History of St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Parish, Fordhouses Wolverhampton
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History of St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Parish, Fordhouses Wolverhampton 1935 - 1965 Acknowledgements In a document of this type it would not be possible without the help of others, those who provided information, those who provided photographs, those who provided newspaper cuttings, those who provided copies of Mass books and those who provided stories and anecdotes they remember from the past. For all of those people we give our sincere and grateful thanks. Much of the current material was provided by Christine Turner, Gwen Kelly, Elizabeth Love, Trevor Stockton and Patrick Finnerty, Obituaries of past Priests was provided by Birmingham Archdiocesan Archives, to all these a special vote of thanks is made. In 1973 Fr. Kelly instigated the collection of historical facts relating to the History of the Parish. Most of the information was provided by Tom Martin and Florence Fincher, we thank them and others for their contribution. It is not known if this information was never made into any firm record. The information collected has now become available together with Parish Newsletters, Parish magazines, documents, photographs and letters. These have been included this publication. Taken from articles in the St. Anthony’s News magazine written by Mr. T. M. Martin Taken from notes written by Mrs. Fincher 16th October 1975 Taken from notes written by Fr Vincent Lucas The section “The Early Church in Wolverhampton” was compiled by the authors of “A Brief History of the parish of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour” from various souses of public domain information on the Internet. It is reproduced here with their kind permission. Please note that if any article has had to be re-typed because of its poor reproduction quality spellings, grammar, punctuations or layout has not been corrected. Articles remain in their original published form. First edition: October 2018 Revised: - April 2019, June 2019, June 2020, December 2020, February 2021 and June 2021 Compiled and Edited by: Anthony Clemson Please Note: It is inevitable that in any document of this type there may be inadvertent errors or inaccuracies, if so, every effort will be made to amend them in any new edition. We should look on this type of publication as a living document and are always grateful for corrected information or new information, such as photographs, newspaper cuttings, certificates etc. It is quite possible that there are aspects of parish and school life that may have been missed or not done justice to; if you can help us to add to the knowledge and history we would be pleased to have any new material to add to future editions of the book and our parish archive. Thank you History of St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Parish, Page 2 Wolverhampton. (1935 – 1965) The Early Church in Wolverhampton The first religious house was established in Wolverhampton in 994 by Lady Wulfruna, a rich noblewoman. She wanted the priests to pray for her soul and that of her husband, daughter and a kinsman. The oldest part of St. Peter's Collegiate Church still existing is the tower which was built in the thirteenth century. Over the years, until the Reformation, the Church served the Catholic people of the area; they supported, extended, and enlarged it. The Reformation and the Recusants In the Tudor period, King Henry VIII fell out with Pope Clement VI over his wish for an annulment of his marriage to his first wife, Catherine of Aragon - as a result he severed this country's links with the Roman Catholic Church. About 1536, he began to dissolve all the monasteries and take their riches for his own use; this included the church of St. Peter, Wolverhampton. For the next 200 years the lives of Catholics in the town were very unstable; their religion being banned under some of the monarchs, then briefly re-instated when the Catholic Queen Mary ruled. From 1571, because of the political situation, (Catholics were accused of trying to overthrow Elizabeth I) it became an offence to be a Catholic and to practise the Faith, anyone doing so could be fined and their lands seized. Harbouring priests was illegal and the priests and lay people could be imprisoned and sometimes executed for taking part in the Mass. Those Catholics who refused to give up their Faith were known as recusants. The local Protestant clergy were required periodically to supply lists of the recusants so they could be fined. Recusants and the Church in Bushbury The parish of Bushbury had three well-known recusant families: the Giffards of Chillington Hall, the Underhills at Northycote Farm and the Whitgreaves of Moseley Old Hall. Chillington Hall Northycote Farm Moseley Old Hall History of St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Parish, Page 3 Wolverhampton. (1935 – 1965) There were also a number of less well-known recusants in the Bushbury and Wednesfield areas; they all, gentry and workers, feature on the records of fines levied for being Catholic. The Catholic Giffards, Underhills and Whitgreaves are now commemorated in street names and schools in this area. Moseley Old Hall (home of the Whitgreaves until the late 1800's) was built about 1600 with various priest’s holes and a secret chapel because hearing Mass was a crime at that time. The family remained staunchly Catholic over the years despite the heavy fines they paid. During the 1700's two of the sons became Jesuit priests and returned to serve at Moseley. It also featured in the escape of Charles II after the Battle of Worcester. Eventually, with the Catholic Relief Act 1829, the punitive religious laws started to be relaxed and eventually the chapel at Moseley could be used openly. Later, the Whitgreaves moved to nearby Moseley Court where a private Chapel was built and used until it was demolished in 1922. Moseley Court, early in the 20th century These were the only places where Mass could be celebrated in the area until the churches of St’s. James and Francis (1923), and Our Lady of Perpetual Succour 1934 and St. Anthony’s 1936 were built, unless Catholics travelled into Wolverhampton to worship. History of St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Parish, Page 4 Wolverhampton. (1935 – 1965) History of St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Parish, Fordhouses Wolverhampton 1935 - 1965 The Early Years Early days in the parish. In the period between the wars new housing estates around Wolverhampton were completed and the churches of Ss. Mary & John, Ss. Peter & Paul and St. Patrick’s which served the Catholics of the town conveniently for so long, were now at a considerable distance from the new centres of population. It was in these circumstances that Father O'Connor, parish priest of St. Patrick's, began a Mass Centre for the Catholics of Oxley and Fordhouses. Through the generosity of Mr. F. Clarke, licensee of the Three Tuns Hotel, Oxley. Mass was said in the Assembly Room of the Hotel. An article in the Express and Star of the 7th January 1939 states that an average of 200 people attended Mass at this Centre and on occasions so great was the number that the billiard room was also brought into use. This venture begun by Fr. O'Connor was made more permanent when Fr. M.A. Gordon was appointed parish priest in 1938 and took up residence in the parish house in McLean Road. Here in McLean Road a Chapel was opened. Services were held on Sunday evening and on weekdays, attended by a congregation of about 30-40. Sunday Mass was still said in the Three Tuns Hotel. The Finchers came to live in this parish in 1934. The nearest Catholic Church was SS. Peter & Paul. On Sunday mornings buses only ran as far as Goodyears. The first bus was at 9.15am. and then only every hour until 2pm. 1936-37. Goodyears enlarged their Works so that, as a result, many unemployed people came from the north and so, many Catholics. Through the efforts of Councilor Glynn a large room at The Three Tuns Hotel was loaned and Fr. Donal O'Connor came and said Mass for us. The room was so crowded that the men were asked to stand in the Billiard Room through the doorway of which the altar could be seen. Fr. Gordon took measures at once to provide for Church. The immediate plan was to build a Church Hall where Services would be held and which would also be used for social occasions. Even at this time the Parish was not without important resources. Already, in September 1937 the Diocese had completed the purchase of 7 acres of land at Fordhouses situated off the main road leading from Wolverhampton to Stafford for the sum of £1,050. Also, half acre of land near the above was given to the Diocese by the late Alderman J. Cahill.as a site for the future History of St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Parish, Page 5 Wolverhampton. (1935 – 1965) Church. He made it clear later, that if the land were not used for this purpose, the Church Authorities should use it as they thought best. Ground by now had been obtained through the hard work of Fr. Woulf and Alderman Cahill and we had a resident priest in McLean road Fr Gordon who rented two houses one for himself & the other for his housekeeper and handyman who attended his well-being. It had one very large room instead of two smaller ones. In the latter we had the use of the large room once a week for our money making efforts. The beginning of social life in the parish is recalled by Mrs.