Charles Walmesley

Charles Walmesley
Charles Walmesley
    Charles Walmesley
     Catholic_Encyclopedia Charles Walmesley
    Bishop of Rama, Vicar Apostolic of the Western District, England, b. 13 Jan., 1722; d. at Bath, England, 25 Nov., 1797. He was the fifth son of John Walmesley of Westwood House, Wigan, Lancashire; was educated at the English Benedictine College of St. Gregory at Douai (now Downside Abbey, Bath); and made his profession as a Benedictine monk at the English Monastery of St. Edmund, Paris, in 1739. Later he took the degree of D.D. at the Sorbonne. His scientific attainments soon brought him into notice as an astronomer and mathematician. He was consulted by the British Government on the reform of the calendar and introduction of the "New Style", and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of London, and the kindred societies of Paris, Berlin, and Bologna. From 1749 to 1753 he was Prior of St. Edmund's, Paris and in 1754 was sent to Rome as procurator general of the English Benedictine Congregation. Two years later he was selected by Propaganda as coadjutor, with right of succession, to Bishop York, Vicar Apostolic of the Western District; and was consecrated Bishop of Rama on 21 Dec., 1756. He administered the vicariate after the retirement of Bishop York in 1763, and succeeded that prelate on his death in 1770. His energy and ability attracted to him an amount of attention seldom given to Catholic bishops in England in the eighteenth century. So much was this the case that during the "No Popery" riots of June, 1780, a post-chaise conveying four of the rioters, and bearing the insignia of the mob, drove the whole way from London to Bath, where Walmesley then resided. These men worked upon the people of Bath so much that the newly built Catholic chapel in St. James's Parade was burned to the ground, as well as the presbytery in Bell-Tree Lane; all the registers and diocesan archives, with Walmesley's private library and manuscripts, being destroyed.
    In 1789 when the action of the "Catholic Committee" threatened seriously to compromise the English Catholics, Walmesley called a synod of his colleagues, and a decree was issued that the bishops of England "unanimously condemned the new form of oath intended for the Catholics, and declared it unlawful to be taken". On 15 August, 1790, Walmesley consecrated Dr. John Carroll, the first Bishop of the United State of America, at Lulworth Castle, Dorsetshire. Walmesley was buried at St. Joseph's Chapel, Trenchard Street, Bristol. In 1906 the bodies there interred were removed, and the bishop's remains were translated to Downside Abbey and placed in a vault beneath the choir of the abbey church, so that, more than a century after his death, his body came into the charge of that community by whom he was educated nearly two hundred years ago. The suggestion was put forward that the bishops of the two hierarchies of America and England, of whom the large majority trace their spiritual descent to Bishop Walmesley, should erect a fitting monument over his grave. The proposal met with generous support, and a beautiful altar tomb with recumbent effigy in alabaster from the designs of F.A. Walters, F.S.A., has now been erected on the Gospel side of the sanctuary. Walmesley's published works consist chiefly of treatises on astronomy and mathematics, but his "General History of the Christian Church ... chiefly deduced from the Apocalypse of St. John the Apostle, by Signor Patorini" (a pseudonym), went through nine or ten editions in Great Britain and five more were produced in America. Translations of the work also appeared in Latin, French, German, and Italian, and were several times reprinted. A number of his letters are in the archives of the Diocese of Clifton. Portraits exist at Downside, Clifton, and Lulworth.
    BRADY, Episcopal Succession, III (Rome, 1877); LE GLAY, Notice sur C. Walmesley (Lille, 1858); OLIVER, Collections (London, 1857), 429, 527; BUTLER, Historical Memoirs of English ... Catholics (4 vols., London, 1822)); BURTON, Life and Times of Bishop Challoner (2 vols., London, 1909); WARD, Dawn of the Catholic Revival (2 vols., London, 1909); The Rambler, VII.
    G. ROGER HUDLESTON
    Transcribed by Thomas M. Barrett Dedicated to the memory of Bishop Charles Walmesley

The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume VIII. — New York: Robert Appleton Company. . 1910.


Catholic encyclopedia.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Charles Walmesley — Pastorino, O.S.B. (best known by the pseudonyms Signor Pastorino or Pastorini; 13 January 1722 – 25 November 1797) was the Roman Catholic Titular Bishop of Rama and Vicar Apostolic of the Western District of England. He was known, especially in… …   Wikipedia

  • Walmesley, Charles — • Bishop of Rama, Vicar Apostolic of the Western District, England (1722 1797) Catholic Encyclopedia. Kevin Knight. 2006 …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • Charles Stourton, 15th Baron Stourton — (2 March 1702 – 11 March 1753) was the son of Charles Stourton (1669–1739), himself the third son of the twelfth Baron Stourton, William Stourton. Charles mother was Katherine Frompton (died 1736). Charles was the eldest of five children, with… …   Wikipedia

  • Thomas de Trafford — Sir Thomas Joseph de Trafford, 1st Baronet (22 March 1778 ndash;10 November 1852) was a member of a prominent family of English Roman Catholics. He was born at Croston Hall near Chorley, Lancashire on 22 March 1778, son of John Trafford and… …   Wikipedia

  • Douai School — Motto Dominus mihi adjutor (Latin: The Lord is my aid ) Established 1615 (re founded 1818 and 1903) Closed 1999 Type Independent Religion Roman Catholic …   Wikipedia

  • Cisalpinism — (derived from this side of the mountains ) was a movement amongst English Roman Catholics arguing that Catholicism, while not rejecting the supreme teaching authority of the Pope, should not be based on his dominance. This traditionalist but non… …   Wikipedia

  • Archdiocese of Baltimore —     Archdiocese of Baltimore     † Catholic Encyclopedia ► Archdiocese of Baltimore     The senior see of the United States of America, established as a diocese 6 April, 1789; as an archdiocese 8 April, 1808; embraces all that part of the State… …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • Carroll, John — • First American bishop (1735 1815) Catholic Encyclopedia. Kevin Knight. 2006. Carroll, John     John Carroll      …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • John Carroll —     John Carroll     † Catholic Encyclopedia ► John Carroll     First bishop of the hierarchy of the United States of America, first Bishop and Archbishop of Baltimore, b. at Upper Marlboro, Md., 8 Jan., 1735; died in Baltimore, 3 Dec., 1815. His …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • Unfulfilled religious predictions — This article does not include predictions by authors of sacred texts. It includes other notable, original predictions, as well as predictions based on interpretations of sacred texts. Predictions written in major sacred texts are covered in… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”