O’Bryen – Forgotten Victorians

Fr Philip O’Bryen 1861 – 1913

June 6, 2016 WillLeave a comment

Philip O’Bryen is one of Ernest O’Bryen‘s older brothers. To be precise, he is four years older.

He was born 25th Jun 1861 in South Kensington, and died 7th Nov 1913. He is the third son of John Roche O’Bryen and Celia Grehan, one of their six children. He is a half brother of Mgr Henry O’Bryen, and Corinne and Basil O’Bryen by his father’s marriage to Eliza Henderson.

His obituary from the Tablet gives some clues.

The Tablet 15th November 1913

THE REV. PHILIP AUGUSTUS O’BRYEN.

We regret to record the death of the Rev. Philip Augustus O’Bryen, rector of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Princes Park, Liverpool which occurred on Friday afternoon, November 7, with startling suddenness. His morning had been spent in active work in the parish. After saying an early Mass at 6.45, he heard confessions and took Holy Communion to eight sick people. Between breakfast and noon he visited the sick in the Consumption Hospital, and returned home about midday. Feeling unwell and in considerable pain, he took to his bed. A little before three he was visited by one of his curates; at three he was found dead, having succumbed to heart failure, arising from rheumatism, to which he had, been subject since an attack of rheumatic fever in his student days at Ushaw.

Father O’Bryen, who was a cousin of Archbishop Bagshawe, was born in Westminster in 1861. He received his early education under the Christian Brothers, at Clapham, and went in 1872 to Ushaw, where he remained eighteen years, four of which were occupied in teaching. He was a B.A. of London University. Ordained at the English Martyrs’, Preston, in 1889, by Bishop O’Reilly, he was immediately appointed Professor of Mathematics and Science at St. Edward’s College, Liverpool, where he remained until his appointment as assistant priest at the important mission of the Sacred Heart, Liverpool, in 1895. Towards the end of the following year he was placed over the Mission of St. Joseph, Skerton, near Lancaster. On his arrival he found only a school chapel, but through the generosity of the late Miss Margaret Coulston he was able to build the present magnificent church and presbytery. In 1902 he succeeded the Rev. Father Pyke, now of the English Martyrs’, Preston, at Mount Carmel, Liverpool, and applied the funds raised by his predecessor in connection with the silver jubilee of the mission to erect a roodscreen and effect other improvements. His first important work in his new sphere was the division of his parish, and he superintended the building of St. Malachy’s Church, the foundation stone of which was laid some ten years ago by Cardinal Logue.

Requiem Masses for the soul of the deceased priest were said in several Liverpool churches. On Sunday evening the remains were taken to the church, where a crowded congregation had assembled. A solemn dirge was recited on Monday evening. The funeral took place on Tuesday, when a High Mass of Requiem was sung at the Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel by the Archbishop of Liverpool, the deacon being Father Newton (Eccles), and the subdeacon Father J. Fitzgerald. Dean Goethals and Father J. Broadhead (vice-president of Ushaw) were deacons at the throne, and Father H. Blanchard was master of ceremonies. The music of the Mass was sung by the clergy diocesan choir, under the direction of Father A. Walmsley (Great Crosby.) The relatives present were Mr. and Mrs. Alfred O’Bryen, Mr. R. O’Bryen and Mr. B. Smith. The clergy present included Canons Kennedy and Hennelly (Birkenhead), Prior Burge, 0.S.B., Dom Wilson, 0.S.B., and Dean O’Donoghue (Wigan). The sermon was preached by the Rev. Father J. Hughes, who spoke highly of the character and work of the deceased.

The remains were taken to London, and the interment took place at Fulham Catholic Cemetery on Wednesday.—R.I.P.

Ernest Adolphus O’Bryen 1865 -1919

March 3, 2016 WillLeave a comment

This was almost the first thing I searched on. We sort of knew that he had been Mayor of Hampstead, but not that it had been throughout the First War. In fact, from 1913 until his death in 1919 (six terms in total). He is easily identified in the garden party photo sitting next to the Cardinal. The decoration he’s wearing is a bit odd, and I suspect it’s possibly a papal decoration. He was granted a knighthood, but died before being done; but Lady OB was given the title anyway.

We also had pictures of him being the Mayor in the photo collection

The next thing I found was this obituary.

The Tablet, Page 28, 3rd May 1919

ALDERMAN ERNEST A. O’BRYEN.

We regret to record the death of Alderman Ernest A. O’Bryen, Mayor of Hampstead, which took place on Saturday night, at the age of fifty-three years, following on an operation from which he at first seemed to be progressing favourably. Educated at Stonyhurst and Cooper’s Hill, he spent some ten years in the Indian Forest Service in Upper Burmah, shortly after its annexation. He retired from the service in 1897 and married in the following year, Gertrude, daughter of the late Alfred Pursell. In 1913 he was elected Mayor of Hampstead, first Catholic to hold that position, and held it till his death. In 1916 he was President of the Stonyhurst Association and the same year was elected a Vice-President of the London Circle of the Catenian Association. During the war he took a leading part in making arrangements for the feeding and accommodation of Belgian refugees, and he also organised and equipped hospitals for the British Red Cross and St. John Ambulance. In 1915, Alderman O’Bryen was instrumental in raising the 183rd Howitzer Brigade and the 138th and 139th Heavy Batteries of Royal Garrison Artillery.

This helped a lot. Working on an obvious hunch that everyone named is a close relation, and a bit of digging, we have the soon-to-be Lady OB with her four sisters and two brothers, two brother-in-laws, and it appears the wife of a brother-in-law. All eminently Googleable.

And not a difficult step to get to Dr John Roche O’Bryen, his father………..

ALDERMAN ERNEST A. O’BRYEN. Obituary 3rd May 1919

November 4, 2015 WillLeave a comment

The Tablet, Page 28, 3rd May 1919

ALDERMAN ERNEST A. O’BRYEN.

also

ALDERMAN ERNEST A. O’BRYEN.

We regret to record the death of Alderman Ernest A. O’Bryen, Mayor of Hampstead, which took place on Saturday night, at the age of fifty-three years, following on an operation from which he at first seemed to be progressing favourably. Educated at Stonyhurst and Cooper’s Hill, he spent some ten years in the Indian Forest Service in Upper Burmah, shortly after its annexa-tion. He retired from the service in 1897 and married in the following year, Gertrude, daughter of the late Alfred Pursell. In 1913 he was elected Mayor of Hampstead, first Catholic to hold that position, and held it till his death. In 1916 he was President of the Stonyhurst Association and the same year was elected a Vice-President of the London Circle of the Catenian Association. During the war he took a leading part in making arrangements for the feeding and accommodation of Belgian refugees, and he also organised and equipped hospitals for the British Red Cross and St. John Ambulance. In 1915, Alderman O’Bryen was instrumental in raising the 183rd Howitzer Brigade and the 138th and 139th Heavy Batteries of Royal Garrison Artillery.

The funeral took place on Wednesday. The Requiem Mass was celebrated at St. Dominic’s Priory, Haverstock Hill, by Father Bodkin, S.J. Among those present were Mrs. O’Bryen and her five children, Mr. and Mrs. A. J. Winstanley, Captain and Mrs. Parker, Mr. Alfred Pursell, Mrs. Edwardes, Mr. and Mrs. E. J. Bellord, Mr. Frank Pursell, Mr. Alfred O’Bryen, Mrs. Rex O’Bryen, Mrs. Basil O’Bryen, the Deputy Mayor, the Town Clerk, Aldermen and Councillors of the Borough of Hamp-stead, the Vice-Chairman of the London County Council (Mr. A. T. Taylor, L.C.C.), Alderman Sir William Dunn, Bart., Alderman J. W. Gilbert, L.C.C., Mr. W. Reynolds, L.C.C., Mr. John O’Connor, K.C., Canon Burton, Father Robert Bracey, O.P., Rev. J. Keating, S.J., Father John Leather, O.P., Mr. J. G. Bellord, Dr. Ernest Ware, Mr. Synnott, Mr. Lescher, and many others. Father Bodkin also gave the Absolutions, and officiated at the interment at Kensal Green, assisted by Father John Leather. Several communities of nuns were also represented in the church. The children from Bartram’s Orphanage lined the road near the church and the entrance to the avenue at the cemetery.

” The Catholic body in London has suffered a severe loss by the death of Alderman Ernest O’Bryen,” writes one who knew him. ” The number of Catholic laymen who take a prominent share in London public life is unfortunately not very large, and the untimely death of one who had achieved such a notable success as to be elected six times in succession Mayor of the borough of Hampstead, in which he lived, must fill wits deepest regret all those, interested in Catholic social effort in the Metropolis. Those who had the privilege of knowing Ernest O’Bryen intimately were not surprised that he secured the con-fidence and the esteem of his fellow workers, both Catholic and non-Catholic. An able adminstrator, with a sound judgment, a strong resolution, a persuasive manner, and a power of appro-priate silence—the last a valuable gift in public life, his two outstanding qualities were perhaps his loyalty and his generosity of service. He was loyal, most loyal, to his religious beliefs and practices, loyal to his country, loyal to his friends, and loyal to those co-operating with him. His fellow Catholics know of his loyalty to his religion : Hampstead marked its appreciation of his loyalty to his country at the beginning of the war by re-electing him as Mayor five times to see the war through ; many like the writer have experienced his loyalty to his friends, which showed itself in times of anxiety and difficulty, not in word service but in practical form ; whilst of his loyalty to those co-operating with him his record in public life and in many Catholic organizations with which he was connected will bear willing witness.

” His great generosity of service has undoubtedly contributed to his breakdown in health. Few London Mayors have exceeded his standard of effort as first citizen of a London borough through-out the difficult period of the national emergency. His achieve-ments in connection with the Prince of Wales Fund, Red Cross and St. John Ambulance work, Belgian Refugees, recruiting for Kitchener’s Army and the Derby Scheme, the Hampstead Tribunal for exemptions from military service, of which he was Chairman, the War Loan Campaign, the Food Economy Cam-paign and the provision of allotments—all are in the records of Hampstead public life, and it is to be deeply regretted that he has not lived to receive the official recognition of these services, which he so richly merited. The Catholic body in London, certainly, may be proud of the excellent record of public service for the common good which a Catholic layman has achieved.

” Of his Catholic work it is unnecessary to write at length. The Catholic Federation, in its early days, the Catenian Society, the Stonyhurst Association, Catholic elementary schools, have by his death lost a good friend. If he had been spared, and, as seemed likely, his scope of public service had been increased, all these associations would have benefited materially from his sup-port. His last visit to the writer was with a view to securing material assistance for a Catholic charitable institution, in the development of which he took great interest. His untimely death certainly creates a void in London Catholic life, which it will be very difficult to fill.” R.I.P.

The above text was found on p.28, 3rd May 1919 in “The Tablet: The International Catholic News Weekly.” Reproduced with kind permission of the Publisher. The Tablet can be found at http://www.thetablet.co.uk .

Roche of Limerick

April 6, 2015 Will1 Comment

Extract from Burke’s History of Commoners of Great Britain and Ireland Vol 1

Published in London MDCCCXXXIII (1833) {pp 669 – 671}

The family of Roche or Limerick has branched from that of Castletown-Roche, in the county of Cork. John Roche, of Castletown-Roche, descended from the Viscounts Fermoy, was a member of the Catholic Parliament or Council held at Kilkenny during the civil wars, and his name appears as such to the declaration of the Irish Roman Catholics in 1641.

His eldest son, Robert Roche, espoused Juliana 0’Moore, daughter of Alexander O’Moore, of Ballina, in the county of Kildare, and was succeeded by his eldest son, Stephen Roche, known by the designation of Dov, or Black, from his complexion, whose estate, already injured by composition in the time of Cromwell, was entirely forfeited under William III.

Compelled in consequence to leave the county of Cork, he retired to Kilrush, in Clare, and afterwards took up his abode at Pallas, in the county of Limerick, in the vicinity of his brother-in-law, William Apjohn, esq. He married Anastasia, elder daughter and co-heir of Thomas Lysaght, esq. (the other co-heir, Catherine, was the wife of Mr. Apjohn) and was succeeded by his son.

John Roche, esq. b. in 1688, who wedded Anne, youngest daughter of Philip Stacpole, esq. of Mountcashell (the fee of which estate is now in Thomas Roche, esq.) Kilneen, and Kilcoman, in the county of Clare, (by his wife, Christian, daughter of John Creagh, of Ballyvolane, in the same shire, colonel in the Irish army, anno 1642), and had, with other issue,

Philip, m. Margaret, daughter of John Kelly, esq. of Limerick, and had issue
John, who m. Miss Harold, cousin of General Harold, of the Saxon service, and had a daughter, Mary-Anne, who wedded John Meade, esq. of Limerick, and was mother of Captain Roche Meade, of the 21st regiment, deputy-adjutant-general.
STEPHEN, b. 5th December, 1724 his heir.
1. John, who m. Miss Whyte, dau. of Charles Whyte, esq. of Leix lip, and had a son,
Jane, m. to John Sheehy, esq. of Cork, and had a daughter, m. to Bryan Keating, esq. by whom she was mother of General Keating.
Christiana, m. to James Lombard, esq. of the county of Cork, and had several daughters; of whom the youngest m. Daniel O’Connell, esq. of Ivragh, in the county of Kerry, and was mother of Charles O’Connell, esq. now M.P. for that shire. The eldest m. Daniel Cronin, esq. of the Park, in the county of Kerry.

The eldest son, STEPHEN ROCHE, esq. b. 5th December, 1724, succeeded his father in 1760. He m. ﬁrst, Margaret, daughter of Richard Meade, esq. and had issue,

JOHN, his successor.
Richard, in holy orders, who cl. in 1805.
George, successor to his brother, John.
Anne, m. to Peter Long, esq. of Waterford, and had, with other children, a daughter, Margaret Long, who wedded ﬁrst, James O’Brien, esq. of Limerick, and secondly Cornelius O’Brien, esq. M.P. for Clare; by the former of whom she had three sons,

John O’Brien, esq. of Elmville, in the county of Clare. who espoused Ellen, daughter of Jeremiah Murphy. esq. of Hyde Park, in Corkshire, and niece of the Right Rev. Doctor Murphy .
Peter O’Brien, esq. of Limerick, who m. Miss Shiel, sister of Richard L. Shiel, esq. M.P. for the county of Tipperary.
James O’Brien, esq. barrister-at-law.

5.Mary , m. to Peter Grehan,(b 1749) esq. of Dublin, and had issue,

Thady Grehan, married and has issue.
Stephen Grehan, who m. Miss Ryan, of Inch. and has issue.
Margaret, (widow of John Joyce. esq.) a nun at Galway.
Anne Grehan, m. to Thomas Segrave, esq. of the family of Cabra, and had, with other issue, two daughters,

Mary Segrave,m. to Nicholas Whyte, esq. late high sheriff of Downshire.
Anne-Frances Segrave, m. in 1826, to the Hon. William Browne, brother of the Earl of Kenmare.

Mary Grehan, m. to Hubert Dolphin, esq. of the county of Galway, and has issue.
Helen Grehan, m. to Alexander Sherlock, esq. of Killespie, in the county of Waterford, and has issue.
Lucy Grehan, m. to Christopher Gallwey, esq. of Killarney, and has issue.

Stephen Roche espoused secondly, Sarah, daughter and co-heiress of John O’Bryen. esq. of Moyvanine and Clounties, both in the county of Limerick, chief of the O’Bryens, of Arran, lineal descendants of Brien Borroimhe, and had issue,

STEPHEN, of Killarney, now in possession of the ancient estates of Moyvanine and Clounties, m. Maria, daughter of John Moylan, esq. of Cork, and has issue,

STEPHEN, m. Eleanor, eldest daughter and co-heiress of the late Thomas Reddington esq. of Rye Hill, in the county of Galway.
John.
Mary, a nun
Sarah, m. to John Howley esq. assistant barrister for the King’s County
Anne – unmarried
Helena – unmarried
Harriet, m. to Daniel Cronin, esq, late high sheriff for Kerry.

Thomas, of Limerick, m. Hellen, daughter of John Ankettle, esq. and has issue,

1 Stephen, who married Catherine, daughter, and co-heiress of— Knight, esq. by Miss Lacy, his wife, cousin of the celebrated Marshal Count Lacy, the favourite and friend of the Emperor JOSEPH II. who died in his arms (1792).
2 John, unmarried.
3 William, a solicitor in Dublin, married Eliza, another daughter and co heir of— Knight, esq.
4 Helen, m. to D. R. Kane, esq. barrister-at-law, commissioner of bankruptcy, in Ireland.
5 Sarah unmarried.

James, of Cork, m. Anne, daughter of John Moylan, esq. (sister of his brother’s wife, both nearly allied to the late Right Rev. Doctor Moylan, of Cork) by whom (now deceased) he has two daughters, Marianne and Sarah.

WILLIAM, M.P. for his native city of Limerick, and its ﬁrst catholic representative, since the repeal of the penal laws. Mr. Roche was an eminent banker, and his free and entirely unsought for election is the strongest attestation of homage that his fellow citizens could have paid to public virtue, and private worth. He resides in Limerick, and his gardens there, unique in design and construction, have long attracted the attention of travellers. (See Fitzgerald’s History of Limerick.) } unmarried.

Sarah, m. to Francis French, esq . of Portcarran, in the county of Galway, who (I. a. p.

Hellen, m. to the late Denis O’ Meagher, esq. of Kilmoyler, in the county of Tipperary, and left at her decease,

Stephen O’Meagher, esq. the present chief of that ancient family.
William O’Meagher, student-at law.
Sarah O’Meagher.
Maria O’Meagher.

VII. Anastasia, relict of Edward 0’ Meagher, esq. of Marl Hill, in the county of Tipperary.

Stephen Roche (his second wife having died on the 8th November, 1786,) married thirdly, Mary-Anne, daughter and co-heir of Richard Ankettle, M.D.by his wife, Mary Bourchier, of the family of the Bourchiers, Lords Berners; but by this lady, who died in December, 1821, he had no children. He died. 12th February, 1804, and was succeeded by his eldest son,

John Roche, esq. one of the most eminent merchants in Dublin, who married Mary, daughter of Thady Grehan, esq. of that city but dying without issue in September, 1825, was succeeded by his brother, the present George Roche, esq. of Granagh Castle, in the county of Kilkenny, now the Chief of his house.

Arms –Gules, three roaches naiant in pale.

Crest —A rock ppr. thereon a ﬁsh eagle with its wings displayed, arg. membered, or. in the claw a roach.

Motto —Mon Dieu est ma roche.

Estates~—In the counties of Kilkenny, Limerick, and Clare.

Seat—Granagh Castle, Kilkennyshire.

‘ In the year 1724-, this Doctor Ankettle was a student of medicine at Paris, when John Fitzgibbon, father of the Lord Chancellor Fitzgibbon, Earl of Clare, visited that capital to pursue a course, not of divinity, as Sir Jonah Harrington states, but of medicine. Young Fitzgibbon immediately sought his townsman, who was allowed a day to show Paris to his friend, and both traversed the city accordingly in all directions. At length they stopped at a late hour to visit the cathedral of Notre Dame, in the immediate vicinity of their college; and exhausted with fatigue, fell so soundly asleep on the benches of the choir, as to escape the sexton’s closing the church at night, It was past midnight when the youths awoke, and ﬁnding themselves thus immured, touched in their groping about the bell-rope, and soon made the great chimes resound to the no small amazement of the worthy sexton; and alarm of the good citizens of Paris. They were, of course, quietly liberated . John Fitzgibbon subsequently relinquished his medical studies, and was called to the Irish bar in 1732, when he successfully laid the foundation of his prosperous house.

GENERAL VALLANCEY, in his Collectanea. vol. i. page 569, makes speciﬁc mention of this John O’Bryen, whom he describes as the representative of the princely branch of the O’Bryens. of Arran, and gives a transcript of a certiﬁcate from the mayor and bailiffs of the town of Galway, attesting the loyalty of Morrogh O’Bryen, (the sixth progenitor of the said John) chief of the Mc’Tiges, of Arran,temporal lords of the isles of Arran, time out of man’s memory, (the original of this document is in the possession of James Roche, esq. of Cork; special allusion is made to it in O’Brien’s Irish Dictionary , and likewise in Ferrar‘s History of Limerick, where the family of Roche is also referred to. The certiﬁcate bears date, 30th March, 1588, and is addressed to Queen Elizabeth. Lady Morgan founds her story of ” ‘The O’BRIENs and the O’FLAHERTYS,” on some circumstances recited in this document relative to the dissensions of these powerful septa.

Of the same stock as the noble house of Clan willism. This Margaret was great-grand-niece of General Purcell, who was executed by order of Ireton, after the capitulation of Limerick in 1651.

Agnes Mary O’Bryen – obituary 1924

February 11, 2015September 7, 2020 WillLeave a comment

23rd August 1924 MRS. A.M. O’BRYEN.

On Friday 15th, the Feast of the Assumption, the death took place at Convent Lodge, Harrow, of Mrs. Agnes Mary O’Bryen, at the age of seventy-three. The deceased lady was the daughter of the late Dr. Kenny, of Richmond. The funeral took place at Hampton Hill on Tuesday[19th] last. After Requiem Mass, celebrated by the Rev. John O’Brien (of Twickenham), his lordship Bishop Butt performed the burial service, attended by Canon Burton, D.D., Canon Myers (President of St. Edmund’s College), the Revv. Harold Burton, John Cuddon, T. Bishop, and H. Darbey. Among those present were Miss Gladys O’Bryen (daughter), Lady O’Bryen, Miss Cecily O’Bryen, Mr. and Mrs. R. O’Bryen, Mrs. Fitzgerald, and Miss Throckmorton (relatives), and many friends. His Eminence Cardinal Bourne sent a kind message of sympathy. —R.I.P.

Very Reverend Edwin Burton – Obituary 1925

February 9, 2015 WillLeave a comment

The Tablet Page 22, 19th December 1925

VERY REV. CANON BURTON, D.D.

With deep regret we have this week the task of recording the death of the Very Rev. Canon Edwin Burton, D.D., which took place last Sunday at Convent Lodge, Harrow. It is now some months since he was stricken with the illness which has proved fatal. Failing eyesight came upon him in the spring, and it was not long before this was recognized as the symptom of more serious trouble. Everything possible was done, and for a time the Canon was under treatment at St. Andrew’s Hospital, Dollis Hill ; but the disease had taken too firm a hold upon his constitution. After a short rest at the house of his friend Mr. Mitchell Banks, M.P., he was taken back to his own home at Sudbury Hill, Harrow, to die, realizing the sure and swift approach of death, and meeting the will of God with fervour and priestly recognition. In the following survey of Canon Burton’s career we shall attempt no more than a bare chronicle of facts by way of outlining the story of a busy and ungrudging life of service to the Church—service manifested in administrative work, from the pulpit, and through laborious hours of literary research and writing. We hope to print next week an estimate of the late Canon’s worth and work from one more closely associated with him and more qualified to do justice to his memory. Meanwhile, in another column, it is noted how the death of Dr. Burton deprives The Tablet of a valued friend and contributor.

Edwin Hubert Burton was born on August 12, 1870, and was the eldest son of Major Edwin Burton, of the 4th Battalion Royal Fusiliers, his mother being Sarah, daughter of Thomas Mosdell Smith, of Vinieira House, Hammersmith. After early education at Baylis House School, Slough, he went to Old Hall, and thence to Oscott and Ushaw. As a schoolboy he was never very keen on games; his tastes lay in reading, particularly in reading history, and anything concerning the theatre also interested him. He was at first intended for the clerical life, but after leaving Ushaw he studied for a time as articled clerk to Messrs. Oldman, Clabburn 8z. Company, solicitors. It was at this period of his life That he began acquiring that wide knowledge of the Metropolis which enabled him, long afterwards, to write the article on London in the Catholic Encyclopedia and more recently the informing papers—since gathered into a volume —on London Streets and Catholic Memories for our own columns. In 1893 he qualified as a solicitor, but shortly afterwards resumed his clerical studies, this time at Oscott, which had become, since his former sojourn there, an ecclesiastical seminary. His ordination took place not far away, at St. Thomas’s Abbey, Erdington, in 1898, at the hands of Hie Grace Archbishop Iisley, then Bishop of Birmingham.

Canon Burton’s priestly life found him, for a short time, at Commercial Road, E. where at that time there was a pastoral college, to which Cardinal Vaughan sent him to labour under the late Canon Akers ; incidentally, one of his seniors here was Father Amigo, the present Bishop of Southwark. Shortly afterwards he was appointed a professor at St. Edmund’s College, Old Hall, where he was destined to spend many fruitful years ; he was chosen in 1902 as Vice-President by Mgr. Bernard Ward, whom he succeeded in the Presidency on the latter’s appointment as first Bishop of Brentwood in 1917. It was about this time that he received from Rome the honorary degree of Doctor of Theology, and he was shortly afterwards made a Canon of the Cathedral Chapter of Westminster.

The strain of ruling at Old Hall in the very difficult circumstances of the war-time, and particularly the haunting thought of the number of his former pupils who were being killed, undermined still further the Canon’s health, already impaired by a serious illness and operation during his tenure of the Vice Presidency. Consequently he resigned in 1918, and after a period of recuperation at Hanwell, he became, two years later, parish priest at Hampton Hill. Parish work, however, by no means exhausted his energies ; for apart from writing, preaching frequently in and around London, and the spiritual direction of a number of convents, he found time for much useful work on the committees of the Catholic Record Society, the Catholic Truth Society, and other bodies, and in addition undertook the duties of Diocesan Archivist at Westminster.

The last phase of Canon Burton’s active life began when, in June, 1924, he went as chaplain to the Visitation Convent at Harrow, partly for reasons of health and partly to leave himself the needed free time for literary tasks, particularly that of writing the history of the Old English Chapter, an undertaking for which he had gathered much material. Here he continued to work as long as he was able—a brief time only, as the sequel was sadly to show.

Of Canon Burton’s writings, the biggest and most important is the well-known Life and Times of Bishop Challoner : this work had occupied him for many years, and won high praise on both sides of the Atlantic on its appearance in 1909. He edited for the Catholic Record Society the Third, Fourth, and Fifth Douay Diaries ; was joint editor, with the late Father J. H. Pollen, S.J., of Kirk’s Biographies of English Catholics in the Eighteenth Century and of Lives of the English Martyrs ; and produced, in conjunction with Canon Myers, the present President of St. Edmund’s College, a volume on The New Psalter and its Uses. The accounts of London Streets and Catholic Memories, referred to above, appeared in book form, reprinted from The Tablet, within the past year. To the Catholic Truth Society’s list he contributed several widely read pamphlets of English historical and biographical interest : The Penal Laws and the Mass; Bishop Challoner ; Bishop Talbot; and Bishop Milner. For the Catholic Encyclopedia he wrote an almost amazing number of articles on persons and places. Probably not many readers know of the Canon’s Yesterday Papers, privately printed in 1908. He also produced Richard Rolle’s Meditations on the Passion put into modern English. Add to all this his many occasional articles in The Tablet, Dublin Review, and other periodicals, his book reviews and compiled catalogues, and it will be seen that the life now closed was one of great literary fertility.

Canon Burton leaves a brother in the priesthood, the Rev. Harold Burton. To him, and to all other relatives of the deceased priest, wide and heartfelt sympathy will go out in their bereavement.

THE FUNERAL SERMON.

The funeral took place at St. Edmund’s College on Thursday. Preaching at the Requiem Mass, the Rev. Dr. J. G. Vance, Vice-President, said : In this venerable college it has been an ancient custom that those who have ruled and loved St. Edmund’s faithfully and well should be commemorated by word ere they are laid to their long rest. There falls to me, therefore, this morning the sad task of endeavouring to express something of all that Edwin Burton was to those who knew and appreciated his gallant soul, his unswerving loyalty, his zeal, unobtrusive learning, and his genius for friendship. If I crave your indulgence I use no mere formula of words. It is not easy to do justice to our dead. There are things that must remain unsaid, high deeds of his soul that lie hidden with God. There are intimacies of a friend that none Should reveal, which lie not hidden but unspoken in our own hearts. There is the overwhelming sadness of relatives and friends shared in full measure by the friend who speaks these few poor broken words to-day.

The name of Edwin Burton will start different crowding associations in the minds of us all. We think of the direct, simple faith, with its unbounded sense of dependence on God, its deep love, and its humble confidence in Christ Jesus; of the schoolmaster who always erred on the side of mercy and leniency ; of the confessor whose gentleness and understanding brought to his penitents both resoluteness of purpose and consolation; of the Vice-President who, always a centre of unity, gave an unaltering loyalty to the President and his Bishop, and an equal loyalty to all his colleagues; of the historian who collected his material with such scrupulous care before using it with the skill of a master hand; of the President whose brief but fruitful spell of office was darkened by war-clouds ; of the struggling rector of a new mission ; of the staunch protagonist of the canon of the English Martyrs ; of the preacher whose eloquent words had a special quality of sincerity and fire. But there are many more associations still. We think of his vivid sense of humour ; his hearty, spontaneous merriment ; of stories told with a special legal gravity which ended in happy and strangely sudden laughter ; of a very impulsive character disciplined and restrained for the love of Christ ; of the natural instinctive likes and dislikes of a keenly sensitive soul ; of a very great distinctive personal charm; of a character again essentially English—foreigners existed, indeed, but these were rather incomprehensible, with their unusual contractions and expansions of mood, and in any case not very interesting; of a very honourable gentleman who could stoop to nothing mean or questionable ; of a curiously versatile mind and nature which had its keenest interest in its own old legal profession—of which he was always genuinely and rather boyishly proud—in English literature, in English history, in the drama and theatre, which were to him a source of special delight ; in the eighteenth century in all its moods, its coteries, debates, politics, art, and theatre ; in the long, unfolding story of the Catholic Church, especially of the Church in England since the days of the Reformation—as on this subject he was one of the few specialists in existence, his loss will in very deed be irreparable; in the long and splendid story of the City of London down the centuries —he was, he said, a denizen of no mean city, and he loved to wander, fancy free, around the old romantic roads and waterways ; and—for this varied list must close—in all that concerned the ancient history, interests, or present endeavour of St Edmund’s College. As these and other associations press through the mind, I yet feel no hesitation in singling out certain great outstanding traits in this lovable character.

Edwin Burton was one of the most self-forgetful of men ; indeed, the whole of his priesthood is marked with this great seal of Christian virtue. When he became a priest he relinquished a profession which he dearly loved and a hundred interests that claimed his heart. Leaving all things, and forgetful of every personal wish, he followed Christ. After ordination he would have liked to work on the mission in London, the city which claimed so much of his generous and splendid enthusiasm. He was, after a brief spell, sent to teach at St. Edmund’s. For teaching, though he had great and even remarkable skill, he had little or no interest. He used to say that he had none of the instincts—whatever they be—which make a schoolmaster. But he taught the second class of rudiments for many years, without a word of complaint. He never wanted to be Vice-President of the college. Again he suffered the appointment, and threw himself With a characteristic keenness into every possible detail of collegiate life and history. There is not a place in the college, not a department of its manifold work, which does not show daily traces of his organizing capacity, of his great orderliness of mind, of his love for ancient traditions and his zeal for their perpetuation. There was no ambition in this man, who, centre, mainspring, heart and life of the college during all those years, attracted no praise to himself. And the work was done at the bidding of his Bishop for the love of Jesus crucified, in entire and absolute self-forgetfulness. There was, I repeat, no ambition in the man who, against the prayer of all his colleagues, resigned from the presidency because he thought that others were better fitted for the task and the grave responsibility. Nor can I fail to refer to that singularly touching act of self-forgetfulness which led him, an ex-President of the college and a Canon of Westminster, to open a little mission, far enough away from the main highways and waterways of the London that he loved. While he ruled or shared in the rule of St. Edmund’s his life was marked by this same self-forgetfulness. To his superiors went all the credit for the deed done, to himself he allowed whatever blame there might be to attach. His silences were sometimes almost terrifying to those who knew the facts. In his dealing with colleagues or junior priests, he was so self-forgetful that he absolutely never knew what jealousy was or what it might mean. Any success of a junior priest or colleague was to him a source of joy as the happy smile and unstinted congratulations bore constant witness. It was this same quality which gave him such a strange power and manliness of character. When faced a few months ago with a serious operation, which would almost certainly have involved his death, he made all his arrangements very quietly and with the same singular efficiency and the old orderliness of mind. He worked at these his own affairs with the same perfect self-forgetfulness that had characterized his priesthood from the beginning. He little knew how friends who visited him drew inspiration from this splendid, soldier-like manliness, which so well became the son of a soldier and a disciple of Jesus Christ.

Yet while he held the inmost citadel without breach for his captain Christ, Edwin Burton had a great genius for friendship. He was rather quick in his sympathies, which he did not scruple to express. He was equally quick in his antipathies though of those he would be silent. He made friends easily, and wou’d give his confidences unquestioningly to those whom he loved and trusted. With friends he was expansive. To them his whole manner would be one of deep consideration and real affection. Thoughts, feelings, random ideas, plans and hopes, dreams and fears, old memories—all came to be shared in the joys of friendship. There are fhose in friendship whose nature is to give and to give generously of their intimate selves, and others who cannot give themselves but only take the gift of others. Edwin Burton did both–he gave of himself and encouraged others to give of themselves—and in this probably lay the secret of so much of his charm and his power of attracting and keeping friends. His friends were always friends for life—grappled to his soul with hoops of steel. They might correspond or not, years might pass without the crossing of a word, and at the end Edwin Burton would expect just the same unbroken tenacious friendship which he himself so generously gave. Moreover, loyalty to friends was with him not a habit of mind or will, so much as a fundamental and inalienable instinct. Of him it may be said that he never failed a friend, that he never faltered in the cause of friendship, that he loved his friends with an extraordinary fidelity, that he redoubled their joys and halved their sorrows, and that he helped to keep in their ears the melodies of childhood amid the confusion of sounds and the distracted cries of life.

I have finished. With heavy hearts, Edwin Burton, we bear your body from before the Altar where you have so often offered the sacrifice of the Mass for the living and the dead, past the Lady Altar where you prayed with pure heart as child and man and older priest, to the shrine where you will rest peacefully in sight of the relic of our St. Edmund whom you so greatly loved. If the tears start, you with your understanding of friendship will forgive us. But through our sorrow we pray earnestly that you may soon find the realization of every impulse of your generous soul, of your clinging love of beauty, of your desire for the full and plain truth of things, and of your eternal priesthood in a way of which even you, with your deep understanding of the things of the spirit, have never dreamed in the triumphant vision of the Living God.

May his soul and the soul of all the faithful departed through the mercy of God rest in peace.