Arundel to Zabi Brian Plumb
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Arundel to Zabi A Biographical Dictionary of the Catholic Bishops of England and Wales (Deceased) 1623-2000 Brian Plumb The North West Catholic History Society exists to promote interest in the Catholic history of the region. It publishes a journal of research and occasional publications, and organises conferences. The annual subscription is £15 (cheques should be made payable to North West Catholic History Society) and should be sent to The Treasurer North West Catholic History Society 11 Tower Hill Ormskirk Lancashire L39 2EE The illustration on the front cover is a from a print in the author’s collection of a portrait of Nicholas Cardinal Wiseman at the age of about forty-eight years from a miniature after an oil painting at Oscott by J. R. Herbert. Arundel to Zabi A Biographical Dictionary of the Catholic Bishops of England and Wales (Deceased) 1623-2000 Brian Plumb North West Catholic History Society Wigan 2006 First edition 1987 Second, revised edition 2006 The North West Catholic History Society 11 Tower Hill, Ormskirk, Lancashire, L39 2EE. Copyright Brian Plumb The right of Brian Plumb to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988. Printed by Liverpool Hope University ‘Some of them left a name behind them so that their praises are still sung, while others have left no memory. But here is a list of generous men whose good works have not been forgotten.’ (Ecclesiasticus 44. 8-10) This work is dedicated to Teresa Miller (1905-1992), of Warrington, whose R.E. lesson on Milner, in 1945, first aroused my interest in Bishops. CONTENTS Page Foreword 1 Preface to the Second Edition 2 Introduction 3 Notes 11 Chronology 12 List of The Catholic Bishops of England and Wales (Deceased) 1623-2000 13 Biographical Dictionary 24 Bibliography 224 FOREWORD By the Archivist of the Diocese of Salford. As diocesan archivist for the Salford diocese, whether doing my own research or helping others locate material for their own studies, I have found that there were two publications which invariably appeared on my desk: Found Worthy and Arundel to Zabi. Brian Plumb in 1986 produced Found Worthy, a biographical dictionary of the deceased clergy of the Liverpool Archdiocese from 1850 onwards. In 1987 he produced Arundel to Zabi, a biographical dictionary of the deceased Roman Catholic Bishops of England and Wales between 1623 and 1987. He has also written several parish histories and is well known for his love of church music. He brings to his work great attention to detail and an ability to succinctly and accurately make available the fruit of his scholarship. His pioneering work has been a source of inspiration and information for so many who have researched English Catholic history of the period. The North West Catholic History Society published a revised and enlarged edition of Found Worthy in 2005. It is an honour to write this foreword for the 2006 expanded and revised edition of Arundel to Zabi. I am sure many, myself included, will continue reaching for it gratefully as we pursue our own studies. David Lannon, PhD Salford Diocesan Archives 1 PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION When this book appeared in 1987 it was produced on a very slender budget and by a method that would now be considered primitive. Despite three proof-readings a few imperfections survived, mostly words either mis-spelt or omitted from sentences. But I believe the number of factual errors was small and only of minor details. Bishop Casartelli died in his apartment at S. Bede’s College, Manchester not in the Cathedral House at Salford, and the Oratory School where Bishop Francis Vaughan was educated was in Birmingham not Caversham. I am also informed that Bishop Arthur Riddell’s burial place is now at the Cathedral, not as it originally was in the public cemetery at Northampton. The names of the parents of Bishops Burton, Doubleday and Gordon have now been obtained, and the most recent Papal decree concerning the Bishopric of the Forces has been added to the Chronology. The most important alteration relates to the birthplace of Bishop Charles Walmesley O.S.B. For many years this was believed to have been Westwood House, Wigan, but investigations by Dr. Allan Mitchinson have established that the family only went there several years after the bishop was born, and that his birth took place at Standish, five miles north of Wigan. This is also corroborated by Bishop Walmesley’s own declaration on his admission to S. Edmund’s Priory, Paris. Another item that has come to my notice and worthy of mentioning here concerns the entry on Bishop Bishop, the very first of the Vicars Apostolic. This relates to the fact that he attempted to present a document to Queen Elizabeth I, affirming loyalty and stating that Catholic interest was purely spiritual, and that the Queen never saw it. However, it appears a similar statement had been offered before. That one she did see, and replied “If I grant this liberty to Catholics, by this very fact I lay at their feet myself, my honour, my crown and my life”. This is quoted in Alice Hogge’s recent book God’s Secret Agents (p.286). The same book also contains a description of Bishop’s physical appearance (p.292). Statistics and other relevant details have been amended as appropriate in bringing this new and revised edition to the close of the twentieth century, that is twenty-four additional entries from Thomas Bernard Pearson who died on 17 November 1987 to John Brewer who died on 10 June 2000. Brian Plumb Warrington 2006 2 INTRODUCTION In Lent 1623 Pope Gregory XV decided that the moment was opportune for sending a bishop into England, the first since the extinction of its ancient Hierarchy some forty years earlier. Much has been written about the events that brought about that collapse, and also about the survival of English Catholicism without episcopal authority. It is not my purpose to probe such tragic events, even less is it for me to enter into the arguments put forth, before and since, about the necessity of having bishops at all. However, in order to understand the Pope's decision, to explain the delays that preceded it, and the difficulties that followed it, some degree of retrospect is essential. (1) In February 1531 the bishops of England and Wales heard with an almost somnolent indifference, that King Henry VIII had proclaimed himself Head of the Church in England, and that communications with Rome were terminated. For twenty years those bishops had never engaged in any corporate action. Some of them only heard this startling piece of information by proxy. The position of Thomas, Cardinal Wolsey (1471-1530), Papal Legate and Lord Chancellor had been as powerful in Church and State as any citizen could ever attain. He had been authoritative in all things. His thinking had dictated theirs, his voice had declared their collective response, and now his ignominious end two months earlier had brought to them a sense of terror seemingly best dealt with by silence. History has judged them severely for - with the solitary exception of Saint John Fisher of Rochester -failing in their duty and surrendering without so much as a battle of words. However, several of them were over, or very close to being eighty years of age, most were more skilled in affairs of state than in theology, and all were imbued with that leisured attitude that security and long tradition inevitably gives. (2) In the year 1554, in the reign of Queen Mary, some attempt was made at repairing relations between England and the Holy See. But by then several changes had taken place, some of them quite complicated. Only one bishop - Cuthbert Tunstall of Durham - was a survivor of the Bench of 1531. He, and all the rest, a total of twenty-two, had been excommunicated for schism and repudiating the Pope's primacy. All except Tunstall owed their appointment to the Crown, thirteen to Henry VIII and eight to Edward VI. Furthermore, the seven most recently nominated had been consecrated according to the new rite of the Book of Common Prayer. Twelve of the twenty-two had married, yet of that twelve, six had been consecrated according to the Roman ritual. Deprivations for marriage or heresy took place, some resigned of their own accord, and Thomas Cranmer, the Primate, forfeited office by reason of his condemnation for high treason. Therefore between 1554 and 1558 nineteen new bishops were appointed. All were in the prime of life yet few were destined for longevity. Indeed it has often been said that this curious condition of so many dying so young was one of the major contributions to the devastation that was to follow. (3) When Queen Elizabeth I succeeded to the throne on 17 November 1558, change again became apparent. But by then no one was in any doubt that something astounding was happening, and the English bishops of 1559 proved to be just as obdurate as their predecessors of 1531 had appeared lax. Those of 1559 were a completely different body of men. Not one had received office as a reward for service to the Crown, or for displaying any ability in secular affairs. Four had spent years in exile for the sake of conscience, others were canonists, academics or college wardens. Ralph Baynes of Lichfield had been professor of Hebrew, in the University of Paris, and Thomas Goldwell of S. Asaph was a Theatine, that is a member of an order of strict observance to the vow of poverty and the care of the poor.