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The Division of the Diocese of Beverley 1878, ‘A Distasteful and Painful Affair’

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 February 2015

Abstract

The decision by the Holy See in 1878 to divide the diocese of Beverley into two smaller dioceses was unwelcome initially to many Catholics of the region, who felt it was unbalanced and unfair. This was a particularly long-held perception within the new diocese of Middlesbrough, which was comprised of the more rural areas of Yorkshire together with a new but often uneconomical industrial conurbation on the River Tees. The article examines whether this was an honest perception by scrutinising the logistics of the division, its geographical implications and the consequences for the future of the diocese in terms of the presbyterate and growth of mission.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Catholic Record Society 2014

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References

Notes

1 LDA W144. Division of Diocese of Beverley 1879. Petition of the Laity of the County of York to the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda.

2 Information taken from Carson, R., The First Hundred Years (Diocese of Middlesbrough, 1977), iixi,Google Scholar replicating material held in LDA.

3 LDA. Cornthwaite Pastoral Letters, Pastoral Letter 10.02.1879.

4 Cwiekowski, F.J., The English Bishops and the First Vatican Council, p. 52.Google Scholar

5 See note 2.

6 The Ainsty was the area that surrounded York to its west and bounded by three rivers. It was originally a wapentake of the West Riding but from 1449–1836 was controlled as a rural area by York Corporation.

7 The data for this study has come from the following sources. For Middlesbrough: MDA The Catholic Directory (Various years) and The Diocese of Middlesbrough Year Book (Various years). For Leeds: Fitzgerald-Lombard, English and Welsh Priests 1801—1914 (1993 Downside Abbey) The Catholic Directory (various years). The data collected was for all secular priests who served in the Diocese of Beverley in 1879 and included the year of birth and ordination and the year in which the priest ceased to exercise an active ministry and the reason for this.

8 LDA. Cornthwaite Correspondence. Letter from Lacy to Cornthwaite 13.09.1883.

9 Ushaw College Archives: Tate-Slater Correspondence 1.10.1862.

10 Heinrick, Hugh ‘The Irish in England’ in The Nation 1872.

11 Stubley, P., Industrial Society and Church. Middlesbrough 1830–1914 (Woodfield Publishing, 2001)Google Scholar provides a fuller analysis of the industrial problems in relation to Middlesbrough during this period particularly Chapters 1 and 2.

12 LDA. Cornthwaite Correspondence. Letter from Lacy to Cornthwaite 13.09.1883.

13 MDA Lacy: Lenten Pastoral letter 06.02.1880.

14 MDA Letter to Clergy from Bishop Lacy 17.01.1881.

15 North Eastern Daily Gazette 10.02.1879.

16 LDA, W144. Division of Diocese of Beverley 1879. Appeal of the Laity of the County of York to the Pope.

17 LDA, W144. Division of Diocese of Beverley 1879. Petition of the Laity of the County of York to the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda.

18 LDA. W144. Division of Diocese of Beverley 1879. Letter of P Radcliffe to Cornthwaite04.03.1879.

19 See Carson for excerpts of some of the letters, p. 48.

20 Supple-Green, J., ‘The Catholic Revival in Yorkshire 1850–1900’ (1990) Leeds Philosophicaland Literary Association Vol. XXl:3 pp. 203295.Google Scholar