  wretched  habitations  where  the 
poor  missionary  was  glad  to  find  refuge,  will  know  how  to 
appreciate  this  heroic  zeal  and  charity.  My  predecessors 
would  unite  with  myself  in  declaring  that  the  interest  of  the 
Exeter  mission  was  one  of  the  nearest  and  dearest  wishes  of 
his  heart ;  and  we  should  all  be  ungrateful  indeed  if  we  failed 
to  bless  and  cherish  his  memory.  Never  can  we  cease  in- 
voking the  Most  Mighty,  the  God  of  the  spirits  of  all  flesh, 
to  reward  the  kindness  of  our  departed  patron.  Every  day 
let  us  repeat  "  Give  perfect  rest  to  Thy  servant  Joseph — that 
rest  which  Thou  has  prepared  for  Thy  holy  ones.  Eternal 
rest  give  to  him,  O  Lord,  and  let  perpetual  light  shine 
upon  him." 

This  venerable  friend  and  brother  was  not  without  his 
portion  of  sufiering.  With  patience  and  cheerfulness  he 
drank  of  the  chalice  of  his  divine  Master.  Impressed  with 
the  wisdom  of  that  comforting  oracle,  "  I  rebuke  and  chastise 


BIOGRA.PHICAL    LIST   OP   THE    CLERGY.  399 

those  whom  I  love  "  (Apoc.  iii.  19),  he  was  conscious  of  the 
value,  and  privilege,  and  honour  of  suffering  with  Jesus 
Christ,  and  he  firmly  believed  that  trials  in  this  world  are 
the  best  preparation  for  the  next,  provided  they  be  endured 
with  patience  and  resignation.  During  the  greater  part  of 
his  life  he  was  much  afflicted  with  indisposition.  And  you 
all  know  that  he  was  enveloped  in  that  fatal  hurricane  which 
swept  away  the  Society  of  Jesus — that  Society  which  had 
reared  him  in  piety  and  learning,  and  which  he  loved  and 
honoured  as  a  mother.  On  this  occasion  he  studied  to  con- 
form himself  to  the  example  of  his  suffering  Redeemer ;  he 
acquiesced  in  the  painful  sacrifice  with  respectful  submission 
to  superior  authority ;  he  meditated  on  the  instability  of  all 
human  things,  admired  the  depth  of  the  divine  counsels,  and 
paid  homage  to  the  sovereign  independence  of  God,  the  Arbiter 
and  Disposer  of  all  sublunary  events.  After  many  years  of 
expectation,  he  had  the  unspeakable  happiness  of  witnessing 
the  triumph  of  oppressed  innocence.  He  saw  justice  at 
length  done  to  the  character,  to  the  merits  and  services  of 
the  children  of  Loyola.  He  beheld  the  Society  restored  by 
the  supreme  pastor  of  the  faithful  in  the  Russian  empire,  on 
the  7th  day  of  March,  1801 ;  in  the  two  Sicilies  on  30th 
July,  1804;  and  throughout  the  Catholic  world,  at  the 
request  of  its  bishops;  on  7th  August,  1814;  and  he  had 
the  consolation  of  renewing  his  engagements  in  the  order. 
Oh  !  how  his  heart  revived  within  him — how  it  glowed  with 
rapture,  in  the  days  of  incredulity  and  impiety,  to  witness 
princes,  and  even  an  anointed  sovereign,  in  the  person  of 
Charles  Emmanuel  IV.,*  throwing  aside  the  crown  and  sceptre 
of  Sardinia,  to  embrace  the  "  pious  institute  of  the  Society  of 
Jesus,"  as  the  Council  of  Trent  calls  it  (Sess.  xxv.  16).  In 
these  arrangements  of  Providence  he  traced  the  verification 
of  the  promises  of  the  Almighty  Father,  "  Behold,  I  myself 
will  seek  my  scattered  sheep,  and  will  visit  them.  I  will 
deliver  them  out  of  all  the  places  where  they  have  been 
scattered  in  the  cloudy  and  dark  day." — (Ezekiel  xxxiv.) 
"  Kings  shall  be  thy  nursing  fathers,  and  queens  thy  nursing 
mothers.  They  shall  not  be  ashamed  who  wait  upon  me." — 
(Isaiah  xlix.) 

For  several  years  before  his  death  it  pleased  Divine  Pro- 
vidence to  visit  our  reverend  friend  with  blindness.  To  a 
mind  so  inquisitive  after  literary  pursuits — to  a  priest  so 
assiduous  in  the  celebration  of  the  august  mysteries,  the 
privation  of  sight  must  naturally   have  been  the  severest 

*  He  entered  the  novitiate  27th  January,  1815,  obiit  6th  October, 
1810. 


400  BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST   OF    THE    CLERGY. 

trial;  but  he  turned  it,  like  every  other  event,  into  an 
increase  of  merit.  Not  a  word  of  complaint  escaped  his 
lips.  For,  whereas,  like  Tobias,  "  he  had  always  feared  God 
from  his  infancy,  and  kept  his  commandments,  he  repined 
not  against  God ;  but  continued  immovable  in  the  fear  of  the 
Lord,  giving  thanks  all  the  days  of  his  life."  We  can  attest 
his  uniform  attention  to  his  stated  exercises  of  piety,  and  to 
his.  daily  and  most  edifying  receiving  of  the  Holy  Commu- 
nion. His  devotion  now  increased  more,  if  possible,  to  the 
Sacrament  of  the  Altar.  There  was  his  treasure ;  there  his 
heart  dwelt.  Thence  he  drew  comfort  and  support.  There 
he  poured  out  his  soul  to  God,  and  supplicated  mercy  for 
himself,  and  for  all  orders  of  the  Church ;  but  especially  for 
the  Clifford  family,  so  justly  endeared  to  him  by  its  piety 
and  charity ;  the  generations  of  which  have  grown  up  around 
him — all  vying  in  their  respectful  and  obliging  attentions  to 
him. 

We  may  now  view  him  at  the  approach  and  hour  of  death 
— that  hour,  which  is  generally  considered  as  an  interval  of 
more  than  ordinary  illumination.  Long  had  the  venerable 
man  sighed  out,  "  What  have  I  in  Heaven  ?  And,  besides 
Thee,  what  do  I  desire  upon  earth  ?  For  Thee,  my  flesh  and 
my  heart  have  fainted  away.  Thou  art  the  God  of  my  heart, 
and  the  God  that  is  my  portion  for  ever  "  (Ps.  Ixxii.) .  Long 
had  he  wished  for  the  kingdom  of  God  to  come,  that  he 
might  be  dissolved,  and  be  with  Christ.  During  the  many 
days  of  his  pilgrimage,  he  had  sought  only  to  be  approved 
and  commended  by  Him,  who  had  created  him,  and  was  to 
judge  him.  Hence  the  greater  honour  and  glory  of  his  God, 
his  personal  sanctification  and  the  good  of  his  neighbour, 
had  been  the  end  and  view  of  all  his  undertakings.  The 
nearer  he  approached  the  term  of  his  career,  the  more  eager 
he  was  to  attain  it.  Stretched  out  on  the  bed  of  death,  we 
saw  the  happiness  of  a  soul  disengaged  from  the  world,  and 
panting  after  the  happiness  of  the  Courts  of  the  Lord.  How 
consoling  the  spectacle !  how  capable  of  animating  fervor  ! 
Last  Tuesday,  the  Almighty  called  up  this  righteous  man  to 
receive  his  retribution : — And  who  amongst  us  does  not 
envy  such  a  death — so  full  of  courage,  peace,  and  joy  ?  Who  is 
now  not  cheered  at  the  thought,  that  in  him  we  have  another 
intercessor  in  heaven  ? 

Beloved  brethren,  Christianity  alone  can  enable  us  to 
soar  above  everything  worldly,  and  to  fix  our  hearts  on  what 
is  eternal.  By  treading  in  the  footsteps  of  this  exemplary 
Christian,  by  cherishing  the  legacy  of  his  example,  we  shall 
be  attached  to  the  duties  of  our  respective  callings;  we  shall 


BIOORAFHICAL    LIST   OF    THE    CLERGY.  401 

be  fired  with  disinterested  zeal,  shall  accept  with  patience 
and  even  gratitude  the  afflictions  and  consolations  with  which 
the  Almighty  diversifies  the  ever-shifting  scene  of  human 
life ;  we  shall  bring  forth  much  fruit  j  shall  direct  everything 
to  our  last  end ;  so  that,  when  death  arrives,  we  shall  have 
no  further  sacrifice  to  make,  but,  unconscious  of  its  sting, 
shall  depart,  like  that  just  man,  full  of  sweet  hope  and  joy, 
to  celebrate  the  mercies  of  Him,  who  hath  given  us  the 
victory,  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.     Amen. 

Reeve,  John,  alias  Power,  S.J.,  nephew  to  the  last-men., 
tioned,  was  born  at  Whitechurch,  co.  Hereford,  in  1782  j 
educated  at  Stonyhurst ;  and  ordained  priest  19th  December, 
1807.  He  is  ccmnected  with  the  Western  District  by  his 
appointment  of  assistant,  in  July,  1811,  to  the  Rev.  Biobert 
Plowden,  at  Bristol  j  but  at  the  end  of  sixteen  months  he  was 
stationed  at  Lull  worth.  In  October,  1816,  he  was  removed 
from  this  important  mission,  for  which  he  was  unsuited,  and 
placed  at  Pontefract.  (During  the  interval  between  his  de- 
parture and  the  arrival  of  F.  Moutardier,  a  term  of  nine 
months,  F.  Vincent  Ryan,  a  very  able  Trappist  of  St.  Susan's 
Convent,  and  who  died  the  venerable  abbot  of  Melleray,  in 
Ireland,  on  9th  December,  1845,  served  the  Lullworth  con- 
gregation most  efficiently.)  On  12th  December,  1820,  Mr. 
Reeve  became  chaplain  to  the  Hon.  Edward  Petre,  at 
Stapleton-park,  Yorkshire;  then  accepted  the  mission  of 
Courtfield ;  afterwards  assisted  at  Newhall,  which  he  left  on 
Friday,  10th  September,  1847,  and  in  December  of  the 
following  year  died  at  Chelsea. 

Renoult,  ( ) .     This  French  abbe  succeeded  Monsieur 

Marquant,  at  Calverleigh.  Dying  there  14th  November, 
1810,  he  was  buried  in  the  parish  church. 

Reynolds,  Thomas,  D.D.,  born  at  Pinhoe,  near  Exeter,  of 
a  family  fruitful  of  learned  men ;  was  educated  at  Mertoa 
College,  Oxford,  of  which  he  became  Warden ;  and  was  collated 
to  a  canonry  of  Exeter  Cathedral  in  1539.  King  Henry 
VIII.  chose  him  for  one  of  his  chaplains,  and  whilst  such 
he  was  admitted  to  the  valuable  prebend  of  Pitt  in  Tiverton 
Church,  9th  April,  1542. — (See  Bishop  Veysey's  Register, 
vol.  i.  fol.  104.)  In  the  reign  of  Edward  VI.  he  was  under 
a  cloud,  but  at  the  accession  of  Queen  Mary  was  nominated 
one  of  her  chaplains,  and  provided  with  the  deanery  of 
Bristol,  which  he  relinquished  for  that  of  Exeter,  9th 
February,  1554-5.  Shortly  before  her  Majesty's  death  he 
was  appointed  to  the  See  of  Hereford,  but  before  he  could 
be  consecrated,  a  new  order  of  things  was  introduced  by 

2  D 


403  BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST    OF    THE    CLERGY. 

Queen  Elizabeth,  and  as  his  conscience  could  not  compro- 
mise, he  was  thrown  into  the  Marshalsea  Prison,  where  he 
ended  his  days,  24th  November,  1559. 

Reynolds,  William,  D.D. — Nephew  to  the  above,  and 
the  heir  to  his  constancy  and  merits.  He  closed  a  useful 
life  at  Antwerp,  an  honourable  exile  for  religion,  on  24th 
August,  1594.^-See  Pitsius ;  also  Wood's  Hist,  and  Antiq. 
Oxon.  lib.  ii.  p.  139,  and  his  AthenaeOxon.  lib.  1,  pp.  233-4. 

RiDGWAY,  Peter  (Aloysius),  O.S.B.,  born  at  Warrington, 
in  Lancashire,  5th  February,  1815 ;  went  to  Douai  14th 
August,  1825,  where  he  was  professed  in  May,  1834;  he  was 
ordained  priest  by  the  Right  Rev.  Louis  Belmas,  Bishop  of 
Cambrai,  at  Pentecost,  1839,  and  was  attached  to  the  mission 
at  Kemerton,  in  September,  1844. 

RiGBY  (Bede),  John,  O.S.B.,  of  Warrington ;  professed  at 
Lambspring  on  17th  May,  1798;  from  1830  till  1835  he 
had  charge  of  the  congregation  attached  to  Downside  College. 
Sent  over  to  Lambspring  by  the  President,  F.  Birdsall,  he 
died  there  23rd  January,  1837. 

RiGBY,  Placid,  O.S.B. — I  suspect  that  this  good  and 
zealous  priest,  who  died  24th  September,  1764,  had  occa- 
sionally assisted  the  Catholics  of  Exeter,  besides  supplying  at 
Bath.  An  old  man  of  the  name  of  Flood,  converted  in 
Exeter  in  1745,  assured  me  that  he  remembered  a  priest  of 
this  name  paying  occasional  visits  to  the  faithful  in  this  city. 

RiGMAiDEN,  Maurtts,  oUos  Smith,  O.S.B.,  had  served  the 
mission  in  Wilts,  and  co.  Gloucester.  I  think  he  died  at 
Oxburgh  Hall,  Norfolk,  18th  November,  1749. 

Riley,  Henry,  was  born  at  Burnley,  co.  Lancaster,  6th 
June,  1794,  and  educated  at  Sedgley-park  School  and  at  St. 
Edmund's  College.  On  receiving  priesthood,  he  was  appointed 
to  the  charge  of  the  Westminster  mission ;  but  at  the  end  of 
three  months  was  transferred  to  the  Virginia-street  chapel, 
where  he  laboured  with  great  zeal  for  as  many  years.  Bishop 
CoUingridge,  then  V.  A.  of  the  Western  District,  obtained  his 
services  for  Bristol,  where  he  arrived  on  21st  November,  1821. 
After  nearly  seven  years  of  laborious  exertion,  he  was  removed 
to  Axminster,  in  which  mission  he  made  himself  respected  and 
esteemed  by  all  classes.  After  opening  St.  Mary's  chapel  there 
on  15th  August,  1831,  and  adding  considerably  to  the  number 
of  his  flock,  Bishop  Baines  earnestly  entreated  him  to  under- 
take the  extensive  and  most  important  mission  of  Plymouth. 
Always  ready  to  sacrifice  his  own  feelings,  convenience,  and 
comforts  to  the  will  of  Almighty  God,  as  manifested  by  his 


BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST   OF    THE    CLERGY.  403 

superiors,  he  entered  upon  this  responsible  charge  on  30th 
April,  1834.  The  success  of  his  zealous  exertions,  and  of  his 
methodical  arrangements,  soon  became  apparent  in  the  en- 
largement of  St.  Mary's  chapel  at  Stonehouse,  in  the  improve- 
ment of  the  poor-school  and  missionary  premises,  and  in 
providing  a  second  priest  to  assist  him  in  his  arduous  duties. 
At  last,  the  state  of  his  health  compelled  him,  on  4th  March, 
1848,  to  retire  from  this  laborious  scene.  An  excursion  for 
recruiting  his  enfeebled  constitution  was  recommended  and 
adopted.  At  the  end  of  three  months'  cessation  from  the 
fatigues  of  the  ministry,  he  thought  himself  capable  to  accept, 
on  7th  June  following,  the  quiet  and  easy  mission  of  Tiverton ; 
but  the  severe  return  of  his  pulmonary  complaint  obliged  him, 
after  five  weeks'  experiment,  to  desist  fi-om  all  ministerial 
labour ;  and  he  arranged  to  retire  to  the  out-quarters  of 
Spetisbury  Convent,  where  he  experienced  from  that  blessed 
community  and  their  friendly  chaplain,  the  Rev.  Leonard 
Calderbank,  the  most  soothing  attentions,  until  his  meek 
and  pious  soul  returned  to  the  God  who  made  him,  on  Maun- 
day  Thursday,  5th  April,  1849.  He  was  buried  in  the  nuns' 
cemetery  on  the  following  Monday  with  every  mark  of  honour ; 
and  a  considerable  dole  to  the  poor  of  Spetisbury  parish  was 
distributed  on  the  occasion. 

All  his  reverend  brethren  admired  and  loved  him.  Persons 
of  every  creed  were  charmed  with  his  exemplary  discharge  of 
his  duties,  with  his  moderation,  his  absence  from  political 
strife,  his  high  sense  of  justice  and  honour ;  indeed,  no  one 
who  observed  the  even  tenour  of  his  life,  and  was  capable  of 
appreciating  sterling  merit,  could  fail  to  pay  homage  to  the 
excellence  of  his  character. 

RiouT. — This  worthy  French  emigre  was  the  predecessor 
of  I'Abbe  de  la  Fosse,  at  Lanherne.  He  quitted  in  1802 
for  his  native  country,  when  he  eludes  my  research. 

RisDON,  Thomas,  alias  Bluett,  S.J.,  of  Devon.  For  many 
years  he  was  superior  of  his  brethren  in  the  residence  of 
St.  Stanislaus,  which  I  have  before  remarked  included  the 
diocese  of  Exeter.  It  is  certain  that  his  chief,  if  not  sole, 
residence  was  Ugbrooke.  In  the  will  of  the  second  Lady 
Clifford  [nee  Anne  Preston),  dated  13th  September,  1733,  he 
is  thus  mentioned :  "I  give  and  bequeath  to  Mr.  Risdon,  who 
lives  with  me,  twenty  pounds."  Soon  after  her  ladyship's 
death,  which  took  place  at  Ugbrooke  5th  July,  1734,  the 
venerable  father  retired  toWatten,  where  he  crowned  a  well- 
spent  life  by  a  most  Christian  death  on  12th  February,  1744, 
set.  eighty-two ;  rel.  fifty-nine,  jub.  nine. 

2  D  2 


404  BIOGKAPHICAL    LIST    OF   THE    CLBRGY. 

Is  there  not  cause  for  believing  that  he  reconciled  to  the 
Church  Dame  Gratiana  Carewj  of  Haccombe,  relict  of  Sir 
Henry  Carew,  of  Haccombe,  Bart.  ?  She  was  the  daughter  of 
Thomas  Darell,  of  Trewornen,  Esq.,  and — as  I  find  in  St.  Min- 
ver's  register,  Cornwall — was  married  to  Sir  Henry  Carew,  of 
Haccombe,  Bart.,  on  29th  November,  1686.  After  the  death 
of  her  husband  she  resided  much  at  Bickleigh  Court.  In  her 
will,  made  24th  Pebruary,  1728-9,  and  proved  in  Exeter  3rd 
December,  1730,  I  read  what  follows:  "I  give  unto  Mr. 
Thomas  Risdon,  of  Ugbrooke,  the  charge  and  care  of  all  such 
things  as  shall  be  in  the  upper  closett  of  Bickleigh  "  (altar 
appendages  ?),  "  if  he  be  living  at  the  time  of  my  decease ; 
otherways,  to  such  parson  who  shall  have  the  care  of  my  soul 
at  the  time  of  my  departure  hence  to  fitt  itt  for  its  etemall 
abode,  after  a  tender  thereof  made  by  him  to  one  or  both  my 
sons "  (Thomas  and  Charles  Carew),  "  and  they  refuseing  the 
same,  they  are  left  particularly  to  Mr.  Risdon,  or  such  gen- 
tleman as  above  mentioned.  But  particularly  I  recommend 
all  Mr.  Gather's  works  to  my  2  sons  for  their  most  seryous 
perrusall  and  strict  imitation." 

B.ISDON,  William,  S.J.,  of  the  north  of  Devon.  The  first 
time  that  I  meet  with  this  father  is  in  1615.  He  was  gene- 
rally stationed  at  Rome,  as  procurator  of  his  brethren.  There 
he  died  27th  October,  1644. 

N.B.  Edward  Risdon,  another  member  of  this  Devonshire 
family.  Fellow  of  Exeter  College,  and  M.A.  in  1566,  was  one 
of  the  six  clergymen  who,  under  the  auspices  of  Dr.  Allen,  in 
1568  opened  the  college  of  Douay,  that  prolific  seminary  of 
martyrs  and  confessors  of  the  faith.  Late  in  life  he  embraced 
the  rule  of  St.  Bruno  at  Bruges ;  but  his  death  is  unrecorded. 

RisHTON,  Thomas,  O.S.B.,  was  clothed  at  Lambspring 
19th  November,  1800 ;  for  two  years  was  the  assistant  priest 
at  Bath.  During  a  lengthened  period  he  served  the  Cape  of 
Good  Hope  mission;  but,  at  last,  was  so  annoyed  by  lay 
opposition,  that,  with  health  impaired  and  mind  feverishly 
excited,  he  died  shortly  after  his  return  to  Ampleforth, 
December,  1836. 

Roberts,  Stephens,  S.J. — Of  this  father  I  can  glean  only 
that  he  served  the  Gloucestershire  mission, — that  he  was 
declared  rector  of  Ghent  in  1742,  and  died  in  that  city 
5th  December,  1758,  set.  eighty-one,  soc.  sijcty-five. 

Roberts,  William,  O.S.F.,  called  Augustine  in  religion. 
I  remember  him  as  confessor  to  the  Poor  Clares  atCoxside, 
Plymouth.     He  was  elected  Provincial  in  1818,  but  served 


BIOGKAFHICAL   LIST   OP   THE    CLERGY.  405 

the  office  two  years  only.     His  death  occurred  at  St.  Omar's 
10th  May,  1827,  aged  sixty-four. 

Robinson,  Placid,  O.S.B.,  a  native  of  Yorkshire,  was 
professed  at  Lambspring  24th  April,  1701 ;  certainly  was 
stationed  at  Stourton;  but  for  how  many  years  I  cannot 
ascertain.     Obiit  10th  February,  1759. 

RoGEES,  John,  S.J.,  a  native  of  Wilts ;  often  passed  by  the 
name  of  Bamfield.  In  the  Provincial's  report  of  1655,  he  is 
stated  to  be  then  at  Watten,  aged  seventy -two,  of  which  period 
of  his  life  he  had  spent  forty-four  years  in  the  Society,  and 
thirty-four  in  the  mission.  He  finished  his  meritorious  course 
at  St.  Omer's,  on  7th  or  8th  August,  1657. 

Rolling,  Thomas,  O.S.B.,  bom  at  Brompton-on-the-Swale; 
was  ordained  deacon  by  Bishop  Milner  in  December,  1813 ; 
and  priest  by  Bishop  CoUingridge  5th  March,  1815 ;  for  the  two 
following  years  was  assistant  at  Bath,  which  he  quitted  for 
Knaresborough  in  September,  1817.  At  the  end  of  seven 
years  he  was  transferred  to  Allerton-park,  where  he  remained 
ten  years.  On  15th  July,  1834,  he  arrived  at  Cannington, 
and  two  years  later  was  sent  to  commence  the  new  mission 
at  Chipping  Sodbury.  Redditch,  and  now  Longworth,  can 
bear  testimony  to  his  valuable  services. 

RooKER,  Thomas,  D.D.,  I  believe,  was  partly  educated  at 
St.  Laurence's  Benedictine  Convent  at  Dieulwart,  near 
Verdun,  and  after  the  expulsion  of  that  community,  at 
Vernon  Hall;  when  the  members  being  increased  by  arrivals 
from  Lambspring,  removed  to  Ampleforth,  near  York,  in 
1806,  where  Dr.  Rooker,  on  13th  October,  1807,  made  his 
profession  in  the  Benedictine  order.  To  that  college  he 
rendered  invaluable  service  by  his  superior  talents  as  a  pro- 
fessor; and  his  secularization  and  departure  for  Prior-park 
threatened  shipwreck  for  a  time  to  that  religious  establish- 
ment. After  some  time  he  was  appointed  to  the  mission  of 
Usk;  but  his  services  were  again  called  for  at  Prior-park; 
and  his  exertions  as  vice-president  and  president  from  No- 
vember, 1849,  were  so  energetic,  that  he  might  say — 

"  Si  Pevgama  dextra 
Defend!  possent,  etiam  h&c  defensa  fiiissent." 

iENEiD,  lib.  ii. 

Let  us  sincerely  hope  that  this  eminently-gifted  scholar 
and  heroic  priest  may  long  be  reserved  for  the  service  of 
God's  church. 

RooKEK,  Thomas  Francis,  nephew  to  the  above,  was 
born  at  Manchester,  and  educated  at  Ampleforth  and  Prior- 


406  BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST    OF    THE    CLERGY. 

park,  but  finished  his  studies  at  the  English  College  at 
Rome.  In  the  Lent  of  1840  he  was  ordained  subdeacon  by 
Monsignore  Piatti;  deacon  on  9th  June  of  that  year  by 
Dr.  Wiseman,  who  the  very  day  before  had  been  consecrated 
bishop  of  Melipotamus;  and  priest  at  St.  John  Lateran's  in 
the  Lent  of  1841  by  Bishop  Vespigniani.     On  12th  August, 

1843,  he  began  his  incumbency  of  the  Tiverton  mission; 
but,  to  the  regret  of  his  flock,  was  hurried  away  to  Bristol  in 
the  ensuing  Lent.  In  August,  1845,  he  was  sent  to  Short- 
wood;  but  since  March,  1853,  has  been  the  first  resident 
pastor  of  Bridgewater.  Very  deservedly  he  was  appointed  a 
member  of  the  Clifton  Chapter  on  38th  June,  1853. 

RousHAM,  Stephen, — For  the  illustration  of  his  biography 
I  must  refer  the  reader  to  the  First  Part  of  this  compilation, 
p.  101.  He  suffered  for  the  faith  at  Gloucester,  certainly 
after  1586:  perhaps  in  July  of  the  following  year.  See 
Dr.  Challoner's  Memoirs. 

RowE,  William,  S.J.,  was  born  at  Blackburn,  6th  July, 
1803;  after  studying  humanities  and  philosophy  with  credit  in 
the  excellent  college  of  St.  Cuthbert  at  Ushaw,  near  Durham, 
he  petitioned  for  admission  into  Stonyhurst.  He  arrived 
there  16th  April,  1823,  and  proceeded  to  Paris,  to  begin  on 
6th  June  his  novitiate  at  Mont  Rouge.  He  was  promoted 
to  priesthood  at  Friburgh  on  7th  October,  1837,  and  ten 
months  later  was  appointed  successor  to  Mr.  Riley,  at 
St.  Joseph's,  Bristol.  Owing  to  some  misunderstanding 
with  Bishop  Baines,  he  was  forced  to  leave  Bristol,  to  the 
deep  regret  of  the  congregation,  on  23rd  December,  1830. 
Enfield,  Norwich,  and  Stonyhurst  missions  have  had  the 
benefit  of  his  pastoral  zeal  and  experience ;  but  for  the  last 
ten  years  Tunbridge  Wells  has  enjoyed  this  privilege. 

Rush,  Edward  Mary,  bom  at  Manchester,  1st  May,  1803 ; 
educated  at  Ushaw;  entered  on  8th  May,  1834,  the  order  of 
Camaldoli;  was  ordained  priest  23nd  March,  1838;  passed 
to  Trelawny  18th  January,  1836,  and  quitted  it  6th  April 
following. 

Ryan,  John,  born  at  Dungarvan,  co.  Waterford,  in  1818 ; 
succeeded  the  Rev.  Robert  Piatt,  at  Chidiock,  in  October, 

1844,  after  receiving  ordinations  at  Prior-park.  With  the 
approbation  of  the  bishop  he  originated  the  chapel  at  Brid- 
port;  the  foundation-stone  of  which  was  laid  in  honour  of 
our  Lady  on  8th  September,  1845,  and  he  had  the  comfort  of 
saying  the  first  mass  in  the  new  edifice  on  1st  July  following, 
*nd  of  witnessing  on  the  next  day  its  solemn  public  opening 


BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST    OF    THE    CLEUGY.  407 

by  Bishop  Ullathome.  For  a  considerable  time  his  zeal 
served  him  to  officiate  both  at  Chidiock  and  at  Bridport. 

For  the  account  of  his  published  reply  to  the  calumniators 
of  our  holy  faith,  see  the  Tablet  of  3rd  November,  1849. 
Leaving  Chidiock  in  November,  1850,  he  served  Tiverton  for 
half  a  year,  when  he  was  ordered  to  Falmouth ;  but  quitted, 
to  the  regret  of  many,  on  12th  March,  1852,  and  was 
accepted  for  a  time  as  a  chaplain  to  St.  Augustine's  Church, 
Manchester.  Thence  he  was  transferred  to  the  mission  of 
Ashton-under-Lyne,  where  he  laboured  with  indefatigable 
energy.  This  important  mission  he  resigned  at  the  end  of 
two  years,  in  order  to  devote  his  ministerial  services  to  his 
countrymen  in  America.  In  the  Tablet  of  September  16th, 
1854,  p.  581*  may  be  seen  his  eloquent  parting  address  on 
being  presented  by  his  sorrowing  congregation  with  a  gold 
watch  and  chain  on  27th  August. 

I  understand  that  he  is  now  erecting  the  church  of  the 
Immaculate  Conception  in  New  York,  the  foundation-stone  of 
which  was  laid  on  8th  December,  1855. 


S. 

Salisbury,  Edward,  O.S.B.,  a  native  of  Devonshire, 
arrived  at  Lambspring  Abbey  14th  Juue,  1699;  was  pro- 
fessed 21st  December,  1703 ;  died  10th  October,  1725,  set. 
forty. 

Sands,  or  Sandys,  John. — For  the  barbarous  execution  of 
this  young  priest  at  Gloucester,  see  Part  I.,  p.  101 ;  also 
Dr.  Challoner's  Memoirs.  His  glorifying  Christ  by  his  blood 
took  place  on  2nd  August,  1586. 

Saulnier,  L'Abbe,  better  known  to  the  English  reader 
as  Pere  Antoine,  born  at  Joigny,  in  Champagne,  20th  August, 
1764,  of  a  reputable  family;  was  created  D.D.  of  Sorbonne, 
and  elected  prolocutor  of  the  French  clergy  before  the  French 
revolution ;  emigrated  to  this  country,  and  joined  the  Trap- 
pists  of  St.  Susan's  Monastery  at  LuUworth,  in  June,  1795. 
Chosen  the  fourth  prior  of  that  community,  he  was  elevated 
to  the  dignity  of  its  abbot  in  May,  1813,  by  Pope  Pius  VII., 
and  as  such  was  consecrated,  as  he  told  me  himself,  by 
Bishop  Poynter,  in  London,  in  the  August  of  that  year.  In 
the  First  Part,  I  have  treated  at  large  of  this  amiable  and 
accomplished  dignitary.  He  died  at  Melleray,  near  Nantes, 
on  the  Feast  of  the  Epiphany,  1839. 

Schofield,  Richard. — In  vain  have  I  tried  to  obtain  from 


408  BIOGRAPHICAL   LIST   OF    THE    CLERGY. 

this  venerable  and  most  humble  priest  the  antecedents  of 
his  present  situation,  since  Christmas  last,  of  assistant  priest 
at  Plymouth.  I  have  been  given  to  understand  that  he  is  a 
native  of  Kent ;  that  he  kept  a  respectable  academy  for 
twenty  years  at  Brighton ;  that  he  was  reconciled  to  the 
Catholic  Church  by  Dr.  Newman;  that  he  was  promoted 
to  holy  orders  by  Dr.  UUathome,  Bishop  of  Birmingham, 
in  1853;  that  for  a  time  he  was  stationed  at  Maryvale,  a 
convent  of  Sisters  of  Mercy,  near  Oscott ;  thence  transferred 
his  services  to  Spetisbury,  and  now,  I  hope,  will  be  a  fixture 
at  Plymouth. 

ScROGGs  (Mattbus),  John,  O.S.B.,  was  educated  at  St. 
Gregory's,  Douay,  where  he  was  professed  on  12th  March, 
1634,  with  his  brothers  Cuthbert  and  Gregory.  From 
F.  Weldon's  Chronological  Notes,  I  learn  that  "he  was  a 
painful  missionary  for  many  years  in  the  West  of  England,  and 
that  he  died  at  Bidwell,  three  mUes  from  Exeter,  of  an  inward 
imposthume,  July  9th,  1672,  aged  about  fifty-five."  Bidwell 
was  the  seat  of  Mr.  Kirkham,  the  only  Catholic  gentleman 
in  the  county  who  came  to  pay  his  respects,  at  the  New  Inn, 
Exeter,  when  Cosmo  IIL,  Duke  of  Tuscany,  visited  Exeter  in 
April,  1669. 

Sctjdamoke,  John,  S.J. — This  principal  founder  of  the 
Bristol  mission  can  never  be  named  without  veneration.  He 
had  to  struggle  with  difficulties  almost  incredible  in  that 
bigoted  and  fanatical  city.  His  little  flock  used  to  meet  him 
in  the  upper  room  of  a  dwelling-house  at  Hook's  Mills, 
behind  the  small  church  near  the  Orphan  Asylum,  on  Ashley 
Down.  After  a  time  he  removed  the  chapel  to  St.  James' 
Back,  an  apartment  capable  of  holding  about  eighty  persons 
more  or  less,  and  there  the  venerable  man  continued  to 
exercise  his  ministerial  functions  until  his  saintly  death, 
8th  April,  1778,  set.  eighty-two,  soc.  sixty-four,  jubilarian 
fourteen. 

His  grand-nephew,  Mr.  John  Jones,  informed  me  that  the 
reverend  father  was  of  the  ancient  family  of  the  Scudamores, 
of  Home  Lacy,  co.  Hereford,  and  that  his  parents  resided 
in  Pembridge  Castle.  He  added  further,  that  having  lived 
with  this  good  priest  for  some  time,  he  knew  that  he  must 
have  served  Bristol  for  about  forty  years ;  that  he  was  much 
beloved  by  his  people  for  his  zeal  and  piety,  and  that  his 
manner  of  living  was  very  plain  and  moderate.  The  late 
Eev.  James  Parker  assured  me  that  he  assisted  at  his  funeral, 
and  that  his  remains  wered  eposited  in  St.  James's  church- 
yard, opposite  the  church  porch. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST   OF   THE    CLERGY.  409 

Sebastian,  John,  educated  in  the  English  College  at  Rome. 
The  late  Richard  Rawe,  Esq.,  assured  me  that  he  was  at  Mam- 
hull  as  early  as  1750,  and  that  he  died  a  victim  of  charity 
on  28th  July,  1757,  in  consequence  of  putrid  fever,  caught 
while  attending  a  poor  family  in  the  town  of  Shaftesbury. 

Shann,  Christopher,  O.S.B.,  born  at  Knaresborough, 
9th  March,  1801 ;  professed  at  Ampleforth,  in  1819,  by  the 
religious  name  of  Augustine ;  was  ordained  priest  by  Bishop 
Penswick,  on  the  Saturday  of  the  Ember  week,  1824,  and 
in  the  following  week  left  the  college  for  the  mission.  In 
the  First  Part  of  this  work  I  have  mentioned  his  zealous 
labours  at  Cheltenham  and  Bath.  At  present,  I  under- 
stand he  is  cultivating  the  spiritual  vineyard  of  Ormskirk. 

Sharrock  (Gregory),  William,  O.S.B.,  Right  Rev., 
elder  brother  to  John  and  James,  of  the  same  venerable 
order,*  was  born  at  Preston,  in  Lancashire,  30th  March, 
1742.  At  the  age  of  sixteen  he  took  the  habit  at  Douay, 
and  his  prudence,  meekness,  and  religious  spirit,  induced  his 
beloved  brethren,  in  1775,  to  elect  him  prior  of  St.  Gregory's. 
At  the  expiration  of  his  quadriennium  he  was  re-elected; 
but  Bishop  Walmesley  wanted  such  a  man  as  his  assistant  in 
the  government  of  the  Western  district ;  and  having  suc- 
ceeded in  gaining  the  consent  of  Pope  Pius  VI.,  on  12th 
August,  1780,  he  consecrated  him  by  the  title  of  Bishop  of 
Telmessus,'  in  Wardour  Chapel,  with  a  solemnity  unprece- 
dented until  then  in  England  since  the  reign  of  Queen  Mary. 
Thirteen  priests  attended,  and  Henry,  eighth  Lord  Arundell, 
spared  no  expense  to  do  honour  to  the  ceremony.  On  the 
death  of  Bishop  Walmesley,  seventeen  years  later,  he  suc- 
ceeded to  the  administration  of  his  extensive  diocese,  and 
exhibited  in  his  person  the  model  of  a  Catholic  bishop, 
always  bearing  in  mind  the  advice  of  St.  Jerome  to  Nepo- 
tian:  "Episcopi,  sacerdotes  se  esse  noverint,  non  dominos. 
Honorent  clericos  quasi  clericos,  ut  et  ipsis  quasi  episcopis 
honor  deferatur.''  This  admirable  prelate  was  called  to  the 
reward  of  his  merits  on  17th  October,  1809,  and  his  remains 
were  deposited  near  those  of  Bishop  Walmesley,  inj  St. 
Joseph's  Chapel,  Bristol.     His  monument  is  in  our  hearts. 

•  John,  born  19th  April,  1754,  died  17th  May,  1831 ;  James,  who 
succeeded  as  prior  on  his  brother  Gregory's  promotion  to  episcopacy, 
was  born  5th  February,  1750.  It  is  not  generally  known  that  in  the 
summer  of  1806  he  was  elected  bishop  of  Themiscyra  and  coadjutor  to 
his  brother  in  the  Western  district ;  but  he  could  not  be  prevailed  on  to 
accept  the  proffered  dignity.  This  humble  prior  died  at  Acton  Burnell 
on  1st  April,  1808. 


410  BIOCaAPHICAL    LIST    OF    THE    CLERGY. 

Shattock,  ThomaSj  born  at  Gouthufst,  near  Taunton,  in 
March,  1809 ;  was  sent  for  education  to  Baddesley,  then  to 
St.  Sulpice,  Paris;  but  on  1st  September,  1830,  reached 
Prior-park,  where  he  was  ordained  sub-deacon  in  September, 
1831,  deacon  in  December,  1832,  and  priest  at  the  next 
Pentecost.  After  assisting  as  private  secretary  to  the  bishop, 
he  was  appointed  incumbent  of  Cannington,  26th  January, 
1837 ;  but  was  principally  employed  as  procurator  of  Prior- 
park  until  its  recent  catastrophe.  Since  April,  1856,  he  has 
succeeded  the  Eev.  James  Dawson,  at  Shepton  Mallett. 

Shea,  O.  Henry,  O.S.F. — This  venerable  religious  and 
eminent  spiritualist  is  connected  with  us  by  having  under- 
taken, in  1848,  the  direction  of  the  nuns  and  of  the  mission 
at  Taunton,  and  for  subsequently  accepting,  provisionally,  the 
charge  of  the  Chidiock  congregation.  Returning  to  Ireland 
in  1850,  where  he  had  been  provincial  of  his  brethren,  he 
was  nearly  burnt  to  death  in  Dublin  by  an  accidental  lire. 
He  never  recovered  from  the  shock  and  injury.  When  capa- 
ble of  undertaking  the  journey,  he  was  removed  to  the  south 
of  France.  After  staying  for  some  time  at  Pau,  he  quitted 
for  Tours,  where  he  arrived  on  Saturday,  21st  April,  1854. 
He  took  up  his  quarters  in  a  most  convenient  apartment  of 
the  Grand  Hospice,  where  he  had  the  best  medical  advice, 
the  soothing  attentions  of  the  good  nuns,  and  the  kindest 
aumonier.  All  considered  him  there  as  a  saint.  He  was 
well  aware  of  his  approaching  death ;  it  came  on,  however, 
rather  suddenly  at  last,  but  without  agony.  "  Having  re- 
ceived," says  my  correspondent,  "  the  holy  Sacraments  with 
the  most  edifying  devotion,  and  joined  to  the  last  moment 
in  responding  to  the  prayers  of  the  Church,  he  calmly 
breathed  his  last  on  Saturday,  20th  May,  1854."  E.I.P. 
From  what  he  has  told  me,  he  must  have  been  about  sixty- 
one.     He  had  a  most  dignified  aspect. 

Sheehy,  William,  born  in  London  towards  the  end  of 
the  year  1805.  After  finishing  his  studies  at  Rome,  he  was 
ordained  priest  at  Prior-park,  and  said  his  first  Mass  there 
on  15th  June,  1843.  Seven  months  later, — 12th  January, 
1844, — he  was  sent  to  Lanherne  to  assist  F.  Charles  Cooke. 
There  he  continued  until  after  Easter.  In  June,  1844,  he  was 
ordered  to  Cannington,  vice  Andrew  Byrne ;  and  four  months 
later  was  hurried  to  Torquay,  vice  Thomas  Danson.  There 
he  was  allowed  to  be  stationary  for  two  years,  when  he  was 
tranferred  to  Tiverton  as  successor  to  the  Rev.  Herbert 
WooUett,  where  indeed  he  had  to  struggle  with  pecuniary 
difficulties,  from  the  gross  irregularity  of  payments  from 


DIOGRAPHICAL    LIST    OF    THE    CLERGY.  411 

Prior-park.  But  he  persevered  in  the  hope  of  justice  until 
8th  June,  1848,  when  he  sought  the  Institute  of  Charity,  at 
Ratcliflfe  College,  near  Loughborough,  where  he  continues  to 
render  invaluable  service. 

This  classic  scholar  published  at  Bome,  in  1838,  a  volume 
of  "  Reminiscences  of  Rome,"  followed  by  a  second  volume, 
printed  two  years  later.  2.  "A  Brief  account  of  the  Canon- 
ization of  St;  Alphonsus  Liguori,"  &c.  3.  "A  Letter  ad- 
dressed to  Archdeacon  Digby,"  dated  Torre,  March  19, 1846. 

Shepherd,  Laurence,  O.S.B.,  born  at  Liverpool  24th 
August,  1825  ;  professed  at  Ampleforth  28th  August,  1844; 
ordained  priest  3rd  December,  1849 ;  succeeded  F.  Hodgson, 
at  Bath,  in  Jjily,  1855. 

Shimell,  Charles. — This  young  priest  succeeded  his 
nephew,  the  Rev.  Richard  Shimell,  at  Chidiock,  in  1763;  but 
in  April,  1764,  died  of  a  rapid  decline  at  the  Bear  Inn,  South- 
street,  Exeter,  which  was  then  kept  by  a  Catholic  of  the 
name  of  Searle. 

Shimell,  John,  brother  to  Charles  aforesaid,  of  Devon. 
The  late  Bishop  Milner,  in  a  letter  dated  Wolverhampton, 
9th  March,  1826,  informed  me  that  the  reverend  gentleman 
resided  with  the  Howards,  at  Glossop,  co.  Derby,  for  many 
years;  that  at  the  request  of  the  family  he  accompanied 
them  to  Crumpsall,  their  seat  near  Manchester,  where  he 
ended  his  days  (23rd  August,  1779) ;  that  besides  being  a 
good  priest,  he  was  also  an  ingenious  mechanic,  and  an  ex- 
cellent English  poet,  as  appears  by  his  poem  on  the  presidents 
of  Douay  College  from  Cardinal  Allen,  down  to  his  time. 

Shimell,  Richard,  born  at  Totnes,  or  rather  Bridgetown ; 
studied  at  Yalladolid;  for  a  long  period  was  stationed  at 
Chidiock,  where  he  finished  his  course  December,  1763, 
ffitatis  seventy-six. 

SiGNOL,  L'Abbb. — His  Christian  names  were  Augustin 
Jean  Bernard;  and  he  informed  me  himself,  that  he  was 
born  10th  June,  1790,  at  Engouville,  near  HS,vre.  With 
this  Western  district  he  is  connected  by  having  taken  charge 
of  the  Tor  Abbey  congregation  on  1st  September,  1836; 
but  soon  after  Mr.  M'Enery's  return  from  his  continental 
tour,  the  talented  abbe  embarked  for  his  own  country. 

Simon,  Alexander,  born  in  France  18th  February,  1771. 
After  supplying  for  a  time,  at  Cannington,  at  Dartmouth,  at 
MarnhuU,  and  at  Weymouth,  he  was  induced,  in  August, 
1820,  to  accept  the  arduous  mission  of  Plymouth,  void  by  the 
retirement  of  the  Rev.  Samuel  Spoouer.     He  did  his  duty  in 


412  BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST    OF    THE    CLERGY. 

an  exemplary  manner.  His  register  shows  that  he  performed 
a  baptism  on  1st  April,  1821 ;  four  days  later  he  was  carried 
off  by  apoplexy. 

Simpson,  Cuthbert,  O.S.B. — This  young  religious  was 
assigned  to  the  Venerable  Dom  Pembridge,  the  successor  of 
Dr.  Brewer,  at  Bath,  as  an  active  assistant.  But  he  was 
prematurely  snatched  away  by  death  dn  1st  November,  1785. 
Yet  he  will  not  have  died  in  vain,  if  his  sudden  mortality 
shall  convince  us  of  the  instability  of  all  human  prospects, 
and  shall  so  teach  us  to  number  our  days,  that  we  may  apply 
our  hearts  unto  wisdom. 

Short,  Bernard,  O.S.B.,  born  in  Bath  6th  October,  1800 ; 
educated  at  Acton  Burnell  and  Downside ;  professed  10th 
February,  1820;  and  was  ordained  by  Monsignore  Weld  on 
St.  Barnabas'  day,  1827.  After  rendering  valuable  service 
at  Downside  College,  he  was  sent  in  1830  to  the  Malvern 
mission,  subsequently  to.  Woolton ;  but  since  January  7th, 
1851,  he  has  been  stationed  at  Stanbrook. 

Shortland,  Rutherford  John,  born  on  Dartmoor  24th 
March,  1814 ;  educated  at  Plymouth  and  Harrow  from  1828 
to  1833,  under  Dr.  Longley,  now  bishop  of  Ripon;  then  ma- 
triculated at  Oriel  College,  Oxford.  In  1838  he  was  ordained 
priest  by  Dr.  C.  R.  Sumner,  bishop  of  Winchester.  After 
serving  several  curacies,  he  was  directed  by  the  grace  of  God 
to  Dr.  Newman,  who  reconciled  him  to  the  Catholic  Churcli, 
at  the  Oratory,  Birmingham,  on  Whitsunday,  8th  June,  1851. 
On  the  following  February  he  proceeded  to  Rome,  and  was 
the  first  person  admitted  (November,  1852)  into  the  Collegio 
Ecclesiastico,  now  Pio.  The  climate  disagreeing  with  his 
health,  he  left  Rome  in  October,  1853,  for  Oscott,  where,  in 
the  September  of  1854,  he  was  made  subdeacon,  on  Holy 
Saturday,  1855,  deacon,  and  priest  in  the  September  follow- 
ing. Five  weeks  later,  on  28th  October,  1855,  he,  com- 
menced his  missionary  life  at  Plymouth :  and  on  18th  Sep- 
tember, 1856,  was  installed  a  canon  of  the  Plymouth  chapter, 
vice  Canon  Morris,  resigned. 

Smelt,  Robert,  educated  in  the  English  College,  at  Rome. 
After  serving  the  English  mission  about  twenty  years  he 
was  appointed  agent  of  the  English  clergy  in  the  eternal 
city,  vice  Stonor.  He  is  connected  with  this  district  by 
having  been  chaplain,  at  Dorchester,  to  Humphry  Weld, 
Esq.,  whilst  Chidiock  House  was  building.  He  died  in 
London,  shortly  after  his  return,  24th  August,  1814,  set. 
sixty-seven. 


BIOGRAPHICAL   LIST   OF    THE    CLERGY.  413 

Smith,  Edward,  came  to  Poole  about  Michaelmas,  1836, 
vice  a  Mr.  Leyne,  who  had  taken  French  leave  after  eleven 
months.  This  successor  also  quitted  his  post  on  3rd  August, 
1838,  probably  in  consequence  of  irregularity  in  receiving 
his  stipend. 

Smith,  John. — I  meet  with  two  worthy  members  of  the 
secular  clergy  of  this  name.  The  senior  died  at  Bearscombe, 
near  Kingsbridge,  about  the  year  1749,  and  was  buried  in 
Dodbrook  Church,  Devon.  The  junior  entered  the  English 
College  at  Rome  in  1754;  quitted  for  the  mission  26th  May, 
1766;  was  chaplain  at  Marnhull,  it  is  said,  for  six  years; 
then  served  Mr.  Arundell  of  Bath  in  the  same  capacity; 
finally  became  attached  to  the  Portuguese  embassy  in  London, 
and  died  28th  April,  1817,  aet.  seventy-eight. 

Smythe,  Laurence,  born  in  Ireland  14th  June,  1825; 
educated  at  AUhallows  College,  Dublin;  on  29th  June, 
1854,  was  ordained  priest  by  Dr.  Moriarty,  the  newly  con- 
secrated bishop  of  Antigona,  and  coadjutor  to  the  Right  Rev. 
Dr.  Egan,  of  Kerry.  Four  months  later  he  was  sent  to 
Spetibury,  but  within  five  months  was  removed  to  Plymouth. 
From  23rd  November,  1855,  he  was  assistant  to  the  Ven. 
Canon  Tilbury,  at  Weymouth.  He  left  for  America  24th 
July,  1856. 

SoDERiNi,  Tiberius,  bom  at  Rome,  of  a  good  family; 
after  a  suitable  education,  joined  the  Society  of  Jesus.  On 
his  promotion  to  holy  orders,  he  was  employed  as  a  missionary 
in  the  Rocky  Mountains  of  North  America :  but  his  constitu- 
tional temperament  showed  that  he  was  better  fitted  for  a 
college  than  that  laborious  occupation ;  and  after  four  years' 
trial  he  became  an  ex-Jesuit.  Coming  to  this  country,  he  was 
engaged  in  1853  to  serve  the  mission  of  Falmouth,  but  did 
not  stay  above  a  twelvemonth.  I  believe  that  this  devout 
and  amiable  priest  has  returned  to  Italy. 

Southcott,  Amandus,  O.S.B.,  of  Devonshire,  often  passed 
by  the  name  of  Captain  Southcott.  He  died  on  8th  June, 
1653,  at  Mr.  Thomas  Kirkham's  house  (Bidwell),  Newton 
St.  Gyre's  parish,  near  Exeter.  Can  this  be  the  Mr.  South- 
cott for  whose  apprehension  R.  ReyneU  issued  a  warrant  ? — 
(See  Part  First,  p.  8.) 

Southworth,  Ralph,  of  Goosenargh  parish,  co.  Lancaster,* 
and  of  a  sterling  Catholic  family,  that  could  boast  of  its 

*  He  had  three  reverend  brothers,  all  alumni  of  Douay  College : — 
William,  who  died  in  May,  1814;  Thomas,  who  died  at  Sedgley-park 
9th  June,  1816 ;  Richard,  at  Brookhampton,  9th  December,  1817. 


414  BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST    OF    THE    CLERGY. 

martyr,  the  Rev.  John  Southworth,  who  signed  his  faith  with 
his  blood  at  Tyburn  on  38th  June,  1654,  set.  sixty-two. — (See 
his  interesting  acts  in  Bishop  Challoner's  Memoirs.) 

Ralph  was  sent  early  to  that  sanctuary  of  religion  and 
learning,  Douay  College,  and  became  one  of  its  luminaries. 
For  the  last  twenty-seven  years  of  his  life  he  was  the  director 
of  the  Augustinian  nuns  of  Louvain,  now  at  Spetisbury.  Here 
he  died  13th  July,  1810,  aged  sixty-three.  His  reverend 
friend,  Dr.  Coombes,  wrote  his  epitaph,  viz. — 

"  Here  Southworth  lies,  who  claims  the  Muse's  lays, 
A  man  deserving  of  no  vulgar  praise  : 
Alike  in  Sciences  and  useful  Arts 
From  early  youth  he  showed  distinguished  parts, 
But  chief  to  him  was  Sacred  Learning  giv'n  ; 
Thus,  a  safe  guide,  he  taught  the  road  to  heav'n. 
The  choicest  friend,  without  the  guile  of  art. 
In  manners  simple,  but  sincere  of  heart. 
O !  thou,  who  here  appreachest,  guest  or  friend, 
Pour  forth  one  prayer,  not  heedless  of  thy  end, 
That  God  in  mercy  to  his  eyes  display 
The  opening  visions  of  eternal  day." 

Speakman,  Thomas,  S.J.,  nephew  of  the  Rev.  Thomas 
Tilbury,  was  born  at  Ashton,  co.  Lancaster,  on  18th  January, 
1811.  He  is  connected  with  the  west  by  being  appointed 
assistant  to  F.  George  Bampton  at  the  restoration  of  St. 
Joseph's  mission,  Bristol,  and  to  the  Jesuits  in  October,  1847. 
I  understand  that  he  is  at  present  employed  at  Lydiate,  near 
Liverpool. 

Spooner,  Samuel,  born  at  Dartmouth  on  17th  September, 
1785 ;  whilst  a  youth,  was  converted  at  Lisbon,  and  was 
admitted  for  education  into  the  English  College  of  that  city, 
and  nominated  by  his  patron,  the  marquis  of  Ponte  de  Lima, 
to  a  small  benefice  in  Portugal.  However,  it  was  at  St. 
Edmund's  College  that  he  was  promoted  to  priesthood  in  the 
Advent  of  1809.  For  some  time  he  served  Swansea  and 
Chepstow;  and  on  10th  December,  1815,  succeeded  Abbe 
Guilbert  at  Plymouth;  but  I  regret  to  add  that,  at  the 
end  of  four  years  and  eight  months.  Bishop  CoUingridge  was 
obliged  to  remove  him.  After  a  rambling  life,  during  which 
he  was  the  victim  of  much  mental  anguish,  bodily  pain,  and 
severe  destitution,  but  steadfast  in  the  faith,  he  made  a  pious 
end  on  Thursday,  8th  August,  1839,  in  London,  and  was 
buried  at  Moorfields.  In  the  opinion  of  many,  he  was  better 
suited  for  an  actor  than  a  missionary.  He  left  behind  him 
a  worthy  and  an  attached  sister,  Mrs.  Mary  Bovey. 

Stanley,  Edward,  alias  Biddlecorn. — Of  this  native  of 


BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST   OF    THE    CLERGY.  415 

Dorset,  I  can  hardly  glean  anything.  He  was  one  of  the  ten 
sent  from  Douay  to  colonize  the  new  seminary  at  Lisbon^ 
where  he  arrived  on  14th  November,  1628. 

Stanley,  John,  born  in  London,  3rd  October,  1759, 
succeeded  Mr.  Bishop,  as  Mr.  Rawe  informed  me,  in  1789. 
After  thirty-one  years'  service,  on  13th  October,  1820,  he 
resigned  the  charge  of  the  congregation,  from  bodily  infir- 
mity ;  but  continued  riveted  to  the  spot  until  his  death,  14th 
April,  1828.  He  bequeathed  to  the  better  maintenance  of 
his  successors  there,  the  sum  of  JS200  ;  and  previous  to  his 
resignation,  he  had  witnessed  that  the  said  Mr.  Rawe  had 
proved  himself  the  benefactor  to  his  mission  by  settling  on  it 
an  annuity  of«£20. 

Stanley,  Thomas,  S.J.,  born  at  Hooton,  Cheshire,  17th 
January,  O.S.,  1715,  became  a  novice  at  Watten  in  1732, 
and  was  enrolled  amongst  the  professed  fathers  in  1750,  On 
21st  December,  1769,  he  was  appointed  rector  of  Bruges  Col- 
lege. Soon  after  the  marriage  of  his  niece  Miss  Mary  Massey 
Stanley  to  the  late  Thomas  Weld,  Esq.,  he  went  to  reside  at 
Lullworth  Castle,  where,  upwards  of  thirty  years  later,  on 
2nd  June,  1805,  he  surrendered  his  meek  and  innocent  soul 
to  God,  in  his  ninetieth  year,  and  was  buried  in  the  vault  of 
the  Weld  family.  His  friend,  the  Rev.  Charles  Plowden,  wrote 
his  epitaph ;  but  by  not  attending  to  the  difference  between 
the  old  and  new  style,  in  this  country,  from  1st  January, 
1752,  has  made  Mr.  Stanley  older  than  he  really  was. 

Starkey,  alias  Hanmer,  Jos.,  O.S.B. — All  that  I  recover 
of  this  good  monk  is,  that  he  served  Leighland  for  some 
time,  and  that  he  died  on  14th  March,  1754. 

Stephens,  John,  S.J.  —  This  reverend  father  and  able 
scholar  was  born  a.d.  1603,  in  Gloucesterhire,  joined  the 
society  at  the  age  of  twenty-one,  and  was  admitted  amongst 
the  professed  fathers  on  4th  May,  1640.  His  merits  led  to 
his  being  appointed  rector  of  the  English  college  at  Rome 
in  October,  1659;  but  owing  to  the  premature  death  of 
P.  John  Clayton,  who  had  died  rector  of  Liege,  16th  April, 
1663,  his  services  in  the  same  capacity  were  required  in  that 
quarter.  I  think  he  ended  his  days  in  that  city,  10th 
February,  1667. 

Stephens,  Richard,  D.D.,  of  Wilts,  leaving  England 
and  its  new  religion,  went  to  Douay  College  in  1574;  but 
returned  twelve  years  later  to  enlighten  the  minds  and  hearts 
of  his  erring  countrymen,  as  his  Jesuit  brother  Thomas  was 
engaged  in  doing  in  the  East-India  mission.     The  period  of 


416  BIOGRATPHICAL    LIST   OF    THE    CLERGY. 

his  death  is  unrecorded ;  but  it  probably  occurred  at  Paris 
during  the  reign  of  King  James  I.  This  reverend  gentle- 
man had  been  secretary  to  Jewel,  Bishop  of  Salisbury. — 
See  Dodd's  Ch.  Hist.,  vol.  ii.  p.  386. 

Stephens,  Thomas,  S.J.,  of  the  diocese  of  Salisbury, 
educated  at  Oxford ;  joined  the  Society  of  Jesus  11th  October, 
1578.  On  4th  April  of  the  following  year  he  sailed  from 
Lisbon,  to  devote  himself  to  the  East-Indian  missions.  He 
landed  at  Goa,  after  a  dangerous  voyage,  on  the  24th  October, 
that  year.  In  that  city,  where  he  had  brought  forth  much 
fruit,  he  ended  his  days  in  1619,  set.  seventy. 

It  is  not  generally  known  that  he  was  the  first  to  compose 
a  grammar  in  the  Indian  language.  He  also  wrote  for  the 
natives  the  "  Christian  Doctrine,"  and  a  "  Metrical  Expla- 
nation of  the  Mysteries  of  Eaith."  This  able  Jesuit  was 
brother  to  the  preceding  Rev.  Richard  Stephens. 

Story,  Richard,  S.J.,  according  to  Dodd  (Ch.  Hist., 
vol.  ii.  137),  was  a  native  of  Gloucestershire ;  but  his  account 
must  be  inaccurate,  unless  we  suppose  that  there  were  two 
Jesuits  of  this  name.  F.  Henry  More,  in  his  Hist.,  p.  18,  says 
that  F.  Rich.  Story  entered  the  society  at  Tournay,  in  the  six- 
teenth year  of  his  age ;  that  Germany,  Hungary,  and  Italy  wit- 
nessed his  heroic  zeal  and  charity ;  and  that  he  was  rewarded 
with  the  death  of  the  righteous  on  18th  September,  1600. 

StourtoNj  John,  O.S.B. — The  eighth  and  youngest  son 
of  William,  the  eleventh  Lord  Stourton,  by  his  wife  Eliza- 
beth, daughter  of  Sir  John  Preston,  Bart.  He  took  the 
habit  at  St.  Gregory's,  Douay ;  and  eventually  was  elected, 
in  1717,  the  eighteenth  prior  of  that  community,  and  pre- 
sided for  four  years.  All  that  I  can  glean  of  him  in  the 
sequel  is,  that  his  death  occurred  at  Antwerp,  3rd  October, 
1748,  as  I  learn  from  the  journal  of  F.  Dominic  Darbyshire, 
who  attended  him,  and  who  had  been  summoned  from 
Ugbrooke  the  year  before,  to  fill  the  office  of  prior  of 
Bornham. 

Stourton,  Thomas,  O.S.B.  —  He  was  the  fourth  son  of 
William,  the  tenth  Lord  Stourton,  by  Frances,  daughter  of 
Sir  Edw.  Moore,  of  Odyham,  Knt.  In  vain  have  I  inquired 
for  his  age :  it  is  certain,  however,  that  he  died  before  his 
noble  father ;  consequently  before  the  25th  April,  1672. 

Strickland,  William,  S.J.,  clarum  et  venerabile  nomen. 
— For  his  memoir  I  must  refer  the  reader  to  my  Collectanea 
S.J.  He  is  connected  with  the  West  by  having  zealously 
served  Ugbrooke  between  the  departure  of  F.  Frost  and  the 


BIOGRAPHICAL   LIST   OF    THE    CLERGY.  417 

arrival  of  F.  Jos.  Reeve.  Dying  in  London  on  St.  George's 
Feast,  1819,  rel.  71,  sac.  63,  his  remains  were  deposited  in 
St.  Pancras'  Cemetery. 

Strutt,  Wilfrid,  O.S.B.,  alias  Tufton,  alias  Bridgeman, 
born  in  Middlesex,  20tli  May,  1710;  educated  and  ordained 
at  Rome ;  but  admitted  to  his  religious  profession  in  Lamb- 
spring  Abbey,  6th  July,  1743;  was  on  the  Leighland  and 
Lanherne  mission  for  some  time,  and  closed  an  edifying  life 
by  a  peaceful  death  at  Larabspring,  on  5th  December,  1782. 

Sumner,  James,  O.S.F.,  born  at  Chipping,  Lancashire, 
in  1775.  For  several  years  he  was  employed  in  the  western 
district  by  Bishop  CoUingridge,  at  Clare  House,  at  Canning- 
ton,  and  occasionally  at  Plymouth,  and  even  at  Bristol.  He 
died  at  Taunton  10th  July,  1822,  and  was  interred  in  the 
conventual  ground. 

Sumner,  Richard,  O.S.F.,  twin  brother  to  James,  afore- 
said. He  succeeded  the  Rev.  William  Roberts  at  Clare  House, 
Plymouth,  in  August,  1821,  and  there  dying  within  a  week 
after  his  brother  James,  on  16th  July,  1822,  was  interred 
in  the  nuns'  burial-ground,  at  Coxside. 

Sutton,  Henry  (Ignatius),  O.S.B.,  was  born  in  Liver- 
pool, 12th  October,  1812 ;  went  to  Ampleforth  in  Sep- 
tember, 1831,  and  was  professed  there  (with  F.  Clement 
Worsley)  in  February,  1834.  He  was  ordained  priest  by  the 
Right  Rev.  Dr.  Briggs  in  May,  1837 ;  was  attached  to  the 
mission  at  Chipping  Sodbury  in  October,  1842,  where  he 
remained  until  July,  1846,  and  is.  now  at  Coventry. 

Sutton,  William,  vere  Scrimshaw,  born  in  Lancashire 
in  1711,  was  admitted  into  the  English  college  at  Rome  in 
1726.  His  first  mission  was  at  Beeston,  in  Broad  Hemp- 
ston  parish,  the  seat  of  the  Rowes  and  the  Husseys;  but  the 
late  Mr.  James  Brooke  remembered  that  he  used  to  come  up 
to  Exeter  once  a  month,  to  do  duty,  and  to  put  up  at  Searle's 
Bear  Inn,  in  South  Street.  This  was  before  the  Rev.  William 
Gillibrand  settled  in  Exeter,  soon  after  the  coronation  of 
King  Geo.  III.  Afterwards  he  served  for  a  time  the  missions 
of  Leighland  and  Cannington;  but  for  the  last  thirty-two 
years  of  his  life  resided  at  Hilary  House,  Axminster.  There 
this  venerable  missionary  died,  full  of  days  and  merits,  on 
23rd  January,  1800,  universally  respected,  and  was  buried  on 
the  north  side  of  the  parish  churchyard. 

SwABRiCK,  John  Aloysius  Gregory,  born  at  Preston, 
23rd  May,  1802;  educated  at  Sedgley  Park,  Ushaw,  and 
Rome ;  professed  a  hermit  of  Camaldoli  23rd  May,  1830 ; 

2  E 


418  BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST    OF    THE    CLERGY. 

left  for  Prior  Park,  where  he  was  ordained  subdeacon  in  the 
Lent,  and  deacon  in  the  Advent  of  1832;  and  priest  at 
Pentecost,  1833.  Soon  after,  he  was  rapidly  transferred  to 
Spetisbury,  Axminster,  and  Lyme;  but  whither  he  winged 
his  flight  after  1838, 1  cannot  discover. 

Sweeney,  James  Patrick  (Norbert),  O.S.B.,  was  born 
in  Baugalore,  Hindostan,  on  3rd  November,  1821.  At  the 
age  of  fourteen  he  reached  Downside,  and  was  admitted  to 
the  religious  profession  by  the  prior,  Dr.  Brown,  on  24th 
June,  1889.  He  and  F.  Benedict  Blount  were  the  two 
first  from  Downside  College  who  took  the  degree  of  B.A.  in 
the  London  University.  After  discharging  the  offices  of 
sacristan,  librarian,  cantor,  infirmarian,  and  assistant-prefect, 
he  was  ordained  priest  at  Downside,  by  Dr.  Charles  Henry 
Davis,*  O.S.B.,  bishop  of  Maitland,  on  18th  March,  1848; 
In  August,  1850,  he  was  appointed  professor  of  philosophy 
and  theology.  Three  years  later,  he  was  made  sub-prior.  Thus 
qualified  by  passing  through  all  the  grades  of  a  monastic  and 
collegiate  life,  he  was  deservedly  promoted  to  the  priorship 
of  Downside  at  the  general  chapter  in  July,  1854.  To  his 
patient  attention  to  my  inquiries,  I  must  ever  hold  myself 
deeply  indebted. 

Sweet,  John,  S.J. — In  Part  I.,  Chapter  I.,  I  have  entered 
into  minute  details  of  his  capture  in  St.  Lawrence's  parish, 
Exeter,  on  14th  November,  1621,  and  of  his  conveyance  to 
London  by  two  messengei-s  of  his  Majesty's  chamber. 

This  learned  Jesuit,  a  native  of  Devonshire,  finished  his 
higher  studies  at  Rome.  After  his  promotion,  in  1608,  to 
priesthood,  he  appears  to  have  entered  the  society  at  Naples. 
For  some  time  he  was  employed  as  penitentiary  at  St,  Peter's, 
but  being  sent  to ,  the  English  mission,  became  a  useful 
labourer  in  the  vineyard,  and  the  parent  of  many  children  in 
Christ,  says  P.  Nathaniel  Southwell. 

At  the  accession  of  King  Charles  I.,  in  1625,  it  seems  that 
he  was  banished.  He  reached  the  College  of  St.  Omer's  in  a 
feeble  state  of  health,  and  there  Almighty  God,  whom  he  had 
served  from  his  youth,  saw  fit  to  call  him  to  his  recompense 
and  his  repose. 

Synnqtt,  Michael  (Placid),.  O.S.B.,  was  bom  in  May, 
1803,  at  Bunarge,  in  Carne  parish,  co.  "Wexford.  After  pre- 
vious study  in  St.  Peter's  College,  Wexford,  he  reached  St. 
Gregory's,  Downside,.on  15th  December,  1825  ;  took  the  habit 

*  This  ornament  of  Downside,  and  coadjutor  of  Archbishop  Poldini? 
had  been  consecrated  on  the  25th  February  of  that  year  j  but,  alas !  to 
the  regret  of  all  good  men,  was  prematurely  cut  down' by  death  at  Sydney 
on  17th  May,  1864,  set.  thirty-nine ;  rel.  twenty-two  ;  sac.  fourteen. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST   OF    THE    CLERGY.  41& 

in  the  following  month,  and  made  his  solemn  profession  15th 
February,  1827.  After  Easter,  in  1831,  he  was  sent,  with 
Dr.  Ullathorne,  from  Downside  to  Ampleforth,  and  was  pro- 
moted to  priesthood  by  Bishop  Penswick,  at  Ushaw  College, 
24th  September  of  that  year.  Returning  to  Downside 
in  June,  1834,  obedience  has  employed  him  in  the  nu- 
merous missions  of  Little  Malvern ;  St.  Peter's  Cliapel,  Seal 
Street,  Liverpool ;  St.  Benedict's  Priory,  Staffordshire  j 
Weobly,  Ilerefordsire,  Coventry,  Bungay,  &c.  &c.  He  was 
transferred  to  Chidiock  on  8th  November,  1854,  where  I 
trust  he  will  be  permitted  to  continue  for  many  years  his 
fearless  and  zealous  exertions  in  the  cause  of  religion. 


T. 

Talbot,  O'Neil,  the  younger  son  of  Admiral  Sir  John 
Talbot,  by  his  lady  the  Hon.  Julia  Talbot,*  was  bom  at 
Rhode  Hill,  parish  of  Uplime,  on  2nd  February,  1830.  He 
studied  partly  at  Prior  Park,  and  partly  in  the  College  of 
Nobles  at  Rome ;  where,  embracing  the  ecclesiastical  estate, 
he  was  promoted  to  priesthood  on  2nd  June,  1855. 
"  Bonam  spem  pvtelucet  in  posterum." 

Mr.  Talbot  has  I'ecently  been  appointed  secretary  to 
Bishop  Vaughan. 

Talbot,  Thomas,  S.J.,  born  in  Lancashire,  21st  July, 
1717  J  admitted  at  Watten  7th  September,  1735  j  professed 
2nd  February,  1753.  From  being  prefect  of  studies  at 
St.  Omer's,  he  became  the  missionary  of  Odstock,  and  then 
of  Canford ;  but  for  mjmy  years  before  his  death,  was  fixed 
in  London,  where  he  finished  his  course  12th  October,  1799, 
and  was  buried  in  St.  Giles's  Church  there. 

Tate,  Joseph,  S.J.,  bom  at  Appleton,  co.  York,  30th 
December,  1771,  and  studied  well  at  Liege  and  Stonyhiirst. 
He  is  connected  with  the  West  by  his  appointment  to  Bristol 
in  November,  1812 ;  but  which  he  quitted  in  disgust  ten 
years  later,  as  I  have  stated  in  Part  I.,  Chapter  XII.  He 
was  one  of  those  who  might  complain  in  the  words  of  Horace 
(Epist.,  lib.  ii.  ep.  i.) : — 

"  Ploravere  suis  non  respondere  favorem 
Speratum  mei'itis." 

*  Their  mamage  was  celebrated  at  Wardour  on  17th  Octoher,  1815  ; 
and  this  model  of  wives  and  mothers  received  her  heavenly  crown  on 
9tli  October,  1843.  To  her  meek  example,  to  her  merits  and  prayers, 
may  be  attributed  the  grace  of  her  husband's  conversion  about  a  year 
before  liis  pious  deatli,  7th  July,  1851 ,  a;t.  eighty-three. 

2  E   2 


420  BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST    OP   THE    CLERGY. 

Proceeding  to  Rome,  he  entered  the  novitiate  of  St.  An- 
drew's on  12th  February,  1823,  where  he  gave  general  edifi- 
cation by  his  singular  fervour  and  docility.  On  his  return  he 
commenced  the  new  mission  at  Yarmouth,  Norfolk,  where  he 
found  twelve  disciples  only,  as  St.  Paul  had  done  at  Ephesus 
(Acts  xix.) ;  but  the  number  rapidly  increased  through  his 
indefatigable  zeal  and  charity.  Obedience  having  transferred 
him  to  Bury  St.  Edmund's  on  May  5,  1835,  its  present  com- 
modious chapel  was  opened  by  him  14th  December,  1837,  on 
which  occasion  F.  Charles  Lomax  preached.  Norwich  and 
Tunbridge  Wells  afterwards  had  the  benefit  of  his  efficient 
ministry ;  hut  his  constitution  becoming  broken  with  infir- 
mity, he  was  summoned  to  Stonyhurst  on  16th  November, 
1841 ;  and  on  16th  July,  1842,  exchanged  this  life  for  an 
immortal  one.  He  had  been  deservedly  promoted  to  the  rank 
of  a  professed  father  on  15th  August,  1833, 

Thebault,  l'Abbe,  of  the  diocese  of  Avranches.  Emi- 
grating at  the  Revolution,  he  was  attached  to  Tor  Abbey  for 
a  time ;  but  removed  to  Sidmouth,  where  he  resided  full  ten 
years,  and  where  he  made  himself  universally  respected 
and  esteemed  by  his  courteous  bearing.  I  have  known  as 
many  as  twenty  Catholics  attend  his  ministry  there,  besides 
others.  To  my  regret,  this  friendly  abbe  left  Sidmouth  to 
return  to  France  at  the  restoration  of  the  Bourbons,  and 
died  at  Avranches,  14th  July,  1823,  set.  sixty. 

Thomas,  Basil,  O.S.B. — This  good  religious  of  Ampleforth 
reached  Chidiock  very  early  in  1853 ;  but  to  the  grief  of  his 
flock  was  carried  off  on  7th  September,  the  same  year,  set. 
thirty-nine,  rel.  18,  sacerd.  15.  Of  him  I  may  say,  "  In 
the  midst  of  life,  he  consumed,  like  incense  upon  the  altar, 
burning  bright,  and  diffusing  fragrance,  until  not  a  particle 
could  be  discovered." 

Thompson,  Charles,  S. J.,  was  born  in  Maryland  7th  Sep- 
tember, 1746,  and  entered  the  Society  at  the  age  of  twenty. 
After  his  promotion  to  priesthood,  he  served  Witham  Hall,  in 
Essex;  next  Grifford's  Hall,  near  Colchester;  and  then,  on 
the  death  of  F.  John  Grage,  in  October,  1790,  he  removed 
to  Bury  St.  Edmund's.  Ill-health  coming  on,  he  retired  to 
Bristol,  rendering  what  assistance  he  could  to  F.  Robert 
Plowden,  and  there  he  slept  in  the  Lord,  on  6th  April, 
1795. 

Thornhill,  Edmund,  of  the  diocese  of  Sarura,  was  an 
alumnus  of  the  English  College  at  Rome,  from  16th  May, 
1581,  to  August  1587,  when  he  entered  the  congregation  of 


BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST   OF    THE    CLERGY.  421 

the  Oratory,  at  St.  Jerome's,  where  he  lived  much  esteemed 
and  beloved,  and  died  23rd  May,  1617.  He  had  the  privi- 
lege of  being  intimately  acquainted  with  St.  Philip  Neri.  A 
poem  written  in  1617  shows  how  the  saint  rejoiced  at  his 
sight : — 

"  Cum  videt  Edmundi  pectora  digna  Deo." 

I  suspect  that  the  Rev.  John  Thomhill,  D.D.,  a  great 
luminary  of  Douay  College  (Dodd,  vol.  ii.  p.  376),  was  his 
brother. 

TicHBURNE,  Henry,  S.J.,  of  Salisbury,  enrolled  himself 
amongst  the  children  of  St.  Ignatius  11th  October,  1587. 
To  the  rising  seminary  at  Seville,  he  multiplied  his  eflScient 
services.  The*e  he  appears  to  have  died,  in  1606,  "  magni 
cum  opinione  sanctitatis  et  doctrinse,"  says  F.  Hen.  More,  in 
his  Hist.,  p.  290. 

TiDMARSH  (Benedict),  O.S.B.,  born  at  Beckford,  co. 
Gloucester,  21st  October,  1818 ;  received  the  name  of 
Joseph  in  baptism ;  reached  Downside  in  September,  1830 ; 
professed  8th  December,  1836;  proceeded  to  St.  Stephen's 
Abbey,  Augsburg,  in  November,  1839,  to  teach  English, 
and  learn  German  ;  but  returned  home  in  August,  1841. 
Bishop  Ullathorne  ordained  him  priest  at  Downside  on 
19th  September,  1846.  Since  August,  1854,  he  has  filled 
the  office  of  sub-prior. 

Tilbury,  Thomas,  born  at  Midhurst  17th  October,  1780; 
began  his  education  at  Stonyhurst  in  March,  1795;  was 
ordained  priest  by  Bishop  Gibson  at  Durham,  on  28th  May, 
1806;  and  on  29th  October,  the  following  year,  became 
domestic  chaplain  to  the  Weld  family  at  Pilewell.  His  kind 
patron,  Mr.  J.  Weld,  who  admired  his  sterling  good  sense 
and  peaceful  virtues,  and  felt  a  special  interest  in  the 
Chidiock  mission,  void  by  the  death  of  F.  Lewis,  requested 
as  a  favour  that  he  would  transfer  his  services  to  this 
larger  field  for  exertion.  My  reverend  and  dear  friend 
readily  consented,  and  took  possession  of  the  missionary 
premises  of  Chidiock  on  14th  November,  1809 ;  where 
for  thirty-one  consecutive  years,  amidst  many  discom- 
forts and  trials,  and  much  bodily  pain,  he  exhibited  the 
character  and  "  the  pattern  of  the  flock  from  the  heart." — ■ 
(1  Peter,  v.  3.)  On  20th  November,  1840,  he  quitted  for 
Weymouth.  This  patriarch  of  his  brethren  was  made  a  canon 
of  the  Plymouth  chapter  6th  December,  1853.  After  strug- 
gling with  a  most  painful  disorder,  which  he  endured  with 
exemplary  patience  and  fortitude,  he   meekly  resigned  his 


423  BIOGRAPHICAL   LIST   OP    THE    CLERGY. 

iunocent  soul  to  the  God  he  had  loved  and  honoured,  on  9th 
June,  1856 ;  and  was  the  first  that  was  buried  in  the  new 
cemetery  at  Stapehill,  on  Saturday,  14th. 

"  Pius,  prudens,  hiimilis,  pudicus, 
Sobriam  duxit  sine  labe  vitam." 

Timings,  Charles. — This  truly  venerable,  humble,  meek, 
and  learned  missionary  was  born  in  London  23nd  August, 
1757;  was  amongst  the  earliest  arrivals  at  Sedgley  Park,  in 
1765,  but  at  the  age  of  fourteen  was  sent  to  St.  Alban's 
College,  Valladolid;  and  in  the  March  of  1783  commenced 
his  priestly  career,  in  Devon.  For  nineteen  years  the  apostolic 
man  had  the  charge  of  the  faithful  dispersed  in  Dartmouth, 
Totness,  Plymouth,  and  generally  throughout  the  South 
Hams,-  but  on  39th November,  1801,  he  accepted  the  situa- 
tion of  domestic  chaplain  at  PoUaton,  an  estate  purchased  in 
1788,  by  the  late  Edward  Cary,  Esq.  The  latter  years  of  his 
life  were  attended  with  much  bodily  suffering ;  but  they  were 
soothed  by  the  attentions  of  his  considerate  friend  and 
patroness,  Mrs.  Edward  Cary,*  in  whose  house  at  Torquay 
he  breathed  his  last,  on  Saturday,  8th  December,  1833,  in  the 
seventy-fifth  year  of  his  age.  He  was  buried  on  the  13th 
December,  in  Tor  Mohun  churchyard.  I  do  not  insert  the 
epitaph  on  his  gravestone,  as  there  are  several  mistakes. 

TooKEY,  John,  born  39th  March,  1831,  in  the  parish  of 
the  Holy  Cross,  in  the  town  of  Tipperary ;  studied  humani- 
ties and  philosophy  in  Thurles  College ;  but,  in  September, 
1850,  proceeded  to  Maynooth,  to  pursue  a  quadrennial  course 
of  theology.  On  35th  June,  1854,  he  was  ordained  priest  at 
Carlow.  Soon  after,  placing  himself  under  the  jurisdiction 
of  the  bishop  of  Plymouth,  he  was  directed  to  serve  Bodmin 
from  Lanherne  convent  for  a  year  and  eight  months  :  since 
Saturday,  15th  March,  1856,  he  has  been  stationed  at  Ax- 
minster. 

ToucHET  (Gregory),  George,  O.S.B.,  second  son  of  the 
unhappy  Mervin,  ninth  Lord  Audley,  by  his  first  wife,  Eliza- 
beth Barnham.  The  melancholy  fate  of  this  apostate  peer 
I  have  shown  in  Part  I.,  Chap.  VIII. 

George  was  professed  at  Douay,  and  was .  appointed,  in 
1671,  one  of  Queen  Catharine's  chaplains  at  Somerset  House. 
He  must  have  died  before  1678,  as  his  name  does  not  appear 

*  Her  maiden  name  was  Bridget  O'Ferrall.  The  clergy  and  all  the 
poor  can  never  forget  that  it  was  her  delight  to  make  eveiy  one  happy 
around  her.  Her  husband  died  at  FoUaton,  17th  January,  1822,  aged 
eighty-seven.  She  retired  to  her  house  at  Torquay  for  several  years ; 
but  ended  her  days  at  Versailles  on  3rd  July,  1847.    R.I.P. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST   OF    THE    CLERGY.  423 

in  the  entail,  when  the  Act  of  Parliament  passed  for  restoring 
the  titles  and  estates.  He  was  the  author  of  the  well-known 
"  Historical  Collections,"  of  which  the  first  edition  was 
published  in  1674,  and  the  second  in  1686. 

Tbavers,  John,  S.J.,  born  in  Devon,  a.d.  1616.  At  the 
age  of  twenty-six  he  was  admitted  into  the  Society ;  thirteen 
years  later  I  meet  him  teaching  philosophy  at  Liege.  Pro- 
ceeding afterwards  to  the  English  mission,  he  often  passed  by 
the  name  of  Savage.  In  the  "  Life  of  Lady  Warner  "  he  is 
mentioned  with  commendation;  and,  in  fact,  was  instru- 
mental in  her  conversion.  But,  alas !  after  spending  twenty- 
eight  years  in  the  Society,  and  obtaining  the  rank  of  a 
professed  father,  he  admitted  Satan  into  his  heart,  like 
Judas  Iscariot.  Strange  to  add,  he  began  by  affecting 
scrupulosity  as  to  his  having  ever  been  properly  baptized, 
and,  deciding  for  himself,  got  himself  re-baptized  during  the 
Christmas  holidays  of  1671.  Then  assuming  the  name  and 
authority  of  the  provincial  F.  Joseph  Simeons,  and  whilst 
rector  of  his  brethren  in  the  college  of  the  Holy  Apostles, 
which  comprehended  Essex,  Suffolk,  Norfolk,  and  co.  Cam- 
bridge, he  contrived  to  procure  the  title-deeds  of  a  consider- 
able property  from  the  lay  trustees,  who  held  it  for  the  benefit 
of  the  Society,  and  then  having  succeeded  thus  far,  claimed 
it  as  his  own.  The  Annual  Letters  of  the  year  1672  report, 
that  on  discovery  of  the  fraud,  the  trustees  brought  an  action 
in  the  Court  of  Chancery,  and,  to  his  disgrace,  recovered  full 
possession  of  the  legal  estate.  He  now  abandoned  himself 
to  infamous  immorality ;  and  during  Oates's  Plot,  this  base 
apostate  exerted  all  his  malice  against  F.  Charles  Poulton,  or 
Palmer,  S.J.,  for  having  contributed  to  expose  and  defeat 
his  nefarious  swindling.  What  became  of  this  lost  man 
eludes  all  my  research. 

Travers,  Joseph,  brother  to  the  unfortunate  John  pre- 
ceding, was  entered  an  alumnus  of  the  English  College  at 
Rome  in  1645 ;  but  in  the  sequel  became  a  Discalced  Car- 
melite friar.     He  was  living  at  Christmas,  1671. 

Trelawny,  Sir  Harry,  only  son  of  Sir  William  Trelawny, 
the  sixth  baronet,  succeeded  to  the  title  and  estates  in  1772. 
Six  years  later  he  assisted  as  one  of  the  twenty-six  Presby- 
terian ministers  at  the  ordination  of  my  late  liberal  friend 
the  Rev.  James  Manning,  in  George's  Meeting  House,  South- 
street,  Exeter.  On  27th  January,  1789,  he  was  collated  to 
a  prebend  in  Exeter  Cathedral;  and  in  1791  was  admitted  to 
St.  Allen's  vicarage,  and  two  years  later  to  Egloshayle,  Corn- 
wall, both  in  the  gift  of  the  bishop  of  Exeter.    After  making 


434  BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST   OF    THE    CLERGY. 

a  trial  of  different  creeds,  he  reposed  at  last  in  the  bosom 
of  the  Catholic  Church ;  nay,  received  from  the  hands  of 
Cardinal  Odescalchi  the  dignity  of  priesthood  on  Whit- 
sunday, 30th  May,  1830.  He  died  at  Lavino,  in  Italy, 
25th,  February,  1834,  set.  seventy-eight.  Davies  Gilbert,  in 
his  "  Parochial  History  of  Coi-nwall,"  vol.  iii.  p.  301,  supposed 
that  the  baronet  had  "received  the  uominal  honour  from  the 
Holy  See  of  being  appointed  a  bishop  in  partibus  infidelium.^^ 

Trevanion,  Charles,  S.J.,  son  of  Charles  Trevanion,  of 

Carhays,  Cornwall,  Esq.,  M.P.  for  Tregony,  by  his  wife 

Drummond.  Hals,  the  Cornish  historian,  says,  "  The  youth 
was  educated  beyond  the  seas,  and  entered  into  holy  orders, 
after  the  doctrine  and  discipline  of  Rome,  as  I  am  informed." 
The  truth  is,  he  entered  the  Novitiate  at  Watten,  7th  Sep- 
tember, 1685,  and  was  professed  eighteen  years  later.  He 
resided  chiefly  in  the  neighbourhood  of  London,  and  died,  I 
think,  at  Marshgate,  near  Richmond,  on  38th  March,  1737, 
set.  seventy. 

Turner,  Richard,  S.J.,  alias  Murphv,  was  born  in  Eng- 
land, 23rd  July,  1716,  and  joined  the  Society  at  the  age  of 
eighteen.  He  is  connected  with  the  West  by  having  been  the 
incumbent  of  Salisbury  for  the  last  twenty  years  of  his  life. 
His  gravestone,  on  the  east  side  of  the  cathedral  cloister,  is 
thus  inscribed : — 

To,  the  Memory  of 

The  Rev.  Richard  Turnei-, 

Who  died  on  the  14th  of  May,  1794, 

Aged  77  years. 

R.  I.  P. 

Turner,  Robert,  of  Barnstaple.  —  This  ornament  of 
Douay  College  was  ordained  priest  in  1574,  and  merited 
the  reputation  of  superior  merit  as  a  rhetorician  and  classic. 
He  died  at  Gratz,  24th  November,  1599.  I  suspect  he  was 
the  author  of  the  Latin  treatise  printed  at  the  end  of  San- 
ders's treatise  "  De  Schismate  Anglicano,"  Cologne  j  ed.  of 
1627.— See  Dodd's  Ch.  Hist.,  vol.  ii.  p.  94.  Also  Preface  to 
Annual  Register,  1789,  p.  25. 

Tucker,  Thomas,  O.S.B.,  of  Bradford,  Wilts. — Professed 
at  Lambspring  Abbey,  18th  January,  1663.  His  death 
occurred  5th  September,  1706;  but  I  look  in  vain  for  further 
particulars. 

Tyrrell,  Anthony,  S.J.,  alias  Bonvill,  born  in  Dor- 
setshire in  1623 :  at  the  age   of  seventeen  was  entered  an 


BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST   OP    THE    CLERGY.  425 

alumnus  of  the  English  College  at  Rome ;  and  after  his  pro- 
motion to  priesthood,  entered  the  Novitiate  of  St.  Andrew's, 
in  that  city,  20th  June,  1647.  His  fame  as  a  theologian  was 
such,  says  the  "  Plorus  Anglo-Bavaricus,"  p.  50,  that  he  was 
consulted  far  and  near  as  an  oracle.  He  was  also  a  skilful 
mathematician.  Florence  and  Parma  proclaimed  his  praises 
as  a  professor ;  but  from  May,  1665,  until  his  happy  death, 
on  11th  October,  1676,  Liege  experienced  his  invaluable 
services. 

TuoMY,  John,  LL.D.,  born  in  Castle  Island,  co.  Kerry ; 
baptized  9th  March,  1785.  He  informed  me  that  his  degree 
of  doctor  of  laws  was  conferred  upon  him  26th  July,  1821, 
whilst  professor  of  mathematics  in  George-town  College. 
Quitting  America,  he  offered  his  services  to  Bishop  CoUing- 
ridge,  who  accepted  him  as  pastor  of  Cannington,  11th 
December,  1822,  but  which  he  left  for  Ampleforth  in  the 
summer  of  1826.  This  learned  but  eccentric  character,  after 
trying  some  other  places,  was  settled  at  Lanherne  in  Novem- 
ber, 1833,  and  there  death  terminated  his  course  on  19th 
October,  1843. 


U. 

Ullathorne  (Bernard),  William,  bom  near  Pocklington, 
CO.  York,  on  7th  May,  1806.  After  a  seafaring  commence- 
ment of  life,  he  took  to  the  haven  of  religion,  putting  on  the 
Benedictine  habit  on  12th  March,  1824,  at  Downside,  and 
making  his  profession  there  on  5th  April,  1825.  Promoted 
to  priesthood  24th  September,  1831,  his  superiors  allowed 
him  to  follow  the  impulse  of  his  charitable  heart  in  attending 
Catholic  prisoners  and  convicts  in  our  colonies.  In  the 
"  Catholic  Magazine"  of  November,  1834, 1  have  read  with 
delight  his  letter  dated  Sydney,  25th  March,  1833,  announcing 
his  safe  arrival  on  the  previous  Shrovetide.  It  would  fill  a 
volume  to  describe  his  zealous  labours  and  works  of  mercy. 
But  after  eight  years  of  over-exertion,  it  was  deemed  neces- 
sary for  the  recovery  of  his  constitution  that  he  should  re- 
visit his  native  country.  On  his  health  being  recruited,  he 
was  intrusted  with  the  charge  of  the  Coventry  mission,  which 
soon  assumed  a  renovated  appearance.  A  noble  church  of  the 
Holy  Sacrament  was  contemplated ;  its  foundation-stone  was 
laid  on  29th  November,  1843,  and  it  was  solemnly  opened 
for  public  worship  10th  September,  1845. 

This  western  vicariat  becoming  vacant  by  the  death  of 
Bishop  Baggs,  on  16th  October,  1845,  the  Holy  See  put  a 


426  BIOGRAPHICAL   LIST    OF    THE    CLERGY. 

stop  to  all  intrigue  and  canvassing  hy  fixing  on  Dr.  UUathorne 
for  his  successor.  Bishop  Briggs,  assisted  by  Bishops  GriflBths 
and  Wareing,  was  the  consecrating  prelate  at  Coventry,  on 
21st  June,  1846,.  the  very  day  of  Pope  Pius  IX.'s  coronation. 
His  lordship's  title  was  Episcopus  Hetalonensis. 

The  complicated  affairs  of  this  western  vicariat  compelled 
him  to  repair  to  Rome- for  consultation  in  January,  1847; 
he  expedited  his  object  most  successfully.  His  promptitude 
and  talents  for  business  induced  his  right  reverend  brethren 
in  full  meeting  to  request  him  in  May,  1848,  to  proceed  to 
Rome  to  arrange  matters  preparatory  to  the  establishment  of 
the  hierarchy  in  this  country.  On  his  return  to  Clifton  he 
urged  the  completion  of  the  church  of  the  Twelve  Apostles ; 
and  on  Dr.  Walsh's  translation  from  the  Midland  to  the 
London  District,  in  August,  1848,  our  bishop  succeeded  to 
his  charge,  and  was  enthroned  in  St.  Chad's  Cathedral, 
Birmingham,  on  Wednesday,  30th  day  of  that  month  and 
year,  when  about  ninety  of  the  clergy  attended  to  do  him 
homage.  He  returned,  however,  in  the  following  month  to 
receive  the  address  of  his  attached  clergy  of  the  Western 
District,  to  dedicate  the  new  church  of  St.  Osmund,  at 
Salisbury,  and  to  consecrate  his  dear  friend  and  late  grand 
vicar,  Dr.  Hendren,  Bishop  of  Uranopolis,  and  V.A.  of  the 
western  vicariat,  on  10th  September. 

I  must  leave  it  to  posterity  to  register  the  good  deeds  of 
this  gifted  prelate,  and  content  myself  with  importuning 
Heaven  that  a  life  so  precious  may  long  be  preserved  to  the 
Church  in  England, 


V, 

Vaughan,  William  Joseph,  of  Courtfield,  born  in  London 
14th  February,  1814  j  commenced  his  studies  at  Stonyhurst 
at  midsummer,  1823 ;  but  at  the  end  of  a  twelvemonth  was 
removed  to  St.  Acheul  for  three  years,  whence  he  proceeded 
to  St.  Mary's,  Oscott,  in  1827,  The  state  of  his  health  com- 
pelling him  to  suspend  his  studies  in  that  college  at  mid- 
summer, 1835,  he  visited  the  Eternal  City,  and  whilst  there 
received  the  minor  orders  and  subdeaconship  from  his  illus- 
trious uncle.  Cardinal  Weld.  Returning  to  Oscott  with  im- 
proved health  at  the  end  of  a  twelvemonth.  Bishop  Walsh 
ordained  him  deacon  in  1837.  At  the  commencement  of  the 
following  year  the  reverend  gentleman  went  to  Prior-park, 
and  was  promoted  to  priesthood  by  Bishop  Baines  in  the 


BIOGRAPHICAL   LIST    OF    THE    CLERGY.  427 

Ember-week  of  Lent,  1838.  On  the  following  Easter-week, 
Wednesday,  18th  April,  he  reached  Lyme,  as  mentioned  in 
Part  I.,  p.  44,  and  commenced  the  organization  of  that  ill- 
managed  infant  mission.  With  his  own  means  he  built 
the  priests'  house — he  established  a  poor-school  on  the  pre- 
mises ;  and  he  purchased  a  garden  adjoining  the  chapel  pro- 
perty, which  he  has  made  over  to  the  Lyme  mission  for  ever. 
On  19th  May,  of  1839,  he  commenced  a  series  of  public 
lectures  on  the  Doctrines  and  Practices  of  the  Catholic 
Church,  of  which  due  notice  had  been  given  by  hand-bills. 
Under  his  zealous  auspices  religion  was  making  steady  pro- 
gress, when  Bishop  Baggs,  requiring  an  ecclesiastic  of  his 
influence  and  energy  at  Prior-park,  appointed  him  presi- 
dent of  St.  Pafil's  College,  at  midsummer,  1845;  but  on 
Septuagesima  Sunday,  31st  January,  1847,  he  was  placed  at 
St.  Joseph's  Chapel,  Bristol.  On  Bishop  Ullathorne's  re- 
instating the  Jesuits  in  this  their  ancient  mission,  at  the 
end  of  October  that  same  year,  he  accepted  the  situation  of 
director  at  Sales  House.  About  a  twelvemonth  later,  when 
his  old  friend  Dr.  Hendren  was  established  vicar  apostolic  of 
the  Western  District,  Dr.  Vaughan,  on  6th  November,  1848, 
came  to  assist  him,  at  the  church  of  the  Twelve  Apostles, 
Clifton.  In  fact,  he  became  the  manager  of  that  mission; 
and  through  his  active  superintendence  the  convenient  resi- 
dence for  the  bishop  and  clergy  of  that  church  was  com- 
menced on  8th  April,  1850,  and  was  rendered  habitable  on 
8th  October  that  same  year.  And  soon  after  the  restoration 
of  the  hierarchy,  when  the  cathedral  chapter  of  Clifton  was 
framed  at  length,  on  28th  June,  1853,  my  reverend  friend 
was  selected  its  canon  penitentiary.  His  meritorious  and 
efficient  services  there  had  attracted  the  attention  of  the 
Plymouth  chapter,  which  deemed  him  an  eligible  successor 
to  Dr.  Errington,  promoted  to  the  archiepiscopal  see  of 
Trebizond,  with  coadjutorship  to  the  Cardinal  Archbishop  of 
Westminster.  Their  favourable  recommendation  was  gra- 
ciously received  by  our  holy  father  Pope  Pius  IX.,  who  on 
10th  July,  1855,  appointed  him  Bishop  of  Plymouth.  His 
consecration  was  performed  by  Archbishop  Wiseman,  on  16th 
September,  in  the  said  church  of  the  Twelve  Apostles,  which 
he  had  so  well  served  during  the  last  seven  years.  His  instal- 
lation followed  on  25th  September,  at  Plymouth,  the  birth- 
day of  his  venerable  father,*  William  Vaughan,  Esq. 

On  28th  June,  1856,  his  lordship  laid  the  first  stone  of  his 

*  Bom  25th  September,  1781. 


428  BIOGKAPHICAL    LIST    OF    THE    CLERGY. 

future  cathedral  at  Plymouth.     The  inscription,  inclosed  in  a 
glass  bottlcj  is  as  follows : — 

A.D.  MDCccLvi,  Die  XXVIII  Junii, 
Lapidem  istum  Primarium  hujus  Eoclesise  Cathedralis, 
Deo  dictatse  sub  invoeatione  Beatissimso  Virginis  Mariffi 
Sine  labe  Conceptae,  et  Sancti  Winfridi  (seu  Bonifacii), 
Episcopi  et  Martyris,  Germanise  Apostoli, 
Posuit  Reverendissinius  Dns  Gulielmus  Vaughan, 
Ep"'  II.  Plymuthensis,  Anno  XI.  Sanctissimi 
Dni  uostri  Pii  Papae  IX.    Victoria  in 
Biitanniis  feliciter  regnante. 

Herberto  Woollett,  Can.  Poen.  Plymuthensi,  et  Edwardo 

Windeyer  assistentibus. 

^    Gulielmus,  Ep"'  Plym. 

VauqtjeliNj  Felix. — This  special  friend  was  born  at  Rouen 
18th  October,  1757.  At  the  Revolution  he  found  an  asylum 
in  the  family  of  Lord  Clifford,  who  brought  him  from  London 
to  Ugbrooke  in  1794.  In  consequence  of  the  Rev.  Joseph 
Reeve's  declining  sight  and  subsequent  blindness,  he  was 
enabled  to  take  charge  of  the  Ugbrooke  congregation  for 
several  years ;  and  in  my  frequent  intercourse  with  him,  it 
■was  impossible  not  to  admire  his  disinterested  spirit,  his 
sense  of  propriety,  and  profound  and  varied  learning.  In 
September,  1816,  he  returned  to  Rouen,  where  at  once  the 
archbishop  made  him  grand  vicar.  He  died  thereabout  the 
8th  of  February,  1840.  At  Chidiock  is  preserved  a  portrait 
of  the  venerable  man. 

Venner,  alias  Farmer,  Amandtts,  O.S.B.,  of  a  decent 
family  in  the  north  of  Devon.  This  monk  of  Dieulwart  was 
a  sedulous  missioner  and  great  sufferer  by  long  imprisonment, 
and  other  persecutions  endured  for  the  faith.  According  to 
Weldon  (Notes,  p.  138),  he  died  in  London,  10th  November, 
O.S.,  1638. 

Verkier  (Vincent),  Pierre  Charles.  —  This  emigrant 
French  ecclesiastic  settled  at  Dartmouth,  and  did  its  mis- 
sionary duty  from  1799  to  1805 ;  but  when  I'Abbe  Le 
Pretre  quitted  Teignmouth  for  France,  he  transferred  himself 
thither,  where  I  knew  him  well.  At  the  restoration  of  the 
Bourbons  he  returned  to  Normandy,  and  was  made  rector  of 
Furville,  where  I  lost  sight  of  him  after  28th  August,  1827. 

Villain,  Le,  Amator  Valentin,  born,  as  he  told  me 
himself,  at  Cany,  Normandy,  5th  August,  1764;  emigrated 
in  1792;  for  many  years  taught  French  in  Bristol  to  the 
elite  of  the  gentry  in  that  city  and  neighbourhood.  He 
should  never  be  forgotten  for  his  heroic  devotion  to  the 
service  of  the  sick  amongst  the  French  prisoners  at  Dartmoor, 


BIOGRAPHICAL   LIST   OF    THE    CLEKGY.  429 

from  the  spring  of  1813  to  June  1814,  when  they  were  set 
at  liberty.  On  his  return  to  France  shortly  after,  this  truly 
good  shepherd  was  appointed  cure  to  the  parish  of  Angerville 
la  Martel,  which  he  held  until  his  happy  death  21st  Septem- 
ber, 1838. 

Vincent,  ( ). — He  was  a  native  of  Ireland  and  edu- 
cated at  Rome.  It  is  certain  that  he  was  chaplain  for  some 
time  at  Tor  Abbey.  As  well  as  I  could  make  out,  he  must 
have  succeeded  Mr.  Lewis,  who  died  in  April,  1709.  It  is 
known  that  on  leaving  the  abbey  he  went  to  Sparkwell,  a 
seat  of  the  Rowes,  in  Staverton,  and  then  I  lose  further  trace 
of  him. 

Vivian,  JoHN,*of  Dorset,  was  an  alumnus  of  Douay  College. 
He  had  laboured  several  years  in  the  mission  and  suffered 
imprisonment,  but  at  length  was  banished  the  realm  in  1585, 
with  many  others.  Bishop  Challoner  could  learn  no  further 
particulars. 


W. 

Wallis,  Francis,  S.J.,  born  in  Surrey,  1589;  at  the  age 
of  twenty-four  enrolled  himself  amongst  the  children  of  St. 
Ignatius ;  for  twenty-six  years  was  missionary  in  the  diocese 
of  Exeter,  but  twice  suffered  incarceration  for  the  faith. 
With  broken  health  he  reached  Liege,  and  died  there  on 
28th  February,  1656. 

Walmesley,  Charles,  Right  Rev.,  O.S.B. — This  Athana- 
sius  of  our  English  Catholic  Church,  and  glory  of  the  Bene- 
dictine order,  first  saw  the  light  of  day  at  Westwood  Hall, 
near  Wigan,  on  13th  January,  1722,  being  the  youngest  but 
one  of  twelve  children.  Blest  with  a  heart  naturally  formed 
for  piety,  he  dedicated  himself  at  an  early  period  of  life  to 
the  divine  service  in  the  venerable  order  of  St.  Benedict. 
His  solid  virtues  and  literary  attainments  soon  brought  him 
into  public  notice.  Some  of  his  astronomical  papers  were 
inserted  in  the  "Philosophical  Transactions"  of  1745  and 
the  two  successive  years.  In  the  "Rambler"  of  May,  1851, 
I  have  noticed  his  other  scientific  publications,  and  the 
opinion  of  his  merits  by  Professor  Playfair  and  Sir  John 
Leshe ;  and  it  is  known  that  he  was  considted  by  our  Govern- 
ment on  the  alteration  of  the  Calendar.  His  friend.  Bishop 
York,  who  knew  his  merits  and  virtues,  petitioned  the  Holy 
See  to  assign  him  for  his  coadjutor  in  this  western  vicariate 


430  BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST   OF    THE    CLERGY. 

■with  the  right  of  succession;  his  prayer  was  granted,  and  as 
I  find  in  a  letter  of  F.  John  Thorpe^  who  assisted  at  the 
ceremony^  "  Dr.  Walmesley  was  consecrated  Bishop  of  Raraa, 
in  the  Sodahty  Chapel  of  the  English  College  at  Rome,  by 
Cardinal  Lanti,  on  21st  December,  1756."  Eight  years 
later,  Dr.  York  retired  to  St.  Gregory's  Convent,  Douay, 
resigning  the  charge  of  this  extensive  vicariat  to  the  skilful 
management  of  this  young  and  active  prelate. 

During  the  protracted  and  eventful  period  of  his  super- 
intendence, his  theological  science,  his  integrity  of  purpose, 
his  exemplary  and  disinterested  firmness  in  resisting  religious 
innovation,  his  unceasing  attention  to  his  official  duties  and 
the  concerns  of  his  diocese,  must  ever  entitle  his  memory  to 
grateful  respect  and  veneration. 

In  the  business  which  divided  and  distracted  the  English 
Catholics,  the  conduct  of  Bishop  "Walmesley  (since  the  death 
of  Dr.  Challoner,  the  senior  prelate)  was  as  honourable  to 
himself  as  it  was  advantageous  to  religion,  so  that  we  may 
all  apply  to  him  the  words  addressed  by  St.  Jerome  to  St. 
Augustine,  "  Te,  conditorera  antiquse  rursum  fidei,  Catholici 
venerantur  atque  suspiciunt." — Ep.  57. 

In  conjunction  with  his  episcopal  brethren,  and  a  consider- 
able proportion  of  the  Catholic  gentry  and  clergy,  he  con- 
sented indeed  to  sign  the,  perhaps  useless,  protestation  and 
declaration  of  the  English  Catholics  in  the  spring  of  1789. 
(See  a  copy  of  it  in  the  "  Case  Stated,"  by  P.  Plowden,  Esq., 
1792, — Dr.  Milner's  Supplementary  Memoir.)  But  when 
the  Cisalpine  Committee  reduced  this  protestation  into  the 
form  of  an  oath,  with  some  substantial  alterations,  then  this 
faithful  and  intrepid  guardian  of  the  interests  of  religion, 
like  the  watchman  of  Israel  (Ezek.  xxxiii.),  sounded  the 
alarm,  and  convoking  his  brethren,  their  decree  went  forth  on 
21st  October,  1789,  that  "they  unanimously  condemned  the 
new  form  of  an  oath  intended  for  the  Catholics,  and  declared 
it  unlawful  to  be  taken."  When  the  faithful  heard  this,  like 
the  primitive  Christians,  "  they  rejoiced  for  the  consolation  " 
(Acts  XV.  31).  The  decision  was  hailed  by  the  Bishops  of 
Scotland  and  Ireland,  and  received  the  approbation  and  con- 
firmation of  the  Holy  See. 

The  British  parliament,  in  its  sense  of  justice  and  humanity, 
listened  to  the  conscientious  protest  of  the  Vicars- Apostolic, 
and  broke  into  pieces  the  shackles  which  some  of  the  Cis- 
alpine Committee  had  been  forging,  1  hope  heedlessly,  for 
their  Catholic  brethren. 

On  25th  November,  1797,  the  venerable  prelate  departed 
to  our  Lord,  at  Bath,  aged  seventy-five,  and  was  buried  in 


BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST   OF    THE    CLERGY.  4'31 

St.  Joseph's  Chapel,  Bristol.   The  Rev.  C.  Plowden  wrote  this 
long  epitaph  over  his  tomh. 

Hie  Situs  est 
Karohis  Walmesley  6  Sacra  Benedicti  Patris 
Familia,  Ep"  Ramath,  Vir  antiquse  Virtutis.     Summi 
Pontif.  Vioario  munere  in  Angli^  ann.  xxxx  sanctc 
Et  in  exeraplum  perfunctus,  cujus  auctoritate  et 
Constantia,  gravibus  diremptis  controversiis, 
Catholic^e  Fidei  integritas  vindicata, 
Catholioorum  concordia  facta  est.    Idem  Divinaruin 

Litterarum  ac  sublimis  Matheseos 
Consultissimus.    Apocalypsin  Joannis  Apostoli 
Perpetuo  Commentario  illustravit ;  ac  de  Luna; 
Et  Planetai'um  anomaliis  docte  disseruit 
Quem  CoUegia  Maxima  Sopliovum  Londinensiuni, 
Parisiensium,  Berolinensium,  Bononiensium 
Sodalem  adsciverunt.    Vixit  annos  LXXV.  utilis 
Doctrinfi,  multis,  exempio  omnibus.    Decessit  VII. 
Kalendas  Decembris,  Anno  hdcc.lxxxx.vii. 

During  the  outrageous  riots  of  London  in  June,  1780, 
four  of  the  conspirators,  in  a  post-chaise  and  four,  wearing 
the  insignia  of  the  mob,  hurried  thence  to  Bath.  The 
bishop's  house,  his  valuable  library  and  MSS.,  soon  perished 
in  the  flames,  which  also  consumed  the  new  Catholic  chapel. 
(See  Part  I.  p.  57.)  A  good  portrait  of  the  bishop  may  be 
seen  at  Downside  ;  there  is  another  at  LuUworth  Castle. 

Walmesley,  Henry,  S. J.,  bom  at  Westwood  5th  January, 
1811 ;  entered  the  Society  27th  October,  1827 ;  ordained 
priest  8th  September,  1842.  On  12th  March,  1846,  he  was 
declared  rector  of  Stonyhurst  College,  which  office  he  resigned 
on  16th  August,  1847.  At  his  renunciation  he  was  the 
donor  of  some  fine  painted  windows  to  St.  John's  Church, 
Wigan,  and  might  say  with  the  poet : — 

«  Mea 

Virtute  me  involve,  probaraque 
Pauperiem  sine  dote  qusero." 

After  serving  the  Preston  mission,  he  came  to  Wardour 
20th  October,  1855. 

Walsh,  Patrick,  a  native  of  the  county  of  Tipperary; 
studied  in  the  collegiate  seminary  of  Waterford,  and  was 
ordained  priest  on  5th  June,  1841,  by  Bishop  Foran,  in  the 
Cathedral  Church  of  the  Most  Holy  Trinity,  Waterford,  and 
was  for  several  years  a  curate  in  his  native  diocese,  and 
much  rejected  for  his  piety  and  learning  by  all  who  knew 
him.  In  1850,  ill-health  obliged  him  to  resign  his  curacy. 
In  1 852,  with  assent  of  his  bishop,  he  joined  the  Plymouth 
mission,  and  has  had  the  charge  of  Lanherne  since  29th  May, 
1852. 


432  BIOGRAPHICAL   LIST    OF    THE    CLERGY. 

Ward,  Richard,  educated  at  Oriel  College,  Oxford,  where 
he  took  his  first  degree  in  1834.  After  being  vicar  of  St. 
Saviour's,  at  Leeds,  he  accepted  the  curacy  of  St.  Edmund's, 
in  the  parish  of  Mells,  near  Frome ;  but  moved  by  divine 
grace,  he  reconciled  himself,  in  the  thirty-eighth  year  of  his 
age,  to  the  Church  of  God,  at  Oscott,  in  March,  1851.  In 
March,  1852,  he  was  ordained  priest  at  Ushaw  by  Bishop 
Hogarth.  Since  October,  1853,  he  has  given  himself  up  to 
the  ministry  of  the  word  at  Prome.     (See  Part  I.  p.  65.) 

Warford,  William,  S.J.,  a  native  of  Bristol.  Quitting 
Rheims,  he  was  admitted  into  the  English  College  at  Rome 
in  October,  1583.  In  the  spring  of  1591  he  came  on  the 
English  mission,  and  seems,  about  three  years  later,  to  have 
joined  the  Society.  For  a  short  time  he  was  penitentiary  at 
Rome,  which  he  quitted  for  Spain  on  18th  August,  1599. 
He  died  at  Valladolid  3rd  November,  1608,  set.  fifty-three, 
rel.  14,  prof.  1.  I  have  read  with  much  interest  his  Latin 
reports  of  sevei-al  of  our  countrymen,  with  whom  he  had 
been  more  or  less  acquainted,  who  had  suffered  for  the  faith 
under  Queen  Elizabeth. 

Warmoll  (Bernard),  John,  O.S.B.,  born  in  Norfolk  in 
1720 ;  was  professed  at  St.  Gregory's,  Douay,  13th  November, 
1737.  One  who  knew  him  assured  me  that  she  remembered 
him  at  Leighland  mission  in  1754  and  1755.  Whilst  he 
filled  the  provincialship  of  the  south.  Lord  Petre  withdrew 
the  annuity  of  £50  on  25th  March,  1792,  which  the  Dowager 
Lady  Stourton,  on  family  and  private  considerations,  had 
granted  to  Bishop  Walmesley;  but  by  the  exertions  of  this 
good  religious  the  venerable  prelate  was  indemnified  for  that 
deficiency  in  his  income.  Blindness  forcing  him  to  retire 
among  his  brethren  at  Acton  Burnell  during  the  last  two 
years  of  his  life,  he  was  never  once  absent  from  the  morning 
meditation  at  six  o'clock,  except  on  the  day  of  his  death, 
27th  April,  1807,  aged  eighty-seven. 

Warner,  Christopher,  S.J.,  at  the  age  of  twenty-seven 
enrolled  himself  amongst  the  children  of  St.  Ignatius.  After 
a  long  missionary  career,  chiefly  in  the  diocese  of  Exeter, 
his  death  occurred  on  1st  December,  1664,  set.  sixty-six. 

Wassall,  Thomas,  O.S.B.,  born  13th  October,  1791,  in 
taking  the  habit  in  1807,  received  the  name  of  Benedict ; 
after  his  promotion  to  holy  orders,  was  employed  at  Salford ; 
but  since  1823,  has  been  stationed  at  Bonham. 

Waterton,  Charles,   S.J.,  younger  brother  of  Charles 


BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST   OF    THE    CLERGY.  433 

Waterton,  of  Walton  Hall,  Esq.,  bom  9tli  December,  1794; 
admitted  into  the  order  in  1815;  ordained  by  Archbishop 
Murray  in  December,  1823.  After  serving  the  missions  of 
Pontefract,  Pilewell,  and  Tunbridge,  he  reached  Wardour 
17th  November,  1845,  and  remained  till  28th  July,  1848; 
then  proceeded  to  Bedford,  near  Leigh  mission ;  but  breathed 
his  last  at  Stonyhurst  18th  January,  1852. 

Way,  William,  a  native  of  Cornwall.  This  alumnus  and 
priest  of  Douay  College  was  sent  upon  the  English  mission 
in  1586;  but  soon  consummated  his  course  by  martyrdom  at 
Kingston,  Surrey,  23rd  September,  1588. 

Webb,  Thomas,  S.J.,  not  improbably  a  member  of  the 
old  Catholic  family  of  that  name.  The  provincial  return 
shows  that  in  1655  he  was  eighty-three  years  of  age,  of 
which  period  he  had  passed  thirty-nine  on  the  mission,  and 
thirty-five  in  the  order.  He  died  in  England,  on  9th  March, 
1658. 

Weetman,  Edward,  O.S.F.,  born  at  Eowington,  co. 
Warwick,  2nd  May,  1765.  In  1793  he  was  sent  from  St. 
Bonaventure's  Convent  at  Douay  to  Lower  Hall  mission, 
near  Preston.  He  served  that  congregation  for  five  years, 
and  successively  was  employed  at  Wooton,  Perthyre,  and 
Britwell,  and,  lastly,  was  transferred  in  1812  to  Taunton 
Lodge,  where,  for  thirty-one  years,  his  career  was  marked 
with  every  virtue,  especially  with  a  quiet  and  meek  spirit,  so 
rich  in  the  sight  of  God.  This  beloved  of  God  and  man 
calmly  expired  on  Sunday,  15th  January,  1843,  and  was 
buried  in  the  conventual  cemetery.  In  him  I  lost  a  very 
dear  friend. 

Weld,  Francis  Joseph,  son  of  James  Weld,  Esq.,  and  his 
wife,  the  Hon.  Julia  Petre,  born  at  Southdown  Cottage,  near 
Weymouth,  on  5th  September,  1819 ;  after  studying  at 
Downside,  at  Valognes,  and  at  Rome,  was  made  priest  in  the 
eternal  city  in  March,  1842.  I  well  remember  his  succeeding 
the  Rev.  Charles  Cooke  at  Lanherne  24th  July,  1844,  and 
his  leaving  that  situation  on  22nd  August,  1848. 

Weld,  John,  S.J.,  uncle  to  the  preceding,  was  born  at 
LuUworth  Castle,  15th  June,  1780.  On  the  death  of  his 
elder  brother,  Edward,  a  student  of  divinity  at  Stonyhurst, 
in  January,  1796,  he  stepped  into  his  place  of  candidate  for 
the  ecclesiastical  estate.  After  edifying  his  brethren  by  his 
example,  and  rendering  much  valuable  service  to  the  college, 
he  was  amongst  the  first  to  becoine  a  novice,  at  the  revival 
of  the  Society,  26th  September,  1803.     From  minister  of 

2   F 


434  BIOGRAPHICAL   LIST   OF    THE    CLERGY. 

the  college  he  was  installed  rector  in  January,  1813;  but 
died  in  of&ce  on  7th  April,  1816.  His  honoured  mother 
placed  a  tablet  to  his  memory  in  the  Collegiate  Church,  with 
an  inscription  from  the  pen  of  our  mutual  friend  the  Rev. 
Charles  Brooke,  which  I  have  published  in  the  Col- 
lectanea S.  J. 

Weld,  Thomas.  —  This  most  eminent  ecclesiastic  was 
born  in  London,  32nd  January,  1773,  and  was  the  eldest  of 
the  children  of  his  virtuous  parents,  Thomas  and  Mary  {nee 
Massey  Stanley)  "Weld,  of  LuUworth  Castle.  In  the  First 
Part  of  this  compilation  I  have  enlarged  on  his  early  life — 
on  his  marriage  at  Ugbrooke  with  Lucy  Clifford  (daughter 
of  Thomas  Clifford,  of  Tixall,  Esq.,  by  his  wife  the  Hon, 
Barbara  Aston),  on  14th  June,  1796, — on  her  death  after 
nineteen  years  of  connubial  happiness,  and  on  his  embracing 
the  ecclesiastical  state  after  the  settlement  of  his  only  child. 
Truly,  he  walked  worthy  of  the  vocation  in  which  he  was 
called.  In  the  world  he  was  a  model  to  aU  our  Catholic 
gentry :  as  a  priest,  as  a  bishop,  and  as  a  prince  of  the 
Church,  no  panegyric  can  do  him  sufficient  justice.  On  the 
10th  of  April,  1837,  Almighty  God,  the  just  Rewarder  of 
merit,  called  him  to  Himself.  His  mortal  remains  were 
deposited  in  the  church  of  St.  Marcellus,  at  Rome,  from 
which  he  had  derived  his  title  of  cardinal  for  the  seven  pre- 
ceding years. 

"  Semper  honos,  nomenq^ue  tuum  laudesque  manebunt." 

Wells,  Gilbert,  S.J. — Of  this  reverend  father  I  fear  but 
little  information  can  be  obtained.  He  was  born  22nd, 
some  say  14th,  November,  1713 ;  and  joine'd  the  Society 
in  October,  1731.  The  scene  of  his  missionary  labours  was 
chiefly  Wiltshire,  where  he  died  17th  October,  1777. 

Westcombe,  Martin,  O.S.B.,  of  Devonshire.  He  had 
been  bachelor  of  arts  in  the  University  of  Toulouse,  as  we 
learn  from  Wood's  Athense  Oxon.,  in  the  reign  of  King 
Charles  I.,  and  for  a  time  abandoned  his  religious  profession  j 
but  soon  after  _"  went  beyond  the  seas,  and  returned  to  his 
former  religion,  as  some  of  the  ancients  of  Exeter  College 
(into  which  he  had  been  incorporated)  have  told  me." — ^Vol.  i. 
p.  544. 

Weston,  John,  S.J.,  born  at  Chudleigh  4th  August,  1793; 
educated  at  Stonyhurst  and  Clongowes ;  ordained  by  Arch- 
bishop Murray  in  September,  1820.  His  first  mission  was 
at  Southill,  near  Chorley.     At  the  end  of  seven  years  he  was 


BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST    OF    THE    CLERGY.  435 

transferred  to  Stockeld-park.  On  9th  November,  1823,  he 
was  placed  in  charge  of  the  congregation  at  Lowe  House, 
near  St.  Helen's.  There  he  consummated  his  course,  as  he 
had  long  and  fervently  desired,  by  falling  a  victim  of  charity 
in  attending  the  sick,  on  3rd  January,  1837,  and  was  buried 
at  Windleshaw,  the  cemetery  of  many  priests. 

Weston,  Thomas,  S.  J.,  half-brother  to  the  preceding,  being 
the  son  of  Mr.  John  Weston  by  his  second  wife,  Jane  Hep- 
tonstall,  was  born  at  Chudleigh  21st  December,  1804  j  pro- 
ceeded to  Stonyhurst,  as  I  well  remember,  in  May,  1813  j 
was  ordained  priest  in  the  Ember-week  of  Advent,  1834,  and 
said  his  first  Mass  on  the  feast  of  St.  Thomas  the  Apostle. 
On  6th  July,  1835,  he  became  chaplain  to  Lord  Stourton  at 
Allerton-park. 

Wheble,  Edward,  S.J.,  born  in  the  parish  of  Tisbury, 
Wilts,  4th  December,  1725 ;  admitted  by  the  name  of  Gifford, 
7th  September,  1743,  and  was  made  a  professed  father  2nd 
February,  1761,  in  London,  where  he  was  chaplain  to  Count 
Celerin,  imperial  ambassador  to  the  Empress  Maria  Theresa. 
His  excellency's  chapel  was  in  the  stableyard  in  Charles- 
street,  St.  James' -square,  at  the  seat  of  the  mansion  of  the 
embassy,  and  there,  says  Charles  Butler,  in  his  Historical 
Memoirs,  vol.  ii.  p.  306,  our  father  passed  as  a  "  distinguished 
preacher."  For  the  last  twenty-four  years  of  his  life  this 
discreet  and  able  man  was  chaplain  to  Henry,  the  eighth 
Lord  Arundell.  He  died  at  Wardour  on  29th  of  January, 
1788,  after  a  long  and  painful  illness,  and  was  interred  near 
the  entrance-door  of  the  princely  chapel. 

Whetenhall,  Henry,  S. J.,  born  31st  August,  1694 ;  ad- 
mitted into  the  order  7th  September,  1713.  For  several 
years  he  served  the  mission  of  Maryland.  He  is  connected 
with  the  west  from  having  had  the  charge  of  the  congregation 
of  Lullworth,  but  I  cannot  fix  the  period.  His  death  occurred 
in  London  27th  May,  1745.  He  had  been  a  professed  father 
since  15th  August,  1732. 

White,  Eustachius.  —  Of  this  illustrious  ornament  of 
Douay  College,  who  suffered  at  Tyburn  on  account  of  his  priest- 
hood, on  10th  December,  1591,  there  is  an  interesting  report 
of  the  capture  at  Blandford  in  Bishop  Challoner's  Memoirs. 
It  was  written  by  the  Rev.  Stephen  Barnes,  who  says,  "  This 
I  have  heard  from  the  mouths  of  some  in  Blandford  that 
were  present,  and  told  it  me,  while  it  was  in  every  man's 
mouth ;  for  I  had  occasion  to  come  thither  very  soon  after." 

The  following  letter,  which  escaped  Dr.  Challoner's  research, 
2  F  2 


436  BIOGRAPHICAL   LIST   OF   THE    CLERGY. 

but  which  was  addressed  to  a  gentleman  (whose  name  unfor- 
tunately I  cannot  recover)  by  the  martyr  himself,  will  deeply 
interest  the  reader : — ■ 

"Sir, —  I  presume  somewhat  rashly  to  address  (myself) 
unto  you,  as  unto  a  patron  of  orphans  in  these  miserable 
days,  imparting  my  present  calamity,  which  surely,  without 
temporal  comfort,  I  am  very  hardly  able  long  to  endure ; 
the  time  of  the  year,  and  the  hard  handling  of  my  torture- 
masters,  with  the  malicious  and  devilish  dealing  of  my 
keepers,  against  priests  especially,  and  all  Catholics  generally, 

growing  so  fast  towards  their  extremity.     Mr.  N ,  I 

think,  can  partly  relate  unto  you  mine  estate,  from  the  mouth 

of  N in  prison,  my  dearest  friend  in  bonds.     For  he 

hath  spared  from  himself  to  relieve  me  with  victuals,  as  he 
could,  through  a  little  hole,  and  with  such  other  necessaries 
as  he  could  by  that  means  do,  whom  truly  I  did  never  see  in 
my  life,  but  through  a  hole.  Nothing  was  too  dear  unto 
him  that  he  could  convey  unto  me;  for  whom,  as  I  am 
bound,  so  will  I  daily  pray  whilst  I  live.  I  have  been  close 
prisoner  since  the  18th  day  of  September,  whereof  forty- six 
days  together  I  lay  upon  a  little  straw  in  my  boots,  my  hands 
continually  manacled  in  irons  for  one  month  together,  never 
once  taken  off.  After,  they  were  twice  or  thrice  taken  off  to 
shift  me  and  ease  me  for  a  day  together.  This  was  all  the 
favour  that  my  keeper  did  show  me.  The  morrow  after 
Simon  and  Judas  day,  I  was  hanged  at  the  wall  from  the 
ground ;  my  manacles  fast  locked  into  a  staple  as  high  as  I 
could  reach  upon  a  stool,  the  stool  taken  away ;  there  I 
hanged  from  a  little  after  eight  o'clock  in  the  morning  until 
four  in  the  afternoon,  without  any  ease  or  comfort  at  all, 
saving  that  Topcliffe  came  unto  me  and  told  me  that  the 
Spaniards  were  come  into  Southwark  by  our  means,  "  for  lo  ! 
Do  you  not  hear  the  drums  V  (For  then  the  drums  played  in 
honour  of  my  Lord  M^yor.)  The  next  day  after,  also,  I  was 
hanged  an  hour  or  two.  Such  is  the  malicious  mind  and 
practice  of  our  adversaries. 

"  For  my  clothes,  I  have  no  other  than  my  summer  weeds, 
wherein  I  was  taken,  and  then  I  was  rifled  of  all;  of  my 
horse,  that  cost  me  but  then  £,1 ;  of  J§4  in  money,  and  odd 
money,  with  a  silver  pix  worth  20*.,  and  many  other  things ; 
nothing  left  more  than  on  my  back ;  and  he  that  took  me 
had  £5  of  the  council  for  his  labour,  before  whom  I  was  at 
Basing  for  a  week  at  her  Majesty's  charges.  This  is  mine 
estate  till  this  hour,  in  extremity  of  all  worldly  comforts. 
Money  may  be  conveyed  more  easily  unto  me  than  other 
things  whatsoever,  though  with  leave  of  Justice  Younge  other 


BIOGEAPHICAL   LIST   OP   THE    CLEKGY.  437 

things  also ;  but  it  must  be  done  by  some  Protestant  friends. 

Mr.  N doth  owe  me  40s.  for  a  legacy  from  his  father, 

which  he  promised  me  this  summer  in fields.     I  beseech 

you,  sir,  make  means  unto  him,  that  I  may  have  it,  for  he 
will  pay  it  at  the  first  sending.  The  Catholics  in  the  west 
country,  amongst  whom  I  have  bestowed  my  pains,  would 
willingly  help  me  if  I  could  convey  unto  them,  though  others 
would  not  be  unwilling ;  but  with  them  I  would  be  most 
bold. 

"  I  was  taken  at  Blandford,  in  Dorsetshire,  the  1st  day  of 
September,  and  there  had  disputes  two  days  together  with 
Doctor  Sowthe  and  divers  ministers,  before  people  of  all  sorts, 
all  whose  arguments  were  too  ridiculous.  Thus  I  have 
showed  you  my  bold  rashness  with  you  in  troubling  you  so 
long,  praying  to  have  me  excused  for  the  same ;  beseeching 
withal,  if  you  can,  to  work  that  some  honest  Protestant  may 
have  access  unto  me,  that  by  him  I  may  be  somewhat  relieved. 
And  so  commending  you  unto  our  Lord's  protection,  that 
can  defend  you  from  the  mouth  of  the  roaring  lion,  that 
goeth  about  seeking  whom  he  may  devour,  I  take  my  leave 
this  23rd  of  November,  1591.     Your  worship's." 

Whitfield,  Thomas,  S.J.,  born,  according  to  the  pro- 
vincial's return  of  1655,  in  the  year  1615;  but  according  to 
Southwell's  "  Bibliotheca  Scriptorum  S.  J.,"  p.  770,  three  years 
earlier.  For  very  many  years  he  laboured  in  the  diocese  of 
Exeter,  and  here,  I  believe,  he  consummated  his  lengthened 
course  on  10th  May,  1686,  soc.  fifty-six.  F.  Southwell  com- 
mends his  "  Meditations  on  the  Marks  of  the  true  Church  of 
Christ,"  8vo.  London,  1655. 

WiLKS,  Joseph  (Cuthbeet),  O.S.B.,  born  in  1748,  ap- 
pointed to  the  Bath  mission  in  November,  1786,  possessed 
considerable  colloquial  powers  and  talents,  but  lent  himself 
to  the  support  of  a  bad  cause.  For  his  unbecoming  opposi- 
tion to  the  Encyclical  letters  of  the  Vicars  Apostolic  of  31st 
October,  1789,  and  19th  January,  1791,  he  was  justly  sus- 
pended by  his  local  and  immediate  superior,  Bishop  Walmesley, 
on  19th  February,  1791.  On  acknowledging  his  indiscretion, 
his  lordship  restored  him  to- the  exercise  of  his  functions; 
but  his  tergiversating  letter  to  Thomas  Clifford,  Esq.,  called 
for  a  renewal  of  the  sentence  against  him.  In  May,  1792, 
he  quitted  England  on  a  continental  tour  with  Sir  John 
Throckmorton.  The  reverend  gentleman  made  an  edifying 
end  in  St.  Edmund's  Convent,  Douay,  on  19th  May,  1829. 

Willacy,  James. — Of  this  worthy  secular  priest  I  can 
glean  no  particulars.     He  succeeded  F.  Beeston,  at  Canford, 


438  BIOGlfAPHICAL   LIST    OF    THE    CLERGY. 

Dorset,  and  there  was  crowned  with  an  edifying  death  on 
18th  March,  1805,  aged  sixty-seven. 

Williams,  Anselm,  O.S.B.,  was  the  incumhent  of  Bath  in 
1687,  but  how  long  before  or  after  I  cannot  discover. 

Williams,  Edward,  was  a  native  of  Flintshire,  and  was 
admitted  into  the  English  College  at  Rome  in  1734.  For  a 
time,  during  the  absence  of  the  Rev.  Charles  Needham,  he 
served  Tor  Abbey,  as  I  learnt  from  Mrs.  Edwards,  an  old 
Catholic,  and  whose  father  and  grandfather  (Jeffries)  had 
kept  the  Church  Inn,  the  only  inn  then  in  Tor  Mohun  parish, 
and  who  had  known  Mr.  Williams  there.  But  his  head- 
quarters were  with  Richard  Chester,  Esq.,  at  Bearscomb,  in 
Buckland,  Toussaints  parish.  There  this  laborious  missioner 
died  on  30th  January,  1776,  attended  by  the  Rev.  Joseph 
Reeve,  of  Ugbrooke,  who  informed  me  of  the  difficulty  of 
approaching  the  house  in  consequence  of  the  depth  of  the 
snow,  and  that  his  lamented  friend  was  buried  in  Dodbrook 
Church,  aged  sixty-six. 

Williams,  Edward,  who  is  now  living  at  Frome  with  the 
Rev.  Richard  Ward,  but  serves  Chippenham. 

Williams,  James.  —  Ordained  deacon  21st  September, 
1853,  and  priest  on  the  Epiphany,  1856. 

Williams,  John,  born  in  Bath  on  St.  John's  Day,  27th 
December,  1795;  educated  at  Sedgley-park  and  Ushaw. 
After  an  arduous  service  of  two  years  at  Bristol,  from 
January,  1822,  he  was  transferred  to  Chepstow  for  the 
benefit  of  his  impaired  constitution.  There  he  succeeded  in 
erecting  the  respectable  chapel  in  Welsh-street,  fifty-eight 
feet  long  by  twenty-one  broad,  which  was  opened  for  public 
worship  9th  November,  1827.  On  3rd  April,  1830,  he 
reached  Torquay,  to  supply  for  the  Rev.  J.  M'Enery  for  fifteen 
months.  On  9th  July,  1831,  he  quitted  for  Tawstock,  and 
such  was  his  energetic  zeal,  that  on  Sunday,  26th  August, 
1832,  he  was  enabled  to  present  twenty  persons  for  confirma- 
tion— a  number,  till  then,  unprecedented  in  the  north  of 
Devon.  In  January  following,  he  succeeded  F.  Larkan  at 
Sales  House,  Westbury,  and  there  laid  the  foundation-stone 
of  the  Conventual  Chapel  on  25th  September,  1834,  which 
convenient  and  beautiful  structure  was  opened  on  8th 
December,  1835.  Early  in  1846,  after  the  removal  of  Dr. 
Fergusson,  he  resumed  the  mission  of  Tawstock ;  but  left  it 
on  31st  May,  1849,  with  a  view  of  travelling  on  the  Con- 
tinent. On  his  return  he  succeeded  Padre  Giovanni,  S.J., 
as  confessor  to  the  convent  of  the  Good  Shepherd,  Arno's- 


BIOGRAPHICAL   LIST    OF   THE    CLEEGY.  439 

court,  Brislington,  Bristolj  on  6th  October,  1851,  and  at  the 
formation  of  the  Clifton  Chapter,  38th  June,  1852,  was 
deservedly  nominated  a  member. 

Williams,  Thomas,  S.J.,  bom  at  Burn  House,  Ilsington 
Parish,  Devon,  on  12th  March,  1818.  His  parents,  Philip 
Williams  and  Mary  Blackler,  were  members  of  the  estab- 
lished Church.  Mrs.  Williams  was  first  reconciled  to  the 
Church  10th  April,  1829 ;  her  husband  followed  her  example 
12th  August,  1831,  and  both  were  confirmed  at  Ugbrooke 
on  28th  August,  1836.  Their  son  Thomas  was  baptized 
conditionally  by  the  pastor  of  Ugbrooke,  the  Rev.  James 
Laurenson,  28th  February,  1830,  and  reached  Stonyhurst  on 
the  28th  of  the  April  next  ensuing.  His  progress  in  his 
studies  and  his  excellent  dispositions  gave  the  highest  satis- 
faction to  his  superiors,  and  he  was  admitted  into  the 
novitiate  7th  September,  1836. 

Wilson,  Joseph,  O.S.B.,  bom  near  Richmond,  co.  York; 
took  the  religious  habit  at  Downside  with  the  name  of  Peter 
in  1819,  and  was  ordained  priest  by  the  late  Cardinal  Weld 
seven  years  later.  After  serving  the  Bungay  mission  for 
eight  years,  was  appointed  successor  to  F.  John  Jerome 
Jenkins,  at  Bath,  in  October,  1836.  Two  years  later,  on  the 
promotion  of  Dr.  Brown  to  the  episcopate,  he  was  called  to 
replace  him  in  the  priorship  of  St.  Gregory's,  Downside,  in 
1840.  All  will  give  him  credit  for  his  firm  but  conciliatory 
conduct  and  sedulous  attention  to  the  comfort  and  happiness 
of  the  community,  and  for  maintaining  the  characteristic 
hospitality  of  his  order.  For  fourteen  years  Downside 
flourished  under  his  auspices.  At  the  Chapter  of  1854  he 
was  permitted  to  resign  his  post,  and  to  retire  to  the  Usk 
mission ;  but  his  talents  and  energy  of  character,  if  his  valu- 
able health  be  spared,  in  all  probability  will  recommend 
him  for  the  episcopal  office. 

Wilson,  Thomas,  S.J.,  a  native  of  Wiltshire,  and  subse- 
quently an  eminent  professor  at  Liege  College.  After  serving 
the  English  mission,  he  died  in  peace  6th  May,  1672,  set. 
fifty-nine,  soc.  thirty-eight. 

WiNDEYEE,  Edward,  born  21st  March,  1822 ;  studied  at 
Rochester,  and  distinguished  himself  by  his  scholastical 
attainments.  Following  the  guidance  of  divine  grace,  he 
embraced  the  Catholic  faith  on  26th  January,  1850,  and 
proceeding  to  Rome  was  there  ordained  subdeacon  by 
Cardinal  Wiseman,  and  deacon  by  the  same  illustrious  pre- 
late on  8th  December,  1854,  when  his  Eminence  attended 


440  BIOGRAPHICAL   LIST    OF    THE    CLERGY. 

the  holy  city  for  the  proclaiming  of  the  Blessed  Virgin 
Mary  to  have  been  immaculate  in  her  conception.  Cardinal 
Fatrizzi  promoted  him  to  priesthood,  at  St.  John  Lateran's, 
on  22nd  December,  1855.  Since  the  15th  of  May  of  the 
present  year  (1856)  he  has  been  attached  to  the  Plymouth 
mission. 

WiTHAM,  George,  eldest  son  of  Thomas  Witham,  Esq., 
M.D.,  of  Cliff,  CO.  York,  by  his  wife  Elizabeth  Meynell; 
educated  at  Douay.  This  ecclesiastic  is  connected  with  the 
west  by  his  long  residence  at  Lacock  Abbey,  "Wilts,  as 
chaplain  to  the  Countess  of  Shrewsbury,  who  died  11th 
August,  1809,  aged  eighty-five.  He  retired  afterwards  to 
Durham,  where  he  ended  his  days  1st  May,  1839,  set.  seventy- 
nine.  Whilst  at  Lacock,  he  amused  himself  with  printing 
at  his  own  press  a  quarto  vol.  on  miscellaneous  subjects, 
pp.  204 — a  sorry  performance. 

WiTHiE,  Edward,  S.J.,  born  14th  April,  1689;  entered 
the  novitiate  7th  September,  1707,  and  was  professed  2nd 
February,  1725.  After  teaching  the  Belles  Lettres  at  St. 
Omer's  College,  he  was  sent  to  the  English  mission.  For  a 
time  he  was  stationed  at  Wardour,  until  succeeded  by  the  Rev, 
Joseph  Wright ;  but  I  cannot  recover  the  precise  date.  On 
10th  February,  1752,  he  was  declared  rector  of  his  brethren 
residing  in  Middlesex,  Surrey,  Kent,  Berks,  and  Herts,  over 
whom  he  presided  till  1759,  when  he  was  called  to  succeed 
F.  Roals,  as  rector  of  Liege  College,  8th  May,  1759.  His 
government  continued  until  December,  1764.  The  venerable 
old  man  ended  his  peaceful  course  in  that  college  on  22nd 
November,  1769,  set.  eighty-one. 

Woods,  Patrick  Joseph,  born  in  Fishamble-street,  Dublin, 
and  baptized  by  Dr.  Betagh  6th  January,  1801 ;  received  all 
his  ordinations  from  Dr.  Murray ;  named  prebendary  of  St. 
Jago,  as  he  told  me,  on  16th  July,  1831 ;  and  took  charge  of 
the  Tor  Abbey  mission  18th  July,  1841.  This  talented, 
good-hearted,  but  eccentric  priest,  was  little  calculated  for 
that  situation;  and  I  was  not  surprised  at  his  abrupt  de- 
parture from  it  within  nine  weeks  after  his  arrival.  He  died 
in  Dublin  4th  June,  1852. 

Woolfrey,  Henry  (Norbert,  in  religion),  born  at  Lull- 
worth  10th  April,  1801;  entered  the  order  of  La  Trappe 
15th  September,  1819;  was  ordained  priest  at  Nantes  in 
December,  1825;  said  his  first  Mass  8th  January,  1826. 
After  the  expwlsion  from  France,  he  served  the  English 


BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST   OP   THE    CLERGY.  441 

mission  for  seven  years,  at  Chesterfield,  Loughborough,  and 
Cambridge,  and  then,  at  the  solicitation  of  the  bishops  of 
Hobartown,  Adelaide,  and  the  archbishop  of  Sydney,  with  the 
consent  of  the  late  Abbot  Palmer,  has  attempted  to  establish 
a  Cistercian  monastery  in  Oceania. 

WooLFREY,  William  (Odillon),  younger  brother  of  the 
preceding,  being  born  8th  October,  1803;  joined  him  in 
religion  in  1820 ;  was  ordained  in  1827,  and  for  a  time  was 
assistant  chaplain  at  Stapehill.  By  a  late  account  I  learn 
that  these  two  brothers  had  succeeded  in  building  a  house 
and  church  at.  last  in  the  archdiocese  of  Sydney,  but  that  for 
want  of  sufficient  members  it  was  feared  they  would  be 
obliged  to  relincjuish  their  undertaking.  Since  writing  the 
above,  I  regret  to  see  in  the  "  Sydney  Freeman's  Journal " 
of  5th  April,  1856,  that  this  laborious  religious  died  at 
Sydney,  after  a  painful  illness,  on  20th  March,  and  that 
good  Archbishop  Folding  celebrated  his  obsequies  with  a 
pontifical  requiem  Mass. 

Woollett,  Herbert  Aubry,  born  in  co.  Monmouth  22nd 
November,  1817;  studied  at  Prior-park,  was  ordained  priest 
by  Bishop  Baines  in  the  Advent  of  1842;  arrived  at  St. 
John's,  Tiverton,  on  3rd  April,  1846;  but  left  on  5th  August 
to  take  charge  of  the  Poole  mission,  which  he  most  diligently 
cultivated  for  nearly  ten  years,  when  Bishop  Vaughan  re- 
quired his  services  as  secretary.  He  reached  Plymouth  for 
this  purpose  on  St.  George's  festival,  1856.  At  the  for- 
mation of  our  chapter  he  was  installed  canon  penitentiary, 
6th  December,  1853. 

WoRMiNGTON,  WiLLiAM. — ^This  alumnus  of  Douay  College 
was  sent  into  banishment  on  21st  January,  1584-5.  He  was 
a  native  of  Dorsetshire.  Restored  to  Uberty,  he  took  the 
opportunity  of  visiting  Rome,  where  he  was  made  chaplain 
to  Cardinal  Allen.  About  the  year  1594  he  returned  to 
England ;  and  Dodd,  vol.  ii.  p.  376,  says  that  he  was  seized 
again  24th  March,  1607,  and  thrown  into  the  Clink  Prison, 
but  was  released  by  King  James,  and  allowed  to  reside  with 
his  brother  in  Dorsetshire.  He  was  certainly  living  on  17th 
November,  1617. 

AVoRSLEY  (Clement),  John,  O.S.B.,  born  near  Preston 
21st  May,  1812;  went  to  Ampleforth  10th  July,  1824,  where 
he  made  his  religious  profession  on  15th  October,  1833 ;  was 
ordained  priest  by  Bishop  Briggs  at  Ushaw,  on  20th  Ma,y, 
1837,  and  after  serving  the  missions  of  Seel-street,  Liverpool, 


442  BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST   OF    THE    CLERGY. 

and  of  Rainhill  for  a  short  period,  was  sent  to  Bath  in  1843. 
After  rendering  valuable  assistance  there  as  second  priest  for 
eight  years,  he  succeeded  to  the  office  of  chief  incumbent 
in  1850.  No  priest  is  better  entitled  to  say  to  his  God, 
"  Domine,  dilexi  decorem  domus  tuse." 

WoRSLEY,  Laurence,  S.  J.,  of  Somersetshire,  bom  in  1613 ; 
at  the  age  of  twenty  joined  the  order;  was  sent  to  the 
English  mission  in  1643,  and  died  in  Yorkshire,  29th  May, 
1675.  The  annual  letters  describe  him  as  a  man  of  eminent 
piety  and  zeal,  as  indefatigable  in  the  duties  of  the  ministry, 
as  the  gainer  of  numerous  souls  to  God,  and  as  a  great  com- 
fort to  Cathohcs  in  those  critical  times. 

Wright,  Christopher,  S.J. — All  that  I  can  recover  of 
him  is,  that  he  succeeded  P.  Joris,  as  confessor  to  the 
Theresian  nuns  at  Canford  House,  Dorset,  and  that  he  died 
there  on  the  18th  or  19th  March,  1799. 

Wright,  Joseph,  S.J.,  was  admitted  into  the  Society  1720. 
I  know  that  he  was  a  missionary  for  a  time  at  Wardour,  but 
cannot  fix  the  precise  date.  He  died  in  England  14th  March, 
1760,  set.  sixty-one. 


York,  Laurence,  O.S.B.,  Right  Rev.,  born  in  London, 
1687;  professed  at  St.  Gregory's,  Douay,  28th  December, 
1705 ;  and  probably  ordained  priest  in  the  Ember-week  of 
Advent,  1711.  His  merits  induced  his  brethren  to  elect 
him  prior  of  that  convent  early  in  1725,  and  at  the  expiration 
of  the  quadriennial  term  of  government  he  filled  the  same 
distinguished  post  at  St.  Edmund's  House,  in  Paris.  It 
appears  that  in  1730  his  services  were  required  in  the  Bath 
mission.  In  the  First  Part,  ch.  vii.,  I  have  mentioned  how 
Dr.  Pritchard,  the  Vicar-Apostolic  of  the  Western  District, 
appreciated  his  admirable  zeal  and  discretion,  and  obtained 
him  for  his  coadjutor  in  the  episcopal  office.  On  10th 
August,  1741,  Dr.  York  was  consecrated  by  the  title  of 
Bishop  of  Niba ;  and  nine  years  later,  on  the  death  of  his 
senior  prelate,  the  administration  of  the  scattered  Catholics 
through  an  extensive  jurisdiction  devolved  upon  him.  When 
years  and  infirmities  admonished  him  to  look  around  and 
secure  a  fit  associate  in  his  arduous  duties,  his  wisdom  selected 
Dr.  Charles  Walmesley,  and  by  that  act  he  entitled  himself 
^o  the  perpetual  gratitude  of  posterity.     He  now  longed  to 


BIOGRAPHICAL    LIST   OF    THE    CLERGY.  443 

retire  and  prepare  himself  for  eternity.*  Having  at  length 
obtained  the  consent  of  the  Holy  See  to  lay  down  the  pastoral 
office,  the  event  was  announced  to  the  clergy  by  his  successor 
in  a  Latin  letter,  dated  12th  March,  1764,  with  this  modest 
addition,  "  But  who  are  we,  to  walk  in  the  footsteps  of  such 
a  predecessor  ?  For  who  is  there  that  does  not  cheerfully 
proclaim  his  diligence  in  his  pastoral  charge,  and  his  solicitude 
for  all  intrusted  to  his  care?  Who  has  not  admitted  his 
piety  ?  Who  has  not  experienced  his  humanity  and  benevo- 
lence ?  The  more  mournful  his  retirement,  the  more  difficult 
and  perilous  is  the  task  of  succeeding  him." 

At  St.  Gregory's,  Douay,  the  venerable  prelate  had  a  happy 
and  honourable  rejreat,  and  there  rested  in  our  Lord,  14th 
April,  1770,  aet.  eighty-three. 

"  Jacet  (eterno  dignus  honore  senex.'' 

Young,  Bernard,  O.S.B.,  bom  at  Ormskirk;  professed  at 
Lambspring  31st  August,  1760;  for  a  time  served  Marl- 
borough, Wilts,  and  Hartpury  Court,  co.  Gloucester ;  died 
at  Welshpool  6th  September,  1801. 

Young,  William,  deserves  to  be  numbered  amongst  the 
Apostles  of  Cornwall.  He  was  born  in  St.  Catherine's 
parish,  Dublin,  but  in  the  register  of  the  year  1796  is  simply 
given  his  dateless  baptism,  by  F.  William  -Gahan,  O.S.A. 
For  a  time  he  filled  the  situation  of  parish  priest  of  Baldoyle, 
near  his  native  city.  On  3rd  November,  1839,  he  undertook 
the  direction  of  the  nuns  at  Lanheme,  and  of  the  congrega- 
tion. Here  his  pious  heart  wept  for  the  desolation  around 
him ;  the  multitude  of  immortal  souls  lying  like  sheep  with- 
out a  shepherd  !  He  felt  how  endeared  these  precious  souls 
were  to  their  blessed  Redeemer  j  and  he  was  enkindled  to 
co-operate  with  this  lover  of  human  salvation  for  their  com- 
fort, temporal  and  eternal.  In  the  ardour  of  his  zeal  he 
commenced  on  Ash-Wednesday,  4th  March,  1840,  a  course 
of  public  instructions  in  the  neighbouring  town  of  St.  Columbs, 
which  he  continued  to  deliver  on  Wednesdays  and  Fridays  of 
Lent.  On  Monday,  30th  July,  1840,  seeing  the  fields  white 
for  the  harvest,  he  quitted  the  convent  to  settle  at  Penzance, 
where  he  commenced  a  church  in  honour  of  our  Lady's 
Immaculate  Conception,  ninety  feet  long,  thirty  wide,  and 
fifty-four  high,  with  school-rooms  under.     The  side  walls  of 

*  I  find  his  new  coadjutor  administering  confirmation  at  Ugbrooke 
as  early  as  8th  July,  1769,  to  three  persons ;  on  29th  June,  1763,  to 
nine  persons. 


444  BIOGEAPHICAL   LIST   OP    THE    CLERGY. 

the  nave  have  fine  granite  arches  and  pillars  built  in,  ready 
to  be  connected  with  aisles,  when  the  increasing  numbers  of 
the  congregation  may  require  it ;  and  he  had  the  happiness 
of  seeing  his  noble  edifice  opened  for  public  worship  on  26th 
October,  1843.  FF.  Macdonnell  and  Bampton  preached  on 
this  occasion. 

No  one  could  have  read  in  the  Irish  journals  the  address 
of  Mr.  Young  to  the  parish  priests,  clergy,  and  Catholic 
laity  of  the  archdiocese  of  Dublin,  without  feeling  his  heart 
glow  within  him.  After  describing  the  desolate  state  of 
religion  throughout  Cornwall — the  dissensions  and  diversities 
of  creed  amongst  the  members  of  the  same  family,  he  descants 
on  the  laudable  spirit  of  religious  inquiry  prevailing  among  a 
race,  which  had  hitherto  sinned  rather  from  sheer  ignorance 
of  the  truth  than  any  attachment  to  error  j  he  insists  that 
the  people  were  tenacious  of  antiquity  when  they  caught  its 
light ;  that  the  numerous  crosses  and  inscribed  monuments, 
and  relics  of  their  Catholic  forefathers  became  precious  in 
their  eyes  when  properly  explained ;  that  many  of  these  right- 
hearted  persons  would  aspire  to  evangelical  perfection,  if  the 
opportunity  were  afforded  them ;  that  it  was  undeniable  that 
the  Gospel  was  first  planted  in  Cornwall  by  Irishmen  and 
Irish  saints ;  that  the  names  of  many  of  its  towns  and  parishes 
testify  to  this;  and  that  the  restoration  of  the  good  old 
faith  to  the  county  was  a  work  of  spiritual  mercy  becoming 
the  Irish  people. 

His  appeal  was  welcomed  with  primitive  benevolence,  and 
ample  funds  were  provided  by  Catholic  Erin. 

Consigning  the  Penzance  mission  to  the  Conceptionists  just 
imported  from  Marseilles,  as  detailed  in  Part  I.  ch.  iii.,  he 
originated  another  mission  at  Bodmin,  where  he  opened  a 
chapel  of  our  Lady,  24th  September,  1846.  The  good  man 
afterwards  laboured  at  Walsall,  co.  Stafford;  at  the  new 
mission  of  Spitalfields,  London ;  but  returned  to  Bodmin  in 
the  summer  of  1853.  Declining  health  compelled  him  to 
retire. 

Ykaizoz,  Barnabe,  born  at  Estella,  in  Navarre,  on  11th 
June,  1783;  served  the  Church  of  St.  John  the  Baptist  in 
his  native  town;  and  during  the  peninsular  war  was  chaplain  to 
the  celebrated  Mina ;  but  was  taken  prisoner  by  the  French 
and  detained  in  captivity  a  considerable  time.  Regaining 
his  liberty,  he  visited  England,  and  became  connected  with 
the  Western  District,  as  domestic  chaplain  to  the  Earl  of 
Shrewsbury  at  Sidmouth,  in  1826  and  1827 ;  at  Christmas  of 


BIOORAPBICAL    LIST   OF    THE    CLERGY,  445 

the  latter  year  he  proceeded  to  Spetisbury  as  assistant  to  the 
reverend  incumbent.  On  14th  June,  1831,  he  took  charge 
of  the  mission  of  Calverleigh ;  but  quitted  from  bad  health 
on  14th  October,  1835,  and  retired  to  London.  Dying  in 
Chalton- street,  Somers-town,  on  22nd  January  following,  he 
was  buried  at  Moorfields'  Chapel  on  28th  of  the  said  month. 
R.I.P. 

Piam  Isctis  animam  reponat  sedibus  Christus. 


COLLECTIONS 


ILLUSTKATIVE  OF 


THE  DOMINICAN,  BENEDICTINE,  AND  FRANCISCAN 
ORDEES  IN  ENGLAND. 


A  HANDFUL  OF  GLEANINGS  RESPECTING  THE  ENGLISH 
DOMINICAN  PROVINCE. 

The  history  of  the  English  province  of  the  Dominicans,  or 
Black  Friars,  from  its  foundation  by  St.  Dominic  himself  in 
1321,  is  interwoven  with  the  progress  of  our  national  litera- 
ture. It  presents  to  the  searcher  and  lover  of  truth  an 
immense  field  for  investigation — a  rich  harvest  of  divines, 
canonists,  philosophers,  and  historians.  The  province,  before 
the  so-called  Reformation,  comprised  fifty-three  houses  in 
England,  and  five  in  Wales  j  its  Provincials,  moreover, 
exercised  jurisdiction  over  the  houses  of  the  order  through- 
out Ireland  until  the  year  1484  (Hibemia  Dominicana,  pp. 
45, 47) ;  yet  hitherto  no  justice  has  been  done  to  the  subject. 
The  editors  of  the  "  Monasticon  Anglicanum  "  have  thrown 
but  a  dim  light  upon  it;  and  Leland,  in  his  work  "De 
Scriptoribus  Britannicis,"  is  provokingly  slovenly;  for  ex- 
ample, in  page  322  he  entirely  omits  to  assign  to  F.  Thomas 
Stubbs  the  "  Chronica  Pontificum  Ecclesise  Eboraci,"  termi- 
nating with  1373.  Fortunately,  this  narrative  is  preserved  in 
the  compilation  entitled,  "  Decern  Scriptores  Historiae  Angb-: 
cause,"  published  in  London,  1652. 

Mine  is  a  very  simple  and  limited  task,  viz.,  to  collect  the 
biographical  fragments  within  my  reach,  and  to  assist  in 
supplying  an  hiatus,  since  the  change  of  the  old  religion  by 
Acts  of  Parliament. 

At  the  suppression  of  monasteries  by  King  Henry  VIII.j 
the  communities  of  Black  Friars,  or  Preachers,  were  all  swept 
away,  with  the  rest  of  the  religious  houses,  and  the  property 
was  generally  parcelled  out  amongst  hungry  and  insatiable 


448  GLEANINGS    RESPECTING    THE 

court  harpies.  .Queen  Mary,  the  friend  of  justice  and  vin- 
dicator of  oppressed  innocence,  sought  to  repair  the  wrongs 
of  her  royal  father ;-  she  re-assembled  the  scattered  survivors 
of  the  Dominican  order,  in  a  part  of  their  old  convent  of 
St.  Bartholomew,  in  Smithfield,  London,  under  the  learned 
Doctor  and  Prior  WUIiam  Peryn.*  For  an  account  of  this 
convent  see  Stowe's  Chronicle  and  Weever's  Funeral  Monu- 
ments, p.  388.  Within  its  walls  Parliament  frequently  met. 
— (Campbell's  Lives  of  the  Chancellors,  vol.  i.  p.  489.)  But, 
alas  !  these  holy  men,  who  pursued  the  even  tenor  of  their 
way,  living  only  to  themselves  and  for  religion,  were  driven 
from  their  peaceful  asylum  on  13th  July,  1559,  by  the  vin- 
dictive and  perjured  Queen  Elizabeth.  Some  few  of  the 
members  remained  in  England,  to  afford  what  services  they 
could  to  the  persecuted  and  declining  cause  of  faith ;  the 
remainder  looked  for  refuge  to  foreign  convents  of  the  order, 
reserving  themselves  for  more  auspicious  times.  In  all  their 
trying  circumstances  they  never  failed  to  keep  up  the  name 
of  their  province,  though  the  members  were  usually  governed 
by  superiors,  styled  Vicars-  General ;  and  though  they  actually 
possessed  no  houses  of  their  own,  until  F.  Philip  (Thomas) 
Howard  succeeded  in  establishing,  a.d.  1658,  a  convent  for 
men  in  a  former  Benedictine  Priory  at  Bornhem,t  near 
Antwerp ;  and  another  for  women  at  Vilvorden,  about  seven 
miles  from  Brussels,  three  years  later.  Previous  to  this, 
that  indefatigable  lover  of  his  brethren  had  procured  a  decree 
at  the  general  chapter  holden  in  1650,  that "  English,  Scotch, 
and  Irish  young  men  might  be  received  everywhere  [uhique) 
to  the  order,  to  its  novitiate,  and  to  their  studies,  so  that  at 
their  termination,  they  might  be  qualified  to  promote  the 
propagation  of  faith  in  their  respective  countries." — (Hibernia 
Dominicana,  p.  543.)  In  his  zeal  this  benefactor  of  his 
English  brethren  obtained  for  them  the  monastery  of  SS. 
John  and  Paul,  near  St.  Sixtus,  in  Rome;  but  this  they 
surrendered,  for  want  of  funds,  in  1699,  five  years  after  his 
death,  when  Pope  Innocent  XI.  transferred  it  to  the  congre- 
gation of  St.  Vincent  a  Paolo. 

Is  it  not  painful  to  observe  the  apathetic  silence  of  our 

*  This  worthy  superior  was  buried  in  his  conventual  church,  22nd 
August,  1558. 

The  provincialship  in  England  was  assigned  to  the  Very  Rev.  F. 
Angelus  Bettinus,  a  native  of  Florence — "  vir  ingentis  industrise."  He 
was  succeeded  in  his  office  by  F.  Vincent  Justiniani,  who  was  elected,  in 
the  General  Chapter  at  Rome,  at  Pentecost,  1558,  the  forty-seventh 
master  of  the  Order. 

t  See  Sander's  "Flandria  Illustrata,"  vol.  ii.  p.  608. 


ENGLISH    DOMINICAN    PHOVINCE.  449 

English  Church  historian,  Dodd,*  on  a  topic  so  peculiarly 
interesting  and  warming  to  the  heart  of  every  Catholic  ?  In 
vol.  ii.  of  his  Church  History,  p.  400,  he  does  indeed  report 
that  one  John  Harding  abandoned  his  order  to  pass  over  to 
the  Church  of  England,  and  that  "  he  preached  a  recantation 
sermon  in  the  Gate  House,  Westminster,  30th  July,  1620," 
which  was  printed  the  same  year  in  a  small  quarto.  In  vol.  iii. 
p.  819,  he  cursorily  mentions  "Alexander  Lumsden,"  that 
generous  confessor  of  the  faith,  during  the  national  delirium 
of  Oates's  plot.  Even  the  memoir  of  that  ornament  of  his 
country.  Cardinal  Howard,  is  far  from  being  circumstantial ; 
and  though  he  might  have  ascertained  that  his  Eminence 
died  on  18th  June,  1694,  he  merely  states  "  He  died,  aw  / 
take  it,  in  the  yesfir  1690 "  (vol.  iii.  p.  445) .  I  am  not  so 
surprised  that  Mr.  Macaulay,  in  his  note  to  his  Hist.  vol.  ii, 
p.  21,  should  affirm  that  Bishop  Leyburn  was  an  English 
Dominican. 

I  could  have  wished  to  submit  to  the  reader  more  copious 
details  of  the  zealous  services,  patient  sufferings,  religious 
spirit,  and  edifying  lives  of  St.  Dominic's  children;  but  I 
hope  this  feeble  attempt  will  sharpen  the  industry  of  abler 
penmen.  To  their  well-organized  monastery  at  Woodchester, 
so  happily  settled  amongst  us,  we  look  for  that  great  desi- 
deratum an  "Anglia  Dominicana."  To  the  very  Rev.  Fathers 
Procter,  Aylward,  and  Morewood,  I  am  proud  to  acknowledge 
ray  obligations  for  their  courteous  attention  to  my  numerous 
inquiries ;  and  without  further  preface  will  submit  to  the 
reader  a  list  of  members  of  the  province,  arranged  in  alpha- 
betical order. 

Adamson  (Vincent),  Robert. — (See  p.  227.) 

Anderson,  alias  Munson  [Albert),  Lionel. — In  Hargrave's 
"  State  Trials,"  the  difference  of  the  reverend  father's  names 
has  caused  a  distinction  of  persons.  He  was  a  convert  of 
Lincolnshire.  Apprehended  for  priesthood,  he  was  tried  and 
condemned  at  the  Old  Bailey,  17th  January,  1679 ;  but  re- 
ceived a  pardon  from  King  Charles  II.,  yet  sentenced  to  per- 
petual exile.  This  confessor  of  the  faith  managed  to  return 
to  his  missionary  labours  in  the  reign  of  King  James  II. ; 
but  at  the  Revolution  emigrated  to  the  continent.  After  a 
lapse  of  time  he  revisited  his  native  country,  and  died  in 

*  This  reverend  author  died  on  27th  February,  1743,  N.S.,  set. 
seventy.  In  the  "Catholic  Magazine,"  of  1826,  p.  265,  Dr.  Kirk 
mentions  a  manuscript  of  sixteen  pages  on  the  English  province  of 
St.  Dominic.     Q.  Where  is  it? 

2  G 


450  GLEANINGS    BESPECaTNG    THE 

London  on  21st  October,  O.S.,  1710,  at  the  patriarchal  age 
of  ninety-one. 

Armstrong,  Robert,  of  Northumberland. — This  exemplary 
father  devoted  himself  to  the  service  of  the  poor,  and  recon- 
ciled many  to  the  Church  of  God.  He  died  in  the  odour  of 
sanctity  5th  May,  1663. 

Armstrong,  Thomas,  brother  to  F.  Eobert. — This  apostolical 
missionary  ingratiated  himself  amongst  the  gentry.  He  had 
originally  been  admitted  into  the  English  College  at  Rome  in 
1631,  but  was  allowed  to  leave  and  follow  his  vocation  to  the 
order  of  St.  Dominic.  His  death  occurred  on  20th  May, 
1662. 

Atkinson,  Benedict. — After  serving  the  Hinckley  mission 
in  Leicestershire,  he  sought  retirement  abroad,  and  finished  his 
course  at  Bruges  on  16th  October, — another  account  says 
November, — 1826,  set.  sixty-nine. 

Atwood,  Peter,  of  Warwickshire,  an  honoured  name 
amongst  his  brethren, — After  sanctifying  different  prisons, 
he  was  at  length  condemned  to  the  death  of  a  traitor  for  his 
religion.  The  hurdle  was  at  the  gate  of  the  jail  to  convey 
him  to  Tyburn,  when  King  Charles  II.  sent  him  a  reprieve. 
The  chapter  rolls  of  the  province  relate  that  this  was  a  subject 
of  lamentation  to  him  for  the  rest  of  his  life.  "  Ipse  vero 
martyrii  coronam  sic  sibi  ablatam  per  reliquum  vitse  deplo- 
ravit,"  He  died  in  London  12th  August,  1712,  set.  seventy, 
rel.  forty-five,  sacerd.  forty.  His  brethren  had  the  happiness 
of  being  governed  by  him  from  1698  to  1706. 

Aylward  {Dominic),  J. — (See  p.  230.) 

Baines,John. — This  promising  lay  brother  died  at  Bornhem 
30th  January,  1821^  set.  twenty-one. 

It  is  some  consolation  to  know,  although  this  ancient 
convent  has  ceased  to  be  in  the  possession  of  its  former 
occupants,  that  it  now  belongs  to  the  monks  of  St.  Bernard, 
who  conduct  a  charity  school  for  500  boys. 

Barbour,  or  Barber,  James. — This  fifteenth  prior  of  Born- 
hem  governed  his  community  from  1744  to  1747,  after  which 
he  was  appointed  director  to  the  English  Dominicanesses  in 
Brussels,  where  he  surrendered  his  soul  to  God  10th  May, 
1752. 

Barry,  William,  I  think,  was  a  native  of  Ireland.  That 
he  was  a  man  of  superior  abilities,  is  manifest  from  the 
"  Hibernia  Dominicana,"  p.  216.  Most  certainly  he  was  the 
sixth  prior  of  Bornhem,  from  1701  to  1704.  "  Pie  obiit  post 
annum  1706." 

Bayly,  Andrew. — This  confessor  of  the  faith,  after  enduring 


ENGLISH    DOMINICAN    PROVINCE.  451 

imprisonment  during  the  reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  was 
sentenced  to  perpetual  banishment  in  1603,  after  which 
period  we  lose  sight  of  him. 

BiTiff,  Edward,  was  provincial  of  his  brethren  from  1694. 
to  1698.  Retiring  to  Bornhem,  he  there  finished  his  pious 
course  on  35th  September,  1701,  set.  eighty-two. 

Bommarts,  Philip. — ^A  venerable  lay  brother,  who  died  at 
Bornhem  23rd  January,  1821,  set.  seventy-three. 

Brittain,  Lewis,  D.D. — (See  p.  249.) 

Bullock. — Three  names  of  this  respectable  family  became 
children  of  St.  Dominic  : — 

1.  Charles,  who  after  filling  the  office  of  director  of  the 
Dominicanesses  at  Brussels,  was  made  twenty-fifth  prior  of 
Bornhem  in  1785,  and  was  continued  such  for  seven  years 
in  very  critical  times.  Retiring  thence  to  Louvain,  he  de- 
parted to  our  Lord  on  12th  June,  1794. 

2.  John  [Raymund)  had  also  the  direction  of  the  English 
nuns  of  his  order  at  Brussels ;  then  was  elected  prior  of  his 
convent  from  1782  to  1785 ;  twice  was  made  provincial,  from 
1790  to  1794;  again  from  1798  to  1802.  He  died  at  Cale- 
hill,  where  he  had  been  long  chaplain  to  the  Darrell  family, 
5th  June,  1819,  set.  seventy-one.  "Optima  de  Provincii 
meritus." — Chapter  Rolls. 

3.  Joseph. — I  find,  in  F.  Darbyshire's  Journal,  kept  at 
Ugbrooke,  that  this  reverend  father  died  in  England  31st 
January,  1750. 

Burges,  Ambrose,  S.T.M.,  an  eminent  scholar  and  theolo- 
gian, who  had  passed  through  the  highest  offices  of  the 
order  with  distinguished  credit,  and  went  to  receive  the 
reward  of  the  good  and  faithfiil  servant  at  Brussels,  27th 
April,  1747,  set.  sixty-seven,  prof,  fifty,  sac.  forty-seven.  The 
chapter  rolls  affirm  that  he  was  "  the  accurate  writer  of  the 
Annals  of  the  Church  during  the  five  first  ages." 

Another  father  of  the  same  name,  perhaps  nephew,  died 
27th  April,  1763. 

Caestryck  {Benedict),  Charles. — (See  p.  257.) 
Canning,  John,  after  discharging  the  office  of  vicar  at 
Bornhem  in  1672  for  a  twelvemonth,  was  appointed  director 
to  the  Dominicanesses  in  Vilvorden,  where  he  concluded  an 
edifying  life  by  a  death  precious  in  the  sight  of  God,  19th 
July,  1676. 

Catchmay,  Gtwge. — This  worthy  superior  of  his  brethren 
in  England,  at  a  difficult  period,  from  1654  to  1658,  was 
called  to  his  reward  in  1669,  set.  seventy-two.     He  was  pro- 

2  G  2 


452  GLEANINGS    EESPECTING   THE 

bably  one  of  the  old  missionaries  in  England  whom  F.  Thomas 
Howard  had  consulted  about  the  restoration  of  the  order. 

Catterell,  Stephen,  who  died  at  Stonecroft,  Northumber- 
land, on  Christmas-day,  1765,  befpre  he  completed  the 
quadriennium  of  his  ofBce  of  Provincial.  He  had  been  pro- 
fessed in  the  order  forty-six  years;  age  unknown. 

Chapell,  Francis  Xavier,  aifter  long  service  in  the  Leicester 
mission,  and  filling  the  proviucialship  from  1810  to  1814, 
finished  his  earthfy  career  at  Bornhem  14th  March,  1825, 
aet.  seventy-six,  rel.  fifty. 

Clarkson,  John. — I  meet  with  him  "as  eighteenth  prior  of 
Bornhem,  from  1754  to  1757,  and  provincial  from  1758  to 
1762,  but  have  not  been  able  to  ascertain  the  date  of  his 
death.  He  published  in  12mo.  a  work  on  the  Rosary,  in 
144  pages,  London,  1737,  and  dedicated  to  Francis  Turville, 
of  Aston  Flamville,  co.  Leicester,  Esq.  Q.  Who  are  A.  C. 
andT,  V.,  who  published  "Exercises  for  the  Rosary"  (12mo. 
pp.  671),  in  the  reign  of  King  Charles  XL,  dedicated  to 
Sir  Henry  Tichburne,  Bart.  ? 

Collins,  William,  S.T.M.,  was  third  prior  of  Bomhem> 
from  1685  to  1688.  Subsequently  he  was  confessor  to  the 
Dominicanesses  of  Brussels,  where  he  ended  his  days  17th 
November,  1699. 

Cooper,  Vincent. — All  that  I  can  recover  is,  that  he  was  a 
good  divine  and  missionary,  and  that  his  death  occurred 
21st  April,  1690. 

Crosseland,  Henry,  of  Yorkshire. — This  apostle  of  the 
poor,  after  twenty  years  of  unceasing  labour,  died  "  in  pago 
Whendry  Eboracensi,"  2nd  February,  1720,  N.S.,  set.  fifty. 

Dade,  Thomas. — All  that  I  can  glean  of  him  is,  that  he 
was  acting  as  superior  of  his  English  brethren  in  1647;  that 
he  was  imprisoned  for  his  faith ;  and  that  Thomas  Gaze  the 
apostate,  who  appeared  as  evidence  against  him,  declining  to 
swear  as  to  his  priesthood,  he  was  acquitted  by  the  jury. 

Darby  shire  {Dominic),  James. — James  Darbyshlre  was 
born  about  the  year  1690.  Resorting  to  the  convent  of  Holy 
Cross  at  Bornhem,  in  Flanders,  he  received  the  Dominican 
habit  on  the  1st  of  January,  1714  (N.S.),  when  he  was 
twenty-four  years  of  age,  from  the  hands  of  the  Very  Rev. 
Ambrose  Grimes,  S.T.D.,  then  prior,  and  assumed  the 
religious  name  of  Dominic.  On  the  following  day  he  was 
sent  to  the  Flemish  noviciate  of  the  order  at  Ghent.  After 
the  expii'ation  of  the  probationary  year,  he  returned  to 
Bornhem,  and  there,  on  the  13th  of  January  (N.S.),  took 
the  solemn  vows  of  profession  to  the  Very  Rev.  Dominic 


ENGLISH    DOMINICAN    PROVINCE.  453 

Williams,  S.T.D.  (subsequently  bishop  of  Tiberiopolis  and 
Vicar-Apostolic  of  the  Northern  District  of  England)  ; 
Thomas  Gibson  being  prior.  In  the  course  of  the  two 
years  ensuing,  he  received  holy  orders.  He  probably  went 
through  his  theological  education  in  the  college  of  St. 
Thomas  Aquinas,  at  Louvain,  which  belonged  to  the  English 
Dominican  province,  and  formed  their  usual  house  of  studies. 
His  talents  and  learning  then  caused  him  to  be  engaged  in 
teaching  the  secular  youth  of  the  college  attached  to  his 
convent  at  Bornhem ;  and  he  was  made  first  prefect  of  the 
classes  of  Humanities.  He  also,  for  some  time,  filled  the 
ofl&ce  of  sub -prior. 

Father  Domiuiq  Darbyshire  quitted  Bornhem,  and  pro- 
ceeded on  the  English  mission,  in  August,  1726.  An  inspec- 
tion of  his  journal,  commenced  at  this  time,  and  continued 
to  the  beginning  of  January,  1757,  which  still  exists  in  the 
library  of  Lord  Clifford  at  Ugbrooke,  leads  us  to  suppose 
that  this  father  was  first  stationed  at  Standish,  near  Wigan, 
in  Lancashire,  He  was  certainly  ofiiciating  there  at  the 
close  of  July,  1 728.  Perhaps  he  was  resident  in  the  family 
of  Standish,  which  so  fortunately,  yet  so  narrowly,  escaped 
destruction  with  the  good  earl  of  Derwentwater.*  It  is 
certain,  also,  that  in  January,  1728-9  (O.S.),  he  was  per- 
manent chaplain  to  Sir  Francis  Mannock,  of  Gifi'ord's  Hall, 
Suffolk,  and  Lady  Frances  his  consort,  daughter  and  sole 
heir  of  George  Yates,  of  North  Waltham,  Hampshire,  Esq. 
He  exercised  his  sacerdotal  functions  around  all  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  his  patron's  seat. 

Hugh,  fourth  Lord  Clifford,  who  married  Elizabeth, 
daughter  to  Edward  Blount,  of  Blagdon,  Devonshire,  Esq., 
and  sister  to  the  duchess  of  Norfolk,  died  on  the  26th  of 
March,  1732  (O.S.),  leaving  Hugh  his  son  and  heir,  then 
scarcely  six  years  old.  In  February,  1735  (O.S.),  Father 
Dominic  Darbyshire  became  chaplain  to  this  family,  and 
resided  at  their  principal  seat  of  Ugbrooke,  near  Chudleigh, 

*  Here  I  may  be  allowed  to  mention  that  the  little  book  of  devotions 
used  by  the  earl  of  Derwentwater  in  the  closing  days  of  his  life,  is  still 
preserved  at  Woodchester.  It  consists  of  two  of  Gother's  works,  in 
1 2mo.,  printed  uniformly;  the  first,  "Instructions  and  Devotions  for 
hearing  Mass,"  printed  in  the  year  1705,  pp.152;  the  other,  "In- 
structions for  Confession  and  Communion,"  printed  in  the  year  1706, 
pp.  159.  On  the  fly-leaf  at  the  beginning  of  the  volume  is  written, 
probably  by  the  hand  of  the  excellent  countess  of  Derwentwater : — 
"  This  book  my  Dear  Lord  made  youse  of,  when  he  was  in  the  Toner," 
This  valued  relic  came  into  the  possession  of  the  Rt.  Hon.  Rob.  James, 
eighth  Lord  Petre,  Thorndon,  Essex,  who  married,  May  2nd,  1732, 
Marjr,  daughter  of  the  earl  of  Derwentwater ;  and  then  it  passed  to  the 
Dominican  fathers. 


454 


GLEANINGS    RESPECTING   THE 


in  the  county  of  Devon,  There,  for  nearly  twenty  years,  he 
was  occupied  in  the  most  active  missionary  labours  amidst 
the  scanty  and  scattered  flock  of  Christ  which  the  unhappi- 
ness  of  the  times  would  perMit. 

During  the  whole  period  of  his  residence  in  England, 
Father  Dominic  took  unceasing  interest  in  the  welfare  of  his 
illustrious  order,  and  was  advanced  to  some  of  the  degrees 
bf  honour  which  it  confers  upon  its  faithful  sons.  In  1730, 
having  been  instituted  titular  prior  of  Ipswich  in  the  pre- 
vious year,  he  was  one  of  the  "  Vocales "  who  assisted  at 
the  first  English  provincial  chapter  held  since  the  English 
revolt;  which  assembled  in  London  on  the  20th  of  April, 
and  continued  for  several  days.  Although  made  prior  of 
Thetford  on  the  22nd  of  May,  1732  (O.S.),  he  was  not 
present  at  the  second  chapter  of  1734;  but  the  chapter, 
which  continued  from  the  4th  to  the  7th  of  May,  petitioned 
that  he  might  be  promoted  to  the  degree  of  preacher-general 
in  place  of  Father  Alan  Pennington,  deceased.  This  applica- 
tion was  granted  by  the  general  of  the  order,  and  on  the 
4th  of  February  (O.S.)  following  he  was  examined  for,  and 
admitted  to  the  degree  by  the  Very  Rev.  Joseph  Hansbie, 
S.T.M.,  then  provincial.  In  order  that  he  might  be  able  to 
assist  at  the  various  provincial  chapters  (which  were  all  held 
in  London),  he  was  instituted  titular  prior  of  Bristol  on  the 
22nd  of  April,  1737  (O.S.),  and  of  Exeter  on  the  17th  of 
February,  1745-6  (O.S.),the  14th  of  September,  1750  (O.S.), 
and  the  3rd  of  November,  1753.  He  was  elected  one  of  the 
four  definitors  of  the  chapters  of  1738  (April  24,  &c.),  1742 
(May  10  to  15),  when  he  was  prior  of  Exeter ;  1750  (Sep- 
tember 26,  &c),  and  1754  (May  21,  &c.).  In  the  chapter  of 
1738,  he  was  made  second  socius  to  the  definitor  elected  for 
the  next  general  chapter  of  the  order,  to  act  in  case  of  the 
death  of  the  first  socius.  No  provincial  chapter  was  held 
in  1746,  on  account  of  the  dangers  arising  from  the  renewed 
political  persecution  of  the  Church.  In  the  chapter  of  1750 
it  was  petitioned  that  he  should  be  advanced  to  the  degree  of 
Sac.  Theol.  Praesentatus,  in  reward  of  his  strenuous  labours, 
for  twenty- four  years,  on  the  English  mission ;  and  that  the 
general  had  made  the  concession,  was  declared  in  the  chapter 
of  1754. 

In  1747,  Father  Dominic  was  summoned  from  England  to 
Bornhem,  in  consequence  of  his  election  to  the  priorship  of 
the  convent;  and  on  the  5th  of  August,  1749  (N.S.),  he 
was  instituted  Vicar  Provincial  of  the  Low  Countries.  His 
loss  was  very  deeply  felt  by  the  family  of  Lord  Clifl'ord,  and 
his  return  to  Ugbrooke  was   so   importuned,  that,  on  the 


ENGLISH    DOMINICAN    PUOVINCE.  455 

11th  of  May,  1750  (N.S.),  with  the  approbation  of  the  pro- 
vincial, he  renounced  his  offices,  and  on  the  same  day  set 
out  from  Bornhem  for  England.  The  resumption  of  his 
chaplaincy  was  a  source  of  great  consolation  to  the  family  of 
his  patron.  During  his  absence,  Lord  Clifford  had  married 
(on  the  17th  of  December,  1749,  O.S.)  Anne,  daughter  to 
George  Henry,  earl  of  Lichfield;  and  it  became  Father 
Dominic's  additional  charge  to  watch  the  infant  minds  which 
now  arose  in  that  noble  house.  The  following  entries  occur 
amongst  his  memoranda,  and  are  translated  from  his  Flemish 
originals : — 

"  October  7,  1752. — I  baptized  Frances,  daughter  of  the 
Right  Hon.  Lord  and  Lady  Clifford,  at  Ugbrooke,  in  the 
parish  of  Chudleigh,  in  Devonshire.  Godfather,  Mr.  Edward 
Clifford,  and  godmother,  Mrs.  Eleanora  Pickering. 

"May  20,  1754. — I  baptized  Ann  Eliz.  Mary,  daughter 
of  the  Right  Hon.  Lord  and  Lady  Clifford,  at  London,  born 
on  the  17th  inst.  Godfather,  Mr.  Nevill,  for  Lord  Lich- 
field, and  godmother,  the  duchess  of  Norfolk. 

"  May  24,  1755. — I  baptized,  at  Ugbrooke,  Maria  Anna 
Rosamunda,  daughter  of  the  Right  Hon.  Lord  and  Lady 
Clifford.  Godfather,  George  Cary,  Esq.,  and  godmother, 
Mrs.  Cary,  for  the  duchess  of  Norfolk." 

The  very  reverend  and  learned.  Father  Dominic  Darbyshire, 
"  vir  de  sud  provinciS,  perbene  meritus,"  as  the  Bprnhem 
chapter  rolls  declare,  peaceably  ended  his  days  at  Ugbrooke 
on  Friday,  7th  January,  1757,  as  I  found  in  the  Prayer-book 
of  one  of  his  penitents ;  but,  according  to  the  "  Bornhem 
Martyrology,"  on  Friday,  the  2nd  of  August  that  year.  He 
had  attained  the  age  of  sixty-eight  years,  forty-six  of  which 
he  had  passed  in  religion,  and  for  forty-four  had  exercised 
sacerdotal  functions.  His  remains  were  interred  at  Ugbrooke, 
at  the  back  of  St.  Cyprian's  Chapel,  where  they  still  repose 
in  peace, 

Dixon,  Ambrose,  died  at  Hexham,  Northumberland,  on 
12th  May,  1782,  set.  thirty-five. 

Dominic,  — —  . — According  to  Keating's  Directory  of 
1809,  this  lay  brother  died  at  Bornhem.  I  suspect  he  is 
the  same  person  as  Dominic  Mennicke,  recorded  in  the  year 
following. 

DoneUan,  Patrick,  died  at  Richmond,  Surrey,  2nd  June, 
1794. 

Dryden,  Henry  Erasmus,  younger  son  of  the  great  Poet 
Laureate  John  Dryden  (ob.  Wednesday,  1st  May,  1700,  set. 
sixty-nine),  by  his  wife  Lady  Elizabeth  Howard,  daughter  of 


456 


GLEANINGS    RESPECTING    THE 


the  earl  of  Berkshire,  was  born  2nd  May,  1669,  and  was 
admitted  into  the  English  College  at  Rome;  but  this  he 
quitted  to  embrace  the  rule  of  St.  Dominic.  According  to 
Chalmers'  "Biographical  Dictionary"  (art.  Dryden,  London 
ed.  1813,  p.  365),  he  lived  to  succeed  to  the  baronetcy  in  the 
Dryden  family ;  *  if  so,  he  must  have  held  it  for  a  short 
period;  for  he  died  in  co.  Northampton  3rd  December,  1710. 
Dryden,  Thomas,  the  second  son  of  the  Poet  Laureate  (the 
eldest,  Charles,  was  drowned  near  Datchett,  in  attempting  to 
swim  over  the  Thames,  and  was  buried  at  Windsor  30th 
August,  1704).— I  regret  the  inability  of  illustrating  the 
history  of  this  Thomas,  which  I  suspect  was  his  religious 
name,  and  John  his  baptismal  one.  He  certainly  filled  the 
office  of  vicar  in  capite  at  Bornhem  from  1701  for  a  twelve- 
month. 

Edwards,  Joseph. — All  that  I  can  learn  of  him  is  that  he 
was  provincial  from  1774  to  1778,  and  that  he  died  4th  Sep- 
tember, 1781. 

Fallon,  Thomas,  was  attached  to  the  Spanish-place  Chapel, 
London,  in  which  service  he  paid  the  debt  of  nature  12th 
January,  1800,  set.  forty-eight. 

Fenwick,  John,  died  in  the  Maryland  mission  in  the  course 
of  the  year  1816,  set.  fifty-eight. 

Ferlaman,  James. — Retiring  from  the  Hexham  mission,  he 
settled  at  Louvain,  where  he  ended  his  days  5th  February, 
1796. 

Fidden,  Thomas. — He  presided  as  sub-prior  at  Bornhem 
from  1666  to  1672,  under  its  noble  founder;  then  went  on 
the  English  mission,  where  he  departed  to  our  Lord  4th 
September,  1679. 

Fleming,  ,  had  been  marked  out  for   the  episcopal 

dignity,  but  died  a  martyr  of  charity  at  Philadelphia,  in 
attending  the  infected,  in  September,  1793. 

Fowler  {Thomas),  William,  S.T.M. — This  worthy  missionary 
contributed  2,000  florins  towards  the  foundation  of  Bornhem 
Convent,  and  had  meditated  to  terminate  his  days  in  that 
peaceful  retreat ;  but  he  died  in  Staffordshire,  date  unknown. 

Gage,  Ambrose,  I  suspect,  was  brother  to  the  Rev.  John 
Gage,  S.J.,  of  Bury  St.  Edmund's;  he  was  prior  of  Bornhem 
from  1770  to  1773 ;  obiit  5th  March,  1796. 

Gibson. — Of  this  family,  so  fruitful  of  ecclesiastics,  I  meet 
with  two  members  of  the  Dominican  Order :  first,  George, 

*  The  original  taronetoy  bears  date  16th  November,  1619. 


ENGLISH    DOMINICAN    PROVINCE.  '  457 

who  was  superior  of  BornHem  from  1683  to  1685,  aad  who 
died  in  England  19th  December,  1696 ;  second,  Thomas,  who 
was  ninth  prior  of  Bomhem,  and  apparently  had  been  chap- 
lain to  the  nuncio  Ferdinand  d'Adda.  The  reverend  father 
ended  his  days  in  London  June,  1724. 

Geoghegan,  Arthur. — This  Irish  father,  one  of  the  first 
members  of  their  College  of  the  Eosary  at  Lisbon,  was 
apprehended  and  committed  to  jail  in  London.  Condemned 
to  death,  he  was  butchered  alive  at  Tyburn  at  Michaelmas, 
1633.  That  college  supplied  six  other  martyrs  of  the  fiaith 
or  of  charity ;  viz.  Gerald  Dillon,  Milo  Magrath,  Ambrose 
O'Cahill,  Michael  O'Clary,  Gerald  Bagot,  and  Thaddy  Mori- 
arty. —  (See  Hib.  Dominicana,  pp.  419 — 560.) 

Clifford,  Maurice,  died  in  the  London  mission  2nd  Novem- 
ber, 1698. 

Green. — Two  of  this  name  occur :  first,  John,  who  died  in 
the  Lancashire  mission  in  1752,  set.  forty-eight;  second, 
B/aymund,  S.T.M.,  a  man  of  rare  eminence  and  consideration 
amongst  his  brethren.  Worn  out  with  apostolic  labours,  he 
slept  in  the  Lord  at  Louvain  28th  July,  1741,  setatis 
eighty-six. 

Grimes,  Ambrose. — He  had  studied  in  France,  and  rose  to 
distinction  as  a  professor  and  preacher.  In  the  last  capacity 
he  lived  at  the  court  of  Queen  Catharine,  relict  of  King 
Charles  II.  After  filling  all  the  provincial  offices  with  honour, 
he  died  at  Louvain  8th  February,  1719,  set.  seventy-four; 
prof,  fifty-four ;  sac.  fifty.  The  chapter  rolls  add :  "  Huic 
obvenit  titulus  Equitis  aurati  sen  Baronetti."     Sed  qusere  ? 

Graham,  R. — His  name  occurs  in  the  recently-published 
correspondence  of  John,  duke  of  Marlborough.  On  18th 
May,  1706,  whilst  acting  as  superior  at  Bomhem,  he  obtained 
a  letter  of  protection  for  his  convent  from  his  Grace,  dated 
as  above,  "from  the  camp  at  Tongres."  After  this  I  lose 
sight  of  him. 

Haimes  {Hyacinth),  John.^After  the  first  expulsion  of  the 
French  from  Flanders,  he  assisted  in  conducting  a  school  at 
Bomhem,  and  there  ended  his  days  13th  June,  1823,  set. 
fifty-three ;  rel.  twenty. 

Hansbie,  Joseph,  magnum  decus  columenque  provincise. — 
The  chapter  rolls  do  justice  to  his  singular  merits  as  a  pro- 
fessor, a  superior,  a  director,  and  indefatigable  missionary. 
He  died  in  London  15th  June,  1750,  set.  seventy-eight; 
prof,  fifty-four;  sac.  fifty -two. 

Hanssen,  Leonard. — I  am  surprised  and  pained  at  Bishop 
Burke's  (author  of  the  "  Hibemia  Dominicana  ")  unwilling- 


458  GLEANINGS    RESPECTING    THE 

ness  (pp.  81,  370)  to  allow  this  father  only  the  name  of  Titular 
Provincial  of  England,  though  his  lordship  quotes  him  as 
countersigning  himself  as  such  under  the  immediate  eye  of 
the  general  of  the  order.  To  the  same  purpose  (p.  81),  the 
learned  doctor  forgot  himself  by  denying  the  right  of  our  late 
vicars-apostolic  to  exercise  episcopal  functions,  except  con- 
firmation :  "  Ad  efFectum  unice  conferendi  Sacramentum 
Confirmationis  episcopi."  The  first  time  I  meet  with  F.  Hans- 
sen  is  in  1646 ;  the  last  time,  4th  August,  1677.  He  probably 
died  at  Rome. 

Hatton  [Anthony),  Christopher. — Under  the  borrowed  name 
of  Constantius  Archseophilus,  this  learned  father  compiled 
"  Memoirs  of  the  Reformation  of  England,  in  two  parts ; 
the  whole  collected  from  Acts  of  Parliament  and  Protestant 
Historians."  At  length,  his  MS.  was  published  by  Keating, 
in  1826,  8vo.  pp.  257.  This  venerable  man  filled  the  ofiice 
of  provincial  twice;  viz.  from  1754  to  1758,  and  again  from 
1770  to  1774.  For  a  considerable  time  he  resided  at  Myd- 
dleton  Lodge,  co.  York,  as  chaplain,  where  he  died  23rd 
October,  1783,  set.  seventy-nine,  of  which  period  he  had 
passed  sixty-one  years  in  religion. 

Herman,  James,  a  good  lay  brother,  who  was  called  by  his 
God  from  labour  to  repose  on  17th  September,  1784. 

Heyne,  O',  Cornelius,  a  man  of  unquestionable  merit.  Prom 
his  convent  at  Limerick  he  was  sent  to  Rome  to  finish  his 
studies ;  for  many  years  taught  philosophy  and  theology  at 
Prague  j  subsequently  was  attached  to  the  court  of  Queen 
Catharine  *  of  Braganza,  consort  of  King  Charles  II.,  where 
he  rendered  valuable  service  to  the  English  Catholics.  As 
Dr.  Burke  informs  us  (Hib.  Dom.  p.  579),  according  to  the 
chapter  rolls  of  the  English  province,  he  died  a  missionary 
in  England  2nd  May,  1686.  Dr.  Burke  places  his  death  in 
London,  1685. 

Hickey  (John),  Joseph.  —  This  self-denying  lay  brother 
obtained  permission  to  devote  himself  to  the  instruction  of 
the  children  in  the  poor-schools  of  Somerstown,  and  died  in 
this  meritorious  office  on  Michaelmas-day,  1843,  set.  fifty- 
three;  prof,  twenty-eight. 

Houghton  [Hyacinth), Francis, S.T.M.,s\icceeAe&¥.  Nicholas 
Leadbitter,  December,  1762,  in  the  Hexham  mission ;  three 
years  later  he  was  translated  to  Stonecroft;  but,  in  1766,  his 
services  were  required  for  the  priorship  of  Bomhem.  At  the 
expiration  of  his  triennial  government,  he  was  sent  to  Fair- 

*  This  pious  queen,  the  mirror  of  every  Christian  virtue,  died  at 
Lisbon  on  31st  December,  1705. 


ENGXilSH    DOMINICAN    PROVINCE.  459 

hurst  Hall,  where  he  surrendered  his  soul  to  God  3rd  January, 
1823,  set.  eighty-six ;  prof,  sixty-nine. 

Howard  (Thomas),  Philip. — I  now  come  to  the  brightest 
star  of  the  province. — He  was  the  third  son  of  Henry  Fre- 
derick, Lord  Mowbray,  by  his  wife  Elizabeth  Stewart, 
daughter  of  the  duke  of  Lennox,  and  first  saw  the  light  of 
day  in  London,  21st  September,  1630.  Travelling  on  the 
continent  with  his  illustrious  grandfather,  Thomas  Howard, 
earl  of  Arundel  and  Surrey,  and  Earl  Marshal,*  the  pious 
youth  met  at  Milan  the  very  learned  and  saintly  F.  John 
Baptist  Hackett,  the  Irish  prior  of  St.  Eustorgius's  Convent, 
O.S.D.,  in  that  city.  To  this  enlightened  father  Philip 
unbosomed  himself  without  reserve,  and  expressed  his  earnest 
desire  of  consecrating  himself  to  the  divine  service  in  the 
blessed  Order  of  St.  Dominic.  After  much  deliberation,  it 
was  arranged  that  he  should  privately  give  him  the  habit  at 
Cremona  on  28th  June,  1645,  when  he  took  the  name  of 
Thomas,  in  honour  of  the  Angelic  Doctor. —  (Hib.  Dom.  p.  542.) 
Notwithstanding  the  violent  and  very  influential  opposition 
excited  by  his  family,  resembling  in  some  degree  what  his 
patron  St.  Thomas  had  to  endure,  the  young  religious  re- 
mained immovable  in  his  purpose;  and,  at  length.  Pope 
Innocent  X.,  after  diligently  examining  all  his  motives,  pro- 
nounced that  his  vocation  proceeded  from  the  Holy  Ghost, 
and  that  the  opposition  of  the  family  was  supported  by  merely 
human  considerations ;  and  that,  therefore,  he  fully  authorized 
him  to  make  his  religious  profession.  This  was  solemnly 
accomplished,  to  his  great  joy,  in  St.  Clement's  Convent, 
Rome,  on  19th  October,  1646. — (Compare  Hib.  Dom.  pp. 
543 — 871.)  He  was  then  sent  to  Naples  for  his  studies,  and  at 
the  end  of  four  years  returned  to  the  Eternal  City,  and  assisted 
at  the  general  chapter,  where  he  successfully  pleaded  for 
supplying  the  wants  and  comforts  of  young  candidates  of  the 
order  from  England,  Scotland,  and  Ireland.  In  1656,  as  we 
learn  from  the  "  Belgium  Dominicanum "  of  F.  Bernard  de 
Jonghe,  this  ardent  lover  of  his  brethren,  meditating  the 
establishment  of  an  English  monastery  at  Bornhem,  actually 
passed  over  to  England,  submitted  his  plan  to  some  veteran 
fathers  of  his  order,  who  approved  of  it,  and  laboured  with 
him  in  collecting  alms  for  the  purpose.  This  great  work 
was  accomplished  in  1658,  and  the  founder  was  deservedly 

*  See  the  view  of  his  life  and  actions,  by  his  proUge,  Sir  Edward 
Walker,  Knt.,  Garter  King  of  Arms.  This  nobleman  died  at  Padua 
14th  September,  1646,  set.  sixty-one,  O.  S.  Sir  Edward  mistakes 
F.  Ilackett  for  an  Italian  Dominican  friar  (p.  220,  Historical  Dis- 
courses). 


460  GLEANINGS    RESPECTING   THE 

elected  and  confirmed  its  first  prior;  nay,  siich  was  the 
grateful  veneration  in  which  he  was  held  by  his  brethren, 
that  they  forbore  to  elect  another  successor  in  that  ofiice, 
until  his  promotion  to  the  purple  on  27th  May,  1675.  He 
now  turned  his  attention  to  provide  a  house  for  English 
Dominicanesses,  and  succeeded  in  1661  in  obtaining  for 
them  a  temporary  abode  at  Vilvorden,  near  Brussels;  but, 
in  1690,  translated  them  to  far  more  commodious  premises, 
called  the  Spelicans,  in  Brussels  itself.  To  the  English  nuns 
of  the  third  order  of  St.  Francis  he  contributed  his  powerful 
aid  to  transfer  them  from  their  unhealthy  residence  at 
Nieuport,  into  the  noble  and  commodious  house  of  Princen- 
hofi',  in  the  city  of  Bruges. 

On  the  marriage  of  Catharine  of  Braganza  to  King 
Charles  II.,  F.  Howard  was  called  to  the  English  court,  and 
received  the  appointment  of  Grand  Almoner  to  her  majesty. 
In  the  interesting  Travels  of  Cosmo  III.  in  England,  1669, 
we  perpetually  meet  with  him  as  the  guest  and  iptimate 
companion  of  that  prince  in  and  around  London.  In  p.  170, 
the  prince  relates  that  "  King  Charles  honours  this  Grand 
Almoner  with  the  title  of  my  Lord ;"  and  he  adds :  "  He 
alone  is  permitted  to  walk  through  the  streets  of  London  in 
the  ecclesiastical  dress  of  an  abbe,  for  which  he  has  obtained 
a  dispensation,  although  he  is  a  religious  of  the  order  of 
St.  Dominic."  And  further,  in  p.  461,  "  It  has  been  wished 
at  Home  to  consecrate  a  titular  bishop  in  England,  some 
ecclesiastic  of  integrity  and  talent,  a  native  of  the  kingdom, 
who  may  watch  over  the  missions,  as  is  done  in  Holland. 
For  this  purpose  they  cast  their  eye  upon  Philip  Howard, 
Grand  Almoner  to  the  queen,  having  ascertained  that  the 
king  was  no  way  averse  from  such  a  step  ;  but  the  affairs  of 
the  kingdom  being  in  a  condition  not  very  favourable  to  the 
Catholics,  owing  to  the  inveteracy  of  the  'Parliament,  it  was 
thought  unseasonable,  and  was  judged  more  prudent,  the 
same  having  been  hinted  by  the  king,  to  put  off  the  execution 
of  such  a  proceeding  to  some  other  more  favourable  oppor- 
tunity. In  the  mean  time  the  bishops  of  Ireland  perform 
the  episcopal  functions  for  the  benefit  of  the  Catholics,  and 
come  over  occasionally  to  exercise  their  charge  in  the  best 
manner  in  their  power." 

From  another  source  I  ascertain  that  the  salary  attached 
to  his  ofi&ce  of  Grand  Almoner  was  j6500,  with  an  allowance 
of  another  J500  for  his  table,  and  £100  more  for  necessaries 
for  our  Oratory  at  Whitehall. 

The  inveteracy  of  Parliament  against  Catholics  went  on 
increasing ;  and  the  bad  spirit  excited  through  the  kingdom 


ENGLISH    DOMINICAN    PROVINCE.  461 

by  the  passing  of  the  Test  Act  probably  decided  the  Eord 
Almoner  to  retire  to  the  continent.  Rome  was  impatient 
to  receive  and  reward  him.  His  Holiness  Pope  Clement  X. 
invested  him  with  the  purple  on  27th  May,  1675,  amidst 
the  acclamations  of  all  classes ;  and  being  appointed  protector 
of  Great  Britain,  his  pleasure  and  study  was  to  promote 
the  interests  of  all  his  Catholic  fellow-countrymen  by  every 
means  within  his  power.  I  have  been  gratified  and  edified 
with  the  excellent  epistle  which  he  addressed  to  the  priests 
and  clerks  of  these  kingdoms,  commencing  with  "  Eccle- 
siastici,"  and  dated  from  Rome,  7th  April,  1684.  Honoured 
and  beloved,  this  prince  of  the  Church  was  summoned  to 
receive  the  crowp  of  life  on  18th  July,  1694,  and  was  buried 
in  his  titular  church,  S.  Marine  super  Minervam,  with  the 
following  monumental  inscription : — 

D.    O.    M. 

Fr.  Philippo  Thorns  Howardo, 

De  Noifolcia  et  Arundella, 

S.  R.  E.  Presbytero  Cardinal! 

Tituli  S.  Mariffi   super   Minervam, 

Ex  Sac.  Familia  Patrum  Prtedicatorum, 

Sanctce  Marise  Majoris  Archipresbytero, 

MagnsE  Britannice  Protectori, 

Magno  Anglita  Eleemosynario, 

Patriae  et  Pauperum  Patri, 

Filio  Provincise  Anglicanee  ejusdem  Ordinis 

Parent!  et  Restauratori  optimo, 

Hseredes  infrascripti  moerentes  posuere, 

Annuentibus 
S.  R,  E.  Cardinalibus  eminentissimis 
Palutio  de  Alteriis, 
Francisco  Nerlio, 

Galeatio  Marescotto,  * 

Fabiatio  Spada, 
Supremi  Testament!  Executoribus. 
Obiit  XIV.  Kal.  Jul!!,  Anno  mdcxciv. 
^tatis  suae  lxiv. 

The  Very  Rev.  F.  Anthony  Cloche,  the  general  of  his 
order,  an  excellent  judge  of  merit^  and  who  had  governed  his 
subjects  for  thirty  years,  addressed  an  encyclical  letter  to  his 
brethren,  condoling  with  them  on  their  loss,  and  eulogizing 
his  virtues. 

In  Mudie's  "  English  Medals  "  is  engraved  a  splendid  one, 
having  the  cardinal's  portrait  on  the  obverse,  with  the  legend 

PH.  T.  HOWARD.  S.  R.  E.  CARD. 
DE    NORFOLKE.  TIT.  S.  M.  S.  H. 

The  reverse  presents  Hercules  in  the  act  of  destroying  the 


462  GLEANINGS  RESPECTING  THE 

Hydra,  with  an  eagle  above  preparing  to  crown  the  victor. 
The  legend  is — 

NB    VICTA    RESVRGANT. 

Bromley,  in  his  Catalogue,  gives  the  name  of  six  engravers 
of  the  cardinal's  portrait. 

I  regret,  that  in  the  one  published  by  Keating  and  Co., 
in  the  Directory  of  1809,  should  be  retained  the  anachronism 
of  his  death  "  1690,  aged  sixty-one.'^ 

Hunter,  Thomas,  of  Lancashire. — After  twelve  years  of 
missionary  labour,  God  was  pleased  to  call  up  this  good  and 
faithful  servant  to  receive  his  retribution.  His  death  occurred 
in  London  10th  June,  1723. 

Idelfonsus,  de  S.  Ludovico. — ^AU  that  I  can  collect  of  him 
is  from  Hen.  More's  "  Hist.  Prov.  Ang.  S. J.,"  p.  469,  to  the 
effect  that  this  father,  in  conjunction  with  his  superior, 
F.  Thomas  Middleton,  signed  the  articles  of  agreement  be- 
tween the  secular  clergy,  the  Benedictines,  and  Franciscans, 
in  England. 

Kearton,  John. — He  was  vicarms  in  capite  at  Bomhem  in 
1766  for  a  twelvemonth.  In  1779  he  was  called  on  to  fill 
the  triennium  of  its  priorship.  For  a  time  he  was  director 
to  the  Dominicanesses  at  Brussels ;  but  we  have  no  account 
of  his  death. 

Kemys,  David. — The  chapter  rolls  inform  us  that  he  died 
a  prisoner  for  the  faith  in  London,  27th  January,  1678-9. 

Kimberley  {Thomas),  John,  died  in  London  23rd  May, 
1792,  set.  fifty-nine,  prof,  thirty. 

Leadbitter. — No  less  than  four  of  this  name  occur  in  the 
Annals.  1.  Dalmatius,  alias  Jasper  Leadbitter,  who  for  a 
long  period  superintended  the  Hexham  mission,  and  there 
departed  to  our  Lord  1st  July,  1830,  aged  eighty,  prof,  fifty- 
nine.  His  niece,  Mrs.  Charlton,  has  at  Hexham  House  a 
full-length  portrait  of  the  venerable  man. 

2.  Edward,  who  died  near  Leeds  6th  January,  1788. 

3.  John,  to  whom  God  gave  rest  from  his  labours  at  Stone- 
cross,  near  Hexham,  25th  April,  1811,  set.  seventy-one. 

4.  Nicholas,  after  much  vEduable  service  at  Hexham,  retired 
to  Flanders  in  January,  1762,  and  died  at  Bornhem  15th 
August,  1768,  set.  forty-seven,  prof,  twenty-five. 

Lefevre,  Juste,  for  a  long  period  was  the  respected  chap- 
lain at  Broughton  Hall,  near  Skipton ;  thence  removed  to 
Leeds,  but  finally  ended  his  career  at  St.  Omer's,  in  August, 
1843,  set.  seventy-seven. 


ENGLISH    DOMINICAN    PROVINCE.  463 

Lovett,  Albert. — He  had  been  tutor  in  the  family  of  the 
second  Lord  CliflFord,  at  Ugbrooke.  His  name  there  occa- 
sionally occurs  in  F.  Darbyshire's  Diary.  He  was  elected 
provincial  25  th  April,  1738,  and  had  just  completed  his 
quadriennial  term  of  government  when  he  died  in  London, 
1st  June,  1742. 

Lumsden,  Alexander,  a  native  of  Aberdeen,  but  incorpo- 
rated in  the  English  province.  On  17th  January,  1679,  he 
was  tried  at  the  Old  Bailey,  London,  for  Titus  Oates's  fabri- 
cated plot,  and  was  found  guilty ;  but  his  life  was  spared  on 
the  ground  of  being  a  Scotchman :  whether  he  died  in  prison, 
or  eidle,  or  where,  does  not  appear. 

Maillitt,  Benjamin,  a  lay  brother,  died  at  Carshalton  26th 
July,  1801,  set.  fifty-one. 

Malthus,  William,  a  novice  of  good  promise,  died,  prema- 
turely for  the  world,  at  Hinckley,  6th  December,  1842,  aet. 
thirty-two. 

Martin,  John,  S.T.M. — This  venerable  man,  of  seventy 
years'  standing  in  his  order,  and  sixty  years'  service  on  the 
mission,  closed  his  eyes  to  this  world  at  Long  Melford, 
Suffolk,  3rd  February,  1761.  But  the  chapter  register 
omits  his  age. 

McDermot,  Michael,  was  for  a  time  director  to  the  nuns 
at  Brussels.  He  was  living  in  1756,  set.  sixty,  rel.  forty; 
but  further  details  are  not  furnished. 

Mennicke. — (See  Dominic,  p.  455.) 

Middleton,  Thomas,  occurs  as  provincial  17th  November, 
1635,  and  vicar-general  1636,  1650,  1651 ;  but  for  the  time 
of  his  death  I  look  in  vain. 

,  Mildmxiy,  George,  was  the  second  confessor  of  the  Domini- 
canesses so  often  mentioned,  and  died  in  that  ofQce  28th 
October,  1668. 

Molyneux,  Thomas,  was  admitted  into  the  English  College 
at  Home  in  1655,  but  was  permitted  to  leave,  to  follow  his 
vocation  to  the  Dominican  order.  This  Jubilarian  died  at 
Bornhem  19th  December,  1708,  set.  ninety. 

Morewood  {Bernard),  Jam^s,  born  in  1823;  professed  in 
\%4.&.  Whilst  at  Hinckley  he  published  some  able  remarks 
upon  the  letters  of  Joseph  Nugent,  the  apostate,  to  a  Catholic 
priest.  Since  his  ordinations  at  Oscott,  22nd  December,  1849, 
he  has  been  indefatigable  in  the  ministry  and  a  vessel  of 
election  to  many  souls.  After  labouring  with  apostolic  zeal 
amidst  the  increasing  congregation  of  Woodchester,  he  opened 
a  new  mission  at  Stroud,  on  8th  February,  1856 ;  and  the 
prospect  is  so  encouraging,  that  he  is  erecting  a  spacious 
church  in  a  commanding  situation,  which  will  be  an  ornament 


464  GLEANINGS   RESPECTING   THE 

and  a  blessing  to  that  respectable  town.  May  Heaven  pros- 
per his  every  undertaking ! 

Munson,  Albert. —  (See  Anderson,  p.  449.) 

Murphy,  Vincent. — This  apostolic  preacher  and  father  of 
the  poor  died  in  London,  1746. 

NicJcolds,  Thomas,  now  the  provincial  for  the  second 
time  of  his  brethren,  has  for  several  years  superintended 
the  mission  of  Leicester.  May  he  long  adorn  his  order  by 
his  merits,  and  enjoy  the  comfort  of  witnessing  the  reviving 
glories  of  its  English  province ! 

Nicolls  {Thomas),  John,  died  at  Bornhem  12th  August, 
1783. 

Noel,  Augustus. — ^This  reverend  father  died  at  Hexham 
21st  February,  1812,  set.  seventy-four. 

Norton  {Thomas),  Matthew. — After  serving  the  mission  at 
Aston  Flamville,  in  the  county  of  Leicester,  he  deemed  it 
expedient,  for  the  good  of  religion,  to  transfer  it  to  the  town 
of  Hinckley.  In  1767  his  services  were  required  at  Bornhem 
to  supply  the  oflBce  of  prior  j  but  at  the  expiration  of  his 
term  of  government,  he  resumed  his  charge  of  the  Hinckley 
mission  for  the  next  three  years,  when  he  was  re-elected  prior 
of  Bornhem  for  another  triennium.  Returning  finally  to 
Hinckley,  he  there  gave  up  his  soul  to  God  on  7th  August, 
1800,  set.  sixty-six;  prof,  forty-four. 

Nottle,  Joseph,  of  London,  was  certainly  admitted  into  the 
English  College  at  Rome  in  1680,  which  he  quitted  to 
embrace  the  institute  of  St.  Dominic;  but  all  further  par- 
ticulars elude  my  research. 

Ovington,  John. — AU  the  information  hitherto  obtained,  is 
that  he  held  the  office  of  prior  of  Bornhem  from  1688  to 
1694. 

Oxley  {Henry),  Lewis,  from  a  convert  became  a  postulant 
for  admission  into  this  blessed  order.  After  his  ordinations 
he  was  employed  for  a  time  in  the  missions  of  Leeds  and 
Leicester;  but  unfortunately  forgot  the  grace  of  vocation, 
and  suffered  the  shipwreck  of  faith.  As  he  movingly  ac- 
knowledges in  his  letter  dated  Worthing,  24th  July,  1847, 
and  published  in  the  Tablet  of  21st  August  that  year,  "  in 
vain  he  had  sought  rest  out  of  God's  Church."  On  12th  Sep- 
tember, 1847,  appeared  another  letter  from  the  poor  penitent, 
addressed  to  the  Catholics  of  Leeds.  He  had  returned  to 
St.  Peter's  Priory  at  Hinckley  in  sentiments  of  great  humility 
and  repentance.  May  God  reward  the  charity  of  his  superiors 
on  this  occasion ! 


ENGLISH    DOMINICAN    FROYINCi;.  465 

Parker,  Gilbert,  8.T.M. — He  had  just  completed  his 
triennium  of  priorship  at  Bomhem,  and  was  preparing  to 
sail  for  the  English  mission,  when  he  was  unfortunately 
drowned  in  the  port  of  Ostend  on  8th  December,  1707. 

Patient  (Vincent) ,  Robert. — Hurried  from  his  dear  convent 
at  Bomhem  by  the  French  Revolutionists,  he  settled  down 
at  Carshalton,  Surrey,  where  he  meekly  resigned  his  soul 
4th  December,  1802,  aged  seventy-three. 

Pennington,  Allan,  of  Lancashire. — Allowed  to  quit  the 
English  College  at  Rome  to  embrace  the  rule  of  St.  Dominic. 
I  think  he  died  in  1782. 

Phillipps,  Dominic,  died  at  Cheesebum  Grange,  a  seat  of 
the  Riddells,  near  Newcastle-upon-Tyne,  23rd  October,  1783, 
set.  seventy-nine,  prof,  sixty-one. 

Plunket  [Thomas),  John,  lost  his  life  at  Verona  in  1806,  in 
attending  the  hospital  during  the  epidemic  then  raging. 

Potier  (Pim),  Peter,  brother  to  the  respected  president  of 
Old  Hall  Green,  Rev.  John  Potier,  who  was  taken  from 
him  by  death  31st  March,  1823.  Peter  was  bom  in  London 
on  23rd  December,  1756,  and  took  the  habit  at  Bomhem  in 
1773;  but  in  consequence  of  the  tyrannical  interference  of 
the  Emperor  Joseph  II.  with  the  rights  of  conscience  and 
the  laws  of  the  Church,  could  not  be  admitted  to  his  religious 
profession  until  nine  years  later.  After  serving  the  missions 
of  Hales-place,  of  Stonecroft,  of  Yarura,  and  Weybridge,  and 
filling  the  ofl&ce  of  provinciate  from  1806  to  1810,  and  again 
from  1818  to  1822,  this  venerable  dean  and  patriarch  of  his 
brethren  retired  to  Hinckley,  where  he  was  recompensed  with 
the  death  of  the  just,  so  precious  in  the  sight  of  God.  Three 
days  after  his  remains  were  deposited  in  the  conventual  church 
of  St.  Peter's,  with  all  the  honours  due  to  his  eminent  merits. 

Pollers,  James. — This  meritorious  lay  brother  closed  his 
eyes  to  this  world  in  his  beloved  convent  22nd  March,  1792, 
set.  seventy,  rel.  forty-two. 

Procter  (Augtistine),  Samuel,  professed  in  1817. —  The 
mantle  of  F.  Ambrose  Woods  fell  upon  him.  Hinckley  and 
Woodchester  owe  him  eternal  obligations.  For  twelve  years 
he  filled  the  office  of  provincial.  As  an  humble  individual, 
without  his  patient  courtesy,  I  am  proud  to  confess  that  I 
could  not  have  presented  to  the  reader  even  this  handful  of 
gleanings.  As  a  learned  ecclesiastic  he  will  always  be  known 
by  his  three  lectures  delivered  in  St.  Peter's,  Hinckley,  in 
reply  to  certain  imputations  made  in  Hinckley  Town  HaU  on 
Monday,  21st  April,  1845.  They  have  gone  through  two 
editions.  But  I  must  leave  it  to  posterity  to  proclaim  his 
praises. 

2   H 


466  GLEANINGS   RESPECTING    THE 

Rigby,  Alexander,  admitted  as  early  as  1579  into  the 
English  College  at  Rome,  which  he  subsequently  left  to  joia 
this  holy  and  learned  order. 

Roberts,  Lewis,  died  in  1809,  on  his  voyage  to  Madeira; 
very  highly  esteemed. 

Robson,  Peter,  who  was  provincial  from  1783  to  1786, 
died  at  Woburn  Lodge,  Surrey,  4th  February,  1788,  set. 
forty-five. 

Russell,  Martin,  of  Little  Malvern. — After  passing  through 
several  conventual  offices,  he  was  sent  to  the  mission,  and 
after  a  ministry  of  forty-four  years,  during  which  he  had 
to  endure  the  usual  lot  of  imprisonments,  went  to  his  rewstrd 
on  8th  September,  1711,  in  the  Catholic  family  of  Pickering, 
who  resided  near  Ludlow.  He  was  then  eighty  years  of 
age,  had  been  professed  fifty-five  years,  and  was  priest  fifty- 
three.  , 

Sharp. — ^Two  fathers  occur  of  this  name:  first,  James 
Sharp,  who  met  the  enviable  death  of  charity  on  28th 
February,  1801,  by  attending  the  infected  at  Coventry ; 
second,  Joseph  (Augustine)  Sharp,  sometimes  called  Smith, 
who  died  at  Stourton  Lodge  6th  August,  1811. 

Short,  Benedict. — This  venerable  gentleman,  who  four 
times  passed  the  office  of  provincial,  lived  for  a  time  chaplain 
to  Lady  Stourton.  He  ended  his  course  at  Woburn  Lodge, 
Surrey,  30th  May,  1800,  set.  seventy-seven,  prof,  fifty-nine. 

Teesdale,  Vincent,  twice  prior  of  Bornhem,  and  for  many 
years  director  to  the  English  Dominicanesses,  after  keeping 
his  jubilee  in  religion,  expired  at  Bornhem  5th  January, 
1790. 

Thursby,  Lewis. — During  thirty-nine  years  he  cultivated, 
then  sought  rest  irom  his  labours  in  his  beloved  convent  at 
Bornhem,  where  his  end  was  peace  on  12th  October,  1726. 

Thompson,  Antoninus,  was  certainly  governing  his  brethren 
at  Bornhem  as  vicarius  in  capite,  1714;  after  which  I  lose 
sight  of  him. 

Thwaites,  Laurence. — All  that  is  collected  of  this  apo- 
stolical missioner  is,  that  he  died  in  London  23rd  June,  1670. 

Torre,  Vincent,  an  honoured  name  amongst  his  brethren. 
His  great  experience  of  a  religious  life  marked  him  as  the 
fittest  man  to  guide  his  province.  It  appears  that  he  died  at 
Brussels  on  24th  August,  1681. 

Tosi,  Thomas,  DJ>.,  ended  his  days  at  Turin  on  5th 
September,  1824. 

Tuite,   William. — This  apostolic  man  devoted  himself  to 


ENGLISH    DOMINICAN    PKOVINCE.  467 

the  mission  at  Kentucky,  where  God  gave  him  rest  in  the 
course  of  the  year  1833. 

Underhill,  Albert. — The  original  founder  of  the  Leeds 
mission,  and  a  zealous  co-operator  in  the  revival  of  the 
province  after  the  expulsion  from  Bornhem.  Retiring  to 
Hinckley,  he  there  prepared  himself  for  his  happy  release 
from  labours.  He  died,  as  it  were,  in  the  arms  of  his  dear 
friend  F.  Procter,  on  24th  October,  1814,  aged  seventy,  and 
was  honourably  interred  in  St.  Peter's  Chapel. 

Underhill,  Anthony,  the  twenty-sixth  and  last  prior  of 
Bornhem,  who  had  to  experience  the  solicitude  and  responsi- 
bility of  the  ejaaigration  from  that  happy  spot.  Few  men 
have  conciliated  more  general  esteem.  I  can  never  forget 
his  courteous  reception,  when  I  visited  St.  Mary's  Convent 
at  Micklegate  Bar,  York,  in  October,  1807,  where  he  was  the  - 
director;  and  deeply  regretted  with  many  to  hear  of  his 
sudden  death  there  on  19th  January,  1810,  aged  sixty-one, 
prof,  forty-three.  He  had  completed  his  quadriennium  of 
provincialship  in  1806. 

Vere,  Joseph,  was  the  first  director  of  the  Dominicanesses, 
and  to  their  great  comfort  continued  with  them  at  Vilvorden, 
when  he  was  ordered  to  the  English  mission,  where  he  ended 
his  mortal  course  24th  February,  1685.  Another  account 
antedates  his  death  two  years. 

Vereantreu,  Francois,  a  good  lay  brother,  who  finished  his 
earthly  career  at  Bornhem  on  24th  October,  1814,  set.  seventy, 
prof,  fifty-two. 

Westcote,  alias  Littleton,  Pius,  is  described  in  the  chapter 
rolls  as  an  eloquent  preacher,  and  as  a  labourer  in  the 
English  mission  for  nearly  forty  years.  He  died  in  York- 
shire 10th  June,  17'23,  set.  seventy-five. 

White,  Thomas,  was  certainly  provincial  from  1690  to 
1694,  but  I  can  discover  nothing  more. 

Whiteside,  Peter,  died  sub-prior  of  St.  Peter's  Convent  at 
Hinckley  9th  April,  1842,  at  the  early  age  of  thirty-three, 
but  ripe  for  heaven. 

Williams  {Dominic),  William. — This  second  prior  of  Born- 
hem governed  the  house  for  several  years,  and  was  made 
provincial  in  1686,  in  which  oflBce  he  died,  in  London,  on 
11th  September,  1688. 

Williams  {Dominic),  Thomas,  perhaps  nephew  to  the  last- 
mentioned.  After  discharging  the  duties  of  provincial  with 
much   credit,   and   whilst    actually    employed    as   prior   at 

2  H  2 


468  GLEANINGS   KESPECTING    THE 

Bornhem,  Pope  Benedict  XIII.  (Ursini)  preferred  him  to 
the  Northern  Vicariat  of  England,  void  by  the  death  of 
Bishop  George  Witham,  at  Cliff  Hall,  on  15th  April,  1725. 
The  new  prelate  made  Huddlestone  Hall,  a  seat  of  the  Gas- 
coignes,  his  usual  residence.  There  he  breathed  his  last  on 
Maundy  Thursday,  3rd  April,  1740.  His  remains  were 
deposited  at  Hazlewood,  where  his  monument  is  thus 
inscribed. 

D.    O.    M. 

Sub  hoc  marmore  quiescit 

Illustrissimus  ac  Reverendissimus 

In  Christo  Pater  ac  Dominus 

D.  Thomas  Williams, 

Episcopus  Tiberiopolitanus, 

E  Sacro  Prsedicatorum  Ordine  assumptus, 

y,ui 

Inter  Amicorum  fletus  et  suspiria, 

Die  3  Aprilis,  Anno  1740, 

Prope  Octogenarius, 

Animam  reddidit  Creator!. 

R.  I.  P. 

Wilson,  Thomas. — After  the  first  expulsion  of  the  French 
armies  from  Flanders,  he  conducted  a  school  at  Bornhem 
until  1833,  when  he  proceeded  to  America,  and  died  there ; 
but  the  date  is  not  ascertained. 

Winter,  Andrew,  was  superior  of  his  brethren  at  Bornhem 
for  seven  years;  then  became  director  to  the  English 
Dominicanesses  at  Brussels,  where,  it  seems,  he  died  19th 
March,  1754. 

Woods,  Ambrose,  S.T.M.,  a  father  entitled  to  every  praise, 
and  as  a  benefactor  to  the  province  second  only  to  Cardinal 
Howard.  After  the  emigration  from  the  mother  house,  he 
commenced,  in  1794,  a  Dominican  establishment,  jointly  with 
a  secular  school,  at  Carshalton,  Surrey";  this  he  designated 
Bornhem  House,  and  superintended  it  for  nineteen  years. 
In  1813  he  removed  the  establishment  to  Hinckley,  where 
he  built  the  present  house.  The  chapel  of  St.  Peter  he 
opened  in  1834.  This  was  a  regular  convent  and  novitiate, 
where  choir  was  kept,  the  habit  worn,  and  where  some 
novices  made  their  religious  profession;  and  to  it  was 
added  a  school  for  sixteen  young  gentlemen.  This  gifted 
and  energetic  superior  had  been  elected  provincial  in  1833, 
and  continued  to  serve  that  office  for  twelve  years ;  and  his 
pen  not  unfrequently  enriched  our  Catholic  publications 
with  valuable  contributions.  At  length,  worn  out  with 
labours,  this  jubilarian  expired  in  the  arms  of  his  worthy 
successor,  F.  Procter,  on  36th  November,  1843,  aged  seventy- 


ENGLISH    DOMINICAN    PROVINCE.  469 

Worthington,  Thomas,  a  very  distinguished  member  of  tte 
province,  and  who  as  a  theologian  had  few  superiors,  was 
during  thirty  years  a  diligent  missioner.  The  chapter  rolls 
state  that  he  was  five  times  prior  of  Bomhem,  and  four 
times  provincial ;  but,  by  comparing  dates,  I  apprehend  that 
he  was  prior  only  from  1718  to  1724,  and  provincial  thrice, — 
from  1726  to  1730,  from  1742  to  1746,  and  lastly,  from 
1750  until  his  death,  which  occurred  at  Middleton  Lodge 
25th  February,  1754,  set.  eighty-five,  prof,  sixty-three,  soc. 
sixty. 

Wyvill,  Peter,  was  in  repute  as  a  professor.  At  Ugbrooke 
is  a  philosophical  thesis,  defended  by  two  of  his  pupils  2na 
June,  1722,  at  .which  the  Hon.  Hugh  and  Henry  Clifibrd, 
grandsons  of  the  Lord  Treasurer  Clifford,  assisted.  Shortly 
after,  he  was  ordered  to  the  Nottinghamshire  mission,  where 
he  died  8th  April,  1725. 

I  am  aware  that  there  are  some  other  fathers.  Peter 
Sablon  ;  Augustine  Malthus,  professed  in  1843  ;  Aloysius 
Dent,  in  1845 ;  F.  Mary  Joseph  Gerard,  in  1853 ;  F.  Alphonsus 
Amherst ;  F.  Michael  Costello,  who  is  now  at  Leicester ;  and 
several  most  promising  brothers  :  but  I  must  leave  to  others, 
better  informed,  the  satisfaction  of  perpetuating  their  merits 
and  services. 

Provincials  of  the  English  Province, 

It  is  painful  only  to  be  able  to  ofi'er  six  of  the  provin- 
cials' names  before  the  Reformation.  The  first,  Robert  de 
Kilivardby,  who  ranked  amongst  the  most  learned  men  of 
his  age.  He  presided  for  eleven  years  before  his  promotion 
to  the  archiepiscopal  see  of  Canterbury  in  1272. — (See  Leland, 
De  Script.  Britan.  p.  287.) 

2.  William  de  Hotham,  who  was  twice  provincial  before 
he  was  made  archbishop  of  Dublin. — (See  Prynne's  Records, 
vol.  iii.  p.  722 ;  D'Alton's  Abps.  of  Dublin,  p.  111.) 

3.  Thomas  de  Sors,  alias  Joys :  "  Theologus  clarissimse 
famse  et  literaturse  minime  protritse,"  says  Leland,  p.  312, 
ibid.  Pope  Clement  V.  made  him  a  cardinal.  He  is  often 
mentioned  in  Wilkins's  Concilia.  He  presided  at  the 
general  chapter  holden  at  Pontefract  in  July,  1303. 

4.  Thomas  de  Bromyard  occurs  11th  August,  1306. — 
(Prynne,  ut  supra,  p.  1110.) 

5.  Simone  de  Bouralston  is  mentioned  by  John  Grandisson, 
bishop  of  Exeter,  in  1328. — (Register,  vol.  i.  p.  55.) 

6.  John  de  Lancastria  occurs  in  Edmund  Stafford's 
(bishop  of  Exeter)  Register,  vol.  i.  p.  101. 


470  GLEANINGS  RESPECTING  THE 

In  the  preceding  pages  I  have  noticed  the  provincials 
F.  Thomas  Middleton  in  1635,  and  F.  Thomas  Dade  in 
1647;  F.  Leonard  Haussen,  who  held  the  office  for  many 
years,  as  well  as  F.  Vincent  Toitc,  who  filled  the  situation 
from  1675  until  his  death,  24th  August,  1681 ;  after  which 
the  succession  is  more  distinctly  ascertained  : — 

1.  F.  Dominick  Williams,  who  died  in  office  1688. 

2.  F.  Thomas  White  was  duly  elected  in  1690,  and  con- 
tinued to  1694. 

3.  F.  Edward  Bing,  from  1694  to  1698. 

4.  The  venerable  confessor  of  the  faith  F.  Peter  Atwood 
presided  from  1698  to  1706. 

5.  F.  Raymund  Green,  I  think,  filled  the  next  quadri- 
ennium. 

6.  F.  Thomas  Williams  (afterwards  bishop  of  Tiberiopolis) 
was  provincial  from  1710  to  1718.  It  is  said  that  F.  Am- 
brose Grimesr  was  appointed  in  1719;  but  if  the  chapter 
rolls  are  correct  in  attributing  four  quadriennia  to 

7.  F.  Thomas  Worthington,  I  apprehend  that  the  latter 
must  have  held  the  office  from  1718  to  1726,  from  1742  to 
1746,  and  from  1750  until  his  death  in  1754. 

8.  F.  Joseph  Hansbie,  under  correction,  I  submit,  presided 
from  1726  to  1730,  from  1734  to  1738,  and  from  1746  to  1750. 

9.  F.  Ambrose  Surges,  from  1730  to  1734. 

10.  F.  Albert  Lovett,  from  1738  to  1742. 

11.  F.  Anthony  Hatton,  from  1754  to  1758,  and  again 
from  1770  to  1774. 

12.  John  Clarkson  presided  from  1758  to  1762. 

13.  Stephen  Catterell,  from  1762  till  his  death,  25th 
December,  1765. 

14.  Benedict  Short  filled  the  office  from  1766  to  1770, 
from  1778  to  1782,  from  1786  to  1790,  and  from  1794  to  1798. 

15.  F.  Jos.  Edwards,  on  the  death  of  Provincial  Hatton 
in  1774,  presided  to  1778. 

16.  F.  Peter  Robson,  from  1782  to  1786. 

17.  -F.  Raymund  Bullock,  from  1790  to  1794,  and  again 
from  1798  to  1802. 

18.  F.  Anthony  Underhill,  from  1802  to  1806. 

19.  F.  Pius  Potier,  from  1806  to  1810;  re-elected  for 
another  quadriennium  in  1818. 

20.  F.  Francis  Xavier  Chapell  was  provincial  from  1810 
to  1814. 

21 .  F.  Lewis  Brittain,  D.D.,  from  1814  to  1818,  when  he 
was  succeeded  by  the  venerable  ex- provincial  F.  Potier. 

22.  F.  Ambrose  Woods,  installed  in  1822,  for  twelve 
consecutive  years  held  office. 


ENGLISH    DOMINICAN    PROVINCE.  471 

23.  F.  Augttstine  Procter  succeeded  in  1834,  and  remained 
in  office  untU  1842.     He  was  again  re-elected  in  1846. 

24.  F.  Thomas  Nickolds  presided  from  1842  to  18-16. 
He  is  the  present  provincial,  being  re-elected  in  1854. 

25.  F.  Dominic  Aylward  presided  from  1850  until  1854, 
since  which  time  he  has  right  worthily  been  set  over  his 
brethren  in  Woodchester  Priory. 

Priors  of  Bornhem. 

On  the  promotion  of  the  noble  founder,  F.  Prior  Philip 
Thomas  Howard,  to  the  dignity  of  cardinal  in  1675,  his 
successor  was  declared  to  be 

2.  F.  {Dominick)  Wm.  William^.* 

8.  F.  William  Collins,  elected  1685. 

4.  F.  John  Ovington,  who  governed  as  prior  or  as  vicar 
till  1694. 

5.  F.  Raymond  Green. 

6.  F.  William  Barry. 

7.  F.  Gilbert  Parker. 

8.  F.  Ambrose  Grimes. 

9.  F.  Thomas  Gibson. 

10.  F.  Thomas  Worthington  held  the  office  from  1718  to 
1724. 

11.  F.  Thomas  Williams,  whilst  prior,  was  promoted  to  the 
episcopal  order  and  V.A.  of  the  Northern  District. 

12.  F.  Joseph  Hansbie  was  prior  for  nine  years. 

13.  F.  Andrew  White. 

14.  F.  James  Barber. 

15.  F.  Ambrose  Surges. 

16.  F.  Dominick  Darbyshire,  elected  in  1747. 

17.  F.  Vincent  Teesdale  succeeded  in  1750. 

18.  F.  John  Clarkson. 

19.  F.  Pitts  Bruce. 

20.  F.  Thomas  Norton. 

21.  F.  Ambrose  Gage. 

22.  F.  Hyacinth  Houghton. 

23.  F.  John  Kearton. 

24.  F.  Raymund  Bullock. 

25.  F.  Charles  Bullock. 

26.  F.  Anthony  Underhill,  elected  in  1793,  witnessed  the 
dispersion  of  his  brethren,  and  the  seizure  of  his  convent. 

•  The  reader  will  bear  in  mind  that  the  term  of  priorship  com- 
prehended three  years  ;  and  that  occasionally,  at  the  expiration  of  that 
term,  a  vicar  was  appointed  to  govern  the  community  for  a  twelve- 
month or  more. 


473  COLLKCTIONS    ILLUSTKATING    THE 


COLLECTIONS  ILLUSTRATING  THE   HISTORY  OF   THE 

ENGLISH  BENEDICTINE  CONGREGATION* 

{Reprinted,  with  corrections  and  additions,  from  the  Rambler.) 

DEDICATION. 

To  THE  Very  Reverend  Luke  Barber,  D.D., 
President  of  the  English  Congregation,  O.S.B. 

Dear  and  Very  Rev.  Father, — I  hasten  to  offer  you  the 
fruits  of  my  humble  researches.  Since  I  could  first  think 
for  myself,  I  conceived  a  lively  sense  of  aflfectionate  gratitude 
towards  your  venerable  order,  the  eldest  daughter  of  the 
Catholic  Church ;  and  I  must  believe  that  all  true  English 
Catholics  share  in  this  feeling.  Her  disinterested  zeal  for 
souls,  her  moderation  and  conciliatory  spirit  in  directing 
them  to  God,*  her  love  of  his  solemn  worship,  her  encou- 
ragement of  literature  and  the  polite  arts,  her  patronage  of 
agricultural  improvement,  but  especially  her  noble  charity  to 
the  poor  and  unprotected,  must  be  admitted  and  admired  by 
all.  Marked  for  destruction  with  the  younger  plantations 
that  issued  from  her  as  the  parent  stock,  in  an  evil  hour 
that  ruthless  despot  Henry  VIII.  cut  down  the  stately  tree. 
The  root,  however,  remained,  and  shot  forth  again  in  the 
reign  of  Queen  Mary.  But  her  sacrilegious  sister  Elizabeth, 
dreading  the  prospect  of  religious  stability  presented  by  the 
restoration  of  Westminster  Abbey,  once  more  felled  down 
Monachism.  Notwithstanding  her  malice,  life  remained, 
shoots  were  transplanted  into  foreign  climes,  and  carefully 
propagated ;  and  the  good  old  spirit  revived  and  flourished. 

This  blessed,  not  to  say  miraculous  preservation,  I  have 
attempted  to  show  to  my  readers.  Accept  my  cordial  wishes 
for  the  increasing  prosperity  of  the  English  Benedictine  Con- 
gregation, over  which  you  so  worthily  preside.  In  giving 
utterance  to  them,  I  may  be  permitted  to  adopt  the  words  of 
the  pious  and  learned  authors  of  the  "  Apostolatus  Benedic- 
tinorum  in  Anglia,"  part  ii.  p.  232  :  "  Inter  cetera  Ecclesise 
Anglicanse  decora,  Ordinem  S.  Benedicti  conservare  dignetur 
et  illuminare  Deus,  O.M.,  ut  etiam  hac  setate,  inter  fortissi- 

*  Venerable  Bede  (Eccl.  Hist.  lib.  i.  cap.  xxvi.)  records  how  King 
Ethelbert,  whilst  encouraging  the  conversion  of  his  subjects,  compelled 
none  to  embrace  Christianity ;  for  he  had  learnt  from  his  instructors 
and  leaders  to  salvation  that  the  service  of  Christ  ought  to  be  voluntary, 
and  not  by  coercion. 


ENGLISH    BENEDICTINE    CONGREGATION.  473 

mos  sanctissi  mosque  fidei  praedicatores,  suo  in  loco  et  gradu, 
caste,  integre,  mansuete,  inculpateque,  ad  multarum  animarum 
salutem  setemam  laboret."    Amen.  O. 

Preamble. 

After  the  expulsion  of  the  monks  from  Westminster 
Abbey  on  the  memorable  12th  July,  1559,  by  the  heartless 
Queen  Elizabeth,  and  her  commitment  of  the  venerable  and 
learned  abbot  John  Feckenham  to  a  prison,  whence  death  re- 
leased him  twenty-six  years  later,  the  youth  of  our  country 
whom  God  inspired  with  a  vocation  to  embrace  the  rule  of 
St.  Benedict  had  to  solicit  admission  into  \h.Q  foreign  monas- 
teries of  the  order.  The  abbeys  of  St.  Justina  at  Padua,  of 
the  congregation  of  Monte  Cassino,  of  St.  Bennet's,  at  Valla- 
dolid,  and  of  St.  Martin's  at  Compostella,  were  the  principal 
ones  to  afford  them  this  resource  and  asylum.  In  England, 
the  want  of  missionaries  beginning  to  be  severely  felt,  the 
superiors  of  these  young  men  consented  that  some  of  these 
monks,  now  promoted  to  priesthood,  should  engage,  under 
their  respective  obedience,  in  that  perilous  but  meritorious 
service.  PF.  Robert  (Gregory)  Sayer,*  Anselm  Beech,  of 
Manchester,  and  Thomas  Preston,  were  ordered  by  their 
Italian  superiors  to  prepare  themselves  for  the  expedition ; 
they  were  soon  after  to  be  joined  by  F.  Austin  White,  alias 
Bradshaw  (of  St.  John),  F.  John  Melvin,  alias  Roberts,  F. 
Maurus  Scott,  and  others.  Pope  Clement  VIII.,  on  5th 
October,  1603,  expressly  enjoined  (as  F.  Weldon  observes  in 
his  Chronological  Notes,  p.  29)  the  Archpriest  George  Black- 
weU  "  not  to  think  of  extending  his  jurisdiction  over  them, 
but  solely  to  watch  over  the  priests  who  had  been  brought  up 
in  the  seminaries." 

Providentially  there  still  survived  in  England  one  repre- 
sentative of  the  old  Benedictine  congregation,  in  the  person 
of  Dom  Robert  (Sigebert)  Buckley.  He  had  recently  been 
discharged  from  captivity  in  Framlingham  Castle  by  his  new 
sovereign,  James  I.  On  21st  November,  1607,  he  received 
the  profession  of  two  of  the  late  arrivals  from  the  continent, 
viz.  of  F.  Robert  (Vincent)  Sadler,  and  of  F.  Edward  Mayhew; 
and  on  15th  December,  1609,  he  surrendered  all  his  powers 
and  authority  for  perpetuating  the  succession  to  F.  Thomas 
Preston.t    Like  Simeon  of  old,  this  patriarch  of  his  brethren 

*  "  This  intended  prime  star  or  sun  of  the  English-Italian  Benedic- 
tine mission,"  as  F.  Weldon  describes  him,  prematurely  died  at  Venice, 
30th  October,  1602. 

t  See  his  beautiful  Act  of  Transfer,  p.  4  of  the  Appendix  to  the 
"  Apostolatus." 


474  COLLECTIONS    ILLUSTKATING   THE 

was  now  content  to  resign  his  soul  to  his  Creator ;  and  on 
the  22nd  February  following,  aged  ninety.-three,  paid  the  debt 
of  nature.  Bigotry  denied  him  a  resting-place  in  the  paro- 
chial cemetery ;  but  his  friends  and  attendants,  FF.  Thomas 
Preston  and  Anselm  Beech,  deposited  his  precious  remains 
in  the  old  chapel  near  Punisholt  alias  Ponshelt,  the  seat  of 
the  Norton  family. 

And  now  the  experience  of  every  day  proved  the  expe- 
diency of  reviving  the  ancient  form  and  discipline  of  the 
English  Benedictine  government :  the  subsequent  foundation 
of  the  houses  of  Douay,  Dieulwart,  and  St.  Male's,  rendered 
the  union  of  increasing  numbers  under  one  head  not  only 
expedient  but  imperative ;  and  Pope  Paul  V.  was  known  to 
be  highly  favourable  to  such  a  re-organization.  Fiat  corpus, 
fiat  congregatio  (Apostolatus,  part  ii.  p.  210).  Yet  it  required 
much  time  and  labour,  and  the  sacrifice  of  feelings,  habits, 
and  private  interests,  to  accomplish  this  desirable  end.  His 
Holiness  at  last,  on  19th  May,  1616,  expedited  a  brief,  com- 
manding nine  definitors  to  be  chosen  ew  toto  missionis  gremio, 
and  out  of  the  whole  body  of  English  Benedictines,  without 
any  respect  of  Italian,  Spanish,  or  English  congregations ; 
that  the  nine  were  to  be  elected  by  the  plurality  of  votes  of 
all  professed  members,  and  that  the  definitors  elect  should  be 
empowered  to  constitute  and  enact  ordinances  and  rules,  and 
to  nominate  officers  and  superiors.*  At  the  scrutiny,  the 
nine  elect  were  found  to  be:  F.  Leander  (of  St.  Martin) 
Jones,  Vicar- General  of  the  Spanish  congregation ;  F.  Robert 
(Vincent)  Sadler,  president  of  the  English  congregation ;  F. 
Gabriel  (de  S.  Maria)  Gifford,  prior  of  St.  Malo's  j  F.  Robert 
Haddock,  superior  of  the  Spanish  congregation  in  England ; 
F.  Rudesind  Barlow,  prior  of  St.  Gregory's  College  at  Douay ; 
F.  Edward  May  hew,  prior  of  St.  Lawrence's  at  Dieulwart; 
F.  Bennet  {h  Santo  Facundo)  Jones,  alias  William  Price, 
assistant  to  the  vicar  in  England ;  Thomas  Torquatus  Latham, 
professor  of  philosophy  at  Douay ;  F.  Sigebert  Bagshaw,  a 
monk  of  the  English  congregation,  who  had  been  procurator 
at  Rome,     (Appendix,  p.  23.) 

In  virtue  of  the  nuncio's  orders,  the  above  nine  assembled 
at  Paris  on  1st  June,  1617,  possessing  the  full  power  and 
force  of  a  general  chapter,  and  drew  up  a  code  of  laws  and 
constitutions  to  be  submitted  to  his  Holiness,  and  then  nomi- 
nated for  the  following  offices : — for  first  president.  Rev.  F. 
Gabriel  Gifford ;  for  second  elect  president,  F.  Leander  (of 
St.  Martin)  Jones.     Provincial  of  Canterbury,  F.  Gregory 

*  See  the  Decree  in  the  Appendix,  ut  supra,  p.  21. 


ENGLISH    BENEDICTINE    CONGREGATION.  473 

Grange;  provincial  of  York,  F.  Vincent  Sadler.  Prior  of 
Douay,  F.  Francis  Antrobos ;  prior  of  Dieulwart,  F.  Joeelin 
Elmer ;  prior  of  St.  Malo's,  F.  Paulinas  Greenwood ;  prior  at 
Paris,  F.  Thomas  Monnington.  Procurator  at  Rome,  F. 
Sigebert  Bagshaw.  Secretary  to  the  President,  F.  Columban 
Malon. 

Shortly  after  F.  Giflford  ("  Primus  Prseses  in  eo  definitorio 
renuntiatus" — Apostolatus,  part  ii.  p.  198),  the  first  president, 
was  chosen  by  Louis  de  Guise,  archbishop  of  Rheims,  for  his 
coadjutor,  and  was  consecrated  bishop  on  17th  September, 
1618,  by  the  title  of  Episcoptis  Archidapolitanus.  His 
authority  of  president  devolved  on  F.  Leander,  a  man  of 
distinguished  merit,  and  most  instrumental  in  persuading  his 
brethren  to  sacrifice  all  private  convenience  and  independence 
for  a  great  public  good ;  to  seek  not  their  own  interests,  but 
those  of  Jesus  Christ. 

With  this  preamble  we  may  proceed  on  our  course,  pre- 
mising that  we  avail  ourselves  of  the  "  Apostolatus  Benedic- 
tinorum  in  Anglia  "  and  of  F,  Weldon's  Chronological  Notes 
very  largely. 

Chapter  I. 

St.  Gregory's  Convent  at  Douay. 

F.  Austin  White  (of  St.  John),  alias  Bradshaw,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  increased  persecution  of  Catholics  after  the 
discovery  of  the  execrable  Gunpowder  Plot,  withdrew  from 
England  to  Douay.  In  his  capacity  of  Vicar-General  of  the 
English  Spanish  Benedictine  Mission,  he  was  anxious  to  secure 
a  refuge  for  his  subjects,  and  also  to  provide  a  nursery  for 
the  training  of  such  as  the  Spirit  of  God  should  dispose  to 
embrace  the  order.  He  commenced  with  taking  a  portion 
called  the  dormitory  of  the  Marchien  College  in  the  town ; 
but  the  quarters  were  found  so  inconveniently  small,  that  at 
the  end  of  a  twelvemonth  he  removed  to  a  tenement  adjoin- 
ing, which  belonged  to  the  Trinitarians.  This  situation  was 
little  better,  for  it  was  confined  and  obscure.  Their  distressful 
condition,  at  the  recommendation  of  the  Archduke  Albert 
and  Cardinal  Montalt,  was  at  length  relieved  by  the  venerable 
Philip  de  Cavarel,  the  lord  abbot  of  St.  Vedast,  in  Arras. 
He  generously  gave  an  eligible  site  in  Douay  to  erect  "  his 
Gregorian  Convent  and  College"  in  1608;*  and  by  the 
blessing  of  Heaven  the  community  was  transferred  into  the 

*  The  Abb^  Mann,  in  his  brief  account  of  our  British  Catholic 
establishments  on  the  continent,  printed  in  the  "  Archseologia,"  vol.  xiii. 
p.  26,  incorrectly  states  "  earfy  in  1606."  The  abbe  gave  himself  little 
trouble  to  search  for  the  best  evidence. 


476  COLLECTIONS    ILLTJSTKATING    THE 

new  premises  in  1611.  The  pious  abbot  added  to  bis  princely 
gift  a  country  house  and  garden  at  Esquertin,  about  three 
miles  from  Douay,  and  settled  a  full  maintenance  for  twelve 
English  monksj  who  should  be  bound  to  keep  continual  choir; 
stipulating  also,  that  his  abbey  in  Arras  should  remain  charged 
with  all  repairs  of  the  said  convent  and  college ;  but  that  the 
premises  should  revert  to  the  abbey  when  the  Catholic  reli- 
gion should  be  restored  in  England.*  Dying  1st  December, 
1636,  set.  eighty-four,  the  pious  founder  bequeathed  to  them 
his  heart :  Cor  meum  jungatur  vobis.  It  was  deposited  on 
19th  of  the  same  month  and  year  under  a  brass  plate  before 
St.  Gregory's  high  altar. 

The  first  superior,  before  the  union  in  June,  1617,  was 
the  above-mentioned  Austin  Bradshaw.  He  was  a  native  of 
Worcester ;  and  as  his  epitaph  at  Longueville,  near  Dieppe, 
records,  during  the  ten  years  of  his  superiority  over  the 
Spanish  Benedictine  mission  in  England,  fitted  out  four 
martyrs  and  fifty  confessors  of  the  faith.  He  died  on  4th 
May,  1618,  set.  forty-two.  He  was  succeeded  by  P.  Nicholas 
Becket,  whose  government  was  short,  as  he  proceeded  to  the 
mission,  and  died  at  Cank,  in  StaflFordshire,  on  30th  October, 
1618.  F.  Eudesind  Barlow  (of  whom  we  shall  have  to  treat 
more  fully  in  the  sequel)  was  filling  the  office  of  prior  up  to 
the  time  of  holding  the  first  chapter.  Hitherto,  it  seems, 
from  the  "  Apostolatus  Benedictinorum  in  Anglia  "  (Appendix, 
p.  11,  No.  3),  that  the  Italian  custom  of  holding  triennial 
office  t  had  prevailed.  Indeed,  Cardinal  Pole,  a  great  admirer 
of  Italian  observances,  appointed  Dr.  John  Feckenham  to  be 
abbot  of  Westminster  for  three  years  only.  From  the  first 
chapter  in  1617  the  elections  were  quadriennial. 

PRIOBS   OF   ST.   GREGORY. 

Francis  Antrobos  was  elected  at  the  first  general  chapter, 
in  1617.  Weldon  (p.  135)  describes  him  as  "a  man  of  a 
most  meek  and  gentle  disposition,  who  had  laudably  executed 
the  offices  of  greatest  concern  in  the  congregation,  and  had 
suflFered  imprisonment  and  exile  for  the  faith,  and  was  waxed 
white  in  the  apostolical  labotu"s  of  the  mission."  Ob.  10th 
June,  1626. 

Leander,  of  St.  Martin,  abas  John  Jones,  D.D.,  was  elected 
at  the  second  general  chapter,  holden  at  Douay,  2nd  July, 
1621,  and  re-elected  at  the  fourth  general  chapter,^  1629. 

*  See  Alban  Butler's  Travels,  p.  47. 

t  This  appears  also  to  have  been  the  ancient  custom  in  England.— 
Apostolatus,  part  ii.  p.  60. 


ENGLISH    BENEDICTINE    CONGREGATION.  477 

He  was  connected  with  the  Scudamore  family  of  Kentchurch, 
in  Herefordshire,  was  educated  at  Westminster  School  and  at 
St.  John's  College,  Oxford,  and  was  intended  for  the  legal 
profession.  Persecution  for  his  adherence  to  Catholic  prin- 
ciples necessitated  him  to  return  to  London,  and  there  he 
found  his  parents  and  brothers  attacked  with  the  plague, 
which  carried  them  off  a  few  days  later.  The  shock  decided 
him  to  abandon  his  prospects  of  legal  fame,  and  to  dedicate 
himself  to  God  in  the  ecclesiastical  state.  Proceeding  to  the 
English  College  of  St.  Alban's,  at  Valladolid,  he  there  applied 
himself  diligently  to  theological  studies ;  but  after  some  years 
he  joined  the  order  of  St.  Benedict,  in  St.  Martin's  monastery 
at  Compostella.  ,  As  a  scholar  he  had  few  equals,  excelling  in 
his  knowledge  of  the  Oriental  languages.  For  nearly  twenty- 
four  years  he  continued  professor  of  divinity  and  of  Hebrew ; 
and,  as  Weldon  aflBrms  (p.  78),  was  "  an  accomplished  rheto- 
rician, poet,  Grecian,  and  Latinist."  His  society  was  much 
courted  by  literary  men,  especially  by  his  fellow-collegian  at 
Oxford,  the  celebrated  Dr.  Laud.  To  Henrietta  of  France, 
queen  consort  of  Charles  I.,  his  company  and  services  were 
most  acceptable.  After  discharging  the  highest  offices  of  the 
order,  he  died  in  London  on  the  27th  of  December,  1635, 
about  seventy  years  old,  "  much  lamented  and  very  nobly 
attended  to  his  grave,  which  was  the  first  made  at  Somerset 
Palace,  in  the  Queen's  chapel,  consecrated  but  four  days 
before."  * 

Rudesind  Barlow,  elder  brother  to  the  martyr  Ambrose 
Barlow.  We  have  mentioned  him  as  being  superior  at  Douay 
before  the  union.  At  the  third  general  chapter,  2nd  July, 
1625,  at  Douay,  he  was  re-elected  prior.  He  was  descended 
of  a  respectable  family  in  Lancashire,  and  justly  ranks 
amongst  the  ablest  men  of  his  time ;  but  his  talents  were 
only  excelled  by  his  modesty  and  humility  (Weldon,  p.  83) . 
He  died  on  19th  September,  1656,  set.  seventy-two,  rel.  fifty- 
one,  sac.  thirty-eight,  and  was  buried  before  his  stall  in  the 
choir  of  St.  Gregory's  church. 

Joseph  Frere,  elected  in  the  fifth  general  chapter,  5th 
August,  1633,  and  continued  in  office  for  eight  years.  During 
his  priorship.  Pope  Urban  VIII. 's  bull  Plantata,  dated  12th 
July,  1633,  was  issued,  establishing  the  English  Benedictine 
Congregation  in  its  ancient  rights  and  privileges.  Ob.  10th 
January,  1694,  at  Douay,  aged  ninety-six,  rel.  eighty  ! 

John  Meutisse,  elected  at  the  eighth  general  chapter,  1641, 

*  See  also  the  preface  to  Harpsfield's  "  Church  History,"  Douay, 
1622  ;  Wood's  "Hist,  and  Antiq.  Univ.  Oxon."  lib.  ii.  p.  308. 


478  COLLECTIONS    ILLUSTRATING   THE 

and  for  twelve  consecutive  years  was  continued  in  office.  To 
the  good  nuns  at  Cambray  lie  rendered  valuable  services  in 
the  early  part  of  their  establishment.  After  some  time 
laudably  spent  in  the  mission,  he  went  to  his  repose  and 
recompense,  5th  May,  1666. 

Bernard  Palmes,  of  Yorkshire,  elected  in  the  eleventh 
general  chapter,  at  Paris,  in  July,  1653.  At  the  expiration 
of  his  quadriennium  he  was  appointed  procurator  at  Rome.* 
He  was  taken  ill  at  Gratz,  in  Stiria,  and  died  there  in  a 
monastery  of  the  order,  25tli  December,  1663,  "  and  was  very 
honourably  interred." — ^Weldon,  p.  182. 

Bennet  Stapylton,  D.D.,  elected  at  the  twelfth  general 
chapter,  at  Paris,  in  1657,  and  held  office  until  the  fourteenth 
general  chapter,  which  was  delayed  on  account  of  the  plague 
at  Douay  until  1666.  Altogether  he  served  the  English 
mission  for  twenty  years.  At  the  fifteentli  general  chapter, 
at  London,  1669,  whilst  chaplain  to  Queen  Catharine,  he  was 
elected  president,  and  was  continued  in  that  office  until  his 
death,  which  took  place  at  Dieulwart  on  4th  August,  1680, 
set.  fifty-eight,  prof,  thirty-eight,  sac.  thirty-four.  He  was 
buried  in  that  conventual  church.  He  was  the  eldest  son  of 
the  Stapylton  family  of  Carlton,  but  renounced  aU  to  become 
a  monk. 

Austin  Corners  was  elected  in  1666,  but  within  a  year  I 
lose  sight  of  him,  when 

Godrick  Blount,  of  Fawley,  Berks,  succeeded  him ;  and  he 
died  2nd  September,  1699.  F.  Alexius  CaryU  supplied  for 
the  remainder  of  his  quadriennium. 

William  Hitchcock  followed,  and  was  re-elected  in  1673. 
In  the  nineteenth  general  chapter,  holden  in  St.  James's, 
London,  in  1685,  he  was  re-appointed  prior,  and  governed  the 
community  for  eight  years  more,  i.e.  to  1693.  He  died  11th 
August,  1711. 

N.B.  We  regret  that  he  wrote  the  letter  to  the  procurator 
at  Rome,  bearing  date  20th  February,  1676;  but  much  more 
that  Dodd  should  have  published  so  private  a  communication 
in  vol.  iii.  of  his  Church  History,  p.  392. 

Austin  Howard,  elected  in  1677. — This  worthy  father  died 
26th  August,  1716. 

*  Dodd  (Church  History,  vol.  iii.  p.  313)  mistakes  in  saying  that 
"  F.  Thomas  White,  being  chosen  prior,  died  of  the  plague  at  Douay  in 
1654."  The  fact  is,  the  President  Bennet  (Claude)  White  died  on  14th 
October,  1654,  at  St.  Edmund's,  at  Paris,  set.  seventy-two,  sac.  forty- 
six,  rel.  fifty ;  having  spent  thirty-six  years  in  the  mission,  and  was 
honourably  interred  in  St.  Margaret's  chapel,  in  the  abbey  cliurch  of 
St.  Germaine. 


ENGLISH    BENEDICTINE    CONGREGATION.  479 

Jerome  Hesketh  was  elected  in  1681. 

John  Phillipson  succeeded  in  1693,  and  for  eight  years  suc- 
cessively remained  in  office.     Ob.  18th  September,  1739. 

Michael  PuUein,  elected  in  the  twenty-third  general  chap- 
ter, at  Douay,  in  1701,  and  again  in  1710.  Ob.  February 
3rd,  1723. 

Cvihbert  Tatham  was  appointed  at  the  twenty-fourth 
chapter,  holden  at  Douay,  1705,  on  the  elect,  William  Phillips, 
declining  the  office. 

F.  Philip  Metham  succeeded  at  the  twenty-sixth  general 
chapter,  1714;  but  died  in  office  shortly  after. 

F.  Edward  Charley  followed  in  1715. 

F.  John  Stourton,  elected  in  1717. — He  was  eighth  and 
youngest  son  of  William,  eleventh  Lord  Stourton,  by  Elizabeth 
his  wife,  daughter  of  Sir  John  Preston.  His  death  occurred 
at  Antwerp,  3rd  October,  1748,  as  I  learn  from  the  journal 
of  F.  Darbyshire,  O.S.D.,  who  attended  him. 

F.  William  Pretell  succeeded  in  1721,  who  resigned  after 
some  time,  when 

F.  Anthony  Ord  was  appointed  to  supply  his  qnadriennium. 
He  died  in  office  26th  January,  1725. 

Laurence  York,  D.D.,  was  appointed  to  succeed,  and  served 
for  four  years.  In  the  sequel  was  sent  to  the  Bath  mission. 
Bishop  Prichard,  V.A.  of  the  Western  District,  obtained  him 
for  his  coadjutor  in  the  episcopal  office.  He  was  consecrated 
as  bishop  of  Niba  in  1741,  and  nine  years  later  the  charge 
of  the  vicariat  devolved  upon  him  by  the  death  of  that  senior 
prelate.  In  1764,  at  his  earnest  entreaty,  the  Holy  See  con- 
sented to  accept  his  resignation,  when  he  retired  to  his  dear 
convent  at  Douay,  where  closed  a  useful  and  honourable  life, 
14th  April,  1770. 

Basil  Wartvick  was  elected  in  1729.     Ob.  29th  April,  1732. 

Thomas  iVe/sora  followed  in  1733.     Ob.  8th  February,  1738. 

Benedict  Steare,  elected  in  1739.     Ob.  18th  January,  1780. 

Alexius  Shepherd,  elected  in  1745  j  re-elected,  and  died  in 
office,  2nd  August,  1755. 

Augustine  Moore,  after  governing  nearly  twenty  years,  died 
also  prior,  15th  June,  1775. 

William  {Gregory)  Sharrock,  elected  in  1775,  resigned  the 
office  on  his  promotion  to  the  see  of  Telmessus,  as  coadjutor 
to  Bishop  Walmesley,  to  which  he  was  consecrated  at  Wardour 
on  12th  August,  1780.  He  succeeded  to  the  administration 
of  the  vicariat  in  1797,  and  worthily  governed  it  until  his 
pious  death  at  Bath,  17th  October,  1809,  set.  sixty-seven. 
He  was  buried  near  Bishop  Walmesley,  in  St.  Joseph's  Chapel, 
Bristol. 


480  COLLECTIONS  ILLUSTRATING  THE 

James  {Jerome)  Bharrock,  younger  brother  of  the  bishop, 
succeeded  to  the  priorship  in  1780.  How  gratifying  to  read,  in 
the  admirable  "  Narrative,  by  the  late  Rev.  Joseph  Hodgson," 
of  the  seizure  of  the  Secular  College  at  Donay,  and  the  de- 
portation of  its  inmates  to  Dourlens ;  of  the  cordial  sympathy 
and  practical  charity  of  this  good  prior  and  his  brethren  to 
the  poor  sufferers !  See  the  "Catholic  Magazine"  of  1831. 
Forced  himself  to  emigrate  in  1793,  he  found  an  asylum  for 
his  community  at  Acton  Burnell,  the  hospitable  seat  of  Sir 
Edward  Smythe,  Bart.  His  episcopal  brother  was  anxious 
to  have  him  for  his  associate  in  the  pontifical  duties.  B/Ome 
approved  the  choice,  and  issued  the  bulls,  dated  19th  April, 

1806,  constituting  him  bishop  of  Themiscyra ;  but  the 
humility  of  the  prior  could  not  be  prevailed  upon  to  accept 
the  dignity,  and  he  died  in  the  arms  of  his  devoted  monks  on 
1st  AprU,  1808,  set.  fifty-eight.    . 

Richard  {Peter)  Kendall  was  the  next  prior.  Just  before 
God  called  him  to  his  recompense  (which  happened  at  Wooton, 
on  26th  March,  1814),  he  had  completed  the  purchase  of 
Downside,  near  Bath,  for  the  present  convent  and  college. 
The  community  took  possession  of  this  valuable  property 
25th  April,  1814. 

Thomas  Lawson  was  elected  10th  May,  1814;  resigned 
23rd  July,  1818;  died  at  Salford  23rd  April,  1830. 

Dr.  Luke  Barber. — He  had  taken  the  habit  26th  April, 

1807,  and  was  wisely  selected  prior  in  the  room  of  F.  Lawson. 
During  the  twelve  years  of  his  government,  St.  Gregory's 
College  increased  in  numbers  and  merited  fame.  On  10th 
July,  1823,  he  opened  the  beautiful  new  church,  the  prin- 
cipal object  of  attention  in  every  well-regulated  community. 
His  services  being  now  required  at  Salford, 

Rev.  George  Turner  (after  serving  the  Bellingham  mission 
for  thirty  years)  was  appointed  prior  on  24th  November,  1830. 
He  died  at  Princethorpe,  15th  February,  1854,  set.  eighty- 
four,  and  was  buried  in  the  church  of  the  most  Holy  Sacra- 
ment, Coventry. 

Dr.  Thomas  {Joseph)  Brown  was  chosen  at  the  chapter 
18th  July,  1834.  His  six  years'  government  was  eminently 
useful  and  satisfactory.  Our  readers  are  aware  that  the  Holy 
See,  in  its  wisdom,  selected  him  for  the  first  bishop  of  the 
new  vicariat  of  Wales,  and  that  he  was  consecrated  by  the 
title  of  bishop  of  Apollonia,  at  St.  John's  Chapel,  Bath,  on 
28th  October,  1840.    Florescat. 

Joseph  Wilson  succeeded  in  1840,  and  does  honour  to  his 
oflBce  by  his  energy  and  considerate  attention  to  the  comfort 
and  happiness  of  all  around  him. 


ENGLISH    BENEDICTINE    CONGREGATION.  481 

Norbert  Sweeney  succeeded  Prior  Wilson,  appoiuted  to  the 
Usk  mission  at  the  chapter  holden  in  July,  1854. 

Chapter  II. 

St.  Laurence's  Convent  at  Dieulouard  or  Dieulwart,  near  Ver- 
dun, in  the  Diocese  of  Tout  and  Province  of  Lorraine. 

In  the  month  of  December,  1606,  the  energetic  F.  Brad- 
shaw,  mentioned  in  the  preceding  chapter,  obtained  a  grant 
of  an  old  collegiate  establishment  dedicated  to  St.  Laurence, 
with  a  small  farm  in  Jaillon,  for  his  English  Benedictines. 
The  Bishop  of  Toul  confirmed  the  donation  on  18th  April, 
1609.  In  accomplishing  this,  the  zealous  father  was  powerfully 
assisted  by  Dr.  Arthur  Pitts,  theologian  to  the  neighbouring 
abbey  of  nuns  at  Rem&emont,  and  canon  of  the  church  at 
Liverdun.  That  learned  and  beneficed  clergyman  (ob.  17th 
October,  1616)  had  been  "  very  instant,  however,  that  Dieul- 
wart should  be  the  head  of  the  English  congregation,  and 
the  chief  residence  of  the  president-generd  thereof." — 
(Weldon,  p.  45.)     It  took  the  form  of  a  convent  in  1608. 

It  appears  that  P.  Nicholas  Fitzjames*  governed  the  house 
for  a  time,  also  P.  George  Brown  and  P.  Edward  Mayhew, 
before  the  union  was  established  in  the  first  general  chapter, 
in  the  summer  of  1617. 

PRIORS. 

Jocelin  Elmer  was  elected  at  the  first  general  chapter, 
holden  on  the  1st  June,  1617,  at  St.  Andrew's  House,  Paris 
(Apostolatus,  part  ii.  p.  171);  he  was  re-elected  at  the  fourth 
general  chapter  at  Douay,  2nd  July,  1629;  and  his  system  of 
government  gave  such  satisfaction,  that  for  the  next  twelve 
consecutive  years  he  was  continued  in  that  oflice.  According 
to  Weldon  (p.  170),  he  died  on  1st  July,  1651,  "famous  for 
his  holy  and  severe  life,  by  which  he  gave  a  great  edification 
everywhere.     He  lies  interred  at  St.  Malo's." 

Columbanus  Malon  succeeded  in  1621.  He  was  a  native 
of  Lancashire,  was  clothed  by  P.  Leander,  of  St.  Martin,  at 
Rheims,  2nd  September,  1608,  and  professed  13th  September, 
1609 ;  "  a  person  of  a  most  innocent  life,  and  of  great  example 
in  all  kind  of  virtues ;  an  exact  observer  of  regular  discipHne, 
a  constant  practiser  of  rigorous  penance.  He  passed  from 
the  offices  of  professor  of  philosophy,  subprior  of  Douay, 

^  Bovn  at  Redlinch,  county  Somerset;  professed  15th  May,  1608, 
and  executed  for  some  years  the  office  of  Master  of  Novices.  The 
venerable  man,  at  the  age  of  ninety-two,  died  at  Stourton,  Wilts,  on 
16th  May,  1052.— Weldon,  p.  45. 

2  I 


483  COLLECTIONS  ILLUSTRATING  THE 

secretary  of  the  president,  &c.,  to  be  prior  of  Dieulwart, 
where,  in  the  second  year  of  his  governmeiitj  he  saint-like 
slept  in  our  Lord,  on  the  feast  of  All  Saints,  1623." — (Weldon, 
p.  49.)  The  Necrology  inaccurately  fixes  his  death  on  13th 
September  that  year.* 

Laurence  Reyner,  elder  brother  of  Dom  Clement  Reyner, 
elected  in  the  third  general  chapter  at  Douay,  2nd  July,  1625. 
He  was  re-elected  for  another  quadriennium  in  1653 ;  but  on 
the  death  of  the  president  F.  Claude  White,  in  1654,  that 
important  office  devolved  upon  him.  Afterwards  proceeding 
to  the  mission,  he  died  in  the  north  of  England,  on  Good 
Friday  (8th  April),  1664,  aet.  eighty-two.  He  was  wonderfully 
zealous  in  gaining  souls  to  Heaven,  a  patient  sufferer  of  many 
persecutions  and  long  imprisonments,  and  a  great  promoter 
of  regular  discipline. — (Weldon,  p.  182.) 

Oiithbert  Horsley  supplied  the  remainder  of  his  predeces- 
sor's quadriennium,  had  been  elected  prior  9th  August,  1641, 
and  indeed  continued  to  govern  his  brethren  for  nearly  thirty 
years,  until  1673.  He  was  never  employed  on  the  mission. 
Released  from  the  burden  of  superiority,  he  employed  his 
leisure  in  preparing  for  eternity,  into  which  he  entered  on  the 
21st  December,  1777,  aged  about  eighty. — (Weldon,  p.  196.) 

Thomas  {Gregory)  Hesketh,  D.D.,  elected  at  the  sixteenth 
general  chapter,  in  1673.    Died  at  Paris,  22nd  October,  1695. 

John  Girlington  succeeded  in  1677,  but  of  whom  I  can 
recover  no  details. 

Bernard  Gregson,  elected  at  the  eighteenth  chapter,  at 
Paris,  1681,  on  F.  Austin  Mather's  declining  office.  This 
prior  being  called  to  serve  the  Royal  Chapel  of  her  Majesty 
in  London,  was  succeeded  for  the  remainder  of  his  term  by 
F.  James  Mather,  of  Fishwick  Hall,  near  Preston.  F.  Greg- 
son  was  re-elected  for  another  quadriennium  in  1685. 

James  MatJier,  elected  at  the  twentieth  general  chapter,  at 
Paris,  1689;  was  re-elected  in  1701,  but  refused  to  serve. 
Ob.  16th  January,  1724. 

Laurence  Champney,  elected  in  1693,  presided  till  1701 ; 
is  known  to  have  filled  the  office  again  before  his  death,  21st 
April,  1732,  but  the  precise  date  cannot  be  determined. 

Francis  Watmough,  elected  in  1701,  and  certainly  governed 
for  the  ensuing  nine  years,  and  is  known  to  have  filled  several 
quadrienniums  before  his  death,  15th  August,  1733 ;  but  we 
have  no  documents  to  fix  the  dates.f 

*  We  trust  that  the  able  annalist  of  the  Congregation,  F.  Peter 
(Athanaaius)  AUanson,  will  revise  this  necrology,  which  has  many 
omissions,  several  repetitions  of  names,  and  notorious  anachronisms. 

t  In  a  letter  received  from  Dr.  Rooker,  dated  at  Ampleforth  College, 


ENGLISH    BENEDICTINE    CONGREGATION.  483 

Robert  Hardcastle,  elected  in  1710.  He  died  27th  Decem- 
ber, 1741. 

Bernard  Cataratt  was  elected  in  1737,  and  remained  in 
office  for  sixteen  years.     He  died  9th  September,  1781. 

Ambrose  Kaye  succeeded  in  1753,  and  held  office  for  twelve 
successive  years. 

George  [Gregory)  Cowley,  elected  in  1765,  and  continued 
prior  for  eight  years.  This  worthy  superior  died  at  Verilon 
Hall,  Lancashire,  19th  June,  1799. 

Dunstan  Holiness,  elected  in  1773,  and  retained  office  for 
eight  years.     He  died  25th  June,  1782. 

Jerome  Marsh  succeeded  in  1781.  He  died  at  Holme, 
county  of  York;^16th  February,  1798. 

Jerome  Coupe  followed  in  1785,  of  whom  I  can  glean  no 
particulars. 

Richard  Marsh  (of  whom  I  shall  have  to  speak  more  at 
large  later). — He  was  elected  in  a  critical  period,  1789.  With 
difficulty  he  could  escape  with  two  of  his  religious  on  12th 
October,  1793 :  that  very  night  the  convent  was  invested  by 
a  cordon  of  armed  revolutionists.  Four  of  his  subjects  were 
arrested  and  conveyed  prisoners  to  Pont-k-Mousson.  The 
four  that  remained  on  the  premises  experienced  such  shameful 
treatment  and  privations,  as  put  an  end  to  the  lives  of  all  but 
one ;  for  the  Rev.  Maurice  Farrel,  an  elderly  priest,  turned 
out  of  the  convent,  died  in  confinement ;  and  James  Johnson 
and  Charles  AUour  sunk  under  their  hardships  shortly  after 
their  liberation.  He  continued  in  the  government  of  the 
Dieulwart  monks  at  Vernon  Hall,  near  St.  Helen's,  Lan- 
cashire, until  his  resignation  in  1802,  when  F.Francis  (Anselm) 
Appleton  succeeded  him.  Towards  the  end  of  his  priorship, 
in  1806,  the  community,  increased  by  the  arrivals  from  Lamb- 
spring,  removed  to  Ampleforth,  near  York,  late  the  property 
of  the  Hon.  Miss  Fairfax.*  At  the  expiration  of  his  quad- 
riennium,  F.  Dunstan  Tarleton  was  elected  prior,  but  declin- 
ing to  accept  the  responsibility.   Dr.  Marsh,  during  this 

15th  Nov.,  1821,  he  says:  "Of  the  six  following  quadrienniums  I  find 
no  account  whatever ;  but  from  the  necrologies  I  learn  that  Laurence 
Champney  was  prior  for  one  quadriennium,  and  Francis  Watmough  for 
three.  N.B.  On  13th  October,  1717,  the  convent  was  visited  with  a 
destructive  fire,  which  consumed  the  valuable  library,  commenced  and 
enriched  by  Dom  Gabriel  Gifiard ;  also  many  original  deeds  in  the 
archiveg,  and  the  greater  part  of  the  buildings." 

*  This  owner  of  Gilling  Castle,  and  pious  foundress  of  the  Ample- 
forth mission  in  1780,  made  a  deed  of  gift  of  Amplefortli  to  her  Bene- 
dictine chaplain.  Rev.  John  (Anselm)  Bolton,  who  died  10th  December, 
1805.  She  survived  until  2nd  May,  181 1.  Annual  masses  are  offered 
up  in  perpetuity  for  the  repose  of  her  soul  by  the  gi-ateful  community. 

2x2 


484  COLLECTIONS    ILLUSTRATING    THE 

interval,  attended  when-  he  could,  leaving  the  Rev.  Thomas 
(Clement)  Rishton  (who  had  heen  clothed  at  Lambspring, 
19th  November,  1800),  as  acting  superior.  This  course  was 
pursued  till  1810,  when  F.  Thomas  (Gregory)  Robinson 
assumed  the  government  of  the  house,  which  he  held  for  six 
successive  years.  On,  his  resignation,  P.  Rishton  was  re- 
appointed prior,  who  at  the  end  of  two  years  was  succeeded 
by  P.  Thomas  (Laurence)  Burgess,  who  was  prior  until  the 
spring  of  1830,  when,  having  obtained  his  secularization, 
together  with  his  brethren  Drs.  Rooker  and  Brindle  and  the 
Rev.  Edward  Metcalf,  the  college  was  threatened  with  disso- 
lution. But  it  pleased  God  to  raise  up  a  host  in  P.  Richard 
(Adrian)  Towers,  who  restored  life  and  energy  to  the  college. 
At  the  expiration  of  his  quadriennium,  P.  Samuel  (Bede)  Day 
succeeded,  and  was  followed  by  the  Rev.  Thomas  (Anselm) 
Cockshoot,  who  presided  for  eight  years.  In  1846,  F.  Richard 
(Anselm)  Prest  was  elected  prior ;  and  at  the  late  chapter, 
July,  1850,  P.  Wilfrid  Cooper  was  installed  prior;  and  we 
trust  that  Ampleforth  will  continue  to  unite  in  itself  the 
merits  of  Lambspring  Abbey  and  Dieulwart  Priory,  conveying 
wisdom  into  holy  souls  and  making  friends  unto  God. 


Chapteb  III. 

St.  Bennet's  Establishment  at  St.  Malo. 

Father  Gabriel  of  St.  Mary,  alias  Dr.  Giffard,  afterwards 
Archbishop  of  Rheims,  inay  fairly  be  regarded  as  the  founder 
of  this  monastery.  In  conjunction  with  P.  John  Barnes,  this 
learned  doctor  and  most  humble  religious  had  received  direc- 
tions from  his  superior,  P.  Bradshaw,  to  proceed  to  Spain,  in 
order  to  raise  moneys  for  the  increasing  but  impoverished 
community  at  Dieulwart.  Whilst  waiting  at  St.  Malo  for  a 
vessel  and  a  favourable  wind  to  take  him  to  Spain,  he  made 
the  acquaintance  of  the  bishop,  Monseigneur  Guitleaume  le 
Governeur,  and  of  the  principal  citizens,  who  were  so  charmed 
with  his  pulpit  eloquence,  his  saintly  example  and  pleasing 
manners,  that  they  sent  a  formal  invitation  to  abandon  the 
expedition  to  Spain,  and  to  fix  his  residence  amongst  them. 
P.  Bradshaw  approved  of  this  proposal,  and  in  the  months  of 
August  and  September  that  year  (1611)  forwarded  a  reinforce- 
ment of  his  religious,  in  the  persons  of  PP.  Placid  Hilton, 
alias  Musgrave,  Mellitus  Babthorpe,  Thomas  Green,  Boniface 
Kemp  or  Kipton,  Columban  Malon,  and  Bennet  D'Orgain, 
to  commence  the  English  Benedictine  convent.  They  were 
placed   in   the   house   of  the  theologal,  which  dignity  the 


ENGLISH    BENEDICTINE    CONGREGATION.  485 

bishop  conferred  on  Dr.  Giffard,  and  on  P.  Hilton  the  pre- 
ceptorial, which  was  to  teach  the  children  of  the  town.  This 
was  done  with  great  contentment  to  all  concerned. — (Weldonj 
p.  57.)  But,  alas  !  at  length  the  enemy  of  human  happiness 
succeeded  in  sowing  the  tares  of  envy  in  the  minds  and 
hearts  of  some  of  the  cathedral  chapter ;  and  for  the  sake  of 
peace  and  charity,  Dr.  Giffard,  in  1616,  purchased  a  house 
and  garden  in  the  city,  "  and  transferred  his  little  yet  labori- 
ous community  from  the  theologal  mansion  to  the  new  acqui- 
sition."— (Weldon,  p.  106.)  This  was  improved  two  years 
later  by  the  additional  purchase  of  another  house  and  garden. 
Their  chapel,  dedicated  to  St.  Bennet,  was  opened  for  divine 
service  on  29th  December,  1621. 


Dr.  William  Giffard,  of  an  ancient  and  illustrious  family, 
son  of  John  Giffard,  Esq.,  by  his  wife  Elizabeth  (Throgmorton), 
was  born  in  1555.  At  a  proper  age  he  was  sent  to  Lincoln 
College,  Oxford,  where  he  pursued  his  studies  for  at  least  four 
years  j  thence  proceeded  to  Louvain,  where  he  went  through 
a  course  of  divinity  under  the  celebrated  Bellarmine,  and 
passed  bachelor  of  that  faculty.  The  degree  of  doctor  was 
conferred  on  14th  November,  1584,  at  Pont-k-Mousson,  with 
great  applause.  For  eleven  years  he  filled  the  chair  of  pro- 
fessor of  theology  at  Rheims  with  the  highest  commendation. 
To  Henry,  Duke  of  Guise,  to  his  brother  Lewis,  Cardinal- 
Archbishop  of  Bheims,  to  Cardinals  Bellarmine  and  Allen, 
to  the  Saints  Charles  Borromseus  and  Francis  de  Sales,  he 
was  greatly  endeared,  and  to  Pope  Clement  VIII.,  who  col- 
lated him  to  the  deanery  of  Lisle.  Yet,  whilst  France  and 
Italy  rang  with  his  praises  as  an  orator  and  a  theologian,  he 
was  meditating  to  bury  himself  in  the  monastic  cloister. 
Rector  of  the  University  of  Rheims,  he  received  the  Benedic- 
tine habit  from  the  hands  of  F.  Leander,  of  St.  Martin,  in  the 
great  Abbey  of  St.  Remi  in  that  city,  and  in  the  following 
year  made  his  profession  in  the  chapter-house  at  Dieulwart. 
During  his  priorship  at  St.  Male's,  the  above-mentioned 
Cardinal-Archbishop  of  Rheims  obtained  him  for  his  coadjutor 
in  the  episcopal  office,  and  he  was  consecrated  by  the  title  of 
Bishop  of  Archidapolis ;  on  whose  death,  three  years  later. 
Dr.  Giffard  succeeded  his  grace  as  Archbishop  and  Duke  of 
Rheims,  first  peer  of  France,  and  legate  born  of  the  Holy  See, 
This  truly  great  and  apostolic  man  died  in  Holy  Week,  11th 
April,  1629.  His  remains  were  deposited  behind  the  high 
altar  of  his  cathedral ;  but  his  heart  was  bequeathed  to  the 
Benedictine  nunnery  of  St.  Peter  in  that  city,  and  was  laid 


486  COLLECTIONS  ILLUSTRATING  THE 

in  their  choir  behind  the  high  altar  with  a  suitable  inscription. 
— Weldon,  p.  142. 

Paulinus  Greenwood,  of  Brentwood,  in  Essex,  was  the  first 
professed  in  the  new  house  of  St.  Gregory,  at  Douay,  10th 
January,  1612.  Succeeding  prior  Giffard,  promoted  to  epi- 
scopacy, he  continued  in  office  for  eight  years.  Afterwards 
repEdring  to  the  mission,  he  sufifered  long  imprisonment  at 
the  Gtite  House,  London,  for  the  faith;  but  died  at  Oxford, 
27th  November,  1645. 

Jocelin  Elmer,  elected  2nd  July,  1625  ;  he  had  previously 
filled  the  office  of  prior  at  Dieulwart.  Re-elected  here  at  the 
tenth  general  chapter,  1649,  he  died  within  two  years  later, 
viz.  12th  January,  1651,  and  was  buried  amongst  his  brethren. 

Adeodatus  I' Angevin,  elected  vice-prior  at  the  fourth  general 
chapter,  holden  at  Douay,  2nd  July,  1629,  and  continued  to 
govern  the  house  until  1641,  after  which  I  lose  all  traces 
of  him. 

Robert  {Gabriel)  Brett  succeeded  F.  Adeodatus  in  1641 ; 
held  office  for  the  next  eight  years ;  was  re-elected  in  1657 
for  another  quadriennium.  He  was  son  to  Sir  Alexander 
Brett,  of  White  Staunton,  in  Somersetshire,  and  nephew  to 
Dr.  Giffard,  under  whom  he  became  a  monk  of  St.  Malo's. 
Ob.  12th  August,  1665,  set.  sixty-six. — Weldon,  p.  184. 

John  Meufisse,  at  the  petition  of  the  convent,  in  lieu  of 
F.  Ildefonsus  Cliffe,  who  had  been  chosen  at  the  eleventh 
chapter,  1653. — (See  Weldon,  p.  171.)  We  have  mentioned 
F.  Meutisse  in  the  first  chapter. 

Thomas  Anderton  succeeded  in  1661 ;  died  9th  October, 
1671. 

Bennet  Nelson,  elected  at  the  fourteenth  general  chapter, 
which,  on  account  of  the  plague  raging  at  Douay,  was  begun, 
says  Weldon  (p.  185),  at  the  Old  Bailey,  at  London,  1st  May, 
1666.  In  consequence  of  an  agreement  between  the  president, 
F.  Austin  Hnngate,  and  the  French  Benedictines  of  the  con- 
gregation of  St.  Maur,  he  surrendered  shortly  after  his  convent 
into  their  hands :  his  manner  of  submission  gave  much  edifi- 
cation to  all  parties.  The  president  offered  him  a  convenient 
chaplaincy  with  his  own  niece.  Lady  Fairfax,  in  Yorkshire; 
but  he  preferred  his  cloister  at  St.  Edmund's,  Paris,  to  which 
he  retired.  He  died  there  3rd  September,  1699,  set.  eighty- 
one,  rel.  fifty-nine.  The  Maurist  monks  paid  200  pistoles 
yearly  to  the  English  congregation  for  this  surrender. 

The  last  person  professed  at  St.  Malo  was  William  (Bede) 
Thornton.     Ob.  10th  April,  1694. 


ENGLISH    BENEDICTINE    CONGREGATION.  487 

Chapter  IV. 
St.  Edmund's  Convent  at  Paris, 

We  regret  our  inability  of  seeing  a  manuscript  history  of 
this  establishment  compiled  by  Dom  William  Hewlet,  a  pro- 
fessed member  of  the  house,  who  died  37th  January,  1747. 
With  a  collection  of  old  books,  it  came  into  the  possession  of 
Mr.  William  Andrews,  bookseller,  in  1845 ;  and  his  catalogue 
stated  that  it  consisted  of  190  quarto  pages,  besides  several 
slips  of  paper  inserted,  and  that  his  price  was  £%\.  10». 

From  F.  Weldon's  Chronological  Notes  we  discover,  that 
the  abbess  of  the  Eoyal  Nunnery  of  Chelles,  near  Paris, 
anxious  to   refqfm   her   community,    applied  to  F.  Austin 
Bradshaw  to  send  some  of  his  subjects  to  assist  her  in  accom- 
plishing this  commendable  work.     In  1611,    he    deputed 
F.  Francis  WaJgrave,  and  in  the  ensuing  year  rejoined  him 
for  that  purpose.     The  abbess  was  so  much  edified  with  their 
zeal  and  charity,  that  she  determined  to  have  a  little  com- 
munity of  his  subjects  to  minister  to  her  religious.     In  1615, 
she  obtained  from  Dieulwart  a  reinforcement  of  six  others ; 
viz.    FF.  Clement  Reyner,  Nicholas  Curry,  George  Sayer, 
Alban  Roe,  Placid  Gascoigne,  and  Dunstan  Pottinger.   These 
she  placed  in  the  Hotel  of  St.  Andrew,  in  the  suburbs  of 
St.  James,  and  until  the  union  continued  to  treat  them  with 
favour  and  liberality  (p.  65).   Their  first  Superior  was  the  said 
F.  Walgrave  ;  F.  Bradshaw  governed  a  short  time  before  his 
removal  to  Longueville.     F.  Thomas  Monnington,  who  had 
been  professed  in  1610,  was  nominated  prior  at  the  first  general 
chapter  held  in  their  house  of  St.  Andrew,  2nd  June,  1617. 
F.  Matthew  Sandeford  was   shortly  after  called  to  replace 
him ;  but  Bishop  GiflFord  requiring  his  services  at  Rheims  as 
domestic  chaplain,  the  president,  F.  Leander,  of  St.  Martin,  on 
15th  May,  1619,  appointed  F.  Fernard  Berrington  to  take  the 
reins  of  superiority  (p.  113).   In  the  meanwhile,  F.  Walgrave 
and  his  associate,  F.  John  Barnes,  at  Chelles,  conceiving  them- 
selves to  be  overlooked  in  these  appointments,  and  manifest- 
ing a  great  dislike  and  opposition  to  the  union,  had  recourse  to 
such  unjustifiable  means  as  to  bring  upon  themselves  the  con- 
demnation of  their  general,  Alvarus  de  Soto. —  (Apostolatus, 
part  ii.  p.  216.)     Good  Bishop  GiflFord  having  now  the  com- 
mand of  funds,  "  thinking  it  derogatory  to  the  prosperity  of 
the  union  to  have  the  monks  engaged  in  it  at  Paris  to  depend 
any  longer  on  F.  Walgrave  and  his  at  Chelles,  at  his  own  ex- 
pense placed  them  in  another  house.    This  was  the  beginning 
of  the  Convent  at  Paris,  now  intitled  to  St.  Edmund,  king  of 
the  East  Angles  and  Martyr." — (Weldon,  p.  114.)  F.  Berring- 
ton carefully  presided  over  his  little  flock  during  the  short 


4'88  COLLKCTIONS  ILLUSTRATING  THE 

period  of  his  government.  At  the  next  chapter  he  was 
appointed  procurator  of  his  brethren  at  Paris,  and  died  Vice- 
President  of  Prance  2nd  November,  1639  (p.  161). 

In  Anne  of  Austria,  the  queen-mother  of  Louis  XIV.,  the 
community  experienced  a  friend  and  protectress.  Their  new 
church  was  blessed  on  Shrove-Tuesday,  38th  February,  1677. 
The  foundation-stone  had  been  laid  on  29th  May,  1674,  by  the 
Princess  Maria  Louisa,  daughter  of  Philip,  duke  of  Orleans, 
niece  of  Louis  XIV.,  and  afterwards  queen  of  Spain.  His 
majesty  Loiiis  XIV.  gave  the  convent  special  marks  of  his 
favourable  consideration ;  granted  them  letters  of  naturaliza- 
tion 9th  September,  1674 ;  and  confirmed  to  them  the  estate  of 
La  Celle,  about  a  day's  journey  from  Paris,  in  the  province  of 
Brie.  The  exiled  king  James  II.  loved  this  house.  In  the 
Holy  Week  of  1694  he  made  here  his  spiritual  retreat;  he 
repeated  it  in  September,  1696.  F.  Joseph  Aprice  (who  died  here 
25th  July,  1703)  was  his  bosom  friend  and  counsellor.  Wheu 
his  majesty  expired  at  St.  Germain-en-Laye,  16th  September, 
1701,  his  body  was  brought  to  St.  Edmund's  the  next  day ; 
and,  after  lying  in  state  for  forty  days,  was  solemnly  interred 
in  a  vault  therein  prepared  for  the  purpose.  There  it  reposed 
until  the  early  part  of  the  French  Revolution.  A  Mr.  Fitz- 
Simons,  an  Irish  gentleman,  was  witness  to  its  exhumation, 
and  related,  in  September,  1840,  the  following  circumstances 
attending  it  to  my  friend  Pitman  Jones : — 

"  I  was  a  prisoner  in  Paris,  in  the  convent  of  the  English 
Benedictines,  in  the  Rue  St.  Jacques,  during  part  of  the  Revo- 
lution. In  the  year  1793  or  1794  the  body  of  King  James  II. 
of  England  was  in  one  of  the  chapels  there,  where  it  had 
been  deposited  some  time,  under  the  expectation  that  it  would 
one  day  be  sent  to  England  for  interment  in  Westminster 
Abbey.  It  had  never  been  buried.  The  body  was  in  a  wooden 
coflBn,  enclosed  in  a  leaden  one,  and  that  again  enclosed  in  a 
second  wooden  one,  covered  with  black  velvet.  While  I  was 
so  a  prisoner,  the  sansculottes  broke  open  the  coffin  to  get  at 
the  lead  to  cast  into  bullets.  The  body  lay  exposed  nearly  a 
whole  day.  It  was  swaddled  like  a  mummy,  bound  tight  with 
garters.  The  sansculottes  took  out  the  body,  which  had  been 
embalmed.  There  was  a  strong  smell  of  vinegar  and  camphor. 
The  corpse  was  beautiful  and  perfect;  the  hands  and  nails 
were  very  fine ;  I  moved  and  bent  every  finger.  I  never  saw 
so  fine  a  set  of  teeth  in  my  life.  A  young  lady,  a  fellow- 
prisoner,  wished  much  to  have  a  tooth ;  I  tried  to  get  one  out 
for  her,  but  could  not,  they  were  so  firmly  fixed.  The  feet 
also  were  very  beautiful.  The  face  and  cheeks  were  just  as 
if  he  were  alive.     I  rolled  his  eyes;  and  the  eyeballs  were 


ENGLISH    BENEDICTINE    CONGREGATION.  489 

perfectly  firm  under  my  finger.  The  French  and  English 
prisoners  gave  money  to  the  sansculottes  for  showing  the 
body.  They  said  he  was  a  good  sansculotte,  and  they  were 
going  to  put  him  into  a  hole  in  the  public  churchyard,  like 
other  sansculottes ;  and  he  was  carried  away,  but  where  the 
body  was  thrown  I  never  heard.  King  George  IV.  tried  all 
in  his  power  to  get  tidings  of  the  body,  but  could  not.  Around 
the  chapel  were  several  wax  moulds  of  the  face  hung  up,  made 
probably  at  the  time  of  the  king's  death,  and  the  corpse  was 
very  like  them.  The  body  had  been  originally  kept  at  the 
palace  of  St.  Germains,  whence  it  was  brought  to  the  convent 
of  the  Benedictines.  Mr.  Porter,  the  prior,  was  a  prisoner  at 
the  time  in  his  own  convent." 

Mr.  Banks,  in  Lis  "  Dormant  and  Extinct  Peerage,"  vol.  iv. 
p.  450,  quotes  the  Paris  papers,  affirming  that  the  royal 
remains  were  discovered,  and  transferred  to  the  church  of 
St.  Germain-en-Laye,  conformably,  as  it  is  said,  to  orders  given 
by  King  George  IV.  to  his  ambassador  at  Paris ;  that  this 
interesting  ceremony  took  place  on  10th  September,  1824 ; 
and  that  the  ambassador  was  represented  by  Mr.  Sheldon,  a 
Catholic  gentleman,  the  bishop  of  Edinburgh  performing  the 
ceremony.* 

PRIORS. 

Sigebert  Bagshaw  was  elected  at  Douay,  at  the  second 
general  chapter  after  the  renovation  of  the  old  Benedictine 
body  in  England,  on  2nd  July,  1621.  He  had  previously 
resided  several  years  at  Rome  as  procurator  or  agent.  After 
governing  the  house  for  eight  years,  he  died  19th  August, 
1633,  having  obtained  a  decree  the  day  before,  that  every 
deceased  president  should  be  prayed  for  in  every  convent  of 
the  congregation  (p.  149) .  He  was  buried  in  the  centre  of 
St.  Gregory's  church,  Douay,  "  with  a  short  account  of  who 
he  was,  and  when  he  died."  What  a  pity  F.  Weldon  had  not 
copied  the  epitaph ! 

Placid  Gascoigne  succeeded  in  July  1629,  of  whom  we  shall 
treat  in  the  account  of  Lambspring. 

Gabriel  Brett,  elected  1st  August,  1633,  and  continued 
to  preside  for  eight  years.  We  have  mentioned  him  under 
St.  Malo's. 

♦  Several  of  our  gentry,  dying  at  Parin,  selected  St.  Edmund's  for 
their  last  resting-place ;  viz.  Sir  Henry  Giffovd,  of  Burstall,  Bart., 
ob.  27tli  September,  1664 ;  Sir  Francis  Anderton,  of  Lostock,  Bart.,  ob. 
2nd  February,  1678,  set.  fifty-one,  to  whom  his  relict,  Lady  Elizabeth 
(Somerset),  erected  a  monument ;  Charles  Penruddock,  Esq.,  who  died 
1st  March,  1679,  aet.  twenty-eight ;  Lord  Lauderdale  in  1695  ;  Francis 
Stafford,  son  of  William  Viscount  Stafford,  ob.  4th  March,  1700. 


490  COLLECTIONS    ILLUSTRATING   THE 

Francis  (of  St.  Joseph)  Cape,  elected  9th  August,  1641,  and 
also  remained  in  office  for  eight  years.  He  was  re-elected  in 
1657,  and  continued  prior  until  the  eleventh  general  chapter, 
held  in  London  on  Ist  May,  1666.  He  died  at  Paris  in  Feb- 
ruary 1668,  aged  about  sixty-six.  "  A  very  regular,  abste- 
mious, and  exemplary  man  "(p.  187).  It  is  remarkal3le  that 
his  brother,  Dom  Michael,  died  also  at  Paris  within  a  day  of 
him. 

Austin  Latham  (nephew  to  Doms  Swibert,  Thomas  Tor* 
quatus,  and  Joseph  Latham)  was  appointed  at  the  eleventh 
chapter,  in  1653;  but  soon  giving  it  up,  was  replaced  by 
B.  Bennet  Nelson  (p;  171).  He  was  re-elected,  however, 
in  1673,  but  declined.  At  the  seventeenth  general  chapter 
in  1677  he  was  again  chosen ;  but  had  hardly  been  installed, 
"  when  he  died,  13th  November  that  year,  to  the  great  grief 
of  his  bouse  and  the  congregation,  about  the  age  of  fifty-six. 
He  had  been  chosen  one  of  Queen  Catharine's  chaplains,  and 
performed  the  duty  with  great  edification,  till  by  the  persecu- 
tion he  was  forced  to  retire  into  France.  What  money  he 
had  been  able  to  spare  from  his  allowance  at  the  Royal  Chapel 
he  left  to  St.  Edmund's ;  and  which,  if  he  had  lived,  he  would 
.  have  put  into  a  very  flourishing  state,  both  as  to  temporals 
and  spirituals.  He  was  the  second  person  interred  at  the  new 
burying-place.  The  first  was  Brother  Adrian  Coppens,  who 
had  died  16th  October,  1676."— Weldon,  p.  196. 

Bennet  Nelson. — We  have  seen  how  he  supplied  for  his 
predecessor.  Again  he  was  called  to  preside,  in  1681,  for 
another  quadriennium.  I  have  already  mentioned  him  under 
St.  Malo's. 

Michael  Cape,  brother  of  Francis.  He  served  the  office 
from  May  1666  till  his  death  in  February,  1668,  aged  about 
fifty-eight.     "  Very  zealous  in  his  duty  "  (p.  187) . 

Joseph  Shireburn,  elected  at  the  fifteenth  general  chapter, 
holden  in  London,  on  the  refusal  of  Thomas  Anderton  to 
accept  the  office.  For  eight  years  he  continued  superior ;  he 
died  president  of  the  congregation,  at  Paris,  on  9th  April, 
1697,  set.  sixty-nine,  rel.  forty-six,  of  a  dead  palsy.  "  Indus- 
triously he  reared  up  the  new  church  and  dormitory  of 
St.  Edmund's,  and  adorned  the  sacristy  with  church  plate 
and  ornaments,  got  the  benefice  of  Choisy  annexed  to  the 
house  as  a  perpetual  rent,  and  procured  that  the  religious 
might  be  capable  of  benefices;  by  which  means,  and  the 
charitable  piety  of  the  faithful,  the  said  convent  of  Paris 
subsists.  He  was  so  acceptable  to  the  late  King  James,  that, 
by  his  majesty's  means,  he  once  brought  Cardinal  Bovillon 
into  favour  again  with  his  Most  Christian  Majesty  "  (p.  217). 


ENGLISH    BENEDICTINE    CONGREGATION.  491 

James  Nelson,  elected  in  1685.  He  served  for  one  quad- 
riennium  ;  ob.  19th  January,  1707. 

Francis  Fenwick,  D.D.,  elected  in  1689.  He  was  an 
eloquent  preacher,  in  great  repute  with  King  James  II.,  who 
sent  him  to  Bome  as  his  agent  at  that  court.  There  he  died, 
30th  October,  1694,  set.  fifty,  and  was  buried  at  the  English 
College. 

Placid  Nelson  succeeded  in  1693,  of  whom  I  can  glean  no 
further  details. 

William  Hitchcock,  who  had  been  admitted  into  the  English 
College  at  Rome  in  1644,  which  he  left  at  the  end  of  three 
years  to  join  the  order,  was  elected  in  1697,  on  F.  Joseph 
Johnston's  declining  the  oflBce.  We  have  mentioned  this 
prior  under  the  account  of  St.  Gregory's.  He  survived  till 
11th  August,  1711. 

Anthony  Turbeville  followed  in  1701 ;  ob.  10th  February, 
1721. 

F.  Joseph  Johnston,  elected  in  1705,  on  F.  William  Phil- 
lipson's  refusing  to  serve.     Ob.  9th  July,  1723. 
(Here  we  are  in  default.) 

Francis  More,  elected  in  1721,  ob.  5th  March,  1740. 

Laurence  Ym-k,  D.D.,  was  elected  in  1729.  Of  this  right 
reverend  divine  we  have  spoken  under  St.  Gregory's. 

Edward  Shireburn,  I  think,  followed. 

John  Stourton ;  ob.  3rd  October,  1748. 

Henry  Wybum  occurs  prior  in  1737 — 1741. 

Maurus  Cope,  elected  in  1745,  died  14th  March,  1753. 

Charles  Walmesley,  D.D.,  elected  in  1749,  of  whom  we  shall 
treat  at  large  in  chapter  the  seventh. 

Wiljrid  Constable,  ob.  27th  December,  1764. 

George  {Augustine)  Walker  occurs  prior  in  the  autumn  of 
1756,  again  4th  Noveinber,  1761 ;  of  whom  we  shall  have  to 
speak  in  the  seventh  chapter.  He  died  at  Compiegne  13th 
January,  1794. 

James  [Bernard)  Price  was  prior  from  1762  to  1765,  as  I 
am  informed.  But  there  was  a  father  of  this  name,  said  to 
have  been  prior  of  St.  Edmund's,  who  arrived  at  Ugbrooke 
in  the  autumn  of  1757  to  serve  as  my  Lord  CliflFord's  chap- 
lain. There  he  died  three  months  later,  and  was  buried  in 
the  chancel  of  Chudleigh  Church  on  4th  Januaiy,  1758. 

Thomas  Welsh  was  prior  late  in  1765 ;  ob.  20th  August, 
1790. 

William  {Gregory)  Cowley.' — ^This  amiable  prior  filled  the 
office  for  many  yeajcs;  more  of  him  in  the  ninth  and  last 
chapter. 

Henry  Parker   {fiot  Porter)    was   the   last  prior  of  St, 


493  COLLECTIONS  ILLUSTRATING  THE 

Edmund's  at  Paris.  He  ended  his  days  in  that  city  on  8th 
July,  1817;  and  in  the  following  chapter,  1818,  Dr.  Marsh 
was  appointed  administrator. 

During  the  quadriennium  from  1823  to  1826,  the  president. 
Dr.  Marsh,  succeeded  in  resuscitating  St.  Edmund's  Convent, 
on  a  portion  of  the  old  site  of  St.  Gregory's,  at  Douay. 
When  this  active  superior  had  made  his  arrangements,  he 
obtained  Dr.  WiUiam  Collier  to  be  the  first  prior.  Dr.  Collier 
continued  in  office  till  1834,  when  he  retired  to  the  mission 
of  Little  Crosby,  near  Liverpool.  After  a  year's  apostolic 
labour  there,  he  was  sent  to  Rome  as  agent  for  the  congrega- 
tion. He  was  present  at  the  general  chapter  in  1838 ;  and 
returning  to  Rome  in  the  month  of  May,  1840,  was  con- 
secrated bishop  of  Milevis,  with  the  charge  of  the  faithful  in 
the  Mauritius,  by  Cardinal  Fransoni.  In  1848,  when  Port 
Eouis,  the  capital  of  the,  Mauritius,  was  erected  into  an 
episcopal  see,  Dr.  Collier  became  its  first  bishop.  On  his  re- 
signing the  priorship  of  St.  Edmund's,  at  Douay,  Dr.  Francis 
Appleton  wa^  declared  his  successor,  but  in  1841  was  trans- 
ferred to  the  incumbency  of  St.  Peter's  Chapel,  Seel-street, 
Liverpool.  There  he  caught,  in  the  exercise  of  his  ministry, 
that  dreadful  fever  which  ravaged  Liverpool  in  1847,  and 
which  tested  the  heroic  zeal  and  charity  of  so  many  priestly 
victims.  Recommended  to  try  a  change  of  air  at  Stanbrook 
Convent,  near  Worcester,  he  breathed  his  last  in  the  arms  of 
his  dear  friend  the  president.  Dr.  Barber,  at  four  of  the 
morning,  36th  May,  1847. 

F.  Richard  {Paulinus)  Burchallhas  presided  at  St.  Edmund's 
since  the  resignation  of  Dr.  Appleton  j  and  from  our  hearts 
we  say,  "  Crescas  in  miUe  millia." — Gen.  xxiv.  60. 

F.  Adrian  Hankisson  was  elected  prior  in  July,  1854. 


Chapter  V. 
SfS.  Adrian  and  Dionysiui'  Abbey  at  Lambspring. 

From  Weldon's  Chronological  Notes  (p.  136)  we  learn 
that,  on  18th  May,  1638,  the  German  Benedictine  congrega- 
tion of  Bursfield  surrendered  their  right  and  title  to  the 
abbey  of  Cismar  in  Ritelin,  diocese  of  Lubec,  recently  re- 
covered by  the  conquest  of  the  emperor,  Ferdinand  II.,  who 
confirmed  this  donation  to  the  English  fathers  on  33nd  April, 
1639.  His  Majesty,  on  13th  March  following,  wrote  to 
F.  Sigebert  Bagshaw,  that  he  approved  of  the  intention  of 
F.  Clement  Reyner's  setting  up  a  seminary  there  for  the 
instruction  of  youth;  and  ratified  the  grant  of  Dobran,  in 


KNGLISH    BENEDICTINE    CONGREGATION.  493 

the  duchy  of  Mecklenburg;  Schamaheck,  in  the  duchy  of 
Lunenburg;  Weine,  in  the  territory  of  Brunswick;  and 
Lambspring,  in  the  territory  of  Hildesheim  (p.  158).  But  for 
the  most  part,  the  chances  of  war,  and  the  conditions  of 
political  treaties,  prevented  the  English  fathers  from  deriving 
little  more  than  nominal  dignity  and  advantage.  The  valiant 
and  religious  emperor,  after  a  reign  of  eighteen  years,  per- 
petually troubled  with  foreign  wars  and  intestine  commotions, 
died  on  8th  February,  1637. 

The  principality  of  Hildesheim  descended  to  Ferdinand  of 
Bavaria,  elector  of  Cologne.  As  lord-in-chief  of  Lamb- 
spring  Abbey,  he  removed  a  community  of  Benedictine 
nuns,  to  whom  itjiad  been  lent,  and  substituted  the  English 
fathers  shortly  after.  At  the  ninth  chapter,  holden  at  Douay 
in  1645,  it  was  decided  that  the  first  place  in  the  congrega- 
tion, after  the  president,  should  be  the  special  right  of  the 
abbot  of  Lambspring. 

The  English  fathers  now  ambitioned  a  better  conventual 
church  with  this  improvement  of  their  finances,  and  prepara- 
tions were  accordingly  made.  On  26th  May,  1670,  was  laid 
the  first  stone  of  a  spacious  and  noble  edifice,  which,  with 
its  eight  or  nine  altars,  was  solemnly  dedicated  on  26th  May, 
1691.  The  organ  had  forty-eight  stops.  The  dreadful  con- 
flagration which,  six  months  later,  destroyed  the  town  of 
Lambspring,  fortunately  spared  this  abbey;  and  thus  the 
good  fathers  were  in  a  condition  to  afibrd  shelter,  and  to 
exercise  extraordinary  relief  and  charity  to  the  poor  sufferers. 
Such  practical  religion  produced  the  happiest  efl'ects  on  the 
Lutheran  population,  as  F.  Weldon  relates  (p.  213). 


Clement  Reyner,  D.D.,  of  an  ancient  family  in  Yorkshire, 
and  a  younger  brother  of  Dom  Laurence,  mentioned  in  the 
second  chapter.  He  was  professed  at  Dieulwart.  Soon 
after  he  was  sent  to  the  mission,  we  find  him  a  prisoner  for 
the  faith  in  his  native  county,  1st  April,  1618.  On  his 
release,  he  was  employed  in  reforming  the  great  monastery  of 
St.  Peter  at  Ghent,  where  the  community  conceived  such 
admiration  of  his  prudent  zeal,  suavity  of  manners,  and  pro- 
found learning,  that  they  were  eager  to  retain  him,  and 
secure  him  for  their  abbot ;  but  he  was  proof  against  amhi- 
tion,  and  returned  to  his  brethren,  who  duly  appreciated  his 
talents  and  religious  virtues.  At  the  ninth  general  chapter 
he  was  declared  the  first  abbot  of  Lambspring.  He  lived 
very  much  considered  in  Germany,  and  died  at  Hildesheim 


494  COLLECTIONS  ILLUSTRATING  THE 

27th  March,  1651 ;  whence  his  bones  were  brought  to  Lamb- 
spring  in  1692 ;  and  there  buried  in  the  body  of  the  church 
(p.  66) .  He  gave  the  habit  but  to  one  person,  Hugh  Starkey, 
2nd  February,  1649,  afterwards  chaplain  to  Lord  Bellairsj 
but  died  director  to  the  Nuns,  O.S.B.,  at  Paris,  12th  February, 
1688. 

.  Placid  Gascmgne,  brother  to  the  venerable  Sir  Thomas 
Crascoigne,  Bart.,*  and  to  Dom  Michael  Gascoigne,  "  a 
painful  missioner,  who  died  13th  October,  1657,  in  the  north 
of  England,  in  his  return  from  York  homewards"  (p.  177). 
Placid  was  professed  at  Dieulwart  before  he  was  sixteen  years 
of  age.  On  the  discovery  that  this  was  opposed  to  the  dis- 
cipline of  the  Council  of  Trent  (sess.  xxv.  cap.  xv.),  he  had 
to  renew  his  profession.  "After  completing  his  studies  at 
Paris  (p.  67),  he  spent  sixteen  years  in  the  mission  very 
profitably  and  advantageously  to  the  Church,  in  great  danger 
of  his  life,  in  a  violent  persecution."  Passing  through  several 
important  offices,  he  was  at  length  elected  to  succeed  Abbot 
Reyner,  and  continued  to  preside  until  his  death,  14th  July, 
1681,  set.  eighty-three,  rel.  sixty-six,  sac.  fifty-seven,  and 
was  buried  in  his  abbey  church,  where  he  had  given  the 
habit  to  thirty-six  brethren. 

Joseph  Sherwood,  of  the  diocese  of  Ghent  (but  I  believe  of 
English  parentage),  was  professed  at  Lambspring  5th  June, 
1653.  His  predecessor,  recognizing  in  him  industrious  zeal, 
and  a  specisd  talent  for  managing  the  temporalities,  wisely 
obtained  him  for  his  coadjutor,  and  under  this  second  Joseph 
"  all  things  prospered  in  his  hand." — (Gen.  xxix.)  He  was 
very  acceptable  to  the  princes  of  the  country,  a  great  encou- 
rager  of  literary  improvement,  much  given  to  hospitality; 
and  notwithstanding  his  great  expenses  in  rebuilding  the 
abbey  church,  and  repairing  other  edifices,  adds  Weldon, 
p,  213,  "  he  left  fewer  debts  when  he  died,  than  he  found 
when  he  was  chosen  abbot."     He  died  at  Hildesheim  on 

*  He  died  at  Lambspring,  amidst  the  prayers  of  the  religious,  in  1686, 
aged  ninety-three.  Eight  y^ars  before  his  death,  the  patriarchal  gentle- 
man was  dragged  to  trial  for  plotting  the  murder  of  his  sovereign 
Charles  II. ! !  But  even  in  the  delirium  of  this  nation,  no  jury  could  be 
culled  to  pronounce  him  guilty.  Retiring  to  Lambspring  to  visit  his 
dignified  brother,  he  was  admitted  to  the  confraternity  of  the  English 
Benedictine  Congregation ;  and  there  passing  the  remainder  of  his  days 
in  preparing  for  eternity,  was  entombed  near  his  departed  brother. 

We  have  seen  at  the  Chapel-house,  Cheltenham,  a  beautiful  portrait 
of  the  baronet,  wliich  ought  to  be  engraved.  Bromley,  in  his  Catalogue 
of  Engraved  Portraits,  mentions  one  of  his  sister  Catherine,  forty  years 
abbess  of  Cambray,  who  died  21st  May,  1676,  set.  seventy-six.  His 
daughter  Justina  died  prioress  of  the  English  Benedictine  Nunnery  at 
Paris,  in  1690,  which  she  had  governed  for  a  quarter  of  a  centuiy.  ' 


ENGLISH    BENEDICTINE    CONGREGATION.  495 

26tli   June,    1690,   but   was   buried  at  Lambspiing.     This 
abbot  clothed  thirty-six  religious. 

James  {Maurus)  Corker  was  bom  in  Yorkshire,  and  pro- 
fessed at  Lambspring  23rd  April,  1656.  Sent  on  the  mission, 
he  was  apprehended  for  Titus  Oates's  plot,  and  stood  his 
trial  at  the  Old  Bailey  with  Sir  George  Wakeman,  William 
Marshall,  and  William  Rumley,  on  Friday,  18th  July,  1679 ; 
but  their  innocence  was  so  transparent,  that  the  jury  returned 
a  verdict  of  "  Not  guilty."  Yet  F.  Corker  was  detained  on 
the  charge  of  his  priesthood,  and  on  the  17th  January 
following  was  found  guilty  of  that  legal  crime,  received 
sentence  of  death  as  in  cases  of  high  treason.  Whilst  im- 
mured in  Newgate,  he  is  stated  by  F.  Weldon  (p.  201)  to 
have  gained  *above  1,000  souls  to  God.  His  charitable 
assistance  and  consolatory  attentions  to  Oliver  Plunket,  the 
Catholic  archbishop  of  Armagh,  a  prelate  whose  loyalty  had 
been  attested  by  four  successive  viceroys  of  Ireland,  but  now 
a  victim  destined  for  sacrifice  to  the  imposture  of  the  Popish 
Plot,  excited  the  most  grateful  sentiments  in  the  breast  of 
that  illustrious  primate.  At  the  accession  of  King  James  II., 
F.  Corker  was  restored  to  liberty,  and  was  even  received  by 
his  Majesty  at  court  as  resident  ambassador  of  the  elector 
of  Cologne,  Ferdinand  of  Bavaria,*  who  also  possessed  the 
bishoprics  of  Liege,  Munster,  and  Hildesheim.  This  appoint- 
ment enabled  him  to  erect  a  very  pretty  convent  at  Clerken- 
well,  but  which  subsisted  for  a  very  brief  period.  It  seems 
to  have  been  the  first  object  of  attack  on  the  part  of  the 
infuriated  populace  when  the  news  reached  London  of  the 
safe  landing  of  William  prince  of  Orange. — (Macaulay's  Hist, 
vol.  ii.  p.  497.)  Forced  to  seek  refuge  on  the  Continent, 
F.  Corker  was  declared  the  second  president  elect  of  the 
English  Benedictine  congregation  holden  at  Paris  in  1689, 
two  years  later  was  voted  abbot  of  Cismar,  and  in  1693 
was  chosen  abbot  of  Lambspring,  whither  he  caused  the 
quarters  of  his  friend,  the  martyred  archbishop  of  Armagh, 
to  be  transferred,  and  honourably  entombed. —  (Weldon, 
p.  205.)  The  head  seems  to  have  come  into  the  possession 
of  the  Dominican  nuns  at  Drogheda  through  the  first  prioress, 

*  We  have  seen  him  charged  with  indiscretion  in  accepting  this 
public  appointment ;  but  it  seems  to  have  been  overlooked  that  the 
preceding  abbot,  even  when  prior  of  Lambspring,  had  been  sometimes 
accredited  to  the  court  of  King  Cliarles  II.  as  envoy  of  this  very  elector. 
— (Weldon,  p.  212.)  The  prince  had  20,000  men  at  his  command  ;  and, 
as  Dr.  Lingard  observes  (Hist.  vol.  x.  p.  319),  "in  the  war  of  1672  the 
co-operation  of  his  forces,  and  the  favourable  situation  of  his  dominions, 
taught  the  French  to  prize  his  friendship,  the  allies  to  lament  his 
enmity."     Ob,  May,  1688. 


496  COLLECTIONS    ILLUSTRATING   THE 

Catherine  Plunket.  On  27th  July,  1696,  this  worthy  abbot 
resigned  his  dignity,  and  returned  to  England,  where  he 
closed  a  life  full  of  days  and  merits  at  Paddington,  near 
London,  22nd  December,  1715.  Five  religious  of  the  abbey 
received  the  habit  from  his  saintly  hands. 

John  (Maurus)  Knightley,  of  a  good  Warwickshire  family, 
was  professed  at  Lambspring  on  9th  May,  1670.  He  was 
certainly  in  no  favour  with  Weldon,  who  accuses  him  of 
being  an  ambitious  partisan  (p.  215).  He  governed  the 
house  for  nearly  thirteen  years,  dying  28th  April,  1709, 
having  given  the  habit  to  thirteen. 

Francis  {Augustine)  Jfemjoes^,  of  a  family  fruitful  of  religious 
members  of  both  sexes.  He  was  professed  at  Lambspring 
9th  October,  1664 ;  elected  abbot  31st  July,  1709,  and  for 
twenty  years  maintained  with  honour  the  dignity  of  his 
office.  Ob.  17th  November,  1729,  having  given  the  habit 
to  twenty-six  of  his  religious.  At  Broughton  Hall  is  a 
portrait  of  this  venerable  abbot. 

Joseph  Rokeby,  of  Middlesex,  professed  at  Lambspring 
21st  December,  1703 ;  was  elected  its  abbot  on  6th  February, 
1730 :  he  contributed  much  to  the  benefit  and  comfort  of 
his  community.  He  died  6th  November,  1761,  having  given 
the  habit  to  forty  of  his  religious. 

William  {Maurus)  Heatly,  of  Salmsbury,  Lancashire. — He 
reached  Lambspring  for  education  on  14tli  July,  1736,  aged 
thirteen ;  on  6th  May,  1739,  was  admitted  to  the  habit,  and 
to  his  profession  on  26th  May  of  the  ensuing  year;  was 
chosen  abbot  26th  January,  and  blessed  as  such  on  10th 
February,  1762.  He  held  the  reins  of  government  for  an 
unusual  period,  dying  15th  August,  1802,  having  clothed 
forty-eight  members.  He  ceased  to  govern  on  the  1st  of 
June  preceding,  when 

Placid  Harsnip  was  substituted  as  superior  of  the  com- 
munity, consisting  of  twenty-one  members  only,  including 
lay  brothers  and  one  novice.  On  3rd  January,  1803,  the 
king  of  Prussia's  commissary  Malchus  formally  announced 
to  them  the  suppression  of  their  house,  with  the  allowance  of 
a  small  pension,  to  be  spent,  however,  within  the  king's 
dominions. 


ENGLISH    BENEDICTINE    CONGEEGATION.  497 


Chapter  VI, 

Of  the  Martyrs  and  principal  Confessors  of  the  English 
Benedictine  Congregation. 

In  prselio  Christi,  moriendo  vincitur,  cadendo  surgitur :  victoria  per 
interitum  comparatur. — Chrysostom,  Horn,  in  Matthreum. 

Though  the  Benedictines  entered  rather  later  than  the 
secular  and  regular  clergy  on  the  English  mission,  yet,  as 
they  obtained  an  accession  of  strength,  they  hastened  to 
share  in  all  the  toils  and  dangers  of  their  fellow-combatants. 
Nearly  a  dozen  had  the  honour  of  glorifying  God  in  their 
blood;  several  died  in  fetters,  after  receiving  sentence  of 
death  for  conscience  sake;  very  few  escaped  imprisonment 
and  exile,  and  the  unjust  spoiling  of  their  goods. 

The  first  who  suffered  death  for  priesthood  was  F.  Mark 
Barkworth,  or  Lambert,  a  native  of  Lincolnshire.  He  had 
commenced  his  studies  at  the  English  College  at  Rheims, 
and  finished  them  at  Valladolid.  Perhaps  in  the  latter  city 
lie  joined  the  Benedictine  Order.  Shortly  after  his  return 
to  England,  he  was  arrested  and  condemned  to  die.  He 
was  drawn  to  Tyburn  in  his  Benedictine  habit,  on  27th 
February,  1601,  rejoicing  to  be  thought  worthy  of  suffering 
for  the  name  of  Jesus.* 

The  second  in  the  order  of  time  was  George  Gervase, 
born  at  Boseham,  in  Sussex,  of  respectable  Catholic  parents : 
his  mother  was  a  Shelley.  After  completing  his  studies  in 
the  secular  college  at  Douay,  that  sanctuary  of  learning  and 
of  martyrdom,  and  returning  a  missioner,  he  received  the 
habit  privately  at  the  hands  of  Dom  Austin  Bradshaw.  A 
gaol  soon  after  inclosed  this  victim  of  the  faith ;  and  a  cruel 
butchery  at  Tyburn  was  the  recompense  of  his  having  exer- 
cised his  apostolic  ministry  in  England.  He  suffered  on 
11th  April,  1608,  set.  thirty-seven. 

The  third  was  John  Roberts,  alias  Mervin,  of  Merioneth- 
shire. He  had  been  educated  at  Rheims  and  Yalladolid; 
made  his  religious  profession  in  St.  Martin's  Abbey  at  Com- 
postella  in  1595.  Ordained  priest  in  1600,  he  departed  at 
once  for  the  mission.     Like  the  giant,  he  exulted  to  run  his 

*  We  ave  surprised  tliat  F.Weldon,  in  his  Notes,  p.  27,  and  Dr.  Chal- 
loner,  in  bis  Memoirs,  should  have  omitted  the  important  evidence 
given  by  himself,  under  the  gibbet,  of  his  adual  profession  in  the  Bene- 
dictine order.  "Profitetur  se  ex  Sancti  Benedict!  schola  monachum, 
qualis  fuerat  et  Augustinus  ille,  qui  a  Magno  Gregorio  missus,  hinc 
insulee  fidem  pro  qua  turn  ipse  patiebatur  intulerat." — Hen.  More's 
Hist.  S.  J.,  pp.  267,  258. 

2   K 


498  COLLECTIONS  ILLUSTRATING  THE 

course :  nothing  could  be  hidden  from  his  glowing  zeal. 
Four  times  imprisoned  and  as  often  banished,  he  persisted  in 
returning  to  labour  in  the  vineyard :  at  last,  on  the  first 
Sunday  of  Advent,  1610,  he  was  seized  at  the  altar,  and 
dragged  in  his  vestments  to  gaol,  whence,  after  a  mock  trial, 
he  was  hurried  to  consummate  the  sacrifice  of  himself  at 
Tyburn,  10th  December,  1610. 

The  fourth  and  fifth,  Nicholas  Sadler  and  Nicholas  Hutton, 
according  to  Weldon  (p.  54),  suffered  death  in  the  reign  of 
King  James  I.  This  is  attested  by  F.  Sadler  in  his  Obits, 
who  quotes  John  Mullen  in  his  "  Idea  Togatse  Constantise," 
published  in  1629,  as  also  Menardus;  but  we  can  recover 
no  details. 

The  sixth  is  William  {Maurus)  Scott,  or  Crauford,  whose 
memoir  is  beautifully  given  by  the  faithful  Dr.  Challoner. 
We  subjoin,  however,  two  unpublished  letters  of  the  martyr, 
which  were  copied  in  1695  from  a  MS.  in  the  Archivium  of 
the  English  College  at  Eome.  The  first  was  directed  to 
F.  Nicholas  Hart,  alias  Strangways,  and  F.  John  Percy, 
alias  Fisher,  members  of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  who  had  been 
his  fellow-prisoners  at  the  Gate-house  before  his  removal  to 
Newgate.  F.  Percy,  -alias  Fisher,  writing  to  the  rector  at 
Rome  (F.  Thomas  Owen)  but  three  days  after  the  martyrdom, 
thus  expresses  himself: — "Mr.  Scott  was  prisoner  in  the 
same  place  [the  Gate-house]  where  we  are,  which  bred  such 
mutual  love  betwixt  him  and  us,  that  after  he  was  removed, 
and  specially  designed  to  die,  he  found  means  to  write  a 
special  letter  to  us  two,  which  letter  I  sent  to  F.  Blount, 
joining  unto  it  a  copy  of  another  letter  of  his,  written  to  two 
of  his  own  brethren,^  both  which  I  hope  will  be  sent  unto 
you.  We  wrote  back  again  unto  him  to  show  our  gratitude 
and  love  to  him  and  to  his  order :  which  letters  of  ours  he 
took  in  so  good  part,  as  he  entreated  a  dear  friend  of  his  to 
come  to  us,  and  to  signify  how  great  comfort  he  took  in  our 
letters,  &c." 

"  RR.  FF.  and  my  highly  respected  Friends, — Though  my 
present  and  so  urgent  occasions  (as  you  well  know)  challenge 
all  that  small  time  which  I  am  like  to  enjoy  to  be  employed 
in  them,  yet  the  obligations  which  I  have  to  your  worthy 
selves  make  me  willing  to  take  a  little  from  myself  to  salute 
your  reverences.  For  as  I  have  had  ever  a  reverend  opinion 
of  your  holy  society,  and  borne  a  singular  aflFection  there- 
unto, so  have  I  ever  desired  some  way  to  signify  the  same, 
which,  seeing  my  stay  with  you  so  small,  I  did  not ;  but 
these  few  lines  perform  that  ofi&ce.     It  hath  not  been  my 


ENGLISH    BENEDICTINE    CONGREGATION.  499 

good  hap  at  any  time  to  live  in  any  of  your  religious  colleges  j 
yet  report  has  so  abundantly  supplied  that  defect,  that  my 
aflfection  is  not  less  than  if  I  had  actually  been  a  witness  of 
your  religious  conversation.  When  I  was  last  in  this  prison, 
it  pleased  good  Father  Blunt  to  remember  me  with  a  token. 
I  often  desired,  both  here  and  beyond  sea,  that  he  might  be 
kindly  thanked  on  my  part,  willing  to  be  grateful  to  him  of 
all  other  persons  that  so  charitably  remembered  me,  alto- 
gether unknown  to  him.  And  thus  much  let  me  request 
you  to  signify,  with  my  best  remembrance  to  all  the  rest, 
the  very  reverend  of  your  society,  hoping  that,  though  I  am 
not  like  to  enjoy  much  of  your  so  desired  conversation  on 
earth,  yet  that^we  shall  have  a  joyful  meeting  in  heaven. 

"  I  have  understood  how  careful  you  have  been  to  assist 
me  with  your  prayers  in  these  my  necessities.  I  have 
laboured  in  the  same  kind  to  make  requital ;  but,  because 
here  they  are  not  of  that  value  to  countervail  yours,  I  will 
supply  it  in  heaven,  if  it  please  God  to  make  me  worthy  of 
that  whereof  I  am  in  expectation.  So  with  my  kind  com- 
mendations to  your  worthy  selves,  I  leave  you  very  heartily 
saluted.     Newgate,  this  27th  of  May,  1612.     Yours  devoted, 

"  William  Craford,  alias  Scott." 

"  My  dearest  Brethren,  socii  tribulationum,  I  hope  also  in 
time  et  passionum, — I  am  in  very  good  health,  nothing  at  all 
discouraged,  but  rather  much  animated.  The  common  voice 
goeth  of  rigorous  proceedings,  even  unto  death ;  but  who  they 
are  which  are  designed  is  not  so  common,  nor,  T  think,  certainly 
known.  My  removing  hath  given  occasion  to  all  to  suppose 
myself  for  one.  And  were  it  not  that  I  am  so  guilty  of  my 
own  too  much  unworthiness,  I  might  peradventure  also  con- 
ceive so.  But,  looking  upon  this  blessed  company,  I  cannot 
any  way  induce  myself  to  believe  that  Almighty  God  hath 
marked  me,  and  not  another,  or  not  every  one  before  me. 
But  His  judgments  and  decrees  are  secret.  I  dare  not  adven- 
ture to  desire  so  great  an  honour ;  but  through  His  grace  I 
stand  prepared  qualibet  pati  for  his  honour  and  glory.  I  have 
disposed  of  all  things  concerning  me  interiorly;  and  to-morrow, 
God  willing,  of  my  soul.  Thursday  begin  our  sessions.  Pray 
for  me ;  but  with  no  other  intention  but  that  God  Almighty's 
will  may  be  both  in  this  and  all  other  things  performed  in 
me  and  for  me.     Your  assured  loving  brother, 

"  Maurus. 

"P.S.  Commend  me  most  kindly  to  Mr.  Fisher  and 
Mr.  Hart,  and  desire  them  to  remember  me." 

2  K  2 


500-  COLLECTIONS  ILLUSTRATING  THE 

The  holy  monk  suffered  on  Whitsun  Eve,  30th  May,  o.s., 
or  9th  June,  n.s.,  1612.  How  came  Dodd  to  omit  his 
biography  ? 

The  seventh,  Thomas  Dyer,  sufiFered  before  the  end  of 
King  James  I.'s  reign  ;  but  we  have  not  been  fortunate 
enough  to.  obtain  any  circumstantial  particulars. 

The  eighth  was  Edward  {Ambrose)  Barlotv,  brother  to  the 
renowned  divine  F.  Rudesind  B.,  so  often  mentioned  in  these, 
pages.  The  martyr's  biography  is  copious  and  edifying  in 
Dr.  Challoner's  Memoirs,  &c.  On  Friday,  10th  September, 
1641,  his  execution  for  priesthood  took  place  at  Lancaster, 
in  the  fifty-fifth  year  of  his  age,  twenty- fifth  of  his  religious 
profession,  and  twenty-fourth  of  his  priesthood  and  mission. 

The  ninth,  Bartholomew  {Jlban)  Roe,  sufifered  at  Tyburn 
for  the  same  glorious  cause  on  31st  January,  1642. 

The  tenth,  Philip  Powell,  alias  Morgan. — From  his  child- 
hood he  was  brought  up  by  that  meekest  of  men  F.  Austin 
Baker.  Dr.  Challoner  has  done  justice  to  his  character. 
He  went  rejoicing  to  the  Tyburn  scaffold  on  30th  June,  1646, 
thanking  his  God  for  honouring  him  with  the  dignity  of  priest- 
hood, and  glorifying  his  goodness  in  calling  him  to  the  Order 
of  St.  Benedict.  He  had  reached  the  fifty-third  year  of  his 
age,  the  thirty -third  of  his  profession,  and  twenty-sixth  of  his 
missionary  life. 

The  only  monk  whose  blood  was  shed  for  Oates's  execrable 
plot  was  Thomas  Pickering,  a  good,  harmless  lay  brother. 
We  find  him  in  1671  on  Queen  Catharine's  establishment,  to 
attend  on  the  six  Benedictine  Fathers  at  Somerset  House, 
•with  his  yearly  allowance  of  £50.  On  l7th  December,  1678, 
he  was  tried  at  the  Old  Bailey,  with  others,  for  contriving 
and  conspiring  to  assassinate  King  Charles  II.  His  perjured 
accusers,  Oates  and  Bedloe,  swore  that  he  agreed  to  accept 
30,000  Masses  for  the  benefit  of  his  soul,  instead  of  money, 
for  firing  a  pistol  at  his  majesty's  person ;  and  that  when  he 
had  once  a  fair  opportunity  of  despatching  his  majesty,  his 
pistol, hung  fire  from  the  looseness  of  the  flint;  and  that  for 
this  negligence  on  his  part  he  had  suffered  a  severe  discipline 
from  his  religious  employers  !  Notwithstanding  he  was  not 
allowed  time  to  produce  witnesses  to  prove  his  innocence, — 
notwithstanding  his  solemn  declaration  that  he  had  never  seen 
either  Oates  or  Bedloe,  and  that  he  had  never  fired  ofi'  a  pistol 
in  his  life,  a  packed  jury,  instigated  by  the  brutal  Chief  Justice 
Scroggs,  brought  in  a  verdict  of  guilty,  and  he  was  condemned 
to  sufifer  the  death  of  a  traitor.  " 

Reprieved  till  the  9th  of  May,  1679,  he  was  then  drawn 
to  Tyburn,  and  appealed  to  the  multitude  surrounding  his 


ENGLISH    BENEDICTINE    CONGREGATION.  501 

scaflFold,  with  his  smiling  countenance,  whether  he  looked  like 
a  traitor.  He  had  attained  his  fifty-eighth  year.  And  still 
—  horribile  dictu  ! — the  king  was  satisfied  from  the  beginning 
that  the  plot  "was  all  a  fiction,  never  believing  one  tittle 
of  it!"- — (See  "Life  of  King  James  II.,"  vol.  i.,  compiled 
from  the  Stuart  Papers  by  Dr.  Clarke,  librarian  to  King 
George  IV.) 

Amongst  the  children  of  St.  Benedict  here  who  have, con- 
fessed Christ  before  men,  the  Coryphaeus  must  be  the  last 
venerable  abbot  of  Westminster,  John  Feckenham,  whose 
memoir  we  reserve  for  the  next  chapter.  His  disciple  Robert 
{Sigebert)  Buckley  may  claim  the  next  place.  This  last  sur- 
viving monk  of  Westminster  Abbey  died  22nd  February, 
1610,  aet.  ninety -three,  blind  during  nearly  the  last  three  years 
of  his  life.  "  During  forty  years  he  had  endured  persecution 
for  the  Catholic  faith,  always  shut  up  in  some  prison  or 
other." — (Weldon,  p.  53.)  And  yet  this  patriarch  was 
refused  burial  in  the  parish  churchyard ! 

F.  Amandus  Venner,  alias  Farmer,  a  native  of  Devon,  and 
monk  of  Dieulwart,  a  sedulous  missioner  and  great  sufi'erer 
in  long  imprisonments  and  other  persecutions  patiently 
endured  for  the  faith,  died  at  London  10th  November,  o.s., 
1628.— (Weldon's  Notes,  p.  138.) 

Thomas  Emmerson,  D.D.,  professed  of  St.  Facundus,  in 
Spain,  died  in  England  30th  September,  1630;  "famous  for 
suffering  imprisonments  and  banishments,  having  endured  the 
heat  of  smart  persecution." — (Ibid.  p.  147.) 

jF.  Francis  Foster  died  at  Stafford  Castle  4th  June,  1631, 
and  renowned  for  his  imprisonments  and  banishments. — ■ 
(Ibid.  p.  147.) 

Felix  Thompson,  who  died  12th  April,  and  F.  George  Gaire, 
who  survived  till  21st  November,  1634,  had  both  been  great 
sufferers  for  the  faith. —  (Ibid.  p.  152.) 

F.  Laurence  Mabbs,  a  courageous  professor  of  orthodox 
faith,  died  in  chains  for  the  same  in  Newgate,  London,  on 
20th  July,  1641.— (Ibid.  p.  163.) 

Boniface  Kemp,  alias  Kipton,  professed  at  Mont-Serrat,  and 
F.  Idelphonsus  Hesket,  in  1644  were  seized  by  the  parlia- 
mentary soldiers,  and  driven  on  foot  before  them  in  the 
heats  of  summer;  by  which  cruel  and  outrageous  usage  they 
were  so  heated  and  spent,  that  they  died  either  forthwith  or 
soon  after. — (Ibid.  p.  56.) 

F.  Peter  {Boniface)  Wilford,  of  London,  who  was  professed 
8th  September,  1609,  died  in  Newgate  12th  March,  1646, 
where  he  lay  condemned  for  the  faith,  expecting  every  day  to 


503  COLLECTIONS    ILLUSTRATING    THE 

be  executed,  at  the  age  of  ninety. — (Ibid.  p.  48.)  I  find,  in 
the  "Newgate  Calender,"  printed  by  Thomas  Payne,  in 
Goldsmith-alley,  in  Red  Cross-street,  London,  1641,  that  the 
reverend  father  had  been  condemned  on  13th  December,  1641, 
with  Edmund  Fryer,  "  an  old  man,  and  very  feeble,  insomuch 
that  he  could  scarce  go  at  all." 

F.  James  {Maurus)  Corker,  of  whom  we  have  spoken  as 
fourth  abbot  of  Lambspring,  and  whom  we  shall  have  to  men- 
tion in  the  next  chapter. 

F.  John  {Placidus)  Adelham,  professed  at  St.  Edmund's. — 
He  had  been  a  Protestant  minister,  and  after  his  conversion 
became  one  of  the  Benedictine  chaplains  in  Queen  Catharine 
of  Braganza's  establishment  in  1671.  Tried  and  condemned 
for  the  priesthood,  after  the  fabrication  of  Oates's  plot,  he 
died  in  Newgate  j  but  we  cannot  ascertain  the  date  of  his 
death. 

Benedict  Constable,  of  Yorkshire,  professed  at  Lambspring 
7th  August,  1669 ;  died  11th  December,  1679,  in  Durham  gaol, 
into  which  he  was  cast  a  month  after  his  arrival  in  England. 

Hugh  Starkey,  of  the  diocese  of  Chester,  the  only  one 
professed  at  Lambspring  by  Dom  Clement  Reyner,  the  first 
abbot,  viz.  2nd  February,  1649.  He  was  tried  and  condemned 
for  his  priestly  character,  with  F.  Corker,  after  having  been 
chaplain  to  Lord  Bellasis.  At  the  accession  of  King  James  II., 
it  seems  he  was  restored  to  liberty,  and  was  appointed  to  be 
director  of  the  English  Benedictine  nuns  at  Paris.  There  the 
venerable  man  ended  his  days  13th  February,  1688. 

William  {Augustine)  Rumley,  a  lay  brother,  condemned 
for  the  plot  of  the  miscreant  Oates ;  but  reprieved  and  set  at 
liberty  when  King  James  succeeded  to  the  throne.  He  sur- 
vived till  8th  February,  1717. 

To  this  very  imperfect  catalogue  might  be  added  many 
names  written  in  heaven,  but  unknown  to  us.  And  we  are 
certain  that,  whenever  typhus  fever  or  cholera  has  appeared, 
the  children  of  St.  Benedict  have  yielded  to  none  in  venturing 
and  sacrificing  their  lives  in  the  heroic  cause  of  charity. 

Chatter  VII. 

Brief  Notices  of  some  of  the  Writers  of  the  English  Benedictine 
Congregation. 

Baker  [Austin),  David,  bom  in  December,  1575,  at  Aber- 
gavenny.— Gifted  with  superior  talents  and  a  solid  judgment, 
which  he  improved  by  indefatigable  industry,  this  young 
lawyer  might  have  attained  the  first  rank  in  his  profession, 
when  his  supernatural  escape  from  imminent  death  convinced 


ENGLISH    BENEDICTINE    CONGREGATION.  503 

him  that  Providence  took  more  care  of  his  life  and  safety 
than  he  had  hitherto  done  of  his  immortal  soul.  This  led 
him  to  pray  fervently  that  God  would  enlighten  his  mind, 
and  direct  him  in  the  way  of  salvation.  Reconciled  to  the 
Church,  he  proceeded  in  1605  to  the  Benedictine  Convent  of 
St.  Justina  at  Padua,  and  commenced  his  novitiate  on  27th 
May  that  year;  but  ill-health  made  it  necessary  to  return 
home.  He  travelled  expeditiously,  and  had  the  consolation 
of  arriving  in  time  to  attend  his  dying  father,  and  of  inducing 
him  to  embrace  the  Catholic  faith,  and  make  a  most  Christian 
end.  No  sooner  had  he  settled  family  affairs,  than  he  re- 
turned to  consecrate  himself  to  God  in  the  above-mentioned 
monastery. 

Some  persons  having  contended  that  the  ancient  Benedic- 
tine Congregation  in  this  country  was  dependent  on  that  of 
Cluni,  in  the  diocese  of  Ma9on,  founded  about  the  year  910, 
F.  Baker,  then  on  the  mission,  at  the  wish  of  his  superiors, 
devoted  his  time  and  fortune  to  expose  and  refute  this 
groundless  error.  For  this  purpose  he  inspected  very  care- 
fully the  monuments  and  evidences  in  public  and  private 
collections  in  London  and  elsewhere ;  he  had  the  benefit  of 
the  opinions  of  Sir  Robert  Cotton,  John  Selden,  Sir  Henry 
Spelman,  and  William  Camden ;  and  the  result  of  his  labori- 
ous and  lucid  researches  is  embodied  in  that  learned  folio 
volume,  entitled  "Apostolatus  Benedictinorum  in  Anglia," 
published  by  order  of  the  General  Congregation  holden  in 
1625,  and  printed  at  Douay  in  1626.*  His  dear  friend  F. 
Jones  reduced  the  mass  of  materials  into  respectable  Latinityj 
and  they  left  F.  Clement  Reyner,  their  assistant,  an  excellent 
scholar,  to  edit  the  work ;  so  that  it  passes  for  being  finished 
"  oper&   et  Industrie  R.  P.  Clemen tis   Reyneri."      Whilst 

*  This  able  work  engages  to  prove  the  antiquity  of  the  Benedictine 
order,  and  the  nearly  coeval  antiquity  of  its  English  Congregation. 
Secondly,  it  shows  that  this  Engfish  Benedictine  Congregation  was 
perfectly  independent  of  the  Cluniac  and  all  other  foreign  Congregations 
of  the  order  ;  and  lastly,  that  the  actual  English  Congregation  recently 
revived  had  been  canonically  ratified  and  duly  restored  by  the  See 
Apostolic.  The  appendix  of  documents  is  valuable  ;  and  the  labour  of 
collecting  them  appears  Herculean,  when  we  consider  it  was  formed 
thirty  yeaw  before  the  publication  of  the  first  volume  of  the  "  Monas- 
ticon  Anglicannm." 

We  are  surprised,  however,  that  the  learned  writers  should  have  enter- 
tained BO  favourable  an  opinion  of  the  good  faith,  and  modesty,  forsooth, 
of  Godwin,  "  De  Prsesulibus  Anglise,  p.  78.  Henry  Wharton,  in  his 
preface  to  the  "  Anglia  Sacra,"  thought  very  differently  of  his  merit ; 
and  the  more  we  compare  the  portion  of  his  work  connected  with  the 
diocese  of  Exeter  with  original  records,  for  fifteen  years_  open  to  his 
inspection,  the  more  we  have  learnt  to  mistrust  his  authority. 


504  COLLECTIONS  ILLUSTRATING  THE 

engaged  in  these  investigations,  he  once  met,  at  Sir  Robert 
Cotton's  library,  William  Camden,  the  distinguished  scholar, 
antiquary,  and  historian.;  and  was  an  ear  and  eye-witness  to 
a  conversation  between  him  and  Sir  Robert,  who  had  re- 
cently become  possessed,  for  a  small  consideration,  of  a  chest 
of  papers  that  had  belonged  to  Sir  Francis  Walsingham, 
secretary  of  state  to  Queen  Elizabeth.  Sir  Robert  informed 
Mr.  Camden,  and  proved  by  these  documents,  that  he  had 
received  very  false  information  of  many  passages  in  his  History 
of  Queen  Elizabeth ;  and  he  demonstrated  from  them,  that 
the  insurrection  in  the  north,  under  the  Earl  of  Westmore- 
land, was  the  actual  contrivance  of  that  secretary  of  state; 
"whereupon  Mr.  Camden  exclaimed  earnestly  and  loudly 
against  his  false  informers,  and  wished  that  his  history  had 
never  been  written." — (Weldon,  p.  120,  quoting  Cressy.) 
But  r.  Baker  shone  pre-eminently  as  a  master  of  a  spiritual 
life;  he  was  the  hidden  man  of  the  heart,  absorbed  in 
heavenly  contemplation.  Out  of  more  than  forty  of  his 
MS.  treatises,  F.  Serenus  Cressy  compiled  the  works  entitled 
"  Sancta  Sophia."  The  nuns  of  Cambray  deeply  imbibed 
his  spirit  during  the  nine  years  that  he  was  their  director, 
and  kept  his  sayings  in  their  hearts.  His  work,  "  Holy 
Practices  of  a  Divine  Lover,  or  the  Saintly  Ideot's  Devotions," 
was  printed  at  Paris.  A  copy  was  sold  on  the  first  day  of  the 
sale  of  the  library  of  Richard  Heber,  Esq.,  on  19th  January, 
1835.  Unfortunately  many  of  F.  Baker's  MSS.  perished  at 
the  seizure  of  the  Cambray  Convent.  Two  of  his  treatises 
On  the  Laws  of  England  were  lost  here  at  our  own  Revolution 
in  1688.  F.  Baker  died  of  the  plague,  in  his  house,  Gray's 
Inn-lane,  London,  on  19th  August,  1641,  set.  sixty-nine,  and 
was  buried  at  St.  Andrew's,  Holborn.  Bromley  says  that  his 
engraved  portrait  was  taken  in  1634,  and  that  then  he  was 
sixty-nine. 

Baines  {Augustine),  Peter,  was  born  at  the  Pear-tree 
Farm,  within  Kirkby  township,  near  Liverpool,  25th  January, 
1787.  In  company  of  John,  Edward,  and  Vincent  Glover, 
he  left  England  to  study  for  the  Church  in  Lambspring 
Abbey,  already  mentioned,  and  arrived  there  on  7th  November, 
1798.  Trained  in  that  monastery  to  piety  and  learning,  he 
decided  on  devoting  himself  to  religion  in  the  order  of  St. 
Benedict,  and  commenced  his  novitiate  at  Ampleforth,  at  the 
canonical  age.  His  profession  is  dated  8th  June,  1804.  He 
exerted  all  his  zeal  to  improve  the  system  of  studies  in  that 
collegiate  establishment  to  the  satisfaction  of  superiors,  when 
he  was  appointed,  in  July,  1817,  on  the  retirement  of  the 
Rev.  James  Calderbank,  to  be  his  successor,  as  head  of  the 


ENGLISH    BENEDICTINE    CONGIIEGATION.  505 

Bath  mission.  Here  he  had  an  ample  field  for  the  exercise 
of  his  abilities.  Bishop  CoUingridge  selected  him  for  his 
coadjutor  in  the  episcopal  office ;  and  he  was  consecrated, 
with  the  title  of  Siga,  hy  the  Venerable  Archbishop  Murray, 
in  Townshend-street  Ghapel,  Dublin,  on  1st  May,  1823.  By 
the  death  of  Bishop  CoUingridge,  10th  February,  1829,  the 
charge  of  the  western  vicariat  devolved  upon  him.  In  the 
belief  that  he  should  serve  the  interests  of  religion  better  by 
withdrawing  himself  at  the  end  of  a  quarter  of  a  century 
from  his  order,  he  solicited  and  obtained  his  secularization 
from  Rome  in  his  forty-third  year,  and  seventh  of  his 
episcopacy. 

We  subjoin  the  best  list  we  can  offer  of  his  publications 
until  he  left  tlie  order : — 

1.  The  leading  Doctrines  of  the  Catholic  Religion,  heing  the  sub- 
stance of  a  Sermon  preached  at  the  opening  of  the  new  Catholic  Chapel 
at  Sheffield,  let  May,  1816. 

2.  A  Letter  to  Dr.  Moysey,  Archdeacon  of  Bath,  in  reply  to  his 
attack  on  the  Catholics,  in  his  Charge  to  the  Clergy,  on  21st  June,  1821. 
8vo.  pp.  47. 

3.  Defence  of  the  Christian  Religion,  in  a  Second  Letter  to  Dr.  Moysey. 
8vo.  pp.  274.    1822. 

4.  RemonBtranoe,  in  a  Third  Letter  to  Dr.  Moysev,  pp.  47. 

6.  A  Fourth  Letter  appeared  in  1824,  but  chiefly  in  answer  to 
Dr.  Daubeny,  pp.  96.  It  is  written  with  gi'eat  spirit  and  vigour ;  the 
conclusion  is  singularly  happy  and  efficient. 

6.  A  Sermon  on  the  Worship  of  God  and  the  Eucharistic  Sacrifice, 
delivered  at  the  opening  of  St.  George's  Chapel,  Taunton,  3rd  July, 
1822. 

7.  A  Sermon  preached  on  13th  November,  1823,  on  the  Advantages 
and  Consolations  of  the  Christian  Religion,  at  the  opening  of  St.  Alban's 
Chapel,  Warrington,  pp.  16. 

8.  A  Sermon  delivered  at  the  Dedication  of  St.  Mary's  Chapel,  at 
Myddleton  Lodge,  on  18th  May,  1826,  pp.  25. 

9.  The  celebrated  Sermon  on  Faith,  Hope,  and  Charity,  preached  at 
the  Dedication  of  St.  Mary's  Chapel,  Bradford,  on  27th  July,  1826. 

10.  Two  Sermons  preached  at  St.  Mary's,  York: — 1.  On  the  Good 
Shepherd,  on  29th  April,  1838 ;  2.  On  the  Value  of  Trials  and  Afflic- 
tions, on  the  following  Sunday,  6th  May. 

11.  A  Sermon  preached  at  St.  Mary's,  Edinburgh,  on  the  Parable  of 
the  Unjust  Steward,  29tli  July,  1838,  the  day  after  his  consecrating 
Dr.  James  Gillis  bishop  of  Limyra. 

12.  A  Sermon  on  the  Propagation  of  the  Faith,  delivered  in  the 
Sardinian  Chapel,  London,  20th  January,  1839. 

13.  Six  Lectures  delivered  in  St.  John's,  Bath,  during  the  Sundays 
of  Lent,  1839  :— 1 .  On  the  Nature  of  Religion  ;  2.  On  the  Knowledge 
of  Religion  ;  3.  The  History  of  Religion  ;  4.  On  the  Church  of  Christ ; 
5.  State  of  Departed  Souls ;  6.  The  Eucharistic  Mystery. 

14, 16.  Who  could  not  have  wished  that  his  printed  history  of  the 
Lenten  Pastoral  of  1840,  and  his  Letter  to  Sir  Charles  Wolseley,  dated 
Prior-park,  17th  July,  1841,  had  not  seen  the  light? 

16.  Another  Sermon  on  Divine  Worship,  delivered  at  St.  Chad's, 
Birmingham,  24th  June,  1841 ;  at  the  Confirmation  at  Ugbrooke, 


506  COLLECTIONS  ILLUSTRATING  THE 

1st  Jannary,  1842 ;  and  his  last,  On  the  Marks  of  the  True  Church, 
delivered  at  the  opening  of  St.  Mary's  Chapel,  Bristol,  5th  July,  1843, 
the  day  before  his  lamented  death,  will  be  read  with  interest. 

He  was  also  the  author  of  a  treatise  on  the  course  of 
studies  pursued  at  Prior-park,  and  of  many  pastoral  letters. 

Bishop  Baines  died  at  Prior-park,  about  twelve  hours  after 
he  had  opened,  with  a  discourse,  St.  Mary's  Chapel  at  Bristol. 
On  the  following  morning,  the  6th  of  July,  1843,  he  was 
found  in  his  bed  a  corpse.  At  his  obsequies,  13th  July, 
Bishops  Griflaths,  Briggs,  Morris,  and  Gillis  attended,  with 
about  forty  priests.  The  brass  plate  of  the  coffin  bore  this 
inscription : — 

<i> 

Petrus  Augustinus  Baines, 

Episcopus  Sigensis,  V,  A.  D.  O, 

Obiit  Anno  Domini  mdcccxliii.  Prid.  non.  Julii. 

Vixit  An.  Lvii.  Dies  xii. 

Batt,  Anthony,  was  the  author  of  "  Thesaurus  absconditus 
in  Agro  Dominico  inventus,  in  duas  partes,  1°  Precationes, 
2°  Meditationes,"  printed  in  duodecimo  in  Paris  in  1641 ; 
also  "  A  Hive  of  sacred  Honie  Combes,  containing  most  sweet 
and  heavenly  counsel,"  taken  out  of  the  works  of  St.  Bernard, 
a  small  8vo.,  printed  at  Douay,  1631.  The  dedication  to 
Queen  HeUrietta  Maria  is  dated  from  Dieuleward,  13th 
February,  1631.  In  page  170  of  P.  "Weldon's  "  Chronological 
Notes"  we  read,  that  his  death  occurred  on  12th  January, 
1651,  and  that  "he  was  a  great  promoter  and  practiser  of 
regular  discipline,  a  famous  translator  of  many  pious  books 
into  English.  He  wrote  a  most  curious  hand,  and  spent 
much  of  his  time  at  La  Celle,  where  there  is  a  Catechism  of 
a  large  size,  which  he  composed  at  the  instance  of  some  of 
the  fathers  in  the  mission." 

Barlow,  Rudesind,  D.D.,  of  whom  we  have  made  mention 
as  fifth  prior  of  St.  Gregory's,  at  Douay. — F.  Weldon,  so 
often  quoted,  relates  (p.  83),  that  this  profound  scholar  was 
looked  upon  as  one  of  the  first  divines  and  canonists  of  his 
age ;  that  "  he  exerted  the  force  of  his  pen  against  Dr.  Richard 
Smith  (who  governed  the  Catholics  of  England  under  the 
title  of  Chalcedon),  and  succeeded  in  forcing  him  to  desist 
from  his  attempts  and  pretended  jurisdiction  of  Ordinary  of 
Great  Britain."  He  adds,  that  "after  the  death  of  this 
renowned  monk,  a  bishop  sent  to  the  fathers  of  Douay  to 
offer  them  an  establishment,  if  they  would  but  make  him  a 
present  of  the  said  father's  writings.  But  in  vain  they  were 
sought  for ;  for  they  were  destroyed  by  an  enemy."  I  have 
not  been  able  to  meet  with  any  work  that  he  actually  pub- 


ENGLISH    BENEDICTINE    CONGREGATION.  507 

lished.  He  died  at  Douay,  19th  September,  1656,  set. 
seventy-two. 

Barnes,  John,  was  clothed  in  St.  Bennet's  monastery, 
Valladolid,  on  12th  March,  1604 ;  professed  the  next  year  on 
31st  March ;  ordained  priest  on  20th  September,  1608 ;  and  a 
few  years  later  was  sent  to  the  English  mission,  and  appointed 
by  the  Spanish  chapter  its  first  assistant.  Unquestionably  he 
possessed  talents,  but  without  judgment ;  and  he  rendered  his 
talents  useless  in  a  manner  to  the  cause  of  religion,  injurious 
to  himself,  and  inexpressibly  distressing  to  his  Benedictine 
brethren,  by  his  wayward  and  wrong-headed  career.  (See 
the  letter  of  F.  Rudesind  Barlow,  3rd  November,  1623,  pre- 
served in  Weldon,  p.  114.)  No  individual  is  more  mischievous 
than  an  inno^^ting  priest.  To  secure  him  from  doing  further 
injury  to  himself  and  others  cost  the  order  j6300  sterling. — 
(Weldon,  p.  118.)  He  died  in  August,  1661,  within  a  lunatic 
asylum  at  Rome,  and  received  Christian  burial.  Dodd  (who 
has  doubly  reprinted  his  notice  of  him,  vol.  ii.  p.  134,  and 
vol.  iii.  p.  101)  informs  us,  that  he  published  at  Rheims,  in 
1622, "  Examen  Trophseorum  Congregationis  praetensee  Angli- 
canse  Ordinis  S.  Benedicti;"  this  must  have  been  an  attempt 
to  answer  F.  Edward  Mayhew's  work,  edited  in  1619 :  and 
"Dissertatio  contra  Equivocationes,"  8vo.,  Paris,  1625.  He 
left  in  MS.  "  Catholico-Romanus  Pacificus,"  a  libel  on  the 
Holy  See,  printed  at  Oxford,  in  4to.,  long  after  his  death,  viz. 
1680.  He  compiled  also  a  treatise  showing  the  supremacy  of 
councils;  and  "The  Spiritual  Combat,"  a  translation  from 
the  Spanish.  He  is  severely  but  justly  handled  in  the 
"  Apostolatus,"  &c.,  especially  between  pp.  214  and  221. 

Birdsatl  {Augustine),  John,  born  at  Liverpool  27th  June, 
1775  ;  educated  at  first  amongst  the  Dominicans,  but  on  the 
30th  October,  1795,  took  the  Benedictine  habit  at  Lamb- 
spring  ;  was  admitted  to  his  religious  profession  on  6th 
November,  1796;  and  ordained  priest  at  Hildesheim  30th 
May,  1801.  Five  years  he  was  sent  to  the  Bath  mission, 
which  he  served  for  nearly  three  years  and  a  half,  when  he 
quitted,  to  commence  a  new  mission  at  Cheltenham,  the 
chapel  of  which  he  opened  on  3rd  June,  1810.  Twenty 
years  later  he  began  another  mission  at  Broadway.  Few 
men  have  deserved  better  of  his  order  and  of  religion  than 
this  apostolic  man.  Appointed  president  in  1826,  his  was 
indeed  a  painful  pre-eminence,  but  he  saved  Ampleforth.  He 
died  in  ofiice  at  Broadway  2nd  August,  1837.  We  have  seen 
his  translation  from  the  French  of  "Christian  Reflections 
for  every  Day  in  the  Month,"  12mo.,  Tewkesbury,  pp.  405. 
He  left  in  MS.  an  interesting  account  of  Lambspring. 


508  COLLECTIONS    ILLUSTRATING   THE 

Brewer  (Bede),  John,  D.D. — This  learned  and  good  man, 
whose  memory  will  ever  be  in  benediction  with  the  Con- 
gregation O.S.B.,  edited,  in  1774,  the  second  edition  of 
Hooke's  "  Religionis  Naturalis  et  Revelatse  Principia,"  in 
three  vols.,  to  which  he  added  several  dissertations.  Ob. 
18th  April,  1822. 

Brown  {Gregory),  George,  we  believe,  was  the  translator 
from  the  Italian  of  the  "Life  of  St.  Mary  Magdalen  de 
Pazzi,"  1619.  It  was  dedicated  to  Lady  Mary  Percy,  abbess 
of  the  English  convent  of  St.  Benet  at  Brussels.  He  died  at 
Celle,  near  Paris,  in  1628.— (Chron.  138.) 

Brown  {Joseph),  Thomas,  D.D.,  born  at  Bath  2nd  May, 
1798;  was  elected  prior  of  St.  Gregory's,  Downside,  18th 
July,  1834 ;  and  the  degree  of  D.D.  was  conferred  upon  him 
six  days  later.  The  privilege  of  conferring  such  degree  on 
three  members  of  the  English  Benedictine  Congregation,  who 
have  taught  a  course  of  divinity,  was  granted  to  its  president 
on  1st  June,  1823.  When  Pope  Gregory  XVI.,  by  his  brief, 
dated  3rd  July,  1840,  divided  the  western  vicariat  in  two. 
Dr.  Brown,  still  prior  of  Downside,  was  appointed  to  the  new 
vicariat,*  which  was  to  consist  of  the  whole  of  Wales  and 
the  counties  of  Monmouth  and  Hereford  annexed.  The  con- 
secration was  performed  in  St.  John's  Chapel,  Bath,  on  the 
28th  October,  1840,  by  Bishop  Griffiths,  assisted  by  Bishops 
Wareing  and  Collier.  Dr.  Wiseman  delivered  the  consecra- 
tion sermon.  We  have  from  his  pen  "  A  Letter  to  Arch- 
deacon Daubeny,  Prebendary  of  Sarum,  exposing  his  Mis- 
representations of  the  Eucharist,"  8vo.,  London,  1826, 
pp.  45.  His  vindication  of  Catholic  truth  against  Messrs. 
Batchellor  and  Newenham,  in  1833,  was  triumphant.  His 
exposure  of  the  ingenious  devices  of  Mr.  M'Ghee,  in  1838, 
entitled  him  to  the  thanks  of  all  honest  Englishmen. 

Calderbank,  James. — This  zealous  monk,  after  serving  the 
mission  of  Bath,  and  witnessing  the  large  theatre  of  that 
city  converted  into  the  present  chapel,  3rd  December,  1809, 
retired  to  Liverpool,  where  he  died,  9th  April,  1821.  This 
respected  divine  published,  in  1814,  a  "  Series  of  Letters  in 

*  It  reflects  honour  on  the  Congregation  that  so  many  of  her  members 
are  called  to  preside  as  bishops  over  the  faithful.  Archbishop  Bede 
Folding  at  Sydney ;  his  coadjutor,  Charles  H.  Davis,  bishop  of  Mait- 
land ;  William  Bernard  Collier,  bishop  of  Milevis,  V.A.  of  the  Mauri- 
tius ;  Dr.  Ullathorne,  bishop  of  Hetalona,  of  the  Central  District ;  and 
Dr.  Morris,  bishop  of  Troy.  Trained  and  formed  by  their  rule  to 
obedience,  as  the  life  and  soul  of  religious  service,  they  must  be  qualified 
for  the  due  exercise  of  spiritual  authority. 

"  Non  meretur  ascendere,  qui  nescit  subesse." 


ENGLISH    BENEDICTINE    CONGREGATION.  509 

answer  to  certain  Questions  proposed  by  a  Clergyman  of  the 
Established  Church,"  8vo.  pp.  236,  They  are  characterized 
by  good  sense,  perspicuity,  and  moderation. 

Corker  (Maurice),  James. — We  have  given  his  biography 
under  the  article  "  Lambspring  Abbey."  He  was  the  author 
of  that  concise  but  luminous  treatise,  "  Boman  Catholic 
Principles  in  regard  of  God  and  the  King."  Also  of  a 
"  Sermon  on  the  Blessed  Eucharist,"  London,  12mo.,  1695. 
He  was  also  the  author  of  "  Memoirs  of  Lord  Stafford," 
that  innocent  victim  of  Oates's  perjuries.  Qy.  was  it  ever 
published  ? 

Cressy  [Serenus),  Hugh  Paulinus,  D.D.,  of  Thorp  Salvin, 
county  York. — From  a  dignitary  of  the  Established  Church 
(for  he  was  h  canon  of  Windsor,  and  dean  of  Emly,  in 
Ireland)  he  chose  to  become  one  of  Christ's  little  ones — to 
renounce  all  to  become  one  of  his  disciples.  Conversation 
with  F.  Cuthbert,  alias  John  Fursdon,  who  had  been  so 
instrumental  in  the  conversion  of  the  noble  family  of  Falk- 
land, led  to  his  subsequent  reconciliation  with  God's  Church. 
— (Weldon,  190.)  In  1645  he  took  the  habit  of  St.  Bennet, 
and  was  professed  on  22nd  August,  the  ensuing  year,  in 
St.  Gregory's  Convent.  His  "  Exomologesis,  or  Faithful 
Narrative  of  the  Occasion  and  Motives  of  his  Conversion 
unto  Catholic  Unity,"  printed  at  Paris,  8vo.,  1647,  is  a  work 
deserving  to  be  reprinted,  as  well  adapted  to  the  present 
times.  His  "  Sancta  Sophia,"  in  2  vols.  8vo.,  Douay,  1657, 
is  the  substance  of  several  treatises  of  F.  Austin  Baker  on 
prayer  and  contemplation.  He  had  compiled  a  second 
volume,  but  which  Dr.  Brown  relates  in  his  memoir  of  Cressy 
(Cath.  Mag.  1832,  p.  121),  remaining  in  MS.  in  the  library 
of  St.  Gregory's  Convent  at  Douay,  was  destroyed  with  many 
other  valuable  works. 

Dodd  (Church  History,  vol.  iii.  p.  307)  gives  a  long  list  of 
his  publications,  of  which  the  principal  are  :  "  Roman  Catholic 
Doctrines  no  Novelties,"  8vo.,  1663.  "  Church  History  of 
Britanny  up  to  the  Conquest,"  a  folio  volume,  printed  at 
Rouen  in  1668 ;  with  a  candour  which  characterizes  a  great 
and  generous  mind,  he  openly  avows  his  many  obligations  to 
F.  Alford's  treasure  of  the  ecclesiastical  history  of  our  nation, 
"Annales  Ecclesiasticij"  his  "Exomologesis,"  of  which  an 
excellent  analysis  may  be  seen  in  the  same  memoir.  Of 
P.  Cressy's  "  Fanaticism  fanatically  imputed  to  the  Catholic 
Church  by  Dr.  Stilhngfleet,"  8vo.,  1672,  which  had  been 
severely  animadverted  upon  by  a  "  person  of  honour  "  (Lord 
Clarendon),  the  equally  noble  author  of  the  "  Catholique 
Apology,"  Lord  Castlemain,  answers  thus  ;  "  If  you  knew  that 


510  COLLECTIONS    ILLUSTRATING   THE 

gentleman,  Mr.  Cressy,  you  would,  instead  of  a  wasp,  call 
him  a  bee,  which  gives  honey,  and  never  stings,  unless  ex- 
asperated and  in  its  own  defence "  (third  edit.  1674) .  And 
again,  p.  565,  after  proposing  him  as  a  worthy  example  of 
conscientious  rectitude,  without  any  sidling  glance  to  worldly 
interests  and  honour,  adds,  "  None  could  have  hindered  him, 
upon  his  bare  going  to  church,  from  the  enjoyment  of  his 
former  ample  dignities,  and  the  vast  fines  also  lately  raised 
out  of  them.  But  a  little  cell  with  an  upright  heart  was 
more  dear  to  him  than  all  those  allurements ;  nor  has  he 
since  ceased  by  his  prayers,  mortifications,  and  labours,  to 
show  himself  (like  the  rest  of  his  pious  brethren)  a  true  son 
of  that  holy  order  to  which  our  nation  is  so  much  engaged." 
A  copy  of  the  "  Revelations  of  Divine  Love  showed  to  Mother 
Juliana,  an  Anchorite  of  Norwich,"  8vo.,  printed  1670,  and 
dedicated  to  Mary  Lady  Blount,  of  Sodington,  was  sold  at 
Mr.  Heber's  sale,  '6th  February,  1835,  and  has  been  reprinted 
within  the  last  few  years.  At  Ugbrooke  is  his  MSt  work, 
entitled  "  Arbor  Virtutum ;  or,  an  exact  model,  in  the  which 
are  represented  all  manner  of  virtues  and  graces,  with  their 
names,  natures,  offices,  causes,  effects,  subjects,  objects,  parts, 
species,  connection,  and  dependence,  &c. ;  with  the  beatitude, 
gifts,  and  fruits  respectively  corresponding,  and  the  vices 
opposed  to  each.  Collected  out  of  Salmanticensis,  by 
Brother  Serenus  Cressy,  for  the  use  of  Dame  Mary  Gary, 
&c.,  at  Cambray." 

"  I  desire  this  booke  may  be  for  the  use  of  R.  F.  Placid 
Bettenson.*  Fk.  Seeenus  Cressy.»J<" 

Appointed  chaplain  to  Catherine,  the  queen  consort  of 
King  Charles  II.,  he  resided  chiefly  at  Somerset  House,  in 
the  Strand,  where  he  laboured  indefatigably  for  the  benefit 
of  others.  At  length,  retiring  to  the  seat  of  Richard  Caryll, 
Esq.,  at  East  Grinstead,  he  made  a  most  pious  end  on 
lOth  August,  1674,  honoured  and  regretted  by  all  who 
love  virtue. 

Crowder,  Anselni,  of  Montgomeryshire,  was  amongst  the 
earliest  novices  at  Douay,  assuming  the  habit  on  15th  April, 
1609.  He  was  younger  brother  of  Dom  Mark. — (Weldon, 
p.  49.)  Singularly  devoted  to  the  Blessed  Virgin,  he  set  up 
a  noble  confraternity,  in  her  honour,  of  the  Rosary,  in  London. 
It  was  powerfully  supported,  for  Robert  Earl  of  Cardigan 
was  prefect  of  the  sodality. — (Ibid.  p.  185.)  Its  dean  kept 
here  the  inestimable  relic  of  the  holy  thorn,  which  had 
belonged  to  Glastonbury  Abbey,  before  the  suppression  of 

*  This  F.  Bettenson  acted  as  secretary  at  the  general  chapter  in  1669, 


ENGLISH    BENEDICTINE    CONGREGATION.  511 

the  Catholic  religion  in  England. — (Ibid.  p.  176.)  F.  Crowder 
died  in  the  Old  Bailey,  London,  5th  May,  1666,  aet.  seventy- 
three.  In  conjunction  with  Thomas  Vincent  Sadler,  O.S.B., 
he  published  the  pious  work,  entitled  "  Jesus,  Mary,  Joseph ; 
or,  the  Devout  Pilgrim  of  the  ever-blessed  Virgin  Mary,"  by 
A.  C.  and  T.  V.,  12mo.,  pp.  646.     Amsterdam,  1657. 

Ellis  {Michael),  Philip,  third  son  of  Rev.  John  Ellis, 
rector  of  Waddesden,  Bucks,  by  his  wife  Susanna  Welbore, 
whilst  a  pupil  in  Westminster  School  was  called  to  the 
Catholic  faith,  and  to  the  grace  of  religion,  in  St.  Gregory's 
Convent,  Douay,  where  he  made  his  profession  30th 
November,  1670,  set.  eighteen.*  After  duly  qualifying  him- 
self for  the  ministry,  he  was  sent  to  labour  in  the  English 
vineyard.  His  great  abilities  recommended  him  to  the 
notice  of  King  James  II.,  who  appointed  him  one  of  his 
chaplains  and  preachers ;  and  when  Pope  Innocent  XI.,  on 
30th  January,  1688,  signified  his  wish  that  his  Majesty 
would  nominate  three  fit  subjects  to  fill  the  newly-constituted 
vicariats,  midland,  northern,  and  western  (for  Dr.  John  Ley- 
bourne,  bishop  of  Adrumetum,t  in  Libya,  during  the  last 
three  years,  had  governed  the  whole  of  England),  Dom  EUis, 
then  thirty-six  years  of  age,  was  selected  for  the  western 
vicariat,  and  was  consecrated  bishop  on  Sunday,  6th  May, 
1688,  at  St.  James's,  where  the  king  had  established  a  con- 
vent of  fourteen  Benedictine  monks,  by  the  title  of  Aure- 
liopolis.  In  the  second  week  of  July,  the  new  prelate 
confirmed  a  considerable  number  of  youths,  some  of  them 
recent  converts,  in  the  new  chapel  of  the  Savoy. — (Ellis 
Correspondence,  vol.  ii.  p.  62.)  In  his  letter  (ibid.  p.  145) 
to  his  brother  John,  J  dated  from  St.  James's,  26th  August, 
1688,  he  describes  the  uneasiness  of  the  court  at  the  pre- 
parations making  in  Holland  by  the  prince  of  Orange.    We 

*  The  compiler  of  the  "  Ellis  Correspondence,"  vol.  i.  p.  18,  ignorantly 
asserts  tliat  Philip  was  kidnapped  by  the  Jesuits,  and  brought  up  by 
them  in  the  Roman  Catholic  religion  in  their  college  of  St.  Omer's. 

t  On  his  arrival  in  London,  the  king  provided  him  with  suitable 
quarters  in  Whitehall,  and  a  pension  of  one  thousand  pounds.  Mr. 
Macaulay  (Hist,  of  Eng.  vol.  ii.  p.  21)  will  have  it  that  he  was  a 
Dominican  !     Obiit  1703,  set.  eighty-three. 

I  This  eldest  brother,  John,  became  under-secretary  of  state  to  King 
William  III.,  and  died  s.p.  in  London  in  1738,  ^t.  ninety-three.  The 
second.  Sir  William  Ellis,  Knt.,  was  secretary  of  state  to  the  exiled 
King  James,  and  died  at  Rome  in  1734,  s.p.  Welbore  Ellis,  younger 
brother  to  Philip,  made  bishop  of  Kildare  in  1705,  and  translated  to 
the  valuable  see  of  Meath  in  1731,  died  in  January,  1734,  leaving  a 
family  ennobled  with  the  titles  of  Lords  Mendip,  Clifden,  and  Dover. 
Brother  Samuel  was  marshal  of  the  King's  Bench ;  and  the  youngest 
brother,  Charles,  took  holy  orders  in  the  Established  Church. 


513  COLLECTIONS    ILLUSTRATING    THE 

doubt  if  this  Vicar- Apostolic  attempted  to  visit  his  diocese ; 
for  on  the  breaking  out  of  the  Revolution  at  London  in  the 
ensuing  November,  he  was  apprehended  and  committed  to 
Newgate  (Macaulay's  History,  vol.  ii.  p.  563) ;  yet  he  was 
soon  restored  to  liberty.  Foreseeing  but  faint  prospect  of 
serving  the  cause  of  religion  in  such  turbulent  times,  he  left 
England  for  the  court  of  his  exiled  sovereign,  at  St.  Germain, 
and  after  staying  some  time,  obtained  permission  to  visit  the 
eternal  city.  In  1693,  Pope  Innocent  XII.  made  him  an 
assistant  prelate ;  and  on  the  feast  of  St.  Lewis,  six  years 
later,  says  Weldon  (p.  218),  "  he  sung  the  High  Mass  in 
the  French  Church  at  Rome  before  many  cardinals,  invited 
and  received  by  the  Cardinal  de  Bouillon.  The  prince 
of  Monaco,  ambassador  of  France,  being  then  incognito, 
assisted  in  a  tribune."  Resigning  his  western  vicariat,  he 
was  promoted  by  Pope  Clement  XL  to  the  vacant  see  of 
Segni,  in  the  Campagna  di  Roma.  There  he  originated  a 
seminary,  over  which  he  watched  with  parental  zeal  and 
solicitude.  In  November,  1710,  be  held  a  synod  in  the 
choir  of  his  cathedral,  which  was  hung  with  red  silk  for  the 
occasion  :  about  seventy  of  his  clergy  attended,  all  of  whom 
he  entertained  with  generous  hospitality.  The  acts  of  this 
synod  received  the  formal  approbation  of  several  divines; 
even  Pope  Clement  XL  ordered  them  to  be  published.  In 
addition  to  his  many  meritorious  works,  he  substantially 
repaired  and  embellished  his  palace ;  and  to  his  cathedral  he 
left  a  splendid  mitre  and  some  costly  vestments;  but  the 
bulk  of  his  property  he  bequeathed  to  his  beloved  seminary. 
A  dropsy  of  the  chest  carried  him  off  on  16th  November, 
1726,  set.  seventy-four;  and  bis  honoured  remains  were 
deposited  in  the  centre  of  the  seminary  church. 

Besides  the  acts  of  the  synod  above  mentioned,  several 
sermons  of  this  learned  divine  were  committed  to  the  press. 

1.  A  sermon  preached  at  Windsor  on  the  first  Sunday  of 
October,  1685,  on  the  text  Matt.  xxii.  37.  2.  At  St.  James's, 
on  1st  November,  1685.  3.  At  ditto,  on  the  third  Sunday  of 
Advent  that  year.  4.  At  ditto,  on  New  Year's  Day,  1686.  5.  At 
ditto,  on  Ash- Wednesday  following.  6.  At  ditto,  on  the  feast 
of  All-Saints,  1686 ;  in  which  he  announced  that  the  English 
Benedictine  congregation  had  authorized  him  to  declare  abso- 
lute renunciation  on  their  part  to  all  titles  or  rights,  which 
might  possibly  be  inherent  in  them,  to  possessions  formerly 
in  her  hands ;  that  the  Church,  and  in  her  name  the  supreme 
pastor,  had  quitted  all  pretensions  to  them,  and  prayed  that 
what  she  had  loosed  upon  earth  may  be  loosed  in  heaven ; 
and  that  every  person  concerned  may  enjoy  a  quiet  conscience. 


ENGLISH    BENEDICTINE    CONGREGATION.  513 

and  continue  for  ever  in  the  undisturbed  possession  of  their 
present  holdings.  The  monks  solemnly  protest  that  they 
desire  nothing  to  be  restored  but  their  reputation,  and  to  be 
thought  by  their  countrymen  neither  pernicious  nor  useless 
members  of  their  common  country.*  7.  A  sermon  on  the 
second  Sunday  in  Advent,  1686. 

A  beautiful  portrait  of  the  bishop,  engraved  by  Meyer,  is 
prefixed  to  the  "Ellis  Correspondence,"  published  by  the 
Hon.  George  Agar  Ellis,  in  2  vols.  8vo.  1829. 

Eustace,  John  Chetwode. — This  elegant  scholar  and  clas- 
sical tourist  received  his  gratuitous  education  at  St.  Gregory's, 
Douay ;  but  after  receiving  the  habit,  quitted  without  making 
his  profession ;  yet  ever  retained  a  warm  attachment  to  the 
order.  He  died  of  fever,  during  his  second  visit  to  Naples, 
on  1st  August,  1815,  set.  fifty-four,and  was  buried  in  the  church 
of  the  Crocelle.  Dr.  Weedall,  in  his  interesting  "  Correspond- 
ence on  the  Januarian  Controversy,"  inserted  in  the  Catholic 
Magazine  of  March,  1832,  affirms,  on  the  best  authority, 
that  Mr.  Eustace  retracted  his  crude  and  hastily-pronounced 
sentiments  on  the  miracle  of  St.  Januarius,  and  acknowledged 
to  a  friend  that  he  was  in  the  wrong,  adding, "  But  I  am  pre- 
paring another  edition  of  my  work,  and  I  hope  that  on  that 
point,  and  on  some  others,  you  and  the  public  will  be  con- 
tented with  me  "  (p.  9) .  His  "  Classical  Tour,"  2  vols.  4to., 
published  in  1814,  was  well  received  by  the  public,  and  had 
a  large  circulation.    His  beautiful  elegy  to  the  duchess  of 

'  *  The  public  good  and  tranquillity  of  the  country  had  induced  the 
Catholic  clergy  of  England,  in  1654,  to  petition  the  Pope  and  the  Parlia- 
ment to  ratify  their  absolute  renunciation  of  all  claim  to  their  former 
cliurch  property,  so  that  the  actual  possessors  of  church  lands  hold 
them  by  as  secure  a  tenure  as  the  holders  of  any  private  property.  On 
24th  December,  1664,  Cardinal  Pole  published  the  dispensation  from 
Lambeth,  proclaiming  that  "  Bonorum  ecclesiasticorum  tam  mobilium 
quani  immobilium  possessores  non  possint  in  priesenti,  nee  in  posterum, 
seu  per  conciliorum  generalium  vel  provincialium  dispositiones,  seu 
decretales  Romanomm  Ponti£cum  epistolas,  seu  aliam  quamcumque 
censuram  ecclesiasticam  in  dictis  bonis  seu  eorundem  possessione  moles- 
tari,  inquietari,  vel  perturbari,  nee  eis  aliquse  censurse  vel  poense  eccle- 
siasticse  propter  hujusmodi  detentionem,  seu  non  restitutionem  irrogari 
vel  infligi,  et  sic  per  quoscunque  judices  et  auditores,  sublata  eis  quavis 
aliter  judicandi  et  intcrpretandi  facultate  et  authoritate  judicari  et 
definiri  debere,  et  quicquid  secus  attentari  contigerit,  irritum  et  inane 
fore  decernimus."  This  the  cardinal  published  authoritate  apostolica 
per  litteras  Smi.  D.N.D.  Julii  Papas  III.  nobis  concessa.  In  the 
preamble  this  cardinal  legate  observes,  that  the  bishops  and  clergy,  who 
had  been  the  principal  injured  parties,  had  supplicated  for  this  concili- 
atory and  satisfactory  measure.  N.B.  King  James  II.  paid  the  sum  of 
£60. 13s.  to  Henry  Hill  for  printing  a  book  entitled  "  The  Assurance 
of  Abbey  and  other  Church  Lands  to  the  possessors,  cleared  from  the 
Doubts  and  Arguments  raised  about  the  danger  of  Resumption." 

2    L 


514  COLLECTIONS  ILLUSTRATING  THE 

Leinster,  on  the  loss  of  an  infant  son,  left  on  an  urn  in  a 
little  temple  erected  to  his  memory,  is  fortunately  preserved 
in  Keating's  "  Catholicon,"  vol.  v.,  November  1817,  p.  205. 
At  Downside  is  a  MS.  course  of  rhetoric  from  his  pen.  In 
1813  he  published  an  excellent  "  Answer  to  a  Charge  delivered 
by  the  Bishop  of  Lincoln,  in  his  Triennial  Visitation  in  1813," 
8vo.  pp.  36.     It  was  reprinted  in  1819. 

Feckenham,  John,  alias  Howman,  born  in  Worcestershire, 
of  poor  but  industrious  parents,  discovered  in  early  life  such 
dispositions  to  piety,  and  such  capacity  for  learning,  that 
his  parish  priest  took  charge  of  his  tuition,  and  in  due  time 
obtained  his  admittance  into  Evesham  Abbey.  At  the  age 
of  eighteen  he  was  sent  by  the  Abbot  Clement  Lichfield,  alias 
Wych,  to  Gloucester  Hall,  Oxford,  to  finish  his  academical 
course ;  but,  shortly  after  his  return,  the  suppression  of  reli- 
gious houses  took  place,  and  he  was  thrown  adrift  on  the 
world  with  a  pension  of  ten  pounds.  King  Edward  VI.  had 
scarcely  acceded  to  the  crown,  when  Cranmer,  provoked  at 
Feckenham's  zeal  for  the  ancient  faith  and  practice,  caused 
his  commitment  to  the  Tower  of  London.  Through  the 
interest  of  Philip  Hobbie,  the  purchaser,  1  believe,  of  the 
site  of  Evesham  Monastery,  his  enlargement  was  procured 
for  a  time;  but  as  his  courage  and  constancy  in  asserting 
his  religious  convictions  could  not  be  subdued,  he  was  re- 
manded to  his  former  prison,  where  he  remained  until  the 
accession  of  Queen  Mary.  Her  majesty,  in  reward  of  his 
exemplary  fidelity,  appointed  him  one  of  her  chaplains,  and 
on  10th  March,  1554,  preferred  him  to  the  deanery  of 
St.  Paul's,  void  by  the  deprivation  of  Dr.  William  May. 
Enlightened,  moderate,  frank,  and  full  of  the  charities  which 
true  religion  inspires,  the  society  of  the  new  dean  was  courted 
by  all  parties.  It  was  his  pleasure  and  delight  to  administer 
relief  and  consolation  to  all  in  distress ;  hence  he  became  a 
general  favourite.  When  the  queen  and  her  royal  husband 
Philip  determined,  by  their  charter,  dated  from  Croydon,  7th 
September,  1556,  to  restore  to  the  Benedictine  monks  their 
former  abbey  of  Westminster,*  Dr.  Feckenham  was  judged 
the  fittest  party  to  govelrn  it.  On  the  feast  of  the  Presenta- 
tion of  our  Lady,  21st  November  that  year,  he  appeared  there 
with  fourteen  monks,  clothed  in  the  venerable  Benedictine 
habit.  "  With  great  zeal,"  says  Pennant  (London,  p.  83)  "  had 

*  Some  of  our  readers  may  not  be  aware  that  Edward,  duke  of 
\        Somerset,  had  intended  to  pull  down  this  abbey  and  church,  in  order  to 
1        erect  a  palace  proportionable  to  his  greatness.     See  at  what  a  price  it 
was  rescued  from  demolition,  in  Heylyn's  "  Hist,  of  Edw,  VI.,"  p.  60. 


ENGLISH    BENEDICTINE    CONGREGATION.  515 

the  queen  collected  many  of  the  rich  vestments  and  insignia 
of  Catholic  worship  j "  and  Strype  adds,  "  The  morrow  after, 
the  lord  abbot  from  his  convent  went  a  procession  after  the 
old  fashion,  in  their  monks'  weeds,  in  coats  of  black  say,  with 
two  vergers  carrying  two  silver  rods  in  their  hands ;  and  at 
even-song  the  vergers  went  through  the  cloisters  to  the  abbot, 
and  so  went  into  the  church  before  the  high  altar ;  and  there 
my  lord  kneeled  down  and  his  convent ;  and  after  his  prayer 
made,  was  brought  into  the  choir  with  the  vergers,  and  so 
into  his  place,  and  presently  he  began  the  even-song,  being 
St.  Clement' s-eve.  On  the  29th  day,  at  Westminster  Abbey, 
was  the  lord  stalled,  and  did  wear  a  mitre.  The  Lord  Cardinal 
Pole  was  therej  and  many  bishops,  and  the  lord  treasurer, 
and  a  great  company.  On  the  6th  of  December  following,  the 
abbot  went  a  procession  with  his  convent ;  before  him  went 
all  the  Sanctuary  men  with  cross  keys  upon  their  garments." 
He  further  states,  "  that  on  21st  of  March  following  was  made 
the  paschal  candle  of  the  abbey,  of  300  lbs.  of  wax :  there  were 
at  the  making  the  master  and  warden  of  the  wax-chandlers  j 
and  after  a  grand  dinner." 

In  Henry  Martyn's  Diary,  p.  130,  we  read  of  a  translation 
of  the  body  of  St.  Edward,  king  and  confessor,  unnoticed  in  the 
learned  Alban  Butler's  "  Lives  of  the  Saints  : "  "  The  20th  day 
of  March,  1557,  was  taken  up  at  Westminster  again  (with  a 
hundred  lights)  King  Edward  the  Confessor,  in  the  same  place 
where  the  shrine  was ;  and  it  shall  be  set  up  again  as  fast  as 
my  Lord  Abbot  Feckenham  can  have  it  done.  It  was  a  goodly 
sight  to  have  seen  it :  how  reverently  he  was  carried  from  the 
place ;  he  was  taken  up  where  he  was  laid  when  the  abbey 
was  spoiled  and  robbed.  And  so  he  was  carried ;  and  goodly 
singing  and  censing  as  has  been  seen,  and  Mass  sung."  The 
initials  of  the  abbot  may  still  be  recognized  in  the  cornice  of 
the  shrine — I.  F.  A. 

Under  the  presidency  of  such  an  abbot,  the  religious  in- 
creased to  the  number  of  twenty-eight :  every  day  witnessed 
some  improvement.  For  ornament,  as  well  as  for  the  benefit 
of  future  times,  he  took  delight  in  planting ;  and  Holborn  was 
indebted  to  him  for  an  aqueduct.  But  soon  the  horizon  was 
overclouded,  and  a  deluge  of  woes  was  to  burst  upon  Eng- 
land. Queen  Mary  died  on  the  17th  November,  1558,  in  the 
absence  of  her  royal  husband;  Cardinal  Pole  survived  her 
majesty  but  twenty-two  hours  ;  and  her  proud  and  heartless 
sister  EHzabeth  succeeded  to  the  throne.  Before  her  corona- 
tion she  sent  for  the  abbot,  to  whom  she  had  been  under 
peculiar  obligations,  and  she  endeavoured  to  win  him  over  to 
support  her  meditated  project  of  subverting  the  national  reli- 

2  L  2 


516  COLLECTIONS  ILLUSTRATING  THE 

gion;  but  she  found  that  she  could  as  easily  turn  the  sun 
from  its  course  as  induce  him  to  turn  traitor  to  his  conscience, 
to  his  God.  At  her  first  parliament  this  mitred  abbot  took 
his  seat  in  the  House  of  Peers,  and  nobly  defended  the  inter- 
ests of  the  Catholic  Church.  The  consequence  was,  that  he 
■was  ejected  with  his  monks  from  the  abbey  on  the  12th  of 
July,  1559,  and  was  committed  once  more  to  the  Tower. 
Other  prisons  also  were  sanctified  by  the  sufferings  of  this 
patriotic,  accomplished,  and  benevolent  man ;  and  he  closed 
his  honourable  life  within  the  walls  of  Wisbech  Castle  in  1585. 
"Who  would  not  prefer  his  Christian  end  to  that  of  his  merci- 
less sovereign  ?  Of  this  "  good  old  man,"  as  even  Heylyn 
calls  him  (p.  36),  we  learn  from  a  note  of  Bishop  Kennet,  pre- 
fixed to  a  copy  at  Oxford  of  Wood's  "  Athense,"  that  "Abbot 
Feckenham  left  what  he  had  to  the  church  of  Westminster, 
and  gave  the  dean  good  directions  about  such  lands  leased  out 
which  could  not  otherwise  have  been  easily  discovered,  in  let- 
ters which  are  stiU  preserved  among  the  records."  "  As  for  the 
queen,"  says  Heylyn,  "she  pleased  herself  in  the  choice  of 
some  of  the  best  lands  belonging  to  the  abbey  "  (p.  136) .  The 
mantle  of  the  holy  abbot  devolved  upon  one  of  his  religious, 
F.  Robert  (Sigebert)  Buckley,  whom  Providence  reserved  for 
better  times  to  keep  up  the  perpetual  fire  (Levit.  vi.),  and  to 
become,  as  we  have  shown  already,  the  restorer  of  the  English 
Benedictine  congregation. 

For  an  account  of  Dr.  Feckenham's  works  we  refer  the 
reader  to  Wood's  "Athense,"  part  i.  pp.  178-9. 

Gifford,  William. — Under  the  priory  of  St.  Malo  I  have 
given  a  brief  sketch  of  this  truly  learned  and  honoured 
dignitary  of  the  Church  and  "Anglorum  lucidum  decus" 
(Apostolatus,  part  ii.  p.  193).  He  is  known  to  have  assisted 
Dr.  Anthony  Champney  in  his  "  Treatise  on  the  Protestant 
Ordinations,"  4to.  Douay,  1616,  pp.  326.  His  "  Sermons  for 
Advent,"  delivered  in  French,  and  translated  by  himself  into 
Latin,  were  published  at  Rheims,  in  8vo.,  1625.  The  trea- 
tise "  Calvino-Turcismus  "  had  been  commenced  by  Dr.  Wm. 
Reynolds,  but  was  finished  by  Dr.  Gifford.  But  most  of  his 
MSS.  perished  in  the  fire  that  consumed  the  archiTes  of 
Dieulwart  on  18th  October,  1717. 

Query.  Was  not  Dom  Paul  Gilmore,  who  died  in  1748,  the 
author  of  "The  Pious  Monitor  of  the  Divine  Presence"  ? 

Glover  (Benedictus) ,  Edward,  born  at  Prescot,  4th  March, 
1787,  with  his  younger  brother  Vincent  (born  11th  February, 
1791,  died  at  Brownedge,  6th  August,  1840),  reached  Lamb- 
spring  on  7th  November,  1798,  and  both  exemplary  members 


ENGLISH    BENEDICTINE    CONGREGATION.  517 

of  the  order.  Edward,  appointed  to  the  mission  of  Little 
Crosby,  county  of  Lancaster,  published  "An  Explanation  of 
the  Prayers  and  Ceremonies  of  the  Holy  Sacrifice  of  the 
Mass;"  a  most  useful  work,  full  of  unction,  and  wisdom,  and 
moderation.  It  was  followed  by  "An  Explanation  of  the 
Sacraments  and  some  Practices  of  the  Catholic  Church." 
This  zealous  religious  died  prematurely  14th  May,  1834. 

Gray,  Alexia,  was  a  religious  in  the  Benedictine  nunnery 
at  Ghent.  Her  translation  of  the  "  Rule  of  St.  Benedict," 
dedicated  to  the  Abbess  Eugenia  Poulton,  was  printed  in 
that  city  by  Joos  Dooms  in  1633. 

Hill  {of  St.  Gregory),  Thomas,  D.D.,  was  admitted  into  the 
English  Colleg'e  at  Rome,  November,  1593.  "Whilst  a  priest 
on  the  mission,  and  a  prisoner  for  the  faith,  and  under  sen- 
tence of  death,  he  was  admitted  to  the  habit  in  1612.  Weldon 
(p.  164)  relates  that  he  first  detected  the  error  of  the  Illumi- 
nati,  who  expected  the  incarnation  of  the  Holy  Ghost  from  a 
certain  young  virgin.  He  died  at  Douay,  aet.  eighty-four; 
of  his  priesthood  fifty-three,  of  his  religious  profession  thirty- 
three,  of  his  labours  in  the  apostolic  mission  fifty.  He  wrote 
a  very  devout  book,  entitled  the  "  Plain  Pathway  to  Heaven." 

Hudleston,  Richard,  youngest  son  of  Andrew  Hudleston, 
of  Farrington-hall,  Lancashire,  was  born  in  1583.  Sent 
to  Rheims  College,  says  Weldon  (or  rather  Douay,  to  which 
the  students  returned  in  1593,  after  thirteen  years'  unworthy 
exile),  he  became  an  exquisite  proficient  in  his  humanities; 
then  was  transferred  to  Rome,  where  he  pursued  a  course  of 
philosophy  and  divinity  with  singular  credit.  Following  the 
bent  of  his  mind  towards  a  religious  state,  he  made  his  pro- 
fession in  the  ancient  Benedictine  monastery  at  Monte 
Cassino,  and  there  spent  several  years  in  solitude,  in  prayer, 
and  reading  the  holy  Scriptures,  councils,  fathers,  &c.  And 
now,  thoroughly  qualified  for  an  apostolical  missionary,  he 
exercised  his  zeal  and  talents  in  reducing  his  strayed  coun- 
trymen to  the  sheepfold  of  Christ,  and  in  confirming  the 
faithful  in  the  principles  and  practice  of  their  religion.  It 
pleased  the  Divine  goodness  to  bless  his  endeavours.  Many 
leading  families,  the  Irelands,  Watertons,  Middletons,  Trapps, 
Tliimblebys,  &c.,  in  Yorkshire ;  those  of  the  Prestons,  Ander- 
tons,  Downs,  Straffprds,  Sherbourns,  Inglebys,  &c.,  in  Lan- 
cashire; with  numberless  others  of  all  states  and  conditions, 
owe,  next  to  God,  their  respective  reconciliations  to  this 
worthy  Benedictine.  He  wrote  several  treatises.  The  one 
entitled  "  A  Short  and  Plain  Way  to  the  Faith  and  Church," 
which  King  Charles  II.,  during  his  visit  at  Mosely-hall  (after 


518  COLLECTIONS    ILLUSTRATING    THE 

the  defeat  at  "Worcester,  3rd  September,  1651),  carefully 
digested,  was  pronounced  by  his  majesty  to  be  most  satis- 
factory and  conclusive.  This  has  been  reprinted  by  Mr. 
Dolman  in  the  second  volume  of  the  "English  Catholic 
Library,"  1844,  and  it  would  be  well  to  encourage  its 
circulation.  The  venerable  father  died  in  England  on  36th 
November,  1655,  set.  seventy-two. 

His  worthy  nephew,  F.  John  Hudleston,  whose  name  will 
be  cherished  and  honoured  whilst  loyalty  and  patriotism 
shall  be  held  in  estimation,  and  who,  after  being  instrumental 
in  preserving  the  person  of  his  sovereign,  Charles  II.,  in  Sep- 
tember, 1651,  from  the  envenomed  malice  of  his  rebellious 
subjects,  was  employed  to  prepare  his  soul  for  eternity  on 
5th  February,  1685,  has  left  in  print  a  circumstantial  descrip- 
tion of  that  last  scene.  This  good  man  was  chaplain  to  the 
Queen  Catherine  as  early  as  1671,  with  a  salary  of  £100, 
besides  a  pension  of  another  56IOO.  The  Lords,  by  their  vote, 
recorded  in  their  journals  of  7th  December,  1678,  had  pro- 
tected this  defender  and  guardian  of  his  king  from  trouble 
during  the  national  delirium  excited  by  Oates's  plot;  he 
weathered  the  hurricane  of  the  Revolution ;  and  was  suffered 
to  die  in  peace  at  Somerset  House,  22nd  September,  1698, 
set.  ninety. 

Hull,  Francis. — All  that  I  can  learn  from  Weldon  (p.  167) 
is,  that  he  was  a  very  devout  man,  and  author  of  several  pious 
books ;  but  mistaking  the  spiritual  conduct  of  Eev.  F.  Austin 
(Baker)  caused  him  very  great  troubles,  of  which  he  sorely 
repented  himself  on  his  deathbed.  He  was  the  first  person 
buried  in  St.  Benet's  Church  at  St.  Malo's,  and  was  laid 
near  the  pulpit.  His  death  occurred  on  the  last  day  of  the 
year  1645. 

Jones,  John,  alias  Lander  a  Santo  Martina. — We  have  briefly 
mentioned  this  ornament  of  the  English  Benedictines  as 
fourth  prior  of  St.  Gregory^s,  Douay ;  and  under  the  article  of 
F.  Austin  Baker,  as  the  translator  of  the  materials  collected 
by  F.  Baker  for  the  "Apostolatus  Benedictinorum  in  Anglia," 
into  Latin.  We  have  from  his  pen :  "  Sacra  Ars  Memorise," 
Douay,  8vo.,  1623 ;  "  Conciliatio  Locorum  communium  totius 
Scripturse,"  Douay,  1623;  "Biblia  Sacra,  cum  Glossa  inter- 
lineari,"  6  vols,  folio.  "  Opera  Ludovici  Blossii "  were  edited 
by  this  learned  scholar ;  as  also  "  Arnobius  contra  Gentes," 
with  annotations,  Douay,  1634.     In  Wood's  account  of  this 

eminent  man  may  be  observed  some  manifest  mistakes. 

Athense,  part  i.  p.  514. 

Johnston,  Joseph. — He  was  one  of  the  monks  at  St.  James's 


ENGLISH    BENEDICTINE    CONGREGATION.  519 

Chapel  during  the  reign  of  King  James  II.  P.  Weldon 
(p.  230)  informs  us  that  he  translated  into  English  some  of 
Bossuet's  controversial  works.  He  died  9th  July,  1723.  I 
suspect  he  translated  also  the  prelate's  "L'Histoire  Univer- 
selle/'  which  appeared  in  English,  8vo.,  1686. 

Knowles,  Gilbert,  had  prepared  in  1717  a  work  for  the 
press,  with  the  approbation  of  his  superiors.  "Was  it  pub- 
lished ?     He  died  8th  September,  1734. 

Mannock  (Anselm),  John,  the  admired  author  of  the  "  Poor 
Man's  Catechism,"  and  of  the  "  Poor  Man's  Controversy." 
The  pious  writer  went  to  his  recompense  on  30th  November, 
1764.  Several  of  his  MS.  volumes  are  at  Downside.  He 
had  long  resided  as  chaplain  at  Foxcote,  Warwickshire. 

Macdonald  {Benedict),  Archibald,  for  many  years  was 
settled  at  Liverpool,  where  he  published  "  Moral  Essays," 
in  two  vols. ;  also  a  portion  of  "  Ossian's  Poems,"  in  rhyme ; 
also  a  prayer-book,  entitled  a  "  Companion  to  the  Altar." 
He  died  there  29th  July,  1814. 

Marsh  [Cuthbert),  William.— 1  think  he  was  professed  at 
Lambspring  11th  January,  1668.  His  sermon  delivered  at 
St.  James's  before  their  majesties  on  Sunday,  24th  October, 
1686,  was  printed.     He  died  4th  October,  1704. 

Marsh,  Richard,  S.T.D. — We  have  mentioned  him  as  the 
last  prior  of  St.  Lawrence's,  at  Dieulwart.  We  have  read  his 
interesting  narrative  of  the  violent  seizure  of  that  establish- 
ment in  October,  1793,  and  of  his  escape,  in  Mr.  Andrew's 
"Orthodox  Journal"  of  1834  and  1835,  and  have  been 
delighted  with  his  moral  courage,  presence  of  mind,  tender 
consideration  for  all  under  his  charge,  and  indefatigable 
activity.  Towards  the  conclusion,  it  is  gratifying  to  observe 
his  tribute  to  the  English  ex- Jesuits  at  Liege.  "  At  Liege  I 
rested  three  days  with  my  countrymen,  the  gentlemen  of  the 
academy,  from  whom  I  received  so  many  kindnesses,  that,  in 
my  situation,  I  was  almost  ashamed  of  them.  I  had  all  the 
money  offered  me  that  I  could  desire."  He  landed  at  Deal, 
after  an  absence  of  eighteen  years  from  England.  In  May, 
1802,  he  revisited  his  convent,  to  see  if  anything  could  be 
recovered,  and  succeeded  in  resuscitating  St.  Edmund's 
College,  of  Paris,  at  Douay.  Chosen  president,  as  successor 
to  Dr.  Brewer,  he  worthily  governed  his  brethren  for  twenty 
years.  At  the  age  of  eighty-one,  and  on  23rd  February, 
1843,  at  Rixton,  he  closed  a  well-spent  and  honourable  life. 

Mayhew,  Edward,  or  May,  says  Weldon  (p.  40),  of  Dinton, 
Wilts,  not  far  from  Salisbury,  who,  after  twelve  years  spent 
in  the  mission,  took  the  habit  at  the  hands  of  F.  Beech ; 


530  -COLLECTIONS    ILLUSTRATING   THE 

and  on  21st  November,  1607,  was  professed  with  F.  Robert 
(Vincent)  Sadler  by  the  venerable  restorer  of  his  brethren, 
P.  Sigebert  Buckley,  and  was  very  efficient,  in  the  sequel,  in 
promoting  the  welfare  of  the  congregation.  His  learned 
labours  are:  "Notes  upon  the  Sarum  Manual;"  "The 
Grounds  of  the  New  and  Old  Religion;"  "An  Answer  to 
Mr.  Field's  Objections;"  "A  Paradise  of  Prayers;"  and 
especially  "  Congregationis  Anglicanae  Ordinis  S.  Benedicti 
Trophsea,"  dedicated  to  his  dear  friend  Dr.  William  Gifford. 
Dodd  (Church  Hist.  vol.  ii.  p.  401)  says  he  can  give  no 
account  of  the  time  of  his  death;  but  Weldon  (p.  124) 
expressly  records  it  to  have  taken  place  at  Cambray  14th 
September,  1625,  and  says  that  he  lies  buried  in  the  parish 
church  of  St.  Vedast. 

Metcalf  (Placid),  Edward. — This  zealous  and  well-informed 
priest  of  Ampleforth,  after  his  religious  profession,  was  induced 
to  accept  secularization.  He  published  a  Catechism,  and  the 
"  Garden  of  the  Soul,"  in  Welsh.  He  died  at  Leeds  28th 
May,  1847,  at.  fifty-six. 

More,  Gertrude,  was  the  author  of  "  Spiritual  Exercises, 
or  a  Lover's  Confessions."  The  portrait  in  the  beginning  is 
beautiful.  Her  address  to  the  reader  is  extended  to  112 
pages  :  the  work  itself  consists  of  312  pages.  It  is  a  post- 
humous publication,  in  1658,  for  she  had  died  in  her  nunnery 
at  Cambray  on  18th  August,  1633.  The  pious  writer  dedi- 
cated it  to  her  sister  Bridget,  afterwards  prioress  of  the 
Ehglish  Benedictine  Dames  at  Paris,  who  survived  till  12th 
October,  1692. 

Morris  {Placid),  William,  bom  29th  October, ,  after 

distinguishing  himself  in  the  London  mission,  was  appointed 
successor  to  Dr.  Slater,  bishop  of  Ruspa  and  Vicar-Apostolic 
of  the  Mauritius,  and  was  consecrated  at  St.  Edmund's 
College  on  Sunday,  5th  February,  1832,  by  the  Ven.  Bishop 
Bramston,  assisted  by  Bishops  Baines  and  Gradwell.  Bishop 
Baines  preached  on  the  occasion.  His  lordship's  title  was 
bishop  of  Troy.  After  a  residence  of  nearly  nine  years  at 
the  Mauritius,  he  quitted  for  England,  11th  of  April,  1841, 
and  took  charge  of  the  nuns  of  the  Sacre  Cceur,  near  London. 
He  was  replaced  at  the  Mauritius  by  another  Benedictine, 
Dr.  William  (Bernard)  Collier,  consecrated  at  Rome  by 
Cardinal  Fransoni  on  15th  March,  1840,  by  the  title  of 
Milevis;  but  since  1848  is  no  longer  a  titular  bishop,  as 
Port  Louis,  the  capital  of  the  Mauritius,  has  been  erected 
into  his  episcopal  see.  Dr.  Morris  is  the  translator  of 
Halley's  excellent  letter  to  his  family  on  his  conversion  to 
the  Catholic  faith. 


ENGLISH    BENEDICTINE    CONGREGATION.  521 

Normington,  Leander,  published  a  work  in  1661,  which 
has  escaped  my  research.     He  died  8th  September,  1665. 

Or  gain  De  Bennet  {a  S.  Johanne),  a  noble  Lorrainer,  says 
Weldon,  who  wrote  several  devout  books  for  the  use  of  the 
poor  people,  in  French.  He  died  at  Cluni  11th  May,  1636 
(p.  57). 

Pembridge  {Benedict),  Michael. — This  learned  and  saintly 

missioner  came  to  Bath  in  1781,  as  successor  to  Dr.  Brewer. 

After  rendering  valuable  service  to  religion  by  his  zealous 

labours   and    devout   publications,   he    died   at  Bath  20th 

November,  1806,  and   five   days  later  was  interred  in  St. 

Joseph's  Chapel,  Bristol.     His  works  are : — 
« 

1.  The  Whole  Duty  of  a  Christian,  and  a  Guide  to  Perfection.  8vo. 
1775. 

2.  Tlie  Family  Manual  of  Morning  and  Night  Prayers.  The  third 
edition  was  printed  by  Coghlan  in  1800. 

3.  The  Child's  Christian  and  Moral  Instructor,  according  to  the 
Tenets  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  and  Religion ;  grounded  on 
Holy  Writ.     Bath,  1801. 

4.  The  Roman  Catholic  Church  and  Religion  Vindicated.  Printed 
by  Crutwell  and  Co.,  Bath,  1806. 

Porter,  Jerome,  was  the  author  of  a  4to.  volume,  entitled 
"  The  Flowers  of  the  Most  Renowned  Saints  of  the  Three 
Kingdoms,  England,  Scotland,  and  Ireland,  Douay,  1632, 
pp.  616.  Returning  from  a  journey  to  Douay,  he  was 
attacked  by  a  fever,  which  carried  him  off  on  17th  November, 
1632.  The  volume  is  dedicated  to  Thomas  Lord  Windsor, 
the  sixth  and  last  peer  of  the  family.  He  died  in  1642, 
leaving  no  issue  by  his  wife,  Catharine,  daughter  of  Edward, 
earl  of  Worcester. 

Another  monk  of  the  same  name  published  "  The  Life  of 
St.  Edward,  King  and  Confessor,"  in  1710,  12mo.,  pp.  91. 
Prefixed  is  a  portrait  of  the  Saint,  with  the  beggar  on  the 
ground,  and  St.  John  appearing  in  a  cloud.  In  the  catalogue 
of  books  printed  and  sold  by  Thomas  Meighan,  "  over  against 
Earl's-court,  Drury-lane,  London,"  this  life  of  St.  Edward  is 
marked  at  Is. 

Preston,  Thomas,  alias  Widdrington,  Roger,  after  studying 
his  course  of  divinity  under  Vasquez  at  Rome,  entered 
amongst  the  Benedictines  of  Monte  Cassino.  Sent  to  the 
English  mission  in  1603,  he  was  appointed  by  his  abbot 
superior  of  the  Italian  members  then  serving  it.  He  was 
soon  after  apprehended  by  the  persecutors;  but  on  his 
liberation  proceeded  to  Rheims,  where  he  held  a  consultation 
with  Dr.  Gitford,  F.  Bradshaw,  and  F.  Jones,  on  forming  a 
more  intimate  union  amongst  the  several  congregations  of 


523  COLLECTIONS    ILLUSTRATING   THE 

their  religious.  To  him  P.  Sigebert  Buckley  had  surrendered 
all  his  authority,  15th  December,  1609.— (See  the  Act,  No.  1, 
in  the  Appendix  to  the  Apostolatus,  &c.,  p.  4.)  On  22nd 
July,  1611,  he  delegated  his  powers  to  Dom  Maurus  Taylor, 
professed  at  St.  George's,  Venice,  and  Dom  Robert  Sadler 
de  S.  Vincentio.— (See  p.  9.)  In  the  sequel  he  employed 
his  talents  upon  an  unfortunate  subject,  the  condemned 
oath  of  allegiance,  and  maintained  a  bad  cause  much  too 
well,  but  which  upon  better  consideration  he  afterwards 
detested  (p.  24).  However,  many  of  the  books  on  this  sub- 
ject, continues  Weldon  (p.  162),  "written  under  the  name 
of  Widdrington,  and  attributed  to  him,  he  evermore  dis- 
owned." Angelus  de  Nuce,  abbot  of  Monte  Cassino,  and 
afterwards  archbishop  of  Rossano,  in  Calabria,  extols 
F.  Preston  as  a  most  learned  divine,  admires  his  great  con- 
stancy in  defending  the  Catholic  faith  for  a  period  of  fifty 
years,  and  praises  his  theological  commentaries,  which  he 
had  seen  in  MS.  He  died  in  the  Clink  Prison  13tli  November, 
1640.  Which  of  the  thirteen  works,  as  enumerated  by  Dodd 
(Church  History,,  vol.  ii.  p.  420),  can  fairly  be  said  to  be 
his,  it  is  impossible  now  to  decide  ;  for  his  credit,  the  fewer 
the  better. 

Reyner,  Clement,  S.T.P. — We  have  mentioned  him  under 
the  article  "  Lambspring,"  as  also  in  the  biography  of 
P.  Austin  Baker.  He  was  the  editor  of  that  valuable  work 
"  Apostolatus  Benedictinorum  in  Anglia."  In  its  dedication 
to  Cardinal  Bentivoglio  he  candidly  declares  this ; — "  non 
author  operis  sum,  sed,  jussu  congregationis,  editor  et 
dedicator." 

Reeves  {Wilfrid};  Richard.  —  According  to  Wood's 
"Athense,"  this  polite  scholar  was  converted  to  the  Catholic 
faith  in  1667,  and  eight  years  later  was  incorporated  with 
the  Benedictines  at  Douay.  Dying  in  London  31st  October, 
1693,  he  was  buried  on  2nd  November  in  the  church  of 
St.  Martin-in-the-Fields.  On  Philip  Howard's  nomination 
to  the  purple  in  1675,  he  visited  Douay  College  and  St. 
Gregory's  Convent  on  his  way  to  Rome.  At  the  latter  he 
was  complimented  in  a  poem  by  Mr.  Reeves,  printed  that 
year,  in  twenty  pages  folio.  His  "Megalesia  Sacra"  ap- 
peared two  years  later.  His  "  Carmen  Jubilseum "  was 
written  on  the  occasion  of  F.  Joseph  Frere,  in  1678,  cele- 
brating his  jubilee  at  Douay  :  he  had  been  the  sixth  prior  of 
St.  Gregory's.  His  congratulatory  poem  on  Rev.  James 
Smith,  afterwards  first  Vicar-Apostolic  of  the  Northern 
District,  and  Edward  Paston,  afterwards   president,  being 


ENGLISH    BENEDICTINE    CONGREGATION.  523 

installed  doctors  of  divinity  in  the  English  College  of  Douay, 
was  printed  in  1681.  Several  other  of  his  compositions 
remained  in  MS.  He  assisted  Dr.  Fell  in  the  translation 
into  Latin  of  the  "  History  and  Antiquities  of  the  University 
of  Oxford."  Mr.  Reeves  never  took  holy  orders,  because  of 
his  lameness.  The  famous  Bossuet,  a  good  judge  of  merit, 
took  great  satisfaction  in  Mr.  Reeves's  company,  and  made 
very  great  account  of  him,  says  Weldon  (p.  201). 

Ruby,  John,  of  the  English  congregation  O.S.B.,  was  the 
author  of  "  Vita  et  Res  gestae  Papee  Bonifacii  VIII.,"  4to., 
Romse,  1651.  I  suspect  the  real  author  was  F.  Selby.  Also 
"  Narratio  Mortis  P.  Mauri  Scotti,"  4to.,  Romse,  1657. 

Sadler  {Virtbent),  Robert,  called  also  Robert  "Walter  and 
Faustus  Sadler,  born  at  Collier's  Oak,  in  Fillongley  parish, 
Warwickshire.  Forsaking  his  office  under  Sir  "Walter  Mild- 
may,  then  Secretary  of  State  to  Queen  Elizabeth,  he  pro- 
ceeded to  Rome,  where,  after  he  had  studied  for  some  years, 
he  was  ordained  priest  by  Pope  Paul  V.,  and  by  him  sent  to  the 
English  mission.  Here  he  joined  some  of  his  countrymen  of 
the  Benedictine  order  who  had  arrived  from  Italy ;  and  on 
21st  November,  1607,  was  professed  by  the  Venerable 
F.  Buckley.  He  laboured  strenuously  for  the  restoration  of 
the  old  Benedictine  congregation,  and  was  very  instrumental, 
by  his  authority  of  president,  and  the  great  opinion  enter- 
tained of  his  sanctity,  in  accomplishing  that  desirable  re- 
union. He  died  of  the  stone,  whilst  meditating  a  retreat  to 
Dieulwart  Monastery,  on  21st  June,  1621,  in  the  Barbican, 
London.  He  is  said  to  have  published  a  book  of  "  Obits," 
but  perhaps  this  may  have  been  written,  or  at  least  enlarged, 
by  his  nephew,  Dom  Thomas  (Vincent)  Sadler,  whom  he 
had  converted.  This  latter  did  not  die  in  the  beginning  of 
King  James  II.'s  reign,  as  Dodd  supposes  (Church  History, 
vol.  iii.  p.  313),  but  on  19th  January,  1681.  He  was  joint 
author  with  F.  Anselm  Crowder  of  the  "  Devout  Pilgrim," 
in  1657.  He  translated  into  English  Bona's  "  Guide  to 
Heaven,  containing  the  Marrow  of  the  Holy  Fathers  and 
Ancient  Philosophers,"  12mo.,  1672.  He  published  also  the 
"  Children's  Catechism,"  8vo.  1678 ;  also  the  "  Devout 
Christian;"  the  4th  edition,  1685,  pp.  502,  12mo.,  dedicated 
to  Sir  Henry  Tichbourne,  mentions  "  the  great  dole "  yearly 
given  on  25th  March,  but  which  is  now  discontinued. 

Sayer  {Gregory),  Robert,  a  man  of  superior  merit.  After 
studying  at  Cambridge  and  Rheims,  he  entered  the  English 
College  at  Rome  in  1582,  to  finish  his  theology.  In  1588 
he  became  a  monk  at  Monte  Cassino,  and  was  employed 


524  COLLECTIONS    ILLUSTRATING    THE 

to  teach  divinity  in  that  great  monastery.  His  premature 
death  at  St.  George's,  Venice,  on  30th  October,  1602,  was 
deeply  lamented.  His  theological  works  are  enumerated  by 
Dr.  Pitts ;  but  his  "  Clavis  Regia  Sacerdotum  Casuum  Con- 
scientise"  was  reprinted  at  Antwerp  in  1619. 

Slater  {Bede),  Edward,  studied  at  Dieulwart.  When  the 
French  seized  the  convent,  he  cleverly  escaped  their  surveil- 
lance on  4th  October,  1793.  In  1813  he  published  a  series  of 
eleven  "  Letters  on  Roman  Catholic  Tenets,"  in  an  8vo.  vol. 
pp.  127.  They  had  previously  appeared  in  a  provincial  paper, 
and  were  well  received  by  the  public.  His  zeal  and  merits 
recommended  him  to  the  Holy  See  for  the  oiEce  of  bishop  in 
the  English  East-India  possessions.  Cardinal  Litta  conse- 
crated him  by  the  title  of  Ruspa  (a  town  near  Carthage),  on 
28th  June,  1818,  at  Rome.  His  residence  was  chiefly  in  the 
Mauritius,  which  he  quitted  14th  June,  1832,  in  the  brig 
Mary,  bound  for  Bristol.  Three  days  after,  he  died  on  the 
sofa  in  his  cabin.  His  remains  were  thrown  overboard ;  but 
Sir  Laurie  Cole  ordered  his  baggage  to  be  properly  taken 
care  of. 

Selby  {Wilfrid  of  St.  Michael),  Richard,  was  long  the 
procurator  of  his  brethren  at  Rome.  Through  his  influence 
was  procured  the  Bull  "  Plantata "  of  Pope  Urban  VIII., 
dated  12th  July,  1633,  confirming  the  ancient  rights  and 
privileges  of  the  English  Benedictine  congregation  as  granted 
by  Pope  Paul  V.— (Weldon,  p.  166.) 

The  learning  of  this  worthy  father  was  surpassed  only  by 
his  humility.  F.  Weldon  refers  to  his  works,  but  does  not 
particularize  any ;  adding,  however,  that  he  assisted  the  Rev. 
Abbot  Constantino  Cajetan  in  his  edition  of  "  St.  Peter 
Damians."  He  died  of  the  plague  at  Rome  in  1657.  On  the 
death  of  Clement  Reyner,  the  abbot  of  Lambspring,  in  1651, 
he  was  chosen  to  succeed ;  but  he  refused,  and  obtained  a  papal 
brief  for  F.  Placid  Gascoigne's  installation  in  that  dignity. 

Styles,  Henry,  was  the  author  of  a  pithy  "  History  of  the 
Martyrs  of  the  Order."  He  died  13th  January,  1640. — 
(Weldon,  p.  162.) 

Touchet,  George,  second  son  of  Mervyn,  ninth  Lord  Audley, 
second  earl  of  Castlehaven.  I  find  him  chaplain  to  Queen 
Catharine,  1671-2,  with  a  salary  of  £100.  I  have  seen 
two  editions  of  his  "  Historical  Collections  concerning  the 
Reformation,"  8vo. ;  the  first  in  1674,  pp.  558;  the  second  in 
1686,  pp.  434.  Where  he  was  professed,  or  when  he  died,  I 
have  not  been  able  to  discover. 

Towers  {Adrian),  Richard,  born  21st  January,  1781,  at 


ENGLISH    BENEDICTINE    CONGREGATION.  525 

Preston,  was  the  last  professed  at  Lambspring,  1st  January, 
1802;  for  two  years  was  missionary  at  Workington;  but 
at  Christmas,  1822,  arrived  at  Taunton  as  successor  to  the 
Rev.  Samuel  Fisher,  O.S.F.,  who  had  opened  the  present 
chapel  there  the  3rd  of  the  preceding  July.  Here  this  learned 
divine  and  gifted  controversialist  successfully  laboured  with 
his  tongue  and  pen,  and  by  his  self-denying  example,  to  pro- 
pagate and  illustrate  our  holy  faith.  In  1824  he  addressed 
an  able  letter  to  James  Bunter,  Esq.,  on  "  Religious  Tracts, 
and  the  supposed  Ignorance  of  English  and  Irish  Roman 
Catholics;"  "Letter  to  Rev.  M.  W.  Place,  Rector  of  Ham- 
preston,  proving  the  Bull  introduced  at  the  Taunton  Meeting, 
9th  May,  1825,  to  be  a  Forgery."  This  zealous  monk  was 
ever  on  the  altrt  to  meet  his  polemic  opponents.  He  was 
recalled  to  Ampleforth  in  1830,  at  a  critical  moment  for  the 
safety  of  the  college,  to  fill  the  office  of  prior.  Soon  after  the 
expiration  of  his  presidency,  he  removed  to  Poole,  where  he 
reposed  from  his  labours  on  5th  March,  1844.  His  remains 
were  deposited  at  Stapehill,  as  he  had  desired. 

Townson,  John,  of  Lancashire,  professed  at  Lambspring 
7th  May;  1674 ;  ob.  4th  July,  1718,  I  believe  him  to  be  the 
author  of  the  "  History  of  Lambspring"  referred  to  by  Weldon 
(p.  65).  The  original,  or  a  copy,  is  fortunately  preserved  at 
Ampleforth. 

Ullathorne  {Bernard),  William,  was  born  near  Pock- 
lington,  Yorkshire,  7th  May,  1806.  After  a  seafaring  youth, 
in  his  eighteenth  year  he  took  to  the  harbour  of  religion, 
putting  on  the  religious  habit  on  St.  Gregory's  feast,  1824,  and 
making  his  profession  at  Downside  on  5th  April,  1825.  On 
24th  September,  1831,  he  was  promoted  to  the  priesthood ; 
and  after  some  time  was  allowed  to  follow  the  impulse  of 
his  heart,  the  care  of  our  neglected  prisoners  and  convicts 
abroad.  In  the  Catholic  Magazine  of  November,  1834,  may  be 
seen  his  interesting  letter,  dated  Sydney,  25th  March,  1833, 
announcing  his  safe  arrival  there  at  the  previous  Shrovetide. 
It  would  require  a  volume  to  describe  his  charitable  labours 
and  works  of  mercy.  At  length  it  Became  essential,  for  the 
recovery  of  his  health,  that  he  should  return  to  his  native 
country.  In  November,  1841,  Coventry  was  selected  for  the 
field  of  his  zeal;  and  under  his  auspices  that  mission  assumed  / 
a  renovated  appearance.  On  29th  May,  1843,  the  foundation  \ 
of  a  much  larger  church  was  laid,  which  was  opened  for  public 
worship  10th  September,  1845. 

The  Western  District  became  vacant  by  the  death  of  the 
Right  Rev.  Charles  Michael  Baggs  on  16th  October,  1845,  and 


526  COLLECTIONS  ILLUSTRATING  THE 

the  Holy  See  fixed  on  Dr.  Ullathorne  to  succeed  him.  He 
was  consecrated  on  21st  June,  1846,  by  Bishop  Briggs,  assisted 
by  Bishops  GriflEiths  and  Wareing,  in  his  own  church  at 
Coventry.  The  title  conferred  in  the  bulls  was  "Episcopus 
Hetalonensis." 

The  business  of  the  district  compelled  him  to  repair  to 
Eome  in  the  following  January.  Everything  succeeded  to 
his  wishes,  and  he  returned  from  Rome  to  Bristol  in  the  space 
of  ten  days.  At  the  request  of  his  right  reverend  brethren, 
the  bishops  of  England,  he  repaired  again  in  May  of  the  en- 
suing year  to  the  Eternal  City  on  the  very  urgent  business  of 
establishing  an  English  hierarchy ;  and  whilst  sojourning  there 
he  undertook  the  charge  of  the  Midland  District,  void  by  the 
translation  of  Bishop  Walsh  to  London.  He  was  enthroned 
in  St.  Chad's  Cathedral,  Birmingham,  on  Wednesday,  30th 
August  that  year ;  and  about  ninety  of  his  clergy  attended  to 
do  him  homage.  He  is  now  bishop  of  Birmingham.  We 
have  from  his  ready  pen — 

1.  A  Few  Words  to  the  Rev.  Henry  Fulton,  with  a  Glance  at  the 
Archdeacon.     Sydney,  1833. 

2.  The  Use  and  Abuse  of  the  Scripture.     Sydney. 

3.  A  Reply  to  Judge  Burton.     Sydney. 

4.  The  Australasian  Mission  (which  went  through  six  editions). 

6.  Horrors  of  Transportation  (written  at  the  request  of  the  Secretary 
for  Ireland,  and  circulated  at  the  expense  of  the  Irish  Grovernment). 

6.  A  volume  of  Sermons,  with  Prefaces. 

7.  Sermon  at  the  Blessing  of  the  Calvary  on  the  Grace  Dieu  Rocks. 

8.  Funeral  Oration  on  the  Rev.  William  Richmond. 

9.  Remarks  on  the  proposed  Education  Bill.     1850. 

10.  A  Plea  for  the  Rights  and  Liberties  of  Religious  Women.  1851. 

11.  The  Immaculate  Conception  of  the  Mother  of  God.  An  Expo- 
sition.   1855. 

12.  The  Discourse  delivered  at  the  opening  Session  of  the  Second 
Provincial  Synod  of  Oscott.  Besides  an  extremely  interesting  account 
of  his  visit  to  the  Monastery  of  Sabiaco,  printed  in  the  Rambler  ;  and 
other  works. 

Walgrave  (De  Dei  Cusiodia),  Francis,  educated  in  Spain, 
professed  at  Dieulwart  in  1609.  He  was  a  man  of  abilities 
and  considerable  address ;  as  an  author,  he  published  a  work 
to  show  that  John  Gersen,  a  Benedictine  monk,  was  the  author 
of  the  "  Imitation  of  Christ,"  and  not  Thomas  a  Kempis. 

The  Spanish  general  having  appointed  him  prior  of  his 
English  brethren  at  La  Celle,  he  conducted  himself  very  indis- 
creetly against  the  union  of  the  English  congregation,  and 
would  listen  to  no  reason  until  after  the  promulgation  of  Pope 
Urban  VIII.'s  Bull  "  Plantata."  Then  seeing  all  opposition 
useless,  he  sought  a  reconciliation.  At  the  seventh  general 
chapter,  1639,  upon  his  humble  suit,  an  amnesty  was  granted 
him,  and  strict  order  given  that  none  of  the  religious  should 


ENGLISH    BENEDICTINE    CONGREGATION.  527 

reproach  him  for  the  past,  but  everywhere  treat  him  civilly 
and  respectfully.     He  died  6th  November,  1668. 

Walker  {Augiistine) ,  George. — This  prior  of  St.  Edmund's 
at  Paris,  and  agent  for  his  brethren  at  Rome,  was  the  author 
of  a  poem,  dated  Rome,  23rd  September,  1768,  compliment- 
ary to  his  friend  Mr.  Robert  Milne,  of  Edinburgh,  architect. 
He  had  planned  Blackfriars  Bridge  (Pitt's  London),  the 
first  stone  of  which  was  laid  31st  October,  1760,  and  had 
obtained  the  first  prize  in  the  first  class  of  architecture  from 
the  academy  of  St.  Luke.  It  may  be  seen  in  the  sixth  volume 
of  the  Critical  Review,  p.  428.  He  died  during  his  presidency, 
13th  January,  1794,  in  confinement  at  Compiegne,  whither  he 
had  been  conducted  from  Cambray. 

Walmesley,  Charles,  D.D.,  descended  from  an  ancient  and 
respected  stock,  first  saw  the  light  of  day  at  Westwood  Hall, 
near  Wigan,  on  13th  January,  1722,  being  the  youngest  but 
one  of  twelve  children.  Blessed  with  a  heart  naturally  formed 
for  piety,  he  dedicated  himself  at  an  early  period  of  life  to  his 
God,  in  the  venerable  order  of  St.  Benedict.  His  solid  virtues 
and  literary  attainments  soon  brought  him  into  public  notice. 
Some  of  his  astronomical  papers  were  inserted  in  our  "  Philo- 
sophical Transactions"  of  1745  and  the  two  successive  years. 
At  Paris  appeared,  in  1753,  his  "Analyse  des  Mesures,  des 
Rapports  et  des  Angles;  ou.  Reduction  des  Integrales  aux 
Logarithmes  et  aux  Arcs  de  Circle."  *  A  treatise,  "  De 
Insequalitatibus  Motuum  Lunarium,"  was  published  at 
Florence  in  1758. 

It  will  please  the  reader  to  see  the  testimonies  to  his 
merits  by  eminent  philosophers. 

Professor  Playfair,  in  his  "Outlines  of  Natural  Philosophy," 
vol.  ii.  p.  259,  speaking  on  the  motion  of  the  moon's  apsides, 
says :  "  Tiie  precise  quantity  of  the  motion  of  the  apsides  is 
not  easily  determined.  Newton  left  this  part  of  the  theory 
almost  untouched.  Machin  was,  I  believe,  the  first  after 
Newton  who  attempted  this  investigation ;  he  has  only  men- 
tioned the  result,  and  the  principles  on  which  his  reasoning 
was  founded  ....  This  method  was  afterwards  adopted  by 
Dom  Walmesley  and  by  Dr.  M.  Stewart,  who  both  derived 
from  it  the  true  motion  of  the  apsides  by  investigations 
extremely  ingenious." 

*  On  the  title-page  of  the  author's  copy  he  has  written,  "  This  book 
was  published  in  1749."  At  the  end  he  has  added,  "  Avertissement. 
Plusieurs  personnes  m'ayant  demande  le  Memoire  sur  la  Theorie  des 
Comfetes,  que  je  presentai  a  I'Academie  des  Sciences  en  ITiT,  j'ai  cru 
qu'il  seroit  a  propos  de  le  joindre  ici.  J'y  ai  ajoute  les  Clemens  de 
I'orbite  decrite  par  la  comete  qui  a  apparue  depuis,  en  1748." 


528  COLLECTIONS    ILLUSTBATING    THE 

Again,  p.  323,  on  the  precession  of  the  equinoxes,  he  says : 
"The  first  solution  of  the  problem  of  the  precession  was 
given  by  Newton.  It  is  not  free  from  error ;  but  it  displays 
in  a  strong  light  the  resources  of  genius  contending  with  the 
imperfections  of  a  science  not  sufficiently  advanced  for  so 
arduous  an  investigation,  &c.  Two  solutions  in  the  '  Philoso- 
phical Transactions '  of  1754  and  1756  continued  to  follow 
this  method  of  Newton.  The  first  of  these  was  by  Sylvabelle, 
the  second  by  Walmesley ;  and  this  last  is  remarkable  for  the 
elegance  of  the  demonstrations.  It  extended  the  problem 
to  the  nutation  of  the  earth's  axis,  and  it  treated  of  the 
diminution  of  the  obHquity  of  the  ecliptic  by  the  action  of 
the  planets." 

Professor  Sir  John  Leslie,  in  the  fourth  of  the  preliminary 
dissertations  prefixed  to  the  new  edition  of  the  "  Encyclopaedia 
Britannica,"  vol.  i.  p.  664,  thus  expresses  himself:  "The 
honour  of  confirming  the  Newtonian  theory  of  the  moon  was 
reserved  for  our  own  countrymen.  Dr.  Stewart  discovered 
the  true  motion  of  the  Une  of  apside.  About  the  same  time 
Walmesley,  an  English  Benedictine  monk,  who  afterwards 
attained  the  rank  of  Catholic  bishop  and  apostolic  vicar,  but 
had  been  compelled  by  religious  and  political  bigotry  to  reap 
the  advantages  of  a  foreign  education,  produced  in  1749,  at 
the  early  age  of  twenty-seven,  a  correct  analytical  investigation 
of  the  motion  of  the  lunar  apogee,  which  he  extended  and 
completed  in  1758; "  and  it  is  known  that  he  had  been  con- 
sulted by  our  Government  on  the  alteration  of  the  style.  His 
friend  Bishop  York  petitioned  for  him  to  be  his  coadjutor 
in  the  Western  District ;  his  prayer  was  granted ;  and  Dr. 
Walmesley  was  consecrated  bishop  of  E-ama,  at  Rome,  by 
Cardinal  Lunti,  21st  December,  1756.  He  succeeded  to  the 
government  of  the  vicariat  on  Dr.  York's  retirement  in 
1764. 

During  the  protracted  and  eventful  period  of  his  superin- 
tendence, his  theological  science,  his  integrity  of  purpose,  his 
exemplary  and  disinterested  firmness  in  resisting  religious 
innovation,  and  his  unceasing  attention  to  his  official  duties 
and  the  concerns  of  the  diocese,  will  ever  entitle  his  memory 
to  grateful  respect  and  veneration. 

In  the  business  which  divided  and  distracted  the  English 
Catholics,  the  conduct  of  our  senior  prelate  was  as  honourable 
to  himself  as  it  was  advantageous  to  religion ;  so  that  we 
may  apply  the  words  which  St.  Jerome  (ep.  57)  addressed 
to  St.  Augustine :  "  Te  conditorem  antiquse  rursum  Pidei 
Catholic!  venerantur  atque  suspiciunt." 

In  conjunction  with  his  episcopal  brethren  and  a  large 


ENGLISH    BENEDICTINE    CONGREGATION.  529 

proportion  of  the  Catholic  gentry  and  clergy,  he  consented, 
indeed,  to  sign  th«  perhaps  useless  protestation  or  declara- 
tion* of  the  English  Catholics  in  the  spring  of  1789.  But 
when  the  Cisalpine  committee  reduced  this  protestation  into 
the  form  of  an  oath,  with  some  substantial  alterations,  then 
this  faithful  and  intrepid  guardian  of  the  interests  of  religion 
stood  forth,  and,  like  the  watchman  of  Israel  (Ezek.  xxxiii.), 
sounded  the  alarm ;  and  having  called  a  synod  of  his  colleagues, 
the  decree  was  issued  on  21st  October,  1789,  that  "they 
unanimously  condemned  the  new  form  of  an  oath  intended 
for  the  Catholics,  and  declared  it  unlawful  to  be  taken." 
When  the  faithful  heard  this,  like  the  primitive  Christians, 
"they  rejoiced  for  the  consolation"  (Acts  xv.  31).  The 
decision  was  hailed  by  the  bishops  of  Scotland  and  Ireland, 
and  received  the  express  approbation  and  confirmation  of  the 
See  Apostolic. 

The  British  Parliament  attended  to  the  conscientious  pro- 
test of  the  vicars,  and  broke  into  pieces  the  shackles  which 
some  of  the  Cisalpine  committee  had  been  forging  for  their 
Catholic  brethren. 

On  25th  November,  1797,  the  venerable  prelate  departed 
to  our  Lord,  at  Bath,  and  was  buried  in  the  Catholic  chapel 
at  Bristol.  His  epitaph,  written  by  his  friend  the  Rev. 
Charles  Plowden,  will  be  seen  at  p.  4'31,  anth 

The  learned  prelate's  "  Commentary  on  the  Apocalypse," 
under  the  name  of  Pastorini,  appeared  in  1771,  8vo.  pp.  589  j 
"Ezekiel's  Vision  Explained,"  1778,  8vo.  pp.  57,  London. 
In  the  Annual  Register  oi  1797,  p.  68,  his  death  is  honourably 
recorded,  with  regret  that  some  of  his  valuable  MSS.  were 
irretrievably  lost  in  the  fire  at  Bath  during  the  riots  of  1780. 
During  the  frightful  riots  that  devastated  London  on  the  6th 
and  7th  June  that  year,  a  post-chaise  and  four,  conveying 
four  of  the  rioters,  and  bearing  the  insignia  of  the  mob, 
hurried  to  Bath.  There  is  a  good  portrait  of  the  bishop  at 
Downside,  and  another  at  LuUworth  was  taken  by  Keenan. 

Weldon  {Bennet),  Ralph,  of  the  ancient  family  of  Weldon, 
of  Swanscombe,  two  miles  distant  from  Gravesend,  was 
the  seventeenth  child  of  Colonel  George  Weldon  (youngest 
son  of  Sir  Anthony  Weldon),  and  of  his  wife,  Lucy  Necton. 
The  subject  of  this  memoir  was  born  in  London  12th  April, 
1674.,  and  was  christened  at  the  Savoy.  He  lost  his  father 
when  he  was  five  years  old,  but  his  mother  survived  until 
26th  April,   1702.     Converted  to  Catholicity  by  F.  Joseph 

*  See  a  copy  in  "  The  Case  Stated,"  by  Francis  Plowden,  Esq. 
London,  1791.  It  was  signed  by  1,523  persons.  See  also  Dr.  Milner  s 
"  Supplementary  Memoirs  to  the  Memoirs  of  Charles  Butler,  Esq." 

2  M 


530  COLLECTIONS  ILLUSTBATING  THE 

Johnstone,  O.S.B.,  he  made  his  abjuration  at  St.  James's 
Chapel,  13th  October,  1687.  To  his  indefatigable  researches 
in  the  archives  of  the  English  houses  of  his  order  at  Douay, 
Dieulwart,  Paris,  and  Lambspring,  I  am  indebted  for  the 
substance  of  the  foregoing  pages.  His  two  folio  volumes 
of  "  Chronological  Notes,  containing  the  Eise,  Growth,  and 
the  Present  State  of  the  Enghsh  Congregation  of  O.S.B.,"  all 
written  with  his  own  hand,  are  preserved  at  Ampleforth.  In 
the  beginning  of  the  second  volume  is  inserted  the  following 
memorandum  : — 

"  These  two  tomes  cost  me  from  the  evening  or  dusk  of 
Trinity  Sunday,  about  the  middle  of  June,  that  half-month, 
July,  August,  September,  October,  to  the  7th  of  November, 
1707,  on  which  day  I  finished  them. 

"  Glory  to  the  eternal  wisdom  of  God." 

An  abridgment  of  the  larger  work,  in  233  quarto  pages, 
was  transcribed  in  the  year  1713,  and  from  this  copy  we  have 
usually  quoted.  It  is  the  property  of  St.  Gregory's,  Down- 
side. This  Benedictine  monk  of  St.  Edmund's,  Paris,  died 
on  23rd  November,  1713. 

White,  Thomas,  otherwise  Woodhop,  born  in  Worcester. 
Dodd  incorrectly  reports,  on  the  authority  of  Wood's  Athense 
Oxon.,  that  he  was  chosen  prior  of  St.  Gregory's,  Douay, 
and  died  there  of  the  plague,  1654.  The  fact  is,  that  he 
was  never  prior  of  Douay ;  but  he  was  president  of  his  bre- 
thren when  he  died  at  St.  Edmund's,  Paris,  14th  October, 
1 655,  set.  seventy-two,  sac.  forty-six,  rel.  fifty,  having  spent 
thirty-six  years  in  the  mission,  where  he  endured  miserable 
imprisonments.  He  lived  with  Lord  Windsor,  and  after- 
wards at  Weston  with  Mr.  Sheldon.  He  was  buried  with 
great  honour  in  the  royal  Benedictine  abbey  of  St.  Germain. 
His  book  of  obits,  or  characters  of  several  eminent  Benedic- 
tines, was  enlarged  by  P.  Thomas  Vincent  Sadler. 

Wilks  {Cuthbert),  Joseph,  born  in  1748  j  appointed  to  the 
Bath  mission  in  November,  1786  ;  and  opened  the  new 
chapel  in  Corn-street.  For  his  unbecoming  resistance  to  the 
Joint  letters  of  the  Vicars-Apostolic,  dated  21st  October,  1789, 
and  19th  January,  1791,  he  incurred  suspension,  on  19th 
February,  1791,  from- his  local  and  immediate  superior.  Bishop 
Walmesley.  On  acknowledging  his  indiscretion,  the  bishop 
restored  him  to  the  exercise  of  his  functions  ;  but  the  tergi- 
versating letter  which  he  published,  and  addressed  to  Thomas 
Clifford,  Esq.,  compelled  his  lordship  to  renew  the  sentence. 
In  May,  1792,  he  quitted  England,  and  we  learn  that  he  ended 
his  days  19th  May,  1829,  at  St.  Gregory's,  Douay.     He  was 


ENGLISH    BENEDICTINE    CONGREGATION.  531 

a  man  of  gentlemanly  manners,  and  of  superior  colloquial 
powers.  Vir  magni  animi,  utinam  etiam  sapientis  consilii 
fuisset.  We  have  seen  his  sermon  preached  at  Bath  on  the 
occasion  of  King  George  the  Third's  recovery,  in  1 789. 

Wilson  {Peter),  Joseph,  horn  Hear  Richmond,  county  of 
York,  took  the  religious  habit  at  Downside  in  1819;  was 
ordained  priest  by  the  late  Cardinal  Weld  seven  years  later. 
After  serving  the  Bungay  mission  for  eight  years,  he  was 
appointed  successor  to  the  Eev.  John  (Jerome)  Jenkins  at 
Bath,  in  October,  1836.  Two  years  later,  on  the  promotion  of 
Dr.  Brown  to  the  episcopate,he  was  called  to  replace  him  in  the 
priorship  of  St.  Gregory's,  at  Downside.  As  a  lexicographer, 
the  prior  of  Downside  is  known  to  the  public  by  a  French 
and  English  dictionary,  published  at  Bungay  in  1833  :  a  small 
pocket  abridgment  of  the  same  was  printed  in  1837. 

IVyche,  Joseph,  of  Middlesex,  professed  at  Lambspring 
21st  March,  1690,  and  died  3rd  September,  1737.  I  believe 
him  to  be  the  author  of  a  very  sensible  and  devout  work,  the 
"Creed  Expounded,"  8vo.  pp.  342:  prefixed  is  a  "Short 
Essay  on  Faith,"  pp.  74;  London,  1735. 

Wythie  {John  Bernard),  published  in  1733  some  work 
which  I  have  not  seen.     He  died  15th  February,  174'3. 


Chapter  VIII. 
The  English  Benedictine  Nunnery  at  Cambray. 

The  system  of  education  pursued  by  the  ladies  who  form 
the  subject  of  this  chapter,  recommended  them  to  the  esteem 
and  respect  of  all  France,  until  the  spirit  of  revolutionary 
infidelity  brutalized  its  people.  But  let  us  trace  the  history 
of  the  foundation  of  this  valuable  establishment. 

Nine  young  ladies  commenced  the  community,  under  the 
superintendence  of  three  Benedictine  dames  from  the  mother 
house  at  Brussels ;  viz.  Frances  Gawen,  Potentiana  *  or  (as 
Dr.  Milner  says  in  the  "  Directory  "  of  1796,  p.  6)  Pudentiana 
Deacon,  and  Vivina  Yaxley.  These  young  ladies  had  been 
brought  to  the  premises  in  Cambray,  which  had  been  pro- 
vided for  them  by  the  active  zeal  of  F.  Rudesind  Barlow. 
From  the  lord  archbishop  of  the  city,  Monseigneur  Francis 
Vanderburgh,  they  experienced  the  most  friendly  reception. 

*  I  cannot  find  a  female  saint  of  this  name  in  the  Calendar,  though 
in  the  Bollandist  catalogue  I  meet  with  Potentianus,  31st  December. 
St.  Vivina  was  a  saint  of  Brabant,  whose  feast  was  kept  on  17th  De- 
cember. Devotion  may  have  furnished  the  feminine  Potentiana,  as 
Maura,  Anselma,  &c. 

a  M  2 


532  COLLECTIONS    ILLUSTRATING   THE 

Oq  the  Sunday,  24th  of  December,  1623,  he  opened  their 
chapel  under  the  title  of  our  Lady  of  Comfort ;  on  the  fol- 
lowing Sunday  he  gave  them  the  habit,  assisted  by  F.  Barlow, 
and  soon  after  they  were  placed  under  that  great  master  of 
a  spiritual  life,  P.  Austin  Baker.  The  names  of  these  nine 
religious  have  been  carefully  preserved  by  Weldon  (p.  121), 
viz.: — 

Helen  {Gertrude)  More,  daughter  of  Cresacre  More, 
grandson  to  Sir  Thomas  More,  of  illustrious  memory.  She 
survived  until  17th  August,  1633. 

Margaret  {Lucy)  Vavasour,  daughter  of  William  Vava- 
sour, of  Hazlewood,  county  of  York.  Ob.  18th  August, 
1676. 

Ann  {Benedicta)  Morgan,  daughter  of  Thomas  Morgan, 
of  "Weston,  county  of  Warwick,  Esq.     Ob;  18th  April,  1640. 

Catharine  Gascoigne,  daughter  to  Sir  John  Gascoigne, 
of  Bambow,  county  of  York.  She  survived  till  21st  May, 
1676. 

Grace  {Agnes)  More.     Ob.  4th  March,  1655. 

Ann  More.     Ob.  9th  November,  1662. 

N.B.  These  two  were  cousins  to  Gertrude: 

Frances  {Mary)  Watson,  daughter  of  Richard  Watson,  of 
the  county  of  Bedford.  This  lady  was  a  convert  to  the 
Catholic  faith.     Ob.  10th  June,  1660. 

Mary  Hoskins  and  Martha  Jane  Martin  entered  as  lay 
sisters.  The  former  survived  till  4th  March,  1667  j  the 
latter  rested  from  her  labours  15  th  April,  1631.  The  arch- 
bishop for  himself  and  his  successors  resigned  the  govern- 
ment of  the  convent  to  the  English  fathers  of  the  order. 


Dame  Frances  Gawen,  elected  at  the  third  general  chapter 
of  the  congregation,  holden  at  Douay,  2nd  July,  1625.  She 
was  daughter  of  Thomas  Gawen,  of  Norrington,  Wilts,  Esq., 
a  great  suiferer  for  the  Catholic  faith.  From  the  31st  July, 
1647,  until  the  day  of  his  death,  1st  June,  1656,  he  sub- 
mitted to  the  yearly  forfeiture  of  £373.  6s.  ?>d.  for  Popish 
recusancy,  as  I  learn  from  the  Exchequer  Roll.  This  worthy 
ex-abbess  died  before  him,  on  7th  May,  1640. 

Dame  Catharine  Gascoigne  was  elected  at  the  fourth  general 
chapter,  2nd  July,  1629,  and  continued  in  office  until  9th 
August,  1641.  She  was  then  employed  by  the  archbishop 
in  reforming  the  monastery  of  St.  Lazarus.  At  the  ninth 
general  chapter,  in  1645,  she  was  re-elected  abbess,  and  was 
forced  to  retain  the  office  till  1673.     In  her  last  quadrien- 


ENGLISH    BENEDICTINE    CONGREGATION.  533 

Ilium  she  celebrated  her  jubilee.  Her  pious  death  occurred 
on  21st  May,  1676,  aet.  seventy-six,  rel.  fifty-three.  Daring 
her  superiority,  a  colony  was  sent  to  Paris  to  establish  a  new 
house,  of  which  Dame  Bridget  More  was  chosen  the  first 
prioress  20th  February,  1652.  Twelve  years  later,  12th 
March,  1664,  Monsieur  de  Touche  gave  them  his  house.* 

Mary  {Christina)  Brent,  elected  at  the  eighth  general 
chapter,  9th  August,  1641,  and  agaiu  from  1677  to  1681. 
Shortly  after  the  expiration  of  her  office  she  died,  14th  Sep- 
tember, 1681. 

Catharine  {Maura)  Hall,  elected  in  1673.  She  was 
youngest  daughter  of  Benedict  Hall,  of  High  Meadow,  county 
of  Gloucester,  Jlsq.,  by  his  wife  Ann,  of  the  Somerset  family. 
To  this  convent  her  mother  retired  about  two  years  before 
her  death,  and  was  buried  amongst  the  religious,  ob.  20th 
March,  1676,  set.  seventy-nine.  Her  daughter  dying  sixteen 
years  later,  17th  March,  1692,  was  deposited  in  the  same 
grave. 

Dame  Maurina  Appleton  governed  the  house  from  1681 
until  her  happy  death,  29th  January,  1694,  set.  seventy-four, 
rel.  fifty-one. 

Dame  Scholastica  Houghton,  elected  in  1697 ;  and  for 
another  quadriermium  in  1710.  She  died  2nd  August, 
1726. 

Dame  Margaret  Swinburn,  elected  in  1701,  re-elected  in. 
1713,  and  continued  in  office  until  God  called  her  to  him- 
self, 20th  April,  1740. 

Cecilia  Hussey,  elected  at  the  twenty-fourth  general  chapter, 
holden  in  London,  1705. 

Helen  {Joseph)  Gascoigne,  elected  in  1741.  Her  govern- 
ment lasted  for  thirty-two  years,  and  shortly  after,  viz.  25th 
January,  1774,  she  departed  to  our  Lord. 

Agnes  Ingleby,  elected  in  1773.  This  jubilarian  held  office 
until  her  death,  1st  March,  1789. 

Mary  {Christina)  Hook  succeeded  in  1789.  This  jubi- 
larian died  abbess  on  3rd  August,  1792. 

Clare  Knight  followed,  but  died  on  30th  October  the  same 
year  (1792),  aged  fifty- two,  rel.  thirty-five. 

Lucy  Blyde  was  called  to  preside  in  critical  times. 

The  community  (twenty-one  in  number)  were  taken  from 
their  peaceful  convent  at  half  an  hour's  notice,  on  Friday, 
18th  October,  1793,  and  sent  in  open  carts  to  the  prison  in 
Compiegne,  where  they  were  doomed  to  remain  until  24th 
April,  1795.     Four  of  their  number  sank  under  their  hard- 

*  It  was  situated  in  Champ  d'Alouette.  The  community  is  now 
happily  settled  in  the  county  of  StafiFord. 


534  COLLECTIONS  ILLUSTKATING  THE 

ships.  In  covered  carts  the  survivors  were  conveyed  to 
Calais  hj  the  1st  May,  and  embarking  the  next  morning, 
reached  Dover  in  the  course  of  that  evening.  After  a  day's 
rest,  they  started  on  Monday  for  London,  which  they  reached 
late  that  night.  The  Marchioness  of  Buckingham  hired  a 
house  for  them,  No.  2,  Hereford-street,  Oxford- row.  After 
staying  about  a  fortnight  in  London,  they  proceeded  to 
Woolton  House,  near  Liverpool,  which  their  worthy  pre- 
sident. Dr.  Brewer,  had  provided  for  them ;  and  here  the 
abbess  re-opened  the  school.  See  the  advertisement  in  the 
"  Directory"  of  1796.  The  Rev.  Mother  continued  to  hold 
office  till  1803.  She  had  to  remove  once  more,  in  the  summer 
of  1807,  to  Abbot's  Salford,  in  Warwickshire,  and  there  she 
ended  her  days  in  peace,  12th  August,  1816,  aged  eighty- 
nine,  jub.  fifteen. 

Dame  Theresa  Shepherd,  elected  in  1802.  She  died  at 
Salford  12th  June,  1809,  set.  forty-seven,  prof,  twenty-nine. 

Dame  Agnes  Robinson,  elected  in  1806.  She  quitted 
Woolton  with  her  subjects  on  31st  July,  1807,  for  Salford, 
aforesaid.  After  presiding  for  eight  years,  she  was  re-elected 
in  1818  for  a  similar  period,  and  died  4th  June,  1830. 

Dame  Austin  Shepherd,  elected  in  1814,  and  died  in  oflSce 
13th  February,  1818. 

Dame  Christina  Chare,  elected  1822,  died  abbess  14th 
April,  1830. 

Mary  {Gertrude)  Westhead,  elected  1830;  she  continued 
to  govern  her  dear  community  for  sixteen  years,  and  shortly 
after  meekly  resigned  her  soul  to  God  on  17th  November, 
1846,  at  Stanbrook,  near  Worcester,  set.  sixty-five,  prof, 
forty,  where  she  had  comfortably  established  her  charge  on 
28th  May,  1838.* 

Scholastica  Gregson,  elected  in  1846;  and  we  rejoice  to 
know  that  under  her  auspices  the  convent  goes  on  pros- 
perously. 

*  In  a  letter  received  from  the  very  reverend  director  at  the  time,  he 
states :  "  The  choir  and  school  duties  went  on  at  Salford  until  28th  May, 
1838.  Matins  and  Laud  were  said  there  on  the  preceding  night,  and  on 
the  following  mprning,  at  six  o'clook,  Prime  was  chanted  at  Stanbrook. 
This  habitation  is  in  every  respect  superior  to  the  former.  It  consists 
of  a  centre  and  two  wings :  the  centre  is  120  feet  in  length.  The  apart- 
ments of  tlie  chaplain  and  guests  occupy  the  left  wing  as  you  approach 
the  convent ;  the  right  wing  forms  the  chapel.  The  pensioners"  apart- 
ments extend  beyond  the  chapel." 


KNGLISII    BENEDICTINE    CONGREGATION.  535 


Chapter  IX. 

Series  of  Presidents. 

We  may  premise  that  the  elections  were  quadriennial — that 
a  first  and  a  second  president  were  chosen  at  the  general 
chapter ;  so  that  in  case  of  the  failure  of  the  first  elect,  the 
second  should  at  once  succeed  to  his  authority — that  for  a 
considerable  period,  it  was  usually  required  that  the  president 
should  reside  on  the  continent,  and  not  in  England,  during 
his  tenure  of  ofiicej  and  that  this  restriction  was  first 
removed  in  favour  of  the  president  F.  Claude  White,  elected 
in  1653  ;  after  which  they  were  left  free  either  to  live  in  or 
out  of  England. — (Weldon's  Notes,  pp.  178-9.)  We  may 
add  further,  that  from  courtesy  to  the  Spanish  Benedictine 
general,  the  chapter  continued,  even  several  years  after  the 
promulgation  of  the  Bull  Plantata,  to  wait  for  his  confirma- 
tion of  their  choice ;  but  the  inconvenience  resulting  from 
such  delay  induced  them  to  embrace  the  freedom  granted 
them  by  the  Holy  See,  and  assert  their  independence  of  all 
other  congregations. 

PBESIDBNTS. 

Gabriel  a  S.  Maria,  alias  William  Gifford,  D.D.,  primus 
prceses  congregationis  remmtiatus  vise  dum  a  suis  f actus  presses, 
^c. — (Apostolatus,  part  ii.  p.  198.)  His  election  took  place 
in  June,  1617.  See  Chapter  III.  on  his  promotion  to  Episco- 
pacy in  the  ensuing  year. 

Dom  Leander  a  S.  Martina,  alias  Jones,  D.D.,  the  second 
president  elect,  supplied  for  the  remainder  of  the  quadriennium. 
He  was  re-elected  at  the  fifth  general  chapter,  convened  at 
Douay  in  1633.  Dying  in  office  27th  December,  1635  (see 
Chapter  I.),  he  was  succeeded  by 

Rudesind  Barlow,  D.D.,  elected  at  the  second  general 
chapter,  holden  at  Douay  3nd  July,  1621.  At  the  expiration 
of  his  term,  neither  the  first  president  elect,  F.  Justus  Edner, 
alias  Rigg,  nor  the  second,  F.  John  Harper,  would  accept  the 
post ;  so  that  F.  Barlow  continued  to  govern  with  the  title 
of  president  administrator.  See  an  account  of  this  learned 
doctor  in  Chapter  I. 

F.  Sigebert  Bagshaw:  though  the  second  president  elect, 
he  was  duly  inducted  at  the  fourth  general  chapter,  1629,  as 
the  first  president  elect,  F.  Bennet  Jones,  was  unable  to 
attend.    We  have  mentioned  him  under  St.  Edmund's. 

Clement  Reyner,  elected  at  the  seventh  general  chapter. 


536  COLLECTIONS    ILLUSTRATING    THE 

which  had  been  delayed  on  account  of  the  wars  until  9th 
August,  1639.     See  art.  Lambspring. 

Jocelin  {a  S.  Maria)  Elmer,  elected  at  the  eighth  general 
chapter,  at  Douay,  1641.  See  him  under  St.  Lawrence's  and 
St.  Bennet's. 

Richard  [Wilfrid  a  S.  Michaele)  Selby  was  chosen  at  the 
ninth  general  chapter,  1645.     See  Chapter  VII. 

Placid  Gascoigne  followed  in  1649.  The  dignity  of  Abbot 
of  Lambspring  becoming  void  by  the  death  of  F.  Clement 
Reyner  in  1651,  Pope  Innocent  X.,  at  the  suggestion  of  F. 
Selby  aforesaid,  authorized  him  to  continue  on  his  president- 
ship'to  the  end  of  the  quadriennium  (Weldon,  p.  166),  and 
to  be  abbot  also.     See  Chapter  V. 

Claude  White,  elected  at  the  eleventh  general  chapter, 
holdeu  at  Paris  in  1653.  Dying  at  St.  Edmund's  in  that 
city,  14th  October,  1655,  F.  Lawrence  Reyner,  second  elect 
president,  undertook  to  administer  the  government  till  the 
next  chapter. 

Robert  [Paul)  Robinson,  D.D.,  was  chosen  president  at  the 
twelfth  general  chapter,  convened  also  at  Paris  in  1657 ;  but 
within  two  years  sent  in  his  renunciation,  which  gave  offence 
to  the  fathers,  according  to  Weldon  (p.  178),  who  adds  in 
the  same  page,  that  "  he  was  wonderfully  acceptable  to  his 
Majesty  King  Charles  II.  He  was  of  a  noble  family,  a  famous 
lawyer  before  he  came  to  religion,  a  finely  spoken  man,  and 
very  polite  in  all  respects"  (p.  186).  He  died  at  Longwood, 
in  Hampshire,  6th  August,  1667,  set.  sixty-six. 

Cuthbert  Horsley  supplied  the  two  years  of  the  quadriennium 
of  the  last-mentioned  president.  We  have  mentioned  him  in 
the  second  chapter. 

Austin  Hungate,  elected  at  the  thirteenth  general  chapter, 
at  Douay,  1661.  During  his  superiority,  Douay  was  ravaged 
by  the  plague,  so  that  the  next  chapter  was  delayed  until 
1666,  when  he  was  continued  in  oflBce.  He  had  been  professed 
at  Mont  Serrat  in  Spain.  His  earthly  pilgrimage  terminated 
in  Yorkshire,  at  the  house  of  his  niece.  Lady  Fairfax,  2nd 
January,  1672,  at  the  venerable  age  of  eighty-eight. 

Bennet  Stapleton,  D.D.,  elected  at  the  fifteenth  general 
chapter,  convened  at  St.  James's,  London,  1669.  He  died  in 
office,  which  he  held  for  eleven  years,  and  in  very  difficult 
times,  on  4th  August,  1680,  set.  fifty-eight,  at  St.  Lawrence's, 
Dieulwart.  His  epitaph  is  preserved  in  "  Weldon's  Notes,' ' 
p.  202. 

Joseph  Shireburn  succeeded,  and  presided  for  sixteen 
consecutive  years.  He  died  in  office,  of  a  dead  palsy,  at  St. 
Edmund's,  Paris,  9th  April,  1697,  aged  sixty-nine.     For  a 


ENGLISH    BENEDICTINE    CONGREGATION.  537 

further  account  of  this  worthy  religious  see  the  fourth 
chapter. 

Austin  Howard  filled  up  the  remainder  of  his  predecessor's 
term  :  he  was  elected  president  at  the  twenty- third  chapter, 
at  Douay,  in  1701.     He  died  26th  August,  1718. 

Bernard  Gregson  was  chosen  president  at  the  twenty-second 
general  chapter,  holden  at  London,  according  to  Weldon 
(p.  219),  in  1698,  "in  which  the  reverend  fathers  decreed, 
that  no  president,  provincial,  conventual  prior,  and  abbess, 
should  be  chosen  immediately  again  to  the  same  office."  He 
was  rechosen  at  the  twenty-fourth  general  chapter,  at  London, 
in  1705.     Ob.  27th  January,  1711. 

Gregory  Ri(}dell,  who  had  been  professed  at  Lambspring 
21st  March,  1688,  was  elected  president  by  the  twenty-fifth 
general  chapter,  at  Douay,  in  1710.     Ob.  1st  March,  1730. 

Francis  Watmough,  who  had  filled  the  office  of  prior  of 
St.  Lawrence's  nine  years,  succeeded  as  president  in  1714. 
He  lived  till  15th  August,  1733. 

Laurence  Fenwick  succeeded  in  1718  for  the  next  quadri- 
euiiium.     Ob.  4th  June,  1746. 

Thomas  Southcott,  S.T.P.,  elected  in  1722,  and  is  stated 
to  have  presided  for  twenty-four  successive  years.  Ob.  24th 
October,  1748. 

Cuthbert  Farnworth  succeeded  in  1746,  and  died  in  office, 
1st  January,  1754. 

Placid  Howard  succeeded,  and  continued  president  for 
sixteen  years.     Ob.  5th  July,  1776. 

Placid  Naylor,  elected  in  1770,  and  served  but  one  quadri- 
ennium.     Died  at  Paris  early  in  1794. 

John  Fisher  succeeded  in  1774.  This  jubilarian  died  27th 
January,  1793,  set.  eighty-four. 

George  {Austin)  Walker,  who  had  been  prior  of  St. 
Edmund's,  at  Paris,  for  a  considerable  period,  was  now  called 
to  govern  the  congregation,  in  1778.  He  died  at  Compiegne, 
13th  January,  1794. 

William  {Gregory)  Cowley,  &  long  time  prior  at  Paris,  was 
now  promoted  to  the  office  of  president.  This  accomplished 
gentleman  had  previously  taught  natural  philosophy  and 
theology  there  for  a  considerable  period  before  his  promotion, 
and  endeared  himself  to  all  classes  of  our  countrymen  who 
visited  Paris,  by  his  politeness  and  cordial  hospitality.  Dr. 
Johnson  used  to  describe  him  as  "  the  amiable  Mr.  Cowley ;" 
and  Mrs.  Piozzi,  in  her  anecdotes  of  the  Doctor,  says,  p.  92, 
the  "  Prior  of  the  Benedictine  Convent  at  Paris,  Kev.  Wm. 
Cowley,  and  the  doctor,  parted  with  tears  of  tenderness." 
This  truly  good  man  continued  in  office   until  his  happy 


533  COLLECTIONS^    ETC. 

death.  The  event,  so  distressing  to  his  subjects  and  numerous 
acquaintance,  took  place  at  Vernon  Hall,  near  Liverpool,  on 
Monday,  19th  June,  1799,  aged  sixty-seven. 

John  (Bede)  Brewer,  D.D.,  succeeded  P.  Cowley,  as  Prior 
James  (Jerome)  Sharrock,  the  second  elect  president,  declined. 
He  was  re-elected  in  1802.  He  was  appointed  to  the  Bath 
mission  in  1776,  which  had  been  served  by  the  Benedictines 
at  least,  since  August,  1687.  Till  his  time  the  chapel  had 
stood  in  Bell-tree  House.  He  undertook  to  rebuild  one  in 
St.  James's-parade.  It  was  to  have  been  opened  on  Sunday, 
the  11th  June,  1780;  but  the  rioters,  who  had  commenced 
their  outrages  in  London  in  the  early  part  of  that  month, 
sent  down  emissaries  to  excite  the  mob  at  Bath,  who  on 
Friday,  the  9th,  made  a  furious  attack  upon  the  new  chapel 
and  demolished  it,  together  with  the  house  in  Bell-tree-lane. 
Here  the  "  Register,"  commencing  with  the  visit  of  King 
James  II.  to  Bath,  and  the  valuable  library  and  papers  of 
Bishop  Walmesley,  were  consumed  by  the  flames,  or  plun- 
dered. Dr.  Brewer  nearly  fell  a  victim  to  the  ferocious 
rabble,  who  pursued  him  through  several  streets.  Two  of  the 
principal  inns  inhumanly  refused  him  protection ;  even  the 
town-hall  denied  him  shelter;  but  at  last  he  sought  and 
obtained  refuge  at  the  Greyhound  Inn,  and  escaped  by  a 
back  door.  In  1781  he  left  Bath  for  Lancashire,  chiefly 
residing  at  Woolton,  near  Liverpool.  He  held  the  dignity  of 
president  untU  his  death,  18th  April,  1822,  a,nd  was  buiied 
in  Peel-street  Chapel,  Liverpool. 

Dr.  Richard  Marsh  {dilectus  Deo  et  hominibus)  followed  on 
18th  April,  1822,  and  remained  in  office  until  the  chapter 
of  1826.  He  was  called  again  to  preside  on  the  death  of  his 
immediate  successor,  F.  Birdsall,  and  resigned  in  1842. 

John  (Austin)  Birdsall,  who  retained  office  eleven  years, 
until  his  death,  2nd  August,  1837. 

Luke  (Bernard)  Barber  was  elected  at  the  chapter  of  1842 ; 
re-elected  at  the  two  last  chapters ;  and  may  he  long  preside 
over  his  flourishing  community. 

In  concluding  these  collections,  I  must  say,  that  I  should 
be  ungrateful  indeed,  if  I  did  not  tender  to  him  my  warmest 
acknowledgments  for  his  courtesy  and  promptitude  in  satis- 
fying my  numerous  inquiries.  To  the  Prior  also  of  St.  Gre- 
gory's, Downside,  I  must  ever  hold  myself  deeply  indebted. 


539 


BRIEF  NOTICES  OF  SOME  WRITERS  OF  THE  ENGLISH 
FRANCISCAN  PROVINCE  SINCE  THE  ERA  OF  THE 
REFORMATION. 

{Reprinted,  with  corrections  and  additions,  from  the  Rambier.) 

DEDICATION. 

Dr.  and  Venerable  Father  Hendren,  O.S.F. — Be  pleased 
to  accept  this  handful  of  gleanings,  as  an  earnest  of  my  good 
will.  The  difficulty  of  recovering  materials  and  information, 
owing  partly  to  the  injuries  of  the  times,  and  partly  to  the 
very  retired,  modest,  and  too  diffident  character  of  several 
members  of  your  seraphic  order,  has  often  proved  dis- 
couraging. "  To  love  to  be  unknown,  and  to  be  considered 
as  nothing,"  is  an  excellent  maxim  for  personal  humility; 
but  may  it  not  be  carried  too  far,  when  it  takes  away  from 
the  fair  credit  and  reputation  of  the  order  itself?  Your 
province  formerly  ranked  as  the  second  of  the  many  on  this 
side  the  Alps;  and  considering  the  time  of  its  revival  (1629), 
and  the  comparatively  small  number  of  its  members,  it  was 
as  holy  and  learned  as  the  former  province,  and  might  vie 
with  any  community  of  English  religious  men. — (CoUect, 
Anglo-Minoritica,  p.  263.) 

May  a  new  Gennings  arise  to  prune  and  propagate  your 
"Genealogical  Tree;"  and  in  the  words  of  your  saintly 
worthy,  F.  Bell,  "  I  pray  our  Lord,  your  seed  and  this 
plantation  rernain  upon  the  earth,  until  our  Saviour  Jesus 
Christ  do  come  to  judge  the  same."  Commending  myself  to 
your  pious  prayers  and  sacrifices,  I  am  your  affectionate 
brother  in  Christ,  G.  O. 

Michaelmas  Day,  1846. 

INTRODUCTION. 

Queen  Mary,  from  the  consciousness  she  had  of  the  meri- 
torious services  of  the  English  Franciscans  in  the  defence  of 
the  old  religion,  and  of  their  unshaken  attachment  to  her 
incomparable  mother  Katharine  of  Arragon,  consort  of  King 
Henry  VIII.,*  was  anxious,  on  her  accession  to  the  throne, 

*  "  This  royal  felon  in  sacrilege,"  as  Whitaker  styles  Henry  VIII, 
(Cathedral  of  Cornwall,  vol,  i.  p.  106),  suppressed  the  Franciscan  order 
in  England,  and  drove  the  friars  from  their  convent  at  Greenwich  as 
early  as  1 1th  August,  1534.  At  one  time  during  that  year  more  than 
200  Franciscans  were  consigned  to  jail  for  refusing  to  swear  that  the 


540  ENGLISH    FRANCISCAN    WRITERS 

to  reassemble  the  brethren  who  had  survived  their  brutal 
persecution.  She  re-established  them  in  their  former  convent 
of  Jesus  at  Greenwich,  founded  for  them  by  her  royal  pro- 
genitor King  Henry  VII.  in  1486  j  she  enlarged  the  build- 
ings, and  liberally  administered  to  their  wishes  and  comforts. 
In  their  conventual  church,  on  Sunday,  22nd  March,  1555, 
Cardinal  Pole  sang  his  first  Mass,  at  which  ten  bishops  in 
their  mitres  assisted;  and  on  26th  August  that  year,  her 
majesty,  with  her  husband  Philip,  proceeded  in  state  to  visit 
this  holy  community.  Here  all  went  on  prosperously  under 
their  guardian,  Stephen  Fox,  until  Queen  Elizabeth  (who  had 
been  solemnly  christened  in  their  conventual  church  on  10th 
September,  1533)  ungratefully  and  barbarously  expelled 
them  on  12th  June,  1559,  and  converted  the  convent  into  a 
portion  of  her  palace.  Some  of  these  scattered  brethren  are 
recorded  to  have  lived  to  an  advanced  age.  Brother  Stephen 
Fox,  before  mentioned,  died  at  Lisbon  in  1588.  Brother 
Richards  ended  his  days  in  Spain  in  1619,  "  in  odore  sancti- 
tatis."  Brother  Nelson  died  near  Hereford  sixty-seven  years 
after  his  expulsion;  and  brother  John  Richel  departed  this 
life  at  Louvain,  aged  ninety-seven,  rel.  seventy-two. 

Under  God,  the  merit  of  restoring  the  English  Franciscan 
province  is  due  to  brother  John  Gennings.  Converted  in  a 
wonderful  manner  from  a  furious  bigot  by  the  prayers  of  his 
martyred  brother,  the  Rev.  Edmund  Gennings,  he  decided  on 
forsaking  kindred  and  country,  and,  like  another  Saul,  to 
become  the  preacher  and  champion  of  that  faith  which  he 
had  derided,  blasphemed,  and  persecuted.  After  duly  quali- 
fying himself  for  the  ministry  in  that  blessed  school  of 
martyrdom  and  orthodoxy  the  secular  College  of  Douay,  he 
was  ordained  priest  in  1607,  and  in  the  following  year 
returned  to  his  native  country.  About  four  years  later  he 
received  the  habit  of  St.  Francis  from  brother  William 
Stanney,  sub-commissary-general  of  the  Franciscan  order  in 
England ;  and  from  the  good  opinion  which  that  venerable 
man  entertained  of  this  fervent  religious,  he  placed  in  his 
hands  the  seal  of  the  province,*  which  he  had  received  &om 

tyrant's  marriage  with  his  mistress,  Anne  Boleyn,  was  legitimate  and 
rightful  before  God  and  tlie  Church.  Ciueen  Katharine  of  Arragon  sup- 
plicated her  husband  in  vain,  "  that  my  body  be  buried  in  a  convent  of 
Observant  Friars." 

*  It  cannot  be  the  present  oval  seal,  representing  the  Blessed  Virgin 
Mary  crowned,  holding  the  Divine  Infant  on  her  right  arm,  and  stand- 
ing on  a  crescent  between  two  Doric  pillars  that  support  a  fantastic 
canopy.  The  legend  is,  sigillvm  .  provinci^  .  ANGLiiE  .  fratrvm 
KEcoLiECTORYM.  In  the  exergue  is  a  shield  bearing  the  arms  of  France 
and  England  quarterly. 


SINCE    THE    KEFORMATION.  541 

F.  John  Buckley,  alias  Jones,  who  had  glorified  God  by 
suffering  for  the  faith  in  London,  on  12th  July,  1598. 

F.  Gennings  fully  justified  the  expectation  formed  of  his 
energy,  discretion,  and  abilities.  In  1616,  in  quality  of  vicar 
and  custos  of  England,  he  assembled  at  Gravelines  a  handful 
of  brethren  (Dodd,  "Church  Hist."  vol.  ii.  p.  408,  says 
they  were  about  sisc  in  number,  including  novices).  God 
manifestly  blessed  their  undertaking.  Within  three  years 
they  succeeded  in  establishing  at  Douay  the  convent  of  St. 
Bonaventure,  with  a  noviceship  annexed.  A  decree  of  the 
general  chapter  at  Rome,  in  1625,  pronounced  that  the 
English  province  should  be  restored  to  its  pristine  honour 
and  place  wl^en  a  sufiicient  number  of  subjects  should  be 
collected.  That  auspicious  realization  was  proclaimed  by 
the  minister- general,  F.  Bernardine  de  Senis,  in  his  letters 
patent  of  6th  August,  1629 ;  and  he  selected  F.  John  Gen- 
nings to  be  the  first  provincial  of  the  restored  province. 
This  event  was  duly  declared  at  the  first  chapter,  which  was 
holden  at  St.  Elizabeth's  Convent,  Brussels,  Ist  December, 
1630.  Full  of  days,  but  fuller  of  merits,  this  patriarch 
departed  to  our  Lord,  at  Douay,  on  2nd  November,  o.  s. 
1660,  rel.  forty-eight. 

It  would  require  volumes  to  recount  the  many  zealous  and 
apostolic  men  which  the  restored  province  supplied  to  the 
English  mission  *  during  the  two  last  centuries.  Our  object 
is  simply  to  submit  &pricis  of  its  literary  men.  The  attempt 
will  probably  serve  to  sharpen  the  industry  of  others  in  im- 
proving these  humble  researches. 

Writers  of  the  English  Franciscan  Province, 

Angelas  a  S.  Francisco. — This  was  his  name  assumed  in 
religion ;  his  real  name  was  Richard  Mason.  He  is  divided 
by  Dodd  (Church  Hist.  vol.  iii.  pp.  100—113)  into  two 
distinct  persons.  That  he  was  an  Englishman  is  certain; 
yet  Harris,  in  his  "  Writers  of  Ireland,"  p.  836,  strangely 

*  The  zeal  of  the  province  extended  to  Maryland.  F.  Massey  Massy 
was  sent  thither  in  1672,  and  two  years  later  FF.  Polycarp  Whicksted 
and  Basil  Hobart  were  given  him  as  fellow-labourers  in  that  vineyard. 
In  1675  another  reinforcement  was  assigned  in  the  persons  of  FF.  Henry 
a  S.  Francisco  and  Edward  Golding.  We  find  that  F.  Henry  Carew, 
who  had  been  appointed  superior  of  the  Maryland  mission  6th  May, 
1677,  died  six  years  later,  on  the  passage  back  to  England.  FF.  Bruno 
Taylor  and  James  Haddock,  on  30th  January,  1700,  were  ordered  to 
Maryland,  12th  October,  1672,  as  we  find  in  the  "  Register,"  p.  85.  Even 
Scotland  shared  in  their  zeal;  for  in  1705  FF.  Peter  Gordon  and 
Clement  Hyslop  were  directed  thither. 


543  ENGLISH    FRANCISCAN   -WlUTEKS 

claims  him  as  a  native  of  that  country.  We  can  follow  him 
as  filling  the  offices  of  definitor  or  consultor,  guardian  of 
the  convent  at  Douay,  professor  of  divinity  therCj  confessor 
to  the  nuns  of  the  third  order  of  St.  Francis,  missionary, 
president,  provincial  commissary,  and  lastly,  provincial  of  his 
brethren,  from  23rd  April,  1659,.  to  13th  April,  1662.  From 
his  able  pen  we  have  the  following  works  : — 

1.  Sacrarium  Privilegiorum,  &c.  of  the  Franciscan  Observantines. 
Douay,  1633.— 2.  Qusestionum  Theologicarum  Resolutio,  &o.  Douay, 
1637. — 3.  Regula  et  Testamentum  S.  Francisci,  &c.,  with  a  treatise  d_e 
Confratemitate  Chordae,  and  Manuale  Tertii  Ordinis  S.  Francisci. 
These  were  printed  at  Douay,  in  Latin,  1643 ;  hut  in  tlie  same  year 
issued  from  the  same  press  his  translation  into  English  of  the  said 
Manual,  12mo.  pp.  528,  dedicated  to  the  Dowager  Lady  Elizabeth 
Rivers.  His  English  Manual  of  the  Confraternity  of  the  Cord  of  the 
Passion  was  printed  at  Douay,  1664,  12mo.  pp.  633,  and  dedicated  to 
the  Lady  Anne  Howard. — 4.  The  Rule  of  Penance  of  the  Seraphical 
F.  St.  Francis,  as  approved  and  confirmed  by  Leo  X.,  in  two  vols. 
Douay,  1644.  The  first  is  dedicated  to  F.  John  Gennings,  the  second 
to  the  abbess  (Margaret  Clare  West)  and  sisters  of  the  Third  Order  of 
St.  Francis  at  Nieuport. — 5.  Certaraen  Seraphicum  Fratrum  Minorum, 
&c.  Douay,  4to.,  1649,  pp.  356.  A  very  valuable  publication.  In  the 
Register,  p.  49, 1  find  an  order  given  him,  12th  February,  1661,  to  get 
ready  for  the  press  a  course  of  philosophy,  ad  mentem  doftoris  subtilis 
(Scotus).  N.B.  According  to  the  catalogue  of  the  library  of  the  British 
Miiseum,  he  was  the  author  of  Apologia  pro  Scoto  Anglo,  12mo.,  Douay, 
1656 ;  and  Microcosmus,  &c.,  Wangii,  8vo.,  1671.  But  perhaps  his 
noblest  production  is  a  Liturgical  Discourse  on  the  Holy  Sacrifice  of 
the  Mass,  in  8vo.  It  consists  of  two  parts;  yet,  strange  to  say,  the 
second  part  was  printed  first,  viz.  in  1669,  pp.  318,  with  sixteen  pages 
of  appendix,  besides  table  of  contents.  The  first  part,  containing  184 
pages,  besides  a  table  of  contents  of  eight  pages,  appeared  in  1670. 
This  most  learned  and  edifying  work  is  dedicated  to  Henry,  the  third 
Ltird  Arundel,  Baron  of  Wardour  (Count  of  the  Roman  Empire,  and 
Master  of  the  Horse  to  the  late  Queen-mother,  Henrietta  Maria),  whose 
hereditary  devotion  to  the  Holy  Sacrifice  the  author  commemorates. 
In  1675  he  published  ah  abridgment  of  this  admirable  work  ;  a  further 
abridgment,  in  the  form  of  dialogue,  was  published  by  F.  Pacificus 
Baker,  O.S.F.,  in  12mo.,  1768,  pp.  167,  which  is  sometimes  bound  up 
with  Mr,  Gother's  "  Four  Methods  of  hearing  Mass." 

It  is  not  generally  known  that  this  luminary  of  his  brethren 
was  created  the  second  doctor  of  divinity  of  the  restored 
province  (F.  Davenport  was  the  first).  Worn  out  with 
labours  in  the  service  of  religion,  he  obtained  permission  to 
quit  England  for  his  convent  at  Douay  on  11th  October, 
I  1675,  tit  sibi  et  Deo  ibidem  vacet ;  and  there  he  slept  in  the 
'  Lord  on  30tli  December,  1671,  set.  seventy-eight,  rel.  forty- 
eight,  sac.  forty-four. 

Austin,  Lewis  {a  Sancta  Clara). — This  reverend  father 
published  at  Douay,  in  1643,  that  rare  treatise,  "  The  Goade 
of  Divine  Love,"  a  translation  of  St.  Boiiaventure's  work. 


SINCE    THE    REFORMATION.  543 

"  Stimulus  Divini  Amoris."  The  translator  dedicated  it  on 
20th  June,  1642,  to  the  Very  Rev.  George  Perrot,  "  our 
most  loving,  prudent,  and  provident  provinciall."  He  died 
at  Paris  in  1679. 

Ayr  ay,  James  {Alban  a  S.  Agatha). — At  the  congregation 
holden  in  London  11th  October,  1675,  he  was  chosen  the 
chronologist  of  the  province,  and  the  fathers  were  requested 
to  send  to  him  all  their  documents.*  Whilst  chaplain  to 
the  Spanish  ambassador  in  London,  he  was  distinguished  as 
a  preacher.  We  have  seen  but  two  of  his  published  sermons, 
one  delivered  at  Weld  House,  London,  on  the  third  Sunday 
of  Advent,  12th  December,  1686;  and  another  preached  at 
Somerset  House,  before  the  Queen  Dowager,  on  the  second 
Sunday  after  Easter,  10th  April,  1687.  To  the  best  of  our 
belief  he  ended  his  days  in  England  early  in  1705. 

Baker,  Pacificus. — This  eminent  spiritualist,  after  dis- 
charging with  credit  the  offices  of  procurator,  missionary, 
definitor,  and  of  provincial  twice, — the  first  time  from  1761 
to  1764,  the  second  time  shortly  before  his  death, — ended 
his  days  in  London,  on  16th  March,  1774,  set.  eighty.  Father 
Baker  appears  to  have  been  attached  to  the  Sardinian  Chapel, 
London.  He  certainly  attended  at  the  execution  of  Simon 
Lord  Lovat,  9th  April,  1747.  We  have  from  his  pen  a  con- 
troversial work,  entitled  "  Scripture  Antiquity,"  also  "  Medi- 
tations on  the  Lord's  Prayer,  from  the  French." — (See  the 
Provincial  Holmes's  Report,  dated  London,  25th  January, 
1750;  Register,  p.  325.)  "The  Christian  Advent,"  "The 
Sundays  kept  Holy,"  "  The  Devout  Christian's  Companion 
for  the  Holy  Days,"  "The  Devout  Communicant,"  "The 
Holy  Altar  and  Sacrifice  explained,"  "  The  Lenten  Monitor." 
Without  much  originality,  all  these  works  are  remarkable 
for  unction,  solidity,  and  moderation ;  but  we  wish  the  style 
was  less  diffuse  and  redundant  of  words. 

Bell  {Francis),  Arthur,  born  in  Hanbury  parish,  near 
Worcester,  on  13th  January,  1590;  ordained  priest  at  Valla- 
dolid ;  admitted  a  novice  amongst  the  Franciscans  5th 
August,  1618,  and  became  one  of  the  chief  instruments  in 
the  happy  restoration  of  their  English  province.  As  a  linguist 
he  was  distinguished  amongst  his  brethren,  for  he  was  skilled 
in  Hebrew,  Greek,  Latin,  Spanish,  French,  and  Flemish. 
In  1624  he  published  at  Brussels  "  A  brief  Instruction  how 
we  ought  to  hear  Mass,"  a  translation  from  the  Spanish  of 
Andrea  Soto,  and  dedicated  to  Anne,  countess  of  Argyle; 

*  We  wish  that  all  our  religious  societies,  and  each  of  our  districts, 
possessed  a  duly  iiualified  annalist. 


544  ENGLISH    FRANCISCAN    WRITEJIS 

and  "  The  Rule  of  the  Third  Order  of  St.  Francis."  In  the 
following  year,  "  The  History,  Life,  and  Miracles  of  Joane 
of  the  Cross,"  8vo.,  St.  Omer's,  pp.  158. 

The  good  nuns  of  the  Third  Order  of  St.  Francis,  now, 
thanks  to  God,  established  at  Taunton,  had  the  comfort  of 
possessing  this  worthy  director  during  seven  years  at  Brussels, 
viz.  from  1623  to  December,  1630;  and  he  introduced  among 
them  that  methodical  system  of  keeping  their  annals  which 
l^ey  have  so  exemplarily  followed.  At  the  first  general 
chapter  of  the  restored  Franciscan  province  of  England, 
which  was  holden  (December,  1630)  in  their  convent  of  St. 
Elizabeth  at  Brussels,  F.  Bell  was  officially  declared  guardian 
of  St.  Bonaventure's  convent  at  Douay,  with  the  charge  of 
teaching  Hebrew.  It  seems  that  in  October,  1632,  his  pre- 
sence was  required  in  England,  for  within  the  octave  of 
St.  Francis  that  year,  F.  Henry  Heath,  the  vicar  or  vice- 
president  of  the  college,  was  appointed  to  supply  the  re- 
mainder of  his  triennium.  He  was  shortly  aJpter  sent  to 
Spain ;  but  on  8th  September,  1634,  returned  to  the  English 
mission,  where  he  laboured  with  the  zeal  of  an  apostle.  To 
the  reverend  mother,  Margaret  Clare  West,  the  second  abbess 
of  his  dear  nuns  of  St.  Elizabeth,  then  removed  from  Brussels 
to  Nieuport,*  he  addressed  from  London  the  foUowdng  letter, 
the  original  of  which  is  duly  treasured  in  their  archivium  at 
Taunton : — 

"  Reverende  Mother  Abbasse, — I  give  God  thancks, 
and  hertily  congratulate  your  Election.  I  received  a  letter 
from  you,  dated  Februarie  15, 1641,  with  a  picture  exceeding 
curiously  wrought  about  the  border ;  and  another  letter, 
dated  the  2nd  of  March,  1641,  with  a  little  Crosse  of  Mother 
Catharine'Sjt  which  I  knew  as  soon  as  I  sawe  it.  God  have 
mercie  on  her  Soule,  and  double  her  spirit  upon  you,  that 
you  may  wisely  governe  and  conduct  his  handmaides  to  him. 
I  will  not  cesse  to  pray  for  you,  as  I  would  be  prayed  for  by 
you,  and  the  Saints  with  you ;  who,  sitting  safe  in  the  Porte, 
I  hope  will  be  mindful  of  us  that  are  tossed  in  the  waves  of 
Persecution,  in  continuall  feares  to  lose  all  that  we  have,  and 
our  lives  which  we  set  at  nought  to  save  the  Catholicke  faith 

*  Here  it  may  be  proper  to  state,  that  this  community  was  first 
founded  at  Brussels  on  9th  August,  1621 ;  that  they  removed  to  Nieuport 
in  1637 ;  and  thence  to  Princenhoff,  in  the  city  of  Bruges,  in  1662 ; 
thence  emigrated  to  Winchester  in  1794,  and  thence  settled  themselves 
at  Taunton  Lodge  in  1808. 

t  Catharine  Francis  Greenway,  the  first  abbess.  She  resigned  her 
office  three  years  before  her  death,  which  occurred  in  Feb.  1642,  u.  s. 


SINCE    THE    KEFOttMATION.  545 

entire.  Ye  are  right  happie  that  ye  are  there,  shrouded  from 
the  world,  where  ye  see  not  the  evilles  that  are  done  under 
the  Sunne,  nor  hear  the  continuall  execrable  blasphemies 
spoken  and  written  heer  by  the  Adversaries  against  God's 
Church.  Live  and  enjoy  that  happiness,  till  God  of  his 
mercie  give  us  greater  and  everlasting.  These  be  the  wishes 
of  your  Reverence's  poor  brother,  "  Feancis  Bel. 

"  London,  this  3  of  Aprill,  1642." 

Endorsed, 
«  To  the  R""  Mother  S'  Margarite  Clare, 
Abbesse  of  the  Cloyster  of  English  Religious 
of  the  Third  Order  of  St.  Francis  in  Newporte." 

For  the  account  of  the  father's  capture  in  Hertfordshire, 
7th  November,  1643,  and  of  his  inhuman  execution  at  Tyburn 
for  priesthood  only,  on  11th  December  following,  set.  fifty- 
three,  rel.  twenty-five,  miss,  nine,  we  refer  the  reader  to  the 
"  Certamen  Seraphicum,"  and  to  Dr.  Challoner'a  truth-telling 
"  Memoirs  of  Missionary  Priests." 

Bernard,  Francis  {d,  S.  Francisco),  D.D.,  was  for  a  con- 
siderable time  professor  of  theology  at  Douay.  His  surname 
was  Eyston,  a  family  fruitful  in  religious  members.*  We 
have  seen  his  very  sensible  treatise  on  "  The  Creed,  Decalogue, 
and  the  Sacraments,"  4to,  Aire,  1684.  He  was  the  author 
also  of  "  The  Christian's  Duty."  This  jubilarian  father  died 
in  St.  Bonaventure's  convent,  on  17th  May,  1709.  Another 
father  of  the  family  was  the  writer,  I  believe,  of  "  A  Clear 
Looking-Glass  for  all  Wandering  Sinners,"  24mo,  Roane, 
1654,  pp.  192,  dedicated  to  Lady  Willoughby,  and  approved 
of  by  the  provincial  F.  John  Yates ;  but  I  cannot  recover 
the  date  of  his  death. 

Benet Qy.,  if  not  the  author  of  the  "  Rule  of  Per- 
fection, conteyning  a  brief  and  Perspicuous  Abridgment  of 
the  Whole  Spiritual  Life,"  printed  at  Roan  in  1609? 

Bix,  Angelus. — After  filling  the  office  of  confessor  to  the 
Poor  Claresses  at  Aire,  and  to  the  community  at  Princenhefl', 
Bruges,  he  was  sent  to  England.  His  sermon  on  Good  Friday, 
13th  April,  1688,  as  delivered  at  Somerset  House,  was  pub- 
lished by  the  command  of  Queen  Mary  d'Este,  consort  of 
King  James.  He  died  early  in  1695,  whilst  guardian,  at 
York. 

Bourchier,  Thomas,  of  an  illustrious  family,  took  the  habit 
in  1558,  in  the  restored  convent  at  Greenwich.  On  being 
expelled  with  the  commimity  by  Queen  Elizabeth,  he  pro- 

*  In  1734  there  were  fiiur  sisters  of  the  Eyston  family  nuns  in 
St.  Elizabeth's  convent  at  Bruges. 

2   N 


5l'6  ENGilSH    FRANCISCAN    WKITERS 

ceeded  to  Paris,  where  he  diligently  applied  himself  to 
theology,  and  obtained  the  degree  of  doctor  in  that  faculty. 
Thence  he  directed  his  steps  to  Rome,  and  became  a  member 
of  the  great  Franbiscan  convent  there,  Ara  Cceli,  and  was 
appointed  a  penitentiary  of  St.  John  Lateran's.  His  death 
occurred  about  1586 ;  but  four  years  before^  his  "  Historia 
Ecclesiastica  de  Martyrio  Fratrum  Ordinis  S.  Francisci  in 
Anglia  et  Belgio  "  was  published  at  Paris,  an  octavo  of  297 
pages.  An  edition  appeared  at  Ingolstadt  in  1583 ;  another 
at  Paris  in  1586. 

Canes,  Vincent  {John  Baptist),  was  born,  as  appears  from 
p.  361  of  the  "Fiat  Lux,"  on  the  borders  of  Nottingham 
and  Leicestershire,  but  brought  up  in  the  Protestant  religion. 
When  arrived  at  the  age  of  eighteen,  he  was  sent  to  the 
University  of  Cambridge,  and  remained  there  two  years. 
His  docility  of  heart  led  him  to  the  discovery  of  the  truth, 
and  he  consecrated  himself  to  God  and  the  service  of  religion 
in  the  Franciscan  convent  at  Douay.  In  due  time  he  was 
appointed  lector  of  philosophy  and  professor  of  divinity.  In 
1648  we  meet  him  on  the  English  mission.  He  was  a  man 
of  acute  and  vigorous  mind,  and  sprightly  humour ;  and 
united  to  zeal  the  most  delicate  forbearance  and  charity. 
His  first  work  was  "  The  Reclaimed  Papist,"  a  small  octavo 
of  321  pages,  1655,  dedicated  to  John  Compton,  Esq.,  to 
whom,  it  seems,  he  was  chaplain.  It  is  written  in  the  form 
of  dialogue  between  Sir  Harry,  a  Catholic  knight,  and  a 
Protestant  lady  to  whom  the  knight  is  paying  his  addresses, 
who  admits  that  he  possesses  every  good  quality,  "  only  one 
thing  spoils  all — you  are  a  Papist;"  and  for  his  conversion 
she  introduces  to  him  a  Presbyterian  minister,  and  his  wife, 
an  enthusiastic  Independent.  If  revised  and  abridged,  and 
the  dialogue  more  broken  into  questions  and  answers,  it 
would  now  become  a  popular  book.  His  ''Fiat  Lux,  or  a 
general  Conduct  to  a  right  Understanding  and  Charity  in 
the  great  Combustions  and  Broils  about  Religion  in  England," 
is  admirably  calculated  to  inspire  sentiments  of  moderation 
and  peace,  by  enhghtening  the  mind  and  dispersing  the 
mists  of  prejudice.  The  second  edition  (I  have  not  seen  the 
first)  appeared  in  1663,  an  octavo  of  396  pages,  and  was 
dedicated  to  Elizabeth,  countess  of  Arundel  and  Surrey,  the 
mother  of  Cardinal  Howard.  He  was  also  the  author  of 
"Diaphanta;  or,  an  Exposure  of  Dr.  Stillingfleet's  Argu- 
ments against  the  Catholic  Religion."  We  have  seen  his 
"Three  Letters,  declaring  the  strange  odd  Proceedings  of 
Protestant  Divines  when  they  write  against  Catholics,  by  the 


SINCE    THE    REFORMATION.  547 

Example  of  Dr.  Taylor's  'Dissoaaive  against  Popery,'  Mr. 
Whitbie's  '  Reply  in  behalf  of  Dr.  Pierce  against  Mr.  Cressy,' 
and  Dr.  Owen's  *  Animadversions  on  Fiat  Lux,' "  octavo, 
1671,  pp.  411.  Another  treatise  against  Dr.  Stillingfleet 
was  published  at  Bruges  shortly  after  the  author's  death. 
According  to  the  Franciscan  Register,  p.  115,  F.  Canes  was 
selected  by  the  Catholic  body  to  defend  their  cause  against 
Dr.  Stillingfleet,  their  most  virulent  antagonist,  and  he  suc- 
ceeded to  the  general  satisfaction.  F.  Canes  died  in  June, 
1673,  and  was  buried  in  the  chapel  of  Somerset  House. 

Cansfield,  Benedict,  or  William  Fitch,  born  at  Cansfield, 
Essex. — His  elder  brother  was  called  Thomas,  his  younger 
Francis.  In  p.  49  of  his  Life,  Benedict  is  stated  to  have 
been  the  author  of  "  The  Christian  Knight,"  which  I  have 
not  seen.  His  "  Rule  of  Perfection,  reducing  the  whole 
Spiritual  Life  to  this  one  Point,  of  the  Will  of  God,"  was 
printed  at  Rouen  in  1609,  and  afterwards  translated  into 
Latin.  He  composed  also  a  treatise,  "De  bene  Orando." 
As  a  preacher  this  saintly  religious  was  highly  esteemed. 
His  death  occurred  at  Paris,  21st  November,  1611,  set.  forty- 
nine. 

Coleman,  Walter  {Christopher  a  8.  Clara),  a  native  of 
Staffordshire,  and  a  great  sufferer  for  the  Catholic  faith,  was 
sentenced  to  death  on  18th  December,  1641,  but  died  a 
lingering  death  in  1645,  "continuis  semmnis  et  loci  psedore 
extinctus,  prse  inedia  et  squalore  in  carcere. — (Reg.  34.) 
His  poem  called  "The  Duel  of  Death"  was  dedicated  to 
Henrietta  Maria,  consort  of  King  Charles  I. 

Cross,  John,  alias  More,  of  Norfolk,  was  declared  D.D.  on 
12th  October,  1672;*  on  10th  May,  1674,  was  elected  pro- 
vincial for  three  years;  re-elected  25tb  April,  1686,  filling 
the  office  during  an  eventful  period,  until  28th  September, 
1689,  "  summa  cum  laude  et  omnium  satisfactione."  During 
his  visitation  of  the  province  in  1687,  several  new  residences 
were  presented  to  him  by  charitable  founders  and  benefactors ; 
viz.  of  the  Holy  Sacrament  in  York,  of  St.  Anthony  de  Padua 
at  Hexham,  of  the  Holy  Cross  at  Googenargh,  St.  Winifred's 
at  Holywell,  Holy  Trinity  at  Leominster,  of  the  Immaculate 
Conception  at  Abergavenny,  of  St.  Mary  Magdalen  at  Bir- 
mingham, of  St.  Mary  of  the  Angels  at  Warwick,  and  of 
St.  Francis  of  Assisium  at  Monmouth.  In  the  course  of  the 
same  year  he  obtained  a  ten  years'  lease  of  premises  near 
the  arches  in  Lincoln's-Inn  Fields,  previously  occupied  by  the 
Countess  of  Bath,  and  there  establ^hed  a  community  of  ten 

*  At  the  end  of  August,  1692,  the  congregation  came  to  a  resolve 
"  that  the  title  of  doctorship  should  cease  in  our  province," 

2  N  2 


548  ENGLISH  francis<;an  writers 

members.  All  offered  a  cheering  prospect  to  religion  until 
William  Prince  of  Orange  landed  at  Brixham,  on  4th 
November,  1688.  As  soon  as  the  intelligence  reached 
London,  even  the  presence  of  the  king  did  not  prevent  the 
populace  from  attempting  to  demolish  the  Catholic  chapels. 
They  made  a  desperate  and  continued  attack  on  the  residence 
of  the  Franciscans  in  Lincoln's-Inn  Fields  for  a  day  and  a 
night,  and  were  only  prevented  from  carrying  their  design 
into  execution  by  a  guard  of  cavalry  and  infantry  sent  by  the 
king.  This  discomfiture  served  but  to  sharpen  their  appetite 
for  vengeance,  and,  learning  that  on  the  17th  November  the 
king  was  to  remove  the  infant  prince  of  Wales  to  Portsmouth, 
and,  if  necessary,  to  convey  him  to  France,  as  also  that  his 
majesty  would  proceed  on  the  same  day  to  join  the  army  at 
Salisbury,  the  rioters  deferred  to  that  day  the  work  of 
destruction.  But  the  king  consulted  their  safety  by  the 
following  order,  received  by  the  provincial  from  the  Right 
Rev.  Bishop  Leyburn,  preserved  in  p.  213  of  the  Franciscan 
Register : — 

"  For  Mr,  Crosse. 

"  Verie  R""  Father, — I  am  comanded  by  the  Enge  to  lett 
you  know,  that  since  the  Rabble  hath  alreadye  been  very 
insolent  and  troublesome  to  you,  att  your  Residence  in 
Lincoln's-inne-fields,  and  is  like  to  be  more  hereafter,  it  is 
his  Majesty's  desire  and  pleasure,  that  for  prevention  of 
future  dangers  and  inconveniences,  you,  with  the  rest  of  your 
Fathers,  retire  from  that  place. — I  am,  verie  R"*  Father,  your 
most  affectionate  Servant,  "  Leyburn." 

"  In  pursuance  to  this  order  we  withdrew  from  the  said 
place  on  16th  of  November,  having  first  removed  Our  goods 
and  obtained  a  guard  of  soldiers  from  his  Majesty  for  the 
security  of  the  house  and  chappell."  In  p.  29  of  the  Account 
Book  we  read :  "  By  this  place  'tis  incredible  what  we  lost ; 
perhaps  if  I  should  say  upwards  of  jB3,000  I  should  not  be 
much  in  the  wrong." 

This  worthy  provincial  did  not  long  survive  the  Revolution, 
for  he  was  dead  before  the  congregation  met  on  12th  May, 
1691.  He  was  admitted  a  Jubilarian  27th  April,  1671. — 
(Reg,  p.  112.)     Of  his  works  we  may  notice : — 

1.  Philothea's  Pilgrimage  to  Perfection,  described  in  a  Practice  of  Ten 
Days'  Solitude.  This  liad  been  voted  for  publication  by  the  chapter  in 
London,  16th  November,  1666,  and  was  printed  at  Bruges  in  1668,  an 
octavo  of  256  pages. — 2.  A  Sermon  preached  before  the  King  and  Queen 


SINCE    THE    REFORMATION.  549 

on  tlie  Feast  of  the  Holy  Patriarch  St.  Benedict,  1686. — 3.  A  Treatise 
De  Juramento  Fidelitatis ;  and  another,  De  Dialectica.  (Registri, 
pp.  117, 177.) — 4.  An  Apology  for  the  Contemplations  on  the  Life  and 
Grlory  of  Holy  Mary,  the  Mother  of  Jesus.  12ino,  London,  1687. 
Pp.  14.3.  Dedicated  to  Queen  Mary,  Consort  of  King  James  IL  Dodd 
(Ch.  Hist.  vol.  iii.  p.  490)  attributes  to  him  "some  divine  poems." 
He  was  also  the  autlior  of  a  work  on  Logic,  of  which  three  copies  were 
to  be  given  to  every  father,  by  the  resolution  of  the  Intermediate 
Congregation,  12th  October,  1672. 

On  the  14th  October,  1684,  it  was  voted  by  the  chapter 
that  it  would  be  conducive  to  God's  honour  and  to  the  credit 
of  the  province  if  the  life  of  F.  John  (Joachim)  Wall,  who 
had  suffered  death  at  Worcester  22nd  August,  1679,  set. 
fifty-nine,  rel,  twenty-eight,  should  be  written  and  published ; 
and  F.  John  Cross  was  requested  to  undertake  the  task,  la 
this  chapter  it  was  recommended  to  the  fathers  to  form 
collections  of  the  antiquities  of  their  respective  districts, 
"  scilicet  situum,  possessionum,  sepulturarum,  fundatorum," 
&c.— (Reg.  pp.  175-7).  This  father  died  at  Douay,  13th 
October,  1689,  set.  sixty,  rel.  forty-two. 

Cross,  Nicholas,  of  Derbyshire. — A  man  of  such  repute 
amongst  his  brethren  as  to  be  selected  four  times  for  the 
office  of  provincial:  1st,  on  the  13th  April,  1662;  2nd, 
28th  April,  1671;  3rd,  on  16th  June,  1680;  and  4thly,  on 
28th  September,  1689;  but  from  ill-health  could  not  com- 
plete this  triennium,  and  sent  in  his  resignation  on  12th 
May,  1691.  We  have  his  sermon  "  On  the  Joys  of  Heaven," 
which  he  preached  at  Windsor  before  the  Queen,  on  21st 
April,  1686.  The  catalogue  of  the  Bodleian  Library  cor- 
rectly assigns  to  him,  and  not  to  F.  John  Cross,  as  Dodd 
imagined,  the  authorship  of  "  Cynosura ;  or,  a  Saving  Star 
which  leads  to  Eternity,  being  a  Paraphrase  on  the  50th 
Fsalm^  Miserere  mei,  Deus,  secundum,"  &c.,  dedicated  to  the 
Countess  of  Shrewsbury.  It  is  a  thin  folio,  printed  in  London, 
1670.  For  a  time,  F.  Nicholas  was  chaplain  to  Anne  (Hyde) 
Duchess  of  York,  who  died  31st  March,  1671.  He  had 
suffered  imprisonment  three  several  times;  but  ended  his 
days  at  Douay,  21st  March,  1698,  set.  eighty-three,  prof, 
fifty-nine,  sac.  fifty-eight,  and  was  buried  before  the  high 
altar  of  the  old  Conventual  Church.  The  new  one  was  not 
consecrated  before  13th  November,  1712. 

Cyprian.  .  .  . — All  that  I  can  glean  of  him  is,  that  he 
was  chaplain  to  the  Queen  Henrietta  Maria,  and  published 
"Heaven  opened,  and  the  Pains  of  Purgatory  avoided,  by 
the  Indulgences  attached  to  the  Devotions  of  the  Rosary  and 
Cord  of  the  Passion,"  8vo,  1663,  pp.  133. 


550  ENGLISH    FRiNCISCAN    WRITERS 

Day  {Nicholas),  John. — In  the  first  chapter  of  the  restored 
province,  holden  at  Brussels  1st  December,  1630,  he  is 
designated  as  preacher  and  lector  of  divinity,  and  was  then 
appointed  definitor,  or  consultor.  On  28th  May,  1647,  whilst 
filling  the  situation  of  custos  custodum,  he  was  selected  for 
confessor  to  the  nims  of  St.  Elizabeth  of  Nieuport.  What 
the  literary  productions  of  this  reverend  father  were  I  am 
unable  to  discover;  but  Anthony  Wood,  in  the  Athense 
Oxon.  vol.  ii.  p.  488,  says  of  him  :  "  This  learned  friar,  bom 
at  the  mill  in  the  parish  of  St.  Cross,  alias  Halywell,  near 
Oxon,  was  buried  near  the  west  end  of  St.  Ebbe's  Church, 
Oxford,  near  the  font,  an.  1658."  His  death  is  unrecorded 
in  the  Franciscan  register. 

Davenport,  Christopher,  alias  Francis  Hunt,  but  called  in 
rehgion  Franciseus  a  S.  Clara. — The  life  of  this  truly  great 
man  would  occupy  a  volume.  This  native  of  Coventry  was 
converted  to  the  Catholic  faith  whilst  a  student  of  Merton 
College,  Oxford,  and  shortly  after  entered  the  novitiate  of 
the  Flemish  Franciscans  at  Ipres.  When  he  had  completed 
his  religious  profession,  he  passed  over  to  his  English  brethren, 
who  had  commenced  St.  Bonaventure's  convent  at  Douay. 
Before  the  restoration  of  the  province,  he  had  been  guardian 
of  that  convent,  and  the  lector  of  theology ;  nay,  we  learn  from 
the  Capitular  Register,  p.  74,  that  the  general  of  the  order 
was  so  impressed  with  his  transcendent  abilities  in  that  depart- 
ment, that  he  created  him  the  first  doctor  of  divinity.  For  three 
several  times  he  was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  provincial :  on 
19th  June,  1637 ;  on  10th  July,  1650 ;  and  again  on  4th  June, 
1665.  Wood,  the  Oxford  annalist,  in  mentioning  his  works 
in  two  folio  volumes,  printed  at  Douay  in  1665,  states  how 
''excellently  well  he  was  versed  in  school-divinity,  in  the 
fathers  and  councils,  in  philosophers,  and  in  ecclesiastical  and 
profane  histories.^' — (Athen.  Oxon.  vol.  ii.  p.  486.)  He  was 
as  discreetly  zealous  as  he  was  very  learned.  The  above- 
quoted  writer  adds, "  He  did  very  great  service  for  the  Roman 
Catholic  cause  by  gaining  disciples,"  &c.  Amongst  other 
conquests,  he  reconciled  to  the  Church  Anne  Duchess  of 
York,  in  August,  1670.  At  length,  worn  out  in  the  service 
of  religion,  the  venerable  patriarch  closed  his  days  in  Somerset 
House,  early  on  Whit-Sunday,  31st  May,  1680,  aged  eighty- 
two;  and,  according  to  his  wish,  was  buried  in  St.  John's 
Church  of  the  Savoy  Hospital.  In  the  register  above  cited, 
p.  156,  it  is  said  that  he  accomplished  three  jubilees — of 
religion,  of  the  priesthood,  and  of  the  mission ;  that  to  the 
end  he  proved  himself  a  most  loving  and  considerate  father 
to  his  brethren  and  children,  and  a  most  watchful  shepherd 


SINCE    THE    REFORMATION.  551 

and  faithful  labourer  in  the  English  mission  during  the  space 
of  fifty-seven  years,  making  himself  all  to  all  to  gain  all  to 
Christ.  In  Taunton  Convent  is  preserved  his  English  trans- 
lation from  the  Portuguese  of  the  "  Chronicles  of  the  Fran- 
ciscan Order;"  it  was  printed  at  St.  Omer's,  in  4to,  1618. 

Eyston,  Bernard. — ^This  eminent  divine  was  the  author  of 
"The  Christian  Duty."  He  finished  his  mortal  course  at 
Douay,  28th  May,  1709,  aet.  eighty-two,  rel.  sixty-five,  sac. 
fifty-eight,  and  was  buried  in  the  cloisters. 

GennififfS,  John, — This  truly  great  man  was  born  at  Lich- 
field, and  was  educated  a  rank  Puritan.  He  is  known  to  the 
literary  world  by  his  rare  publication,  "  The  Life  and  Death 
of  Mr.  Edmund  Geninges,  priest,  crowned  with  martyrdome 
at  London,  the  10th  day  of  November,  in  the  yeare  mdxci." 
(St.  Omer's,  pp.  110.)  At  the  Gordonstoun  sale  this  single 
volume  fetched  sixteen  guineas.  He  was  also  the  author  of 
"Institutio  Missionariorum,"  Douay,  1651.  In  the  religious 
world  he  is  celebrated  as  the  restorer  of  the  English  Franciscan 
Province.  His  conversion  reminds  us  of  that  of  S.  Paul. 
After,  the  execution  of  his  saintly  brother  Edmund,  above 
mentioned,  he  became  so  unhappy  in  mind,  so  deeply  affected 
with  remorse  and  horror,  that  he  vowed  to  forssJie  kindred 
and  country  to  find  out  the  true  knowledge  of  the  faith  which 
his  brother  had  sealed  with  his  blood.  Admitted  an  alumnus 
in  the  Secular  College  of  Douay — that  illustrious  school  of 
orthodoxy  and  martyrdom, — he  was  judged  qualified  to  receive 
priesthood  in  1607,  and  in  the  year  following  returned  to 
England  an  apostolic  missionary.  Labouring  here  with 
edifying  zeal,  he  received  a  call  from  Heaven  to  embrace  the 
rule  of  the  seraphic  Father  S.  Francis,  and  he  applied  to 
Brother  William  Stanney,  the  commissary-general  O.S.F.  in 
England,  to  admit  him  to  the  habit.  This  was  done  about 
the  year  1614 ;  and,  as  F.  Parkinson  relates  (Coll,  Anglo- 
Min.  p.  262),  that  holy  superior,  "observing  in  him  an  extra- 
ordinary zeal  for  the  restoring  of  the  English  Franciscan 
province,  he  was  transported  with  joy  j  and,  conceiving  great 
hopes  of  good  success  from  his  piety  and  laborious  endea- 
vours, he  delivered  into  his  hands  the  seal  of  the  province  of 
England." 

By  wonderful  exertions  F.  Gennings  succeeded  in  estab- 
lishing at  Douay  a  house  of  studies,  with  a  novitiate,  under 
the  name  of  St.  Bonaventure.  Its  first  guardian  was  F. 
Bonaventure  Jackson,  who  was  followed  by  FF.  Jerome  Pick- 
ford  and  Christopher  Davenport.  F.  Gennings  had  been 
vicar  and  guardian  for  some  years,  when  the  general  chapter 


552  ENGLISH    FRANCISCAN    WRITERS 

of  the  order,  holden  at  Rome  in  1625,  decreed  that  the 
English  Franciscan  province  should  be  revived  and  restored 
to  its  pristine  honour  and  rank  as  soon  as  a  competent  number 
of  members  could  be  collected ;  but,  in  the  meantime,  should 
retain  the  name  of  a  separate  custody.  On  the  6th  August, 
1629,  the  minister-general  from  Madrid,  P.  Bernardino  de 
Senis,  addressed  his  letters  patent "  to  his  beloved  fathers  and 
brothers  in  Christ  of  our  English  province,"  announcing  that 
the  prosperous  state  of  their  body  as  to  numbers  and  merits 
justified  him  to  restore  the  province  at  once,  and  to  appoint 
F.  John  Gennings  to  be  its  first  provincial,  and  to  nominate 
for  custos  custodum  F.  Davenport,  and  FF.  Jackson  and 
Pickford  above  mentioned,  with  FF.  Nicholas  Day  and  Francis 
Bell,  for  definitorsj  but  to  F.  Joseph  Bergaigne,*  his  com- 
missary-general for  the  provinces  of  Belgium  and  Great 
Britain,  he  committed  the  charge  of  expediting  and  concluding 
the  business.  This  commissary-general  signified  to  P.  Bell, 
in  his  letter  dated  Brussels,  24th  September,  1630,  that  he 
had  just  returned  from  Ratisbon,  and  found  the  letters  of  the 
minister-general  awaiting  him ;  that  he  directed  him  to  sum- 
mon the  above-said  PP.  provincial,  custos,  and  definitors,  as 
also  the  six  senior  fathers  in  England,  to  assemble  at  Douay 
the  first  Sunday  of  Advent,  n.s.,  that  then  and  there  he  might 
declare  the  wishes  of  the  general,  and  make  all  necessary 
arrangements  in  that  provincial  chapter.  Circumstances  in- 
tervened which  induced  the  commissary-general  to  alter  the 
place  of  meeting ;  and  on  12th  November  following  he  ad- 
dressed another  letter  from  Alost  to  P.  Bell,  in  which  he 
states  his  belief  that  very  few  could  attend  from  England, 
and  that  he  anticipated  no  great  inconvenience  would  result 
to  the  nuns  of  St.  Elizabeth  if  the  first  chapter  should  be 
celebrated  in  their  convent  at  Brussels,  instead  of  meeting  at 
Douay,  for  the  first  Sunday  in  Advent ;  and  he  begs  F.  Bell, 
the  director  of  those  nuns,  to  despatch  immediate  intelligence 
of  this  altered  arrangement  to  those  whom  it  might  concern. 
On  24th  November,  FF.  Gennings  and  Davenport  arrived 
at  Brussels ;  P.  Heath  joined  them  on  the  29th.  On  the  day 
appointed,  the  chapter  was  opened  in  due  form ;  when  P.  John 
Gennings  was  officially  declared  provincial;  P.  Davenport, 
custos  custodum,  and  head  professor  of  theology  at  Douay 
Convent ;  P.  William  Thompson  k  St.  Augustine,  the  second 
professor  of  theology  there;  P.  Laurence  h,  St.  Edmundo, 
professor  of  philosophy,  and  master  of  novices;  P.  Francis 
Bell,  guardian  of  St.  Bonaventure's  Convent,  and  professor  of 

*  This  zealous  religious  was  subsequently  made  archbishop  of  Cam- 
bray,  and  died  in  1647. 


SINCE    THE    REFORMATION.  553 

Hebrew ;  FF,  Bonaventure  Jackson,  Nicholas  Day,  Francis 
Bell,  Jerome  Pickford,  definitors ;  F.  Heath  to  be  vicar  or 
vice-president  of  St.  Bonaventure's  Convent  j  F.  Giles  Wil- 
loughby  to  be  confessor  to  the  nuns  of  St.  Elizabeth's  Convent 
at  Brussels ;  F.  Peter  Capes  {di  Alcantara)  to  be  confessor  to 
the  poor  Clares  at  Aire  (a  filiation  in  1619  from  the  mother- 
house  at  Gravelines).  F.  Gennings  was  re-elected  provincial 
in  the  second  chapter  (which  was  celebrated  in  a  Catholic 
house  at  Greenwich),  on  Tuesday,  15th  June,  1634,  for  another 
triennium ;  and  again,  in  the  fourth  chapter,  at  London,  on 
19th  April,  1640.  At  the  congregation,  22nd  August,  1665, 
he  presented  a  golden  pyx  for  the  use  of  the  provincials  for 
the  time  being.  This  venerable  patriarch  died  at  Douay,  on 
2nd  November,  o.s.,  1660,  aged  about  ninety;  or,  as  the 
mortuary  bill  states,  ninety-five.  The  portrait  of  this  saintly 
father  may  be  seen  at  the  house  of  St.  Peter's  Chapel, 
Birmingham. 

Grand,  le,  Antoine  {Bonaventure  a  S.  Anna),  a  native  of 
Douay,  but  at  an  early  period  of  life  associated  to  the  com- 
munity of  St.  Bonaventure's  Convent  there,  where  he  taught 
philosophy  and  divinity  with  singular  credit.  For  many  years 
he  served  the  mission  in  Oxfordshire.  On  10th  July,  1698, 
this  veteran  father  was  elected  provincial ;  but  died  in  office, 
on  26th  July  of  the  following  year.  Wood  (Athense  Oxon.  ii. 
620)  styles  him  "a  Cartesian  philosopher  of  great  note, — 
author  of  'Institutio  Philosophise  secundum  Principia  D. 
Renati  Descartes,'  &c.,  much  read  in  Cambridge,  and  said  in 
the  title  to  be  written  '  in  usum  juventutis  academicse.' " 
He  wrote  also  "  Historia  Naturae,"  a  treatise  "  De  Carenti^ 
Sensus  et  Cognitionis  in  Brutis," — also  "  Apologia  pro  Renato 
Descartes."* 

Dodd  attributes  to  this  learned  Franciscan  a  work  entitled 
"  Missse  Sacrificium,"  and  some  tracts  against  the  Rev. 
John  Sergeant. 

Heath,  Henry,  born  at  Peterborough  in  1600;  educated 
at  St.  Bennet's  College,  Cambridge ;  and  obtaining  the  degree 
of  B.A.,  was  appointed  librarian  of  his  college.  This  afforded 
him  an  opportunity  of  searching  the  grounds  of  religion,  and 
led  to  the  discovery  of  Catholic  truth.  Through  the  means 
of  George  Jerningham,  Esq.,  he  was  introduced  to  the  Rev. 
George  Muscott,  who  reconciled  him  to  God  and  his  Church, 
and  procured  his  admission  into  that  blessed  asylum  of  piety 
and  learning,  the  Secular  College  at  Douay.  His  continuance 
here  was  but  short;   for  conceiving  a  vehement  desire  of 

*  This  philosopher  died  at  Stockholm  in  1650,  set.  fifty-four. 


554  ENGLISH    FRANCISCAN    WRITEES 

entering  amongst  the  English  Franciscans  in  that  town,  his 
immediate  superiors  of  the  college,  satisfied  that  he  had  a 
true  vocation  to  the  order,  kindly  recommended  him  to  the 
guardian  of  St.  Bonaventure's  community,  who  joyfully  re- 
ceived him  in  the  year  1623.  In  religion  he  took  the  name 
of  Brother  Paul  of  St,  Mary  Magdalen.  We  learn  from  the 
register  of  the  convent^  that  he  was  appointed  vicar  or  vice- 
president  of  his  house  in  December,  1630,  and  its  guardian 
in  October,  1633 ;  that  in  the  second  chapter  of  the  province, 
15th  June,  1634,  he  was  selected  to  continue  its  guardian  for 
three  years  longer,  when  he  was  declared  custos  custodum, 
with  the  office  of  commissary  of  his  English  brethren  and 
sisters  in  Belgium.  At  the  fourth  provincial  chapter,  19th 
April,  1640,  he  was  again  appointed  guardian,  and  also  lector 
of  scholastic  theology ;  but  shortly  after  was  allowed  to  go  to 
the  English  mission.  Like  the  giant,  he  exulted  to  run  his 
course;  and  aspired  to  the  glory  of  martyrdom  with  the 
fervent  zeal  of  St.  Ignatius  of  Antioch.  And  God  granted 
him  the  desire  6f  his  heart  on  Monday,  17th  April,  1643,  o.s., 
E3t.  forty-three,  rel.  twenty.  Just  before  he  left  Newgate  to 
walk  to  Tyburn  (for  he  was  not  drawn  on  a  sledge),  he  signed 
his  condemnatory  opinion  of  that  oath  of  allegiance  then 
proposed  by  the  Government,  and  proclaimed  that  he  was 
ready  to  seal  it  a  thousand  times  with  his  blood.  He  was 
the  author  of  "  Soliloquies  and  Documents  of  Christian  Per- 
fection," printed  at  Douay  in  1674,  a  12mo,  with  his  portrait. 
Its  impression  and  publication  met  the  approbation  of  the 
intermediate  provincial  congregation  of  12th  October,  1673, 
assembled  at  Somerset  House.  Towards  the  expenses,  P. 
Davenport  subscribed  £5 ;  the  Provincial  F.  Nicholas  Cross, 
vrith  FF.  Anthony  le  Grand,  Philip  Gray,  Pacificus  Williams, 
Thomas  Benson,  and  Augustine  Hill,  contributed  £\  each; 
and  FF.  Mason  and  Daniel  Clay  engaged  each  to  take  six 
copies.  The  book  had  become  rare,  and  was  |)riced  in  cata- 
logues at  three  guineas  and  a  half.  It  was  reprinted  in 
London  in  1844. 

Here  I  cannot  refuse  myself  the  pleasure  of  transcribing 
a  letter  which  this  holy  man  addressed,  on  3rd  September, 
1637,  to  one  of  the  Poor  Clares,  at  Aire,  from  a  copy  given 
me  on  17th  February,  1830,  by  the  late  venerable  Bishop 
CoUingridge,  O.S.F, 

"  My  dearest  Child, — This  day  I  understood  of  thy  great 
weakness  the  rev.  mother's  letter  (Catharine  Clare  Keynes), 
whereupon  I  could  not  but  write  to  thee,  being  it  may  be 
the  last  that  I  shall  ever  write,  or  speak  any  more  unto  thee 


SINCE    TBE    BEFORHATION.  555 

in  tliis  life ;  and  this  I  now  do,  more  for  mine  own  benefit 
and  commodity  (hoping  that  thou  wilt  be  ever  mindful  of  me 
when  thou  comest  to  thy  eternal  rest)  than  for  any  necessity 
of  thy  part,  who  hast  so  long  bethought  thyself  heretofore 
concerning  this  time.  And  I  know  thy  own  conscience  doth 
sweetly  recount  to  thee  the  former  passages  of  thy  life; — 
with  what  zeal,  with  what  contentedness,  thou  first  didst  leave 
the  world,  thy  natural  parents  and  dearest  friends,  purely  and 
simply  to  come  to  Jesus ;  and  that,  not  for  his  comfort  and 
pleasures,  for  honour  and  other  temporal  favours,  which  He 
often  heapeth  upon  those  that  serve  Him,  but  to  make  thyself 
his  servant,  his  slave,  his  vassal — to  give  thy  body  and  soul 
wholly  unto  Him,  to  be  wholly  his,  as  a  servant  or  slave  is 
wholly  in  his  master's  hands,  to  strike  him  or  beat  him,  to 
send  him  or  call  him,  when  or  whithersoever  he  pleases.  I 
know  thou  canst  not  but  remember  those  sweet  meetings, 
those  loving  silent  night-discourses,  which  in  thy  strength 
and  weakness  thou  hast  heretofore  enjoyed  with  thy  beloved 
Jesus,  when  He  has  asked  thee  sweetly,  as  He  did  S.  Peter, 
*  Dost  thou  love  Me  ?'  And  thou  hast  answered  Him  again, 
'  Ah,  my  dearest  Master,  this  is  all  my  sorrow,  this  is  all  my 
grief,  that  desiring  with  all  my  heart  to  love  Thee,  I  cannot 
love  Thee  so  perfectly,  so  steadfastly,  so  entirely,  as  I  desire 
to  love  Thee.' 

"The  very  house  and  walls  of  thy  inclosure  cannot  but 
put  thee  in  mind  where  and  how  thou  hast  lived  these  many 
years,  as  if  thou  hadst  been  thus  long  already  dead  and  buried 
in  thy  habit  from  the  world.  How  sweetly  now  canst  thou 
say  to  thyself,  '  0  happy  time,  O  blessed  years,  that  I  have 
now  passed  in  my  Redeemer's  service  !     O  blessed  prison  ! 

0  happy  chains  and  bonds  of  my  vows,  which  I  have  borne 
for  sweet  Jesus !  Here  I  have  daily  carried  my  cross,  which 
has  taught  me  the  way  of  true  humility  and  patience.  Here 
have  I  been  broken  of  my  own  proper  will  and  judgment, 
which  would  have  hindered  me  from  being  wholly  resigned 
and  obedient  to  the  will  of  God.  Here  have  I  been  trained 
up  in  virtue,  in  the  fear  of  God,  in  the  way  to  heaven.     Here 

1  sweetly  sung  the  praises  of  my  Redeemer.  Here  have  I 
followed  Him  from  the  garden  to  the  judgment-seat  of  Annas 
and  Caiphas,  from  Pilate  to  Herod,  from  Herod  to  Pilate, 
from  Pilate  to  the  cross.  Here  have  I  bewailed  my  infirmi- 
ties, confounded  myself  in  acknowledging  my  human  frailties. 
Here  have  I  fought  against  my  appetites,  subdued  my  passions, 
vanquished  mine  inclinations.  Here  have  I  spent  many  a 
groanto  come  to  Jesus,  when  He  has  hid  Himself  from  me. 
And  now  my  whole  pilgrimage  is  to  be  ended !     Now  I  go 


556  •  ENGIISH    PKANCISCAK   WRITERS 

to  my  sweet  Beloved,  whom  I  shall  evermore  enjoy,  and 
never  more  he  separated  from  Him,  nor  evermore  he  trouhled 
with  sin,  nor  with  the  temptation  to  sin/  These  things,  and 
the  like,  I  know  are  famihar  with  thee,  and  therefore  I  need 
say  nothing  to  comfort  or  encourage  thee  in  this  thy  last 
comhat.   ' 

"  Concerning  thy  confessions,  I  will  not  have  thee  trouble 
thyself  with  those  things  of  which  thou  hast  formerly  spoken 
to  me,  for  they  are  mere  vanities  and  fancies,  and  of  no  mo- 
ment j  therefore  contemn  them,  and  die  confidently,  and  I 
will  answer  for  them. — I  am  sorry  it  falls  out  so,  that  my 
present  employments  will  not  permit  me  to  see  thee  at  this 
present.  Yet,  if  there  he  a  necessity  of  my  coming,  send  word 
presently,  and  nothing  shall  detain  me,  God  willing.  And  if 
thou  departest  without  me  in  body,  yet  thou  shalt  not  go 
without  me  in  heart  and  soul.  For  I  have  always,  since  I 
knew  thee,  found  an  interior  particular  propensity  and  incli- 
nation of  my  very  heart  towards  thee,  for  the  wonderful  good 
examples  of  virtue  and  sanctity  which  thou  hast  given  me. 
And  I  bless  God  with  all  my  heart,  that  He  has  made  me 
acquainted  with  the  examples  of  thee  and  others  in  that 
blessed  community,  that  I  might  learn  how  to  frame  my  life 
in  this  my  frail  and  tedious  pilgrimage,  that  I  may  once  come 
whither  thou  art  going.  And  therefore  I  do  earnestly  com- 
mend my  poor  soul  unto  thee,  when  thou  art  with  blessed 
Jesus,  not  doubting  but  He  will  mercifully  assist  me,  and 
help  me  at  thine  intercession  for  me.  Sweet  Jesus  keep  thee, 
and  conduct  thee  to  his  eternal. happiness.  And  I  shall  ever 
pray  for  thee.     Thy  poor  unworthy  brother, 

"  Brother  Paul  Magdalen  Heath. 
"  Sept.  3rd,  1637." 

His  father,  John  Heath,  when  nearly  eighty  years  of  age, 
arrived  at  St.  Bonaventure's  Convent,  Douay,  where  he  was 
reconciled  to  the  Catholic  Church.  At  the  time  of  his  son's 
execution  he  was  favoured  with  a  revelation  of  it,  and 
related  it  to  the  community  at  the  time,  "  Veridicum  probavit 
eventus."  The  good  old  man  survived  till  39th  December, 
1652. 

,  Loraine,  Philip,  alias  Laurentius  h  S.  Edmundo,  one  of  the 
earliest  and  most  eflBcient  members  of  the  province,  died  in 
England  at  an  advanced  age,  in  1672.  What  he  wrote  I 
cannot  ascertain  j  but  at  the  intermediate  congregation  at 
London,  12th  October,  1672,  it  was  agreed  "  quod  imprimatur 
Liber  Spiritualis  compositus  a  V.  P.  Laurentio  h  S.  Edmundo." 
— (Reg.  p.  118.)      Another  of  the   same  name   published 


SINCE    THE    REFORMATION.  557 

"  Pagano-Papista    Chimsera    Infidelitatis    Protestantis,"    in 
1750.     Ob.  circiter  1765. 

Magdalen,  Augustirie. — This  devout  English  nun,  of  the 
Poor  Clares  at  Aire,  in  Artois,  translated  from  the  Latin  of 
F.  Luke  Wadding  (who  had  died  at  Rome  18th  November, 
1657,  set.  eighty)  "The  Life  of  St.  Clare,"  which  she  dedi- 
cated to  Queen  Henrietta  Maria.  It  is  a  small  octavo, 
printed  at  Douay  in  1635,  and  has  recently  been  priced  in  a 
catalogue  £2.  10«. 

Parkinson,  Anthony, — a  man  deserving  well  of  his  order 
and  literature,  for  his  industry,  ability,  and  judgment  in 
collecting  materials  to  illustrate  the  merits  of  the  ancient 
and  renowned  Franciscan  province  of  England,  which  King 
Henry  VIII.  by  slaughter  and  exile  had  almost  reduced  to 
nothing,  simply  because  its  members  defended  the  supremacy 
of  the  Holy  See.  This  learned  father's  quarto  volume,  en- 
titled "  Collectanea  Anglo-Minoritica,"  composed  in  the  year 
1720,  was  recommended  for  publication  two  years  later  by 
Dr.  Pritchard,  Bishop  of  Myra  and  Vicar-Apostolic  of  the 
Western  District,  and  the  Rev.  Francis  Kearney,*  an  emi- 
nent professor  of  theology  at  Douay.  In  the  32nd  provincial 
chapter,  celebrated  at  Loudon  18th  April,  1725,  the  fathers 
requested  him  to  commit  to  press  his  valuable  compilation, 
"in  commune  bonum  et  sedificationem  provincise;"  and  in 
consequence  it  was  printed  by  Thomas  Smith,  in  Silver-street, 
Bloomsbury,  London,  in  1726.  From  the  "  Statuta  Minorum 
Recollectorum,"  p.  63,  edited  London,  1747,  I  learn  that  the 
"  Collectanea "  was  to  be  sold  by  Hoyles,  a  London  book- 
seller, with  the  consent  of  the  provincial,  for  half  a  crown  : 
for  many  years  it  stood  in  Keating's  catalogue,  marked  at  5».j 
it  then  rose  to  10s.  Qd.  In  Lackington's  catalogue  of  1823 
it  reached  the  price  of  £\.  4iS.;  and  in  Dolman's,  of  April, 
1849,  of  £2.  2s.,  and  is  well  worth  the  money.  I  am  fre- 
quently surprised  at  the  accuracy  of  the  author's  conjectures, 
confirmed  in  documents  published  since  his  time.  With  the 
modesty  so  characteristic  of  solid  learning,  he  crowns  his 
labours  in  these  words :  "I  conclude  this  poor  piece  oi patch- 
work, which,  as  it  has  nothing  to  recommend  itself  but  its 
good  meaning,  has  no  right  to  a  favourable  reception  but 
from  the  charity  and  patience  of  the  well-meaning  reader.'* 
We  heartily  pray  that  some  other  equally  gifted  father  may 
continue  the  history  of  the  province  to  the  year  1850. 

*  He  was  an  Irish  Franciscan  father,  incorporated  in  the  English    l 
province  13th  August,  1710,  was  declared  a  Jubilarian  7th  May,  1740,     \ 
and  died  in  the  course  of  the  year  1747. 


558  ENGLISH    FRANCISCAN    WRITERS 

Deeply  do  I  regret  my  inability  to  elucidate  the  biography 
of  this  worthy  man.  I  meet  lum  as  missionary  in  1693, 
president  at  Birmingham  in  1698,  and  of  Warwick  in  1701; 
guardian  of  Worcester  in  1704,  of  Oxford  in  1710,  and 
elected  provincial  on  3rd  May,  1713.  At  the  chapter,  9th 
May,  1716,  the  thanks  of  the  province  were  voted  to  him 
"pro  collections  et  impressione  Statutorum  pro  Missionariis 
Provincise  nostras  in  Anglia  degentibus."  On  22nd  April, 
1722,  he  was  re-elected  provincial.  In  an  original  letter  of 
P.  Lewis  Sabran,  S.J.,  dated  from  Rome,  8th  May,  1723, 1 
read:  "The  friars  began  their  general  congregation  this 
morning,  between  five  and  six  hundred  having  a  voice  in  it. 
The  English  provincial,  F.  Parkinson,  arrived  hither  very 
dangerously  ill ;  but  I  found  him  yesterday  well  recovered, 
though  very  weak."   He  died  in  England,  30th  January,  1728. 

[Since  the  foregoing  was  penned,  I  find  the  following 
notice  of  Father  Parkinson  in  the  recently  published  "  Re- 
liquise  Heamianse,"  or  extracts  from  the  MS.  Diaries  of  the 
celebrated  Oxford  Antiquary,  edited  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  BUss, 
p.  585. 

"June  4  [1726].  On  Thursday  last,  in  the  afternoon, 
called  upon  me.  Father  Cuthbert  Parkinson,  who  came  from 
East  Hendred,  in  Berks,  on  purpose  to  see  me.  His  nephew, 
Mr.  Fetherstone,  came  along  with  him,  and  yesterday  I 
spent  the  greatest  part  of  the  day  with  them.  Mr.  Parkinson 
told  me,  that  he  himself  is  the  author  of  "  Collectanea  Anglo- 
Minoritica,  or  a  Collection  of  the  Antiquities  of  the  English 
Franciscans,  or  Friars  Minors,  commonly  called  Gray  Friars, 
in  two  parts;  with  an  Appendix  concerning  the  English 
Nuns  of  the  order  of  St.  Clare."  London,  1726,  4to.  He 
compiled  this  work,  as  he  told  me,  by  the  help  of  books  in 
the  study  of  my  late  excellent  friend  Charles  Eyston,  of 
East  Hendred,  Esq.  Mr.  Parkinson  (who  is  a  Franciscan 
himself)  is  now  in  the  fifty-ninth  year  of  his  age,  as  he  told 
me  himself.  He  is  a  very  worthy  learned  man,  and  of  an 
excellent,  good-natured  temper.  The  said  b,ook  is  what  my 
letter*  of  May  22  relates  to;  which  letter  they  are  urgent 

*  To  Mr.  Parkinson,  at  Mr.  Eyston's,  at  East  Hendred,  near  Wantage, 
in  Berks. 

"  Sir,— I  thank  you  very  kindly  for  your  valuable  present  of  the 
Antiquities  of  the  English  Franciscans.  The  excellent  author  (to  whom 
my  very  humble  service)  hath  taken  a  great  deal  of  pains,  and  showed 
much  skill  in  compiling  this  work,  which  I  peruse  and  read  with  much 
delight.  I  cannot  think  that  any  one  can  be  against  it  that  hath  any 
regard  for  true  devotion.  'Tis  from  such  hooks  that  we  learn  the 
piety,  sanctity,  and  generosity  of  our  ancestors.  And  'tis  therefore  a 
very  useful  piece  of  service  to  collect  anything  upon  such  subjects. 


SINCE    THE    REFORMATION.  559 

with  me  to  give  leave  to  be  printed,  to  be  prefixed  to  some 
of  the  copies.  Accordingly,  I  give  them  liberty  to  do  with 
it  as  they  please."] 

N.B.  There  were  two  other  Franciscan  fathers  of  this 
name :  one  died  in  1750,  the  other  in  1767. 

Pilling,  William,  younger  brother  of  the  Rev.  John  Pilling, 
O.S.P.,  who  died  at  Osmotherley,*  near  Northallerton,  county 
York,  on  12th  January,  1800,  set.  sixty-six,  rel.  forty-nine, 
was  a  well-read  scholar,  a  clear-headed  theologian,  and  an 
exemplary  missionary.  After  presiding  over  the  literary 
establishment  of  his  order  at  Baddesley,t  near  Birmingham, 
he  departed  to  our  Lord  at  Lower  Hall,f  near  Preston,  in 
Lancashire,  on  4th  December,  1801,  set.  sixty.  He  published : 
1.  "A  Caveat  addressed  to  the  Cathohcs  of  Worcester  against 
the  insinuating  Letter  of  Mr.  Wharton,"  §  London,  1785, 

When  I  had  the  happiueBS  of  seeing  you  last  here,  I  mentioned  to  you 
a  MS.  of  John  of  Glastonbury,  that  belonged  formerly  to  Sir  Richard 
Tycheburn.  I  know  not  whether  you  have  thought  of  it  since.  This 
author  I  am  now  printing,  and  the  work  is  pretty  near  being  finished. 
I  was  very  sorry  to  hear  some  time  since  of  the  death  of  Mr.  Robert 
Eyston. — I  am,  with  my  respects  to  my  friend,  sir,  your  obedient  and 
most  faithful  humble  servant,  "  Thomas  Hbabne, 

"  Edmund  Hall,  Oxford, 
"May  22,  1726.'* 

*  The  proper  name  of  the  parish  is  Osmundelee,  which  had  a  col- 
legiate church.  Bishop  Grandisson,  of  Exeter,  in  a  letter  dated  16th 
July,  1338,  expressly  calls  it  "Ecclesia  Collegiata  de  Osmundelee," 
(Re^.  vol.  i.  pp.  54,  66)  ;  and  again  in  his  Register,  vol.  ii.  p.  64.  The 
provincial  chapter  of  4th  June,  1666,  accepted  a  property  here  (the 
gift  of  Mrs.  Juliana  Walmesley,  but  purchased  in  the  name  of  Sir  God- 
frey Copley)  for  a  missionary  residence,  called  Mons  Gratiee  (Register, 
p.  90) ;  and  on  16th  November,  1666,  F.  William  Shepheard  was  ap- 
pointed to  serve  it  (p.  68).  To  its  chapel,  dedicated  to  Mary  the  Mother 
of  Divine  Grace,  Lady  Elizabeth  Pierrepoint,  daughter  of  Robert,  earl 
of  Kingston,  gave  a  vestment,  stole,  maniple,  veil,  pall,  and  ante- 

fiendiums,  of  white  ilowered  satin,  with  flowers  of  gold  laid  with  gold 
ace  and  gold-coloured  fringe,  and  two  credences ;  also  an  alb,  amice, 
altar-cloth,  and  corporal  of  fine  linen,  all  marked  E.  P."  (Reg.  194). 
In  the  sequel  it  became  a  retreat  for  some  of  the  superannuated  mem- 
bers of  the  province ;  and  here  they  must  have  kept  a  school ;  for  on 
10th  October,  1702,  its  resUyration  was  declared  expedient  (p.  169).  The 
Government  meanly  attempted  in  1723  to  deprive  them  of  this  asylum ; 
but  the  fathers  wisely  decided,  on  17th  October  that  year,  that  they 
would  retain  possession  "  ommims  medAis  licitis  "  (Reg.  218). 

t  This  mission  I  think  they  entered  upon  in  April,  1686  (Reg. 
p.  184).    We  meet  with  the  school  at  Edgebaston  in  1730  (Reg.  p.  365), 

t  A  mission  in  the  patronage  of  the  Walmesley  family.  F.  Howarden, 
O.S.F.,  was  there  in  1703,  as  I  find  in  Bishop  Smith's  letter. 

§  This  unfortunate  apostate,  bom  in  Maryland  25th  July,  1748, 
joined  the  Society  of  Jesus  at  the  age  of  twenty-two,  and  died  at  Tren- 
ton, in  New  Jersey,  with  deep  remorse,  but  without  repentance,  about 
the  year  1833. 


560  ENGLISH    FRANCISCAN    WRITERS 

8vOj  pp.  109.  2.  "A  Dialogue  between  a  Protesting  Catholic 
Dissenter  and  a  Catholic,  on  the  Nature,  Tendency,  and 
Import  of  the  Oath  lately  offered  to  the  Catholics  of  England." 
3.  "  An  argumentative  Letter  to  the  Rev.  Joseph  Reeve,  on 
his  View  of  the  Oath  said  to  be  tendered  by  the  Legislature 
to  the  Catholics  of  England." 

Powell,  David  {Gregory),  was  appointed  superior  of  the 
Residence  of  the  Immaculate  Conception*  at  Abergavenny 
as  early  as  1738 ;  and  justly  maintained  the  reputation  of  a 
superior  classical  scholar  and  a  master  of  the  Welsh  language. 
We  have  collected  nothing  more  of  him  than  that  he  published 
a  Manual  and  Catechism  in  Welsh.  He  died  at  Abergavenny 
on  13th  October,  1781. 

Rookwood,  or  Robert  Rose,  published  at  Douay  the  lives 
of  three  Capuchin  friars,  viz.  Angelus  de  Joyeuse,  Benedict 
Cansfield,  and  Archangel  Gordon,  whose  portraits  by  Picot 
are  exquisite.  The  volume  is  dedicated  to  Clare  Mariana, 
abbess  of  the  Poor  Clares  at  Gravelines. 

Stanney,  William. — ^The  treatise  of  this  venerable  man, 
"  On  the  Third  Order  of  St.  Francis,  commonly  called  the 
Order  of  Penance,  for  the  Use  of  those  who  desire  to  lead  a 
Holy  Life,  and  do  Penance  in  their  own  Houses,"  was  printed 
at  Douay  in  1617.  I  cannot  recover  the  date  of  the  author's 
death. 

Willoughby,  Giles  {a  S.  Ambrosid),  translated  into  English 
the  golden  treatisa  of  St.  Peter  de  Alcantara  "  On  Mental 
Prayer."  It  was  published  about  the  year  1632,  whilst  he 
was  confessor  to  the  nuns  of  St.  Elizabeth's  Convent  at 
Brussels,  and  was  dedicated  to  Lady  Powis.  He  died  early 
in  1660. 

Weston,  John  Baptist,  wrote  "  An  Abstract  of  the  Doctrine 

*  All  clients  of  the  Blessed  Virgin-Mother  of  Jesus  must  admire  and 
love  the  Franciscans  for  their  constant  defence  of  her  Immaculate 
Conception.  Since  the  revival  of  the  province,  their  devotion  to  this 
Virgin  Mother  is  most  honourahle  to  them.  In  the  acts  of  the  congre- 
gation celebrated  at  London  in  October,  1632,  an  order  was  given  that 
after  Complin  the  brethren  should  always  recite  "  Tota  pukhra,  &c.,  in 
honorem  Immaculatte  Conceptionis."  At  the  second  chapter,  held  at 
Greenwich,  15th  June,  1634,  the  convent  of  York  was  designated 
"Conventus  Immaculatie  Conceptionis  gloriosse  Virginis."  On  22nd 
August,  1666,  they  enjoined  "  quod  sodalitas  Immaculatce  Conceptionis 
promoveatur."  And  when,  in  1687,  a  new  residence  at  Abergavenny 
was  presented  to  the  F.  Provincial  John  Cross,  it  was  styled  "  Imma- 
culatEB  Conceptionis  Bo  V.  Marise."  May  we  not  attribute  to  her 
powerful  interest  with  her  divine  Son  that  so  few  of  the  brethren, 
"  rejecting  a  good  conscience,  made  shipwreck  concerning  the  Faith?" 
(1  Timothy  i.  19.) 


SINCE    THE    REFORMATIOK.  561 

of  Jesus  Christ,  or  the  Rule  of  the  Friars  Minors,  literally, 
morally,  and  spiritually  expounded."  Douay,  1718.  This 
Jubilarian  died  at  Douay  in  1728.  F.  Weston  died  1729,  on 
17th  April,  set.  seventy-four,  rel.  fifty-six. 


Sufferers  and  Confesstrrs  for  the  Catholic  Faith,  O.S.F. 

We  have  already  mentioned  that  God  and  his  Church  were 
glorified  by  the  martyrdom  of  FF.  Bell  and  Heath,  and  by 
the  death  of  F.  Christopher  Coleman ;  we  have  now  to  add 
several  others  who  either  sealed  their  faith  with  their  blood, 
or  bore  testimony  to  it  in  their  chains  and  prisons. 

1.  The  first 'that  I  meet  with  is  F.  Collier,  who  died  in 
prison  in  the  year  1590.  He  was  an  intimate  friend  of  F. 
John  Jones,  the  next  sufferer  in  the  order  of  time. 

2.  John  Jones,  alias  Buckley,  alias  Godfrey  Maurice,  of  a 
good  family  in  Caernarvonshire.  Of  his  early  life  little  is 
recorded.  He  was  certainly  an  imprisoned  priest  in  Wisbeach 
Castle  in  1587;  and  after  his  escape  or  banishment, — for  he 
left  England  about  the  year  1590,  he  became  a  conventual 
friar  at  Pontoise.  Subsequently  he  proceeded  to  Rome,  and 
there  joined  the  Observantines,  or  Reformed  Friars,  in  the 
celebrated  monastery  of  Ara  Coeli.  After  remaining  with 
them  for  a  twelvemonth,  he  was  directed  by  his  superiors  to 
return  to  England  to  assist  his  afflicted  countrymen  in  the 
way  of  salvation,  and  to  enlighten  such  as  sat  in  darkness 
and  the  shades  of  death.  Before  he  quitted  Rome,  he  waited 
on  his  Holiness  Clement  VIII.  to  obtain  the  pontifical  bless- 
ing on  his  future  labours,  when  the  father  of  the  faithful 
embraced  him,  saying  in  Latin,  "  Go,  for  I  believe  that  you 
are  a  true  religious  of  St.  Francis ;  and  pray  to  God  for  me 
and  his  holy  Church."  On  reaching  London,  F.  John 
Gerard,  S.J.,  provided  him  with  an  asylum  in  his  house,  kept 
by  Mrs.  Ann  Line,*  for  several  months,  during  which  this 
zealous  man  did  good  service  to  the  Catholic  cause.  Thanking 
F.  Gerard  for  his  kind  hospitality,  he  retired  from  London  to 
benefit  other  souls.  From  the  beautiful  Latin  letter  which 
P.  Hen.  Garnett  addressed  from  London,  15th  July,  1598, 
to  F.  Claudius  Aquaviva,  fifth  general  of  the  Society  of  Jesus, 
we  learn  other  details  of  this  apostolic  missionary.  For 
nearly  three  years  he  had  continued  to  labour  in  the  vineyard 
before  he  was  apprehended  and  committed  to  gaol ;  but  his 

*  This  blessed  matron  was  executed  at  Tyburn  on  27th  February, 
1601,  for  harbouring  a  priest !  Who  would  not  prefer  her  lot  to  that  of 
her  sovereign,  Queen  Elizabeth  ? 

2  o 


562  ENGLISH    FRANCISCAN    WIUTEUS 

twelvemonth's  incarceration  did  not  prevent  him  from  exer- 
cising his  beneficial  ministry  to  many  Catholics  who  resorted 
to  him  for  his  advice  and  consolation.  At  length  the  notorious 
Topcliffe — that  virulent  persecutor  of  Catholics — was  informed 
by  a  traitor  that  the  priest,  before  his  apprehension,  had 
visited  Mr.  Robert  Barnes  and  Mrs.  Jane  Wiseman,  a  most 
respectable  lady,  who  had  two  sons  *  in  the  Society  of  Jesus ; 
that  he  had  tarried  with  them  for  two  days,  had  said  Mass 
for  them,  and  had  been  relieved  by  them.  In  the  beginning 
of  July,  1598,  Topcliffe  managed  to  have  all  three  arraigned 
for  high  treason :  they  were  condemned,  and  Mrs.  Wiseman, 
for  refusing  to  plead,  was  sentenced  to  be  pressed  to  death. 
On  hearing  the  sentence,  the  venerable  and  generous  heroine 
exclaimed,  "  Thanks  be  to  God."  However,  the  priest  alone 
was  led  to  execution. 

On  12th  July  F.  Jones  was  drawn  on  a  sledge  to  St.  Thomas' 
Watering.  Here  it  was  discovered  that  the  executioner  had 
forgotten  his  halter,  and  a  messenger  was  despatched  for  it, 
whilst  the  victim  stood  for  an  hour  at  the  gallows.  At  length 
the  messenger  rode  back  with  rapidity,  when  a  cry  was  raised 
among  the  crowd,  "  Here  comes  a  reprieve."  On  the  mes- 
senger being  asked  if  he  had  brought  a  reprieve,  "  Ay,  ay," 
was  his  answer,  and,  producing  his  halter,  "  here  it  is."  To 
mark  the  Queen's  clemency,  as  Topcliffe  boasted,  the  holy 
priest  was  permitted  to  hang  until  he  was  dead  tefore  his 
body  was  dismembered.  The  quarters  were  fixed  to  trees  in 
St.  George's-fields  and  the  vicinity  ("  in  agris  Georgianis  et 
vicinis  ") ;  the  head  surmounted  the  pillory  in  Warwick -lane. 
F.  Gamett  adds,  "  Such  was  the  most  happy  end  of  this  saint. 
May  God  make  us  all  partakers  of  his  merits.  Your  paternity 
will  be  pleased  to  communicate  aU  these  particulars  to  those 
pious  fathers  of  the  convent  in  which  he  once  lived,  and  to 
commend  us  to  their  prayers." 

3.  Thomas  Bullaker  [John  Baptist) . — He  was  the  only  son 
and  heir  of  a  leading  physician  at  Chichester.  At  the  age  of 
nineteen,  whilst  a  student  at  St.  Alban's  College,  Valladolid, 
God  vouchsafed  to  call  him  to  the  holy  Institute  of  St.  Francis. 
In  due  time  he  was  promoted  to  the  priesthood,  when  he 
offered  himself  for  the  Indian  missions,  but  his  superiors  pre- 
ferred his  being  devoted  to  the  cultivation  of  the  vineyard  in 
his  own  country.  The  will  of  this  fervent  religious  was 
identified  with  theirs,  and  he  embarked  at  Bordeaux  for 
Plymouth.   On  landing  there,  he  was  arraigned  and  consigned 

*  These  sons  were  Robert,  who  passed  by  the  name  Standish,  and 
died  at  Rome  in  1592 ;  and  William,  who  adopted  the  name  of  Starkie, 
and  died  at  St.  Omer's  in  1696. 


SINCE    THE    REFORMATION.  563 

to  its  filthy  gaol  for  eight  days,  and  thence  was  transferred 
to  the  county  gaol  in  Exeter,  which  at  that  period  might 
be  considered  as  the  very  worst  in  England.  Here  he  was 
doomed  to  pass  the  winter  of  1630;  and  his  constitution 
never  recovered  from  the  effects  of  the  fever  which  attacked 
him  during  that  term  of  his  confinement.  At  the  following 
Lenten  assize,  as  no  sufiicient  evidence  of  priesthood  appeared 
against  him,  he  was  removed  by  the  interest  of  friends  to 
London,  and  there  discharged.  This  worthy  son  of  St.  Francis 
consecrated  the  eleven  following  years  to  the  care  and  instruc- 
tion of  the  poor,  and  of  Catholic  prisoners  for  the  faith.  On 
hearing  of  the  martyrdom  of  the  Rev.  William  Ward,  he  felt 
a  vehement  desire  of  glorifying  God  in  his  blood ;  and  as  Pere 
Chiflet  relates,  in  his  "  Palmse  Cleri  Anglicani,"  he  exclaimed, 
"  Quid  hie  latemus  ?"  &c.  About  a  year  later,  viz.  11th  Sep- 
tember, 1642,  whilst  celebrating  Mass  in  the  house  of  Mrs. 
Powell,  the  daughter  of  Sir  Henry  Browne,  of  the  Montague 
family,  and  during  the  recital  of  the  "  Gloria  in  excelsis,"  he 
was  apprehended  and  brought  before  the  sheriff  of  London. 
The  12th  of  the  following  month  witnessed  his  execution  at 
Tyburn,  set.  thirty-eight,  rel.  nineteen,  sacerd.  fourteen.  One 
of  his  arm-bones  is  respectfully  preserved  in  St.  Elizabeth's 
Convent  at  Taunton.  His  portrait,  at  Lanheme,  has  a  re- 
semblance to  King  Charles  I. 

4.  Martin  Woodcock,  alias  Francis  Farrington  {Martin  h 
St.  Felice),  a  native  of  Clayton,  county  of  Lancaster.  I  have 
seen  his  letter  of  28th  September,  1630,  to  F.  Thomas  Fitz- 
herbert,  S.J.,  at  Rome,  thanking  him  for  the  many  civilities 
he  had  received  from  him.  He  states  that  he  had  then  put 
on  "  the  habit  (Capuchin) :  I  praise  sweet  Jesus,  almost  now 
a  quarter  of  the  year."  But  in  the  following  year  he  ex- 
changed it  for  that  of  the  Recollects  at  St.  Bonaventure's, 
Douay.  From  their  Register,  p.  18,  I  gather  that  on  the 
11th  November,  1638,  he  was  appointed  to  succeed  F.  Daniel 
Yates  as  confessor  to  the  English  nuns  of  St.  Elizabeth's 
Convent,  removed  from  Brussels  to  Nieuport ;  and  it  appears 
that  he  served  them  in  that  capacity  till  the  fourth  general 
chapter,  held  at  London  19th  April,  1640,  when  P.  Bernard 
of  St.  Lewis  succeeded  him.  Unfortunately,  the  acts  of 
the  intermediate  congregation,  as  well  as  of  the  fifth  chapter, 
in  1643,  are  missing.  But  he  was  sent  to  the  mission,  and 
was  butchered  alive  at  Lancaster  on  7th  August,  set.  forty- 
four,  rel.  fifteen. 

5.  Three  unknown  Franciscans  perished  in  gaol  before 
April,  1653.  Their  names  are  not  given  in  the  Register, 
p.  56;  but  they  are  written  in  the  book  of  life. 

2  o  2 


ENGLISH    FRANCISCAN    WRITERS 

6.  Two  other  Franciscan  missionaries  had  died  in  prison 
hefore  22nd  August,  1655,  but  their  names  are  not  recorded 
in  the  Register,  p.  60. 

7.  Three  other  anonymous  fathers  were  incarcerated  before 
14.th  July,  1656.— (Eeg.  p.  63.) 

8.  F.  Lewis  (Thomas),  Wrest,  a  native  of  Kent. — He  had 
long  suffered  incarceration  in  Lancaster  Castle.  On  his 
release  he  retired  to  Douay,  where  he  departed  in  peace  8th 
May,  1669,  set.  seventy-three,  rel.  thirty-eight. 

9.  John,  Wall,  alias  Francis  Webb  or  Johnson,  in  religion 
Joachim  k  S.  Anna.  Of  a  worshipful  family  in  Norfolk.  He 
was  born  to  an  estate  of  j£500  per  annum,  which  he  cheerfully 
relinquished  to  become  a  Franciscan.  Dr.  Challoner  was 
misinformed  in  stating  that  he  performed  all  his  studies  in 
the  English  College  at  Douay ;  for  the  fact  is,  that  he  reached 
the  English  College  at  Rome  from  Douay  on  5th  November, 
1641,  and  quitted  the  Eternal  City,  after  being  promoted  to 
priesthood  on  12th  May,  1648.— (Lib.  Rub.  Colleg.  Angl. 
Romse,  No,  793.)  On  1st  January,  1651,  he  joined  the  Fran- 
ciscans at  Douay,  and  two  years  later  was  appointed  Vicar  of 
St.  Bonaventure's  and  Instructor  of  Novices  and  Juniors.  In 
1656  we  find  him  acting  as  a  missionary.  Worcestershire 
appears  to  have  been  the  theatre  of  his  zealous  labours ;  and 
there,  at  the  breaking  out  of  Oates's  plot,  the  holy  man  was 
apprehended,  and  after  five  months'  confinement  in  the  county 
gaol,  was  arraigned  before  Justice  Atkins,  on  Tuesday,  15th 
April,  1679.  He  suffered  death  at  Worcester,  on  22nd  August, 
1679,  set.  fifty-nine,  rel.  twenty-eight.  At  the  congregation 
of  the  brotherhood  in  London,  12th  October,  1684,  F.  John 
Crosse  was  commissioned,  "  in  honorem  Dei  et  provincise 
decus,''  to  write  and  publish  his  life. — (Register,  p.  177.) 
Have  any  of  our  readers  seen  a  copy  ?  The  martyr's  head 
was  privately  conveyed  to  his  friend  F.  Randolph,*  to  be 

*  Randolph,  in  religion  Leo  of  St.  Mary  Magdalen,  a  most  able  and 
exemplary  missionary,  chiefly  resided  at  Edgbaston,  near  Birmingham. 
From  his  Register,  the  very  best  that  I  have  seen,  I  collect  that  he 
commenced  his  missionary  career  12th  September,  1657,  which  he  con- 
tinued for  thirty-eight  years.  On  23rd  March,  1687,  he  laid  the  first 
stone  of  a  church  in  Birmingham ;  and  on  16th  August,  1688,  of  a 
convent  there.  Bishop  Bonaventnre  Giffard,  on  4th  September,  1688, 
blessed  the  church  in  honour  of  God  and  St.  Mary  Magdalen.  Its  interior 
length  was  ninety-five  feet  by  thirty-three  in  width.  But  Lord  Dela- 
mere  and  the  Birmingham  rioters,  within  three  months  later,  demolished 
the  whole,  to  testify  their  attachment  to  civil  and  religious  liberty  ! 
F.  Randolph  died  late  in  1699,  guardian  of  Coventry. 

To  the  Franciscans,  Birmingham  owes  an  eternal  debt  of  gratitude 
for  maintaining  alive  the  sacred  fire  of  Catholic  faith  "  in  the  cloudy 
and  dark  day." — (Ezek.  xxxiv.  12.)     Its  inhabitants  should  specially 


SINCE    THE    KEFOKMATION.  565 

transported  to  St.  Bonaventure'a  Convent  at  Douay,  where 
F.  Woodcock's  head  was  respectfully  preserved. 

10.  Charles  Mahony,  of  the  Irish  province,  was  taken  in 
Wales  during  the  persecution  excited  by  Oates's  conspiracy, 
and  butchered  alive  for  the  priesthood  at  Ruthin,  in  Denbigh- 
shire, 12th  August,  1679,  before  he  had  completed  his  fortieth 
year. 

11.  i*'.  Francis  Levison  (Ignatius  a  S.  Clard),  after  fourteen 
months'  imprisonment,  died  in  fetters,  11th  February,  1680, 
aet.  thirty-four,  rel.  sixteen. 

12.  The  three  fathers,  Bertiardine  Langworth,  Francis  a  S. 
Magdalena,  and  Gregory  Jones,  were  prisoners  for  the  faith 
during  six  years,  from  1678  till  the  accession  of  King  James  II. 
F.  Ignatius  k  S.  ClarA  died  late  in  1679,  "  in  carcere,  post  14 
mensium  inclusionem  ibi." — (Reg.  p.  118.) 

13.  William  (Marianus)  Nappier,  alias  Russell,  a  native  of 
Oxford. — He  was  tried  and  condemned  for  Oates's  plot  and 
for  priesthood,  but  was  not  executed.  He  continued  in  gaol, 
when  he  was  sentenced  to  exile  in  1684.  Retiring  to  St. 
Bonaventure's  Convent,  he  there  happily  terminated  his  course 
4th  October,  1693,  set.  seventy-four,  rel.  fifty-four. 

14.  F.  Gervase  Cartwright,  who  had  been  provincial  from 
29th  April,  1683,  to  25th  April,  1686,  was  arrested  at  the 
Revolution,  and  thrown  into  Leicester  gaol,  and  sentenced  to 
death,  which,  after  two  years'  imprisonment,  was  exchanged 
for  banishment.  Gervase  Cartwright  had  suffered  imprison- 
ment two  years  and  four  months.  He  died  24th  August, 
1691,  set.  sixty-three,  rel.  forty-four,  sac.  forty,  at  PrincenhoflF, 
Bruges,  and  was  buried  in  the  cloisters  of  its  convent. 

15.  FF.  Francis  Hardwick  and  William  Lockier  were  con- 
signed to  Newgate,  London,  in  the  beginning  of  December, 
1688.  FF.  Daniel  Selby  and  Lewis  Gj'imbalson  were  immured 
in  York  Castle,  and  jF.  Bernardine  Barras  in  the  dungeon  of 
the  Kidcote  prison,  at  the  end  of  York  Bridge,  for  several 
months  at  the  period  of  the  Revolution. 

16.  F.  Paul  Atkinson. — This  glorious  confessor  of  the  faith 
had  been  duly  summoned  on  his  mission  to  attend  the  twenty- 
third  chapter,  to  be  celebrated  at  London,  9th  July,  1698, 
but  did  not  appear,  nor  was  any  excuse  received  for  his 
absence ;  this  was  shortly  after  accounted  for.  He  had  been 
apprehended  and  hurried  oflF  to  gaol,  and  condemned  to  per- 
petual imprisonment  for  priesthood.  His  brethren  employed 
every  effort,  but  in  vain,  to  procure  his  liberation  from  Hurst 

cherish  the  memory  of  the  good  provincis,!  F.  Pacificus  Nutt,  who  opened 
the  chapel  of  St.  Peter's  as  early  as  6th  May,  1783.  He  died  27th  Sep- 
tember, 1799,  wt.  sixty-three.    R.I.P. 


566  ENGLISH    FRANCISCAN    WRITERS 

Castle,  the  place  of  his  strict  confinementj*  and  there  he 
continued  for  thirty  years,  till  God  called  him  forth  to  the 
Land  of  Promise  on  15th  October,  1729,  set.  seventy-four, 
and  was  buried  at  St.  Jameses,  Winchester.  In  the  Chapter 
Register,  p.  364,  his  death  is  thus  recorded:  "In  Hurst 
prison,  Hants,  died  the  venerable  confessor  of  faith  and  of 
Christ's  priesthood,  F.  Paul  Atkinson,  formerly  lector  of 
theology,  definitor  of  the  province,  and  a  jubilarian  of  the 
order,  who,  during  a  continual  martyrdom  of  thirty  years, 
reflected  honour  on  his  prison,  on  our  province,  and  on  the 
English  mission,  who,  though  not  cut  oiF  by  the  persecutor's 
sword,  still,  as  we  piously  trust,  did  not  forego  the  palm  of 
martyrdom.  Wherefore  we  do  not  commend  him  so  much 
to  the  prayers  of  our  brethren,  as  we  propose  him,  as  a  model 
for  their  imitation." 

Lastly,  "in  1746,  the  venerable  confessor  of  Jesus  Christ 
F.  Germanus  Holmes,  once  lector  of  philosophy  in  our  convent 
of  Douay,  who,  after  suffering  various  insults  from  the  inso- 
lent dregs  of  the  populace,  from  hatred  of  his  priestly  cha- 
racter, was  consigned  by  the  magistrates  to  Lancaster  Castle, 
loaded  with  iron  chains,  where,  after  about  four  months,  he 
fought  the  good  fight,  and  there,  as  is  piously  to  be  hoped, 
finished  his  course ;  but  not  without  suspicion  of  poison  ad- 
ministered to  him  by  a  wicked  woman." — (Chapter  Register, 
p.  430.) 


Provincials  of  the  revived  English  Province,  O.S.F. 

We  may  premise  first,  that  in  the  general  chapter  of  the 
order  at  Rome,  in  1635,  it  was  agreed,  with  the  sanction  of 
Pope  Urban  VIII.,  that  this  province  should  be  restored  to  its 
former  honours  and  privileges  when  an  adequate  number  of 
members  could  be  collected ;  that  in  the  mean  time  it  should 
be  regarded  as  a  separate  custody ;  that  in  the  space  of  four 
years  the  numbers  had  so  increased,  that  the  Minister-General, 
F.  Bernardino  de  Senis,  announced  in  his  letters  patent,  dated 
from  Madrid,  6th  August,  1639,  the  restoration  of  the  English 
province,  and  the  selection  of  its  then  custos,  F.  John  Gen- 
nings,  to  be  its  first  provincial,  of  F.  Francis  k  S.  Clara,  to 
be  the  custos  custodum,  and  of  FF.  Bonaventure  Jackson, 
Nicholas  Day,  Francis  Bell,  and  Jerome  Pickford,  to  be 
definitors.     The  said  general  committed  to  F.  Joseph  Ber- 

*  A  considerate  resolution  was  passed  by  the  chapter,  23rd  April, 
1659,  that  whenever  any  of  the  fathers  was  incarcerated  for  religion,  a 
confrdre  should  be  deputed  to  collect  alms  for  his  relief. — (Reg.  p.  64.) 


SINCE    THE    KEFOKMATION.  567 

gaigne,  his  general-commissary  for  the  provinces  of  Belgium 
and  Great  Britain,  the  promulgation  of  this  ordinance,  which 
was  accordingly  performed  at  the  first  chapter  of  the  restored 
province  holden  in  St.  Elizabeth's  Convent,  Brussels,  on  the 
first  Sunday  of  Advent,  a.d.  1630.  Secondly.  That  the  elec- 
tions of  superiors  were  triennial.  Thirdly.  We  may  express 
our  regret  at  the  frequent  omission  in  the  act-books,  of  the 
year,  month,  day,  and  place  of  the  death  of  the  superiors ; 
yet  in  the  congregation  held  in  London,  14th  October,  1669, 
it  was  ordered,  "  fieri  nomenclaturum  omnium  fratrum  patrum 
defiinctorum  ab  restauratione  provincise,  quae  debet  append!  in 
sacristia,  noteturque  annus,  dies  et  locus  quo  quisque  obierit." 
First  provincial,  John  Gennings,  so  declared  Ist  December, 
1630,  was  re-elected  at  the  second  chapter,  held  at  Green- 
wich, 15th  June,  1634;  and  again  in  the  fifth  chapter, 
holden  in  1643,  the  acts  of  which  have  perished.  This  re- 
storer of  his  brethren,  retiring  later  to  his  beloved  convent  of 
St.  Bonaventure,  of  Douay,  meekly  awaited  the  time  of  his 
dissolution.  According  to  the  Register,  p.  69,  he  died  2nd 
November  (o.s.),  1660,  nearly  ninety  years  of  age ;  according 
to  the  Mortuary  Bill,  aged  about  ninety-five. 

2.  Christopher  Davenport,  D.D.,  alias  Hunt,  in  religion 
Franciscus  a  Sancta  Clara. — This  truly  great  man  suc- 
ceeded F.  J.  Gennings,  at  the  third  chapter,  at  London, 
19th  June,  1637  j  was  re-appointed  by  the  seventh  chapter, 
at  Nieuport,  July  10th,  1650;  and  such  was  the  opinion 
entertained  by  his  brethren  of  his  experience  and  merits, 
that  they  re-elected  him  at  their  twelfth  chapter,  holden  in 
London  4th  June,  1665.  Dying  at  Somerset  House  on  31st 
May,  1680,  set.  eighty-two,  missionis  fifty-seven,  he  was 
buried  in  St.  John's  Church,  Savoy. 

3.  George  Perrot  (a  St.  Gulielmo),  elected  provincial  in  the 
fourth  chapter,  celebrated  at  London  19th  April,  1640 ;  re- 
elected at  the  ninth  chapter,  at  London,  14th  June,  1656. 
He  died  in  England  before  the  meeting  of  the  fourteenth 
chapter  of  1671 ;  "  cujus  memoria  in  benedictione  est,  quia 
amator  fratrum  erat." — (Reg.  p.  110.) 

4.  Jerome  Pickford  {Hieronymus  a  S.  Bonaventura),  elected 
provincial  in  the  sixth  chapter,  held  at  Douay  28th  May, 
1647.  This  father  of  the  province  died  between  the  inter- 
mediate congregation,  holden  in  London  15th  November, 
1663,  and  the  provincial  chapter  assembled  in  that  city  4th 
June,  1665.— (Reg.  p.  93.) 

5.  Daniel  Yates  {a  S.  Johanne),  elected  at  the  eighth 
chapter,  in  London,  30th  April,  1653.  It  seems  that  he  died 
late  in  1659,  "Provincise  Pater."— (Reg.  p.  69.) 


568  ENGLISH    FEANCISCAN   WKITERS 

6.  Richard  Mason,  D.D.  {Angelus  h  S.  Francisco),  elected 
on  23rd  April,  1659.  This  venerable  jubilarian  obtained 
permission  from  the  intermediate  congregation  at  London, 
on  11th  December,  1675,  to  retire  to  his  convent  at  Douay 
(Reg.  p.  131),  where  he  peacefully  ended  his  days  on  30th 
December,  1678,  set.  seventy-eight,  prof,  forty-eight,  sac. 
forty-four. 

7.  Nicholas  Cross  {a  S.  Cruce)  served  the  office  of  pro- 
vincial four  times :  1st,  from  13th  April,  1662,  to  4th  June, 
1665 ;  2nd,  from  28th  April,  1671,  to  10th  May,  1674;  3rd, 
from  16th  June,  1680,  till  29th  April,  1683 ;  and  4th,  from 
28th  September,  1689,  until  12th  May,  1691,  when,  from 
age  and  infirmity,  he  was  allowed  to  resign.  He  died  at 
Douay,  21st  March,  1698,  set.  eighty-three,  prof,  fifty-nine, 
sac.  fifty-eight,  having  been  thrice  imprisoned  for  the  faith. 
—(Reg.  p.  244.) 

8.  Daniel  Clay  {a  S.  Francisco). — This  learned  scholar  had 
been  of  the  Irish  province,  but  was  incorporated  into  the 
English  on  22nd  August,  1655.— (Reg.  p.  59.)  After  filling 
several  offices,  he  was  elected  provincial,  1st,  at  the  thirteenth 
chapter,  in  London,  5th  April,  1668 ;  and  2nd,  at  the  sixteenth 
chapter,  held  at  Somerset  House  6th  May,  1677.  This  ex- 
provincial  died  early  in  1681. 

9.  John  Cross,  D.D.  {a,  S.  Cruce),  alias  More,  of  Norfolk, 
elected  at  the  fifteenth  chapter,  holden  at  Somerset  House  10th 
May,  1674;  and  again  at  the  nineteenth  chapter,  assembled 
in  the  same  place  on  25th  April,  1686.  He  died  at  Douay, 
13th  December,  1689,  set.  sixty-six,  rel.  forty-two,  sac.  thirty- 
six,  miss,  nineteen. 

10.  Gervast  Cartwright  (a  S.  Francisco),  elected  at  the 
eighteenth  chapter,  held  in  London  29th  April,  1683.  This 
father  of  the  province  and  confessor  of  the  faith  died  at 
Princenhoff,  24th  August,  1691,  set.  sixty-three,  rel.  forty- 
four,  sac.  forty. 

\\.  F.  Massey  Massy  {a  S.  Barbara),  a  celebrated  mis- 
sionary and  truly  apostolic  man,  was  appointed  provincial 
vicar  on  the  resignation  of  F.  Nicholas  Cross,  12th  May, 
1691 ;  and  at  the  ensuing  twenty-first  chapter,  at  London, 
28th  August,  1692,  was  declared  provincial.  Again,  when 
the  Provincial  F.  Anthony  le  Grand  died  in  office,  26th  July, 
1699,  F.  Massy  was  summoned  to  supply  the  remainder  of 
his  triennium.     He  died  in  1702. — (Reg.  p.  255.) 

12.  Pacificus  Price,  D.D.  (a  /S.  Albino),  elected  at  the 
twenty-second  chapter,  holden  in  London  7th  July,  1695; 
re-elected  6th  August,  1704;  but  dying  in  the  course  of  this 
triennium,  the  remainder  of  his  term  was  supplied  by  F. 


SINCE    THE    REFORMATION.  569 

Lewis  Grimbaldson.  The  Eegister,  p.  270,  describes  the 
deceased  as  "  vir  prorsus  pacificus,  ac  universis  gratus,  cujus 
memoria  in  benedictione  est." 

13.  Anthony  le  Grand  {Bonaventure  h  S.  Anna). — This 
gifted  father  was  elected  at  the  twenty-third  chapter,  assem- 
bled in  London  9th  July,  1698 ;  but  died  on  26th  July  of 
the  ensuing  year. 

14.  Bonaventure  Parry,  D.D.  (a  S.  Annci),  elected  31st 
August,  1701  (Keg.  p.  250),  a  most  sensible  and  business- 
like superior.*  This  venerable  jubilarian  died  at  Douay  in 
1720,  aet.  seventy-three,  rel.  fifty-eight. 

15.  Martin  Grlmstone  (a  S.  Carolo),  elected,  as  we  find, 
under  his  own  hand,  on  21st  July,  1707.  He  died  a  jubi- 
larian, at  Douay,  in  1729,  set.  seventy-two,  prof,  fifty- four, 
sac.  forty- seven,  and  was  buried  in  the  grave  of  his  convert. 
Sir  Henry  Fletcher,  of  Hutton,  co.  Cumberland,  Bart.,  who 
had  died  at  St.  Bonaventure's,  19th  May,  1712,  aged  fifty- 
four,  after  he  had  built  the  beautiful  conventual  church  at 
his  own  expense.  The  worthy  baronet  did  not  live  to  witness 
its  solemn  consecration  by  Clement,  Archbishop  of  Cologne, 
13th  November,  1712. 

16.  Anffelus  Fortescue. — He  was  born  to  a  plentiful  estate, 

*  We  have  seen  the  following  instructions  in  his  handwriting,  which 
he  handed  with  the  faculties  he  gave  to  his  subject  F.  John  (Capistran) 
Eyston : — 

"  Be  very  cautious  how  you  put  your  sickle  into  another's  harvest. 
Be  courteous,  civil,  and  obliging  to  all ;  familiar  with  few,  and  with 
none  of  the  other  sex.  Compassionate  the  poor,  helping  them  what  you 
can.  Be  tender  and  careful  of  the  sick.  Relate  not,  nor  report  the 
defects,  abuses,  or  liberties  of  your  own  or  other  families,  either  regular 
or  secular,  but  rather  vindicate  them  if  you  can,  or  waive  the  discourse. 
Beware  of  idleness,  taverns,  inns,  ale-houses,  and  clubs,  which  I 
earnestly  beg  you  to  forbear  as  much  as  possible.  Omit  not  daily 
mental  prayer,  nor  an  annual  recollection.  Be  punctual  and  exact  in 
observing  the  rubrics  of  both  mass  and  office.  Be  very  wary  what 
obligations  of  mass  and  prayers  you  take ;  and  none  of  any  moment  or 
long  duration  without  the  superior's  or  some  prudent  gi'ave  father's 
approbation.  Extol  virtue ;  cry  down  vice.  _^  Ground  your  flock  in 
solid  piety  and  devotion ;  more  particularly  'insisting  on  matters  re- 
lating to  frequenting  the  sacraments,  for  which  catecnistical  discourses 
upon  the  Commandments,  and  the  dispositions  required  for  the  sacra- 
ment of  Penance  and  the  Holy  Communion,  are,  in  my  judgment,  the 
most  proper.  Let  not  your  manners  contradict  your  doctrine,  nor  life 
and  actions  belie  your  words.  Be  zealous  for  the  conversion  of  souls, 
but  temper  zeal  with  prudence  and  discretion.  Meddle  as  little  as  may 
be  with  the  temporal  concerns  of  your  flock,  or  economy  of  families  ; 
and  be  not  forward  in  recommending  servants,  or  making  matches. 
Remember  perfect  expropriation  is  our  great  treasure,  which  we  must 
endeavour  to  preserve  by  renouncing  all  dominion :  in  the  use  of  money 
we  ought  to  be  very  moderate ;  and  in  all  matters  of  moment  have 
recourse,  if  possible,  to  the  superior." 


570  ENGLISH    TKANCISCAN    WRITERS 

which  he  renounced  to  emhrace  evangelical  poverty.  Whilst 
chaplain  to  Sir  John  Shelley,  he  was  infamously  calumniated 
hy  some  malevolent  tongues ;  but  his  patron  came  forward 
most  honourably  and  promptly  in  defence  of  his  integrity, 
in  1700.  His  brethren  also  testified,  that  after  more  than 
twenty  years'  experience  of  him,  they  believed  him  to  be  a 
man  of  solid  virtue  and  learning,  ever  truly  obedient  to  his 
superiors  and  endeared  to  his  brethren,  adding,  "  as  he  was 
the  first  that  appeared  at  the  King's  Bench  bar  since  the  late 
Revolution  upon  account  of  religion,  so  if  any  person  or  per- 
sons, upon  a  pique  or  hatred  of  the  Catholic  faith,  think  fit  to 
make  a  trial  of  his  Christian  fortitude,  we  firmly  believe  and 
hope  that  God  will  enable  him,  by  his  grace,  to  convince  the 
thinking  part  of  mankind  that  his  vocation  from  a  plentiful 
estate  to  evangelical  poverty  was  real  and  not  feigned." — 
(Reg.  p.  247.)  And  so  the  event  proved.  He  was  elected 
provincial  on  13th  August,  1710.  Obiit  anno  1719,  "  Pro- 
vincise  Pater  "  (p.  305) . 

17.  Anthony  Parkinson,  elected  3rd  May,  1713;  re-elected 
11th  April,  1722.     Died  in  England,  30th  January,  1728. 

18.  Bernardine  Smith,  elected  9th  May,  1716.  He  died 
at  Douay  in  1743,  "  Provincise  Pater  senior,  ac  novemdecim 
annis  Jubilarius." — (Reg.  p.  419.) 

19.  William  {Bernardine)  Baskerville,  elected  25th  August^ 
1719.  He  died  in  England,  1728,  "Provincise  Pater  et  Jubi- 
larius."—(Reg.  p.  346.) 

20.  Philip  Sadler,  elected  19th  April,  1725.  Subsequently, 
whilst  supplying  the  office  of  provincial  vicar,  he  was  taken 
ofi'  by  death,  on  16th  August,  o.s.,  1733,  in  England. — (Reg. 
p.  370.)  "  Provincise  Pater  perpetuus  et  de  Provincia  bene 
meritus."— (Reg.  p.  377.) 

21.  Joseph  Pulton,  elected  14th  May,  1728;  re-elected  on 
2nd  May,  1737 ;  and  again  20th  October,  1746.  He  died  in 
office  at  London,  29th  May,  1748,  before  the  end  of  his  tri- 
ennium. 

23.  John  {Capistran)  Eyston,  elected  11th  May,  1731. 
He  died  in  office  on  31st  July,  1732.— (Reg.  p.  366.) 

23.  Bruno  Cantrill,  who  had  been  supplying  the  office  of 
vicar  for  the  previous  eight  months,  was  elected  provincial 
minister  on  13th  May,  1734;  re-elected  3rd  May,  1743. 
His  death  occurred  in  1759,  at  an  advanced  age. 

24.  Thomas  Holmes,  elected  7th  May,  1740.  He  was 
summoned  subsequently  to  supply  the  remainder  of  F.  Joseph 
Pulton's  triennium;  after  which  he  was  re-elected,  in  July, 
1749,  for  another  three  years;  and  again  in  1758.  He 
must  have  died  in  England  in  1772.     He  certified  to  the 


SINCE    THE    REFORMATION.  571 

general  on  2Bth  January,  1750,  that  the  province  numbered 
about  one  hundred  brethren. 

25.  Aleadua  Smallwbod,  elected  2l8t  July,  1752.  He  died 
in  1756. 

26.  FeliseEnglefield,  elected  19th  August,  1755.— Ob.  1767. 

27.  Padficus  Baker,  elected  14th  July,  1761 ;  re-elected 
in  1770.— Ob.  16th  March,  1774,  at.  eighty.  He  certified 
to  the  general,  15th  November,  1761,  that  the  number  of  his 
brethren  was  "circa  centum,  et  sanctorum  monialium"  in 
the  two  monasteries  at  Bruges  and  Aire,  "  circa  octoginta." 

28.  Philip  Andr6,  elected  in  1764.— Ob.  1772. 

29.  George  [Joachim)  Ingram,  elected  in  1767. — Ob.  1775. 

30.  Bonavmtwe Healy,  e\scteiZ\si  June,  1773. — Ob.  25th 
September,  1777,  aet.  fifty-one. 

31.  Joseph  Needham,  elected  3rd  September,  1776. — Ob.  at 
London,  24th  March,  1791,  set.  seventy-four,  rel.  fifty-eight. 

32.  James  {Peter)  Frost,  elected  30th  August,  1782.— 
Died  at  Wooton,  3rd  October,  1785,  set.  fifty-four. 

33.  Romanes  Chapman,  elected  7th  September,  1779;  re- 
elected 27th  August,  1788. — Ob.  jubilarian,  at  London,  4th 
December,  1794. 

34.  Padficus  Nutt,  elected  5th  August,  1785 ;  re-elected  in 
1794  and  1797.— Ob.  at  Birmingham,  27th  September,  1799. 

35.  William  [Bonaventure)  Pilling,  elected  in  1791. — Ob. 
4th  December,  1801,  set.  sixty. 

36.  William  Knight  (who  had  supplied  the  remainder  of 
his  predecessor's  triennium)  was  elected  provincial  in  1800. — 
Ob.  at  Osmotherley,  1st  April,  1806,  set.  seventy-six. 

37.  James  {Joseph)  Howse,  elected  1803. — Ob.  15th  March, 
1822,  set.  seventy-six. 

38.  Peter  {Bernardine)  ColUngridge,  elected  in  1806;  was 
consecrated  bishop  of  Thespise  11th  October,  1807. — Ob,  at 
Cannington,  3rd  March,  1829,  set.  seventy-two. 

39.  Thomas  {Stephen)  Grafton,  born  at  Rowington,  county 
Warwick,  31st  May,  1764,  entered  St.  Bonaventure's  Convent, 
Douay,  as  he  informed  me,  on  10th  October,  1780;  succeeded 
Bishop  ColUngridge  till  1809,  when  he  was  duly  elected 
provincial ;  he  was  appointed  vice-provincial  again  in  1820 
for  one  year;  and  in  1833  was  re-elected  provincial,  when 
he  held  ofiBce  for  five  years  consecutively.  The  venerable 
man  closed  his  well-spent  life  on  23rd  December,  1847,  set. 
eighty-three. 

40.  James  {Laurmce)  Hawley,  the  worthy  missionary  of 
St.  Peter's,  Birmingham,  was  elected  in  1812.  He  died  at 
Worcester,  30th  June,  1834,  set.  eighty. 

41 .  Charles  {Francis)  Macdonnell,  brother  of  Daniel  Mac- 


572  ENGLISH    FRANCISCAN    WlllTEllS 

donnell.  Bishop  of  Olympus,  and  V.A.  of  the  Leeward  Islands, 
who  died  26th  October,  1844,  was  born  in  Ireland  in  1770. 
This  able  scholar  was  elected  in  1815 ;  and  two  years  after  the 
expiration  of  his  triennium  was  called  to  supply  the  vacant 
office.  On  10th  December,  1812,  and  again  on  26th  January, 
1816,  Bulls  were  expedited  creating  him  coadjutor  to  Bishop 
CoUingridge,  by  the  title  of  lonopolis ;  but  he  succeeded  in 
escaping  from  such  appointment,  preferring  the  interests  of 
his  order  to  what  the  world  regards  as  dignified  advancement. 
In  1821  he  was  re-elected  provincial,  and  in  1823  he  pro- 
ceeded to  Rome  on  the  business  of  the  body.  The  death  of 
his  dear  friend  P.  Richards  called  him  to  superiority  again 
until  1833.     He  survived  till  5th  November,  1843. 

42.  William  {Augustine)  Roberts  was  elected  in  1818,  and 
served  the  office  two  years  only.  He  died  at  St.  Omer's,  10th 
May,  1827,  aged  sixty-four. 

43.  Edward  {Ignatius)  Richards,  a  father  of  great  promise 
and  singular  zeal,  was  elected  provincial  in  1824.  His 
premature  death  at  Rome,  on  19th  December,  1828,  aet. 
forty-one,  filled  all  the  friends  of  religion  with  grief  and 
dismay. 

44.  Francis  {Leo)  Edgeworth,  born  in  London  26th  April, 
1799,  for  some  time  served  the  missions  of  Birmingham  and 
Weymouth.  In  the  beginning  of  November,  1831,  he  was 
appointed  by  Bishop  Baines  to  Bristol;  and  laid,  on  4th 
October,  1834,  the  foundations  of  the  present  church  at 
Clifton.  In  1838  he  was  minus  canonice  declared  provincial, 
and  shortly  after  the  succession  was  broken  up.  Oh,  that 
we  may  be  able  to  address  the  province  with 

"  Felix  prole  virum !  rediere  in  pristina  vires !" 


The  Form  of  making  a  Jubilarian. 

If  the  person  to  be  declared  a  Jubilarian  be  a  priest,  and 
his  health  will  permit  him  to  do  so,  he  shall  sing  the  High 
Mass,  and  shall  be  preceded  in  the  procession  by  a  youth, 
bearing  on  a  dish  a  garland  of  flowers.  After  the  Gospel  has 
been  sung,  the  Superior,  in  stole  and  surplice,  shall  sit  before 
the  altar,  and  shall  address  the  Jubilarian,  either  seated  or 
kneeling,  as  follows : — 

Q.  What  dost  thou  ask  for? 

J.  I  beg  of  Almighty  God  mercy,  and  the  grace  of  the 
jubilee. 

The  Superior  then  points  out  in  a  brief  address  how  good 
and  right  and  commendable  it  is   that   sinful  man  should 


SINCE    THE    REFORMATION.  573 

implore  the  mercy  of  his  Maker;  and  shall  explain  (from 
the  twenty-fifth  chapter  of  Leviticus)  how  the  Supreme 
Legislator  hallowed  the  year  of  jubilee,  how  He  commanded 
liberty  to  be  proclaimed  throughout  the  land,  that  oppression 
should  cease,  that  there  should  be  a  manumission  of  slaves, 
debts  cancelled,  and  every  man  return  unto  his  own  profes- 
sion. He  shall  touch  on  the  merits  of  the  postulant,  who 
has  lived  fifty  years  in  religion,  or  in  the  priesthood,  and  who 
has  cause  for  joy  and  exultation.  Nevertheless,  as  all  offend 
in  many  things,  and  are  liable  to  human  infirmity,  it  becomes 
him  to  implore  the  mercy  of  God,  the  remission  of  the  debts 
he  may  have  contracted,  and  the  restitution  of  spiritual 
graces  and  blassings.  All  are  then  directed  to  kneel  down, 
and  to  pray  to  God  for  the  postulant.  The  Superior  then 
recites  aloud  the  Lord's  Prayer. 

O  Lord,  save  thy  servant,  &c. 

Send  him  help,  O  Lord,  from  thy  holy  place,  &c. 

Let  not  the  enemy  prevail  against  him,  &c. 

Be  unto  him,  O  Lord,  a  tower  of  strength,  &c. 

O  Lord,  hear  my  prayer,  &c. 

The  Lord  be  with  you,  &c. 

Let  us  pray. 

O  Almighty  and  everlasting  God,  who  by  thy  lawgiver 
Moses  hast  desired  that  the  fiftieth  year  should  be  called  the 
jubilee  after  a  mystic  manner,  and  during  that  year  bounti- 
fully relaxed  burdens  and  debts,  and  enjoined  that  the  op- 
pressed bondmen  should  be  set  free;  grant,  we  beseech 
Thee,  to  this  thy  servant  N.  the  grace  of  the  jubilee,  that  is, 
the  remission  of  all  trespasses,  and  the  relaxation  of  all  faults ; 
for  he  begs  with  all  his  heart  the  effect  of  his  pious  petition, 
that,  stripped  of  every  sin,  and  restored  to  primeval  liberty  and 
innocence,  he  may  henceforth  persevere  unwearied  in  the 
observance  of  the  commandments  and  his  holy  rule,  and,  by 
the  gift  of  thy  grace,  may  walk  from  virtue  to  virtue,  from 
fortitude  to  fortitude,  and  at  length,  after  escaping  the 
dangers  of  this  life,  may  obtain  the  jubilee  of  heavenly  glory, 
and  an  eternal  mansion  in  that  house  not  made  with  hands. 
Through  Him  who  once  said,  "  In  my  Father's  house  are 
many  mansions"  (John  xiv.),  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  thy 
Son,  &c. 

Then  the  Superioi>  places  the  crown  of  flowers  on  the  head 
of  the  Jubilarian,  and  says : — 

This  crown  of  roses  and  garland  of  flowers  we  place  on 
thine  head  as  a  symbol  of  inward  beauty  and  future  recom- 
pense ;    that,  bearing  in  mind,  if  duly  decorated  with  the 


574  ENGLISH    FKANCISCAN   WRITERS 

flowers  of  virtues  here,  thou  art  entitled  to  aspire  to  receive 
the  crown  of  glory,  and  the  precious  diadem  of  the  kingdom, 
from  God's  own  hand.  A  blessing"  we  wish  thee  by  the 
grace  and  mercy  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  liveth  with 
God  the  Father,  &c. 

Let  us  pray. 

Almighty  and  everlasting  God,  who  hast  proclaimed  by 
thy  Apostle,  "No  one  shall  be  crowned  except  he  strive 
lawfully"  (2  Tim.  ii.  5),  and  who  hast  animated  us  to  per- 
severance in  thy  will  and  service  by  that  wonderful  promise 
of  thine,  "  Be  thou  faithful  unto  death,  and  I  will  give  to 
thee  a  crown  of  life "  (Rev.  ii.  10),  be  propitious  to  this  thy 
servant  N.,  who  by  thy  gift  has  now  completed  his  fiftieth 
year  in  this  state ;  heal  all  his  iniquities,  redeem  his  life  from 
destruction,  crown  him  with  mercy  and  compassion,  fill  his 
desire  with  good  things ;  may  his  hoary  head  be  venerable ; 
let  not  his  old  age  prove  the  shipwreck  of  his  former  years, 
but  a  crown  of  dignity;  with  a  joyful  and  cheerfal  heart 
may  he  run  the  way  of  thy  commandments  ;  may  he  be  clad 
with  heavenly  armour,  stand  girt  around  his  loins  in  truth, 
and  full  of  days  be  laid  with  his  fathers.  Let  him  not  be 
confounded  when  he  speaks  to  his  enemies  at  the  gate,  but 
rather  may  he  be  enabled  to  say  in  the  words  of  the  Apostle 
(2  Tim.  iv.  7),  "  I  have  fought  a  good  fight,  I  have  finished 
my  course ;  henceforth  there  is  laid  up  for  me  a  crown  of 
righteousness,  which  the  Lord  shall  give  me  at  that  day,  the 
righteous  Judge."  Through  the  same  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
thy  Son,  &c.     Amen. 

Then  the  Jubilarian  shall  intone  the  99th  Psalm,  Jubilate, 
the  choir  singing  the  alternate  verses ;  and  then  he  intones 
the  132nd  Psalm,  Ecce  quam  bonum,  in  the  same  manner. 
After  which  the  Superior  says  the  Our  Father,  &c. 

V.  The  Lord  be  with  you,  &c. 

Let  us  pray. 

O  God,  who  inflamest  thy  servants  who  are  turned  from 
the  vanities  of  the  world  to  the  love  of  their  supernal  voca- 
tion, assist  in  purifying  our  breasts,  and  pour  upon  us  the 
grace  of  perseverance  in  thy  service,  that,  defended  by  thy 
protection,  what  we  have  promised  by  thy  gift  we  may 
accomplish  by  thine  aid,  and  thus,  being  made  performers  of 
what  we  profess,  we  may  attain  those  things  which  Thou 
hast  vouchsafed  to  promise  to  those  who  believe  in  Thee. 
Through  Christ  our  Lord.  Amen. 
Let  us  pray. 

We  beseech  Thee,  O  Lord,  to  grant  us  perseverance  in 


SINCE    THE    REFORMATION.  575 

thy  service,  that  in  our  days  the  people  ministering  to  Thee 
may  be  increased  both  in  merit  and  in  number.  Through 
Christ  our  Lord.     Amen. 

Then  the  Superior  gives  his  benediction  to  the  Jubilarian. 

May  God  the  Father,  who  created  thee,  bless  "f"  thee,  and 
make  thee  persevere  without  sin,  and  without  pain  of  body 
and  mind,  both  now  and  for  ever.     Amen. 

May  God  the  Son,  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  purchased 
thee  with  his  precious  blood,  bless  ^  thee,  and  give  thee 
peace  of  heart  now,  and  eternal  peace  hereafter.    Amen. 

May  the  Holy  Ghost,  who  sanctified  thee,  turn  his  coun- 
tenance towards  thee,  and  take  pity  on  thee,  and  bless  i^ 
thee  with  the  privilege  of  this  holy  jubilee,  and  with  every 
spiritual  grace  from  above ;  that  at  length  thou  mayest  be 
found  in  the  company  of  those  of  whom  it  is  written,  "  Blessed 
are  they  that  dwell  in  thy  house,  O  Lord ;  they  shall  praise 
Thee  for  ever  and  ever"  (Ps.  Ixxxiii.  5).     Amen. 

The  hymn  Veni  Creator  Spiritus  may  then  be  sung,  with 
"  Confirm,  O  God,  what  Thou  hast  wrought  in  us,  and  send 
forth  thy  Spirit,"  &c. 

Then  the  Jubilarian  chants  the  collect,  "  0  God,  who  dost 
instruct  the  hearts  of  the  faithful." 

The  Blessing  of  the  Staff. 

Our  help  is  in  the  name  of  the  Lord,  &c. 
The  Lord  be  with  you,  &c. 

Let  us  pray. 

O  God,  who  hast  enabled  the  holy  patriarch  Jacob  to  pass 
the  Jordan  with  his  staff,  and  the  prophet  David  to  prostrate 
the  giant  with  a  sling  and  a  stafiF,  grant  to  thy  servant,  by 
the  staff  of  thy  Cross,  and  by  the  meditation  of  our  Lord's 
Passion,  bravely  to  conquer  all  the  torments  of  the  devils  and 
the  world ;  and,  after  manifold  victory,  may  he  obtain  the 
triumph  of  heavenly  glory.  Through  Christ  our  Lord. 
Amen. 

The  staff  is  then  sprinkled  with  holy  water  •f^  ,  and  delivered 
with  these  words : 

Receive  this  staff  of  divine  fortitude,  by  which,  with  Jacob, 
thou  mayest  safely  pass  the  Jordan  of  this  world,  and  reach 
the  promised  land  of  the  free.     Amen. 

At  the  end  of  Mass  Te  Deum  is  sung. 


576 


ADDENDA. 

Page  39. — Ferdinand  Brooke,  alias  Green,  of  Chidiock, 
who  suffered  19th  August,  1643.     Add— 

"  At  Lanherne  is  his  portrait,  with  eight  others.  The  holy 
man  is  represented  in  his  soutane,  with  the  bloody  knife  in 
his  breast;  he  appears  in  the  prime  of  life,  ruddy  coun- 
tenance, a  noble  forehead,  and  from  his  lips  issues  a  label, 
inscribed  '  Jesu,  Jesu,  mercy.'  The  remaining  eight  are 
Ealph  Corbie,  Francis  Bell,  Henry  Heath,  Henry  Morse, 
John  Duckett,  Thomas  Holland,  William  Ward,  and  Peter 
Wright.  The  history  of  these  portraits  is  thus  given  me  by 
the  reverend  mother  prioress  in  a  recent  letter  : — '  Our  com- 
munity at  Antwerp  being  distressed  for  novices,  they  deter- 
mined to  have  recourse  to  the  English  martyrs,  and  therefore 
m^de  a  novena  in  their  honour.  Shortly  after.  Miss  Mary 
Gifford,  of  Staffordshire,  presented  herself,  and  made  her 
profession  on  8th  April,  1681,  set.  forty-two,  taking  for  her 
religious  name  Sister  Mary  of  the  Martyrs.  She  brought 
with  her  the  portraits  of  these  ten  martyrs,  with  whom  her 
own  father  had  been  a  prisoner  for  some  time  for  the  faith. 
They  were  about  to  give  their  lives  for  it,  and  he  was  exceed- 
ingly anxious  to  obtain  their  portraits  beforehand.  Therefore 
he  tried  to  take  them ;  and  although  entirely  unacquainted 
with  the  art  of  painting,,  he  succeeded  almost  in  a  miracu- 
lous manner.  These  portraits  have  ever  since  been  preserved 
with  the  utmost  respect  and  veneration  by  our  community.' " 

Page  265. — Since  this  page  was  printed,  Dr.  Clifford's 
appointment  to  the  see  of  Clifton,  and  consecration  by  the 
•  Pope  himself,  on  15th  February,  1857,  has  fulfilled  the  pre- 
diction therein  expressed. 

Page  361. — Moutardier.  Father  Moutardier  died  at  St. 
Acheuil,  France,  on  5th  February,  1857,  aged  seventy-one. 


..-;//(  «' J."ff>^j'?/J3W  • 


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