vvMlTR ^>
 
 ! H /) 1 
 
 Ta'A
 
 CATHOLIC HISTORY.
 
 CATHOLIC HISTORY 
 
 OF 
 
 LIVERPOOL. 
 
 THOMAS BURKE. 
 
 LIVERPOOL : 
 C. TiNLiNG ± Co., Ltd., Piuntkhs, 63, Victouia Sthbet. 
 
 1910. 
 
 y
 
 A/C. 
 
 O.N. ,\^>v" 
 
 CLASS ""M/^^^^^^S 
 
 CK. ' 
 
 5 V.T. 
 
 CK. 
 
 ' COPY 
 
 ADD, 
 
 I.ST.' 
 
 Iss. 
 
 W f H'.-* H 'WKi
 
 L 7 39 J 
 
 CATHOLIC HISTORY 
 
 OF 
 
 LIVERPOOL. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 No city or town in Great Britain, and few in Ireland, 
 contains so many Catholics within its boundaries as the city 
 of Liverpool. This is due to its close proximity to Ireland. 
 Indeed, it may be said with truth that Liverpool would not 
 have risen into prominence at such an early date had not 
 successive English monarchs from Henry the Second to 
 William the Third recognised the great convenience afforded 
 by the Mersey for the conquest of Ireland. In turn the 
 Anglo-Irish difficulty and its consequences filled Liverpool 
 with an enormous Irish population, which carried into an 
 essentially Protestant community the ancient faith, and 
 renewed in some forty churches the ritual and devotions 
 which for many centuries were practised and observed in the 
 pre-Reformation churches of Walton, St. Mary's del Key, and 
 St. Nicholas. 
 
 An Anglican weekly, commenting on the pageant 
 festivities of 1907, observed that the Church of England did 
 not figure as prominently as was desirable in the processions 
 and tableaux ; that there was too much prominence assigned 
 to events and incidents connected with the Roman Catholic 
 Church in and around Liverpool. The complaint was well 
 founded, though, had it been otherwise, the pageant would 
 have been shorn of much of its beauty, and, what is more 
 important, would have been an untruthful representation of 
 the past history of the town. Why, however, the Benedictine 
 priory of Birkenhead was made so prominent a feature, and 
 the ancient parish church of Walton ignored, puzzled many 
 people who knew local history, to say nothing of no reference 
 to the first church erected in the town, St. Mary of the Quay. 
 Save for the beautiful banner of St. Nicholas,* the " old 
 
 ♦ Worked by Mrs. Jacob and presented to St. Nicholas' Pro-Oathedral, 
 Copperas Hill, by Councillor A E. Jacob, J.P. 
 
 'I /? f\i^\ 
 
 f^ »-«U ^-i.
 
 2 
 
 churrh ' in Chapel Street was set aside as if it had never 
 existed, unless it be that St. Nicholas was not regarded as a 
 parish church, as it was subject to Walton until the year 1699. 
 The church of St. Mary at Walton dates back to Saxon 
 times. Domesday Book records its existence, and the posses- 
 sion by its resident clergy of an endowment of certain lands 
 in Bootle. In the year a.d. 1094 Roger de Poictiers granted 
 the tithes of Walton to the Priory of Lancaster, and a little 
 later the church was added to the endowment of SS. Peter 
 and Paul, Shrewsbury. Up to the reign of King Edward the 
 Fourth, the presentation to the living lay in the hands of the 
 monks of the interesting town on the Severn, elevated by 
 Pope Pius the Ninth into a cathedral city in the year 1850. 
 The head of the Molyneux family bought the right of 
 presentation, and entailed lands in Nottinghamshire on his 
 brother, on condition that there was paid the sum of forty 
 shillings yearly to the priest who served at the high altar of 
 Walton. In the valuation of Pope Nicholas, a.d. 1291, the 
 value of the living is set down at forty-four pounds. It is 
 related that " Roberte Fizacreley was priste incumbent " 
 there of the foundation of John Mowbr ly, to sing Masses for 
 the " sowle of him and his antecessors." This is a disputed 
 point. One writer says that the chantry was founded a.d. 
 1470, by Father John Molyneux, rector of Walton, and third 
 son of Sir Richard Molyneux, who won his knighthood on the 
 well-contested field of Agincourt. The Molyneux family* 
 had an intimate connection with the ancient foundation of 
 Walton. We find a Molyneux rector in 1528, again in 1543, 
 and 1557. Indeed the Molyneuxs remained faithful until 
 well into the nineteenth century. When the dissolution took 
 place, a grant of one pound fourteen shillings was ordered to 
 be paid to the displaced priest, Robert Fazackerley,t and 
 though the chantries were re-established by Queen Mary, the 
 following reign saw them finally diverted from flieir original 
 purpose. 
 
 The first chapel was that attached to the Castle of 
 Liverpool, built early in the thirteenth century on the site 
 now occupied by the Queen Victoria memorial. Sixty yearsj 
 after the granting of the first charter by King John, August 
 28, 1267, the chapel of St. Mary of the Quay was in 
 existence, and provided for the spiritual wants of the small 
 population which then inhabited the town. It was built 
 closo by the water's edge, and the present Chapel Street takes 
 
 •Earls of Sefton. 
 t History of Walton, by John Wilson, St. John's College, Cambridge. 
 
 J Ramsay Muir.
 
 its name from this ancient chapel, and not from the Church 
 of our Lady and St. Nicholas as is commonly believed, which 
 was not erected until 1355. The first chantry attached to 
 St. Mary's was founded by Henry, Duke of Lancaster, in the 
 year 1353. From the rent roll* of John of Gaunt, his 
 successor, we gather that " Lyr'pulle is worth at farme £38, 
 " whereof an allowance of rent was given by Henry, quondam 
 " duke, whom God assoil, to the chapel there, twelve shillings." 
 This was the High Altar of Liverpool so frequently alluded 
 to in documents referring to the town. John of Gaunt 
 followed the example of his predecessor by founding the 
 chantry of St. Nicholas, and Mr. John Crosse added the 
 chantries of St. Katharine and St. John. In 1464, Charles 
 and Elen Gelybrand granted lands in Gerston for the main- 
 tenance of a chaplain at this chapel,* and in 1529 Cecilia, 
 widow of Ewan Halghton, bequeathed lands in Wavertree and 
 West Derby for a chaplain " at a certain altar, called Our 
 '■ Lady's altar." There would appear to have been a special 
 reverence for Our Lady's altar, judging by the various 
 bequests for its support. Rector Crosse, of St. Nicholas', 
 Fleshamble, London, in the year 1515 bequeathed a new 
 common hall to the town, with the condition attached that 
 the arcade beneath should be for the benefit " of the priest 
 " who sings before Our Lady, and sh.ill pray for ye soules 
 " of John Crosse, Avice Crosse, John Crosse, Hugh Botill, 
 " and all theire frendes soules." In the will of William, son 
 of Adam, the first Mayor of Liverpool, an office which he 
 occupied eleven times, we read — " I bequeath my soul to 
 " God and the Blessed Virgin and all saints, and my body to 
 ' be buried in the chapel of Liverpool, before the face of the 
 " image of the Virgin, where is my appointed place of 
 " burial. "t The worthy mayor died in the year 1383, and 
 was laid to rest as he desired. His will ordered three quarters 
 of wheat made intf) bread to be distributed to the poor on the 
 day of his funeral, and the payment of fourpence to every 
 priest in the chapel of St. Nicholas. In December, 1459, 
 John Hales, Bishop of Lichfield, granted forty days' 
 indulgence " to the p(!nitents confessed and contrite who 
 " should expend, bequeath or give " towards the restoration 
 of this ancient chapel, the names of the benefactors to be 
 mentioned at every Mass celebrated wit.hin its walls. 
 
 St. Mary's proved too small to accommodate the 
 increasing population, and thp erection of a new building was 
 decided upon by the Corporation, to be wholly maintained by 
 
 •Quoted by Mr. John RIton, Lancashire and Ohcshiro Hifitoric Society. 
 
 i John Kllori.
 
 the burgesses. The Duke of Lancaster was requested to 
 grant a piece of land upon which to erect the new church, 
 which was dedicated to St. Nicholas, the patron saint of 
 boanien, in accordance with the Norman custom. A grant of 
 ten pounds from Duke Henry's rental served as an endowment 
 for the " two conjoined chapels," or as a document signed by 
 King Edward the Third on the nineteenth day of May, 1355, 
 puts it, " to certain chaplains to celebrate divine service 
 " every day for the souls of all the faithful deceased in the 
 
 ■ chapel of the Blessed Mary and St. Nicholas of Liverpool."* 
 
 A new burial ground was also resolved upon, and on the third 
 
 day of February, 1361, Robert Stretton, Bishop of Lichfield 
 
 and Coventry, wrote that he was '* favourably inclined and 
 
 ' consented that the church of St. Nicholas of Liverpool, and 
 
 " the cemetery contiguous to it in the parish of Walton within 
 
 ■ our diocese, may be dedicated by any Catholic Bishop 
 
 ■ enjoying the grace and union of the Apostolic See." 
 
 St. Nicholas' was essentially a Corporation church, as we 
 may see from the directions issued by the local authority for 
 its management. On June 3rd, 1558, the Corporation 
 ordered : "the priest of the altar of St. John shall daily say 
 " one Mass between the hours of five and six in the morning, 
 " to the intent that all labourers and well disposed people may 
 'come at the said hour." This early celebration was in 
 harmony with the general medieval custom known as the 
 Morrow's Mass. 
 
 A year later Queen Elizabeth was the reigning monarch, 
 and the two chapels ceased to be part of the Universal 
 Church. The chantry properties were appropriated by the 
 Duchy of Lancaster, and the Corporation purchased the now 
 empty chapel of St. Mary for twenty shillings on the 31st 
 March, 1554. It became the town's warehouse, and so 
 remained until the early years of the eighteenth century, 
 wh«n it was demolished, a piece of vandalism quite in keeping 
 with the commercial spirit of that age. At the dissolution 
 of the religious houses the following priests were attached to 
 the four chantries: — Sir Ralph Howarth, the chantry of St. 
 Nicholas; Sir Richard Frodsham, Our Lady's; Sir Humphrey 
 Crosse, Saint Katherine's; Sir Thomas Rowley, St. John's. 
 The prefix " Sir " is equivalent to the modern title of 
 reverend as applied to a secular priest. For over a century 
 and a half from the Reformation the Catholic history of the 
 town is almost a blank. The Benedictines ceased to enjoy 
 their ancient privilege of ferrying passengers across the river, 
 the modern " Monks Ferry " alone remaining to remind later 
 
 •Brooke's translation.
 
 generations of an interesting historical fact. The Prior's 
 house in Water Street, wherein was sold the produce of the 
 lands of the Birkenhead priory, was closed for ever, and 
 except in secret the sons of St. Benedict no longer ministered 
 to the farmers and labourers of the Cheshire side of the 
 Mersey. The accession of James the Second renewed the 
 hopes and stimulated the faith of Lancashire Catholics, but 
 Liverpool was then a Puritan town and disregarded his royal 
 orders for toleration towards his co-religionists. 
 
 In 1687, the King interfered on behalf of one Richard 
 Latham, surgeon, and his wife who carried on a school, two 
 professions from which Catholics were excluded. The royal 
 command was disobeyed, and in consequence the deputy- 
 mayor and senior alderman were removed from office.* A 
 few short years later the foreign troops of William of 
 Orange encamped on the shores of the Mersey, en route for 
 the Boyne, to summarily exclude from the throne the would-be 
 defender of his Liverpool Catholic subjects. In 1613, "John 
 " Synett, an Irishman, born in Wexford, master of a barke, 
 " was excommunicated by the Bishop of Chester for being a 
 " Catholic recusant, and so dying at his house in Liverpool, 
 " was deneyed to be buried at Liverpoole church or chapel," 
 and again in 1615, " Anne, ye wyffe of Geo. Webster of 
 ' Liverpoole, deyed a Catholicke, and was deneyed burial at 
 " ye chappelle of Livej-poole, by ye Mayor and by Mr. More." 
 
 That Catholicism maintained a vigorous existence in the 
 neighbourhood may be inferred from the sturdy faith of most 
 of the families between Liverpool and Lancaster, and the 
 number of Catholics to whom the devoted sons of St. Ignatius 
 of Loyola ministered at the end of the seventeenth century. 
 No one can ever know the full extent of the labours of the 
 Jesuits in Lancashire for over one hundred years, but from 
 the scanty records handed down to us wo may picture for 
 ourselves some idea of the results of the zealous missionary 
 work of the great Society of Jesus. To them, under God, the 
 Catholics of Liverpool and neighbourhood owe a debt which 
 ean never be repaid. The story of their heroism, self-sacrifice, 
 courage and tenacity needs the pen of the author of a 
 " Lost Arcadia ' to do it full justice,! and even now, under 
 new conditions and h;ippif»r times, evory Catholic Lancastrian 
 feels his heart swelling with admiration at the mere recital of 
 the outlines of the history of the Jesuits in Liverpool. Some 
 light is thrown on the steadfastness of the old families to the 
 Catholic faith by the communications from the Government 
 
 • RaniRay Muir. 
 f See Cunningham Graham, ex M.P., on the JesuitB in Paraguay.
 
 in the year 1701, which warned the Mayor of the 
 " disaffection " of the Harringtons of Huyton, the Blundells 
 of Crosby, and the Scarisbricks of Scarisbrick, and many 
 others, '■^'' whose adherence to the Church of their fathers 
 spelled disloyalty to the Crown in the eyes of the English 
 statesmen of that persecuting period, happily long past. 
 
 Further light is thrown upon this period by a document 
 in the possession of the Historic Society of Lancashire and 
 Cheshire. + It relates the story of the exemptions of Catholics 
 in the neighbourhood of Liverpool from certain taxes ordered 
 to be assessed upon property held by them in pursuance of an 
 Act of Parliament passed in the ninth year of the reign of 
 George the First. The title ran thus : — " An Act for granting 
 " an aid to His Majesty, by laying a tax upon Papists, and 
 " for making such other persons who shall refuse upon a due 
 " summons, or neglect to take the oath above mentioned, to 
 " contribute towards the said tax for reimbursing to the 
 " public the great expense occasioned by the late conspiracy, 
 " and for discharging the estates of Papists from two-thirds of 
 " the rents and profits thereof for one year, and all arrears 
 '' of the same, and from such forfeiture as are therein more 
 " particularly described." The amount to be levied upon the 
 " Papists ■' is set down at ,£100,000, but this Act is compara- 
 tively lenient when compared with previous legislation, 
 inasmuch as it prescribes certain grounds upon which 
 exemption may be claimed. In the main an oath to preserve 
 the Protestant succession or bona-fide alienation of the 
 property to a Protestant, prior to a certain date, secured 
 exemption from the proposed impost. The alienation of 
 property simply meant that no Catholic could hold property, 
 and in Ireland it was quite a common practice to secure the 
 good offices of a friendly Protestant to whom it was 
 " alienated," but who gave back the rents or profits to the 
 rightful if not legal owner. That this confidence was only 
 too often abused formed one of the greatest sources of Irish 
 " disaffection " under the tyranny of the Penal Laws. The 
 document referred to relates thirteen successful appeals for 
 exemption heard at Prescot on the seventeenth day of 
 September, 1723. One Percival Rice, owner of lands in 
 Speke, Halewood, Fazakerley and West Derby, " takes the 
 " oath and declaration," and so " evades " payment, as does 
 Mr. Thomas Prenton of Garston, who thus saves himself an 
 assessment of six pounds. Mr. John Lancaster, Rainhill, 
 escapes the tax by having alienated his property before 
 
 * Picton's Memorials of Liverpool, 
 t See Volume 18. Paper by Mr. A. Craig Gibson, P.S.A.
 
 December 25, 1722, to a Protestant gentleman.* Annuities 
 derived from property were doubly taxed under this Act. 
 Mrs. Mary Harrington, of Liverpool, who had an annuity of 
 two hundred pounds from lands in Huyton, " forming the 
 " property of Mr. Charles Harrington and on his decease 
 " registered by Mr. John Harrington," also managed to 
 successfully claim exemption. Another successful claimant is 
 Mr. Humphrey Carroll, of Windle, whose property is 
 " vested in and belongs to ' infants under eighteen years of 
 age. There is abundant evidence that the Molyneuxs, 
 Blundells, Harringtons, Norrises and Scarisbricks definitely 
 refused to conform to the new religion, and cheerfully accepted 
 the grave consequences of their courageous refusals. Nocturnal 
 searches for suspected persons — in other words, the priests 
 who moved in secret from one part of the county to another, 
 to celebrate Mass and perform the other sacred offices of the 
 ministry — were everyday occurrences, and the want cf success 
 on the part of the visitors clearly indicates the strong hold 
 which the Faith had over the greater portion of the agri- 
 cultural population, who must have known the whereabouts 
 of the much-sought-for priest in hiding. For example, we 
 have these entries in the diary of Nicholas Blundellf : — 
 " October 19, 1715. We expected the Hors Militia to come 
 " here." " Oct. 31, 1715. T came not in till dusk expecting 
 " a call." " Nov. 13. This Hous was twice searched by some 
 " Foot as they came from Leverpole." Volumes might be 
 written about such entries as " I sat in a Streat place for a 
 "fat man," referring to the narrow hiding place in which 
 this courageous Catholic gentleman sought to conceal his 
 apparently corpulent body from outside observation during a 
 visit from the " Hors Militia ' or " Foot " from Liverpool, or 
 the pathetic story hidden under the plain words: " Nov. 19. 
 " Searched again," or "Nov. 20. I had a Bedfellow." 
 
 The bfd fellow was no doubt the cour.igcouH Jesuit who 
 risked life or liberty in ministering to this worthy family of 
 Blundells who gave shelter for many a decade to the clerical 
 wanderers of Lancashire, as they came in quick succession to 
 carry out the; duties of their sacred office. One smiles at the 
 entry under dale of August 9, 1704: I went to Leverpole 
 " with Lady Gerard, my wife, etc. We saw ye new church." 
 It was infixed worth a visit to Livc^rpool, to ape the church of 
 St. Peter in Church Strc^^t, tlie first parish rhurch eie-cted 
 since the Reformation, which has the added interest to thiH 
 
 •ThoH. Holland of Sutton, William Leadbotter of Windlo, secured 
 oxeinption on Himilar f;^rouiidi-i. 
 
 t Seo Father Gibson 'h Lecture, Uistoric Society. Volume 34.
 
 8 
 
 generation of being the only existing building of the Liverpool 
 of Queen Anne's reign.* It must have presented a strange 
 appearance to the Catholic eyes of the worthy squire. St. 
 Nicholas' had been despoiled of its church furniture, even the 
 vestments being used for theatrical purposes, as we read in 
 the statement of one John Rile, a schoolmaster, who acknow- 
 ledged having in his possession two copes which he utilised for 
 some children's plays. 
 
 The first Jesuit labouring in Liverpool, of whom we have 
 any definite record preserved, was Father William Gillibrand. 
 Belonging to Lancashire, as his surname implies, he returned 
 to his native county after spending some time in the neigh- 
 bourhood of London. In the year 1701 he served at Crosby, 
 receiving by way of remuneration " two pounds from Mr. 
 " Nicholas Blundell." He did duty also at Ormskirk and 
 Liverpool, as is apparent from his own statement that he 
 received " two pounds from Ormschurch," and " three pounds 
 " from Mr. Eccleston for helpinge at Leverpole." The 
 recordsf of the Society of Jesus show that the Jesuit Fathers 
 in the early years of the 18th century worked at Ince Blundell, 
 Formby, Lydiate, Croxteth, and some twenty other stations 
 between Liverpool and Preston. On the Cheshire side of the 
 Mersey they held outposts for the Faith at Hooton, the seat 
 of the Stanleys, and in the old cathedral city of St. "Werburgh, 
 Chester. 
 
 The first resident priest in Liverpool after the Reforma- 
 tion was Father Mannock, S.J. He belonged to a good stock, 
 his father being Sir Francis Mannock, baronet; while his 
 mother was the daughter of Sir George Heneage, baronet, 
 the head of the well-known Lincolnshire family. Here it 
 may be noted that the commercial centre of the present city, 
 Fenwick Street, owes its name to the Catholic wife of Moor of 
 Bankhall, who hailed from Northumberland, as her name 
 plainly tells us had we no other grounds for the assertion. J 
 Father Mannock remained in Liverpool for two years. He 
 had previously served at Chester as chaplain to Mr. 
 Fitzherbert, who paid him the sum of ten pounds per annum. 
 The smallness of the stipends paid to the zealous Jesuits 
 provokes a smile when read in these days of trade unions, 
 which have s^ "ured for the most casual of labourers a much 
 larger wage than ever lined the pockets of the cultured and 
 learned men who kept alight the lamp of faith in Liverpool, 
 if indeed the smile be not accompanied by eyes brimming 
 
 * See Liverpool under Queen Anne. H. Peet, Esq., F.S.A., J.P. 
 
 t See Xaverian, Liverpool, 1887. 
 
 J Historic Society of LancaRhire and Cheshire. Volume 34.
 
 with tears. Under date of March 26, 1762, Father Tatlock, 
 S.J., writes to his provincial: " For my part, I've worn not 
 " only a turned coat, but also a turned waistcoat, patched 
 " breeches, shoes, stockings and shirts, all patched this whole 
 " year past, on account of my losing a year and a half of my 
 " rent at Lydiate, beside the charge of boarding myself and 
 "house there. " Truly a picture of apostolical poverty. In 
 these days he would be arrested not for saying Mass in secret, 
 but for presenting the appearance of a " rogue and vagabond." 
 
 By this time the Jesuits had built a chapel in Lumber 
 Street, Old Hall Street, and dedicated it to the Blessed Virgin 
 under the title of St. Mary. It was in the fitness of things 
 that the site was chosen. Hard by was the pre-Reformation 
 foundation in Chapel Street, while in the immediate neigh- 
 bourhood was the spot where a well-founded tradition says 
 St. Patrick preached on his way to the Isle of Man. 
 
 In Marybone, within a few yards of the present church of 
 Holy Cross, a water fountain marks the place on which stood 
 for centuries St. Patrick's Cross, as marked on old maps of 
 the town, and which was in existence as late as 1775. In an 
 Act of Parliament passed in 1771, to secure the repair of the 
 road between Preston and Liverpool, the cross is specially 
 named, because the street now called Marybone was 
 then " the road to Ormskirk." The neighbourhood possessed 
 other traditions of Ireland's patron saint, the street between 
 Cheapside and Hatton Garden bearing the name of St. 
 Patrick's Hill.* This first Catholic chapel was founded in 
 1736, by Father John Hardesty, S.J. His real name appears 
 to have been Tempest. From a MS. found by the writer in 
 the archives of St. Mary's, some doubt may be thrown on this 
 statement recorded in the annals of the Society of Jesus. It 
 is so interesting that it deserves a record of more permanent 
 character, especially as it has never been printed before in 
 any book or record. 
 
 " Mr. Kirby having promised before the whole 
 "congregation, August ye 4th, this pst year 1734, to 
 " procure a convenient place in this parish for Divine service 
 "to be therein performed every Sunday and Holy Day 
 " throughout ye year, and to be at the sole cost and charges 
 " for all nf'cesaariea hereunto, and administer also r/ra/is-, the 
 "necessary functions of a Pastor, viz., Christenings, <fec., 
 " Instructing Children in the knowledge jind principles of 
 "holy Religion, and giving all due attendance on the sick; 
 " and to direct his Intention every Sunday throughout the 
 
 * See StonehouBe, Streets of Liverpool. Also see note in Mr. Henry Peet's 
 Liverpool in the reign of Queen Anne.
 
 10 
 
 " year for the Prosperity of this Congregation ; Provided 
 " however that (since for this Parish, the whole fund being 
 " but £2 6s. Od., is insufficient to procure a convenient place, 
 " not only, but altho' there were, wou'd scarce defray or 
 " discharge the necessary expenses for Divine Service, and 
 " that not only the Holy Scriptures and Religion, but 
 " Conscience even itself directs that in such cases where there 
 " is no other means to subsist by, a reasonable maintenance 
 " must of necessity be raised out of the members of the 
 '■ Congregation) Every chief Catholick whether a Man or 
 ■' Woman in every family within this Parish, shall for himself 
 " or herself and their children included living with them, if it 
 " hath or may please God to bless them with any, shall 
 " contribute or cause to be contributed to him according to 
 " their Circumstances. We, therefore Subscribers to this 
 ■' present Paper in consequence of the foregoing Reasons and 
 " of the Promises above mentioned the Performance whereof 
 " can not but be exceedingly advantagious to the whole 
 " congregation in general and each member thereof, in 
 " particular do promise to pay to the said Mr. Kirby the first 
 " day or thereabouts of each month the sum of one shilling 
 " per month. 
 
 " Witness our hands. 
 
 " William Dwarihouse. 
 " Brigt Dwaryhouse and Isabel Barratt. 
 " X their mark." 
 
 This document is written in a fine hand, evidently that of 
 the Jesuit Father who drew it up and also wrote the namea 
 of the two women. It will be noticed that he spelt 
 the first surname with a " y,'' instead of an " i " as 
 ■' William Dwarihouse "' did. The total population of the 
 town was not much more than 7,000, and the Catholics must 
 have formed only a small proportion. The small subscription 
 of less than threepence per week shows their poverty, which 
 is proven by the charming letter written by Father Hardesty* 
 or Tempest many years after quitting St. Mary's : — " While I 
 " lived in the aforesaid town, I receved one year with another 
 " from the people, about one or two and twenty pounds a 
 " year, by way of contributions towards my maintenance, and 
 " no other subscription was ever made for me or for the 
 " buildings. From friends in other places I had part of the 
 " money 1 built with, but much the greatest part was what I 
 " spared living frugally, and as not many would have been 
 
 * This letter was written to Father Molyneux, Viscount, but he never 
 
 claimed his title.
 
 11 
 
 "content to live.'* Still the good priest nevei- regretted 
 having spent the best years of his life " in serving the poor 
 " Catholics of Liverpool,' nor can we, who have been 
 privileged to witness the growth and wondrous development 
 of the seed sown in the obscure street, hidden from the gaze 
 of the passers by, by a poor Jesuit who lived '• frugally " that 
 God's work might be performed. / 
 
 Father Tempest began his mission in Liverpool as early r/ 
 as 1715, and we find him serving at Lydiate in 1722, 
 " going there once a month." He was assisted at St. Mary's 
 by Father William Pinnington, S.J., a native of Salford. 
 who worked zealously in the Liverpool area for over twelve 
 years. Father Carpenter, S.J., was in charge of the little 
 mission when the Scots retreated from Derby, after their 
 ill-fated attempt to restore an unworthy prince to the throne 
 of his ancestors. Liverpool was strongly Hanoverian in its / 
 sympathies, and to demonstrate the fact, a section of its I 
 inhabitants on April 30, 1746, made an attack on the chapel 
 and levelled it to the ground. f The personality of Father! 
 Carpenter made a deep impression o)i the rioters, as he forced 
 his way through their ranks, entered the chapel and reverently 
 removed the Ciborium. His courage probably saved his life ; 
 the rioters making way for him as he walked out from the 
 ruined chapel to seek shelter in the house of a Presbyterian 
 friend in St. Paul's Square. J Tt was a severe blow to the 
 small Catholic community to see the results of Father 
 Tempest's sacrifice swept away to gratify the anti-Catholic 
 prejudices of Liverpool's Protestantism, and was an ominous 
 warning that the growing spirit of tolerance had not yet 
 developed into a vigorous tree. The Mayor and Council did 
 not relish such disturbances in their midst, and no doubt 
 believed thoy were acting in the interest's of public peace in 
 refusing permission to Mr. Henry Pippard, a son-in-law of 
 Mr. Blundfll of Crosby, to rebuild the church. Tt did not 
 occur to them that honest folk quietly worshipping their 
 Creator had a stronger claim on the protection which they 
 alone could give than a noisy mob bent on pillage and disorder. 
 Liverpool has ever had a reputation for the ease and facility 
 with which a large portion of its inhabitants can bo inflamed 
 into creating "religious" troubles, nor has it quite lost in 
 the twentieth century that unenviable distinction. From a 
 
 •Xavorian. Feb. 1886. 
 
 f A regim"nt of MH inon, and five rompanins of 60 men, woro raised 
 for t.ho defcnco of tho town. -Annuls of Tiivcrpool, 
 
 { See John Rosnon'H Hpeech at laying of fouadation Htone 
 of St. Mary's, 1844.
 
 12 
 
 MS. preserved in St. Francis Xavier's we learn that for some 
 considerable time Mass was celebrated in the house of a Mr. 
 Green,* who lived in Dale Street. Written by one of the 
 family who witnessed as a boy the destruction of the chapel 
 in Lumber Street, we may assume that his father's residence 
 served the purpose of an inn. " Mass was said, Sundays and 
 " holidays, in the garrets, the whole of which, as well as the 
 " tea and lodging rooms of the two storeys underneath, 
 " and the stairs, w3re filled by our acquaintances of diflFerent 
 " ranks, and admitted singly and cautiously through different 
 " entrances, wholly by candle light, and without the ringing 
 "of a bell at the elevation, etc., but a signal was 
 " communicated from one to another. " From this simple but 
 graphic story we may infer that anti-Catholic feeling ran 
 high at this period, while the " diff3rent ranks " tells us 
 plainly that the Faith was still preserved among the better 
 oflF as well as the poorer classes. 
 
 They were, however, men of resource, and proceeded to 
 again make provision fo^ the celebration of the Divine 
 mysteries, despite the opposition of the Council. To this 
 end they erected a warehouse on the site of the old chapel, and 
 from the pen of Mr. Green we have a most graphic account 
 of the new building. It was erected on the south side of the 
 upper end of Edmund Street. The front of this street wais 
 covered by varying kinds of buildings, and a number of 
 courts with small houses with small backyards opening into 
 the intended chapel yard. The houses were occupied by 
 several Catholic families, one serving as a residence for the 
 Jesuit Fathers. On the east side of the warehouse, which lay 
 behind these court houses, there were two large folding doors, 
 one above the other, surmounted by a teagle rope, block and 
 hook, cupped against the rain, as was then the usual practice 
 in warehouse buildings. The upper storey served as the 
 chapel, its upper folding doors being bricked up from the 
 inside, and the whole of the walls stuccoed. Large beaded 
 windows, with strong outside shutters to be closed on the east 
 alley side for security out of service time, gave an appearance 
 to the building of being used merely for business purposes. 
 Sufficient li^ht for Divine service was obtained from similar 
 windows on the west side, and two large sash windows on the 
 south ; these two sides being protected from inquisitive eyes 
 by a small yard with walls encompassing and separating them 
 from another courtyard, in which several Catholic workmen 
 lived. This yard was effectually closed at nightfall by strong 
 
 • Uncle of Father Wsst, S.J., who superintended the building of 
 St. Francis Xavier's Church.
 
 13 
 
 double folding gates. The ascent to the chapel was by a 
 broad staircase on each side within a bricked and walled-in 
 space of the lower warehouse storey, the entire space between 
 the two side walls being used as covering in cold or rainy 
 weather, or to avoid any attention caused by the worshippers 
 standing about the street, the remainder of the lower rooms 
 being used for storing lumber. Fathers Stanley, Michael 
 Tichborne, John Rigby and Anthony Carroll served at 
 various periods in this quaint church, hidden away for fear of 
 the angry populace without. Mostly educated at St. Omer's, 
 they returned to England, and by unflagging zeal and energy 
 kept the Catholic spirit alive in Liverpool and Lancashire. 
 Being Jesuits they did not expect a quiet, uneventful life, 
 and they were not disappointed. Protestant Liverpool found 
 them out in the year 1759, when "to the disgrace of the 
 "police and of a small portion of the inhabitants,"* St. 
 Mary's was once again destroyed. Again the irrepressible 
 Jesuits rebuilt the chapel, and this time remained in peaceful 
 possession. Their whereabouts was probably discovered from 
 the fact that one of them attended the French sailors theq 
 imprisoned in the Tower, Water Street, " being proficient 
 " in the French language," and as a testimonial of their 
 gratitude, presented him with a model of a fully rigged ship, 
 carved during long hours of captivity. t The priests who 
 laboured in the third chapel of St. Mary's included Fathers 
 Wappeler (a native of Westphalia), Carroll, O'Brien and 
 Hawkins. The most remarkable of the Jesuit priests at this 
 mission was Father John Price. Gore's Directory for 1769 
 gives the name of John Price, no occupation stated, living in 
 Moor Street. It is a cherished tradition handed down by 
 Liverpool Catholics of the early years of the nineteenth 
 century that a chapel did exist in Moor Street. Very 
 probably Father Price said Mass in his o»wn house for the 
 Irish sailors who arrived every day in the coasting traders. 
 The street is not well known even now, though it can be seen 
 a hundred yards from the site of the Castle of Liverpool, 
 running from Fenwick Street to the Back Goree. In the 
 Directory of 1777, he is described as " gentleman '' residing at 
 21, Queen Street, close by St. Mary's, and later issues of the 
 Directories leave no room for doubt of his priestly character. 
 Tie built a chapel in Chorley Street, and though some writxirs 
 on Catholic affairs appear to throw some doubt upon this 
 fact, an examination of the columns of the Liverpool 
 newspapers puts an end io all doubts on this point. On the 
 
 • Brook'fl History of Liverpool. 
 t " Catholic TimoB," 23rd March, 1872.
 
 14 
 
 12th November, 1786, it is announced that Father Price will 
 preach in " his chapel, Chorley Street, for the purpose of the 
 " annual collection on behalf of the Royal Infirmary. " The 
 sum of £6 6s. 8d. was handed to the treasurer of the hospital 
 as the result, an amount which compares favourably with 
 the amounts sent in from the Protestant churches. In 1780, 
 Father Price preached a sermon for the same charity, 
 collecting a much larger sum than the Childwall Parish 
 Church. In the " Catholic Annual," in an article written by 
 Father Gibson, it is stated that Father Price opened a new 
 chapel in Sir Thomas Buildings on September 7th, 1788. This 
 date does not appear to be quite accurate, and looks like 
 confusion with St. Peter's chapel, Seel Street, which was 
 undoubtedly opened on that date. It cost the worthy Jesuit* 
 £550 to provide the new chapel, and for twenty-five years he 
 laboured there single-handed. The building remained intact 
 until 1898, when the School Board erected their new offices 
 on the site, now tlie Education Office of the Liverpool 
 Corporation. A writer in the " Liverpool Daily Post," 
 October, 1888, says: — "In Sir Thomas Buildings, the 
 " well-known thoroughfare from Dale Street to Whitechapel, 
 " there are to be seen at the present time the remains of an 
 " old Catholic chapel, which was erected by the friends of 
 " Father Price, S.J., soon after the year 1780." Another 
 Liverpool writer says " a person walking along from Dale 
 " Street to Whitechapel, by Sir Thomas Buildings, might 
 " easily pass the chapel without notice, only one end or gable 
 " of it reaching to the street, and houses on each side coming 
 " close up to it. Its position is on the right hand, seven or 
 ■' eight houses from Dale Street."! The cause of the severance 
 of Father Price from St. Mary's was the momentous decision 
 of Pope Clement 14th, in 1773, to suppress the Society of 
 Jesus. This did not mean that the Jesuits departed from St. 
 Mary's at once ; on the contrary severa,! priests of the Society 
 remained there until 1783, when Father Williams, S.J., 
 handed over the keys to the monks of Saint Benedict, who 
 have remained in possession ever since. A remarkable figure 
 at St. Mary's during these years of suppression was Father 
 Raymond Harris, S.J., a Spaniard, whose real name was 
 Hermosa or Ormaza. The comments of his Provincial on his 
 eccentricities are very severe, and he r-ecured considerable 
 notoriety by plunging into the great controversy over the 
 morality of the slave trade. Roscoe, the biographer of Pope 
 Leo the Tenth and Lorenzo de Medici, wrote a number of 
 
 * Agflisted by a Wexford man, named Ryan, 
 t Churches and Chapels. David Thorn.
 
 15 
 
 pamphlets against the horrible traffic iu human lives, to 
 which Liverpool merchants owed so much of their prosperity. 
 Father Harris wrote a reply to prove the " licitness of the 
 ■■ slave trade '" from Holy Scriptures. Pamphlets on both 
 sides followed each other in quick succession, and so delighted 
 were the merchants with the writings of Father Harris, that 
 having the Town Council in their hands, they passed a special 
 resolution of thanks and awarded him an annual honorarium. 
 It was the first and last occasion that the City Fathers 
 honoured a priest of any rank or degree, and a Jesuit to boot. 
 Be that as it may, to his conduct the Society owed the loss of 
 the parent church. Mr. Herdman says, " the first and 
 " second chapels were the property of the Jesuits, and the 
 " latter continued in possession until the suppression. I have 
 " recently been informed on the best authority, that, although 
 ■' suppressed by Pope Clement's Bull, the Jesuits for many 
 ■■ years afterwards kept possession of St. Mary's chapel. 
 " Somewhere about 178/ or 179U the Benedictines, I believe, 
 " obtained possession." On the front page of the ' Liverpool 
 Advertiser,'" of January 1st, 1784, we may read in the 
 advertising columns the following announcement: — "Price 
 " threepence, to be continued in weekly numbers, eight, of 
 " an appeal to the public or a candid narrative of the rise and 
 
 " progress of the differences now fulfilling in the R n 
 
 " C c congregations in Liverpool, with an appendix 
 
 " containing a comparative view of Bishop Gibson's letters on 
 " the subject." The Bishop here referred to was Dr. Mathew 
 Gibson, Vicar Apostolic of the Northern District, Bishop of 
 (^omara. " The book," says a Liverpool antiquarian, " was an 
 " octavo of four hundred pages. I am eorry to say it is very 
 " dull indeed. ' The diderences here referred to were serious 
 in the extreme, and gave great scandal. 
 
 The eccentric Father Harris was the immediate cause 
 of the quarrel, the echoes of whicli <lid not die away for over 
 half a century. 
 
 In the year 1758, when two priests were introduced to 
 St. Mary's, an agreement was made between the congregation 
 and the Jesuit Superior, Fatlier Mans^ll, that the temporal 
 management of the chapel, the collection of bench rents, and 
 the equal division of same between the two " incumbents " 
 should bf conducted by trustees, to bo chosen by qualified 
 bench holders. This lay nianagoment of matters of finance 
 seems to have worked well for about twenty years, but 
 entailed serious consequences lat^^r. According to a 
 letter addressed " to the public " by Messrs. Lawrence, Kaye, 
 
 • Thi'! Ik an error ; 178n was the mctual date.
 
 16 
 
 Butler, Bossoii and Billinge, the time came when the seuior 
 incumbent " usurped to himself the right of collecting and 
 " disposing of church monies.'" The result was friction with 
 the lay managers, and the division of the congregation into 
 two parties, one siding with the priest, the other with the 
 managers. In 1779 serious differences manifested themselves 
 between Father Williams and Father Harris, the former 
 having followed the course of some of his predecessors in office 
 by collecting the bench rents and ignoring the claims of the 
 trustees to have the disposal placed in their hands. 
 A meeting of the bench holders was held in the Golden Fleece 
 Hotel, Dale Street, on September 15th, 1779, to discuss the 
 points of difference, when it was found that Father Williams 
 refused to tolerate any interference with his management. 
 The bench holders insisted on the original conditions being 
 complied with, and appointed four of their number to visit 
 the absent members and secure their signatures to a memorial 
 to the Very Rev. Father Walton, " our worthy prelate," 
 requesting him to support their " resolves." We learn from 
 this report that there were one hundred and four benches in 
 the chapel and that sixty of the holders appended their 
 signatures to the petition promoted by Messrs. David Tuohy, 
 Francis Gandy, Henry Billinge and Andrew Rosson. The 
 Bishop appears to have approved of the policy of dividing the 
 income between the resident clergy, but it does not appear 
 that Father Williams adopted that course. In fact, he 
 appears to have disregarded it, with the result that dissensions 
 broke out in the congregation and developsd to such an extent 
 that on the 6th of March, 1872, the trustees endeavoured 
 to seize the church by violence. The rioters on this occasion 
 were representative bench holders, and acted without any 
 authority from Mr. Thos. Clifton, of Lytham, who held the 
 property in trust for the remaining inembera of " a late 
 " certain society," as the Jesuits were styled during the 
 suppression. 
 
 This outburst of violence did not last, but from 
 documentary evidence still in existence it is clear that these 
 bench holders claimed the entire management of the chapel. 
 On the 5th October, 1782, they issued a series of regulations, 
 nineteen in number, to re-assert their claim, because, as the 
 preamble puts it, " there is reason to apprehend that the 
 " regulations established for the temporal management of the 
 
 " R n C c c 1, situated in Edmund Street, are not 
 
 "sufficiently known to the individuals of that persuasion." 
 These extraordinary rules laid it down as a necessary 
 condition of being allowed to serve at the chapel " that every
 
 17 
 
 ■' new incumbent, before his admission to serve the place, 
 " do sign a written contract, whereby he shall bind himself 
 " to abide by the regulations." 
 
 They included a proviso that the clergy should give an 
 account of all monies received by them each quarter ; that the 
 bench holders' representatives hold office for three years ; and 
 that they sell or let at any rent they think fit, the seats in 
 the chapel, and of dividing the proceeds equally between the 
 two incumbents. They also included the sole right of the 
 trustees to appoint a collector of rent, " to transact all the 
 " temporal affairs of the chapel, both as to necessary repairs, 
 "alterations, or any other unavoidable expenses whatever; 
 " and that the same be deducted from the yearly income of 
 " the two incumbents." To avoid further dispute a 
 " Committee of Repairs " was appointed, half nominated by 
 the " trustees " and half nominated by the incumbents, to 
 decide what were " necessary repairs or disbursements." 
 The arrangement was a total failure. Father Williams and 
 Father Harris failed to agree, and it was alleged by the 
 partisans of the latter, who had a numerous following, that 
 it was the intention of the senior incumbent " to starve him 
 out." It would appear to have been the intention of Father 
 Williams to rid himself of his eccentric colleague ; finally 
 the Bishop stepped in and put an end to the unseemly dispute 
 by suspending both priests. 
 
 But that the Society of Jesus had been suppressed these 
 differences would never have arisen, and we gather from a 
 letter addressed to Father Archibald MacDonald, O.S.B., 
 July 28th, 1783, by Father N. Sewall, S.J., then residing in 
 Preston, what the intentions of his colleagues were, he having 
 been appointed their " agent." 
 
 " It was the intention of the members of a late certain 
 " body to authorise the late Thns. Clifton, Esq., their trustee 
 " for the chapel and house in Edmund Street, Liverpool, to 
 " convey over the trust of the paid chapel and one house to 
 "Sir Robert Gerard, Bart., and Henry Blundell, Esq., for 
 " the use of the Roman Cathnlic con^regatinn in liiverpool ; 
 " and at a meeting of the said committee, held in Wigan on 
 " Monday, the 17th day of February, 1783, an agreement 
 " entered into by Thos. Clifton and H^nry Blundell, Esqrs., 
 " was accedod tx) by them, and deeds nf conveyance, <fec., 
 " ordered accordingly, to be drawn up, the full execution of 
 " which the unexpected death of Thos. Clifton, Esq., alone 
 "prevented." The demise of Mr. Clifton, and the non- 
 execution by him of the conveyance to Messrs. Blundell and 
 Sir Robt. Gerard, was the keynote to many of the further 
 deplorable misunderstandings which ensued. Father Sewall 
 
 B
 
 18 
 
 then goes on to say : " That in consequence of the above 
 " agreement the members of a late certain body* 
 " did not think themselves entitled to interfere, directly 
 " or indirectly, in nominating or removing incumbents 
 " in future at Liverpool, and that, therefore, the said com- 
 " mittee expressly charged the Rev. Mr. Emmett, the 
 " Bishop's Vicar for that certain body, immediately to signify 
 " the same to his Lordship, and at the same time particularly 
 " entreated him and the Rev. Mr. Williams, one of the 
 " incumbents (at St. Mary's), not to meddle in the affair in 
 " any shape, but to leave the whole entirely to the Bishop, 
 " the two intended trustees (Blundell and Gerard), and the 
 "congregation at large." 
 
 It would appear from these resolutions adopted by the 
 members of a " late certain body " at the meeting in Wigan, 
 that they did seriously desire to leave the matter in the 
 Bishop's hands, and prevent either Fathers Williams or 
 Harris from interfering in the choice of the priests who were 
 to serve the old chapel, but dated, as they were, the 17th day 
 of February, the following letter written by the " Bishop's 
 " Vicar for that certain body," fourteen days earlier, must be 
 taken into account : 
 
 " Honored Sir. — I make no doubt you have heard of the 
 " scandalous disputes that have subsisted for some years past 
 " at Liverpool. Though by a sort of patched up accommoda- 
 " tion they are coming to a conclusion, still it is the general 
 " opinion of all that there cannot be a sincere and lasting 
 " peace in your congregation whilst either of the present 
 " incumbents do duty in your town or neighbourhood of 
 " Liverpool. The Bishop, therefore, in his last, dated 23rd of 
 " January, desires me to look out for two others, who may be 
 " ready to succeed when Mr. Williams and Mr. Harris have 
 " settled their accounts and paid their debts. As there are 
 " none of our Body out of Place or prepared for the post, I 
 " take the liberty of applying to you to be so good as to 
 " appoint two of your Order. Your religious Vow of 
 " Obedience will be an efficacious means of preventing for the 
 " future any dispute rising to a head. I spoke to Mr. Gregson 
 " and Mr. Brewer on the subject. Mr. Brewer said he 
 " believed there was one at liberty at present, and that he 
 '■' would be willing to supply until another could be had, and 
 " that he would write to you about it. As Mr. Brewer is a 
 " proper person for the place, I could wish he could stay 
 " there, at least for some time. I have received an answer 
 
 * The Society of Jesus.
 
 19 
 
 " from our agent,* Mr. Sewall; he tells me that the proposal 
 " is much approved of, and that it is the only means of 
 " establishing peace and reuniting the congregation. He says 
 " we shall be willing to let you have the Chapel and a House 
 " for two priests on condition of paying a small acknow- 
 " ledgment annually. He thinks in order to render yourselves 
 " more independent of the congregation it would be very 
 " proper to have a long lease from Mr. Clifton, who is trustee 
 " for the same, on condition of paying to him the above 
 " annual acknowledgment only. The House has lately been 
 " put in full repair, part of which is not as yet paid for. I 
 " dare say you would not be against discharging that debt ; 
 " I can't well tell what it is. This I can say, that everything 
 " shall be made as easy and agreeable as possible and lays in 
 " my power. Be so good as to give me an answer as soon as 
 " you conveniently can, which I hope will be a favourable 
 " one, for the sake of the peace in God's Church, which is the 
 " wish and prayer of all good men, and of your obedt. 
 " honble. servt., 
 
 " Jos. Emmett. 
 "Gill-Moss, the 3rd of Feb., '83. 
 
 " P.S. — Direct from me, at No. 9, Edmund Street, 
 " Liverpool." 
 
 This letter is addressed to " Mr. Bolas, Warwic Bridge, 
 " Carlisle," Provincial of the Benedictines. 
 
 The result of this appeal was that Father Archibald 
 Benet MacDonald, O.S.B., and Father Brewer, O.S.B., of 
 Woolton, proceeded to take charge of the mission, and on 
 the 3rd April, 1783, Father Williams handed over the keys 
 to the first-named Benedictine. A hostile reception met them 
 at the verv moment of their arrival. From a MS. in the 
 handwriting of Father MacDonald we are told that, within 
 twenly-ff-ur hours of his arriv.il in Liverpool he was summoned 
 to appear before " a committee of persons calling themselves 
 "trustees," who forbade him to officiate. His inti-ntion. 
 owing to former disputes, being " so to comport himself as to 
 "give umbrage to no man," he was much pained at the 
 feeling displayed. The authority of Father Emmett, S.J., 
 and of the I'isliop, were produced, but to no avail. The bench 
 holders sought to obtain j)osspssion of St. Mary's by force, and 
 scenes of gross disorder prevailed in the sacred edifice, which 
 were unfnrtunately repeated on otlior occasions. Father 
 MacDonald wrote to Mr. Henry Blundell on the Otli April, 
 1783, that the Bishop having suspended " Messrs. Williams 
 
 • Rev. N. Sowall, S.J. 
 Note. — The wax seal to this remaina still intact.
 
 20 
 
 " and Harris, by his (the Bishop's) desire and the consent of 
 " the Jesuits, two of our people took possession of the chapel 
 " and house on the 3rd inst. Should have been very glad you 
 " were in the country to have wailed upon you as we did upon 
 "Sir Robert Gerard, for his approbation on the occasion; 
 " doubt not, however, but you will concur in giving quiet and 
 " peace to that distracted congregation. There are yet great 
 " appearances of discontent, which, as Trustee, it is hoped 
 "you, Sir, will endeavour to dissipate." 
 
 The nominees of the bench-holders appear to have been 
 much enraged at Father MacDonald's appeal to Messrs. 
 Blundeil and Gerard, and especially at his action in 
 summoning the following meeting : 
 
 " April 2nd, 1783. Your company is desired at the great 
 " room of the Angel Inn, at six o'clock to-morrow evening, 
 " 3rd inst., in order to chuse chapel wardens or managers for 
 " the E, — m C — k C — 1, Edmund Street, conformably to an 
 " agreement lately made between Thos. Clifton, of Lytham, 
 " and Henry Blundeil, of Ince, Esquires." The ill-received 
 incumbent informed the dissentients that " the meeting was 
 " called in order that the world might know who those were 
 " that really composed the greatest and most respectable part 
 " of the congregation." Violence was offered to him in the 
 Church, and the following handbill was distributed to tha 
 members of the congregation, dated April 5th, 1783: 
 
 " Whereas two strange Gentlemen are lately come to 
 " this Town, with Intent to Impose themselves as Incumbents 
 " on the Congregation of the R — n C — c C — 1, Edmund 
 " Street, saying they have been ordered to settle here, and 
 " they have supposed that the Rev. Mr. Emmott must have 
 " authority for so doing ; and at the same time owned that 
 " they could not produce any authority for such Pretensions. 
 " And whereas some anonymous letters, dated the 2nd instant, 
 " have circulated in this Town, inviting some of the Bench- 
 " holders in said Chapel to meet at the Angel Inn, on the 
 " 3rd Instant, at Six o'clock that Evening, in order to chuse 
 " Chapel Wardens or managers for the said Chapel, con- 
 " formably to an agreement lately made between Thomas 
 " Clifton, of Lytham, and Henry Blundeil, of Ince, Esqrs. 
 " In Consequence of such Anonymous Letters, some Bench- 
 " holders of different Denominations did meot, and it now 
 " appears sundry Persons were at that illegal Meeting Chosen, 
 " notwithstanding they declared they were unacquainted 
 " with the Old Rules, that the above Agreement specifies 
 " shall be the mod© of election. This is therefore to inform 
 " all Bench-holders that no Men, or any set of Men whatever, 
 " can be authorised in the capacity of Trustees or Chapel
 
 21 
 
 "Wardens without the concurrence of Henry Blundell, Esq., 
 " and Sir Robert Gerrard, excepting those that have been 
 " chosen upwards of a year ago, who have been authorised 
 " by the Right Rev. the Lord Bishop of this District, to 
 " appoint a Collector to receive Rents of Benchers. 
 
 " The Trustees think it their Duty to forewarn all persons 
 " from paying regard to any authority such Persons 
 " so illegally chosen may pretend to claim from so 
 " unwarrantable a Nomination, and hope that every Bench- 
 " holder will pay their Rents unto Mr. Richard Eltonhead, 
 " and no other person, and the Trustees do hereby promise to 
 " indemnify them for so doing. Signed : Robert Lawrence, 
 " John Kaye, Christopher Butler, Andrew Rosson, Henry 
 " Billinge, Trustees. 
 
 "... By the aforesaid Regulations, no person can serve 
 " this Congregation, as an Incumbent, without the appro- 
 " bation of the Qualified Bench-holders. It being therefore 
 " unwarrantable for any person to act in that Capacity, 
 " without such an Approbation first obtained, it is hoped the 
 " Congregation will never suffer any inno'sation to take Place, 
 " in a Matter of such Importance to themselves and Posterity, 
 " as the choice of their own Pastors."- 
 
 This extraordinary claim to select their own pastors was 
 no doubt seriously put forth, and illustrates the ill-tempered 
 manner in which the entire negotiations were conducted. The 
 Bishop's authority was flouted, and a newspaper controversy 
 ensued which was characterised by such abusive language and 
 accusations of deliberate " duplicity," one against the other, 
 that to the Protestant population of Liverpool the letters 
 were anything but " dull reading." Father MacDonald 
 wielded a trenchant pen ; shafts laden with satire and 
 ridicule poured into the ranks of bis hostile flock, or rather 
 the bench-holders, who in turn assailed him with 
 vituperation and the grossest calumnir-s. One sample will 
 Buffice to illustrate this incredible battle of pens. "The 
 " flowers of your rhetoric, ' writes one critic of the poor 
 Benedictine, " are all gathered from the luxuriant gardens of 
 " Billinsgate nnd St. Gilns," and his letters as " masterpieces 
 " of bad grammar, abusive language and nonsense," which 
 made the writer of this choice production believe he had 
 " ra.<!hly enga^jed with a vfieran soldier lately arrived from the 
 " garrison of Gibraltar, and acnustomnd to fiery engines of 
 " Elliott's Rod Hot Balls. (" Alluding to a Christian oration 
 "lately delivered from the altar by Mr. Arch. McDonald, 
 " wherein, in the true spirit of Christian meekness and 
 " charity, he wished no greater harm to his opponents than
 
 22 
 
 " a fiery destruction similar to that which the bravo General 
 " Elliott's red-hot balls effected on the French and 
 " Spaniards)."* 
 
 Father MacDonald, with characteristic courage, boldly 
 deprived six of the " brawlers " in his chapel of their benches, 
 one of the six being a member of the weaker sex. In the 
 confusion which prevailed as the result of the claims of the 
 miscalled trustees under the regulations of 1782, the 
 misinterpretation of Father Emmett's clear and unequivocal 
 appeal to the Benedictines to serve the chapel, the apparent 
 neglect on the other hand of Father Williams to follow the 
 advice of Father Sewall to take no part in the selection of an 
 incumbent, and the claim of Mr. Clifton (son of the deceased 
 gentleman of the same name) to be consulted, the gravest 
 scandal was given to the whole population of the town. 
 Mr. Clifton resolved to carry the whole matter into the 
 courts of law, a most reprehensible proceeding in face of the 
 Bishop's decision and the " resolve " of the Jesuits themselves 
 not to interfere with the selection of the new priests to serve 
 at St. Mary's. A document is still in existence which 
 demonstrates how Father MacDonald was dragged into the 
 courts. It is an estimate of the expenses which he 
 would incur in defending the case against him, and amounts 
 to two hundred and twenty pounds, with the prospect of 
 having to pay a much larger amount should Mr. Clifton's 
 cause prove successful. The Bishop intervened by addressing 
 a special pastoral letter " To the Catholics of Liverpool," 
 dated October 8, 1783 : 
 
 " It is with inexpressible concern we have found the most 
 " zealous endeavour, hitherto ineffectual, towards suppressing 
 " those discussions which not only dishonour your holy 
 ' religion, but strike at the very being of ecclesiastical 
 " authority and subordination. . The enemy of our 
 
 ■' souls, jealous of these spiritual blessings with which 
 " indulgent Providence has blessed them, and endeavouring 
 " to defeat the benevolent designs of Heaven in your regard, 
 " has prevailed so far with some as to make them not only 
 " lay aside the decency and submission due to superior power, 
 ■ but obstruct and impede the most active exertions to restore 
 " the comforts of peace and promote your spiritual welfare. 
 " To this desirable end we have long directed our prayers and 
 " labours, yet, is there not reason to fear that we have 
 " laboured in vain. Lenity, dictated by the most weighty 
 " motives, has been ntiled timidity, an indecent surrender of 
 •' ecclesiastical power. On the other hand, measures not more 
 
 • Advertiser, August, 1783.
 
 23 
 
 " severe than necessary have been termed animosity, 
 " obstinacy, an undue stretching of prerogative. Can, then, 
 " this discordancy of sentiments be a standard of rectitude, a 
 " rule of acting? No ! not even to him who would wish to be 
 " all things to all men, that he might save all. Some of the 
 " most uninstructed characters, in terms equally illiberal and 
 " unjust, arraign and condemn the decrees of that authority 
 " which they ought to respect and implicitly obey : read 
 " lectures on the object, the nature, the extent of ecclesiastical 
 "jurisdiction; on the sacred and till this day uncontroverted 
 " rules of Church discipline, invading the prerogative of that 
 " tribunal which has an exclusive right to censure and punish 
 " any violation of the sacred trust with which we are 
 •' invested. To this ecclesiastical tribunal inferior Church- 
 " men are to look for redress and protection, when aggrieved 
 " and oppressed by the superior. The measure is clearly 
 " proper, warranted by the Canons, due to an injured 
 " character, and so easily adapted that a peaceful and silent 
 " acquiescence under the weight of dishonourable and criminal 
 " imputations will be interpreted the effect either of conscious 
 " guilt or unseasonable compassion for a Prelate who wishes 
 " not for extraordinary tenderness but that the merits of his 
 " conduct be discussed by that tribunal to which he is 
 " amenable.* But are you still ignorant to such a degree as 
 " to want information that an appeal to the public U\ 
 "determine the validity and justice of ecclesiastical censures 
 " is an irreligious encroachment upon the rights of the 
 " sanctuary, a most preposterous attempt to exalt the sheep 
 " above the pastor, to direct your teacher, leai your guide, 
 " and over awe your Prelate, a sacrilegious effort to invert 
 " the order established by our Blessed Redeemer and disturb 
 " the system of Infinite Wisdom. Obey your Prolatos and be 
 " subject to them, with whom it is a very small thing to be 
 " judged of you and of man's judgment. A vindication of 
 " their conduct to a tribunal so unprecedented and repugnant 
 " to their dignity would be a tacit and disgraceful acknow- 
 " ledgmont of its usurped jurisdiction. . . . We, therefore, 
 " beseech you, dearly beloved, by the bowels of our Lord Jesus 
 " Christ, not to interfere with the prerogative of His repre- 
 " sentative. We aro ambassadors for Christ ; God, as it were, 
 " exhorting by uh. Whnn exhortations prove insufTicient, we 
 " are invested with authority, not only to teach and rebuke, 
 " but to chastise ; not only to build and to plant, but to root 
 " up and pull down, and to destroy. Whnrofore, we strictly 
 " forbid, under pain of excommunication, any person to 
 
 * An appeul lo Romo.
 
 24 
 
 " insult, in the Catholic Chapel, Edmund Street, by any ill- 
 " usage, abuse, reproaches by word of mouth or in writing, or, 
 " in the aforesaid chapel designedly to impede or disturb in the 
 " exercise of his spiritual functions the Rev. Mr. McDonald 
 " or the Rev. Mr. Kennedy. In terminating a debate 
 " concerning temporal concerns, follow the advice of the 
 " Apostle, 1 Cor., c. 6, v. 5, &c. : ' If you have judgment of 
 " ' things pertaining to the world, I speak to your shame, is 
 " ' it not so? that there is not among you any one wise man 
 "'that is able to judge between his brethren; already, 
 " ' indeed there is plainly a fauU. among you that you have 
 " ' law suits one with another ! Why do you not rather take 
 " ' wrong ? Why do you not rather suffer yourselves to bo 
 '"defrauded?"' 
 
 The pastoral concludes with a most eloquent and beautiful 
 appeal for peace. 
 
 At the Lancaster Assizes the question was settled. The 
 presiding judge decided that Father Williams, in handing 
 over the keys to Father MacDonald had " inducted " him as 
 his lawful successor. A patched up peace prevailed at length ; 
 the disorders ceased, but many years passed away before the 
 storm which accompanied the entry of the Benedictines into 
 Liverpool was forgotten by the Catholics of the town and 
 neighbourhood. 
 
 It was in the fitness of things that the Benedictines 
 should have succeeded the Jesuits. On the confiscation of the 
 Birkenhead Priory, the monks lost their hold on the banks 
 of the Mersey. In the intervening ages they, too, worked 
 secretly in Lancashire to preserve the ancient faith. From 
 1697 to 1717 they served the family of Lord Molyneux at 
 Sefton, until they were superseded by the " friars," again 
 resuming their work in the year 1742.* On the apostacy of 
 the ninth Viscount and first Earl (due to a mixed marriage), 
 the Chaplain, Father Vincent Gregson, lived in the end 
 portion of the buildings at present adjoining the church, 
 called the "cockloft." He obtained a piece of land at 
 Netherton,t close by, and built a chapel and house in which 
 the faithful Catholics who did not follow the example of 
 their lord worshipped God in the ancient fashion. The 
 Benedictines had also served for some years at St. Swithin's, 
 Gillmoss. Now that they were established at St. Mary's, 
 they could see from the western boundary of the parish their 
 dismantled priory on the Cheshire side of the Mersey, with 
 its tower lifted high above the intervening forest of masts. 
 
 • Catholic Directory, 
 t Still eerred by the Benedictine Fathers.
 
 25 
 
 By a curious coincidence the Sovereign Pontiff who 
 cancelled the Decree of Suppression, and restored most of the 
 privileges of the Society of Jesus, was himself a monk of the 
 Order of St. Benedict. 
 
 The Benedictines followed up their work at St. Mary's 
 by founding a new mission at the south end of the town, 
 where the increasing Catholic population called for church 
 extension. It was opened on September 7th, 1788, and 
 dedicated to the Prince of the Apostles. This church is 
 better known as the Seel Street chapel, and is the only 
 building of an ecclesiastical character which has familiarised 
 the name of the street in which it is situate. This may have 
 arisen originally from a desire to avoid confusion with the 
 parish church of St. Peter in Church Street, and it is 
 therefore not strange that in the lease granted by the 
 Corporation, " Seel Street Chapel," and not St. Peter, is the 
 ofi&cial description of the building. 
 
 The original founder was the rector of St. Mary's, 
 Father MacDonald, who was a native of Lochaber, Scotland. 
 He appears to have created a good impression on the 
 Protestant population, being referred to by one writer as 
 " a kind-hearted and much respected man."* On the walls of 
 the church a mural tablet perpetuates his memory in these 
 words : " In the vaults of this church are deposited the 
 " remains of Father Archibald MacDonald ; died July 29, 
 " 1814. The founder of this chapel, and for a period of 
 " 26 years its liberal, intelligent, and revered pastor, to 
 " whose memory the Catholicks of Liverpool erected this 
 " monument." These two opinions must be read in con- 
 junction with the acts of the Benedictine chapter held in the 
 year 1785, when he was censured for his somewhat violent 
 polemical writings in connection with the disputes at 
 St. Mary's. His sermon on the opening day was described 
 by a local paper in flattering terms: " One can truly say that 
 " a better discourse has not been heard in any place of 
 " worship. "t Tho muBical part of the service attracted 
 considerable att'-ntion. It was organised by two Protestant 
 musicians whose name constantly appear on concert pro- 
 grammes of that day; the organ which was provide.l, and tho 
 " choice chorus," forming a happy omen of the celebrated 
 organists, choirma-sterB and singers who made tho musical 
 services at the Seel Street chapel renowned for one hundred 
 and seventeen years. 
 
 • Smithcr'H HiKtory of Liverpool, 
 t ^'illiamson's Advertiser, 8th Boptembor, 1788.
 
 26 
 
 Judging by a drawing of the church preserved in the 
 Corporation Library, the outlines of the church were pretty 
 much the same as now : a plain, square, brick building devoid 
 of external ornament, though of smaller dimensions than the 
 present church. " A quadraiigular room, good solid work, 
 " with as much gallery room as possible, and a priest's house 
 " at the altar end, was all he (Father MacDonald) aimed 
 "at."* His portrait in oils is one of the treasures of the 
 Priory of St. Peter's, and hangs in the dining room side by 
 side with similar portraits of successive rectors of this notable 
 church. He was appointed Cathedral Prior of Rochester 
 shortly before his death. 
 
 The Town Council records relate that on the first day of 
 April, 1789, it was resolved that " a new lease be granted to 
 " the Rev. Archibald MacDonald, of the Roman Catholic 
 " chapel lately erected by him, and situate in Seel Street, for 
 " three lives of his own nomination, and for twenty-one years 
 " afterwards, at a ground rent of twelve pence per yard, and 
 " for the above purpose only, a perpetual lease shall be 
 " granted of the chapel, and on the death of any life, on the 
 " persons entitled applying for the renewal within six months 
 " after such death." The resolution goes on to declare that 
 the lease will lapse if the building ceases to be used as a 
 chapel. A separate lease was also granted for the house and 
 schools on payment of a fine of £3 3s. Od., and an annual 
 ground rent of twelve pence. 
 
 This decision indicates that cordial relations then pre- 
 vailed between the local authorities and the Catholic body, 
 and the annual collection in the three Catholic chapels for 
 the Infirmary points to the conclusion that the chapels were 
 recognised as duly authorised places of worship. Collections 
 are also recorded in the local journals from the priests at 
 Farn worth, Appleton and Upholland. 
 
 The first public reference to the founder of St. Peter's 
 occurs in reference to his sermon at St. Mary's, or as it was 
 termed "the Roman Catholic chapel in Lumber Street."! 
 We have seen that poor Father Tempest had only an 
 income of one or two and twenty pounds per annum in 1750, 
 and in 1799 we find that in the same church after a sermon 
 by Father Talbot, O.S.B. — a most excellent sermon " {—for the 
 Poor School, he secured an offering of £20 14s. 6d., from 
 which may be inferred that the Catholics had increased 
 considerably in number. It is difficult to estimate how many 
 
 * Centenary Sketch, 1888. 
 
 t Gore's General Advertiser. 
 
 I Liverpool Phoenix, 1799.
 
 27 
 
 Catholics were in Liverpool in the first half of the 18th 
 century, certain it is that the Faith had not disappeared. 
 
 Mr. Henry Peet, in his most interesting book on 
 Liverpool in the reign of Queen Anne estimates the popula- 
 tion of the town at seven thousand. A close examination of 
 the list of ratepayers in every street of the town reveals but 
 half a dozen Irish surnames. There are, however, numerous 
 characteristic Catholic names, such as Scarisbrick, Molyneux, 
 and Blundell. 
 
 Owing to the close commercial intercourse between 
 Ireland and Liverpool during the eighteenth century there ^ 
 must have been a colony of Irishmen in the town. The ^|/ 
 campaigns of Henry the Second and Richard the Second in 
 Ireland brought Liverpool considerable reputation. Irish 
 merchants came regularly to Liverpool to sell yarn and linen 
 on its quays to Manchester merchants.* They attended, no 
 doubt, the old church of St. Nicholas, and on its seizure by 
 the State for the reformed religion one can only conjecture 
 where they received the spiritual consolation of their Faith. 
 Certain, however, it is that political blunders in the govern- 
 ment of Ireland largely increased the number of Irish 
 Catholics in Liverpool towards the middle of the century, and 
 created the demand for chapels, which gave rise to the founda- 
 tion of St. Peter's and Sir Thomas Street, in addition to the 
 mother church of St. Mary's. 
 
 Unfortunately, one is not able to give any estimate of 
 the number of native Catholics who held steadfast to the 
 Faith during the long years of persecution and deprivation of 
 citizenship. Gore's Directory for 1766 contains the names 
 of some twelve hundred householdefs! Of these only fifteen 
 bear distinctive Lrish names, such as Coyle, Doran, Dougherty, 
 Dowdall, Finigan, Fearns, Molloy, Ryan, MacCormac, 
 Finglass and Staunton. There were two Kellys, not 
 necessarily an Irish surname, there being many in Lancashire 
 who are not Irish by birth or descent. As might be 
 expected, on account of the coasting trade, five of these Irish 
 names represent captains of vessels. Doran and Finiiigan 
 are described as merchants; the remainder being apparfutly 
 dealers in clothes, or as they were called in those days, 
 slopmen. In the Directory for 1769 twenty -two names 
 appear, seven being captains, and there also appears for the 
 first time the relation of Irish connection^ with the drink U' 
 trade; a much too prominent feature of Irisfi life in liivorpool 
 at a later stage. IJy 1774 there is a further increase to forty 
 householders, and in 1781 eighty Irish names are recorded, 
 eleven being captains and twelve victuallers. The first 
 * Mrs. J. R. Omen's — The makiug of Ireland and its undoing. 
 
 ,/
 
 28 
 
 mention of the surname Burke is in connection with a woman 
 who kept a public-house in Litherland Alley in 1777, and in 
 1781 we have the first record in print of Irish association 
 with the hard work of the Dock side in the case of Thomas 
 Burke, living by the Old Dock, and described as a porter. 
 Wexford names are prominent : Byrne, Dwyer and Ryan, 
 the last named being a ship broker. In this year, 1781, the 
 Celtic prefix O appears for the first time : Captain O'Mara 
 and Francis O'Neale, provision dealer. From the public 
 advertisements, it would appear that the means of locomotion 
 were to some extent under the direction of Irishmen, most 
 probably Catholics. The coaches of Mr. James Maguire set 
 out every morning, except Saturday, from the Horse and 
 Rainbow, High Street, for Warrington and Manchester, and 
 the local resident superintendent of the Dublin packets was a 
 Captain O'Connor. It was asserted that a large number of 
 Wexford people came to Liverpool during the year 1798 on 
 account of the rebellion of that year, and it was further stated 
 that they were " loyal " Irishmen.* As the Wexford struggle 
 was confined to a small area of the country, and only lasted a 
 very short period, the grounds for this assertion are not very 
 strong. It is much more likely that the immigration was due 
 to the increase in the trade between both ports, a trade so 
 important that Liverpool freemen were exempted from the 
 dues payable on Wexford produce. The tonnage returns for 
 Liverpool shew that in 1798, no less than 988 vessels arrived 
 from the Irish ports, a number which went on increasing 
 until 1820, when 2,162 ships entered the Mersey laden with 
 [ agricultural products. To this must be attributed the 
 
 Y increasing numbers of the Irish population and we have 
 iJ* evidence that in 1788, the year which saw the opening of 
 ^ Father Price's "chapet" and St. Peter'a^ 367 children were 
 baptised in the three chapels, representing a fair proportion 
 of the total population of all creeds. f Catholics must hav9 
 been growing prosperous, comparatively speaking, as from the 
 records of the treasurer of the Infirmary as early as 1789 and 
 1790 the amount sent to him from St. Peter's alone amounted 
 to £18 99. lid. and £23 2s. lOd. respectively. The main 
 streets of that parish had been constructed for some years, 
 and in the Directory for 1790} about 120 Irish householders' 
 names are given, irrespective of the numerous English 
 Catholics who cannot be identified by name. No less than 
 sixty-eight bear the Irish prefix, 'Mac,' though a few are 
 
 • Troughton's Liverpool, 
 t Canon O'Toole's tables. 
 J Wosencroft's Directory.
 
 29 
 
 clearly of Scottish or Ulster origin. From the record of 
 burials in St. Peters vaults and churchyard we find such 
 striking English sumaroes aa Baynes, Parr, Dickinson, 
 Skelton, Formby, Stubbs, Bridge, &c. The name of Peter 
 Byrne, deputy-master of the George's dock, 1790, also occurs 
 in the registers, and Geo. Marsh, who founded the chapel at 
 Portico, near St. Helens, was interred in St. Peter's in 1826. 
 The baptismal register* gives the names of fifty children 
 born in the parish in 1799, one year after the opening of the 
 chapel. 
 
 Before the close of the century the clergy who served in 
 St. Mary's were Father Edmund Pennington, O.S.B., who 
 succeeded Father MacDonald in 1788, and served as incumbent 
 until 1794, when he died ; Father Joseph Collins, O.S.B., who 
 enlarged the chapel, and Father Alexius Pope, O.S.B., the 
 latter remaining in charge until 1802. f 
 
 • St. Peter, Centenary record, 1888. 
 t St. Mary's, by Father Bede Cox, O.S.B.
 
 30 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 The opening year of the nineteenth century witnessed a 
 large influx of poor Irish people into Liverpool. One writer 
 attributed the immigration to the passage into law of the Act 
 of Union* which abolished the Irish Houses of Parliament, 
 and provided for the future government of Ireland from 
 Westminster. It is difficult to see how such an Act was 
 directly responsible for sending the Irish of 1801 in large 
 numbers to Liverpool, though it is certain that the result 
 which ensued therefrom created the Irish Liverpool of a later 
 date. The statement was made however by a responsible, 
 impartial local historian and deserves to be recorded. " Few 
 " Irish of any class, high or low, until after the rebellion 
 "of 1798; but afterwards, the Union caused a considerable 
 "change in that respect."* The immediate reason would 
 appear to have been due to an old and oft repeated cause, 
 set forth by another Liverpool author ,f who wrote in 1825 
 a most impartial, painstaking work. " In 1801 the state of 
 " Ireland caused numbers to flock over to Liverpool ini such 
 " a distressed state that a violent dysentery ensued, followed 
 " by numerous deaths." It is a significant political fact that 
 at the moment when Ireland's outward sign of its distinct 
 nationhood was taken away, five thousand " stalwart, wsll- 
 set " Irish militiamen responded to the call of England to 
 fight her battles against Napoleon, and arrived in the Mersey 
 en route for an expedition against the French, who, but two 
 short years before had sent ships of war to fight for Ireland. 
 Irish soldiers were constantly arriving in Liverpool, and no 
 doubt threw much additional work on the shoulders of the 
 few Benedictines and one Jesuit who were in charge of the 
 three small chapels. At the same time that the Irish militia 
 were in town, five thousand French and Spanish prisoners 
 of war arrived and found a temporary resting place pending 
 their transfer to their respective countries, as the exigencies 
 of warfare J permitted. The municipal records shew that the 
 
 • Brook's History of Liverpool. 
 
 t Smither'.s Commerce, 
 
 X Liverpool Phoenix, March, 1800.
 
 31 
 
 town was progressing rapidly. By the year 1800 the principal 
 streets in the present parish of St. Mary's had been completed ; 
 Bevington Bush was also constructed and the streets south of 
 the Custom House, now constituting the parishes of St. Peter "s 
 and St. Vincent de Paul's were rapidly approaching com- 
 pletion. The site of the present Custom House was then a 
 dock, and Irish immigrants coming to a strange town sought 
 shelter in the immediate vicinity as far as was possible, which 
 accounts for the dense Irish population which within living 
 memory was to be seen in and around Whitechapel, Paradise 
 and South John Streets on the north, and flowing south on 
 the other hand compelled the provision of St. Patrick's Church 
 twenty years later. The north end developments necessitated 
 the provision of another church, and St. Anthony's came into 
 existence to supply the need. It was the first church in 
 Liverpool in the charge of a secular priest and was destined 
 to become the fruitful mother of many churches and schools 
 and the rallying centre of great Catholic effort for over half 
 a century. The original church stood at the corner of Dryden 
 Street, and was known as the French chapel for two reasons. 
 It was built by a Protestant gentleman* to testify his 
 sympathy with the French nobility expelled from their native 
 country during the French revolution, and its first resident 
 priest was Father Jean Baptiste Antoine Gerardot, Canon, 
 Dignitary, and treasurer of the Metropolitan Church of 
 Rheims, as he was described in a book dealing with that 
 period. t He was driven from France during the last years 
 of the eighteenth century and helped considerably to minister 
 to the French prisoners located in Liverpool to the conclusion 
 of the long drawn out struggle which terminated on the field 
 of Waterloo. He became the first popular priest in Protestant 
 Liverpool. Every sympathy and consideration was shewn 
 to him by all classes of citizens; Churchmen and Dissenters 
 alike rallied to his support, even going the extreme length of 
 attending his chapel on special occasions, and on one notable 
 Sunday he collected at Mass the sum of one hundred pounds, 
 the larjrost ofTertory made to that time in a Catlinlic chnpol. 
 The dedication to St. Anthony was duo to Father Gorardot's 
 name. From a contemporary we learn the dimensions of 
 the chapel; fifty-five feet long by thirty-two in width, and 
 that the services were carried out with groat dignity and good 
 taste. The prejudices against the Catholic population were 
 rapidly declining, and Fathor Gerardot was enabled in con- 
 sequence to announce that he would colobrate Midnight Mass 
 
 * Father P. Murphy's sermon in St. Anthony's, August, 1816. 
 f Smither's Commerce.
 
 / 
 
 32 
 
 at the Christmas of 1813. The front of the chapel was illumin- 
 ated by caudles arranged in the shape of a star,- and the 
 initial letters ' 3.6.' Even the musical programme has been 
 preserved. The music of the Mass was taken from the 
 compositions of VVebbe and Cassuli; Novello's harmonised 
 version of the Adeste Fideles was sung at the offertory ; 
 Haiidels Pastoral Symphony from the Messiah was rendered 
 and the Te Deum was sung at the conclusion of that eventful 
 ceremony which set Liverpool talking about the beautiful 
 services of the Church.* Another Liverpool author writing 
 of the Catholic chapels, four in number in the year 1810, says 
 " they are numerously attended."! We have it recorded on 
 the testimony of the Vicar Apostolic, Bishop Smith, that he 
 and his coadjutor. Bishop Gibson, | in the month of June, 
 1813, confirmed 621 persons in St. Mary's, Lumber Street, 
 and 571 in St. Peter's, Seel Street. The poverty of the 
 working people made the provision of school accommodation 
 almost impossible ; a serious drawback to the full develop- 
 ment of the work of the Clergy. St. Peter's has the distinc- 
 tion of providing the first permanent school of any importance, 
 though there is no doubt that St. Mary's clergy provided the 
 first Catholic school in Liverpool. As was only to be expected 
 from an Order celebrated for its pursuit of learning, the monks 
 of St. Benedict were the pioneers of elementary education in 
 Liverpool. If an unusually well informed Protestant writer 
 is to be believed, he saw in the year 1806, the twentieth annual 
 report of the Charity School in Copperas Hill, which implies 
 that a Catholic school was in existence there as early as 1786. 
 This is clearly an error, as the school was founded at a much 
 later date. At the opening of the Holy Cross Schools, 
 Fontenoy Street, in 1853, Mr. Allan Kaye, sub-sheriflF oJE 
 1 Lancashire, stated that the original Catholic school of Liver- 
 pool was opened in 1803, in Gerard Street, off Byrom 
 Street, the accommodation being for thirty children. There 
 is nothing in thij statement inconsistent with' St. Mary's claim 
 for priority, as Gerard Street would come within the purview 
 of the clergy of that church. That there was a crying need 
 for school accommodation is proven by an organisation which 
 came into existence in the year 1807 ; and its title clearly 
 establishes the nationality of the children for whom the 
 schools were needed. It was called the Benevolent Society of 
 St. Patrick, and had for its sole aim " the educating and 
 apprenticing of Irish children of all denominations." The 
 
 * Williamson's Advertiser, 1813. 
 
 t Troughton's Liverpool. 
 
 J Brother of the Dr. Gibson, Vicar Apostolic, 1788.
 
 33 
 
 school was built in Pleasant Street, within a few hundred 
 yards of the future Pro-Cathedral of St. Nicholas, and it 
 continued its work for sixty-three years. Curiously enough 
 this school had the full sympathy and co-operation of the 
 clergy and the leading Catholic laymen, and through its doors 
 passed thousands of Catholic children. The Liberals of that 
 interesting period, assisted by the great William Rathbone, 
 afterwards M.P. for the town, whose statue stands in Sefton 
 Park, devoted themselves with great enthusiasm to this 
 excellent work. No religious difficulty prevailed, as the . 
 clergy were admitted to give religious instruction. By f 
 the year 1824 there were 504 children in average attendance, I 
 all Iris h. The headmaster bore the name of Patrick Brennan. 
 Up to the year of Catholic emancipation no less than 5,744 
 boys and girls had passed through the schools, which had also 
 the distinction of educating the children on industrial as well /^ 
 
 as literary lines, and it was claimed in the annual report that 
 after strict enquiries only five boys who had been educated 
 in the Hibernian Schools had committed any breach of the 
 law, imperial or local. In a schedule attached to Brougham's 
 Education Bill, introduced into Parliament in the year 1821, 
 it is stated that 300 children were in average attendance at 
 the Catholic Charity Schools, Copperas Hill, which read in 
 conjunction with the 500 attending the neighbouring schools, 
 goes to prove that a large Catholic population had grown up 
 in the neighbourhood between St. Peter's and the late Father 
 Price's chapel in Sir Thomas Street.* The death of this priest 
 in 1813 paved the way for the formation of a new parish ; the 
 foundation of St. Nicholas' Church, Copperas Hill. As the 
 suppression of the Jesuits brought about the coming of the 
 Benedictines to Liverpool, so the decease of the late Jesuit 
 made easy the erection of the future Pro-Cathedral. It is a 
 sad reflection that this fine old priest, founder of three chapels, 
 and zealously working for the preservation of the faith for 
 30 years, found his last resting place in the graveyard of the 
 Protestant Church of St. James, Toxteth Park; one would 
 have expected to find his earthly remains interred at Lydiate 
 or in the vaults of Seel Street, but such was not the case. 
 
 Lengthy negotiations passed between the lay committee 
 which undertook the foundation of St. Nicholas and the 
 Jesuits before the chapel in Sir Thomas Street was finally 
 cloROfl. Father Randnl Lythgoc, S.J., in a letter dated 
 October 26, 1841, to Father Glover, English assistant t« the 
 General of the Jesuits at Rome, wrote " Father Price's church 
 " was closed to facilitate the erection of St. Nicholas, and 
 
 • Better known as Sir Thomas' Buildings. 
 C 
 
 y 
 
 y
 
 34 
 
 " it was to this end, and with a distinct understanding with 
 " Mr. John Leigh and the members of the committee of St. 
 " Nicholas, that when the latter was completed they should 
 " exert themselves and raise another chapel to be served by 
 " priests connected with Stonyhurst."* The fulfilment of 
 this understanding was delayed twenty-six years, but the laity 
 who made it were not to blame. The new church was opened 
 on the 17th August, 1815, by the Vicar Apostolic, Bishop 
 Smith; Father Thomas Penswick, the first rector, preaching 
 the inaugural sermon. On the Sunday previous Father 
 Murphy, who had crossed over from Dublin to preach at the 
 " French Chapel," St. Anthony's, pronounced a eulogium on 
 the Liverpool Town Council for their liberality towards St. 
 Nicholas', they having presented the site on which the church 
 was built. The opening day was remarkable from the fact 
 that for the first time in the history of Liverpool, from the 
 Reformation, a Mayor of the town attended a High 
 Mass. In the evening eighty Catholic gentlemen sat down 
 to a public dinner in honour of the joyful event of a new 
 church being opened. Mr. P. W. Whitnall presided, 
 supported in particular by Messrs. Kaye, Gore, Leigh, Smith, 
 Billinge, Merrit, Wright and Scarisbrick. The English 
 nationality of these gentlemen is well testified by their sur- 
 names. In a report of the School Committee eight years 
 after this event, it is recorded that they spent £537 13s. 5d. 
 on the maintenance of the school, an amount which was 
 certainly very creditable to them in view of the poverty of the 
 working people, with an attendance of 480 children. We 
 have already noted the average attendance. The head master 
 was Mr. Edward Brennan; Mr. H. F. Leigh, who lived in 
 Colquitt Street, was one of the founders of the school, and 
 another member of the same family acted as treasurer. A 
 tablet on the west wall of the Pro-Cathedral perpetuates the 
 memory of this excellent layman. " Henry Faithwaite Leigh, 
 " of Colquitt Street, formerly of Bark Hill, near Wigan, died 
 "April 21, 1833, aged 77 years. He was one of the chief 
 " founders of this place of Divine worship and the adjoining 
 " school. Firm in faith, confident in hope, full of charity 
 " both for God and man. He set aside this world for Heaven. 
 " Stranger drop not one single tear, a simple prayer is all 
 " I ask." The tablet also records the name of his son, George 
 Leigh, and of Mrs. Catherine Pulford, his mother-in-law. 
 
 In the year 1821, the Catholic population, estimated by 
 the numbers attending Mass on the Sunday mornings, was 
 
 • Xaveiian, June, 1887.
 
 35 
 
 12,000,* as compared with a total seating accommodation of 
 56,200 in all the Anglican and Dissenting places of worship | Xt- 
 in the town. From a census taken in this same year we learn 
 that the total number of houses occupied were 19,007, the 
 average number of dwellers therein amounting to 5'84. A 
 distinguished Liverpool Irishman,! whose name will frequently 
 occur in these pages because of his great service to the church 
 and his single-minded devotion to his country's cause, in a 
 comment upon Canon O'Toole's tables of baptisms, calculated 
 that ten years earlier (1811) there were 21,359 Catholics living 
 inside the town boundaries. As corroborating this opinion, 
 a priest attached to St. Nicholas' speaking at a public meeting 
 in the schools in 1830, declared that the Catholics numbered 
 not less than one-third or one-fourth of the entire population, 
 and called special attention to the definitely ascertained fact 
 that in the course of twenty-three years the number of 
 Catholic baptisms had increased 340 per cent.| The next 
 extension of church accommodation took place at St. Peter's, 
 Seel Street, the extended church being opened on November 
 27, 1817. The preacher on this interesting occasion was 
 Father Baines, O.S.B., of Bath, who was regarded as the 
 principal pulpit orator of his day. Mozart's twelfth Mass, 
 with full orchestral accompaniment, was rendered. Here 
 we may pause to note that the newspapers of the day and for 
 many years later devoted much attention to the musical portion 
 of the services, and only in rare instances made any reference 
 to the text selected by the preacher or any of his observations. 
 In the Liverpool Mercury of November, 1817, one reads with 
 amazement the following extraordinary advertisement, which 
 happily has not appeared since. " On Monday, December 
 " the first, the whole of the unsold pews will be publicly let. 
 " in the chapel, at the hour of eleven in the forenoon." This 
 announcement refers to the extended accommodation provided 
 in Seel Street. It is extremely probable that a great number 
 of Irish labourers found work in the year 1819, in excavating 
 the Prince's Dock. Most of the docks were constructed by 
 Irish labourers, and other works of a similar character 
 requiring muscle were so carried out by them. The Orange- 
 men of the town appear to have had their political passions 
 inflamed by the presence of a large Catholic and Irish 
 population in their midst, and the development of church 
 buildings as well as th(» marked tolerance of the Liberal parly 
 
 * Smithor'K Commprnp. 
 
 i Mr. John Denvir, author of " Tho Irish Library ; The Irish in Great 
 
 Britain." 
 
 } Mercury, 2lHt May, 1830.
 
 36 
 
 aggravated the situation. Tbey began a series of attacks 
 both wordy and physical on the Catholic Church and Ireland, 
 which to them as to more enlightened persons were regarded 
 quite erroneously as synonymous terms. Retaliation was 
 inevitable. On the 12th July, 1819, when the Orange body 
 celebrated the famous scrimmage " 'twixt a Dutchman and 
 " a Scot,'* they were waylaid at the corner of Dale Streetf 
 and Byrom Street by a host of Irish labourers who made a 
 desperate onslaught on them. Stones, sticks and other 
 weapons were freely used, and both sides sustained severe 
 injuries. It was the beginning of that wretched race quarrel 
 on false issues which was assiduously kept alive by one political 
 party in the city for the most unworthy ends, and continued 
 to disturb the harmony of the citizens for half a century. 
 When the learned Roscoe contested Liverpool in the Liberal 
 interest in the year 1807, the real issue was the abolition of 
 slavery. Catholic Emancipation was a minor point in that 
 struggle. His opponents carried both their candidates to victory 
 by issuing the following squib. " This day, about two o'clock, 
 "His Holiness Pope Leo Tenth made his long expected entry. 
 " He bore two banners; Catholic Emancipation and Abolition 
 '' of the Slave Trade." After six days' polling the author of 
 the Life of Pope Leo was badly beaten, receiving only 379 
 votes against 1,277 and 1,461 given to his Tory rivals. The 
 Irish Catholics of the early years of the nineteenth century 
 were accused by interested politicians of disloyalty, an 
 accusation which has not yet been discontinued. Strangely 
 enough it was their loyalty to the unfortunate Queen 
 Caroline which accounted for their first appearance in the 
 political arena of Liverpool, the prelude to effective interfer- 
 ence in much more important matters both of religion and 
 politics. The sympathies of the great bulk of the Liberal 
 party lay with the persecuted consort of a worthless 
 Hanoverian, and when the news reached Liverpool that she 
 had triumphantly vindicated her honour, they organised a 
 huge public demonstration to express their delight. In the 
 public procession which wound up the festivities the Catholic 
 and Irish Societies took no unimportant place. They had at 
 length lifted their heads, and begun to realise the duty they 
 owed to the city of their adoption. Two years later another 
 influx of Irish immigrants arrived in the town, due to the 
 severity of Irish landowners, who demanded their pound of 
 flesh notwithstanding the generally depressed condition of 
 
 • See humorous squib, Dublin Leader, July, 1908. 
 
 t The exact spot where the Holy Cross procession was attaoked on 
 
 May 9th, 1909.
 
 87 
 
 Irish agriculture. The newspapers record the sequel in these 
 words. " Crowds of indigent poor sought relief at the work- 
 " house in Cumberland Street, and at the parish church of 
 " St. Peter's, Church Street." It would be an interesting 
 item of historical value could we calculate the heavy cost to 
 Liverpool ratepayers of Irish misgovernment, and a no less 
 interesting speculation would be the progress of Catholicism 
 in Liverpool had Pitt failed in carrying into law the ill-fated 
 Act of Union. This second exodus from Ireland to Liverpool 
 must have been very considerable, as a local historian* tells 
 us that around the Exchange not fifteen in a hundred were 
 natives of the town owing to the numbers of poor Irish 
 arriving daily. This immense mass of Catholics around the 
 Tithebarn street and Vauxhall Road area, entailed serious con- 
 sequences social and economic to the town which have not 
 wholly disappeared to this hour, and brought about the erection 
 of further chapels and schools, but for which the citizens of 
 Liverpool had been brought face to face with insoluble 
 problems of crime and lawlessness. Liverpool has failed 
 entirely to realise its debt to the devoted Catholic clergy and 
 the energetic Catholic laymen who saved the situation to some 
 extent both in the twenties and the terrible years which were 
 soon to follow. This Irish congestion had a curious sequel 
 if we are to credit the statement that when the " cabbage 
 " patches " which lined " the road to Ormskirk," had to give 
 way to much needed sites for dwelling houses, the new street 
 was called Marie-la-bonne, modified to Marybone, at the 
 request of the Catholics " who began to occupy the houses 
 " erected. "t Agricultural land now as.sumed a high value as 
 " eligible " building sites, and brought in its train as a logical 
 result the awful problem of housing the poor which perplexes 
 local and imperial statesmen ignorant of the one method of 
 solving the difficulty. 
 
 St. Mary's Chapel, just sixty-six feet long and forty- 
 eight broad was sorely taxed to find room for the thousands 
 who sought to hoar Mass therein, and placed a responsibility 
 upon the shoulders of the Benedictine Fathers, which they 
 were unable to face successfully for nearly twenty years. 
 This crowded area was filled V)y men who were without any 
 proficiency in skilled occupations and had to depend entirely 
 on the demand for the physical energy which fortunately they 
 poBsessfd in abundance, otherwise their sojourn in the town 
 had been attnnded by much more serious consequences. Their 
 one and only consolation was the brightness of their faith in 
 
 • Bmither's Commerce. 
 ] Btonehouse — Btreet« of Liverpool.
 
 38 
 
 God, and the practice of their religion, of which there ia 
 abundant proof in the speeches both of clergy and laity of 
 the day. A similar state of affairs existed at the South end 
 of the town. Seel Street Chapel was utterly unable to cope 
 with the congested Irish population living in the streets off 
 Park Lane and St. James Street, and a lay committee took 
 in hand the erection of a new church to supply the spiritual 
 needs of this Irish colony. The dedication of the church leaves 
 no doubt as to the nationality of the poor for whom it was 
 founded and quite a thrill of enthusiasm swept over the Irish 
 population at the announcement that the Park Place Church 
 was to be placed under the protection of the Apostle of 
 Ireland.* Touched by the needs of the Irish poor many of 
 the leading Liberals gave substantial assistance towards the 
 undertaking, and the poor contributed their mite generously 
 and whole heartedly. The English Catholics of the town 
 were generous to a degree and on the 17th of March, 1821, 
 not many months after the project had been conceived, the 
 foundation stone was laid amidst scenes of jubilation, probably 
 never equalled since that memorable day. St. Patrick's feast 
 occurred on a Saturday that year, not the most suitable day 
 for public rejoicings or processions, but the day mattered not, 
 the heart of Catholic and Irish Liverpool was touched in its 
 tenderest part, and a great procession was the result. Those 
 were the days of great faith. Consequently the day was 
 opened by the Irish Society attending Mass at St. Mary's, a 
 compliment to the parent church as well as a thanksgiving 
 to God, and then reforming, the procession wended its way 
 to St. Anthony's, where the second half of the procession 
 had also heard Mass at an early hour. Led by several 
 carriages in which were seated the rector of St. Nicholas, 
 Father Penswick, Father Dennet, of Aughton, and the 
 preacher at the ceremony. Father Kirwan, St. Michan's, 
 Dublin, the monstre procession moved off on its long march 
 to Park Place. Then followed the Irish Societies, wearing 
 their regalia, bearing banners and flags, and accompanied by 
 numerous brass and fife bands, including the Hibernian 
 Society, Benevolent Hibernian Society, Hibernian Mechanical 
 Society, Benevolent Society of St. Patrick, Amicable Society 
 of St. Patrick, Free and Independent Brothers, Industrious 
 Universal Society and the Society of St. Patrick. The last 
 named organisation was founded specially to raise funds for 
 the new church. Behind these organisations which comprised 
 fifteen thousand men, marched the school children from the 
 
 • Strong opposition was offered by the Protestant body to the erection, 
 on the ground that there was plenty of accommodation already.
 
 39 
 
 schools of Copperas Hill and the Hibernian School in Pleasant 
 Street. That year the famous Irish regiment* whose exploits 
 under Wellington in the Peninsular War were still 
 remembered, was stationed in the town. On hearing of the 
 proposed procession they expressed a keen desire to take part 
 in it, and the Officer in command appealed to the War Office 
 for the necessary permission, which was readily given. Their 
 appearance in the procession, many of them bearing signs of 
 their services to the King, aroused the sympathies of the 
 liberal minded non-Catholic population and kindled the 
 enthusiasm of their countrymen to fever heat. In the absence 
 of the Vicar Apostolic who sent his blessing, Father Penswick 
 well and truly laid the foundation stone, and amidst the 
 jubilation " of the thousands of English Catholics in the town " 
 and the plaudits of the immense crowd of native born Irish- 
 men, the new mission was launched on its notable career. The 
 festivities concluded by four public banquets held in Crosshall 
 Street, Sir Thomas' Buildings, Ranelagh Street and Paradise 
 Street. Two years later the unfinished building began to be 
 used and quite a surprise was felt by the average citizen at 
 the strange and unique spectacle of hundreds of men and 
 women kneeling outside the walls of the church on Sunday 
 mornings, unable to obtain admission to the sacred edifice 
 which was crowded to its utmost capacity as far as its condition 
 permitted. Father Penswick, who was the head and front of 
 the scheme for founding the church, made a herculean 
 effort to finish the building. To this end he founded in his 
 own parish an auxiliary branch of the Society of St. Patrick 
 and raised a considerable sum of money. Many distinguished 
 Irish ecclesiastics crossed over to Liverpool and preached in 
 the still unfinished building ; the Professor of Rhetoric at 
 Maynooth one Sunday morning collecting two hundred 
 pounds. Irish and English Catholics worked harmoniously 
 until a foolish murmur was spread abroad that Father 
 Penswick intondfd to put an English priest in charge of the 
 mission and that he intended to frustrate the idea of the lay 
 Trustees to make the ground floor of the church free for ever. 
 This latter proposal, aftorv/ards carried out, is a striking light 
 on the poverty of the masses of the people at that time. An 
 angry correspondence sprang up in the newspapers and 
 retarded the collocation of the needed funds, but eventually 
 the rnrnoiira wf-re dispelled by the appointment of Father 
 Murphy. 
 
 On the 22nd August, 1827, the church was opened by 
 ceremonies of such splendour and solemnity as had never 
 
 • Connaught Rangers.
 
 40 
 
 before been witnessed by Liverpool Catholics of any precediag 
 age. Over forty priests were seated in the chancel, coming 
 from all parts of Lancashire and Cheshire. As a compliment 
 to the founder of the church, Father Penswick was invited to 
 sing the High Mass, an eloquent sermon being preached by 
 Father Walker (later on one of the resident clergy), 
 who had a high reputation as a pulpit orator.* The amount 
 collected inside the church on that day reached the large sum 
 of three hundred pounds. The papers of the day paid special 
 attention as usual to the musical portion of the service which 
 was of a very high character, and specifically mentioned a 
 young priest named White whose singing attracted much 
 public attention. He had but recently returned from his 
 studies in Rome and was asked by Pope Leo the Twelfth to 
 join the choir in the Sistine chapel. This flattering offer was 
 declined ; the young Levite preferring the hard work of a 
 mission in his native Lancashire to musical fame in the 
 Eternal City. On the Sunday following the ceremony the 
 church was opened free to the public as had been arranged by 
 the Trustees ; a stone laid in the outer west wall inscribed 
 with this condition stands to this hour to perpetuate this 
 curious condition. Mr. John Brancker, one of the noblest 
 spirited public men of a generation remarkable for the high 
 character and unselfishness of so many of its leading citizens 
 on the Liberal side, had given generously to the funds for the 
 church. He gave one special gift which against his own wishes 
 told succeeding generations of his great charity. The fine 
 statue of St. Patrick which stands outside the church was 
 ordered by him from a Dublin firm of sculptors and placed in 
 position in November, 1827. It has the distinction of being 
 the first Catholic emblem displayed to public gaze in Liver- 
 pool since St. Patrick's Cross in Marybone had been destroyed. 
 Dr. Cahill, professor of philosophy at Maynooth, paid the 
 church an early visit and preached to an immense congrega- 
 tion. 
 
 The three preceding years were remarkable for the 
 great activity of the English Catholic residents. A Catholic 
 orphanage for girls had been founded in Mount 
 Pleasant (now the orphanage located in Falkner Street) and 
 an effort was made to establish a similar institution for boys. 
 For this much needed end the congregation of St. Mary's and 
 St. Peter's subscribed one hundred and forty-five pounds and 
 to help both orphanages the leading Catholics resolved to 
 establish an annual Charity Ball. The first ball was held in 
 
 • In August, 1837, he preached the sermon on the opening of St. 
 Werburgh's, Birkenheatd. He was then stationed at Scarborough.
 
 41 
 
 the Music Rooms,* Bold Street, and was most successful. 
 This is one of the two institutions which still exist in our 
 midst, the Catholic Benevolent Society being the other. The 
 proceeds were devoted entirely to providing means for 
 carrying on the work of succouring the orphan Catholic 
 children and preserving their Faith. 
 
 Catholic Emancipation had become the foremost political 
 question of the day, thanks to the intensity of the agitation 
 then being carried on in Ireland. Bills to remove the 
 disabilities under which Catholics were deprived of even the 
 elementary right of citizenship were annually introduced into 
 Parliament with little prospect of success, that branch of the 
 legislature known as " the other place " forming a most 
 effective barrier to their passage into law. In no part of the 
 country did Catholic claims receive more effective support 
 than from the Liberal party in Liverpool, who were right in 
 the forefront of that momentous struggle for liberty of 
 conscience. This was the more remarkable because of the 
 scanty support given to the movement by Liverpool Catholics 
 themselves, who, for some time seemed afraid of the greac 
 forces arrayed against them. They were influenced by the 
 fear of provoking active Protestant hostility, which in those 
 days had the opportunity of displaying its hatred of the 
 Catholic body in ugly and oppressive forms. During the 
 year 1824 they were encouraged to come out into the open 
 and join heartily in the very vigorous fight waged on their 
 behalf by William Rathbone and the splendid body of 
 Liberals behind him. A remarkable Catholic meeting was 
 held on October 7th, 1824, in St. Nicholas' Schools. Its 
 proceedings were considered so important that the " Liverpool 
 Mercury " devoted five and a half columns to a report of the 
 proceedings. A Catholic Association had been founded in 
 London, and branches had been formed in Birmingham, 
 Manchester, Blackburn and Preston. Liverpool Catholics 
 followed the example, and this great gathering, presided over 
 by Mr. John McCarthy, was thn result. As was the practice 
 in those days, the resolutions demanding civil and religious 
 liberty appeared in the advertising columns of the 
 " Mercury," followed by the signatures of Dr. Penswick, now 
 coadjutor Vicar Apostolic, and Fathers Robinson, Fisher, 
 Glovor and Fairclough, of the Order of St. Benedict; Fathers 
 Gerardot and White, and fifteen other priests residing in the 
 neighbourhood of fvivcrpool. Tho signatures of the laity 
 display the great power and inlluence of tho English 
 
 • Now occupied by MesBrB. Bacon, Bold Street, at the corner of 
 
 Concflft Street.
 
 42 
 
 Catholics in and around the town. Sir Thomas Massey 
 Stanley of Hootou, Sir Edward Mostyn of Mostyn, 
 Charles Orrel of Orrel, and such Lancashire names 
 as Anderton, Barnwell, Blount, Bannister, Bretherton, 
 Gerard, Hoghton, Kaye, Leigh, Prest, Rockliff, 
 Reynolds, Whitnall, Wright, Waring, Lathom, and Rowe. 
 Very few Irish signatures were attached. The " Liverpool 
 Mercury ' backed up the Catholic claim with great vigour, 
 and by way of return for the brilliant services of the editor, 
 no St. Patrick's Day dinner passed for very many years without 
 the toast being drunk enthusiastically : " ' The Liverpool 
 " ' Mercury,' the friend of civil and religious liberty !" Some 
 light is thrown on the customs of the early twenties by 
 perusing the toast lists, which beginning with " The King," 
 were invariably followed by at least eighteen or nineteen other 
 and appropriate toasts. A flourishing branch of O'Connell's 
 Catholic Rent Society came into existence, of which the 
 cultured and liberal-minded editor of the " Mercury " was the 
 treasurer. His services were so thorough and successful that 
 Mr. Egerton Smith was constantly spoken of at O'Connell's 
 meetings in Dublin as a member of the Catholic Church, and 
 this reputation gave him considerable trouble when in later 
 years he became a candidate for the Town Council. In this 
 connection it may be worth recording that the first illustration 
 to appear in a Liverpool newspaper was a picture of O'Connell 
 in barrister's robes in the columns of the " Mercury," which 
 was published immediately aft-er the famous Clare election. 
 The same journal exhibited in the windows of its publishing 
 office the first franked letter of the first Catholic Member of 
 Parliament. O'Connell's election for Clare and his refusal to 
 take the blasphemous oath demanded as a condition of taking 
 his seat were watched with intense interest by the Reform 
 party as well as the Catholic residents of Liverpool. The local 
 agitation was not without its effects. There was presented 
 to Parliament a petition asking for Catholic Emancipation 
 bearing the signatures of the Rector of Liverpool, the Rev. 
 Mr. Campbell,* and thirty-two Protestant clergymen, many 
 of whom had previously appended their signatures to petitions 
 against the removal of the disabilities under which Catholics 
 and Dissenters laboured. 
 
 Another organisation was founded in the February of 
 1826, called the Catholic Defence Society, the precursor of 
 the Catholic Truth Society of our own time. The original 
 meeting was held in St. Nicholas' Schools, and the object of 
 the Society was " to counteract the abusive torrent daily 
 
 • Whose portrait hangs in the Board Room of the Select Vestry.
 
 43 
 
 " pouring out from that portion of the Press engaged in the 
 " services of the religious tract societies, and the weekly stream 
 " flowing from the pulpits of itinerant and illiberal preachers." 
 To prevent the passage of any Catholic Relief Act, every 
 possible kind of misrepresentation was indulged in to inflame 
 the Protestant mind. Violent theological tirades against the 
 doctrines, practices and devotions of the Catholic Church 
 poured forth in a never ending stream from pulpit, platforms 
 and the Orange-Tory Press. The works of Catholic Theologians 
 were distorted and misquoted to maintain the worst possible 
 kind of Protestant ascendancy, and the first aim of the newly- 
 founded society was to provide non-Catholics with free copies 
 of recognised standard works by Catholic writers. How far 
 such a course could possibly succeed may well be doubted, but 
 the idea of carrying the war into the enemy's camp illustrates 
 the tone and temper of newly awakened Catholic manhood. 
 The society held numerous public meetings and within six 
 months of its formation reported the distribution of fifty 
 pounds worth of Catholic literature. Liverpool was now the 
 happy hunting ground of Irish-Orange parsons, societies and 
 lecturers, all bent on one idea; " Papists lie down." One of 
 the most irritating was the local branch of the Irish Sunday 
 School Society. At first sight it appeared to be so far as 
 Catholic aims were concerned a harmless organisation, but 
 like all the Protestant agencies of that day, it was captured by 
 the Tory party and effectively used for propaganda work in 
 their interest. Thanks to an Irish soldier, named Spence, it 
 was covered with ridicule, of that quality which kills, and 
 for a long period ceased to become of any political or religious 
 importance. A meeting was announced for March, 1827, and 
 with a host of " itinerant" preachers, the Bishop of Dromore 
 crossed the Irish Sea, to deliver an address well calculated to 
 create passion and provoke tumult and disorder in the town. 
 Spence possessed the saving grace of humour and quietly 
 resolved to attend the Irish Sunday School Meeting and con- 
 found bin Lordship from Dromnro. Tie boldly mounted the 
 platform and seizing a favourable opportunity rose and ad- 
 dressed the meeting. In a speech described in the press "as 
 " fluent, animated and impressive," he effectively disturbed the 
 harmony of tho meeting which vainly attempted to silence or 
 remove him. His extraordinary knowledge of the Bible stood 
 him in splendid st-ead as he pelted scriptural texts at the 
 heads of the " text mongers," answering off liaiid every 
 objection or int/»rruption with an apt quotation from Holy 
 Writ. Having disposed of the " Irish brigade " as the 
 preachers from Ireland were ironically termed for years in
 
 44 
 
 Liverpool, Spence next assailed the right reverend chairman, 
 prefacing his observations by courteously informing him 
 that he did not bear a crosier by Apostolic succession but 
 because of certain Acts of Parliament. His appeal to the 
 political history of these islands as well as the ecclesiastical 
 story of the English Church were listened to by the audience 
 whose attention he had now completely captured by his good 
 temper, well constructed arguments, and his determined 
 resolve to be heard. An Irish " itinerant ' provoked beyond 
 measure by the speech of Spence interrupted him with the 
 unfortunate statement that Henry the Eighth was a " double 
 " dyed scoundrel because he was half a Papist." A Protestant 
 audience with a big P, could not stand this accusation, which 
 gave Spence a new lease of power over them, and most 
 effectively did he grasp the opportunity. The attempt of the 
 " Courier " to belittle Spence only served to call more public 
 attention to his extraordinary speech and the political aims of 
 the alleged Sunday School Society. Certainly, it was admitted 
 the soldier's shako covered a head well stored with Biblical 
 and theological lore. 
 
 The progress through Parliament of the Emancipation 
 Bill did not excite to any great extent the local Catholic body, 
 as its success was regarded as a certainty. One interesting 
 petition was forwarded to the King by all the Liverpool 
 Catholics who had been educated at Stonyhurst, appealing for 
 the omission of the penal clauses against the Jesuits, and 
 eulogising their former teachers " as useful, virtuous and 
 " meritorious men." 
 
 Political agitation having died down with the passing of 
 the Catholic Disabilities Act, the leaders of the Church gave 
 increased attention to the spiritual needs of their growing 
 flocks. School accommodation was their greatest need. Bishop 
 Penswick summoned a meeting on the 20th May, 1830, to 
 discuss the problem and find a solution. Father Walker in 
 the course of his speech stated that nine thousand children 
 were either not attending school or being educated in the 
 Corporation and Hibernian schools, and that only eight 
 hundred places had been provided in Catholic schools. In 
 face of the fact that in the previous year 1890 Catholic children 
 had been baptised in the five Catholic Chapels, this small 
 number of places in Catholic Schools was ridiculously inade- 
 quate and justified Father Walker's strictures. It wa8 
 resolved to make a commencement by erecting new schools for 
 St. Nicholas' parish, and a lay committee was formed to carry 
 out the project. Several Irishmen of standing served on this 
 committee, Messrs. Kelly, Kearney and Lynch, but the larger
 
 45 
 
 number comprised local names such as Chaloner, Whitnall, 
 Duckworth, Sharpies, Marsh, Rocklifife, Dugdale, Holgrave, 
 Hall, Leigh, Haskayne, Roskell and Day. If Father Walker's J 
 estimate of the Catholic population was accurate there were I 
 between fifty and sixty thousand Catholics in the town in I ^ 
 1830, out of a total population of about 205,000. The local .' *^ 
 census taken in the following year gave 205,572 residents. J 
 
 In the same year the committee of the Hibernian Schools,""*^ 
 in an appeal for funds made an interesting announcement that 
 " persons are paid to conduct the children to their respective 
 '• Churches on Sundays," a fine illustration of the high- 
 mindedness of the managers, and in its way explains one of 
 the many reasons why the Catholic population of Liverpool 
 whether of Irish or English nationality allied themselves 
 politically with the Liberal party. 
 
 Across the river in Wallasey " the humble Catholics 
 " living in that neighbourhood " made the first attempt to 
 found a permanent Church, St. Alban's, Liscard, being the 
 final result. For years a priest from a Liverpool Chapel, 
 probably St. Anthony s, crossed the river to celebrate Mass 
 in the upper room of a small hotel, near the present site of the 
 Wallasey Council Offices, and the congregation had to fill 
 their pockets with stones before setting out from their homes, 
 it being almost certain that the local Orangemen would assail 
 them either going or coming. 
 
 The next step taken in Liverpool was to provide a larger 
 Church at the North end to replace the French Chapel, the 
 venerable " stranger " Father Gerardot, having gone to his 
 eternal reward. It was decided to imitate the example set at 
 St. Patrick's with such success, by forming a lay committee 
 called the Society of St. Anthony. By the end of October, 
 1832, the Society had collected the sum of £2,000, and on St. 
 Patrick's day of thai year, on a site a f^w hundred yards north 
 of the Dryden Stre<^t Chapel, the foundation stone was laid 
 and blossnd by the Rev. Father Wilcock. A huge procession 
 marched from the south and centre of the town to Scotland 
 Ro.id, and aflnr witnessing the simple ceremony, reformoH and 
 maiched up to South Chester Street t-o witness the laying of 
 the fonnflatioTi stonn of the new schools of St. Patrick. Truly 
 the feast of Ireland's Apostle ought to arouse sweet and 
 pleasant memories for I.,iverpool Catholics. 
 
 The committee which unrlertook tho task of erecting St. 
 Arthony'a Chapel liad a serious task in hand. The members 
 were : President, Father Wilcock, Vice-President, Mr. 
 Christopher Dugdale, Treasurer, Mr. John Kaye, Solicitor, 
 Mr. Allan Kaye, Committeemen ; Messrs. Anthony Myres,
 
 46 
 
 Uenry Croft, Edward Blanchard, George Beealey, 
 Richard Beesley, W. Every, G. Fendler, Richard 
 Gillow and Joseph Pyke, and Mr. R. Chapman 
 acted as Secretary. It is notable that not one 
 Irish name figures on this committee, and from a paragraph 
 in the ninth report we may understand how the money was 
 raised : " the only funds for carrying this vast enterprise into 
 "effect were the voluntary donations of a few wealthier 
 " Catholics, and the weekly penny subscriptions of the 
 " labouring class.'' Out of the donation list of £563 53. lOd., 
 Irish names are credited with £87 Is. Od., including £20 from 
 Mr. Richard Sheil and two amounts of £10 each from Meseu:^. 
 O'Donnell and Patrick Leonard. At the very outset the 
 Committee was hindered from carrying out its work by a 
 tedious law suit about the site, which does not appear to have 
 ended favourably, with the result that in the interval " the 
 " population in the district, chiefly by the continued influx 
 " of fresh comers, had increased to many thousands. For thia 
 " multitude, the erections essential for the preservation and 
 " practice of religion, as well as for the education of crowds of 
 " destitute children, had to be provided." The work had to 
 be commenced at any cost, and right nobly it was carried 
 through. From the annual reports of St. Anthony's Society, 
 we may learn the lines upon which this and similar Societies 
 worked. They had absolute control over all receipts and 
 disbursements, the raising and paying off of loans, and dis- 
 charging of builders' accounts. For instance, all the collections 
 on the Christmas Eves of 1839, 1840 and 1841, on the anniver- 
 saries of the opening. Bishop Brown's consecration in 1840, 
 sermons, fees paid for graves and vaults and free seats account, 
 are all set out in detail on the credit side of the Treasurer's 
 account, and on the other side all payments to bricklayers, 
 masons, ironmongers, plasterers, are carefully recorded ; so 
 carefully that£l lOs. Od. " To Newfoundland dog for Cemetery- 
 Ground " appears among the many details. 
 
 There is always a reverse side to the medal. The joy of 
 the Irish at these splendid developments of Catholic work was 
 soon turned to sorrow at the dreadful outbreak of cholera 
 which carried off over fifteen hundred victims in twelve months. 
 This fearful pestilence had previously taken hold of Ireland 
 itself, with its usual concomitants. As if to fill the cup of 
 Irish grief and disappointment the Irish harvestmen who 
 crossed over to England annually to engage in agricultural 
 operations, failed to secure employment, owing as they alleged 
 to the decision of the English farmers not to engage any Irish 
 labour. No doubt there was a fringe of truth to the allegation.
 
 47 
 
 as party feeling over the passing of the Emancipation Act had 
 not wholly disappeared, but the real cause was an economic 
 one. The wasteful, degrading and unchristian Poor Law was 
 about to be abolished; English labour was set free and 
 Guardians released from the cruel responsibility of finding 
 work for "unemployed" in their respective parishes, which 
 degraded labour and inflicted heavy burdens on the honest 
 poor who scorned to ask them for work. These were the causes 
 which induced the " English farmer " to endeavour to put a 
 check to Irish immigration, but the consequences to the 
 harvestmen were serious in the extreme. Crowds of them 
 proceeded to the Parish Offices in Fenwick Street, appealing 
 to be sent home at the public expense, and many of them 
 remained in the town, adding an unwelcome addition to the 
 permanent population of the City, and raising still further 
 problems for priests and statesmen. St. Anthonys was com- 
 pleted in the year 1833, on the Feast of St. Michael the 
 Archangel. Bishop Penswick had the happiness of singing 
 the first High Mass inside the walls of the new Church, and 
 Bishop Baines, who exercised jurisdiction over the Western 
 District of England, was the preacher on this auspicious 
 occasion. His fame as an orator attracted an immense con- 
 gregation, a critic of his address remarking that it was of 
 " surpassing eloquence, which more than satisfied anticipation." 
 An old Liverpool resident once informed the writer that 
 the long line of carriages which stood in Scotland Road that 
 morning exceeded in numbers and elegance anything that he 
 witnessed thirty years later outside the fashionable Anglican 
 or Dissenting Churches. The sale of tickets and collection 
 on this occasion amounted to seven hundred pounds, a 
 remarkable tribute to the great generosity of the people and 
 the eloquence of the Bishop. 
 
 The land and buildings cost £10,000, and the necessities 
 of the parish may be gauged from the dreadful fact that it 
 contained six hundred children totally unprovided with any 
 kind of school accommodation. A bold stand for a share in the 
 municipal government of the town closed this eventful year. 
 It was fraught with serious consequences to the generations 
 which have come and gone since the visit of the Commissioners 
 to investigate local administration. The Catholic body placed 
 their case unreservedly in the hands of Mr. John Rosson, 
 barriflter-at^law, the most brilliant, Cat.holif public man who 
 has evnr ai)pcared in the Catholic History of Liverpool. For 
 a generation he was the life and soul of every Catholic move- 
 ment, whether in fninifiing churches or pchools, planning 
 new organisations for the defence or advocacy of Catholic
 
 48 
 
 interests, or directing his people in the stormy and 
 dangerous fields of political activity. His name shines out 
 brightly in every line of local history and it is the shame of 
 his co-religionists that no monument perpetuates the memory 
 of this fine Englishman. He was the first Liverpool Catholic 
 to give evidence before a Government Enquiry. Before the 
 Commissioners he boldly contended that the Emancipation 
 Act had been rendered null and void by the methods adopted 
 to elect members to the Town Council, and made out a 
 splendid case for municipal reform. His evidence taken on 
 oath is doubly interesting as he gives officially the first satis- 
 factory statement as to the numbers of the Catholic jx)pulation 
 within the four corners of the town. According to his evidence 
 the number of baptisms during the year 1832 were as follows: 
 At St. Mary's, 559; St. Peter's, 446; St. Nicholas, 616; St. 
 Anthonys, 359; St. Patrick's, 408; a total of 2,388 The 
 total number of baptisms in all the Churches and Chapels of 
 the town amounted to 8,504, so that Mr. Rosson argued that 
 out of a total population of 220,974, the Catholics numbered 
 not less than 59^500. Bearin^~rn~mind that there were in the 
 town a great number of young unmarried Irish labourers, in 
 a greater proportion than prevailed in the English residents 
 of other denominations, the numbers stated underestimated 
 the actual Catholic population. At the annual Easter Vestry 
 held in the parish church of St. Nicholas', Chapel Street, in 
 the course of a discussion on the mortality of the town, one^ of 
 the speakers said there were at least 70.000 Catholics in the 
 town. With Catholics and Dissenters excluded from the Town 
 Council, that body could not be said " to be the image of the 
 " people ; " an expressive phrase and typical of Mr. Rosson's 
 style. 
 
 A new Reform Bill was passed into law and on St. 
 Stephen's Day, 1835, the new elections were held and resulted 
 in a magnificent Liberal victory. The pent-up feelings of thirty 
 years were at last given full vent and the result was the anni- 
 hilation of Toryism ; only five Tories securing election. Three 
 Catholics were returned, the precursors of a long line of 
 Catholic and Irish public men who have not only zealously 
 worked for the parties to which they were attached but have 
 always set up a high standard of civic patriotism 
 worthy of the Church itself. Mr. J. Roskell was 
 elected for Lime Street Ward. He was one of the 
 pioneers of the Lancashire Watch and Clock Trade, 
 and his premises in Church Street were well known until late 
 in the nineteenth century.* He gave several hostages to the 
 
 • Lately occupied by a Catholic Councillor, Mr. Henry Miles.
 
 49 
 
 Churcli, one of his sons becoming Bishop of Nottingham on the 
 restoration of the Hierarchy. By a curious technicality he 
 lost his seat at the end of the year 1836. Being a contractor 
 to the Select Vestry, he set the account owing to him against 
 the Poor Rates owing to them. The Revising Barrister upheld 
 the Tory objection that he had not paid his Poor Rate and 
 struck him oflf the roll of voters, thus depriving him of hia 
 seat. Later on he was again elected a member of the Council. 
 
 Mr. Richard Sheil, of Chatham Street, was elected for 
 Scotland Ward, a man of whom we shall have occasion to 
 epeak later and whose name is perpetuated in one of our public 
 parks. South Toxteth Ward returned Richard Sharpies, the 
 head of a family distinguished for invaluable services to the 
 Catholic body. The Liberals seized every Aldermanic seat 
 and set out in right good earnest to govern Liverpool in the 
 best interests of the entire community. Their tolerance 
 towards Catholics proved their undoing, and incidentally 
 their downfall by a curious coincidence, made for the greatest 
 developments of Catholic activity and progress. 
 
 It appears strange to associate Catholic advancement with 
 an Act of the Imperial Parliament. Certain it is that the 
 Act which reformed municipal government in Liverpool was 
 the indirect cause of that extensive provision of school accom- 
 modation which is the great glory of the Diocese of Liverpool, 
 coupled of course with the insensate bigotry of the Conserva- 
 tive party of the day.
 
 50 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 One of the first acts of the new Town Council was to 
 accede to the request of Mr. Sharpies to allow the Catholic 
 Charity Ball to be held in the Town Hall, where it has been 
 held ever since with satisfactory financial results to Catholic 
 Charities, especially the original beneficiary, the Falkner 
 Street Orphanage. 
 
 In the year 1826 the Corporation had provided two schools, 
 one in Bevington Bush, known as the North Corporation, and 
 the other in Park Lane, known as the South Corporation 
 school, in order that the children of the poor might receive 
 some degree of elementary education. It was a fine conception 
 for the Council to build schools fifty years before the Act of 
 1870, and shews how in many ways Liverpool public men were 
 ahead of their day and generation. The schools were, 
 however, captured by the Anglican clergy and became to all 
 intents and purposes Church of England Schools, in which 
 the Catechism and the formularies of that Church were 
 taught. They were, therefore, only used by one section of the 
 community, though maintained entirely at the public expense. 
 True to their principles, the victorious Liberals resolved to 
 open the doors to every child without doing violence to any 
 conscience. It was not an easy undertaking, and gave much 
 anxiety to the party leaders. Hcv to create a scheme by 
 which poor Catholics and such Dissenters as were in the same 
 social scale could sit side by side at the school desk, was, 
 strangely enough, a difficult problem to solve. Ireland offered 
 an example and a solution. The Liberal leaders were 
 encouraged by the unanimity by which the Archbishop of 
 Dublin, the Presbyterian Synod of Ulster, and the head of the 
 Irish Episcopalian Church, had accepted a syllabus of reli- 
 gious instruction for the new Irish schools. Without quite 
 appreciating the peculiar set of circumstances which created 
 this strange agreement, the Liberal party resolved to follow 
 the example set them and introduced the same system into the 
 Corporation Schools, with some modifications rendered neces- 
 sary by local conditions. It was decided that school should begin 
 with a hymn and reading of certain portions of Holy Scripture 
 as recommended to Liverpool by the Irish Commissioners of 
 Education, with facilities for the Clergy of all denominations 
 to teach their particular tenets at stated'hours. One hour after 
 school work had ceased was to be devoted to nure Biblical
 
 51 
 
 instruction for all children whose parents permitted them to 
 remain, or did not offer objection. Marvellous to relate these 
 proposals were accepted by the Catholic priests and the 
 ministers of the Dissenting bodies, but were most emphatically 
 repudiated by the clergy of the Established Church who 
 oould not conceal their chagrin at being deprived of complete 
 control over the schools. They fomented the bitterest agita- 
 tion which ever disturbed a town notorious for occasional 
 outbursts of party feeling, and stimulated religious hatred by 
 the grossest misrepresentations. Bands of Orangemen way- 
 laid Protestant children returning from the schools and 
 threatened them with chastisement if they returned ; placards of 
 an inflammatory character denouncing the schools were posted 
 on the hoardings, and a series of public meetings organised 
 where all the speakers, mostly clerics, preached from the one 
 text, "the Unitarians have excluded the Bible." For some 
 time this body came in for the full force of Anglican denun- 
 ciation, but the astute leaders of the Conservative party who 
 realised that this cry would not avail to win back their former 
 domination of the Council, changed the attack to the Roman 
 Catholics and under the skilful guidance and eloquent tongue 
 of the Reverend Hugh McNeill, the flag of " No Popery " was 
 nailed to the masthead, and waved from thenceforward for 
 over a quarter of a century The one offending cause was that 
 as Biblical instruction was to be given, the Douai version was 
 allowed to be read to the Catholic children and the English 
 version to the Protestant. " The Bible has been expelled, ' 
 was the false cry repeated a thousand times not only on the 
 platforms indoor and outdoor, but the falsehood was thundered 
 forth in the Churches by firebrands whose memory must bear 
 the grave responsibility of setting class against class and 
 arousing the demon of racial and religious bigotry. The 
 Council debated nothing but " Education '' at almost every 
 meeting for four or five years. The five Tory members turned 
 themselves into amateur theologians and seriously debated 
 inside the Town Hall whether the t«xt " The seed of the woman 
 rthall crush the serpent's li^ad, " did not imply veneration of 
 the Blessed Virgin, whether the translators of the Bible into 
 the vernacular had not made a mistake in the gender of a 
 certain noun, and other amusing excursions into grammar nnd 
 the higher criticism as laid down by Irish Orange theologians. 
 The campaign of calumny was carried to such extremes 
 that Mr. William Kathbono was compelled to tell a Tory 
 colleague that he was guilty of falsehood. In the same debate 
 he went the length of declaring that Mr. McNeill had been 
 guilty of a " most wicked violation of the duties which one
 
 52 
 
 ■ Christiau owed to another.' For a Rathbone, and such an 
 one, to reproach opponents in such terms, is strong evidence 
 of how unscrupulously his party was assailed for refusing to 
 allow two public schools to become the sole property of one 
 section of the inhabitants. That he and his party were not 
 afraid of the logical consequences of their principles was 
 splendidly illustrated in the debate over the renewal of the 
 lease for the Seel Street Schools site. The Finance Committee 
 recommended the renewal on the terms agreed upon in 1788, 
 but this course was rejected by the Council on the grounds 
 that the site was much too valuable to be sold on lease at such 
 a small price. In the resolution which determined the lease, 
 it was also expressly laid down that no grant should be made 
 to any school not under the absolute control and management 
 of the Council. The division list shews that the Catholic 
 members voted in the majority. The latter decision was 
 regarded by the Orange Conservatives as aimed at them, and 
 they again renewed their attack upon the Liberals for their 
 school policy. In the monthly intervals between noisy, ill- 
 tempered debates, carried on with remarkable pertinacity by 
 the five Conservative members, the Orange tail held a series 
 of meetings which the Churchmen proper supported in a 
 weakly spirit, which they lived to regret, while sectarian 
 animosities were further inflamed by the audacious speeches 
 of alleged ex-priests of Irish birth against their Catholic 
 fellow-countrymen. These gentlemen attracted large audiences 
 under the skilful leadership of McNeill, backed up by the 
 united influence of three Conservative journals which opened 
 their columns to every slander and calumny against the 
 Catholic priesthood which perverted ingenuity could suggest. 
 The Conservative leaders rejoiced at the change which these 
 influences were making in the minds of the citizens, and looked 
 forward with confidence to a speedy return to power. The 
 " Liverpool Mercury " stands out in strong relief by its valiant 
 struggle against this unworthy policy, and maintained a high 
 standard worthy of the noblest traditions of the Press in ite 
 comments on rnunicipal administration. A relentless war 
 was waged by the Tory journals against the " Mercury," but 
 failed utterly to make any change in the dignified writings of 
 its editor and staff. The Irish population found it much more 
 difficult to restrain their indignation, and but for the priests 
 serious disturbances would have ensued. The cruel allegations 
 against them compelled the formation of a Dpfence Associa- 
 tion, inaugurated at a meeting of twelve hundred men in St. 
 Peter's Schools in July, 1837, followed by similar gatherings 
 in St. Nicholas'. The famous Irish Catholic controversialist,
 
 53 
 
 Father Maguire, came over from Ireland, and turned the 
 tables on the " ex-priests " by his exposures, while the 
 brilliancy of his platform style, rapier-like thrusts, keen sense 
 of humour, and withering sarcasm, irritated McNeill and gave 
 groat delight to the multitude of Catholics who crowded to 
 hear his addresses. McNeill finally set the town ablaze by his 
 famous story of the Fisher Street Martyrdom, recounted from 
 the pulpit of St. Jude's. He announced that a Catholic mob, 
 armed with sticke, stones and one scythe, marched to i'isher 
 Street, a narrow street in St. Patrick's parish, and made a 
 murderous onslaught on a Protestant labourer whose wife was 
 a Catholic. They then, he alleged, smashed in the doors and 
 windows, and completely wrecked the house of this defenceless 
 Protestant. There was such an air of truth about this story, 
 that the leading Liberals were deeply pained, and so intense 
 was the feeling aroxised that the Catholic body was compelled 
 to institute a searching enquiry They did so, and the 
 evidence of the Protestant inhabitants of Fisher Street, who 
 came forward, testified that the " martyr " had himself been 
 the aggressor. He had severely beaten a sick man in the 
 neighbourhood, and was soundly thrashed in turn, as he 
 deserved, by a " mob " of irate women professing both creeds, 
 who had witnessed his brutality. Never was a slander so 
 completely refuted, but Dr McNeill refused to apologise or 
 explain. His sole aim was to divide the Catholic and Liberal 
 parties ; that it had failed was not his fault. To some extent 
 his work had been a success, as at the election of 1836 Coun- 
 cillor Sheil was ejected by ten votes from the representation 
 of Scotland Ward, and several Liberals fell with him. Mr. 
 Sheil was elected an alderman a little later, the first Catholic 
 to hold that position in England or Wales. The elections of 
 1837 wore more disastrous for the Liberals, and encouraged by 
 these victories the Tory party went on with greater zest and 
 enthusiasm to the attack on the education policy of the still 
 dominant Tviberals, who manfully rrfusod U> move one step 
 from the lines laid down in 1836. Tho platform controversies 
 in Ireland between Father Maguire and the celebrated 
 Prot^'stant chnmpion. Rev. Thresham Gregg, were well 
 reported in the Tory newspapers, and commented on pdit/)rially 
 to knep up Orange enthusiasm. McNeill always refused to 
 moet Father Magiiire, in spite of numerous taunts and repeated 
 challenges, and 9ome milit^nnt spirits in the Catholic body 
 sent fifty pounds to their accepted cham lion as a token of their 
 appreciation. The level heade<l Catholics, prip.sts and laymen 
 alike, who realisfs"! that no good could resiilt from his further 
 appearances in the heated atmosphere of Liverpool, and
 
 54 
 
 feeling that local Catholic interests were being prejudiced 
 rather than pushed forward by unseemly controversy, 
 resolved to put an end to it. Announced on one Sunday 
 to preach at St. Peter's, a great crowd assembled; not so 
 Father Tom Maguire; "local differences" being assigned by 
 him as the reason. To demonstrate the foolishness of the 
 assertion that the Catholics withheld the Scriptures from the 
 children in their own schools, while permitting them to be 
 read to them in the Corporation schools, it was publicly an- 
 nounced in the newspapers that the girls attending St. 
 Patrick's Schools would be publicly examined in the Church 
 on the 15th May, 1838. The children marched through the 
 main streets of the town, and in the presence of a very large 
 and mixed congregation were examined as to their knowledge 
 of the Bible by one of the clergy. This curious demonstration 
 created a sensation in the town, and was so successful in 
 creating a better feeling towards Catholics that it was repeated 
 annually for many years. 
 
 Many distinguished ecclesiastics visited the town during 
 the thirties, and thus served the double purpose of promoting 
 great enthusiasm for works of charity and cementing the bonds 
 of amity between the English and Irish Catholics, 
 
 In March, 1835, Dr. Polding, O.S.B., Bishop of Van 
 Diemen's Land and Australia, visited the town and preached 
 on a Sunday afternoon at St. Mary's, Woolton, in which 
 district there were only three hundred Catholics. It was 
 noted in the press as a significant proof of Catholic interest 
 in the work of spreading the faith, that he collected twenty- 
 eight pounds for his new mission, the distant diocese over 
 which he had been appointed Bishop. A few days later he 
 sailed from the Mersey accompanied by thirteen priests and 
 novices amid the hearty farewell cries of a large crowd. The 
 following year the " Lion of the Fold of Judah," the renowned 
 John MacHale, Archbishop of Tuam, paid a visit to Liverpool, 
 and preached at St. Patrick's. His arrival was signalL^jed by 
 great rejoicing on the part of the Irish population, and the 
 sum of two hundred pounds was placed in the offertory b.Tgs 
 at the morning service towards reducing the debt on the 
 Church. The ' Liberator', O'Connell, at the special invitation 
 of the Liberal party, made a short stay in the town on his 
 way to Parliament, and addressed a large meeting in the 
 Amphitheatre, on the political questions of the day. His 
 chairman and host was Mr. William Rathbone, who 
 courageously brought him on 'Change next day, accompanied 
 by Mr. John Brancker, Mr. Egerton Smith, of the " Mercury,"
 
 55 
 
 and Mr. James Muspratt*. The " Mail " always alluded to 
 the last-named gentleman as being a Catholic in order to 
 prejudice his success at local municipal fights, though its 
 editor knew full well that he was not one. He was the father of 
 Mr. E. K. Musprattf and grandfather of Mr. Max Muspratt, | 
 both prominent members in turn of the Liverpool City 
 Council and actively identified with the work of higher 
 education, notably the Liverpool University. This visit of 
 O'Connell was long remembered in the town, though inci- 
 dentally it prejudiced the public position of his host. 
 
 The Catholic body sustained a severe loss in the opening 
 month of the year 1836, by the death of the Right Rev. Dr. 
 Thomas Penswick, Vicar Apostolic of the Northern District. 
 Twenty-one years had elapsed since his appointment to St. 
 Nicholas', and as we have seen, he took a leading part in the 
 building of new churches and schools before his appointment to 
 the important position of coadjutor to Bishop Smith, in 1824, 
 whom he succeeded in July, 1831. 
 
 On the walls of the Pro-Cathedral a tablet preserves his 
 memory in these words : — "First incumbent of this chapel, 
 " Bishop of Europum and Vicar Apostolic, died 28th January, 
 " 1836: 64th year of his age and twelfth of his episcopate. 
 " This cenotaph is erected as a tribute of gratitude for his 
 "services and a monument of respect for his virtues." His 
 remains were interred at Windleshaw Abbey, as is attested 
 in an entry of the register of deaths, preserved in the Pro- 
 Cathedral archives. Dr. Briggs succeeded him as Vicar 
 Apostolic. 
 
 In 1838 Mr. William Blundell was appointed High Sheriff 
 of Lancashire, the first Catholic who held that distinguished 
 position, and celebrated his appointment by attending High 
 Mass at St. Nicholas, in state, accompanied by trumpeters and 
 javelin men. The following year another Catholic held the 
 office — Mr. Charles Scarisbrick, both selections having the 
 effect of helping tho undoing of the Liberal majority in the 
 Council. 
 
 Catholic progress was being well maintained; the muni- 
 
 fif^nricn of Mr. Bartholomew Brnthnrt/in ."^ocuring a new chapel 
 
 at Rainhill, tho first stono of which was laid in April, 1838, 
 
 by Mrs. Gerard, and on the 27th June tho Vicar Apostolic, 
 
 Bishop Briggs, oponnd the church of St. Austin's, Aigburth 
 
 Road, " within a milo from tho toll bar." This mission w;\a 
 
 founded by tho Benedictines, the land being generously offered 
 
 * Who florvod in the Peninsular War as a sailor. 
 
 t Pro-Chancollor of tho Liverpool University. 
 
 \ Elected M.P. for Exchange Division, January, 1910.
 
 56 
 
 as a gift by Mr. Peter Chaloner, of Aigburth. The sermon 
 was preached by the Very Reverend Dr. Brown, O.S.B., 
 President of Downside, then the foremost Catholic contro- 
 versialist in England. Some opposition was offered to the 
 erection of this church by the Vicar Apostolic, who eventually 
 consented to its election on condition that no funds were 
 collected in Liverpool proper, and that a sufficient sum of 
 money was set aside to guarantee an annual income to the 
 priest in charge of £90 per annum. The altar of the church 
 was brought from a suppressed Franciscan convent in Lisbon, 
 to which it had originally been presented by Cardinal Sousa. 
 During this same year the magnificent picture of the 
 Crucifixion, by Keyser, of Antwerp, was hung over the High 
 Altar of St. Patrick's. It had been exhibited in Liverpool 
 some years earlier, and universally admired by the art loving 
 public of the day. A general desire was expressed, now 
 realised, to retain it within the town. No other church in the 
 neighbourhood possesses such a fine painting, which forms an 
 admirable background for the lofty chancel of St. Patrick's. 
 
 The Coronation of Queen Victoria was fixed for the 28th 
 June, 1838. Being the vigil of the feast of Saints Peter and 
 Paul, it was a fast day, and to enable the Catholics to take 
 part in the celebrations, orders came from Rome transferring 
 the fast to the 26th of June. In Liverpool the event 
 was celebrated in a special manner by the laying of the 
 foundation stone of St. George's Hall, by the mayor, Mr. 
 William Rathbone. The local Catholics of both nationalities 
 were well represented in the Mayoral Procession from the 
 Town Hall to Lime Street, the whole of the clergy being in 
 attendance, and seven Hibernian Societies with their banners 
 flying presented one of the interesting features of the 
 procession. 
 
 The Catholic Magazine for November, 1838, stated that 
 the number of baptisms in the five chapels during the previous 
 year amounted to 2,917, or an increase of 429 on the numbers 
 given by Mr. John Rosson for the year 1832. The editor 
 proceeded to argue that this figure proved a Catholic popula- 
 tion of 87,500, and added the somewhat amazing statement 
 that, owing to mixed marriages the actual number of Catholics 
 was only 70,000. Such a conclusion was not quite logical if 
 based solely on the number of baptisms in Catholic chapels, 
 though it is certainly startling to find the evils of mixed 
 marriages pointed out so emphatically at such an early date. 
 In later years these ill-assorted unions became one of the great 
 sources of leakage, and it is difficult to hazard even a specula- 
 tion as to their cause in the thirties. They certainly did not
 
 57 
 
 take place among the Irish population, owing to the intensity 
 of the racial problem. The atmosphere was charged with 
 hatred and passion against both Rome and Ireland, and it 
 may be that these mixed marriages occurred amongst the 
 native English population, as the gradual disappearance of 
 so many Catholic families cannot be explained to any degree 
 of satisfaction save on this hypothesis. They were both 
 numerous and comparatively wealthy, and did yeoman service 
 for the Church which the poverty-stricken Irish were not so 
 well able to do, however willing. Some further light is 
 thrown on this confused problem by the fact that out of 
 2,893 marriages celebrated that year in the Parish of Liver- 
 pool, only 297 were performed in Catholic Churches. These 
 figures did not include St. Patrick's, which is situate in the 
 Parish of Toxteth, the figures not being available for this 
 parochial district, but they are sufficent for the purpose of 
 shewing that the writer in the Catholic Magazine had good 
 grounds for his assertion. The Catholic Directory for 1840, ; 
 on the other hand, gives the population as approximately 
 80,000. At the meeting of the Town Council on the 9th of 
 November, 1838, Mr. Rathbone, in answer to an inquiry, gave 
 the numbers of Catholic children attending the two Cor- 
 poration Schools as follows: — Out of a roll of 1,013 in 
 Bevington Bush School, 650 were Catholics; and in Park 
 Lane, 363 out of a total of 748 ; illustrating the great need 
 of purely Catholic schools. 
 
 The publication in the Press of the following demand 
 no<".e created much amusement, and incidentally helped 
 forward the cause of religious equality : — 
 
 Sefton, Dec. 31, 1838. 
 
 " The Rev. Mr. Abrara, to the Rector of Sefton, Dr., 
 "For small tithes, viz.: — Smoke, one penny; garden, one 
 halfpenny." 
 
 To impose a tax on the sraoko issuing from the priest's 
 chimneys for the .support of the Protestant rector of Sefton, 
 was Bcarcfily calculal-ed to promot/O good feeling, and could not 
 bo reparrletl as an incentive to tho development of the 
 Ijanrashire coal fields. 
 
 Thf* yenr^ 1839 aiul ]840difl not. pass away witliniit further 
 evidences of Ontholic activity. Bishop Briggs, in a pastoral 
 letter relating the progrens made in hia huge diocese, mentions 
 the receipt of a sperial Bum of X'1.026 for the founrlation of 
 new mi!',=?innfl in Lanfa.shire. Dr. Youena, tho new rector of 
 St. Nicholas', a^^^sisted by Messrs. Rosson, Chalnner and 
 Yaf^s, put new life int-o the branch of the Catholic Institut-e 
 at St. Nicholas. It waa a development of the former Tract
 
 58 
 
 and Book Society, and ite work ran on similar lines, with the 
 addition of undertaking the distribution of suitable Catholic 
 books to soldiers and sailors and inmates of hospitals and work- 
 houses, which were then essentially Protestant in character, 
 and certainly in management ; and most likely sources of 
 proselytism for the younger inmates. In its first year St. 
 Nicholas' branch had four hundred and forty-eight members, 
 each paying a minimum subscription of six shillings per 
 annum, and had distributed seven thousand pamphlets to the 
 persons described above. The indefatigable John Rosson, in 
 1839, launched the first Catholic Registration Society. He 
 foresaw the great political advantages to Catholics of the 
 power of the vote, and being essentially a practical man he 
 knew exactly the steps to be taken towards this end. The 
 inaugural meeting was held in St. Patrick's Schoolroom, in 
 July, where he laid down the lines upon which the new 
 organisation should run. Arrangements were made for 
 systematic house-to-house canvassing, and what was more 
 original, he proposed a scheme of contributions out of which 
 advances would be made for the payments of rates, to be 
 returned except in cases of grave necessity. The payment of 
 the poor rate by a certain date is indispensable for securing 
 the franchise even now. One speaker at this memorable 
 meeting said the Catholic population numbered one hundred 
 thousand, but Mr. Rosson, who had no love for exaggerated 
 statements, answered him that that was an excessive number, 
 adding that 72,000 was nearer the mark. This confirms the 
 figure given in the Catholic Magazine. Mr. Rosson gave the 
 number of Catholic voters as about one thousand, apparently 
 a small number, but it must be remembered that the franchise 
 was very restricted, and the great bulk of Irish Catholics in any 
 event lived in tenement houses. It was evident, however, that 
 more Catholics than one thotisand were entitled to be placed 
 on the lists, and a vigorous effort was made to increase the 
 number. Branches were established at the various missions, 
 notably St. Nicholas' and St. Anthony's, and a series of 
 stirring meetings were held to arouse the Catholic body to the 
 importance of the franchise in view of the serious issues soon 
 to be decided in the Council Chamber. The Tory papers 
 sounded a note of wild alarm at this totally unexpected de- 
 velopment. To see the beginning of active political 
 interference on the part of Catholics so lon^ accustomed to 
 the lurking-holes and hiding-places, alarmed the noisy 
 adherents of Dr. McNeill and that section of the Press which 
 voiced their sentiments. The movement miiflt, therefore, be 
 misrepresented and its leaders libelled ; and so they were.
 
 59 
 
 A very successful bazaar had been held in the Adelphi Hotel 
 in aid of the funds of the Catholic Benevolent Society, eleven 
 hundred pounds being handed over to the treasurer as the 
 result. The " Mail "declared that the object of the bazaar 
 was a pretence, and that the money raised was to be spent in 
 paying the poor rates for needy Catholics so that they might 
 be'^placed on the lists of voters. It accused the Liberal leaders 
 of supporting the bazaar because of its ulterior object. 
 Neither statement was true, but served the purpose of further 
 stimulating Orange and Conservative hostility, more especially 
 against Mr. Kosson, who was, in common with every Catholic 
 leader of that time, a staunch upholder of Liberal principles. 
 The " Mail " finally described the Registration Association 
 as " really a satanic' attempt to prevent the Conservative party 
 " having a majority at the ensuing November elections." 
 When the Revision Court met the presiding genius decided 
 that payment of rates out of a loan to be repaid was not a 
 Ifigal payment, a decision which provoked well-merited 
 derision. The war over the Council schools broke out afresh. 
 Petitions signed by Conservative citizens were sent into the 
 Council protesting against the scheme for erecting new schools 
 in other parts of the town, an excellent illustration of Orange 
 love of education. The real ground of their objection was 
 that the thousands of Catholic children running about the 
 streets would have the right of entry, and the petitioners 
 preferred that the much larger number of their own co- 
 religionists should have no education rather than this should 
 be the result. To provoke debate, motions were submitted by 
 the Tory loaders that only the authorised revision of the Bible 
 should be read to the Catholic children, which were rejected 
 by the Liberal majority. Mr. Rathbone was accused of 
 having violated the traditions of the mayoralty by receiving 
 O'Connell publicly while mayor of the town. This accusation 
 was groundless, as the hospitality offered to the Irish leader 
 had been given long before Mr. Rathbone's election to the chief 
 magistracy of his native city, and his calumniators knew well 
 that this wafl the fact. Wlmri the viohmco of this movement 
 had well-nigh exhausted itself, Dr. McNeill and his " Frish 
 " Brigade " flung tliomsolvea vdmniontly in(x) fhcstniggle and 
 turned the town into a veritable pandemonium. The Tori'is cf 
 Scotland Ward oallofl upon t.heir friends " to renew their exer- 
 " tions at the Parliamentary and municipal elections against 
 " that fhiiioTi, 0'(>)nnell," but their candidate, Mr. Thomas 
 Murray fllridHtone, was deff>a(."d by one vote. Mr. Rathbone 
 lost his seat in Pitt Street Ward by one vote, and was again 
 defeated three weeks later in North Toxteth by the narrow
 
 60 
 
 margin of three. The Liberal Chairman of the Education 
 Committee of the Council suffered defeat also, and but for the 
 aldermen the Tories would at last have secured a majority in 
 the Council Chamber. The schools attracted much attention 
 by reason of this tremendous politico-religious contest, and 
 brought many distinguished persons to visit them, including 
 the Bishop of Norwich, Mr. Charles E. Trevelyan, and Lord 
 Russell. Only one Protestant clergyman. Rev. Mr. Aspinall,* 
 incumbent of St. Michael's, Upper Pitt Street, gave his 
 support to the schools. Mr. Trevelyan drew up an interesting 
 report in which he wrot« : " the Roman Catholic clergy at the 
 " North End are most exemplary in their attendance, while 
 " at the South End they leave the work entirely in the hands 
 " of Protestant teachers." A most remarkable and striking 
 fact! 
 
 Undaunted by the raging tide of bigotry, the Catholic 
 leaders carried the war into the enemy's camp by organising 
 meetings against the levying of the Church Rate, the continued 
 CViminal Jurisdiction of the Ecclesiastical Courts, and de- 
 manding that grants to the Established Church should cease. 
 The Liberals joined warmly in this movement. Father Parker, 
 of St. Patrick's, being one of the prominent speakers. They 
 also influenced the mayor to summon a town's meeting to 
 petition Parliament to abolish the corrupt and unreformed 
 Irish corporations, which passed off quietly and successfully ; 
 Messrs. Rosson and Sheil being the Catholic speakers. In 
 1840 the Earl of Sefton presented a piece of land for the 
 erection of a Catholic school at Gillmoss, together with a hand- 
 some subscription for the building, and on the 31st March the 
 first stone was laid. July brought the meeting in (he Seel 
 Street Schools, which inaugurated the movement to which 
 Catholics owe the beautifvd church of St. Mary's, Edmund 
 Street, a church of veiy tender memories for Liverpool 
 Catholics. The venerated rector. Father Fisherf 
 
 who served St. Mary's for forty years, speaking at 
 the gathering, said : " the present chapel ha.s not adequate 
 " accommodation for the vast multitudes who come every 
 "Sunday. Many were obliged to remain exposed to all the 
 " inclemency of the weather, without anything to cheer them 
 "but the warm piety of their Irish hearts." It was a fine 
 tribute to this worthy son of St. Benedict, " the esteemed and 
 " venerated head of the Catholic body " as he was termed, 
 
 * Father of Mr. J. B. Aspinall and Mr. Clarke Aspinall, afterwards 
 Recorder and Coroner respectively. 
 
 t Uncle of Monsignor Fisher, Vicar-General to Bishop O'Reilly.
 
 61 
 
 that all the priests and leading laymen of the town were 
 present to give a hearty send-off to the newly-formed society 
 of St. Maj-y's, which undertook the work of collecting funds. 
 
 On New Year's Day, 1840, Catholic Liverpool took steps 
 to repay the debt it owed to the Society of Jesus for the work 
 performed in the previous century. The promise of Mr. 
 Leigh and his associates on the surrender of Father Price's 
 chapel had apparently been forgotten, and the foundation of 
 St. Francis Xavier's Society on the date named was not due 
 to their initiative. The first meeting was held in the "Rose 
 " and Crown tavern, Cheapside, owned by a Mr. Kirby, and 
 for two years the committee met there regularly. Later on 
 they met at the "Gas and Light," Dale Street; the 
 "Brunswick Rooms," Hunter Street; "Chapel House," 
 Salisbury Street, the final meeting being held on November 
 16, 1845, in " The Cabbage," Richmond Row, Father Joseph 
 Johnson, S.J., in the chair. The social habits of Liver- 
 pudlians of the forties is well illustrated by this quaint list of 
 taverns in which the meetings of a church building committee 
 were held. Each of the members paid one shilling entrance 
 fee, and the town was mapped out in districts over which a 
 collector was appointed to gather in the small weekly sub- 
 scription. These energetic men lived in all parts of the town, 
 no less than fourteen residing in Ford Street, Gildart's 
 Gardens, Banastre, Milton and other streets still standing in 
 Vauxhall Ward. The great bulk have Irish surnames, but 
 the committee proper bore such well-known names as Rosson, 
 Chaloner, Jump, Holme, Lightbound, S. Holland Moreton, 
 RocklifF, Sharpies, Bullen, Brown, Here, Yates, Knight, 
 Folding, Gallon, O'Neill, ODonnell, Cafiferata, Towneley, 
 Finney, Whitty, Walton, Verdon, Aspinall, Bretherton, 
 and Roskell. A public meeting was organised by Mr. John 
 Rosson, and hold in St. Peter's Schools, Seel Street, which was 
 attf-nded by the great bulk of the clergy, many of whom were 
 sympathetic, others being somewhat anxious ns to the 
 possibility of the proposed new church inforforing with 
 existing mission?. The result was highly satisfactory, Mr. 
 Rosson'a warm culogium on the work done by the Jesuits in 
 Paraguay, China, Japan and in Tiancashiro, arousing much 
 enthusiasm. Tho coUoct/ors. during the six yonrs which 
 elapsed from 18!0 to 1815, with the subscriptions of the com- 
 mittee, brought in the large sum of £7,535 ; a substantial sum 
 for tho Catholic community of the dny. One of the cx)llnct^rs, 
 a ship's carpenter, named Henry Stnrkey, became one of the 
 first lay brothers to serve the infant community on their 
 opening a house in Salisbury Street.
 
 62 
 
 In the first address to the Provincial it is stated that they 
 were busy obtaining signatures to a petition to the Vicar 
 Apostolic to grant permission for the erection of the church, 
 followed by the pleasant announcement : " We have secured 
 " a piece of land, three thousand square yards, in a respectable 
 " part of the town, midway between St. Nicholas' and St. 
 " Anthony's, where a church would be very desirable. It is 
 " our intention to make over the land and the church entirely 
 " to your disposal, as you may direct." It was feared by 
 many that a church in this district would interfere with St. 
 Nicholas' and St. Anthony's, and the committee were urged to 
 build the church near the docks. To this the committee replied 
 that to take such a step would involve the payment of a 
 " ruinous price '' for the site, an unconscious lesson in elemen- 
 tary political economy which, if pursued to its ultimate and 
 logical issue, would have taught the committee the one and only 
 solution of the problem of poverty. To have gone to the dock- 
 side would have brought the chvirch into the domain of either 
 St. Peter's or St. Mary's, and the results which have followed 
 show the keen foresight of the committee and the Jesuits. 
 Salisbury Street was then on the fringe of the town, and the 
 Anglican authorities displayed much wisdom and saved the 
 next two generations much worry and expense by building the 
 churches of St. Augustine's and St. Jude's in an area obviously 
 destined to be the centre of a densely crowded population. 
 Eventually the Bishop gave his consent, but from the columns 
 of the " "Tablet " of that year one gleans some idea of the 
 opposition offered by some of the clergy. A week after this 
 decision, Father Parker, of St. Patrick's, wrote to the editor of 
 the " Tablet " contradicting the announcement, and in quite 
 official language informs him that the Bishop " absolutely 
 " refuses his consent to building that or any other Catholic 
 " church on the site proposed." The editor promptly turned 
 the tables on Father Parker by the statement that the inference 
 from his letter was inaccurate; the consent of the Bishop had 
 been obtained to the re-entry of the Jesuits, and that the only 
 pcint not quite settled was the site. Father Parker was 
 opposed to this course and the " absolute refusal " was repu- 
 diated by the more accurate absolute consent. His unnecessary 
 interference in the matter so far as rushing into print was 
 concerned, aroused some feeling, as did his later equally 
 unfortunate excursion intt> the thorny arena of Irish politics. 
 Meanwhile the Jesuits laid the foundations of their well- 
 known College of St. Francis Xavier, by opening a " Prepara- 
 tory Classical and Commercial Day School " in 36. Soho Street, 
 on October 27th, 1842. The first masters were Fathers Francis
 
 63 
 
 Lythgce and Charles Havers. In November, 1843, the school 
 was transferred to St. Anne Street. The venture did not 
 promise to be successful as the total niimber of day scholars in 
 March, 1843, was only eleven, with three attending the night 
 school.* Two years later the school was transferred to Salis- 
 bury Street, where it was destined to achieve great success and 
 to win for the Catholics of Liverpool the reputation of being 
 in the very forefront in providing facilities for higher 
 education. Extension after extension was provided to meet 
 the growing requirements, and at the time of writingf further 
 new buildings are being added to the first Catholic Secondary 
 School founded in Liverpool. 
 
 The centre of the town was now congested to a degree 
 beyond the limits of safety to health, and the " invasion " of 
 the Irish harvesters in 1840 accentuated this serious menace. 
 In August, the largest number of harvestmen within then 
 living memory arrived in the Mersey en route for the agricul- 
 tural districts. One vessel carried a cargo of eight hundred 
 such passengers. They tramped through Lancashire and 
 Yorkshire, and as far south as Nottingham and Leicester, but 
 owing to their numbers and the state of the crops, the majority 
 failed to find any employment. Their condition was 
 desperate ; they tramped the long journey back to Liverpool, 
 sick at heart, and weary of the awful disappointment, which 
 meant starvation to themselves and most likely eviction of their 
 families, as their earnings abroad paid the rent at home. " We 
 " have seen scores of these poor fellows," wrote a Protestant 
 witness, " with blistered feet, scarcely able to crawl, wandering 
 " through our Liverpool streets, begging for bread and trying 
 " to raise the means of getting back home." The nett result 
 was a large permanent addition to the Catholic population, 
 which throw further burdens on the ecclesiastical authorities, 
 while settling down anudst their kindly kinsfolk in the crowded 
 streets, alleys, and courts, they helped unconsciously, and 
 certainly unwillingly, to create a set of conditions which even 
 now, close on seventy years later, aro a reproach to local 
 administration. Fever broke out, and while tending his poor 
 flock Father Glover, O.S.B., caught the disease and died a 
 martyr of rharity. On the IGtli Aiigust, 18-10, a meeting was 
 held in tho Sfcl Street Schools to perpetuate the memory of 
 the heroic priest. Mr. John Roason, who presided, made a 
 remarkable statrment as to tho ravago.s ot di.soaso among tho 
 rlergy during his lifetime. " It was in tho dark collar of want, 
 " at the bed of sorrow and in the wards of disease that the 
 
 • Xaverian, 1896. 
 
 t 1908.
 
 64 
 
 " Catholic priest finds a premature grave. Fathers Edward 
 " Glover (brother of Father Vincent), Fairclough, Pennington, 
 " Tarleton, Spencer, Watkinson, Pratt, and White, all of these 
 " in my recollection had rendered up their lives as sacrifices to 
 " the holy cause of imparting spiritual consolation to the dying 
 " Christian in places which had become pestilential by the 
 " dreadful visitation of cholera and typhus." Mr. Rosson 
 then referred to a recent pastoral of Bishop Briggs, which 
 enumerated no less than twenty-five of his priests " from youth 
 " to middle-age " who had passed away in eighteen months 
 owing to diseases contracted in the performance of their sacred 
 duties. The tablet which was placed in St. Peter's as the out- 
 come of this meeting bears the following inscription : " In 
 " respectful and affectionate memory of the Rev. Vincent 
 " Glover, O.S.B., who for twenty- two years was the faithful 
 " pastor of this congregation. Delicate in constitution, worn 
 " out in the public service, he died August 6th, 1840, aged 49. 
 " R.I. P." Contrast this loving token with the abominable 
 attack on the priesthood from the official organ of Liverpool 
 Protestantism. Speaking of the Irish population, the leader 
 writer of the " Mail " says : " A race of men of a kindly nature 
 " are the victims of priestly deluders, sanctified robbers, con- 
 " fessional seducers, political mendicants, the blackest 
 " scoundrels of the human species. They extort pennies from 
 " dying wretches and farthings from miserable children, and 
 " actually tax the felon's remains and the murderers at the 
 " foot of the gallows." It is not to be wondered at that Irish- 
 men in Liverpool were proverbially the enthusiastic supporters 
 of the Liberal party in face of such writings as the above, 
 written in the interests of political propagandists on the other 
 side. The immediate caus« of this shocking exhibition of bad 
 taste was the work done at St. Nicholas' and other parishes in 
 connection with the Catholic Institute of Great Britain, to 
 which reference has already been made. At the annual 
 meeting held in London in May, 1840, an address was read 
 from Liverpool, sig^ned by the Rev. Dr. Youens. rector of St. 
 Nicholas'. It stated that the town was divided into five 
 districts for purposes of organisation, each meeting once a 
 month and having its own president and secretary. A general 
 meeting of all five committees was held every quarter, at which 
 progress was reported and points presenting any difficulty 
 discussed. The reverend doctor on behalf of Liverpool 
 appealed to the head office to adopt a forward policy " more 
 " becoming so powerful a body " as the Catholics then were. 
 At this gathering several of the leading laymen referred to 
 Liverpool as the one spot in England to which they were moat
 
 65 
 
 indebted, and by resolution it was decided to refer the sugges- 
 tion in Dr. Youen's address to a special committee for 
 consideration and report. One special victory which the 
 Institute obtained was securing for all Catholic inmates of 
 workhouses and hospitals immunity from the regulations 
 compelling inmates of public institutions to attend the services 
 of the Established Church. 
 
 The growth of the Catholics in England brought about 
 great changes in episcopal government. On the 13th May, 
 1840, the number of vicariates was increased from four to 
 eight ; Lancashire and Cheshire being placed under the juris- 
 diction of Dr. Brown, who was consecrated in St. Anthony's 
 chapel on August the 24th. Bishop Briggs (now transferred 
 to Yorkshire), Bishop Griffiths, London, Bishop Murdoch, 
 coadjutor Vicar Apostolic of the western district of Scotland, 
 and Dr. Fleming, Bishop of Newfoundland, were present to do 
 honour to this auspicious development of Catholicism in the 
 North. One hundred priests from all parts of the new vicariate 
 were also present. On the following day all these prelates 
 assembled at Rainhill, to assist the new bishop in opening St. 
 Bartholomew's. Always anticipating future Catholic needs, 
 the Rev. Dr. Youens, of Copperas hill, and Mr. John Rosson, 
 founded early in 1841 the Asylum for the Blind, now in 
 Brunswick Road, one of the most worthy of the many schemes 
 of charity projected by the Catholics of Liverpool. Dr. Youens 
 had also the pleasure of unveiling the fine stained glass 
 windows in the Pro-Cathedral, designed by Pugin, the five 
 principal figures representing Our Lady, St. Nicholas, St. 
 Patrick, St. Cuthbert, and St. George, a work which deservedly 
 ranks as one of the finest pieces of decorative work emanating 
 from the brain of the inaugurator of the Gothic revival. 
 
 An unfortunate incident occurred in the month of 
 February which illustrated the delicate relations between the 
 English and Irish Catholics of the town, and the ease with 
 which the susceplibilitiefi of the latter could be touched in a 
 tendpf spot. The developments of the political situation in 
 Ireland had trradually removed O'Connell from his great and 
 influential position as a purely Catholic leader. Catholic 
 Emancipation was one thing, Repeal of the Union another. 
 The glamour of r)'Connpll'a personality had captured in any 
 case the support, of the Irish in Lancashire, whilst many 
 Englishmen who were still under a deep debt of gratitude to 
 him for his groat sprvicea to the Catholic cause, had their 
 doubts as to the wisdom of the new movement. Irishmen, on 
 the othor hand, failed to recognise the right of an English 
 Catholic to his own views on important imperial political 
 
 E
 
 66 
 
 questions, sucli as the restoration of the Irish Parliament. 
 Friction was inevitable, and unfortunately the parish prieet 
 of St. Patrick's was the central figure if not the actual cause. 
 His strong personality refused to adapt itself to surrounding 
 conditions and as the result he became at once unpopular, if 
 not obnoxious, to his Irish congregation. A petition to 
 Parliament demanding the repeal of the Union was placed 
 outside the doors of St. Patrick's Church for signature on a 
 certain Sunday morning. Father Parker forbade the pro- 
 moters to place the petition there on the ground that to act 
 otherwise would be an infringement of the trust deed, and, 
 secondly would cause dissension in his congregation. The more 
 ardent Irish spirits declined to accept his explanation and 
 attributed his action to pro-English prejudices. As a matter 
 of fact this was far from being the truth, and had Father 
 Parker not set up the groundless contention of violation of 
 the trust deed the difficulty might have been smoothed over. 
 He then committed the mistake of appealing to O'Conneli 
 himself, which only seemed to irritate the Repealers, and the 
 more so as O'Connell's letter severely censured the opponents 
 of the rector. It was a curious revelation of O'Connell's views 
 on the legitimacy of Anglo-Irish interference in the Repeal 
 movement, to find Father Parker reminding him that during 
 a previous visit to Liverpool they had both discussed the 
 advisability or otherwise of pushing forward the agitation in 
 Liverpool, and that O'Conneli had advised the inexpediency 
 of such a proposal, being of opinion that it would be illegal. 
 " Since that time," wrote Father Parker, " an association of 
 " Repealers has been started in a way calculated to do serious 
 " injury to the cause of civil and religious liberty." O'Connell's 
 reply is not without interest : " I am deeply shocked at hearing 
 " of the conduct of the Repealers in the vicinity of your 
 " chapel, and more disgusted than I can express at men using 
 " disrespectful language towards any of their respected clergy. 
 " The Repealers have no right to bring their petition into the 
 " vicinity of your chapel without your permission." O'Conneli 
 then goes on to say that the rule in Ireland, " never broken," 
 was to ask permission from the parish priest, and concludes 
 a vigorously written letter by emphatically declaring that he 
 " will not accept any support from Liverpool Repealers if they 
 "shew any further disrespect to the clergy of the town." 
 Instead of following O'Connell's advice, a Liverpool Repealer, 
 also named O'Conneli, entered into a lengthy correspondence 
 with Father Parker, the net result being a widening of the 
 breach, and though the strain was relieved to some extent 
 later on, this painful display of want of confidence in each
 
 67 
 
 other's integrity had the effect of severing the Irish and 
 English Catholics of the town from working harmoniously 
 except on rare occasions, and in later generations helped to 
 undo the fine work accomplished heretofore by united effort. 
 The differences were momentarily forgotten over the 
 memorable fight for the schools at the November election of 
 1841. Somewhat prematurely the Liberal party announced 
 that if returned to power they would build schools in every 
 district of the town to be conducted on the same lines as the 
 two schools already in existence. NcNeill and his Tory 
 followers paraded the streets with open *Bibles attached to 
 long poles, and strenuously appealed to the electors not to 
 allow the erection of any schools unless Catholics and 
 Dissenters would accept instruction from the authorised 
 version of the Scripture. "Converted priests" harangued 
 frenzied Protestant audiences, and were described by John 
 Rosson, quoting Edmund Burke, " as only qualified to read 
 the English language," and went on to say that as scholars 
 they were " despicable," and as divines " grossly ignorant 
 " men." These Orange zealots forgot in their blind fury that 
 the outcome of a Tory Protestant victory would be to force the 
 Catholics to build schools for themselves, else they had never 
 undertaken the campaign which aroused the worst passions of 
 one section of the community and effectually destroyed for 
 many years peace and harmony among the diverse sections 
 which made up the Liverpool of the early forties. 
 
 Wild stories were put in circulation of the " murder " 
 of seven Protestant clergymen in Ireland, which so inflamed 
 the Orange population of Toxteth that they sniished up an 
 anti-Corn Law meeting in Great George Place, confusing, in 
 their frenzy, economics with " Popery." They then mai-ched 
 to St. Patrick's Chapel, and shattered the windows of both 
 schools and church. The wife of a policeman was saying her 
 prayers quietly in the church when the infuriated mob made 
 the attack, and, as the consequence, lost her life from fright, 
 an incident which increased animosity on both sides. The 
 Con'->?rvativn party, fmboldonod by the strife, demanded that 
 no prayers should bo recited in the Council schools save those 
 to b<^ found in the Anglican liturgy, and that no teachers 
 should be appoint.od oulsidc those who professed tlie 
 Protestant faith as defined by Dr. McNeill. A lady had been 
 appointcfl ,-i h'arhor at the North Corporation School, on tho 
 recommrTidation of th^- Protestant Bishop of Ferns. Coming, 
 from Ireland, lu^r orthodoxy was suspected and the Corser- 
 vativ«3 in the Council refused to ratify the decision of the 
 
 •Lifo of William Rathbone, by MIhb F^leanor Rathhono.
 
 68 
 
 Education Committee. The Liberals declared that they 
 
 declined to make religious belief a test, but had no objection 
 
 to informing their opponents that the lady in question 
 
 professed the Protestant faith. On this assurance, and for 
 
 " the maintenance of truth," the Conservatives withdrew their 
 
 opposition. They had, however, secured their object, the 
 
 " maintenance " of religious controversy, and had so well 
 
 succeeded that they fought the elections with an air of 
 
 confidence, which was abundantly justified by the results. 
 
 The Liberals were swept out of the Council by this whirlwind 
 
 of passion ; only three being returned at the poll. Every 
 
 retiring Liberal Alderman was ousted, and until 1892 the 
 
 Liberal party remained in a hopeless minority. The Catholic 
 
 Aldermen Sheil and Roskell, fell with their Liberal colleagues, 
 
 and William Rathbone suffered his third defeat in Great 
 
 George Ward. Flushed with victory, the Tories resolved upon 
 
 a policy of making it impossible for any Catholic child 
 
 attending further the Corporation schools. The educational 
 
 treaty of peace was rudely torn up, never to be restored, as 
 
 the Nonconformists very naturally were driven into bitter 
 
 hostility against the party which had practically resolved to 
 
 teach at the expense of the ratepayers, the authority of the 
 
 Church of England. The elections were fought on the first of 
 
 November, and by the first day of the following month the 
 
 Catholics learned with dismay the intentions of the dominant 
 
 party. They took up a firm but dignified attitude and 
 
 presented the following remonstrance to the new Corporation : 
 
 ' It being generally understood that it is in contemplation to 
 
 ' discard the Douai Version of the Bible entirely from the 
 
 ' Council schools, and to require that all the children shall use 
 
 ' the Authorised Version of the Established Church, and shall, 
 
 ' moreover, join in a common form of prayer at the beginning 
 
 ' and end of school, the Catholic clergy of Liverpool beg 
 
 ' most respectfully to state to the Council that they cannot 
 
 ' conscientiously concur in such an arrangement, whereby the 
 
 ' religious principles of the children attending the schools will 
 
 ' be compromised ; and pray that the contemplated changes 
 
 'may not be adopted." Then follow the signatures of the 
 
 Rev, Dr. Youens (St. Nicholas'), Fathers Wilcock (St. 
 
 Anthony's), Thos. Fisher, O.S.B. (St. Mary's), and Dale, 
 
 O.S.B. (St. Peter's). Councillor Smith proposed that 
 
 separate schools should be provided for the Catholics in poor 
 
 districts. The debate which ensued was characterised by 
 
 truculency and tolerance. Unitarianism and " Popery " 
 
 were regarded as convertible terms by the Conservative leaders, 
 
 and in insulting and contemptuous language the Catholic
 
 69 
 
 claim to be regarded as citizens was flouted and rejected. Why 
 the Unitarian body should have been singled out for reproach 
 was probably due to the fact that the leading Liberals, with 
 few exceptions, belonged to that community, and distinguished 
 themselves not only by their entire sympathy with the cause 
 of religious toleration, but gave many practical tokens of 
 sympathy with the Catholics of the town. 
 
 The Catholic children had no option but to withdraw from 
 the Council schools, an action which gave intense satisfaction 
 to the Tories, especially with regard to the North Corporation 
 School. True to the course which had been mapped out 
 beforehand, the Council schools w^ere now turned into adjuncts 
 of the Established Church, and all children in the Bevington 
 Bush School were compelled to attend on Sundays and 
 marched to the church service in St. Bartholomew's, Naylor 
 Street, "unless the parents objected.' To mark his 
 " abhorrence " of this policy, the Earl of Sefton sent a dona- 
 tion of twenty-live pounds to St. Anthony's Schools, Scotland 
 Road,* and many other Liberals, including Sir Joshua 
 Walmsleyt followed his example. The Catholic mind waa 
 finally made up. " Schools of our own ! " was the cry which 
 resounded from every home as well as every pulpit. Thus the 
 Tories of Liverpool may be styled the promoters of that 
 magnificent series of Catholic schools which have sprung up 
 in every quarter of Liverpool, to which came the teaching 
 orders who lifted elementary education to the highest pinnacle 
 of perfection. The bigoted Evangelicals did not anticipate 
 sucJi a result. Had they been far-seeing, instead of being 
 blinded by rancour and partisanship, they would have seen 
 that their policy would eventually bring about this result. 
 What would liavc happened had McNeill not driven the 
 Liberals from power is now an interesting speculation. Every 
 ward in Liverpool would have had its Council school, and 
 under the disinterested management of a Liberal Education 
 Committee most Catholic children would have been in atten- 
 dance. Mixed schools are not looked upon with friendly eyes 
 by Catholics, but ihc success of a six years' oxporimont. and 
 the poverty of the labouring classes, would, in all human 
 probability, have prevented the erection of purely Catholic 
 schools for a generation. 
 
 Where were the teachers to come from? was the anxious 
 query heard on all sides. The Government had made no 
 
 • " Another kind of Town Councillor aroRO, who, with great pretension to 
 religion, most irreligiously and unju-titly, cxpolled from the public schoola 
 Catholic children by the hundreds." — St. Anthony's Report, 1842. 
 
 t Mayor of Liverpool, 1839-40; afterwards M.P.
 
 70 
 
 provision for training teachers. Ireland came to the rescue, 
 so far as the boys were concerned, and with the advent of the 
 Irish Christian Brothers* to St. Patricks a new era of useful- 
 ness and charity was begun for that fine body of teachers. Later 
 on they came bo St. Anthony's, St. Nicholas', St. Mary's, and 
 St. Vincent's. Without payment or reward, save the volun- 
 tary offerings of the parents, these cultured men did a noble 
 work for the poor children of their own race. To make them 
 practical, earnest Catholics was their first aim ; to equip them 
 for the battle of life was an easy matter for a body which 
 had long distinguished itself by practical aims which have 
 since disappeared from curriculums framed by more 
 ambitious but less successful educationalists. For forty years 
 they laboured in the town, and their departure under the 
 pressure of the Act of 1870 caused widespread dissatisfaction. 
 To them belongs the distinction of founding the first evening 
 continuation schools, in St. Patrick's, during the year 1842, 
 which were attended by one hundred and twenty Irish adults, 
 anxious as most Irishmen have ever been for education. Such 
 an impression was created by this experiment that Dr. 
 Ullathorne, O.S.B., paid a special visit to St. Patrick's to 
 preach a sermon in its support. The Benedictines at St. 
 Mary's summoned a special meeting o^ December 16th, 1842, 
 in the Grecian Hotel, to consider the sad plight of the great 
 numbers of poor children in that district. They adopted a 
 resolution regretting the decision of the Town Council, and 
 resolved to issue an appeal to friends of education " of all 
 " denominations to provide means of dealing with these 
 " unfortunate children."! Fathers Fisher, Wilkinson and 
 Dale addressed a letter to the senior churchwarden of the 
 Parish of Liverpool, Mr. W. Birkett, pointing out the condi- 
 tion of the poor children of St. Mary's, and expressing the 
 hope that the community would provide means for their 
 instruction. The impertinent reply which followed illustrates 
 the unfortunate tone and temper of the official Anglicans 
 towards the Catholics of that day. Mr. Birkett began and 
 ended by denying the right of the three Benedictines to claim 
 The title of priests or be called " reverend," as they had not 
 been ordained in conformity with the laws of the Church of 
 England. It became necessary to give this gentleman an 
 elementary lesson in the doctrine of the Church whose self- 
 appointed spokesman he had become, and Father Wilkinson 
 was selected by his brethren to perform that duty. How 
 
 • The game work has been undertaken in Rome by the Irish Christian 
 Brothers, at the express request of Pope Pius the Tenth. 
 
 t Liverpool Albion.
 
 71 
 
 well he performed the task may be gleaned from this 
 crushing reply : " With regard to my Orders, though I have 
 " not entered the ministry by making the declaration required 
 " by the rubrics of the Established Church, permit me, sir, to 
 •' inform you, that the rubrics of that Church recognise the 
 '"validity of my Orders; and, if from a desire to have less 
 " labour'and more pay, or any other equally creditable motive, 
 " I were to apostatize from the faith of my fathers, and 
 " embrace a creed in conformity with the laws of this realm, 
 " a Bishop of your Church would readily admit the validity 
 " of my Orders, and at once appoint me to a curacy. And 
 " now, as to my designating myself a Catholic clergyman, I 
 " am a humble member of the ancient faith. Catholic in 
 " every attribute, and in every sense. Catholic in all 
 " ages and in every nation ; Catholic by the received and 
 " admitted consent of mankind; properly designated Catholic 
 " in history, geography, in the works of travellers, in the 
 " Senate, at the bar, in the public journals, in the drawing- 
 " room, and in every other department and locality, unless an 
 " exception be found in the vestry of Our Lady and St. 
 Nicholas." Quoting the full title of the old parish chiu'ch was 
 the unkindest cut of all ; devotion to Our Lady or St. 
 Nicholas not being a prominent feature of the principles of 
 the unfortunate recipient of this well-merited castigation. 
 The better educated members of the English Church heartily 
 enjoyed Father Wilkinson's ready and apt reply. Church- 
 warden Birkett was snuffed out, and did not venture again into 
 the fields of religious controversy. 
 
 The Liverpool correspondent of the " Tablet ''^ estimated 
 that forty thousand Catholics were unable to hear Mass owing 
 to deficient accommodation in Liverpool. To meet the need, 
 the Benedictines, during the summer of 1842, began the work 
 of providing a new church in Edge Hill, under the patronage 
 of St. Anne and in August of the same year the fine church of 
 St. Oswald, r)Id Swan, served by the secular clergy, was 
 opened by the Vicar- Apostolic. This Church, recalling, as 
 it does, the architecture of the 13th century, created a sensation 
 amongst the Protestant section which then dominated both 
 the P]nglish Church and t.he politics of the Council Chamber. 
 Th« spire was the gift of Mr. Michael Oihson, of West Derby, 
 and the peal of bells aroused easily-awakened animosity. 
 Under the imp)ressiori that such features in a Catholic Churcli 
 were forbidden by law, they made a protest, only to discover 
 that their knowledge of the laws of their country was in 
 
 • October, 1843.
 
 72 
 
 inverse ratio to the measure of their bigotry.* The same 
 month witnessed the remarkable meeting in the Amphitheatre, 
 when the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Daniel O'Connell, delivered 
 an address in aid of the building fund of the proposed church 
 of St. Francis Xavier. Certain delicate matters of negotia- 
 tion between the Jesuits and Benedictines, the final echoes of 
 the controversy of 1783, had been completely removed, as well 
 as the local difficulties with the Bishop, who had given his 
 consent to the erection of the church on the Salisbury Street 
 sit«. A notable gathering of the clergy, secular and regular, 
 appeared on the platform, including the Rector of Stonyhurst 
 and the Very Rev. Dr. Brewer, O.S.B., president of 
 Ampleforth. Another remarkable figure was the ex- 
 Methodist minister, the Rev. Father Mason. O'Connell said 
 he " rejoiced emphatically that the erection of the church had 
 " met with the approval of evei-y class of ecclesiastics in the 
 " town," and went on to say that " the suppression of the 
 " Jesuits was one of the greatest of calamities ; and bitter 
 " punishment had affiicted the nations which had committed 
 " that crime. They had been punished with severity, with a 
 " scourge of iron, and tears, and blood, and even these could 
 " hardly atone for the crime they had committed against 
 "themselves. Here they were again! The Jesuits!!!" The 
 president of Ampleforth followed, and warmly eulogised the 
 work in hand. " Before the Order of St. Benedict came to 
 " Liverpool, the Fathers of the Society of Jesus stood the brunt 
 " of persecution, and raised the standard of the Cross in the 
 '■ town. It was therefore but right that, as they had stood 
 " valiantly in the field of battle in the days of persecution, 
 " they should now be welcomed to accomplish the great work 
 " which they had begun." In December of the same year the 
 Catholic body opened a secondary school, St. Edward's 
 College, under the presidency of the Rev. Dr. Fisher,f and 
 to further still more the work of teaching and evangelising 
 the poor the Sisters of Mercy completed their convent in 
 Mount Vernon. With regard to the nuns, an hysterical bigot 
 wrote, " the Sisters of Mercy will effect more conversions in 
 " one year than all the priests in Great Britain." The Rev. 
 Dr. Youens was mainly instrumental in bringing this fine 
 body of religious workers to aid the work of the Church in 
 Liverpool. O'Connell was so impressed with these evidences 
 of activity that he paid a visit to Liverpool in the following 
 year as the guest of Mr. Edward Cbaloner, Old Swan, and 
 visited both institutions as a mark of his appreciation of the 
 
 • The same ij^norancc which led to the Police Enquiry, 1910. 
 t Father Qoss, eleven years later Bishop, was Vice-President.
 
 73 
 
 work 01 higher education and charity. Meanwhile the monks 
 of St. Benedict were forging ahead with the new schools of 
 St. Peter, where five hundred children were in average atten- 
 dance, and looking ahead, erected new schools, attached to St. 
 Austins, Aigburth, which were opened on the 8th May, 1843. 
 In June, land was purchased in Falkner Street to provide the '■ 
 new buildings for Catholic female orphans, heretofore housed 
 in Mount Pleasant, and the noble Sisters of Charity 
 began that most excellent work the care of the blind, 
 with eighteen pupils. Amidst all the poverty of the people 
 the heads of the Church were performing their work with 
 great diligence and earnestness, and excited amongst their 
 Protestant brethren a spirit of great sympathy. Anglicans 
 and Dissenters alike were forced to pay tribute to these 
 developments of Catholic zeal in spite of discouragement and 
 that one great obstacle to progress in a commercial age, lack 
 of means. The great mass of Catholics who lived between the 
 parishes of St. Peters and St. Patrick's, a distance of only 
 half-a-mile, were in sore straits for both chapel and school 
 accommodation. Father Parker w£is equal to the occasion. 
 In January, 1843, he rented a " penny theatre " at the corner 
 of Bluudell Street, in which Mass was said on the 5th 
 February, 1843, for the first time, and two hundreji 
 children, turned out of the Park Lane Council 
 School were taught during the week by one Christian 
 Brother. At a public meeting held to raise funds for the new 
 miseion, Father Parker announced a contribution of twenty 
 pounds from a Protestant friend, Mr. John Ripley, of Canning 
 Street, and informed the audience that a volunteer from tlie 
 Diocese of Dcn-y, Father McCormac, would be placed in 
 charge. St. Patrick's had seating accommodation for 
 eighteen hundred people, and the three masses on Sunda)rs 
 were attended by crowds who filled up every inch of space. 
 The neighbouring Church of St. Peter's was also overcrowded, 
 9 1 that this new mission was a veritable godsend to the poor 
 Irinh who resided in and around Park Lane and St. James 
 ■Street. 
 
 The evils of intemperance had begun to shew their 
 inevitable results amongst the Irish inhabitants in the crowded 
 streets and alleys of 1 he (own. Indeed, the demoralising 
 influence of iiitoxicantn was much too prevalent amongst all 
 classes of labourers, whether of Irish or English nationality. 
 At St. Peter's, Sfol Street, there had long been established a 
 Total Abstinence Society, and in that mission was begun the 
 movement to secure the presence of the great Capuchin friar. 
 Father Theobald Matthew. In a few days six thousand
 
 74 
 
 signatures were appended to a petition begging this worthy 
 priest to visit the town and deliver a series of addresses on 
 temperance. His visit in July, 1843, was the great religious 
 event of the year. Mr. William Rathbone cordially invited him 
 to be his guest at the historic house, Greenbank, Wavertree, 
 in which O'Connell had often enjoyed the hospitality of the 
 great Liberal leader. The invitation was accepted, and on the 
 Sunday morning his host and another great Liverpool man, 
 Mr. Edward Rushton, the stipendiary magistrate, attended 
 Mass at St. Patrick's, in order to hear the inaugm-al address 
 of a memorable campaign. The immense audiences which 
 gathered outside St. Patrick's and St. Anthony's listened with 
 rapture to the burning eloquence of the friar, while their 
 hearts were touched at the sight of the brown habit so 
 intimately bound up with the history of Ireland. No preacher 
 ever made such an impression on the Catholics of Liverpool, 
 and but for the dread disaster which happened four years 
 later, Catholic Liverpool had been synonymous with sober 
 Liverpool. Forty thousand Irish Catholics took the tem- 
 perance pledge, and even to-day, after the lapse of sixty-five 
 years, traditions live, and have been tenderly handed down, of 
 the extraordinary scenes of piety and robust faith witnessed 
 outside the Church of St. Anthony's, where thousands knelt 
 down on God s acre to pledge themselves to accept to the full 
 the cross laid on them by the young Franciscan. 
 
 A renewal of the educational war was occasioned 
 by the introduction into Parliament of Sir James Grahajn's 
 Education Bill, which practically proposed to endow the 
 schools of the Established Church. At a series of public 
 demonstrations against this measure both the Catholic and 
 Dissenting bodies stood shoulder to shoulder, not only in 
 Liverpool but throughout the country. On the first Sunday 
 in April, 1843, the Bill was explained to the congregations, 
 and 25,000 Catholic adults signed a petition of protest to 
 Parliament. A short but vigorous agitation put an end to 
 all hopes of carrying the measure, which was ultimately with- 
 drawn. 
 
 In August, 1843, Dr. Baines, the Vicar-Apostolic, 
 died, and was succeeded by his coadjutor. Dr. Brown. 
 The new coadjutor. Dr. Sharpies, was consecrated in Rome a 
 few months later. For the first time since the Reformation, 
 the Bishop had the great consolation of performing the 
 ceremony of ordination in Liverpool, in the Church of St. 
 Nicholas', an event of more than ordinary importance. There 
 were very few priests, and the vocations from amongst the 
 Liverpool population small in number. The year closed with
 
 75 
 
 an addition to St. Mary's of large schools in Ray Street, 
 formerly the property of the Methodist body, and in February, 
 1844, they were placed under the direction of the Irish 
 Christian Brothers. On the first day of May, 1844, the Fathers ' 
 had the pleasure of seeing the foundation stone of the new- 
 Church laid by Bishop Sharpies, in the presence of two 
 thousand people. Strange to relate the address at the 
 ceremony was not delivered by the Bishop, but by that dis- 
 tinguished layman Mr. John Rosson. He wannly eulogised 
 the work accomplished by the Benedictines during the sixty- 
 one years they had laboured at St. Mary's, and recalled the 
 scene which occurred on the same spot ninety-nine yeaiS before, 
 when the old church was pulled down. " Before the priest 
 " quitted the church, he opened his Ritual, and calmly read 
 " the preparation for death, and, thinking his time was com«, 
 " put on his vestment and presented himself to the infuriated 
 " mob in Edmund Street. Two or three axes were applied to 
 " the door, and on its being demolished, the multitude stood 
 " aghast; a gangway was formed for the priest, who jjassed 
 " into the house of a Presbyterian friend opposite, who 
 " sheltered him from further insult." From some remarks 
 in the course of his address we may conclude that at this 
 early date English and Irish Catholics found it difficult to 
 commingle, lie appealed to both sections to work in hannony, 
 for " if there were two claisses who ought to embrace each 
 " other, they were the persecuted Saxons of Lancashire, and 
 "the persecuted Celts." The Society of St. Mary, under the 
 leadership of Mr. John Yates, junior ; and Mr. James Finney 
 worked with might and main. In the course of five yeaj*3 
 they collected £6,357 18s. lid. towards the contemplated 
 expenditure of £14,667, for the site, church and equipment. 
 It is a tribute to the great enthusiasm of the weekly collectors 
 and the generosity of the poor, that they brought in to the fund 
 £2,150. The following August saw the work almost completed, 
 and with great ceremony, beginning on the 18th August and 
 continued for eight days, the Church of St. Mary* was opened. 
 Among the Bishops prcsf-nt ow llif first day were the Vicar- 
 Apostolic and his Coadjutor, Dr. Brown, O.S.B., Vicar- 
 Apostolic of Wales, Dr. Briggs, Vicar-Apostolic of Yorkshire 
 and Dr. Morris, Vicaur of the London District. 
 
 The Society of St. Francis Xavicr had made such progress 
 that a beginning was marip on the 18(h March, 18l'1, whpn 
 Father Randal Lythgoe, S.J., blessed the first excavations. By 
 the month f)f November it wts announced that the Jesuits 
 
 • Bishop Ooss once snid, " This is the church of my diocese."
 
 76 
 
 hoped to see the fix'st stone laid ou the anniversary of the 
 canonization of St. Francis Xavier, but it was four months 
 later, July 9th, 1845, when Bishops Brown and Sharpies 
 performed that ceremony. 
 
 The Faithful Companions of Jesus came to town in 1844, 
 opening a boarding school in Great George Square, under- 
 taking at the same time the supervision of St. Patrick's girl's 
 school. Following the example set by the Brothers, they 
 opened a night school for girls and secured an attendance of 
 two hundred. There were then on an average one thousand 
 children attending St. Patrick's schools. Another new school 
 was opened on July 15th, 1844, at Ince Blundell. The Orange 
 daily, " The Mail," called public attention to these extensions 
 of Catholic work, " notwithstanding the opposition offered in 
 " various quarters to the extension of Popery, we regret to 
 " hear that it is on the increase.' Orange-Tory Liverpool did 
 not view with equanimity the erection of new churches and 
 schools. A Protestant Church, All Saints, in Grosvenor Street, 
 had been discontinued by the Protestant authorities. It was 
 built on the site of a former somewhat famous tennis court, 
 whereon volunteers were drilled during the invasion scare. 
 Inside the walls the first " anti-Popish " sermon in Liverpool 
 was delivered. To the dismay of the ultra-Protestants, the 
 Catholic body purchased the building with the intention of 
 founding a new mission to be dedicated to St. Joseph. An 
 indignation meeting was held in the Portico, Newington, reso- 
 lutions adopted protesting against the sale, and a deputation 
 proceeded to the residence of Archdeacon Rushton with the 
 avowed intention of preventing the ratification of the 
 purchase. Nothing came of the protest, save that the tide of 
 bigotry began to flow quicker and stronger and reached its 
 height when the need for a resident bishop was gratified by 
 the purchase of Eton Lodge,* Woolton Road, as the local 
 residence for the Vicar-Apostolic. f To express their feelings 
 the Orangemen made repeated attacks on St. Patrick's, and the 
 clergy of that church. Led on by the Stipendiary, Mr. Edward 
 Rushton, the magistrates resolved to put down the outrages 
 with a strong hand, especially as the police seemed quite 
 indifferent to performing an obvious duty. The Grand Master 
 of the Orangemen sat on the Watch Committee, and too many 
 of the humbler members of the force had secured appointment 
 by joining the Orange organisation. Mr. William Rathbone 
 and Mr. Rushton secured the adoption of a resolution con- 
 demning the further recruiting of the force from " illegal " 
 
 * Formerly a school kept by an old Eton master ; hence its name. 
 
 t Hence — Bishop Eton, now occupied by the Redemptorists.
 
 77 
 
 organisations. This motion received the sanction of the Home 
 Secretary to whom it was presented, and the magistrates then 
 resolved to present it to the Watch Committee. Under the 
 guidance of the Orange Grand Master, the Watch Committee 
 at the ensuing pay day took measures to find out the religion 
 of every member of the force, with the object of removing the 
 Catholic policemen. Mr. Rushton boldly met this move by 
 asserting the right of the magistrates themselves to dismiss 
 from the force all members of illegal societies. Though the 
 lawyers decided against the validity of this claim, Mr. Rushton 
 secured the object he had in view, that of ending the disgrace- 
 ful rows in the South end of the town. To further this end he 
 appealed to the Irish Societies to abandon their usual procession 
 on St. Patricks Day, 1845, which appeal received the 
 unanimous support of the clergy. Some enthusiasts refused 
 to obey, and, meeting in Williamson Square, marched to St. 
 Patrick's, where the doors were closed against them. 
 Retracing their footsteps they proceeded to St. Anthony's 
 with the same result. This testimony to the great moral 
 power of the clergy impressed the leading citizens, who freely 
 admitted that Orange provocation had been severe, and for 
 some time very friendly relations prevailed between the priests 
 and the authorities. 
 
 Meanwhile, the English Catholics of the town gave 
 evidence of their good-will towards their Irish oo-religionists, 
 and their esteem for the great Irishman who had won for them 
 the restoration of their own liberties. O'Connell had been 
 arrested, and sentenced to a term of imprisonment, by the 
 Irish courts. A huge demonstration of protest was organised 
 by thf lilundell family, in the Amphitheatre, which was 
 attended by all the leading families of the town and district, 
 and by the clergy, secular and regular. A petition was sent 
 up by them to Queen Victoria, praying for O'ConnoU's release, 
 but, bftfore TTfr Majesty could consider its contents, the con- 
 viction had boon cjuaaiiod by the supremo courts. This 
 incident was celebrated by general Catholic rejoicings. Houses 
 wero illuminated in the Catholic quarters, notably in the 
 densoly-pf)j)ulatofl di.strirl around the present Custom House, 
 South John and Paradise Streets. 
 
 Another public body came into existence as a consequence 
 of the new Poor Law, the Liverpool Board of Guardians, better 
 known by its official titlo, tlio Select Vostry. Tho first elections 
 resulted in the return of a solid phalanx of Tories, duo fo the 
 extraordinary behaviour of the returning officer. Dr. 
 Bilsborrow, late Bishop of Salford, described the Guardians
 
 78 
 
 as " that awful Protestant body,"* and good reason he had for 
 so naming it. In 1839, under the old law, Father Parker, of 
 St. Patrick's, reported that during the month of October, he 
 had heard the master of the workhouse school, addressing the 
 children in the schoolroom, say that " every Catholic would go 
 " to Hell with a Testament in his hand." Of the hundred 
 children thus addressed a small proportion were Catholics, and 
 in their presence he held up a wafer, with the blasphemous 
 observation, " this is the God of the Papists." An inquiry 
 was held, and the charges sustained, but the Orange party 
 would permit no punishment beyond a mild censure. In 1841, 
 Father John Dawber asked the Vestry to allow him the vise 
 of a room in which to say Mass, and in a very modest appeal 
 pointed out that it was a great hardship for old and infirm 
 people to be compelled te rise early in all kinds of weather, 
 and walk half-a-mile to hear Mass outside. The " Liverpool 
 " Courier," the Conservative organ, opposed this proposal as 
 " an act of Popish aggrandisement." 
 
 The Vestry held its meetings for the first year with 
 closed doors, the " Liverpool Mercury," which took the most 
 active share in bringing about a change in its composition, 
 describing it as " the secret conclave." The Liberals and 
 Catholics joined in a cordial union te alter its complexion, and 
 at the Easter of 1845, returned Messrs. Bright, Thomeley and 
 Maynard, to fight for equality and open dealing, against 
 twenty-six of the most illiberal men who ever possessed a share 
 in the government of the town, municipally or parochially. 
 The Select Vestry had decided, in obedience to Dr. McNeill, 
 that no religious service of any kind for the Roman Catholics 
 should be permitted inside the workhouse. Mr. Bright sought 
 to remove this restriction by a proposition that the use of the 
 dining hall be allowed for the celebration of Mass. The Rector 
 of Liverpool was, ex-officio, the Chairman of the Board.t and 
 on this occasion he declared that the law of the realm did not 
 contemplate the performance of any religious ceremony, other 
 than those in conformity with the laws of the Established 
 Church. No doubt this was a perfectly accurate statement, 
 but it did not help to remove an irritating restriction from a 
 Catholic point of view, or prevent gross abuse from the point 
 of view of good administration and discipline, inmates being 
 allowed to go out on Sundays, without supervision, if they 
 declared themselves to be Catholics, whether they were so or 
 no. J Mr. Bright's motion was rejected. At the same meeting 
 
 • Tn a conversation with the writer at St. Charles', Aigburth Road, 
 t This anomaly was removed by Mr. Gladstone's Parish Council Act, 1894. 
 J Bedclothes, linen, &c., were stolen by the inmates, who declared them- 
 selves Catholics in order to get out and sell the articles thus obtained.
 
 79 
 
 it was decided to ask permission from the Bishop of Chester 
 to allow Divine Service to be held for the Protestant inmates 
 of the Kirkdale Schools, in the dining hall of that institution. 
 Mr. Bright obsei-ved that as the Rector had objected to Divine 
 Service for Catholics in a dining hall, he ought surely, on 
 ecclesiastical or rubrical grounds, to object in this instance. 
 Mr. Rector Brooks did not reply, but a Mr. Breraner retorted, 
 " No ! not at all ; the one is Popeiy, the other the Established 
 " Church." The language of this gentleman was so offensive 
 that five Conservatives voted for Mr. Bright's motion. It was 
 urged that, as sixty-one inmates, owing to ill-health, were 
 ixnable to attend Mass outside, a room might be set apart for 
 the purpose of a private celebration. But to no avail. Mr. 
 Bremner represented the whole trend of Tory Protestantism. 
 Catholics and Liberals, at the following elections, made one 
 supreme effort to secure further representation, and carried 
 eleven seats out of twenty-one. Three out of four overseer- 
 ships also fell into their victorious hands. Mr. John Yates, 
 junior, was the first Catholic Poor Law Guardian. The 
 concession of a room was granted, and peace prevailed for a 
 short time. In the Council, Mr. Blackburn, member for 
 Vaushall Ward, made a last despairing effort to break down 
 the polic)' of exclusion embarked upon by the Church party, 
 but failed, and never again did Catholics appeal to that 
 Municipal body for any concession. 
 
 In 1844, Bishop Brown inaugurated a new depar- 
 ture in the methods employed to raise funds for 
 churches and schools. The lay committees had not 
 been an unmixed blessing. In the case of St. Patrick's 
 there had been serious friction, and St. Nicholas' was to all 
 intents and purposes a proprietary church. Advertisements 
 appeared, offering such a pew in an eligible position to the 
 parishioners, the highest bidder securing the coveted seat. The 
 committee also doled out the funds as they thought fit, and 
 there is .still living* one venerable ecclesiastic who sat shivering 
 in his room, because of the scantiness of the fuel supplied. In 
 some other cases, the lay committee simply undertook the 
 responsibility of purchasing suitaljle sites, thoir local knowledge 
 enabling thfjm to make good bargains, and in overseeing the 
 work of sub-cf)ntrac;tors. One evil could not well be guarded 
 against — the itinerant begging by irresponsible persons, and in 
 this way considerable sums of money were lost. Persons with- 
 out any autliority c^lloclefl the pennies of the faithful, which 
 never found their way into the funds of the responsible 
 committee. 
 
 * Right Rev. MonaiKnor Carr, Vicar-Ooiioial.
 
 80 
 
 Bishop Brown issued a pastoral letter, read in all the 
 churches, announcing a new arrangement. A Board was 
 appointed by him, consisting of the two Vicars, two Benedic- 
 tines, two Jesuits, and certain representatives of the secular 
 clergy, who were to administer all funds collected in future 
 for church extensions. It was further laid down that the 
 funds be raised by annual donations from individuals, an 
 annual collection in every church, and, with the one exception, 
 that weekly collections for the six weeks prior to the annual 
 collections were allowed, all other methods which had obtained 
 in the past were strictly forbidden. The Bishop also fixed the 
 minimum and maximum stipends of the clergy at £80 and 
 £120 per annum, respectively. The lay committees had done 
 good work, but owing to the methods pursued in electing 
 them, many abuses had crept in, and the new arrangement 
 gave general satisfaction. 
 
 In 1844, the Catholic Club was founded, Sir Arnold 
 Knight presiding at the first meeting. Mr. Richard Sheil 
 was appointed the first president; Mr. Edward Bretherton 
 acting as secretary. The main objects of the new 
 organisation were, " to promote unity of purpose, energy in 
 "practical charity, and good fellowship in principle.' The 
 ne«7 club took a very prominent part in the work of promoting 
 and assisting works of charity, while, on its political side, 
 excellent work was done in the defence of Catholic interests. 
 During this year. Bishop Sharpies confinned no less than 
 3,784 children ; 888 at St. Patrick's, 746 at St. Anne's, 823 
 at St. Nicholas', 781 at St. Mary's, 535 at St. Peter's, and 
 11 at St. Edward's. 
 
 In November Father Wiloock retired from St. 
 Anthony's, after 25 years of service in the priesthood, and 
 was succeeded by Father Thos. Newsham, a man of extra- 
 ordinary energy and capacity, who left his mark on the history 
 of the north end. He was not many months in office when he 
 secured a substantial concession for his flock from the North 
 Shore Mill Co. This company had insisted that all the children 
 employed by them must attend a Protestant Sunday School, 
 and Father Newsham, by his tact and good humour, induced 
 the directors to withdraw this uncalled-for hindrance to 
 Catholics securing employment.* 
 
 The fourth day of August, 1846, and the seven succeeding 
 days, witnessed the great pomp and ceremonial attending the 
 opening of the fine church of St. Anne. It was built on a 
 well-chosen site, then without the borough of Liverpool, it now 
 stands in the centre of a teeming mass of poor people, the 
 
 * See Tablet, 1846.
 
 81 
 
 extensions of the city having driven out the' b«t-ter-class 
 Catholics to more suburban parts of the ever-growing city. 
 It was opened by Bisiiop Brown, and several notable prelates 
 assembled in the sanctuai-y. After many years, Dr. Folding, 
 O.S.B., Archbishop of Sydney, returned to his native land to 
 witness this great sign ol the progress of his fellow religionists. 
 Dr. Murphy, Bishop of Adelaide, the first rector of St. 
 Patrick's, Liverpool, Dr. O Connell, Bishop of Waterford, with 
 the Vicar-Apostolic of Loudon, Dr. MoitIs, by their presence 
 contributed to the greatest ceremony yet witnessed on the 
 banks of the Mersey. At that time there was a fine male choir 
 at St. Mary's, trained by Father Cooper, O.S.B., and they 
 rendered the music of the Mass and of Vespers during the 
 *iventful week. Bishop Murphy preached in his old and much- 
 loved church of St. Patrick's, in aid of the Christian Brothers. 
 Thoy had just lost Brother Joseph Maher, the pioneer of 
 elementary education, under the new regime, in Liverpool. 
 As he lay in simple state in the schoolroom, crowds flocked tc 
 pay their tribute of sorrow and prayer around his remains, 
 ere they were interred in the vaults of the church. The need 
 for such men was shewn in the letter of the Vicar-Apostolic of 
 Yorkshire, written in 1846, that in England there were at 
 least 25,000 Catholic children without any school accommo- 
 dation of any kind. Catholic or otherwise. 
 
 A dark cloud fell upon Liverpool in the last months of 
 the year, and when it passed away, a new Catholic Liverpool 
 arose, with new problems and fresh difficulties, many of 
 which are not yet solved. No man can understand aright the 
 T..iverpool of the second half of the ninel^eenth century, who 
 doeB not seriously study the dread incidents which Ihe 
 November and December portended.
 
 B2 
 
 chaptl:r IV. 
 
 From the point of view of public tiealth, Liverpool iiad 
 degenerated into one of the worst towns in the Kingdom. 
 Narrow streets, narrower courts, overcrowded alleys, and bad 
 drainage, were exacting a heavy toll of disease and death. 
 Streets were left unswept for as long a period as three weeks, 
 in working class quarters, the Town Council being much too 
 busy with the interests of party to occupy itself with such 
 mundane affairs. The Tories were blind to all warnings ; 
 in capturing the Council Schools they had exhausted their 
 mandate. To promote sanitary reform, a Health of Towns 
 Association had been formed in the Metropolis, and the first 
 Liverpool branch was founded in St. Patrick's schoolroom. 
 Just as, half-a-century later, it was reserved for Liverpool 
 Catholic joublic men to fight the battle of housing reform, so 
 in the early forties it was left for the Catholic leadera to speak 
 out against the criminal neglect, by the Corporation, of the 
 important question of public health. Sir Arnold Knight, 
 M.D., father of a future Bishop of Shrewsbury, and of a 
 distinguished Jesuit, delivered the address at this gathering, 
 presided over by Mr. R. Shell. His speech is painful reading, 
 descriptive of the conditions under which tlie labouring classes 
 were compelled to live, conditions which made moral or 
 physical health well-nigh impossible. Sir Arnold stated, that 
 in London one out of every thirty-seven of the population 
 died annually, Liverpool's proportion being one in twenty- 
 eight. In the Metropolis, 32 out of every 100 children died 
 before reaching the age of nine ; Liverpool had the unenviable 
 record of 49. Nor was this all. In the densely populated 
 streets and courts of Vauxhall Ward, this number went up to 
 64, an appalling rate of mortality. Physical deterioration had 
 5et in, or, as the Catholic Knight put it, Liverpool men " were 
 " unfit to be shot at,' an allusion to the rejection of 75 per cent, 
 of the recruits for the army. 
 
 This speech gives the answer to much of the superficial 
 criticism of the result of Irish " habits " on the general health 
 of towns. The death roll gives the needed and only reply U) 
 the puzzle which has worried Catholic statisticians as to the 
 causes which have operated to prevent the prolific Irish from 
 bfiing one-half, at least, of the population of Liverjjool. Sixty- 
 four out of every hundred Irish children dead before nine
 
 88 
 
 years of age, from preventible causes ! ! The Irish poor did 
 not build the narrow streets nor the dirty courts, they did not 
 leave the streets unswept, and had no responsibility for 
 stinking middens, left unemptied at their very doors, nor did 
 they create the economic conditions which drove them across 
 the channel, and in turn made life in Liverpool the burden it 
 really was. Drink! Yes, they drank! No wonder ! where 
 drink alone could bring forgetfulness of present misery. But 
 for the small band of priests who laboured amongst them, and 
 the faith they brought from Ireland, Irish Liverpool had 
 become heathendom. The demoralisation of child life caused 
 by exclusion from the schools, in 1841, had sown its seeds, and 
 a deadly harvest was to be reaped a generation later, which, 
 fven to the twentieth century, has made Liverpool a bye-word 
 to every stranger entering its gates. It was too late for any 
 lx)dy of men to cure the evil, when the famine years sent 
 hundreds of thousands of Irishmen and women into the very 
 streets and alleys, where over-crowding and disease had become 
 every -day features, and excited no surprise. The closing 
 months of 1846 ended in " an inpouring of wretchedness froni 
 " Ireland ; streets swarming with hungry and almost naked 
 ■ wretches.' Written by a friendly hand, these words fail to 
 <onvey an adequate picture of the scenes witnessed every day 
 during November and December, 1846. At the meeting of the 
 Select Vestry, December 15th, 1846, the captains of the 
 coasting vessels were censured for carrying over such large 
 nmiibers of immigrants, and it was seriously suggested that 
 i>iverpool should follow the example of the Isle of Man 
 authorities, by refusing permission to land. It is pleasant to 
 record that the first meeting held to raise funds for the relief 
 of the famine stricken, was organised by the Irish navvies, 
 thnn constructing the railway to Bury. The meeting was held 
 in the schoolroom underneath St. Joseph's chapel, Grosvenor 
 Street, on Novc^mlxT ,'50tli, evory navvy putting down one day's 
 wages on the table as his tribute? to the unfortunate people of 
 iiis own country. In the church, the first sermon for the same 
 object, was preached by Father MoKvoy, parish priest of Kells, 
 in the fcH/il'! plains of Meath, wlio r<K;eived fifty-two pounds 
 from the poor labourers of St. Jost^ph's parish. The new year, 
 )8'17, open'fl inauspiciously. Duiing tlie six days, January 
 4th to 9th. Ilie Select Vestry relifVfd T.HG TrLsh families, 
 consisting of 29,417 persons, of wliom 18, .'576 were children. 
 From the 13th to the 2oth of the same mont-h, 10,724 deck 
 passengers arrived from Irish ports, and during the month of 
 February they came pouring in at tho average rat« of nine 
 hundred per day. So dreadful was their poverty that we have
 
 84 
 
 the authority ol' the Rector of Liverpool, speaking on the 26th 
 of February, that nine thousand Irish families were beinj^ 
 relieved, a number which increased to eleven thousand by the 
 end of March. The -Stipendiary Magistrate had given an 
 instruction to the police to ke^p a record of the number of 
 immigrants, and, at a meeting of the justices summoned by him 
 to consider suitable measures to cope with this serious menace 
 to health and peace, he stated that, from the first day of 
 November, 1846, to the twelfth day of May, 1847, the total 
 number of Irish immigrants into Liverpool amounted to 
 196,338. Deducting the numbers actually recorded as sailing 
 to America, no less than 137,519 persons had been added to the 
 population of Liverpool. When the year ended, the tot*l j 
 number of immigrants, excluding those who were bound for I 
 America, reached the immense total of 296,231, all I 
 " apparently paupers."* 
 
 The already overcrowded Irish quarters gave some kind of 
 
 shelter to the new comers ; its character makes the heart sick, 
 
 even when read in cold print. No less than 35,000 were housed 
 
 in cellars, t below the level of the street, without light or 
 
 ventilation; 5841 J cellars were ' wells of stagnant water," or, 
 
 as an official report to the Corporation puts it, 5,869 were 
 
 found, on examination, to be " damp, wet, or filthy." In the 
 
 district now kno-wn as Holy Cross parish, not then formed, and 
 
 in St. Vincent's, an appalling state of affairs prevailed, hi 
 
 Laoe Street, Mary bo no, in a cellar 14 feet long, ten wide, and 
 
 six in height, twelve persons were found endeavouring to 
 
 breathe, and, " in more than one instance, upwards of forty 
 
 ' people were found sleeping "§ in a similar under-ground 
 
 dungeon. The Stipendiary shocked the town by his narrative 
 
 of a woman being confined of twins, in a Lace Street collar, 
 
 crowded with human beings. In Crosby Street, Park I-ane, 
 
 now occupied by the Wapping Goods Station, of the L. & N. W. 
 
 Railway Company, 37 people were found in one cellar, and in 
 
 another eight lay dead from typhus. The unfortunates 
 
 " occupiedl every nook and corner of the already over-cro,vrif>d 
 
 " lodging houses, and forced their way into the cellars (about 
 
 " 3,000 in number), which had been closed under the Health 
 
 " Act of 1842. In different parts of Liverpool, fifty or sixty of 
 
 " these destitute people were found in a house containing three 
 
 " or four small rooms, about twelve feet by ten."* By 
 
 February, the mortality from fever was eighteen per cent. 
 
 bove the average, and four months later was 2,000 per ce/it. 
 
 ^ov< 
 
 ♦ Uean Constable Dowling's Report to the Watch Committee. 
 
 t Liverpool Mercury, 1S47. 
 
 i Gore's Annals of Livevpool. 
 
 § Medical Officer's Report foi- 1S47. W. If. Duncan, M.I).
 
 85 
 
 above the average of previous years.* Smallpox broke out and 
 carried off 381 children, and an epidemic of measles added 378 
 to the total. In Lace Street, already mentioned, one-third of 
 the inhabitants, that is to say 472 persons, died from fever 
 during the year. In the Parish of Liverpool, the weekly 
 mortality by the month of August reached 537, as against the 
 uflual average of 160 ; while in the extra parochial districts of 
 Toxteth and Evertou, it was 111 against 50. The curse of 
 mis-rule in Ireland, and mis-government in Liverpool, had 
 eome home to roost, and he who would pass judgment on Irish 
 poverty or " crime "' of later years, let him read the story which 
 every stone of the charnel hovises in Vauxhall, Exchange, 
 Scotland, Great George and Pitt Street Wards, told and still 
 tell. Here were sown the dragon's teeth, and they have sprung 
 up. not in armed men, but workhouses, reformatories, and 
 gaols. 
 
 Regulations of all kinds were brought into force to put 
 a much-needed check on this enormous influx, but without 
 avail for at least a year. The Poor Law authorities returnedl 
 U4,629 to their native parishes during the years 1847 and 
 1848 ; it was only a drop in the ocean, for vessels were arriving 
 daily with fresh contingents. Deck passages from Dublin cost 
 as small a sum as sixpence, which probably tempted thousands 
 to try their fortune in our midst. It stands to the infinite 
 credit of the citizens that distinctions of race, religion, and 
 party were obliterated in presence of this awful visitation, and 
 that they united to succour the sick and hungry, both in the 
 town and the country from whence they came. There were two 
 *!Xception3, which only served to bring out this noble generosity 
 in strong relief. Vestryman Mellor gleefully exclaimed, at a 
 meeting of the Select Vestry, " when they are all gone, we will 
 " people Ireland with a better set," and Dr. Hugh McNeill 
 characteristically accused the Irish clergy of refusing t-o 
 dispense the English Relief Funds, unless the recipients paid 
 them a consideration. Those men were the solo exceptions to 
 the truly ChrL«itian spirit which prevailed in all classes. Bishop 
 Sharpies actc^l with foniiin'ndablo promptitude. Summoning 
 a meeting of Catholics in the Concert Hall, Lord Nelson 
 Street, h(^ harl thf» pleasure of roc/«'iving (wo thousand [wunds 
 from his flock in the course of a few minutes. This sum was 
 subscribed by less than fifty persons, and was dispatched next 
 day by th'' trr-asurer, Mr. C. J. Corbally, in equal shares to the 
 Archbishops of Cashel and Tuam. Church collections were 
 iramediat^ily taken, and one thousand pounds came from this 
 
 • W. II. Duncan. M.D. Rojiort to the Hcaltli Committee, 1B47. 
 t St Dr. M.iokny's nrtirlo on Ltvorpofil in Morninri Chronicle'.
 
 86 
 
 souroe ; St. Patrick's heading the list with £118 16s. 7d., a 
 few shillings more thau the amount subscribed by St. Nicholas'. 
 A name never to be forgotten in the annals of Liverpool 
 Catholicism appeared for the first time in print, in connection 
 with the famine fund, that of a young priest, Father James 
 Nugent, who preach<:>d at St. Albans, Blackburn, and handed 
 £72 12s. 8d. to the Liverpool treastirer. It was related by the 
 journals of the day, that the Post OfTice was besieged by Irish 
 labourers, sending small sums of money home to their afflicted 
 kinsfolk. The condition of Ireland was bad, but it may well 
 be doubted whether that of Liverpool was not worse. Where 
 were the mass of new-comers to be lioused ? Where was 
 employment to be found? Whence could be drawn clergy 
 to oome to attend to their spiritual needs? If church and 
 school accommodation was deficient befoie 1847, it was surely 
 deficient now. 
 
 In January, 1847, the Rector of Liverpool informed the 
 Government that dysentery had assumed alarming proportions, 
 due to the cabbages and turnips which formed the only food 
 of the first immigrants. Febrviary saw eight hundred cases 
 of typhoid; the reading of the death-roll each Sunday morning 
 in the churches sending a cold shiver through the immense 
 congregations. Hurriedly the joarish authorities set up fever 
 sheds, in Great Homer Street on the North, and Mount 
 Pleasant on the South, and fitted up a hospital ship in the 
 Mersey, to cope with the new terror. Then came the awful 
 visitation of typhus. Liverpool Protestantism bowed its head 
 in reverence at the heroism of the handful of Catholic Priests. 
 Undaunted, they went from room to room in crowded houses ; 
 from cellar to garret, ministering to the sick. They were 
 never absent from hourly attendance in the hospital wards. 
 Here at least there was some privacy, but in the crowded rooms 
 and cellars it was next to impossible to hear the last 
 confession, unless the priest lay down beside the sick man to 
 receive the seeds of disease from poisoned breaths in return 
 for spiritual consolations. In very truth they were braver 
 men than ever faced the lions in a Roman amphitheatre. 
 If life must be sacrificed, it were fitting that St. Patrick's 
 should provide the first victim. Father Parker,* rector for 
 seventeen years, succumbed to typhus on April 28th, aged 43, 
 and was followed on May 26th by the scholarly Benedictine, 
 Dr. Appleton, of St. Peter's, who exchanged the Presidency of 
 Douai College for a martyr's crown, won in the pestilential 
 cellars of Crosby Street. The fine sanctuary of the church 
 
 • Biirifd in tTio vaults of the church. Dr. Youens sajig the Requiem ; 
 !he sub-dnacon was Father Nugent
 
 87 
 
 recalls bis last work for the oldest ecclesiastical building iu 
 Liverpool, and the tablet on the walls of the church reminds 
 succeeding generations of his great charity. St. Patrick's 
 again rendered two more victims, Father Grayston succumbing 
 on the 16th June, aged 33, and his colleague. Father Haggar,* 
 aged 29, following him seven days later. A third priest who 
 had left the plains of Westmeath to work among his people in 
 England, the Rev. Bernard O'Reilly, was also stricken down. 
 The rector of Old Swan, Father, afterwards Canon, Haddocks, 
 took him from the presbytery at Saint Patrick's to his own 
 house, in the country, where he recovered in a most miracu- 
 lous manner, and lived to become the third Bishop of 
 Liverpool. St. Mary's then took up the beadroll of death ; 
 Father Gilbert, O.S.B., aged 27, and Father William Dale, 
 O.S.B., aged 43, succumbing to typhus on the 31st May and 
 28th June respectively. 
 
 On the 22nd August, Father Richard Gillow,t a member 
 of a most devoted Catholic family, yielded up his young life — 
 he was but 36 years of age — at St. Nicholas', and on the 28th 
 September, the death of Father Whitaker, at St. Joseph's, 
 complet'ed the death-roll for the year. Father 'NVhitaker's 
 career was unique. He entered Douai with the intention of 
 becoming a Benedictine, and after some years abandoned his 
 undoubted vocation for the study of medicine. On the eve of 
 qualifying he changed his mind and resumed his ecclesiastical 
 studies at St. Sulpice, Paris. From thence he pix)ceeded to 
 Ushaw, where he was ordained, and after serving on the 
 mission at Bolton, York, and Manchester, found an early 
 grave in tli'^ slums of Liverpool. The deaths of the?'' priests;;: 
 made a profound impression on a town which had witnessed 
 15,000 deaths from faTuinc and fevei-, and exalted in the esti 
 mation of thf Protestant citizens the character and dignity 
 of the priesthood. The strain on the surviving clergy, mo?t/ 
 of whom suffered severely, was intense. They lay ;il nights 
 on chairs and sofas in their clothes, awaiting the sick calls 
 which never failed to come, fearful lest the time spent in 
 dressing might ni'-an the loss f)f the Sacraments to some poor 
 wretch lying in his dismal hovel. To the townspeople such 
 heroism oonvcyedtho reason why Catholics n-vereiiced the office 
 of the priest; for Catholics it knil fresh bonds between them 
 and the clergy. 
 
 ■ Died at tlio hoiiRO of Mr. Dnnis Madden, 116, l8linf?ton. 
 
 I Ho founded tbo St, Viiicont r\o. 1'miI Conferoncr at St. Nicholas. 
 
 t To these should be ;idded Father Niybtingale, who died March ind, 
 and Father Thoinaw Kelly, D.D., who died May I at. 
 
 ^ See U.-^haw Magazine, June, 1895.
 
 88 
 
 In the midst, of these scenes of desolation the sad news 
 ariivod from Genoa that the great defender of the poor IriKh. 
 the brilliant advocate of Catholic claims, had given np hiti 
 soul to God. The death of O'Connell added to the grief and 
 suffering of the poor immigrants, whose confidence in his 
 fK)wers knew no bounds. It was announced in the " Tablet ' 
 that his body would pass through Liverpool on. its way t^ 
 mother earth, but the authorities, fearing an outbreak, induced 
 his unintelligent son to alter the arrangements. Instead of 
 coming to Liverpool from Southampton, the coffin passed 
 through Chester, where it rested one night before the altar in 
 the city of St. Werburgh, and on the 26th July, 1847, arrived 
 in Birkenhead. The steamer " Duchess of Kent " lay in the 
 Mersey, en route for Dublin. Its quarter-deck was covered 
 with an immense black canopy, under which the coffin was 
 placed, surrounded by lighted tapers, and covered with a pall 
 still in the possession of the Benedictines at St. Mary's. To 
 relieve the poignant feelings of the Irish multitudes they wpro 
 allowed in relays to board the steamer and kneel for a few 
 moments before the remains of the " Liberator." The evening 
 before, the body of the O'Conor Don, M.P., lay in similar 
 state ere it passed down the swiftly flowing waters of the 
 Mersey to the land from whence he sprang. By November 
 the tide of immigration began to slacken, and the black cloud 
 of death and disease became less heavy and sombre. As the 
 months rolled on, every quarter of the town had suffered, and, 
 excluding those who had succumbed, sixty thousand of the 
 inhabitants had suffered from fever and forty thousand from 
 diarrhoea or dysentery.* 
 
 The year 1848 opened with a great improvement in the 
 death-rate from " Irish fever," but scarlatina and influenza 
 now began to play havoc with the juvenile population. The 
 deaths from fever during 1848 had fallen to 989 ; scarlatina 
 claimed 1,516, and other zymotic diseases accounted for 
 4.350. t From January, 1848, to April, 1849, 1,786 fatal cases 
 of scarlatina occurred with children under lo years of 
 age, and when, in 1849, the horrors of Asiatic cholera were 
 superadded, out of 5,245 deaths 1,510 cases were those of the 
 same tender years, not including the 1,059 carried off by 
 dysenteiy.+ The importance of these figures from the point 
 of view of Catholic Liverpool is that seven-eighths of the dead J 
 were Irish ; famine at home being exchanged for death abroad. 
 
 There were then in Vauxhall Ward, to take only one part 
 of the typical Irish quarters, 27 streets, 226 courts, and 153 
 
 •Dr. Duncan's Report, pa^e 18. 
 t Ibid. t Ibid.
 
 89 
 
 cellars. In the street houses 6,888 persons found a shelter, 
 and in the courts, exclusive of the cellars, 6,148; or, as the 
 Rev. Dr. Cahill put it, they crowded the desolate garret, the 
 putrid cellar, and the filthy lane. In normal days in this 
 district and Scotland Ward the deaths were in the ratio of 
 one to fourteen of the residents as compared with one to 
 thirty-eight in Rodney and Abercromby wards. According to 
 a census taken by a well-known Anglican clergyman. Canon 
 Hume, who made a house-to-house visit, there were 3,128 
 children between the ages of three and a half and twelve 
 without the slightest school accommodation, and if we include 
 those up to fourteen years of age, at least one thousand more 
 must be added to the number. " Crime,'' as the word was 
 then used, had begun to increase. In 1845 there were 3,889 
 cases; in 1846, 4,740; in 1847, 6,510, in 1848, 7,714; and in 
 1849, 6,702. The cause we have already indicated. Mr. W. 
 Rathbone, at a meeting to raise funds, declared that it was 
 tlie Irish landlords and not the people who ought to have been 
 forcibly immigrated. Mr. Rushtou, in his report to the Home 
 Secretary, dated April 21, 1849, gives his view of the increase 
 in " crime." " I saw from day to day the poor Irish popula- 
 '"■ tion forced upon us in a state of wretchedness which cannot 
 '■ be described. Within twelve hours after they landed they 
 would be found among one of three classes, paupers, vagrants, 
 '■ or thieves. Few became claimants for parochial relief, for 
 " in that case they would ha discovered and might be sent back 
 ' to Ireland. The truth is that gaols, such as the gaol of the 
 " borough of Liverpool, aflFord the wretched and unfortunate 
 " Irish better food, shelter, and raiment, and more cleanliness 
 
 ■ than, it is to be feared, many of them ever experienced 
 f^lsewhere ; hence, it constantly happens that Irish vagrants 
 
 " who have offered them the choice of being sent back to 
 
 ■ Ireland or to j^aol in a great many cases desire to go to 
 prison.' This awful picture was coniinned by the I'risou 
 
 CommiBsioners in the same year, who speak of " the intensity 
 " of the distress, and the vast immigration of Irish paupers 
 " who coniniit j>etty ofTences in order to be sent to jjrison. At 
 'he time of our visit to the gaol more than one-third of the 
 '■ males were of this description, and niorH than half of the 
 " females." Tlere are twf) ofhrial atatcm<*nts as to the origin 
 of " Irish crime," to be aggravated as the suc-ceoding years 
 rolled on by the same causes, poverty, overcrowding, casual 
 ei.iploymeut, and th<' natural consequence of all three, excess 
 in drink. Compare these fignics with the aiinual report 
 furnished to the justices by the Anglican Chaplain of the gaol. 
 In the vear 1841 thfro were 201 prisonprs committed to the
 
 90 
 
 Assizes for serious crime, 35 being Catholics ; committed to 
 the Sessions for less serious crimes 317, 66 being Catholics. 
 The Courts of Summai-y Jurisdiction or Police Courts com- 
 mitted 1,541. the Catholics numbering 486. From a popula- 
 tion numbering a third* of the whole these figures show no 
 sign of "Catholic crime ' being in undue proportion; 
 decidedly the reverse, especially in the Assize and Sessions 
 cases. For the year 1842, 41 Catholics were sent from the 
 Assizes out of a total of 185 ; from the Sessions 100 out of 
 472, and from the Police Courts 513 out of 1,536. During 
 the year 1843, 1,410 prisoners were sent to Kirkdale Gaol; 
 78 Dissenters, 280 Catholics, and 1,036 Protestants. Crime 
 began with the poverty of the victims of the great famine, 
 and was due to causes over which they had little control. 
 Their children were the greatest suflFerers, the inheritors of a 
 sad past. The want of scliools was the main cause, for, as 
 Father Nugent wrote sixteen years later in his first report to 
 the justices, " education is not an absolute preservative against 
 " crime, yet it must always be an incalculable advantage 
 " towards gaining an honest livelihood, and making a position 
 " in a town like Liveq>ool."| The children's story has yet to 
 be told. 
 
 The Corporation now plunged headlong into the work of 
 sanitary reform, and blundered badly. The solution of the 
 whole question lay, according to their notion of things, in 
 closing insanitary cellars. From 1847 to 1849 they ejected 
 25,015 persons who dwelt in cellars, a desirable course to 
 pursue provided they offered better surroundings or knew that 
 private enterprise would supply them. One result did accrue, 
 which was to overcrowd still more the houses already too fully 
 occupied.! Tenement houses have been Liverpool's second 
 greatest curse, the fruitful cause of intemperance amongst 
 women and even worse evils. Local authorities had not then 
 the powers obtained thirty years later, and on that score the 
 Liverpool Town Council was not entirely blameworthy. Tt 
 was, however, unsympathetic, short-sighted, ijidifferent. 
 
 A general election was fought in the month of 
 September, 1847; Free Trade and Education being the two 
 main issues. Cobden had made certain the victory of one 
 issue ; the other was in its usual condition of glorious uncer- 
 tainty. One hundred thousand pounds had been set aside by 
 
 * See Mr. Edward Brctherton's reply to Lord Sandon, who, in a speech 
 in the House of Commona said Catholics were one-fourth. 1843. 
 
 t Annual Police Report, October 26th, 1864. 
 
 J See Dr. Duncan's report. He appealed to his committee to pioceed 
 cautiously in the evictions.
 
 91 
 
 Parliament for the purpose of assisting elementary education, 
 and it appeared practically agreed that the Catholics would be 
 excluded from any direct participation in the distribution. 
 The " Liverpool Mercury '' urged Catholics to fight ; "■ a tame 
 '■ acquiescence now would add to the difficulty and delay of an 
 " act of justice, which Her Majesty's Government propose to 
 " postpone to some future and more convenient opportunity.' 
 The vigorous agitation conducted by the Catholic body did 
 secure such an alteration, though, as was stated by the Hon. 
 Chas. Langdale, of the Catholic Poor School Committee, it 
 would be necessary to raise twenty thousand pounds in order 
 to secure a grant of ten thousand. Liverpool took the lead in 
 the struggle which brought about the change, inaugurating 
 the campaign at a Catholic demonstration at the Music Hall, 
 Bold Street. They were encouraged in the fight by the pros- 
 pect of being able to remove from the streets hundreds, nay, 
 thcusands of Catholic children. The Church nuist carry out 
 her Divine mission, though pestilence stalked the 
 streets. The Liverpool election gave the Catholic body an 
 opportunity of demonstrating its feeling upon this point, and 
 it is not without interest to note that all its leaders were Free 
 Traders and at the same time ardent Catholic educationalists, 
 low to reconcile both views with a view to a solid vote at the 
 poll was as difficult then as now, coupled with great anxiety as 
 to the necessity of not injuring the friendly Liberals of tlie 
 town. Sir Thomas Birch and Mr. Cardwell were the Liberal 
 Free Trade candidates. Lord John Manners stood boldly for 
 Protection and the Corn Laws. Fortunately, a fourth candi- 
 date appeared on the scene in the person of Sir Digby 
 Mackworth. an uncompromising Orange zealot. His main 
 plank waH the repeal of the Emancipation Act, and the 
 ♦'xclusion of Catholics from all public offices. With such views, 
 harmonising as they did with the words and acts of local 
 Toryism, his success was regarded as a certainty; how to 
 prevent it was the aim of the Catholic leaders. A meeting in 
 th'e Concert Hall was convened by Sir Arnold Knight, Messrs. 
 Sheil, Yates, Hore, and (iillow. and wa< specially addressed 
 by Mr. Vaughan,* of CourtOeld, head of the famous fan)ily 
 which has given so many of its sons to tlu- highest offices in the 
 Church, tt was resolved, on th'e motion of Mr. E. Brotherton, 
 seconded by Dr. McCarron, " That the speeches and arldrcss of 
 " Sir Digby Mackworth prove liim to Ix- deplorably ignorant 
 ■ on all subjects of commercial importance ; that the falst; and 
 " bigoted opinions he entertains respecting the Catholic 
 " religion are unworthy of tho present age, and insulting to 
 
 * Father uf the future C:ii°(liniil Archbishop of WeHtuiiiiMter.
 
 02 
 
 '■ [\\<^ good feelings of the enligUbeued constituency of Livei- 
 " pool, and this meeting pledges itself to use every means to 
 " defeat him, being convinced that he is a most unworthy 
 " person to represent Liverpool in Parliament.' How to 
 secure this desirable end was not so clear, and the means 
 employed proved that the electioneering strategy of the 
 Catholic advisers was quite equal to the successful tactics of a 
 later generation of Irish politicians. It was decided, on the 
 suggestion of Sir Arnold Knight, "that the Catholic electors 
 " be most earnestly requested not to vote until after one o'clock 
 " p.m. on the day of election, and, should Sir Digby Mackworth 
 " be first, second or third on the poll, they are requested to vote 
 " for the two candidates that may be highest. If Sir Digby be 
 " last on th*poll, the Catholic electors will judge for themselves 
 '■ which of the three candidates they will support." This 
 policy proved a complete success. Open voting was then the 
 law, and as the polling results were announced hourly it was 
 a simple matter to ascertain the position of each candidate, and 
 so make it easy to decide in a two-membered constituency for 
 whom to vote in order to keep out a third or fourth candidate. 
 The Liberals carried both seats. Cardwell, 5,581 ; Birch, 
 4,482; Mackworth, 4,089; Manners, 2,413. Twelve hundred 
 Catholic votes cast for both Liberals after one p.m. disposed 
 of Mackworth's chances, to the chagrin of the Tories, who 
 practically deserted Manners and Protection for Mackworth 
 fjud No Popery. 
 
 Irish political questions then assumed an acute phase in 
 Ireland, and did not tend to make the position of the poor 
 Irish in Liverpool more secure. The insurrection of 1848 
 created a feeling of resentment against Irishmen generally, and 
 was accentuated by several arrests in Liverpool of prominent 
 Confederates, as they were called, for aiding the revolutionary 
 movement at home. Indeed, so panic-stricken were the 
 authorities that 3,000 special constables were sworn in to 
 prevent an imaginary rising in Liverpool on St. Patrick's Day, 
 1848. The clergy were in a difficult position. Father Bernard 
 O'Reilly, St. Patricks, was unceasing in his denunciations of 
 secret societies, which had no real existence in Liverpool, and, 
 on the other hand, had repeatedly to lead his people out into 
 Park Place to defend the church from Orange attacks. Again 
 and again, with ladders and ropes, the Orangemen of 
 Toxteth sought to pull down the statue which stands outside 
 the western wall, and were as often defeated by the skilful 
 tactics of the future Bishop. The insurrection in Italy, directed 
 against Papal rule of the " patrimony of St. Peter," aroused 
 bitter feelings on both sides, and but for the consummate tact
 
 of the clergy, bloodshed would have followed in the wake of 
 famine and disease. There is no gainsaying the fact that Irish 
 political troubles were hindering the progress of the Church. 
 as even the moderate English residents of the town confused 
 then, as now^, Catholicism with Irish political aspirations. 
 
 The clergy and the leading layiiieu realised the seriousness 
 of the situation, and devoted all their energies to the practical 
 needs of more churches and schools for the survivors of the new 
 army of invasion. 
 
 In November, 1847, to the deep regret of most of the laity, 
 the Vicars Apostolic decided to take from the Catholic Institute 
 of Great Britain the supervision of child education, with the 
 result that that fine organisation was broken up and its funds 
 handed over to their lordships. Out of this change came the 
 Catholic Poor School Committee, to which the various vicari- 
 ates were invited to send representatives. The Rev. Dr. 
 Youens,* Mr. Chas. Towneley, and Mr. Weld Bluadell were 
 selected to represent Lancashire. A deputation from the new 
 committee visited Liverpool to confer with the clergy and laity 
 as to the means to be adopted to provide school accommodation. 
 At the public meeting held in St. Nicholas", it was clearly 
 shown that Liverpool was in a much worse state than any other 
 town in the kingdom, owing to the immense immigration. The 
 result of this conference was an address to the Privy Council 
 setting forth the claims of Liverpool Catholics for grants 
 towards the provision of additional schools. Mr. Nasmyth 
 Stokes, t Secretary of the Catholic School Committee, drew up 
 the memorial, in the course of which he says: " I have been 
 " a?ked to request your favourable consideration for St. Mary's. 
 " The congregation is represented to be the poorest Irish con- 
 gregation in Liverpool, containing thousands of poor 
 '■ children. The managers are anxious to j)lace the girls' school 
 " under Government inspection, and to obtain pupil t^^achers." 
 He next proceeds to give the number of baptisms in St. Mary s, 
 to prove the crowded condition of the ancient parish. Out of 
 a total of 9,906 baptisms in every church and chapel of every 
 denomination in th<! Parish of Liverpool, 1,196 were jU'rformod 
 in St. Mary's, while in the town itself, out of 1 1,516, 2,01,j were 
 Catholic baptisms, and these figures did not include the 
 parishes of St. Anthony's or St. Joseph's, so that at the very 
 lowest estimate one-fourth of the children born in 1847 were 
 of Catholic parentage. A conference was also held in the 
 Catholic Club, at which the inspector urged the Catholics to 
 put their schools in such repair as to secure the small grants 
 
 • He died on June '2nd, 1848, from a fcvor contracted while on a holiday, 
 t Appointed H.M. In'^pcctorof Catholic Schools in 1853.
 
 94 
 
 then available. To show his pei-soual appreciation of the work 
 done for fifty years by the Hibernian Schools, under the 
 guidance . of the Rathbones, Holts, and Hornbys, Father 
 Mathew paid a special visit in 1849, and addressed the children. 
 A report from the Gaol Chaplain, calling attention to the 
 awful fact that there were in Kirkdale Gaol 144 boys and girls 
 of tender years, induced Mr. George Holt to make an earnesc 
 appeal to the Corporation to remove the restrictions which 
 prevented the attendance of Catholic children at Council 
 schools. Purely secular education, he urged, would be better 
 than running the streets, but the Church party refused to stir 
 one inch from their former attitude ; only five votes being 
 recorded for Mr. Holt's motion. The " Athenaeum '' published 
 a severe attack on the majority, declaring the debate was 
 " painful and humiliating to read,' at a time when " thousands 
 " were prowling about the docks and streets in a complete state 
 " of mental and moral destitution." This mistaken policy of 
 the leaders of the Established Church cost them the support 
 and sympathy of the Catholics of Liverpool, when, in later 
 years, they in turn found themselves attacked on the same 
 point. From that hour was handed down the tradition that 
 the real enemy of religious toleration was not the militant 
 Nonconformist, but the strongly-entrenched Anglican.* 
 
 On the 23rd January, 1848, the tem|X)rary chapel in 
 Hlundell Street was abandoned, and a shed 90 feet by 30, in 
 Norfolk Street, was fitted up to make more provision for the 
 7,500 Catholics in St. Vincent's district, not one-fifth of whom 
 could be provided for.f 
 
 The Benedictines at St. Mary's were absolutely unable to 
 cope with the tens of thousands living in hovels in the district 
 east and north of their church in Edm.und Street, which, as 
 we have read, was the " poorest Irish congregation in the 
 " town.'' In a shippon in Standish Street, a priest came on 
 Sunday mornings to celebrate Mass, and here the teeming 
 thousands were quite unable to get inside. It was due to 
 Father Thomas Newsham, of St. Anthony's, that this provision 
 was made. A Liverpool Catholic, Mr. Samuel Holland 
 Moreton, generously provided a temporary building, wliich 
 enabled six hundred persons to hear Mass on the upper storey, 
 and two hundred children to receive instruction during the 
 week on the ground floor. On the 25th March, 1849, the 
 temporary building was opened, and Holy Cross Mission began. 
 Many years afterwards Father Nugent, who preached on the 
 
 * It explains also the want of cohesion between the two bodies in the 
 
 Education war now going on. 
 
 t Rev. John Kelly, Life of Bishop O'ReiUy.
 
 95 
 
 opening day, said that the sight of the neglected children 
 crowding into the temporary school caused him to conceive the 
 necessity for the introduction of the great teaching order - 
 the Nuns of Notre Dame. It was observed by a Liverpool 
 newspaper that the opening ceremony on Lady Day was 
 attended by " men and women whose appearance denoted 
 "extreme poverty." The worthy Rector of St. Anthony's, 
 having secured some provision for the poor of this district, now 
 turned his attention to the riverside or western district of his 
 own parish. It was the same story ; thousands of Irish immi- 
 grants living in abject poverty. No school, no church. With 
 great courage, animated solely by an ardent zeal for souls, he 
 purchased " a clay* pit, " and began the erection of a church 
 dedicated to St. Alban. His troubles were not merely financial ; 
 frequent strikes took place; indignation meetings of the 
 labourers and artisans held denouncing the contractors who 
 were erecting the chapel, accompanied by frequent deputations 
 to Father Newsham, whose decision on every point was 
 accepted as final. At length, on August 19, 1849, the church 
 was opened by Bishop Brown ; a mere shell, as the first priest 
 in charge, Father Thomas Kelly, found it. " The most that 
 " could be said of the church was that its walls were standing "" ; 
 the windows were not all in, nor the doors hung, and the tower 
 only half built.* It was all that could be done for the House 
 of God by its charitable founder, who also busied himself to 
 enable the poor crowded around Eldon Street and Vauxhall 
 Road to hear Mass. 
 
 St. Francis Xavier's was opened on December 4, 1848, 
 by Bi.«hoj) Brown, who also sang the High Mass on the 
 following Sunday. Then followed another edifice to relieve still 
 further the pressure on St. Mary's accommodation. On 
 February 15, 1848, a meeting was held in St. Mary's School- 
 room, with the object of raising a memorial, which would h< 
 both lasting and useful, to the memory of those irionk.s of St. 
 1iene<lict who had given up their lives the preceding year. Dr. 
 Murphy prfsideri, and, on the motion of Mr. J. Neale Loniax, 
 a 'iiari destined to be of great service to the poor Catholics of 
 the town, it was decided to erect a memorial church at the 
 northern sidf of the parish. A warehouse was bought at (he 
 corner of (Jreal Howard Street and Chadwick Street, and at 
 a meeting hehl Octob'T 12, within its walls, presided over by 
 Father WilkiiiHon, O.vS.B,, (he decision was ratified to 
 commemoraU' ' the latn lamented priests of St.. Mary's, Fathers 
 " Fisher, Dale, and Gilbert, to whom this part of th<' town is 
 " already consecrated by their apostolic labours and the 
 
 * Catholic Annual.
 
 [Hi 
 
 " sacririoo of their lives." It was announced that £367 had 
 boon subscribed, and a wooden model of the proposed church 
 was exhibited. On the 9th September, 1849, the martyrs' 
 church, dedicated to St. Augustine, was opened by Bishops 
 Sharpies and Morris, as a chapel of ease to St. Mary's, and, 
 owing to the continued tide of Jrish immigrants, became at 
 once the centre of an immense district. Father Fisher was 
 not one of the priests who died from fever, but he well deserved 
 that his memory should be perpetuated, having served at St. 
 ^fary s from 1802 until April 12, 1847, when he departed this 
 life at the advanced age of eighty years.
 
 97 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 In the month of September, 1850, Pope Pius the Ninth 
 restored the English Hierarchy, Dr. Brown signing his name 
 as " George, Bishop of Liverpool," for the first time on Sunday, 
 November 3rd. Six days later, as soon as the new Mayor had 
 been installed, the Town Council passed a resolution against 
 " the recent assumption of authority and power in this 
 " kingdom by a foreign potentate." A petition to the Mayor 
 was signed requesting him to summon a town's meeting on 
 November 20th to further protest against " Papal aggression." 
 Catholics wisely refused to bow before the storm. Fathers 
 Worthy and Walmsley, and Mr. Richard Sheil, attended the 
 meeting and spoke in turn against the motions proposed, 
 expressing their amazement that the people of Liverpool could 
 really believe any harm had been done because Dr. Brown had 
 changed his signature from " Geoi-ge, Bishop of Tloa," to 
 " George, Bishop of Liverpool." It was a courageous act to 
 face such a hostile meeting, and their temperate speeches did 
 much to quell the fury of their opponents. In a weak moment 
 the Government introduced that absurd measure known as the 
 Ecclesiastical Titles Act, to which the Catholics of the town 
 responded by the greatest public meeting yet held by them in 
 condemnation of the measure, Mr. Thomas Weld-Blundell 
 presiding. The Orange section replied in turn by a brutal 
 attack on the well-known Passionist, Father Ignatius, better 
 known to Englishmen as the Honourable and Rev. George 
 Spencer,* as he was quietly walking past St. Patrick's, and by 
 renewed attacks on that building. The elections of 1852 
 showed that the Catholics were not prepared bo submit to these 
 insults, even though they ran the risk of oirciidiug 
 their Liberal allies. As in 1847, they were prepared 
 to set Froft Trade on one side to defeat Sir 
 Digby Mackworth, they now resolved to prevent the 
 re-election of one of the retiring Liberal members for the 
 town, Sir Thomas Bircli, because he had voted for Lord 
 Russell's foolinii Hill. They displayed no temper, and went 
 about the work in a calm, clicnified spirit. Mr. T?ir-lKird .Slieil 
 took the chair at a meeting of the Catholic Registration 
 Committee in Ihe rooms nf lliat body. TToughton Street, at 
 which the fnllowirig resolution was adopted: — "That this 
 
 * He resigned a rectory worth £2,000 por annum to become k Catholic 
 His nephew, Earl Spencer, was twice Viceroy of Ireland.
 
 98 
 
 " meeting sincerely deprecates the resolution of a part of the 
 " Liberal party to bring forward Sir Thomas Birch, which 
 " resolution is highly offensive to Catholics, and calculated to 
 " ensure his defeat." Placards were posted on the walls urging 
 the Catholic electors not to pledge their support to any candi- 
 date, but to await developments, and representations were 
 made to Mr. Rathbone that it was advisable, in the best 
 interests of Free Trade, to withdraw the invitation to Sir 
 Thomas Birch. Another public meeting was held in the Music 
 Hall, Bold Street, attended by Sir Arnold Knight, Messrs. 
 Yates, Sheil, Bretherton, Hore, Gillow, Cafferata, Lynch, and 
 Kearney, at which a letter from Mr. Rathbone was read, 
 regretting that Sir Thomas had not given satisfaction to the 
 Catholic voters. The meeting decided " that they were sorry 
 " the Liberals had resolved on compromising the Free Trade 
 " position, but could not support Sir Thomas at the poll." 
 Eventually Mr. J. C. Ewart was selected as the second Liberal 
 candidate. McNeill stepped in and successfully turned 
 the issue before the town into one of approbation of the 
 Ecclesiastical Titles Act, both Liberals being defeated. The 
 corruption and bribery which secured McNeill's triumph were 
 so flagrant that the successful candidates were unseated on 
 petition, and on a new writ being issued the Liberals 
 triumphed, Mr. Bramley Moore being badly beaten. 
 
 On the 26th September, 1851, his Grace the Archbishop 
 of Tuam preached at St. Nicholas', in aid of the schools. He 
 was accompanied by Archbishop Cullen. The Tory journals 
 demanded the prosecution of Dr. MacHale, for signing himself 
 " John, Archbishop of Tuam," but even at this time of keen 
 excitement the proposal was covered with ridicule and aban- 
 doned. Both prelates were on their way to London to consult 
 with Cardinal Wiseman, and it is noteworthy that they selected 
 Father James Nugent, then stationed at the Pro-Cathedral, to 
 accompany them. The tension of religious feeling was relieved 
 by two huge jokes, in one of which the head of the Theological 
 College, Birkenhead, and in the other Mr. Michael James 
 Whitty, formerly Head Constable, and now founder and editor 
 of the " Daily Post," figured. The unconscious humour of a 
 clerical firebrand in one instance deserves first place. An 
 announcement appeared in the advertising columns of the 
 " Mercury " that an ex-curate of the Rev. Dr. Hook, of Leeds, 
 would preach in St. Werburga's Church, Birkenhead, in aid of 
 the schools attached to that mission. It was a simple announce- 
 ment, such as had appeared many times in the Liverpool 
 journals, and outside the Catholics, to whom it was specially 
 addressed, very few, if any, of the citizens took any notice of
 
 99 
 
 it. Not so the Rev. Joseph Baylee, M.A., principal of the 
 College, afterwards St. Aidan's, Birkenhead. He caused 
 posters to be placed on every hoarding in Birkenhead, with the 
 following address to his townsmen : — -" An announcement 
 " having been made that the late Protestant curate of Dr. 
 " Hook, Leeds, is to preach at the Catholic Chapel of St. 
 " Werburga, I am reluctantly compelled to make this public 
 " protest against an assumption which has no real foundation. 
 " The building referred to is only a Romanist place of worship, 
 " and has no claim to be a Catholic church. Its priests have no 
 " authority in this parish ; they do not preach the word of God 
 " as set forth in His Holy Word, and in the teaching of the 
 " ancient Catholic Church. They are, therefore, schismatics, 
 " and teach heresies. As Christ's minister lawfully appointed 
 " towards you, I subscribe myself in great truth, Joseph 
 " Baylee, priest of the one Catholic and Apostolic Church." 
 This ex-cathedra announcement from the self-appointed curator 
 of the souls of all men within the boundaries of Birkenhead, 
 created immense amusement, especially as the clerical writer 
 annoyed his " Protestant " friends by his assumption of 
 authority. It served the purpose of filling the " Romanist 
 " place of worship," and of afiFording cheap amusement to 
 Catholics on both sides of the river. 
 
 The other joke was the committal of a Catholic editor to 
 Lancaster Gaol in defence of the liberty of the Press, against 
 the tyranny and shallow justice of a local County Court Judge. 
 Many a Catholic had found his way to Lancaster; some had 
 found graves there, in consequence of their faith, and this 
 historic fact gave additional interest to Mr. Whitty's in- 
 caroeration for a much less serious cause. 
 
 Judge William Ramshay, in the course of a trivial case, 
 made some sarcastic comments on the people of the town. Mr. 
 Whitty caused the words, " Mr. Ramshay's opinion of the 
 " people of Liverpool,'' to appear on the placard of the " Daily 
 " Post " on the following day. A grim humorist on the staff 
 placed one of those; bills in the neighbourhood of the County 
 Court, so that it might catch " his Honour's ' eye. It did. 
 Without more ado he delivered himself of a violent harangue 
 in thf! (.'ourt, ordered the arrest of Mr. Whitty and his son, 
 and in default of payment of a fine of fifteen pounds, com- 
 mitted the former to Lancaster. His Honour went further, 
 and threatened to send every journalist in the town to bear him 
 company. Mr. Whitty's counsel did not improve the temper 
 of the new Daniel by coolly suggesting that Mr. Whitty, junr., 
 would have been justified in shooting the bailiffs of the Court 
 who arrested him in his office. Escorted to Lime Street Station
 
 100 
 
 by an immense crowd, Mr. Whitty set out for Lancaster, and a 
 deputation of leading citizens proceeded to London to demand 
 the removal of Judge Ramshay. In a few hours two thousand 
 signatures of merchants, public men, and journalists were 
 affixed to a petition to the Home Secretary backing up the 
 demand, and next day, to save Mr. Whitty any further incon- 
 venience, Mr. Robertson Gladstone induced Mr. J. R. Jeffrey 
 to pay the fine. An enquiry was held at Preston, conducted by 
 the Earl of Carlisle, and after a nine days' trial the Judge was 
 dismissed, and condemned to pay the costs, which amounted 
 to £1,800. Mr. John Rosson, himself a lawyer, publicly 
 characterised Mr. Ramshays defence as an " olla podrida of 
 '■ piracies from Erskine, Curran. Sheil, Brougham, and 
 " O'Connell." This distinguished Catholic layman about this 
 time received a commission from the Spanish Government to 
 visit Galway and make a report as to the character of the 
 former commercial relations between the Citie of the Tribes 
 and Spain, from the eleventh to the sixteenth centuries. 
 
 The provision of schools was the one great all-absorbing 
 task which the Catholic body set itself to achieve in the early 
 fifties. The Jesuits had completed the new altar and chancel 
 at St. Francis Xavier's, which were solemnly blessed on the 
 18th October, 1851, by the Right Rev. Dr. Canoz, Vicar- 
 Apostolic of Madeira, who preached in French. Having begun 
 the further beautifying of the church by the erection of the 
 chancel screen and stone pulpit, under the direction of Father 
 O'Carroll, they proceeded to erect new scbools in Haigh Street. 
 On August 15th, 1853, the first stone was laid by Mr. Richard 
 Sheil, in the presence of the Bishop, and on Sunday afternoon, 
 October 23rd, 1854, the schools were formally opened. At 
 Easter, 1853, Father O'Carroll called at Mount Vernon to 
 request the Sisters of Mercy to take charge of the new schools. 
 From a letter written by the nun who was placed in charge, 
 we learn that at 3 p.m. on the date of opening Sister Mary 
 Stanislaus MacQuoin, who was to take charge of the infants, 
 accompanied her Superioress to Haigh Street, when Father 
 O'Carroll's emotion quite overcome him, now that the dearest 
 wish of his heart had been accomplished, and the poor children 
 of the parish had at length been provided with the means of 
 religious and secular instruction. 
 
 In a series of letters written by Father Ignatius Grant, 
 S.J.,* who was stationed at St. Francis Xavier's at that period, 
 there will be found a vivid character sketch of the founder of 
 the schools. The following extract from one of these epistles 
 gives some idea of this fine Irish Jesuit, and incidentally of 
 
 • See Xaverian, May, 1889.
 
 101 
 
 two of the merchants to whom Catholic Liverpool owed much 
 for their great charity : — " It was St. Joseph's Day. We began 
 " by an attack on Mr. Edward Chaloner, after a long walk the 
 '■ whole length of the docks. It was a mahogany sal© day, and 
 " there was luncheon. All were in good spirits. As we were 
 " leaving the office, Mr. Chaloner, with his quaint irony and 
 " amusing good nature, said : ' I think, Father OCarroll, yours 
 " ' is a tell-tale face to-day. I think you came a-begging, and 
 " ' you have not had the courage to say so. Eh ? Yours is an 
 " ' expressive countenance, but it can't explain itself away.' 
 " ' Well, Mr. Chaloner, I did indeed intend to ask for a little 
 " ' help for my Poor School, but I know you have been very well 
 " ' bled last week. ' Never mind that, there is still a little left. 
 " ' Here, Cashier, let these gentlemen have five pounds each. 
 " ' Good morning, and pray for me.' 
 
 " We passed on to the office of Mr. John Browne, of 
 " Wavertree, and I must confess that my heart sank within me 
 '■ as we saw the retreating forms of Father Nugent and Father 
 " Kelly, of St. Alban's, as we approached. Father OCarroll 
 " was for going home. ' Passons outre,' he said. I demurred, 
 " and said, ' Sink or swim, I will tell Mr. Brown my wants in 
 " ' honour of St. Joseph! ' Mr. Brown began by telling us, 
 " ' You are late in the field, for two very comely nuns from 
 " ' Blackburn have preceded those priests, and it was impossible 
 " ' to say them nay. But, Father Grant, as you are putting up 
 " ' gas, you will want pedestals. Will the mast of a ship be of 
 " ' any use to you? I will give you that.' ' It is quite invalu- 
 " ' able, and perhaps you will add to the favour by allowing 
 "'the mast to be cut up by your eighteen feet saw?' 
 " ' Not only that,' said he, ' but send me the dimen- 
 " ' aions and measurements of your pillars, and I will 
 " ' have them turned for you, and delivered at St. 
 " ' Francis Xavier's.' " Comment is needless on these incidents. 
 They repiesent the daily and perhaps not so successful 
 toil of the clergy in the struggle with debt on a poor mission. 
 Referring again to the now schools, a Sister of Mf<rey wioto,* 
 " I wfll remember the Lightljounds, Giilows, Tiernans, 
 " Roskclls. Verdons, and Coopers as being amongst the most 
 " forward in promising their aid and active co-operation on 
 " that day, a promise that they each and all nobly fulfilled 
 "during tin; seventeen years I contiuuod in charge of the 
 " schools.'' 
 
 " When the school openr-d noxt morning 300 girls and 100 
 " infants were enrolled ; but, alas ! hundreds had to be refused 
 " admittance for want of room. The saintly founder, realising 
 
 •See Xavcrian. October, 1889.
 
 lOii 
 
 " how inadequate the accommodation was, enlarged the 
 " premises, and built a room over the infants' school, and one 
 " adjoining it over the offices. It was then that the hanging 
 ■' stone staircase was made, which at the time excited great 
 " admiration. Before the new rooms were opened, anxiety and 
 " fatigue having greatly reduced Father O'Carroll's strength, 
 "he was called to his reward."* From this interesting and 
 charmingly-written letter we glean that even then the schools 
 could not provide for all who sought to gain admission, and 
 two houses had to be hired " in the terrace opposite," fco supply 
 the demand for school places. Sister Mary Stanislaus remained 
 in charge until May, 1871, the long term of thirty -seven years. 
 It is not without interest to Liverpool men that one of the 
 earliest appearances of Mr. Charles Santley,t the great bari- 
 tone, was at a concert to raise funds for the schools in Haigh 
 Street. 
 
 St. Nicholas' clergy undertook the provision of new schools 
 in Copperas Hill, designed by Mr. McGrath, a local Catholic 
 architect. Both clergy and laity worked with a will. " It will 
 " not, perhaps, be thought a mark of presumption," wrote His 
 Majesty's Inspector to the Privy Council, in his report for the 
 year 1852, " if I take the liberty of expressing my admiration 
 " at the rare zeal and intelligence with which the Catholic 
 " clergy and laity of Liverpool co-operate in tliis and similar 
 " works. I have had no greater consolation in the labours of 
 " my office than that which I owe to these gentlemen, with 
 " whom it has been my privilege to be associated, and the 
 " success of whose generous labours I have now the satisfaction 
 ■' of recording." J The moving spirit in the erection of schools 
 as well as churches was Father Thomas Newsham, Rector of 
 St. Anthony's, to whom a special compliment is paid in the 
 report referred to, " as a gentleman to whom the progress of 
 " popular education in Liverpool owes a great deal." He 
 founded the schools of St. Hilda, in Blackstock Street, to 
 accommodate 750 children, and St. Helen, Eldon Street, for 
 500, and was especially successful in the selection of his 
 teachers. The girls' side of the two schools mentioned, as well 
 as St. Anthony's, were singled out year by year for special 
 praise by the Inspectors. The report for 1852 says of St. 
 Anthony's: " The managers,§ who have given the most ample 
 " proofs of their deep interest in its progress and welfare, and 
 " whose generous exertions in favour of elementary education 
 
 • He died from typhus fever, caught while in attendance on an Irish 
 
 family in the parish. 
 
 t Sir Charles Santley. 
 
 * Sec Report, T. W. M Marshall, January, 1853. 
 
 J Father Newsham and his brother priests.
 
 103 
 
 " are not limited to this institution, may be congratulated upon 
 " their good fortune in }X)sses3ing the services of one of the most 
 " accomplished and skilful t-eachers in this country." 
 
 Writing of the Eldon Street School, the Inspector makes a 
 remarkable reference: — " 1 will beg leave to refer to a school 
 " lately opened in the very heart of one of the most notoriously 
 " corrupt and immoral districts in England, upon the state of 
 " which an interesting pamphlet was published not long since 
 " by a distinguished clergymanf of the Established Church. I 
 " refer to a well-known spot in Liverpool, abandoned till 
 " recently as the natural domain and appropriate receptacle of 
 " the refuse of a great city. In the worst street in this locality, 
 " in which amongst other centres of corruption were five 
 " infamous houses, and where, as I am informed, even the 
 " police ventured with reluctance, contenting themselves with a 
 " glance down the street, a school of large dimensions and 
 " excellent architectural character and arrangements was 
 " erected during the course of last summer. The school was 
 " committed by the founder, the Rev. Thomas Newsham, to 
 " the care of a few religious ladies, all very young, but of whom 
 " the Superior is probably one of the most sagacious and 
 " accomplished teachers of our time. It was a mission of no 
 "common difficulty and peril, but they who imposed the task 
 " knew what they were about, and that the feeble hands to 
 " which it was entrusted were able to contend with any form of 
 " evil, however menacing and formidable, which could cross 
 " their path. I visited the school about four months after its 
 " operations had commenced. It then presented the aspect of 
 " a long-established and highly-organised school, and the 
 " deportment of the children, who were not only thoroughly 
 " subdued and disciplined, but completely under the control 
 " and influence of the teachers, was even unusually gentle and 
 " pleasing." The Nuns who worked this extraordinary change 
 were the Sisters of Notre Dame. 
 
 Indeed, the influence of the religious communities in 
 forming character had, in the short space of two years, 
 impressed the Education Authorities at Whitehall, who began 
 to learn themselves, at the feet of the Nuns of the different 
 religious communities, how instruction should be imparted. It 
 speaks well of tlieir desire to be instructed that they published 
 the following report on the work done in the Catholic girls' 
 schools in difT.Tfnt parts of iho rountry: — " Evorynric knows 
 " how much easier it is to instruct the children of the working 
 "classes with skill, however obtuse and corrupt they may be 
 " from previous neglect and evil associations, than to accomplish 
 
 + Canon Humo.
 
 104 
 
 " those more delicate operations which properly belong to 
 " education ; and whoever has tried to civilise and refine rude 
 " natures, to root out vile and long-indulged habits, to extin- 
 " guish and replace wilfulness by docility, obstinacy by meek- 
 " ness, restlessness by patience, and self-love by self-contempt, 
 " has attempted a task which makes perhaps a larger demand 
 " upon human wisdom and perseverance than any other. Yet 
 " this is what is done, and upon a very large scale, in many of 
 " the schools of which I have been speaking. . . . They are 
 " the choice and especial fruits of the highest order of Christian 
 " education, and for this reason they deserve to be recorded by 
 " one whose province it is to notice and report whatever is most 
 " characteristic in the facts which come under his observation." 
 
 This wonderful change was consequent upon the coming of 
 the Nuns of Notre Dame from Namur. To Father James 
 Nugent belongs the honour of introducing this fine teaching 
 order to Liverpool. The beginning of their work was simple and 
 uneventful, but there were not wanting severe critics of his 
 action. " Among the clergy; men of age and experience, who 
 " persuaded themselves that there was no room for the new- 
 " comers ; they would obtain no employment, no support, and 
 " would speedily return defeated to Belgium."* 
 
 No greater or more lasting monument to Father Nugent'a 
 foresight, wisdom, and perseverance can be seen than the 
 magnificent results which accrued, not only to Liverpool, but 
 to Great Britain, from the presence of the Sisters of Notre 
 Dame. On March 28, 1851, there arrived at 3, Islington Flags, 
 four foreign Sisters — Sister Superior Mary Alphonsus de 
 Ligouri, Sister Mary Albania, Sister Mary Ursula, and Sister 
 Mary Eulalia. The following week they were joined by Sister 
 Mary Anne and Sister Mary Francisca. 
 
 " I arrived in the morning," wrote Sister Superior, " with 
 " Sister Mary Albania. I merely brought her with me to take 
 " charge of St. Nicholas" Poor School, which was to commence, 
 " Monday, 31 March. The Poor School at Copperas Hill was 
 " one large room; a gallery at one end of it for the infants; 
 " the other children were arranged in little square classes from 
 " 20 to 30, each of these classes under the care of a pupil 
 " teacher. We found great disorder prevailing throughout, as 
 " there had been no regular mistress for some time."f Simple 
 but telling words — the writer of them a foreigner in our midst, 
 sowing the tiny seed soon to grow into a mighty tree. We read 
 of her papering, with her own hands, the soiled walls of the 
 small room in Islington Flags, which was to serve as the first 
 
 ^-Catholic Register, July 8th, 1881. 
 tEnglish Foundations of the Sisters of Notre Dame.
 
 105 
 
 chapel of the community — early evidence of her practical 
 character. Less than two months after their arrival six hun- 
 dred children were gathered together in the primitive school of 
 St. Nicholas, with its square classes, and such a revolution had 
 been effected that H.M. Inspector one year later was able to 
 report that " it must be a source of great pleasure and consola- 
 " tion to the managers to vutness the complete success of their 
 " wise and generous efforts to promote elementary education 
 " within the district under their charge. . . . It is a 
 " special character of institutions conducted by teachei'si of this 
 " class, that the intellectual work they accomplish, however 
 " valuable and effective, is uniformly accompanied by a more 
 " precious moral and religious triumph, of which they alone 
 " seem to possess the secret." On the Monday week after their 
 arrival the Sisters began the work of Secondary Education for 
 which they have achieved world-wide renown. They began 
 with nine pupils, one of whom was destined to become a member 
 of the Liverpool community,* and eight months later the 
 numbers had increased to a little over thirty. Who can imagine 
 now, gazing at the fine pile of buildings in Mount Pleasant, that 
 they had such a simple beginning in an eight-roomed house on 
 Islington Flags? 
 
 On October 4th of the same year the Sisters accepted the 
 charge of the Falkner Street Girls' Orphanage, previously 
 under the care of the Sisters of Mercy, Sister Alphonsus leaving 
 her work in Islington to take up the new responsibility. She 
 was succeeded by a remarkable woman, Sister Aimee de Jesus, 
 who became Superior-General of the Congregation some years 
 later. The first house in Mount Pleasant, " a large house with 
 " a good garden," number 96, was purchased by Sister Aimee, 
 thanks to the generosity of a remarkable member 
 of the congregation of Notre Dame, better known as tlie 
 Honourable Mrs. Petre. Her late husband was one of the 
 founders of the Catholic Poor School Committee, and his 
 enthusiasm for education was amply shared by his gifted wife. 
 Shortly after tiie bci^inning of hor widowhood, she sought 
 admission to the ranks of the Notre Dame community at 
 Namur, and as Sister Mary Francis attained to the dignity of 
 Superioress. Hfr knowledge of English Catholic difficulties in 
 providing schools and teachers was invaluable to the community 
 which had undHrt,ak('n tlie heavy responsibility of teaching in 
 Liverpool and other centres under circumstances of great diffi- 
 culty. Thf df'bt which thi^ f'af holies of Kngland owe to this sclf- 
 sacrificing, noble-hfarlcd lady fan never l>e ropaid. In Mount 
 Pleasant a middle school for girls, with some limited accommo- 
 
 '^ Miss Lomax, Sister Tercna of tho PaHsion.
 
 106 
 
 dation for boarders, was established, and developed daily until 
 the eventful day when the Training College solved the pi'oblem 
 of providing trained teachers for Catholic schools. Sir James 
 Kay Shuttleworth inaugurated the pupil teacher system in 
 1846, and two years later, when Catholic schools became 
 eligible for participation in the education grants. Mount 
 Pleasant witnessed the establishment of the first Pupil 
 Teachers' Centre, and from its foundation made its influence 
 felt, not only on the students, but on the whole country, by 
 reason of the excellent methods introduced and perfected by 
 the Sisters of Notre Dame. 
 
 A quarter of a century later the leading educationalists of 
 Liverpool, men of the stamp of Mr. S. G. Rathbone* and Mr. 
 Chi'istopher Bushell,t in seeking a model for the training of 
 pupil teachers for Liverpool Board Schools, gratefully acknow- 
 ledged and copied the methods pursued at Mount Pleasant as 
 the most successful yet attempted in any part of the kingdom. 
 
 There was no training college for secular masters ; 
 November, 1851, being the earliest moment when a principal, 
 Rev. John Melville Glenie. M.A., was appointed to the 
 newly-founded College of St. Mary, Hammersmith. The 
 Christian Brothers had not come under Government inspection 
 in Liverpool at such an early date, because their rules forbade 
 them to permit any outside interference with the methods 
 approved of by their own Superior, and this led to an unfortu- 
 nate diflFerence of opinion between the clergy of St. Mary's and 
 their consrregation. The " Tablet " announced that the Rector 
 desired to get rid of the Brothers in order that he might not 
 only place St. Mary's under Government inspection, but secure 
 the Privy Council grants for buildings and staff. These grants 
 were liberal, including aid towards provision of new schools 
 and teachers' houses of 10s. to 20s. per six square feet; two- 
 thirds of the cost of requisite outlay for fittings; 9d. per child 
 for books and maps triennially ; stipends for monitors, rising 
 from £10 for first year of service to £20 at the end of the 
 fourth year. To pupil teachers who completed their five years' 
 rx)urse with credit the Privy Council allowed £25 per annum 
 for three years in payment for their services as assistants in 
 schools taught by certificated teachers, and teachers could 
 entitle themselves to annual augmentations of salary, varying 
 from ten to thirty pounds. The conditions laid down were 
 that all schools should be built in accordance with ofi&cial 
 requirements, and the property settled in permanent trust for 
 Catholic education in form of deed " approved by the 
 
 • Second Chairman of the Liverpool School Board. 
 fFirst Chairman of the Liverpool School Board.
 
 107 
 
 " Bishops ■'; to accept inspection, and several other conditions, 
 such as the redemption of a certain amount of debt. These 
 conditions prevailed in 1852 when the St. Mary's difficulty 
 arose. Indignation meetin2;s were held, and Father Sheridan 
 was severely censured by the Irish portion of his flock. At a 
 meeting held in the Catholic Club, Messrs. James Whitty, 
 Livingstone, Curtin, and Berry guaranteed to pay annually the 
 sum of money the school would lose by the retention of the 
 Brothers. The offer was declined, and Father Sheridan's 
 explanations were not accepted in view of the decision to retain 
 the Brothers at Seel Street, St. Patrick's, and St. Nicholas'. 
 Much soreness was caused at their removal, and for some time 
 the Rector was the one unpopular figure among the clergy. 
 The next school to be founded was SS. Thomas and William, 
 Edgar Street, which was begun on June 29th, 1852 ; Father 
 William Carter blessing the foundation-stone. Mr. Thomas 
 Gillow,* formerly of Liverpool, but then a resident of Mexico, 
 presented this fine school, designed by the celebrated architect, 
 Mr. Hansom, to supply the needs of the densely-crowded area 
 at the northern end of Vauxhall Ward. 
 
 In 1850 the Bishop handed the temporary church in 
 Standish Street to the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, and they 
 resolved to erect a school before spending a single farthing on 
 a much-needed permanent church. Years afterguards Cardinal 
 Manning paid them the compliment of saying that in so doing 
 the Oblates " had acted with their traditional good sense." 
 Neither schools were likely to receive grants, or, as it is put in 
 the Privy Council Report, " additional accommodation is now 
 " being provided for nearly 7,UU0 children, at a cost of about 
 " £15,000, and of these only two will receive any assistance 
 " from the grant administered by the Committee in Council. 
 " Such a fact refjuires no comment ; but it ought to be noticed 
 " as indicating the spirit which has inspired these great works." 
 Tn Holy Cross parish there were 2,500 childron between the 
 ages of four and fourteen for whom Father Noble, O.M.I. , felt 
 it incumbent upon him to provide adequate school accommoda- 
 tion. Both the Privy Omnril and the Cafliolif Poor S(;ho()l 
 Committee had declined to render any assistance towards the 
 maintenance of the school under the chapel, given by Mr. 
 S. H. Moreton.t Provided new srhrxil.s were built, the fJoverti- 
 ment would make a grant of £750. and the Poor School 
 Comniitten a donation of £200. The Oblate Fathers were in a 
 
 •Marquifi of Relva Nevada, and father of Archbishop Gillow, of Oaxaca. 
 He died at San Martin, Mexico, January, 1878. 
 
 t Nfr. Morcton's pift— bcc tworn evidence of Canon Fisher, in IftTO, in 
 the trial, floss v. Hill.
 
 108 
 
 serious difficulty, out of which they could scarcely see their 
 way. No help of any value could be expected from the 
 poverty-stricken famine immigrants, who had not as yet shaken 
 off the terrors of 1847. The proselytisers were busy in their 
 midst. A ragged school had been opened in Ilodson Street, a 
 few hundred yards away from the chapel and school, and with 
 liberal offers of food and clothing tempted the poor children to 
 enter its doors. Some few did succiimb to the temptation, and 
 were promptly taught the necessity of abandoning the " errors 
 " of Rome.' Fathers Noble and Egan were compelled to resort 
 to extreme measures against this ignoble method of snatching 
 brands from the burning, or, as a humorous song put it, 
 "damning their so wis for penny rowls, and Hitches of hairy 
 " bacon." Organising an open-air meeting in front of the 
 Ragged School, they appealed to the people to withstand the 
 temptation a little longer, pledging their word to provide new 
 schools almost immediately. They then forced their way into 
 the building, and bore away in triumph a number of Catholic 
 children, on whose temporary " conversion " the proselytisers 
 had spent a considerable sum of money. This exploit put new 
 life and courage into the poor wretches who had daily to face 
 the dreadful alternative of food and the Authorised Version, 
 or hunger and the faith of their fathers. To redeem their 
 promise was the aim of the Oblates. Organising a system of 
 weekly collections of one penny, three hundred and fifty 
 pounds were raised in less than a year, and on the Slst May, 
 1852, Father Noble had the great joy of laying the foundation- 
 stone of the Fontenoy Street Schools. At this gathering Father 
 James Nugent delivered an inspiring address, and made the 
 announcement that the girls' department was to be placed 
 under the supervision of a religious community, and predicted 
 a glorious future for Catholic education in Liverpool under the 
 care of the Nuns. This notable event was celebrated with great 
 parochial rejoicings, in which the High Sheriff of Lancashire, 
 Mr. S. Weld-Blundell, Mr. J. B. Aspinall,* and Mr. Allan 
 Kaye, Sub-Sheriff, joined with great heartiness. 
 
 To solicit the aid of the charitable beyond the confines of 
 the parish, Fathers Noble and Egan had organised a public 
 meeting in the previous January, at the Music Hall, Bold 
 Street, and before a large audience drew a graphic picture 
 of the needs of their immense parish of 11,000 persons "in 
 " the greatest possible distress." The result was so encouraging 
 that Father Noble expressed his belief that when the schools 
 were opened there would not be " a penny of debt" remaining. 
 To build such fine schools in a poor district appeared to many 
 
 * A future Recorder of Liverpool.
 
 109 
 
 to be "a palpable absurdity,"' to quote the words of their 
 founder, but his enthusiasm for the poor children knew no 
 bounds, and, finally, on the 14th November, 1853, the schools 
 were opened by a meeting of praise and congratulation which 
 the clergy of the town honoured by their presence, including 
 the enthusiastic Father Nugent. On January 16, 1854, the 
 children were assembled in the Church to hear Mass, and then 
 proceeded in procession to the schools, headed by the clergy 
 and followed by an immense crowd. Each class was formally 
 received at the doors of the school by the Nuns and cere- 
 moniously conducted to its own class-room. To aid the work 
 of giving religious instruction to the boys, a new organisation 
 of laymen was established in seven parishes. It was called 
 the Christian Doctrine Society, and its members gave up 
 their leisure on Sundays to teach the Catechism. With great 
 foresight Father Noble had provided for the men of the 
 parish a meeting place in Bispham Street, out of 
 which developed a fine temperance organisation. Weekly 
 meetings were held and addresses delivered, which did much 
 to scotch the drink evil, the one deadly enemy now remaining 
 to Catholic progress. The schools, as a matter of fact, though 
 in an unfinished condition, were first used on Easter Monday, 
 1853, for a meeting of the temperance workers, who gathered 
 to hear an address from Father Nugent, who had the distinc- 
 tion of being the first man to speak in Holy Cross Chapel 
 and now in its schools. To draw his people to the evening 
 services on Sundays, Father Noble inaugurated a curious 
 practice, copied from the Jesuits in Rome. Two priests stood 
 on a platform in the church ; one assumed the role of a bad 
 or indifferent Catholic, an infidel or a heretic, and from these 
 points of view, as was arranged beforehand, defended his 
 conduct or opinions against the attack of the other disputant. 
 It was an n.xrejloni device for rifTording much-neodcd 
 instruction to the poor people on the doctrines and practices 
 of the Church, and aroused much interest outside the pariah 
 becau.s.e of its novelty.* In February, 1852, the Rev. Dr. 
 Cahill preached a counse of sermons in the chapel, and on 
 one Sunday evening the gallery of the chapel partially col- 
 lapsed owing to the crowds which gathered to hear the 
 preacher, whose flamboyant pulpit style made him a very 
 popular preacher for the people. A panic ensued. The 
 police arrived on the .•'cene and instead of helping to restore 
 order, behaved so roughly that a riot ensued. An enquiry 
 was held by the magistrates, and .several ofllcers of the force 
 were dismissed. The " Tablet" stated that Mr. Dowlincr, the 
 
 * II Dotto cl L'ignorante. Still practioed in tho Gcsi'i in Rome.
 
 110 
 
 head constable, was also removed from his office for his share 
 in the disturbance. He certainly did resign after an enquiry 
 into " other circumstances " connected with the administra- 
 tion of the law, and from the speeches delivered by his friends 
 in the Council, there seems to be some justification for the 
 assertion of the journal founded by the brilliant Frederick 
 Lucas. Holy Cross parish from the moment of its foundation 
 began to make history. 
 
 Among his multifarious duties Father Noble* found time 
 to hold the office of chairman of the Falkner Street refuge 
 for orphan girls. 
 
 At St. Anne's, Edge Hill, after a preliminary meeting in 
 the historic schoolroom in Seel Street, the Benedictines began 
 the erection of new schools, and on the feast of St. Patrick, 
 1851, the first stone was blessed and laid by the Very Rev. 
 Father Greenhough, O.S.B. The new buildings were designed 
 at a cost of £2,000 to accommodate 850 children. 
 
 One of the needs of the early fifties was a Catholic news- 
 paper. A small magazine called the " Catholic Vindicator " 
 had been in existence for some years, which eventually col- 
 lapsed, probably because of the very meagre news of Liverpool 
 events which it published. Father Noble, O.M.I. , Holy 
 Cross, and Mr. John Rosson were the foremost figures in the 
 movement for the establishment of a local paper. They 
 summoned a meeting, which was held in July, 1851, Mr. 
 Rosson presiding, and on the motion of Father Noble it was 
 decided to found a paper and to avoid clashing of political 
 interests, a committee was appointed, consisting of equal 
 numbers of English and Irish laymen, who eventually founded 
 a little weekly paper called "The Catholic Citizen."! Mr. 
 McConvery, formerly of the " Belfast Vindicator,' became 
 the editor of the new venture. The Rev. Dr. Cahill travelled 
 to Liverpool to assist the project, and an extract from his 
 speech aptly illustrates his extraordinary platform utterances 
 and his somewhat mixed political views. " Our liberties 
 " are threatened, our Faith proscribed, and our race marked 
 " out for social and political annihilation. By union alone 
 " can we defeat the blow aimed at our ancient and national 
 " records. I am influenced in the part I am taking by the 
 " most decided feeling to preserve Irish allegiance to the 
 " throne, and of stifling in its birth the furious and unmiti- 
 " gated hatred and revenge which would necessarily burn in 
 " the heart of every Irishman through all coming genera- 
 " tions if the Whig Premier was applauded for burning the 
 " Blessed Virgin and breaking the Crosier." 
 
 • Drowned in Leith Harbour. f " Tablet," August 2nd, 1851.
 
 Ill 
 
 Dr. Cahill did one great service by discouraging the St. 
 Patrick's Day's annual parades, which had greatly degener- 
 ated in character and Catholic spirit. 
 
 Owing to failing health, Bishop Brown was not able to 
 fulfil with his usual zeal the requirements of his sacred office. 
 The appointment of a coadjutor Bishop, with the right of 
 succession, was decided upon, and the choice fell upon Canon 
 Goss, who was consecrated on September 25, 1852, at the 
 Pro-Cathedral. The ceremony was performed by Cardinal 
 Wiseman, Dr. Grant, Bishop of Southwark, and Dr. Erring- 
 ton, Bishop of Plymouth. Bishop Turner, of Salford, and 
 Bishop Brown, of Shrewsbury, also assisted. The sermon 
 was preached by the convert Oratoriau, Father Faber, and 
 caused considerable commotion, it being generally interpreted 
 as an attack on the religious orders and congregations. The 
 preacher afterwards explained that such was not his intention, 
 and that he had simply referred to the historical fact that 
 the secular clergy cajne first, and the religious orders later 
 in the history of the Church. Dr. Goss was a tall, handsome 
 man, with a dignified and somewhat stately appearance. His 
 sermons were of the vigorous order, and his platform speeches 
 racy and sparkling. Speaking at a dinner at the Irish 
 Catholic Club, the new bishop alluded to his alleged political 
 views, and observed — " It has been urged against me that I 
 " am too much of an Englishman, and a man of local feelings 
 "and affections; I am, nevertheless, an Irishman at heart." 
 
 The higher education of Catholic youth was not lost sight 
 of amidst the zeal displayed for elementary schools for the 
 poor members of the community. 
 
 In 1851, Father Nugent and Father Worthy founded 
 the Catholic Middle School in Rodney Street, its aim being 
 to provide a liberal education in the arts. 
 
 Father Nugent organised a series of weekly public 
 lectures by prominent Catholics in historical, literary and 
 philosophical subjects, as well as forming an association 
 among the elder boys to develop their latent capacity for 
 public speaking. He was already displaying his wonderful 
 jM)\vfr of or;^';misrvt ion ;iiul tli.it n-sllr.ss, unceasing energy 
 which was ever seeking for new fields of useful work for his 
 co-religionists, and the general welfare of the citizens. The 
 Rodney Street School did not satisfy liis desires; he therefore 
 began the erection of a new building of more suitable 
 character to take its place, one worthy of the Catholic body. 
 Ho foresaw the need would ari.se for a well-educate<l Catholic 
 laity, capable of taking a prominent part in the government 
 of the city, and to hold high positions in its commercial and
 
 112 
 
 industrial life. To this end a plot of land was bought in 
 Hope Street, and on the 29th March, 1853, the corner stone 
 was laid by Bishop Brown, who, addressing the founder said, 
 " Esto perpetuura hoc aedificium ; " to which Father Nugent 
 replied " Spero."' In the evening a demonstration was held 
 in the Concert Hall, Lord Nelson Street, when a suitable 
 address was delivered by the historian, Mr. T. W. Allies. 
 At this meeting one of the speakers asserted that there were 
 12,000 Catholic children without school places, despite the 
 strenuous efiforts made during the previous three years. 
 Father Nugent carried on his scheme of public lectures in 
 connection with the Catholic Institute, as the new foundation 
 was called, delivered in the Concert Hall, the new series being 
 inaugurated by the ex-rector of Witham, Mr. K. Simpson, 
 Oriel College, Oxford, his subject being an exposition of the 
 principles of the Church regarding private judgment. The 
 subject was well chosen, and was regarded as a reply to several 
 addresses delivered by various Anglican clergymen of the 
 Orange-Tory section, who had created much ill-feeling by 
 using their t€xt as a peg upon which to deliver a series of 
 violent tirades against " Popery." 
 
 The Institute was opened by Cardinal Wiseman, on 
 October 31st, 1853. He was accompanied by the Bishop- 
 elect of Nottingham, Dr. Goss. On the evening before an 
 enormous crowd of all classes and creeds assembled in the 
 Philharmonic Hall to hear a lecture by the Cardinal, entitled 
 " The highways of peaceful commerce are the highways of 
 the Arts." The Liverpool '' Mercury " published the lecture 
 in next day's edition, the report occupying six columns. It 
 was the first time that Liverpool saw a cardinal in the flesh, 
 and most of the leading membei's of the Protestant com- 
 munity were attracted to hear the very beautiful and 
 picturesque lecture which Cardinal Wiseman delivered, 
 attired in his cardinal's robes. His visit was followed up by 
 that of the great Oratorian, Dr. Henry Newman,* who 
 delighted large audiences by his series of lectures on the 
 Turks. The Archbishop of Dublin, Dr. Cullen, also visited 
 the town during the year, preaching at St. Patrick's in aid of 
 the schools. 
 
 Catholicism was progressing beyond any doubt, and its 
 leaders, clerical and lay, were deeply anxious to prevent even 
 the possibility of arousing any outward display of hostility 
 on the part of the lower section of the inhabitants. To this 
 end, as St. Patrick's Day, 1852, approached, the clergy made 
 a strenuous efiFort to ensure that the usual Irish procession 
 
 * Cardinal Newman.
 
 113 
 
 fihould give no cause for any disturbance or reflect discredit 
 to any degree on their religion. Earnest appeals to abstain 
 from any indulgence in intoxicating liquors were made from 
 every pulpit, and with such success, that the Recorder in his 
 charge to the Grand Jury observed, " It was creditable to the 
 " clergy for having advised, and to the people for having 
 " followed the prudent course suggested. There was not a 
 " single Irish person tipsy on that day, and he wished to see 
 " English people follow the example set." 
 
 In 1853 large congregations assembled at the Church of 
 St. Francis Xavier to hear one of the foremost preachers of 
 the Society of Jesus, Father Sumner.* One evening the 
 congregation were startled by the sound of angry voices out- 
 side, followed by volleys of stones driven through the windows. 
 It was a demonstration of feeling on the part of the North 
 End Orangemen, in favour of a Bill before Parliament for 
 the inspection of convents, or, as it was actually priut-ed, 
 " A Bill to facilitate the recovery of personal liberty iu 
 "certain cases." This method of expressing public opinion 
 on one side is not yet unknown in Salisbury Street. The 
 indignation of Liverpool Catholics was easily aroused against 
 such outrages, but they were kept in check by the clergy, 
 who organised a number of meetings of protest against the 
 Bill. Mr. Daniel Powell was the principal layman in 
 lea<ling and organising this series of meetings. Holding a 
 prominent position in the corn trade, he was foremost in his 
 support by purse and personal advice of the charities of the 
 town under Catholic auspices. To wipe out the discredit of 
 not having a single member of the Town Council to represent 
 Catholics, he was invited to stand for Vauxhall Ward in 
 November, 1853, but was defeated by seven votes. The Tory 
 duplicate voters came into Vauxhall to vote, in preference to 
 voting elsewhere, to maintain the " Protestant " character 
 of the municipal council. 
 
 The Catholics of Liverpool seemed to be destined to be 
 ever dissipating' thoir energies in political strife to be 
 constantly torn away from tht^ great, works of rliarity to 
 defend Ihf privileges won by hard fighting. 
 
 In February. 1854, Tiord Jf)hn ITusscll made amends for 
 his Ecclesiastical Titles Tiill by intro<lucing a Bill into Par- 
 
 • HJH voice WHS throatnnod by iv painful (liHo.iiHf, and bfforo the Coiirt of 
 P'nqniry, .ippointcfl by Cardinal ^ianIlinK. into tin- I'ontifioation of tho 
 Erc;linh Martyrs, be attoHted tho miracle Wfirkod in his favour by tho 
 "Holy Hand," rolic of BlesHod Edmnnd Arrowsmith, preserved in Rt. 
 Oswald's, Ashton-in-Makorfifld — r<o Xavcrian. 
 
 t Father of the late Dean Powell, Birchley, and of the late Father K. 
 Powell.
 
 114 
 
 liament to relieve Catholics and Dissenters from the un- 
 pleasant necessity of subscribing to certain oaths, contrary 
 to their conscientious views or convictions. Ever on the 
 watch to maintain a one-sided Protestant ascendancy, the 
 ultra-Protestant Tories of Liverpool compelled the Mayor of 
 the town to summon a Town's meeting, with a view to passing 
 a resolution against the proposed measure. The meeting 
 was duly summoned, and it was proposed — " That in the 
 " opinion of this meeting, the measure of Lord John Russell 
 " for the abolition of the oaths at present taken by Members 
 " of Parliament, and the substitution of a new oath, involves 
 " a new and serious innovation in the Protestant character 
 "of the Constitution." Dr. Hugh McNeill was one of the 
 weightiest speakers on the side of this motion. Somehow 
 both he and his supporters disregarded the just claim of the 
 Nonconformist bodies to represent Protestantism in its 
 broadest and truest aspect, an attitude so characteristic of 
 these gentlemen that a messenger from Mars would be driven 
 to believe that every dissenting chapel was served by a Jesuit 
 in disguise. The noble, broad-minded Liberal leader, wlio 
 had often saved the fair name of his native town by his 
 courageous intervention at critical periods, promptly rose and 
 moved as an amendment to the proposition submitted — 
 " That the maintenance of neither the religious nor political 
 " institutions of the country depended upon the administra- 
 " tion of oaths or religious tests." 
 
 At the same moment a large Conservative meeting was 
 going on in the Amphitheatre, Mr. Charles Bushell in the 
 chair. This gathering was organised in the belief that the 
 Mayor would adjourn the Town's meeting in the Sessions 
 House, and to make sure that neither meeting would pass 
 an obnoxious or adverse motion, Father Noble, of Holy Cross, 
 marched to the Amphitheatre at the head of his parishioners. 
 Having upset the intention of the Tories there, he led his 
 followers to the Sessions House just in time to carry Rath- 
 bone's amendment. The debate lasted all afternoon, the 
 Mayor. Mr. J. B. Lloyd, displaying gross partisanship in his 
 management of the meeting. The great bulk of the citizens 
 were out of sympathy with the object of the meeting, but 
 by their abstention they gave a chance to the ultra-Protestants 
 to carry a motion which did not reflect their opinions. 
 Messrs. J. B. Aspinall, John Yates, Jas. Whilty, R. Sheil 
 and C. J. Corbally faced the angry mob in the Sessions 
 House, and backed by the political genius of the courageous 
 Oblate Father, saved Liverpool from the discredit of being, 
 officially at least, against Lord Russell's Bill. In the month
 
 115 
 
 of May, owing to the tactics of Mr. Benjamin Disraeli, who 
 for political reasons opposed the Bill, it was lost by four votes. 
 To keep up the agitation, the Liverpool " Standard," one of 
 the Tory'oFgans, made serious allegations against the morality 
 of the priesthood, including the specific charge of " consorting 
 " with the most abandoned characters, and with hardly the 
 " decency to conceal Ins atrocious conduct." Bishop Brown 
 entered the lists at once against the traducer. Instructed by 
 him, Mr. John Yates, in his capacity as a solicitor, demanded 
 from the editor the name of the priest who had " hardly the 
 " decency to conceal his atrocious conduct." The editor 
 replied that he had " no knowledge of the Right Rev. Dr. 
 " Brown, Roman Catholic Bishop of this diocese," and pro- 
 ceeded to deny his claim to any such title. Mr. Yates was 
 not to be put off by this side issue, and demanded an apology 
 vinder threat of immediate legal proceedings. The editor 
 refused to divulge the name, and admitted that the accusation 
 was not directed against any priest in the diocese of Liver- 
 pool. The repetition of this and similar libels kept alive a 
 base spirit of prejudice and intolerance, which prevented, as 
 was intended, the Catholics from living in perfect harmony 
 with their neighbours. In May of 1854, the remains of Mr. 
 James Wiseman, brother of the Cardinal Archbishop of West- 
 minster, were laid to rest in St. Oswald's churchyard. Old 
 Swan. For many years he had been stationed in Liverpool 
 as an officer of the Board of Trade, and had acted as inter- 
 preter of foreign languages in the local courts of justice. 
 
 Stricken down in health and threatened with paralysis, 
 Father Mathew visited Liverpool en route for the warmer 
 climate of Madeira. Once again he was the honoured guest 
 of Mr. W. Rathbone, and in the library at Greenbank, Mr. 
 James Wliitty, President of the Irish Catholic Club, and 
 Mr. R. Sheil, President of the Catholic Club, presented a 
 joint address of welcome to the great Capuchin. As a token 
 of his delight at the great work awtomplisliod in Liverpool and 
 Lancashire towns by Father Mathew. the Earl of Sefton for- 
 warded ;i gift of twenty pounds to defray the expenses of the 
 enforces! voyage. 
 
 The better side of Liverpool public life was shown to 
 advantage during this year of polemical strife by the extra- 
 ordinary unanimity which prevailed amongst all leaders of 
 religious thougiit, that the time had arrived for concerted 
 action to save the children running about the streets and 
 quays from mora! destruction. To two men belong the 
 distinction of bringing about this union of hearts if not of 
 conscience — a former Stipendiary, Mr. Edward Rushton, and
 
 116 
 
 the indefatigable Father Nugent. The evil effects of over- 
 crowding, expulsion of Catholic children from the Council 
 Schools, and the results of Irish immigration in 1847 and 
 1848 in particular, had now produced their joint results. 
 Mr. Rushton had been crying out for years " Save the child."' 
 No less than 12,508 children under seventeen years of age 
 were imprisoned in the gaols of England, the very last place 
 in which they ought to have been found. The law made no 
 provision for their detention or their reformation elsewhere. 
 To Liverpool men of all creeds, and especially to the Catholics 
 of the town, belongs the supreme credit of bringing about 
 a much-needed change in the treatment of juvenile " crime " 
 which has worked out so successfully since in all parts of the 
 kingdom. The Mayor was induced to summon a Town's 
 meeting to promote a movement for a new charter of freedom 
 for the children. The platform in the Sessions House pre- 
 sented a strange spectacle to the assembled citizens. Dr. 
 McNeill sat side by side with that remarkable minister of 
 Pembroke Chapel, the Rev. Charles Birrell,* the scholarly 
 Unitarian leader, Martineau, and, more wonderful still, the 
 coadjutor. Bishop Goss. 
 
 For the first time a Catholic prelate accepted the invita- 
 tion of a Mayor of Liverpool to a meeting of his fellow- 
 citizens, and greater surprise was shown when he rose to 
 speak in moving a resolution which wisely laid it down as 
 a cardinal principle that any change in the law must be 
 accompanied with the power to compel negligent parents to 
 contribute towards the maintenance of their children. Dr. 
 Goss said, " it required no argument to prove that if children 
 " went astray by the bad training of the parent, or by his 
 " example, in either case the reformation of the child must 
 " be at the expense of the parent ; and if the parent were 
 " able to pay, he should be made to do so ; just as when the 
 " children fell sick, and required medical attendance, the 
 " doctor looked to the parent for payment. It gave him 
 " pleasure to find that the subject of religion had not been 
 " introduced, that all sectarian views had been done away 
 " with, and everyone seemed to combine harmoniously to 
 " promote a measure which was for the benefit of a neglected 
 " mass." Mr. J. S. Mansfield, stipendiary, wrote to Father 
 Nugent, that the want of some school for children coming 
 before him had been a serious hindrance to him in his work 
 as a police magistrate. A committee was formed with the 
 approval of Bishop Brown, who issued an appeal to his flock 
 
 • Father of Mr. Augustin* Birrell, ei-Minifiter of Education, and Chief 
 Secretary for Ireland.
 
 117 
 
 for assistence. A site wa3 purchased, and the Birkdale Farm 
 School was the outcome. 
 
 Irish immigration into Liverpool had not ceased. From 
 January Ist, 1850, to December olst, 1853, no less than 
 295,674 arrived in the Mersey, " apparently paupers," 
 exclusive of the larger numbers who came to Liverpool en 
 route for America.* In the two years, 1854 and 1855, this 
 enormous average total of over 7U,000 persons fell to 5,153. 
 It is not at all likely that they remained in our midst; they 
 probably made their way to Lancashire and Yorkshire towns, 
 and the Midlands, but it is pretty certain that owing to their 
 lack of means a large proportion perforce remained to 
 augment the gigantic proportions of the Irish-born population 
 of the town. 
 
 The large and increasing number of Catholic inmates of 
 the Liverpool Workhouse, and the large number of children 
 both there and in the parish schools at Kirkdale in the early 
 fifties, were clearly due to the poverty of the immigrants. 
 On March 2nd, 1855, there wei-e 3,317 persons inside the 
 walls of Brownlow Hill, of whom 1,245 were registered as 
 Catholics. This number included 143 children under five 
 years of age. In the schools there were 1,003 children, of 
 whom more than one half were Catholics. The character of 
 the religious instruction was most unsatisfactory in both insti- 
 tutions. No instruction of any kind was provided for the 
 Catholic children in the workiiouse by the authorities. A 
 visiting priest endeavoured in his spare time to teach 
 them the catechism, but the varying ages of the children, 
 workhouse discipline, and domestic regulations, made his 
 efforts nugatory. Mr. .Tames Hughes, a Catholic member of 
 the Select Vestry, had striven in vain in 1853 to improve the 
 religious teaching in Kirkflalo. Th.; headmaster was Mr. H. 
 J. Hagger,j" of whom Mr. Hughes said in his speech, "a better 
 " instructor of youth could not be found in Her Majesty's 
 " dominions. ' The schools committee would not agree to 
 afffjpt Mr. Hughes' proposals, just as the workhouse com- 
 mittee refused t-o provide, or allow any one else to provide, a 
 much n'-rderl strengthening of the teaching stafT. Early in 
 1854, Mr. [fughfs publicly statfd th.it lie was pn-sent at a 
 religious examination of Catholic children from the Work- 
 house, hfl'l in St. Niciiolas'. Copperas Tlill, and »o ast<ou!ided 
 were tlif jayitifu in aftendancc at the gnss ignorance 
 displayed, that they volunteered to pay for the services of a 
 special female teacher, if the V?stry would permit her 
 
 • Reo Major Groig's Annual Polire R«pnrt?<. 
 I Now Clork to the Select Vestry.
 
 118 
 
 entrance into the " House. ' At the Vestry meeting, Mr. 
 Hughes made this proposition, and on the advice of Mr. 
 James Whitty, who had joined the Board a little while before, 
 he withdrew the proposition. This shrewd Wexford man 
 was destined to be the ablest and shrewdest of the political 
 leaders, and by his tact, as well as bis extraordinary courage, 
 won lasting advantages for his countrymen and co-religionists, 
 as a Poor Law Guardian, a Councillor, and finally, a quarter 
 of a century later, as member of the School Board. Though 
 he induced Mr. Hughes to withdraw his motion, Mr. Whitty 
 had no intention of allowing the matter to drop, and on the 
 14th March, 1854, proposed, " that the Beard give permission 
 " to a lay teacher to visit the workhouse at hours suitable to 
 " the projDer discipline and regularity of the house, to impart 
 " religious instruction to the Catholic children, without any 
 "charge to the funds of the parish." This well drawn and 
 reasonable proposition was characteristic of its proposer. A 
 isharp debate followed, and only two Liberals, Messrs. Bradley 
 and John Moss, with the two Catholics, voted for it, as Mr. 
 Whitty quite expected. Then he flung a bomb-shell into the 
 ranks of the majority, by declaring that he held a list of the 
 Catholic children who had been proselytised by other visitors, 
 non-Catholic, who were allowed to enter the workhouse at 
 their own sweet will. This accusation was a serious one, but 
 it was allowed to pass unchallenged by the accused, while the 
 accuser and his friends outside resolved to carry on a per- 
 sistent attack on the management, from a religious point of 
 view, of all the parochial institutions. Catholic " leakage " 
 flowed from them in a big stream, almost to the last days of 
 Bishop O'Reilly s episcopate, forty years later. 
 
 In November, 1854, the Kirkdale schools committee 
 decided, by three votes to two, to recommend the vestry to 
 purchase a few copies of the Douai Bible, to be read to the 
 Catholic children. Prayer books and catechisms were sup- 
 plied, gratis, by the priest, who was now i>ermitted to enter 
 at fixed hours. The " Protestant party ' on the Board, 
 refused by eleven votes to nine to allow Catholic children to 
 read the Bible, and the discredit of this decision rested 
 entirely on the shoulders of the Rector of Liverpool, who 
 decided the issue by the injudicious but deliberate observation 
 that he had read Unitarian versions of the Bible which 
 omitted all references to the Divinity of Christ, but had never 
 taken the trouble to find out what the Douai version con- 
 tained.* In January, 1855, the Catholic members revived 
 the old fight for a special room for Divine Service. This had 
 • See " Mercury's " Report of the discussion.
 
 119 
 
 onc€ before been decided favourably, but owing to the 
 gradual capture of seats on the Board by the Ascendancy 
 party, the settlement was disturbed. Somewhat astutely, Mr. 
 Whitty suggested that the workhouse van might be used to 
 convey old and infirm Catholics to Mass outside, during 
 inclement weather. Like his foi-mer motions it was intended 
 to put the majority in a bad light before the liberal minded 
 public for penalising the sick, he knowing full well that the 
 proposition would be rejected. It served the purpose of 
 raising the main question and on the 22nd May, 1855, Mr. 
 Whitty moved that a suitable place attached to the work- 
 house be set apart on Sundays for Catholic services. The 
 motion was warmly supported by the main body of Liberals, 
 apart from its inherent fairness, on the ground that it was 
 high time the scandals arising from alleged Catholics 
 going out on Sunday mornings, and not returning till late 
 at night, were ended. Fearing that the motion would be 
 carried, Mr. Satchell beat the Protestant drum. He 
 asserted ironically, that in the Board Room, " Rome told a 
 " flattering tale, that the Jesuits were ringing the chimes to 
 " tickle the ears of unsound Protestants." His tactics were 
 successful. Rather than face the odium of being termed 
 " unsound Protestants," several members refused to vote as 
 they had previously promised, and Mr. Whitty found him; 
 self defeated by 13 votes to 11. Every month the question 
 cropped up in some form or other, and the proposal to build 
 a church, for the use of the Protestant officers and inmates, 
 gave further opportunities for pressing forward the demand. 
 Mr. Hughes urged that the new building be so constructed 
 that the basement* be reserved permanently for Catholic 
 services. Unfortunately his death, in August, 1855, some- 
 what interfered with the proposed solution, which might 
 otherwise have been carried. Every effort was made to 
 capture the vacant scat by tho Tories, but the Vestry de- 
 feated the attempt, electing Mr. James Fairhurst, of St. 
 Anne Street, by thirteen votes to eight. 
 
 At a bye-election during the year Mr. R. Sheil stood 
 for Scotland Ward, and, after an absenfo nf fourteen years, 
 found himself again a member of the Town Council. So 
 strong had the Catholic vote become in Scotland Ward, that 
 from that day, it has invariably returned either Irish or 
 Catholic nominees. 
 
 The adjoining Ward of Vauxhall would this year have 
 elected Mr. Daniel Powell, but he died in October, in the 
 midst of the preparations for his nomination. For twenty 
 * Now used as a Workbousc W»rd.
 
 120 
 
 years he had freely given his time and money to the service 
 of the poor Catholics of the town, and held many officee of 
 trust, including the chairmanship of the Catholic Club. 
 
 At the Easter of 1856, Mr. Fairhurst retired, and did 
 not seek re-election. The churchwardens refused to nominate 
 a Catholic in his place, at the Easter Vestry, thus breaking 
 through the arrangement arrived at many years before, that 
 two Catholics, at least, should have seats on the Select Vestry. 
 Instead, they nominated Mr. Syred, whose views on political 
 and religious questions were ultra-Prot-estant. The Catholics 
 resolved to have a fight at the poll, and nominated Mr. 
 Flanagan. Syred appealed to the electors to put down " Mass 
 "houses" and "Catholic combination." The poll was kept 
 open for three days ; Flanagan securing a majority of voters, 
 and Syred a majority of votes. This was due to the system 
 under which rateable value determined the number of votes 
 allotted to the ratepayer. The fight became so hot on the 
 third day of the poll, party feeling running very high, that 
 the Catholic leaders deemed it inadvisable to arouse any 
 further exitement, and allowed the poll to be closed, Mr. 
 Syred being declared elected. Mr. James Whitty now stood 
 alone, the only Catholic Guardian of the Poor, but his 
 influence and consummate political strategy were worth more 
 than one vote, and before the echoes of the Syred-FIanagan 
 fight had died away, he won a substantial concession. On 
 his proposition the Schools Committee resolved, by five votes 
 to three, " That the Catholic boys and girls be allowed to 
 " assemble in one room for religious instruction, on Wed- 
 " nesdays and Sundays, in the evening, and that as many as 
 " possible of the girls employed in domestic duties be 
 "permitted to attend on these occasions." A Liberal 
 Guardian, Mr. Cook, seconded the motion, which was dis- 
 cussed with the usual heat at the succeeding meeting of the 
 Vestry. On that occasion, Mr. Denton summed up the whole 
 question by giving his opinion that it would be better t-o 
 educate these poor children to be good Catholics rather than 
 make them bad Protestants. The Liberals rallied round 
 Mr. Denton, who consistently supported Mr. Whitty in his 
 claims for equality, with the result that the motion was 
 carried by twelve votes to nine. This was one step forward, 
 towards preserving the faith of the poor children committed 
 to the care of illiberal Guardians, whose entire policy had 
 been directed, up to that hour, to de-Catholicise them. 
 Irritated at this decision Mr. Satchell, the leader of the most 
 bigoted section of the Board, made a serious accusation 
 affecting the honour of Father Doyle, of St. Anthony's, who
 
 121 
 
 had devoted himself to the spiritual welfare of the Kirkdale 
 Catholic inmat'es, as far as the Vestry would permit. The 
 Irish priest declined to allow himself to remain under any 
 suspicion, and instructed Mr. John Yates t-o demand a 
 retractation, and an apology, from the author of the libel, 
 who shrank from the manly course which was alone open to 
 him, and an action at law was at once commenced. Mean- 
 while, after a lengthened enquii^y, the Schools Committee 
 unanimously acquitted Father Doyle of the further charge 
 of tampering with the faith of the Protestant children, and 
 took the somewhat punitive step of preventing him from 
 introducing any of his brother clergy to help him in the 
 heavy task of instructing the 874 Catholic children inside 
 the walls of the schools. Mr. Whitty warmly defended 
 Father Doyle, and pointed triumphantly to the fact that, on 
 enquiry, ft had been proven that, out of nine children 
 alleged to have been interfered with, seven had been found 
 to be receiving Protestant instruction who were bona- 
 fide Catholics ; an apt illustration of Kirkdale methods. The 
 sturdy Catholic leader declined to admit for one moment 
 that Father Doyle entei-ed the institution at the goodwill 
 of the Guardians, but did so " under the shadow of the law 
 " of the land," and was therefore entitled to protest against 
 any obstacle being placed in the way of his ministration. 
 Seeing victory within his grasp, Mr. Whitty induced Father 
 Doyle to accept a belated apology from his Orange libeller, 
 and proceeded to gain another victory. In October, he 
 proposed that permission be given to one boy and two girls, 
 among the Catholic inmates, to be trained as pupil teachers, 
 80 that they might help the priest in giving religious instruc- 
 tion, and .see that morning and evening prayers were duly 
 recited. This proposition was carried by one vote in Com- 
 mittee, and confiniied by the Vestry by nine votes to seven. 
 A later attempt, by Mr. Satchell, to rescind this decision was 
 defeated by ten vot^s to nine — a narrow margin of votes 
 whirli (leinf)n.Htrat^(l the wisdom of Mr. Whitty in preventing 
 the policy of the (Juardians and Father Doyle's libeller being 
 exposed in a court of justice. 
 
 In September. 1855, Mr. Nathaniel Cain" undcrloo'k the 
 thankless task of having a census taken of the attendance at 
 all the places of worship within the boundaries of the town. 
 So far as tho Anglif-an Churrhps were rnnoerned, the result 
 of the census was eminently unsatisfactory. Uis figures of 
 the attendance at all the Ma9<*e3 were as follows : St. 
 PatrickX 7,6.32; St Anthony's. 7.042; St. Mary's, 5,827; 
 St. Nicholas', .3.995; St. Joseph's. 3.720; St. Peter's, 3.048;
 
 122 
 
 St. Francis Xavier's, 2,789; St. Augustine's, 2,308; St. 
 Alban's, 1,879; Holy Cross, 1,852; St. Anne's, 1,494; St. 
 Vincents, 1481; St. Philip Neri's, 1,003; a total attendance, 
 exclusive of Mount Vernon, of 44,07G persons. If these 
 figures were accurate a lamentable falling off in attendance 
 at the Sunday Mass had been proven. The figures occasioned 
 much dispute, one of the disputants stating tihat the total 
 number of persons who heard Mass on the Sunday in 
 question reached the large total of 88,304. 
 
 When the news rea<;hed Liverpool of the conclusion of 
 the war in the Crimea, the children of the town were 
 marshalled in a procession through the streets. The news- 
 papers of the date give the numbers from the Catholic Schools 
 as under: Father Kenrick headed the procession with 1,100 
 children from St. Patrick's; Father Noble, O.M.I., followed, 
 with 1,200 from Holy Cross; St. Anthony's mustered 1,120, 
 under the care of Father Newsham ; St. Mary's sent 750 with 
 Father Callaghan, O.S.B.; Father Wallwork, from the Pro- 
 Cathedral, led a similar number ; St. Joseph's totalled 700, 
 with Father Duggan ; St. Alban's 400, under the care of 
 Father Thos. Kelly; Father Davey, O.S.B., marched with 
 400 from St. Peter's; St. Francis Xavier's was represented 
 by 430 children, headed by Father Sumner, S.J. ; Mount 
 Vernon sent 100 with Father Wahnsley ; the rear being 
 brought up by Father Bernard O'Reilly, with 500 from St. 
 Vincent's. Here there were 7,450 children accounted for, 
 exclusive of St. Anne's, St. Augustine's, St. Hilda's, St. 
 Helen's, and the Catholic Institute, and as the infants for 
 obvious reasons took no part in the long walk, and a great 
 number of the older ones, owing to want of suitable clothing, 
 were also excluded, the total number of Catholic children 
 could not have been less than 15,000. Assuming that two- 
 thirds of this number attended Mass on the Sunday of Mr. 
 Caine's census (a very moderate estimate), only 34,000 adults 
 fulfilled the Sunday obligation, an obviously inaccurate calcu- 
 lation. A controversy raged for some time around these 
 figures, which Mr. Caine asserted were approximately correct, 
 and had the effect of stimulating the clergy and ministers of 
 all denominations to secure a better observance of the 
 Sabbath law. 
 
 In 1852, St. Vincent de Paul's, Norfolk Street, was 
 separated from St. Patrick's, and created a separate parish. 
 Father Edward Walmsley being appointed rector. He had 
 been educated at Stonyhurst and Ushaw, and was half- 
 brother to Canon Walmsley, who, later on, held the respon- 
 sible position of Vicar-General of the diocese. His career was 
 cut short on November 23rd, 1852, by an attack of fever
 
 123 
 
 contracted in the discharge of his sacred duties.* He was 
 succeeded by Father Bernard O'Reilly, then curate at St. 
 Patrick's. The new rector set to work to erect a permanent 
 church, and on the 20th May, 1854, at a meeting held in the 
 Clayton Hall, the coadjutor Bishop presided, to shew his 
 interest in the new project. Mr. J. B. Aspinall proposed, 
 " that the erection of a new church in the district of which 
 " New Bird Street is the centre is a work of the highest order 
 " of charity." Father O'Reilly organised a weekly Sunday 
 collection, and every Sunday he was seen, after last Mass, 
 proceeding from door to door, collecting the pennies of the 
 poor, and by the date of the meeting referred to had raised 
 two thousand pounds by this means. f In Eldon Street, the 
 centre of a most congested district, Father Vanderspitte, in 
 1854, bought a warehouse capable of holding one thousand 
 people, and in its gloomy and unattractive rooms began the 
 mission of Oiir Lady of Reconciliation de la Salette. Like- 
 Father O'Reilly, he had to rely almost entirely on the pennies 
 placed at his disposal by an extremely poor population, com- 
 posed, without exception, of casual labourers. The days were 
 rapidly coming to an end when large donations could be 
 expected from rich Catholics, commercial developments and 
 changes of a far-reaching character bringing about gradually, 
 but surely, the disappearance of the individual Catholic 
 merchant of the first lialf of the nineteenth century. Church 
 and school builders, hencefbrth, were to be the poor, and 
 right nobly they responded to their new responsibilities. 
 
 On the 25th January, 1856, Bishop Brown died at his 
 residence in Catharine Street. Sixteen years had elapsed 
 since his appointment as coadjutor Vicar- Apostolic. Educated 
 at Ushaw College, where ho was the favourite pupil of the 
 historian, Rev. Dr. Lingard, he became Professor of 
 Theology, and eventually Vice-President of his alma mater. 
 Paseinp away to his eternal reward at the age of seventy, be 
 had seen the Church grow in numbers and importance in the 
 huge county of Lancashire, over which he ruled with con- 
 spicuous success for t^n years previous to the ostabhslnnont 
 of the See of Liverpool. During his five years' episcopal rule 
 in the town, he had seen an increase of nine churches, five 
 convents, two secondary schools, and twenty-five priests. 
 
 The Jesuits had re-entered the city, and on the advice of 
 Father Nugent. Bishop Brown had invite^l the Redemptorists 
 to make his formor residence at Efnn Lodge Iho ntiolciis of 
 
 * Father Walmslcy wan jnt<^rrcd in the vaiiltH of St. Patrick's chapel. 
 
 t Onn of Father O'Reilly's rollectorB waw Mr. Brindlo, whose son, the 
 
 soldier prient of the Soiulan, is now Binhop of Nottingham.
 
 124 
 
 the well-known foundation which has done so much to deepen 
 the spiritual life of Liverpool. 
 
 His mortal remains were interred in a vault in St. 
 Oswald's, Old Swan. 
 
 In 1854, the Institute of St. Elizabeth of Hungary had 
 been also founded, to support, clothe, and train destitute 
 girls for domestic servic-e, not the least of the many good works 
 established under Bishop Brown's rule. They carried on 
 their work at 20, Soho Street. 
 
 In this year the Dean of Limerick founded the Young 
 Mens Society movement in Liverpool, establisiiing the first 
 branch at St. Mary's, Edmund Street. Dean O'Brien began 
 the new organisation in Ireland in 1849, when the horrors of 
 the famine shewed signs of abatement. H^ was inspired with 
 the belief that the rising generation could only be saved from 
 utter despair by the constant exercise of the religious prac- 
 tices of the Church, especially the frequenting of the 
 Sacraments of Penance and the Holy Eucharist. The funda- 
 mental rule of the Young Men's Society is monthly 
 attendance at Holy Communion ; each Society approaching 
 the Altar in a body. Divided into guilds, ruled by officers of 
 their own choosing, and governed by a council formed from 
 among the members, and subject only to the veto of the 
 Chaplain, the Society provided means for training its 
 members in habits of regularity, discipline, obedience, and 
 manly Christian piety. A social and intellectual side could 
 be developed inside each separate Society, suited to the rank 
 and character of its members, which ser\'^ed as an antidote to 
 outside t-emptations, and carried on under the banner of the 
 Church, minimised the possibility of any weakening of their 
 Faith. This organisation, to which Dean O'Brien gave the 
 best part of his life, proved an unmixed blessing for the 
 Catholics of Ireland. "To those who migrated into the towns 
 and cities of England, its value was incalculable. It kept 
 them together in the bonds of faith and amity, united them to 
 the clergy and the parish church, and, by mutual intercourse, 
 kept alive the Catholic faith in their hearts under circum- 
 stances of considerable danger and difficulty. The movement 
 spread rapidly over England and Scotland ; in Liverpool it 
 took special root. Every parish had its own Society and 
 club-room, and the files of the local newspapers record a long 
 list of prominent Catholic laymen, as well as clergymen, who 
 sought within the four corners of the rules to raise the 
 despairing victims of the famine from the degradation oon- 
 sequent upon life in the overcrowded alleys of Liverpool. 
 Down to the early eighties, the annual re-unions of the Socie- 
 ties in St. George's Hall, addressed by distinguished Catholic
 
 125 
 
 members of both Houses of Parliament, and Bishops, notably 
 Archbishop Manning, were prominent incidents in local 
 Catholic life. The Annual Conferences, held in different 
 towns, to discuss topics of Catholic importance, were the first 
 attempts to bring together all classes of Catholics on the 
 common ground of unity of faith, while the monthly meetings 
 were addressed by prominent local men. who, but for these 
 societies, would have had few opportunities of coming into 
 contact with the labouring Irish population, to their mutual 
 spiritual and temporal advantage. 
 
 Father Nugent rendered fine service to this movement, 
 for which he had a spetial affection, while men of the stamp 
 of Michael Daly, the first president of the Central Council, 
 and that splendid type of cultured Catholic business man, 
 -Michael Fitzpatrick,* president for 20 years, found in the 
 work a splendid and useful method of carrying on a lay 
 apostolate among the poorer members of the Liverpool com- 
 munity. Leading Irishmen, like A. M. Sullivan, M.P., 
 John Francis Maguire, M.P., Count Moore, M.P., and even 
 the Protestant Irish leader, Mr. Isaac Butt, crossed the 
 Channel frequently to encourage their countrymen in per- 
 severing in their allegiance to Dean O'Brien's ideal, all 
 convinced that it was the only organisation of that day 
 which could save the sons and grandsons of the famine years. 
 
 •Member of the Liverpool School Board and Education Committee of 
 the City Council. Hn was one of the founders of the School of Science, 
 Technology and Art, established in the old Jesuit church in Sir 
 Thomas Buildings, now merged in the Liverpool Education Committee.
 
 12G 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 The first official act of Bishop Goss was the laying of the 
 foundatiou stone of the new church of St. Vincent de Paul, 
 in St. James' Street. The ceremony took place on the trans- 
 ferred feast of St. Patrick, April 6th, 1856. Addressing 
 the large crowd which had gathered to rejoice at the prospect 
 of a handsome church replacing the wooden shed in Norfolk 
 Street, and to give a cordial reception to the new Bishop, 
 Dr. Goss paid a warm tribute to the Irish residents of the 
 parish. The site alone cost six thousand pounds, a heavy 
 initial outlay, and the expense of erecting the beautiful 
 Gothic structure, designed by Mr. Welby Pugin, could only 
 be faced by the brave heart of a future Bishop, Father 
 Bernard O'Reilly. Bishop Goss shared to the full the rector "s 
 confident hopes. " We rely," he said, " hopefully and confi- 
 " dently ; we have no fears, because we are satisfied you carry 
 " with you the faith which you have inherited from your 
 " fathers. The foundation stone which is thus laid on the 
 " transferred feast of your patron saint, St. Patrick, will be 
 " to you a great and glorious remembrance." His words did 
 not fall on barren ground, and he was moved deeply as the 
 Irish ship carpenters of the parish passed in single file, each 
 laying one day's wages on the newly blessed stone. Then 
 followed the dock labourers with their offerings, the total 
 offering amounting to one hundred and one pounds, nine 
 shillings. In the evening of this auspicious day the Bishop 
 attended the usual dinner in honour of St. Patrick's Day, 
 organised by the Catholic Club. It was held in the Adelphi 
 Hotel, and as a compliment to the parish of St. Vincent's, 
 one of its parishioners, Mr. James Daly, was selected as the 
 chairman of the festive gathering. One of the chief guests 
 was Mr. John Bridge Aspinall, barrister, who in the course 
 of a speech made the remarkable statement that at the recent 
 assizes fair play for the first time had been given to a member 
 of the Catholic Church. He was referring to an action 
 for damages brought against a local Conservative 
 daily newspaper by Mr. Edward Darby, a tide 
 waiter in Her Majesty's Customs. In an article 
 
 headed " A rebel in Her Majesty's Customs," this 
 partisan journal laid it down as a fixed principle that no 
 Catholic should be allowed to hold any office under the Crown, 
 giving as the sole reason that no member of the Catholic
 
 127 
 
 Church would perform his duties loyally. The defence set 
 up at the trial consisted of passages from Catholic theo- 
 logical works, divorced from the context to such an extent as 
 to represent views quite foreign to the authors' intentions. 
 The trial served the useful purpose of educating the non- 
 Catholic population of the town in Catholic beliefs, and under 
 the direction of the judges, both Protestant Irishmen, Baron 
 Martin and Justice Willes, the plaintiff was triumphantly 
 vindicated against the charge that a Catholic and a rebel 
 were synonymous terms. 
 
 During this year the entire oost of the site of St. 
 Vincent's was paid off; Father O'Reilly's weekly collectors 
 working with a will to enable him to cope succe-ssfully with the 
 heavy financial burdens which the erection of the new church 
 involved. The bonds of affection between the rector and these 
 simple working men grew firmer with advancing years, and 
 when nearing his seventieth year, with all the responsibilities 
 of the episcopal office upon his shoulders. Bishop O'Reilly 
 visited his old collectors when stricken with illness, consolinsr 
 them on their death beds in gratitude for splendid services, 
 rendered freely and whole-heartedly. Bishop Goss, too, had 
 a warm corner in his heart for St. "Vincent's collectors, and 
 visited them very often at their weekly meeting. The wooden 
 Stations of the Cross, which adorned the walls of the Norfolk 
 Street chapel, were the gift of the Bishop, while still a Canon 
 -)f the Diocese. The new church was opened on August 26th, 
 1857. Dr. Leahy, the Bishop of Dromore, crossed the Irish 
 Sea to preach the inaugural sermon. A quaint figure, with 
 flowing beard, was the Bishop of Almira, Vicar-Apostolic of 
 Thibet and Hindostan, who, with Bishop Brown, of Shrews- 
 bury, assisted the Bishop of Liverpool in the performance of 
 thf^ opening ceremonies. The Rector paid a tribute to the 
 gfnnrosity of his pwjr Irish flock, who had contributed six 
 thousand, five hundred pounds, from the inception of the 
 scheme of building to the date of opening. Every Sunday he 
 went out with his collectors, visiting house after bouse, 
 collecting the pennies which eventually amounted to 
 the sum mentioned above. It was in this way, as well as 
 by his assiduous visitations, that ho acquired such an exact 
 knowledge of the livps and history of (ivory family in his 
 parish. An unclf»* of the writ/er stated that Father O'Reilly 
 was able to tell not only the names of the parishioners who 
 attended Sunday Mass, but iho nurnhnr of days each dock 
 labourer had secured work, their earnings, their wantsS and 
 failings. A week never passed without somn poor labourer 
 
 •Father of the Rev. John Barrett, D.D., B.A.
 
 128 
 
 being summoned to the rectors house, to be assisted out of 
 a slender purse, admonished or advised, as suited the needs 
 of each individual. A high ofiicial of the Police Force paid 
 him the curious, but meritorious, compliment of being " the 
 " best policeman ' in the town. It can be said of him that, 
 (luring the long years of his rectorship at St. Vincent's, lie 
 fulfilled in every detail the hard test laid down by Ruskin.* 
 
 Such close knowledge of the lives of his people was a 
 splendid preparation for a most successful episcopate, and 
 explains the extraordinary affection which every son of St. 
 Vincent'sf had for him during his lifetime, in that parish, 
 and afterwards in his more exalted position. 
 
 Liverpool Catholics owe jnuch to the Chaloner family. 
 Mr. Charles Chaloner had built the schools at Grassendale, 
 and his brother, Mr. Edward Chaloner, generously provided 
 the schools at St. Oswald's, Old Swan. When Father O'Reilly, 
 anxious for the moral welfare of the little ones of his crowded 
 parish, sought to provide them with school accommodation, it 
 was Mr. Edward Chaloner who came to his assistance. 
 The enthusiastic priest's " great solicitude " for the 
 children, stirred the generous layman to purchase a 
 disused Methodist chapel in Jordan Street, at a co.st of 
 £4,360, which he handed over, ready furnished, to Father 
 O'Reilly. On January 4th, 1859, the schools were opened by 
 a soiree. Bishop Goss presiding. The reply of Mr. Chaloner 
 to the Bishop's tribute was characteristic of the man and of 
 his family. He said that good work should be done with 
 one's money before death, and when he departed it would be 
 found that he had not left a single penny for charity. Mr. 
 John Yates, in a speech on this interesting occasion, declared 
 that every mission in the town now possessed a well appointed 
 school. Mr. Chaloner's interest in St. Vincent's schools did 
 not end here. One pleasant memory of every child was the 
 annual outing at Mr. Chaloner's expense, to his pleasant 
 country house in Old Swan, an excursion which only 
 ceaised with the death of the kindly-hearted benefactor. 
 Years later, public improvements involved the demolition of 
 the Jordan Street school, and with the compensation money, 
 
 * " The bishop's office is to oversee the flock : to number it, sheep by 
 sheep ; to be ready always to give full account of it. Now it is clear he 
 cannot Rive account of the souls if he has not so much as numbered the 
 bodies of his flock. The first thing, therefore, that a bishop has to do is 
 at least to put himself in a position, in which, at any moment, he can 
 obtain the history from childhood of every living soul in his diocese, and 
 ite present state."—" Seisame and Lilies." 
 
 tThe writer was baptised by him in St. Vincent de Paul's,
 
 129 
 
 awarded by the Corporation, Father O'Reilly built the new 
 schools in Norfolk Street, and called them the Chaloner 
 schools.* 
 
 In December, 1856, Bishop Goss opened the chapel of 
 Our Lady Immaculate, in St. Domingo Road, designed by 
 Mr. Welby Pugin. It was the intention of the founders that 
 this building should serve as the Lady Chapel of a Cathedral 
 to be erected on this site, the highest position in the north 
 end of the city. From an architectural point of view no 
 better spot could have been chosen. A cathedral of fine pro- 
 portions erected thereon would be the dominating feature of 
 the city, visible from every point of the estuary and the 
 south-western portion of the Wirral peninsula. In view of 
 later changes in this neighbourhood, one cannot refrain 
 from expressing doubts as to the suitability of a cathedral in 
 the " storm centre," as it is now known. The idea was 
 eventually abandoned for financial reasons St. Edwards 
 seminary and college stands on the site of the estate 
 purchased in the ycrxr 1757 by a Mr. George Campbell, owner 
 of a privateer which captured a richly-laden French vessel, 
 on its way from San Domingo. The profits resulting from 
 this doubtful transaction placed a considerable sum of money 
 at the disposal of Mr. Campbell, who gave the name of St. 
 Domingo to the neighbourhood, which it still bears. Tha 
 house now occupied by Bishop Whiteside was built in 1790, 
 by Mr. J. Sparling, a former Mayor of Liverpool, and later 
 it became the official residence of Prince William, Duke of 
 Gloucester, commander of the district forces. In turn it 
 became a school for young gentlemen. While awaiting an 
 audience of Bishop Whiteside, in the spring of 1898, the 
 present writer and the late Mr. William Rathbone, M.P.. sat 
 in the library discussing the history of the building. The 
 latter made the interesting statement that he and Mr. 
 Stansficld, a member of Mr. Gladstone'.^ third Cabinet, and 
 Secretary for War, harl received their early education 
 t/>pRther in that very room. In later years, when it became 
 the College of St. EH ward, the present Poet Laureate, Mr. 
 Alfred Austin, was one of the pupils, and from its flat roof, 
 as he depcribed it some years ago, he enjoyed the then fine 
 view nf Cheshire, North Wales, and the Irish Sea. 
 
 Early in his epi.Honpaf o, Bishop Goss mndo himself felt 
 in liiverpool. Week aftor week, he ddiv^rcMl outspoken, 
 breezv arldresses, which dealt with every phase of municipal, 
 paroehial, and genoral public matters, as well as purely 
 Catholic matt/crs. The pressmen followed him from church 
 
 •Enlarged in 1893 by the Rot. John Oldham, rector of St. Vincent's ; 
 now rector of St. Alban'a, Athol Street.
 
 130 
 
 to platform, fully reporting his vigorous sermons and speeches, 
 wliich were widely read, and sometimes severely oominented 
 upon* in the editorial columns of the daily press. 
 
 At the dinner held on the evening of April 6th, 1856, 
 the Bishop made a vigorous onslaught on the Select Vestry, 
 a body which richly deserved episcopal castigation. " There 
 ' is a class of people called Select Vestrymen, who have taken 
 ' to persecuting in a small way. They are strong and 
 ' valorous, and fiery with religious zeal against the poor 
 ' children, but cowardly when they come face to face with 
 ' men. If we are to have war, we ought to have it in the 
 ' open, with persons who could stand persecution, and not 
 ' on harmless and innocent children.'" The Clerk to the 
 Vestry wrote to the Bishop, enquiring if his speelch, as 
 reported in the daily papers, was a correct version of his 
 remarks, adding that, if so, an explanation would be required 
 by the Brownlow Hill Guardians. There v?as no sign of 
 shirking a fight on the part of Dr. Goas. It was his first 
 criticism of Liverpool public men, and he replied to Mr. 
 Hart that the speeches of Messrs. Sate hell and Jones, at 
 Vestry Meetings, fully justified his contention that a spirit 
 of persecution had been displayed towards poor children, 
 whose miserable lot in life had placed their religion at the 
 mercy of such narrow-minded men. He proceeded to give 
 details to substantiate his allegations by charging the Sel-ect 
 Vestry with forcing Patrick and James Joseph Flynn to 
 attend the Protestant services at the Kirkdale schools, and 
 with changing the religion of Sara Hawkins in the creed 
 register, in defiance of the law of the land. This was not 
 the reply which Vestrymen expected, and they gave expres- 
 sion to their disappointment and annoyance at successive 
 meetings of the Board. Even the capable chairman, a man 
 of wide reading and culture, Rector Campbell, accentuated 
 the situation by declaring from the chair that the persecution 
 of Prot/estants was enjoined upon all Catholics as a sacred 
 duty. What relation this threadbare accusation had to 
 Bishop Goss's charge that the Vestry had deliberately defied 
 the law of England, it is difficult to appreciate. Mr. James 
 
 *Rince theRe lines were written Mr. John Donvir, once Editor of the 
 " Catholic Times," has published his delightful " Life story of a rebel." 
 Speaking of Dr. Goss, he says, " the bishop had a blunt, hitting out 
 from the shoulder style of speaking that compelled attention. But you 
 could hardly call them sermons at all ; they were rather powerful dis- 
 courses upon social topics, which, from a newspaper point of view, made 
 splendid ' copy.' Accordingly, during the year before his death, I followed 
 him all over the diocese to get his sermon for each week's paper. There is 
 no doubt that Dr. Goss's sermons helped materially to put a backbone 
 into the " Catholic Times," and greatly to increase its circulation.
 
 131 
 
 Whitty, in a humorous speech, sought to relieve the acuteness 
 of the position, but the Eector was in no mood for concilia- 
 tion. He proceeded to quote decisions of General Councils 
 of the Church to defend his proposition, and in so caustic a 
 tone that his colleagues, roused to a pitch of excitement, 
 passed a resolution solemnly recording the statement that 
 Bishop Goss had styled them " bad men " and " persecutors 
 " of harmless and innocent children."* 
 
 Bishop Goss won a substantial victory in spite of all the 
 angry feeling displayed by the Tory Protestant members, 
 and all the outstanding points in dispute were settled save 
 one. 
 
 At the annual Easter elections the irreconcilables issued 
 placards declaring that " seventeen Popish priests were can- 
 " vassing for the Liberal candidates," and strenuously 
 appealing to the electors not to submit to " Popish teachers 
 " and nurses " in the schools of the Parish. The Liberals 
 triumphed at the poll. They were not by any means pro- 
 Catholic, but simply fair-minded men, prepared to obey the 
 law and to enquire into complaints made by substantial 
 persons. The Mr. W. Jones to whom Dr. Goss had called 
 special attention re-opened the floodgates of controversy by 
 calling the attention of the Vestry to the fact that some eight 
 or nine children at Kirkdale would not " chant " grace at 
 meal times, and made a violent attack on Father Doyle for 
 having, as he alleged, incited them to do so. That hundreds 
 of Catholic children did " chant " the usual prayer was a 
 point Mr. Jones conveniently ignored, and his extravagant 
 utterances culminated in the extrao,rdinai-y allegation that 
 every child for whom a situation had been found by the 
 Guardians had absconded as the result of the debates in the 
 Board Room. 
 
 The the<jry that children in and around Liverpool read 
 the daily papers, was too amusing for even the Select Vestry 
 to swallow, but they seriously discussed the "chanting" of 
 ^rnoo. Mr. Owen pointed out that the Poor Law Order 
 t'njoinc<l the " .saying " of the prayer, not by the children but 
 by the headmaster. Mr. H. J. Flagger, or hia deputy. Father 
 Doyle dffffndod himself warmly in the columns of the news- 
 papers, though not quite fiiscreetly it must, bn fidmitted, and 
 the petty pfrsecutions wliirli lie revealed won sympathy for 
 him, even from those who disliked his methods. The Central 
 Poor Law Authority was apyioalnd t/), but tlie result gave 
 no satisfaction to either parties to the unseemly controversy. 
 
 • Soo Report of proccodingH in " Mercury," Sept. 9th, 1857, which 
 occupies three columns.
 
 132 
 
 and was followed by a series of angry debates which lowered 
 the reputation of the Select Vestry. 
 
 The Board generally disliked religious controversy and 
 rejected a proposal to allow a well-known Protestant lecturer 
 to address indiscriminately the inmates of the workhouse 
 wards. Mr. James Whitty quaintly observed that the 
 Scripture readers already entering the workhouse poured 
 out the waters of life with such unction that they took good 
 care to let the Papist get more than his share of the spray. 
 Just at this moment another Catholic gentleman joined the 
 Board, Mr. Cafferata.* He was in time to witness another 
 outbreak. A boy named Doran was entered in the creed 
 register as a Protestant, owing to the absence of his mother 
 from Liverpool at the time of admission. His illness turning 
 out to be serious, the boy's grandmother and aunt gave the 
 governor, Mr. Coates, the religious history of the family, 
 which induced him to permit the priest to administer the last 
 Sacraments. The fires of controversy were re-kindled. 
 Violent tirades against the priest were delivered in the Parish 
 Offices ; it was all in vain that the impartial Vestrymen urged 
 that the governor had called in the priest in good faith, under 
 justifiable circumstances. 
 
 Controversy then broke out in the West Derby 
 Union. An Anglican clergyman, named Fenton, proposed 
 that the Sisters of Mercy, from Mount Vernon, be no longer 
 allowed to visit the Catholic inmates, giving the grotesque 
 reason that nuns were not "licensed ministers of religion." 
 A Mr. Kirkus, spveaking as a Protestant, said they would do 
 well as guardians to emulate the Sisters of Mercy in their 
 devotedness to the sick poor. The motion was not carried, 
 but there was no mistaking the opinions of the majority, who 
 were hostile to any methods, private or public, to console 
 or alleviate the Catholics under their care. An opportunity 
 soon presented itself to enable the headmaster of the work- 
 house school to act upon the implied wishes of his masters. 
 He turned the Sisters out of the schools, when visiting one 
 day, alleging that they had attempted to influence a Catholic 
 girl. Father Corrie Grant, S.J., of St. Francis Xavior's, 
 took up the cause of the nuns, attending a meeting of the 
 Guardians, where he pointed out that both Catholics and 
 Protestants of tender years were forced every Sunday to 
 attend the services of the English Church. He invoked the 
 protection which the law provided for the safeguarding of a 
 child's faith, but the loyalty of West Derby Guardians for 
 years was always subordinated to sectarian interests. Stung 
 
 • Despite the Italian Burname, members of his family were Freemen of 
 the Town .
 
 133 
 
 by Father Grant's exposures, they decided by one vote to 
 exclude the nuns altogether. The minority, all Protestants 
 be it said, were accused by their colleagues of being merely 
 " Catholics in disguise," doing the work of Reme in secret. 
 Mr. Kirkus, a Liberal member, scored heavily oflF the 
 Protestant Reformation Society, which had fomented the 
 West Derby Union quarrel. This organisation had run away 
 without paying the rent for some rooms used for propaganda 
 purposes, and Mr. Kirkus, who proved to be the owner of 
 the property, suggested at the Guardians meeting that a love 
 for Gospel teaching was not at all inconsistent with the pay- 
 ment of just debti. This little joke did not improve the 
 temper of the proselytisers. 
 
 The " leakage " due to the obstacles placed in the way 
 of Catholic children receiving instruction, was a source of 
 anxiety to the Bishop during all the years of his episcopal 
 rule. Any attempt to stop it only provoked angry recrimi- 
 nations from the militant Protestants, who had come under 
 the influence of Dr. McNeill, and thwarted every effort to 
 successfully promote harmonious relations between all classes. 
 
 Mr. Cropper, a leading member of the Select Vestry, 
 foreseeing the danger of further politico-religious strife, made 
 an earnest effort to remove some of the irritating grievances 
 under which Catholics suffered inside the workhouse. The 
 Board had refused to allow any Catholic service inside the 
 walls of Brownlow Hill, consequently those who desired to 
 hear Mass went outside on Sunday mornings. From an 
 adjTiinistrative point of view it was dangerous to allow inmates 
 to go outside in large numbers, especially as every ne'er-do- 
 woU anxious to get out for ulterior purposes declared himself 
 a Catholic. Articles of clothing, bed linen, etc., were stolen 
 \/y the latter clsuss, and it was found impossible in practice to 
 Hearch a large number leaving on Sunday mornings. Inmates 
 rcturnf'd in the evening intoxicated, and disturbed the wards 
 by their noisy behaviour. These evil results were duo entirely 
 to the policy of the ultra-Protestant members, who refused to 
 listen to the simple demand that a room should be sot apart 
 for the Sunday Mass. The Liberal members supported Mr. 
 Cropper's demand for a searching enquiry into the conduct 
 of inmates declaring themselves " Catholics" to get outside, 
 and the result was that a room was reserved for Catholic 
 services. " Protestant " feeling was still too strong to permit 
 of full liberty of access to the Catholic inmates by the clergy, 
 and the restriction was i/n posed that only one priest should be 
 permitted to celebrate Mass and perform the other duties of 
 the sacred office. As no salary or reward of any kind was
 
 134 
 
 oflFered, it was almost impossible to secure from the neighbour- 
 ing chapel of St. Philip Neri the continuous services of the 
 same priest, Sunday and week-day. Bishop Goss opened 
 negotiations with the Vestry, and an arrangement was finally 
 arrived at by which. Father Fleetwood became the first chap- 
 lain, with full permission to call upon the services of his 
 brethren* in Hope Street when necessary; but only one prieet 
 at a time could be in the building. 
 
 Mr. George Melly, as the result of a few months' experi- 
 ence as a Vestryman, induced his colleagues to allow a number 
 of ladies interested in charitable work to visit the women's 
 and children's quarters. Twelve ladies were selected. Father 
 James Nugent nominating four Catholics — Misses Mary and 
 Isabella Gillow, Annie and Eliza Roskell. The excellent 
 work thus inaugurated by a worthy member of a worthy 
 family has been in operation down to this hour, and has 
 proved an unmixed blessing in the women's quarters. Step 
 by step Catholics were securing some measure of fairplay, and 
 only by strenuous warfare, which was distasteful to the 
 Catholic leaders. The aid given to them by the Liberal 
 party was invaluable, and knit fresh bonds of attachment 
 between them and both English and Irish Catholics. 
 
 The political influence of the Catholics was increasing. 
 Mr. C. J. Corbally, after a spirited contest, won Vauxhall 
 Ward by 56 votes from the retiring Conservative member, on 
 the 1st of November, 1857. A Parliamentary election 
 earlier in the same year gave the Catholic electoral a chance of 
 inflicting a defeat on the bitterest section of their opponents. 
 Liverpool has rarely enjoyed the privilege common to every 
 other constituency in England of giving a straight vote on some 
 important political issue. Religious controversy has always 
 been introduced in one form or another, and this insane 
 policy must be held responsible in the main for the fierce out- 
 breaks of " religious " rancour, which revive old and senseless 
 antagonisms. The Liberals nominated only one candidate, 
 Mr. J. C. Ewart; the Conservatives' nominating candidates 
 for both seats. One of the latter, Mr. Charles Turner, raised 
 the bogey of No-Popery on the Maynooth grant, which he 
 managed rather adroitly to tack on to opposition to the 
 opening of the Crystal Palace on Sundays. The Catholic 
 leaders supported the Liberal candidate, but also resolved to 
 defeat Mr. Turner by advising their co-religionists to give 
 their second vote to the other Conservative candidate. It was 
 a risky policy, but the electioneering capacity of the Irish 
 
 • One of whom was Father Nugent.
 
 135 
 
 voters was quite equal to the occasion. To the surprise of all 
 parties, Bishop Goss took advantage of a dinner on St. 
 Patrick's night, in the Irish Catholic Club, to give episcopal 
 approval to the policy of the leading members of the Catholic 
 community. " He hoped they would not vote for the man who 
 " would oppose the grant to Maynooth, and who objected to 
 " rational recreation on Sundays. He asked Mr. Turner if he 
 '■ never walked in his garden on Sundays. If it was not a sin 
 " for him to do so, why should it be sinful for a poor man to 
 " go to the Crystal Palace, or take a walk in the country? " 
 This unexpected advocacy of Sunday recreation by a Catholic 
 Bishop rallied a large number of Radical voters and non-party 
 men to vote for Ewart and against Turner, who was defeated 
 on the polling day. 
 
 In 1857, the Bishop had the pleasure of opening the 
 Chapel of Our Lady of Mercy, Mount Vernon, when Father 
 W. H. Anderdon, a nephew of Cardinal Manning, preached, and 
 on April 19th of the same year he blessed the new bells of St. 
 Anne's, Overbury Street. At the latter ceremony the Bishop 
 observed that as yet Catholic Churches could not have a peal 
 of bells, and said he could not understand why, if one bell were 
 allowed, the country would be ruined by the provision of two. 
 In May, 1857, he laid the first stone of the new aisle of St. 
 James', Marsh Lane, Beetle, which was opened by him on the 
 31st December, accommodation being thus provided for five 
 hundred and twenty persons. By this time the Benedictine 
 Fathers of St. Mary's had completely renovated the Ptay Street 
 Schools, in order to qualify for the new grants from the Privy 
 Council, and on the 19th July, 1857, a soiree was held in the 
 schools to celebrate the event. To those who remember the 
 venerable Rector of St. Peter's, Seel Street. Father Percy 
 Maurus Anderson, O.S.B., and were acquainted with his 
 musical skill, it will be interesting to record that at this gather 
 ing he madf hia first appearance in Liverpool, and " surprised ' 
 the audif-nco by hia fine tenor voice. Ho had travelled from 
 Yorkshire to join his brethren of St. Benedict in their 
 rejoicings. 
 
 The Blue liook of 1857 comments favourably upon 
 the great strides made by the Catholics of Liverpool 
 in the provision of schools and teachers, and the 
 marked improvement in tho quality of the male teachers. 
 
 Hammersmith had now begun to make its work felt. 
 The schools singled out for specijil reference include one well- 
 known in Liverpool. "St. Francis Xavier's, Liv(u}KX)l, under 
 " Mr. Andrew Kelly ; St. Ignatius', Preston, under Mr.
 
 13G 
 
 "Lehane; the Catholic school at Lancaster, under Mr. 
 " Henry, deserve the highest pi-aise.' The two hrst named 
 schools were attached to missions conducted by the Jesuits. 
 The Report goes on to single out the boys' schools at Liscard, 
 Carlisle, Burnley and Longton, and proceeds : " Still, after 
 '" due allowance has been made lor all which the praiseworthy 
 ■' efforts of the masters above named, and others of the same 
 " stamp, have accomplished for boys, it cannot be denied that 
 " the girls" schools exhibit the same superiority to which 
 " their Lordships' attention has been formerly called." This 
 continued tribute to the unique results attained by the nuns 
 of the vai'ious teaching orders, and the wondei-ful interest 
 evinced by the Privy Council in their success, paved the way 
 for further recognition and support from Imperial sources. 
 Educationalists of all classes were stimulated by their example 
 and for some years attempted feebly to copy their methods, 
 though even yet the distinction between work for gain, and 
 that performed in the spirit of self-sacrifice and self-renun- 
 ciation, is not adequately appreciated. At the end of the 
 year 1854, 325 girls were serving their apprenticeship in 
 Catholic schools, but were unable to avail themselves of the 
 Queens Scholarships, founded July 14th, 1855, because of 
 the absence of any Training College for Catholic girls. The 
 Poor School Committee were occupied with the enlargement 
 of Hammersmith, but hampered by lack of means, they were 
 unable to provide similar accommodation for girls. The 
 Sisters of Notre Dame came to the rescue. In 1855', Mr. 
 Allies, Secretary of the Poor School Committee, proceeded to 
 Namur to lay the difficulties of the Catholics of England 
 before the Superior-General. The use of Mount Pleasant 
 was offered, with the stipulation that the Sisters were not to 
 be called upon to surrender their property, or asked to pay 
 the entire cost of maintenance. The Committee set aside one 
 hundred and fifty pounds, and arranged to pay a capitation 
 grant of two pounds per annum for every student in atten- 
 dance. H.M. Inspector sanctioned the use of the building 
 for twenty-one students, and the w^orld-famous Training 
 College set out on its unparalleled history. Among those who 
 came in 1855 to begin the projected college was a future 
 Sister Superior, Sister Mary of St. Philip. She sat in 
 December of that year at the first examination for the 
 Queen's Scholarships, held in Mount Pleasant, at which 
 eight students passed in the first class, and eleven in the 
 second. Further extensions took place in 1857, to provide 
 for sixty students, and in the succeeding scholarship examina- 
 tion, twenty-seven students passed in the first class and 
 twelve in the second, a result, to quote the Inspector's
 
 137 
 
 report, " unparalleled in the history of training schools." 
 The growing number of students, the demand for capable 
 teachers, and the reputation of the Sisters, brought with 
 them additional responsibilities, and further buildings had 
 to be provided in 1859. 
 
 Distinguished visitors came from all parts of the country 
 to enquire into the working of the successful college, notably 
 Sir James Kay Shuttle worth, who, before leaving, said " his 
 " visit added to the strong conviction he had always felt of 
 " the great power given to training colleges by making them 
 " denominational." 
 
 Teachers, trained tinder such conditions, carried with 
 them to distant parts of the country the beat traditions of 
 the Sisters, and instilled some degree of their spirit into those 
 schools where it was impossible to secure the services of the 
 nuns themselves. Sister Jeanne de Jesus, who had been 
 Superior for two yiars, died on March 22nd, 1859, a severe 
 blow to the infant Training College, and was succeeded by 
 Sister Mary Theresa, " who has been the mainstay of every- 
 " thing in Mount Pleasant from that day to this (1885.)"* 
 
 The funeral of Sister Jeanne, at St. Oswald's, was 
 attended by fifty-five students in training and one hundred and 
 eighty scholars from the Practising and High Schools. Her 
 services to education were warmly eulogised by the Liberal 
 newspapers of the day. i 
 
 Mr. Na.smyth Stokee, in his first report to Whitehall, 
 remarked that " the Practising School at Mount Pleasant, 
 " though attended by only one hundred children, gives an 
 " admirable model of a well organised and thoroughly 
 " taught school. Students in training are frequently taken 
 " to other schools in the town, and thus enlarge thoir 
 " experience by visits to departments of various kinds." By 
 the year 1852, Mount Plea.sant had supplied 57 trained 
 teachers Ix) the town and district. Out of 556 candidates 
 and apprenticx!8 fxamincd in 1861, 74 came from Mount 
 Pleasant High School and 67 from the Practising School. 
 »St. Francis Xaviers alone sent up 72 girls for examination. 
 
 In 1858 Cardinal Wi.seman visitofl Tiivorpool, and wag the 
 gnest of Mr. Edward Chaloncr. To the surprise of many good 
 people ho proposed to visit the Proto^ant Reformatory ship, 
 " Akbar," and was warmly wolnomed by the committx>o of 
 management. The Bishop of Liverpool did not attend, and 
 His Eminence was accompanied by the Bishop of Shrewsbury, 
 
 • See History of Notre Dame, Liverpool, published 1886.
 
 138 
 
 Father Nugent, and many of the clergy. The next evening 
 he delivered a lecture at the Philharmonic Hall on the appro- 
 priate subject : " Is the present education of the poor of a 
 " sufficiently practical character, or can this be imparted to 
 " it? " He laid down principles in this address which proved 
 to be much ahead of his time, and even now are not universally 
 acted upon. " Few," he said, " remained sufficiently long at 
 " school to receive a decent education ; the poor under-valued 
 " it. We must endeavour to the utmost to put forward educa- 
 " tion and excite the poor particularly to take advantage of it. 
 " . . . Education must not be merely mental but manual, 
 " to make him who receivesi it not only skilful but dexterous, 
 " so that he might know how to use his hands and arms. He 
 " did not consider the education of an officer complete if he 
 " could not wield his sword, brandish it over his head, and 
 " strike one down with it. Nor should we consider the educa- 
 " tion of the artisan complete if he could not wield with 
 " strength his hammer, or that of the peasant unless he could 
 " hold and guide his plough. Clearly, if education had no 
 " reference to the future life of the boy or girl, it was a mere 
 " waste of time and power of the scholar and of the teacher." 
 The Cardinal went on to suggest that washhouses and kitchens 
 be attaiched to all schools for girls, and asked, " Could no plan 
 " be devised whereby the boys who were at school could like- 
 " wise be employed so many hours a day in industrial pursuits, 
 " to the prosecution of a trade in one form or another ? It was 
 " because the j>oor saw no practical result from the present 
 " method of education that they did not like education, and 
 " took their children away at the very earliest moment." He 
 complained also that the teachers for both town and country 
 schools were trained on the same lines, a policy which he 
 soundly condemned. This protest against a mere literary 
 education of the children of the poor attracted the attention of 
 the townspeople, who rubbed their eyes with amazement at 
 such practical lessons being taught in a Protestant town by a 
 prince of the Holy Roman Church. There was a section, 
 however, which did not welcome the Cardinal. Sufficient for 
 them that he was a " Papist." As his carriage drove away 
 along Hope Street, at the conclusion of the meeting, it was 
 followed by a mob of Orangemen, who smashed the carriage 
 with stones and missiles of various kinds so effectively that it 
 only realised fifteen pounds when, two days later, it was 
 offered for sale at Lucas's Repository. A number of the 
 assailants were arrested, and in inflicting sentence on one 
 young man, Mr. J. S. Mansfield, the Stipendiary Magistrate, 
 observed : " I suppose some statement about Protestant feeling,
 
 139 
 
 " or other hypocritical excuse, will be got up to counteract this 
 " infamous and disgraceful outrage." The prisoner said he 
 had gone to see Dr. McNeill debating with the Cardinal. 
 
 Having completed the Fontenoy Street Schools, the Oblate 
 Fathers set to work to provide a much-needed church to replace 
 the small temporary chapel. Ten thousand Catholics were living 
 in Holy Cross parish, and, owing to the overcrowded state of 
 the two neighbouring parishes, it was physically impossible for 
 all the adults to hear Mass on Sundays. The clergy organised 
 a meeting at the Concert Hall, Lord Nelson Street, on 
 February 1st, 1859. Bishop Goss presided. Mr. J. B. 
 Aspinall proposed '" That, from the numbers of the Catholic 
 " population, the present chapel has been found insuflficient, 
 " both for the decent celebration of the Divine mysteries and 
 " even the safety of the public." He paid a warm tribute to 
 the labours of the " foreign "* priests at Holy Cross and in 
 the Eldon Street district, and expressed his personal pleasure 
 in being asked to take part in the provision of a new church 
 in a district which had attracted him from the outset. The 
 resolution was seconded by Mr. Walton, f and amongst the 
 other speakers was Councillor Richard Shell. A subscription 
 list was opened, and was headed by a donation erf one hundred 
 jxjunds from the Holy Cross Temp>erance Society. So much 
 progress had been made that the Oblates arranged to have the 
 first stone placed in position on June 13th, 1859. Bishop Goss 
 performed the ceremony in the presence of some thirty priests, 
 including Dr. Fisher, t a future Vicar-General, Fathers 
 O'Reilly (the third Bishop), Dutertre, O.M.I., Jolivet, O.M.I, 
 (the future Bishop of Natal), Vanderspitte, Grandidier, 
 Duggan, Power, and Magrath. The address delivered by the 
 Bishop consisted almost entirely of an earnest appeal to the 
 people to keep away from the neighbourhood of the Old Swan, 
 where, on the previous day, the Orangemen had provoked a 
 serious riot. The Bishop was well aware of the militant 
 character of the Irishmen of the parish, and feared ilioy wc)uld 
 march out to Old Swan on the following Sunday, when a 
 renewal of hostilities was threatened. His advice was taken, 
 and the rows which made the Old Swan district infamous were 
 not renewed. The following year, on October 14th, the new 
 church was solemnly opened by Bishop Goss, who sang the 
 High MaoH, a former Liverpool priest, now Bi.shop of 
 Nottingham, Dr. Roskell, preaching the sermon in the 
 
 • PathofH Dutortro, Jolivot, and Amisto wnro Frouchmon. 
 
 t Father of Mr. Juntico Walton. 
 
 { PreHident of St. Edward's College.
 
 140 
 
 preseuce of a great assembly of priests and laity. Solemn 
 Vespers and Te Deuxn were sung in the afternoon, when a 
 famous Irish priest preached, the Rev. Dr. Lavelle, of Partry, 
 and alter compline in the evening the pulpit was occupied 
 by the Rev. Dr. Marshall, formerly of St. Anthony's, 
 Scotland Road, but then stationed at Edinburgh. The 
 " Liverpool Mercury " of that day described the church as 
 " decidedly the best specimen of ecclesiastical architecture, 
 with one exception, of which Liverpool could boast." 
 On the 2nd of February, 1859, Dr. Goss laid the 
 foundation stone of the fine church in Eldon Street, 
 designed by Mr. Welby Pugin, and dedicated to Our 
 Lady of Reconciliation de la Salette. Owing to the unfavour- 
 able weather the ceremony was performed under a huge tent, 
 and, as the Bishop expressed it, " one more milestone was 
 " erected to mark the uprise of the poor Catholics at that part 
 " of the town." Newspaper want of knowledge of Catholic 
 matters was displayed in the reports, which expressed surprise 
 at a Capuchin heading the procession. Father Vanderspitte, 
 the founder of the Mission, had worked a moral revolution in 
 this rather notoriovis district, and had even founded a fine 
 brass band among his young men, which, under the tuition of 
 Monsieur Nono, maintained a reputation in musical circles for 
 many years. The cnur^h was opened on the 15th August of 
 the following year. 
 
 In 1859, Canon Thomas Newsham retired from his 
 strenous labours at St. Anthony's, to a country mission at 
 Fleetwood, and was succeeded by the Rev. Pierse Power, who 
 had spent eleven years at St. Patrick's. One of his first acts 
 was to wage war with the Select Vestry because of the negli- 
 gence of some of its officers in attending to the poor in his 
 new parish. Unlike most clerical complainants addressing 
 themselves to that body, he had the satisfaction of being 
 listened to, and of proving his case, for the Vestry not only 
 censured the offender but passed a resolution warning him that 
 any repetition of neglect would ensure dismissal from ofl&ce. 
 Strife broke out anew at Brownlow Hill. Allegations were 
 made against one of the lady visitors. Miss Gillow, that she 
 had tampered with the religion of a girl, with the suggestive 
 name of Foley. This girl, then fifteen years of age, and an 
 inmate of the workhouse, had previously been an inmate of 
 the Kirkdale Schools, and registered as a Catholic. Inside the 
 " house " she was a Protestant, and, not unnaturally, Miss 
 Gillow spoke to her on the matter. For so doing the Work- 
 house Committee called upon her for an explanation, accusing 
 her of having threatened the girl at the same time. Miss
 
 141 
 
 Gillow ignored the request, sending to Father Nugent an 
 explanation and denial of the allegations. She was under the 
 impression that as he had secured her services, Father Nugent 
 was the right person to whom to give any explanation of her 
 conduct as a visitor. The Workhouse Committee resolved that 
 Miss Gillow should cease her visitations, whereupon her 
 brother, Mr. William Gillow, 55, Shaw Street, wrote to the 
 Vestry Clerk suggesting that another tribunal should investi- 
 gate the charges, as he had no confidence in the impartiality of 
 the Workhouse Committee. His application was not acceded 
 to, and Miss Gillow was compelled to resign. Father Richard 
 Doyle, visiting priest at the schools, scarcely allowed a meeting 
 to pass without calling attention to some case in which the 
 creed register was marked inaccurately. He was accused of 
 annoying the parochial authorities, and replied that he had 
 no intention of doing that; but his duty to the Catholics 
 outside who paid him his stipend did not permit him to 
 knowingly allow Catholic children to receive Protestant 
 instruction. In this connection it is remarkable that bearing 
 in mind the enormous Catholic population of the Parish of 
 Liverpool, and the poverty in which most of thorn were 
 plunged, 58'2 of the children in Kirkdale in 1859 were 
 registered as members of the Church of England. 
 
 Further difficulties arose in the " house " when Bishop 
 Goss wrote to the Vestry, pointing out that every Catholic was 
 bound by the law of the Church to approach the Sacraments 
 during the season of Lent, lie urged that, as the Catholic 
 inmates belonged to the very poorest class, they were neces- 
 sarily the most ignorant, and needed special instruction before 
 receiving Holy Communion. Father Fleetwood was then 
 growing old and infirm, and the Bishop urged the Vestry to 
 rescind their former decision to allow only one priest to enter 
 the building. He further suggested that Father Nugent or 
 P'athf-r Laverty, of the Institute, might bo allowed to assist in 
 the work. Mr. Churchwarden Cropper met this request by 
 the impudent declaration that of his own knnwlodgo Father 
 Fleetwood was in sound bodily health, and well able to per- 
 form the duties referred to, and carried the WorkhouEPe 
 Committee with him in refusing the Bishop's request. Messrs. 
 Whitty and CafForata employed the inlorval betwofn this 
 meeting and that of the Vest.ry so well that thoy secured 
 victory by thirteen votes to five. Father Nugent, who wm 
 now in the very front rank of the clergy, performed his new 
 duty with such tact and discretion that no complaint was ever 
 made against his admission to the cold surroundings of the 
 room in which he gave instructions and heard confessions
 
 142 
 
 alternately with his two colleagues. At that moment the 
 Catholic body throughout the country was generally 
 unpopular, by reason of the stream of secessions from the 
 Anglican Church of prominent clergymen and laymen. This 
 made itself felt in Liverpool, too, where the secession of the 
 Rev. A. G. Marshall, curate at St. Matthias', brought down 
 upou him censures as undeserved as they were severe from his 
 incumbent. The signal tact of Mr. James Whitty preserved 
 the general toleration of the Liberal members of the Select 
 Vestry, who. Churchmen and Dissenters alike, could not avoid 
 being influenced by the general sense of uneasiness at the 
 growing " dominance of Rome." 
 
 Father Patrick O'Callaghan, O.S.B., of St. Mary's, died 
 on the 31st March, 1858. His funeral was the occasion of a 
 remarkable demonstration of grief on the part of his former 
 parishioners, who, two thousand in number, marched four 
 deep, from Edmund Street to Grassendale churchyard. 
 Ninety-two carriages followed the hearse. Mr. C. J. Corbally, 
 J. P., stated that his '" commercial friends on 'Change were 
 " bewildered at such an extraordinary manifestation of 
 " sorrow " for a simple priest, and freely expressed their 
 amazement as the huge procession passed down Exchange 
 Street East. 
 
 The vast Catholic population of the town, and the 
 passing of the Intra-mural Act of 1859, created the demand 
 for a Catholic cemetery. In any case the space for burials 
 in the vaults or graveyards of St. Anthony's, St. Patrick's, 
 St. Nicholas' and St. Peter's had become seriously curtailed 
 by the passage of time. Following the Irish practice, the 
 dead were carried through the streets t-o these churches on 
 the shoulders of their friends, the bearers being changed at 
 intervals, it being regarded as a mark of respect to be 
 allowed a share in the merciful work of burying the dead. 
 Canon Newsham had purchased an estate of twenty-four 
 acres at Ford, and on Sunday, September 22nd, 185*9, Bishop 
 Gross blessed the wooden crosses which were to serve as the 
 Via Dolorosa. He drove in state from St. Patrick's, accom- 
 panied by the leading clergy, the entire route being crowded 
 with people, wending their way to Ford, to witness the 
 ceremony. The " Liverpool Mercury," in its report of the 
 proceedings, stated that " several hundred carriages, cabs, 
 " omnibuses, and spring carts," laden with passengers, 
 drove behind the Bishop's carriage ; a motley, but repreeen- 
 tative, proceesion. 
 
 The CTiurch of the Holy Sepulchre was consecrated, 
 September 8th, 1861, fifteen thousand people crowding into
 
 143 
 
 the cemetery grounds. It is a curious fact that an augmented 
 choir and orchestra rendered Haydn's First Mass on this 
 occasion, an illustration of the ideas then prevailing as to 
 suitable music for the opening of a cemetery chapel. 
 
 The outbreak of the Italian Revolution in 1860, brought 
 fresh troubles to the Catholics of Liverpool. Naturally they 
 desired to express loyalty to, and sympathy with, the august 
 head of the Church, whose estates were invaded by men 
 whose ideal of a united Italy was tarnished with a fierce 
 hatred of the Christian religion itself. The motive power 
 behind the revolution was not qmte the spirit of pure love 
 of Italy, or hatred of the Austrians ; its roots lay deeper. 
 Parish meetings were held, and special collections of Peter's 
 Pence made in every church. Mr. Edward Chaloner gave 
 five hundred pounds, at his own parish church of St. Oswald, 
 and two hundred and fifty at St. Vincent's. Bishop Goss 
 proceeded to Rome, to lay at the feet of Pope Pius the Ninth 
 the addresses of loyalty from every corner of his diocese, and 
 the extremely generous offerings of the faithful. 
 
 Liverpool became quite uneasy at these demonstrations, 
 and the opportunity was seized by itinerant sti^eet preachers 
 to arouse the lower orders of the town into hostile manifes- 
 tations against the Church. Englishmen generally 
 sympathised warmly with the Italian Movement, but it 
 cannot be admitted that the outburst of bigotry against 
 Liverpool Catholics came from men who understood the 
 bearings of a delicate international question. The relations 
 between the different parties and the Catholic leaders became 
 more and more strained, until the early seventies, when the 
 Temporal Power of the Popes was destroyed and Victor 
 Emmanuel proclaimed King of Italy. This friction had 
 unfortunate consequences. The rapidly closing gulf between 
 Catholics and their fellow citizens was widened, works of 
 charity were hindered and the Catholic leaders had a 
 difficult task to perform in preventing even worse conse- 
 quences. Without sacrificing any principle Ihey displayed 
 great tact in their public relations, and crodil is duo in ihe 
 main to the splendid leadership of Mr. James Whitty. 
 
 Garibaldi opened an agency in Castle Street, under the 
 management of a soldier, Captain Hampton, to secure 
 recruits for the " Italian patriots." The ofTicors of tho 
 volunteer corps lent their drill shed in Devon Street to 
 Captain Hampton, for tho purposes of drilling the Liverpool 
 "volunteers." In September, 1860, no less than eighty 
 "volunteers'' marched to Lime Street Station, ar(X)nipanied 
 by cheering crowds who lookod upon them merely as enemies
 
 144 
 
 of the Pope, without any thought of the actual merite of 
 tho question at issue. 
 
 Some differences manifested themselves in the Catholic 
 body. Many were in favour of the expulsion of the Austrians, 
 sympathising with the Italian Nationalist movement against 
 foreign rule, and a small minority, undoubtedly, were 
 favourable to the separation of the Holy See from purely 
 political relations with the European States. At this early 
 stage of the Italian troubles, many English and Irish 
 Catholics appeared to believe that once the Italians were freed 
 from the rule of the Austrian, peace would be won for It>aly, 
 and security obtained for the absolute freedom of the 
 Sovereign Pontiff. As Englishmen forgot how the Temporal 
 Power saved British Commerce, in the reign of Pope Pius 
 the Seventh, when he refused to obey Napoleon's command 
 to close his harbours against English shipping, many Catholics 
 also forgot the real significance and value of the Pope s 
 unfettered possession of the patrimony of St. Peter.* The 
 " Liverpool Daily Post " took a very prominent part in 
 advancing the views of the Catholic minority, or Liberal 
 Catholics, as they were quite erroneously termed. The 
 founder and editor was Mr. M. J. Whitty, a native of 
 County Wexford; an ex-ecclesiastical student; Head Con- 
 stable of Liverpool ; founder of the Fire Brigade, and of the 
 first penny daily newspaper. 
 
 There was a Catholic weekly, " The Northern Press," 
 printed and published in Post Office Place, which had a large 
 circulation in the town and neighbourhood. Its editor was 
 Mr. S. B. Harper, a convert from the Anglican Church. He 
 wielded a vigorous pen, and took up an uncompromising 
 Catholic attitude, which brought about a battle of pens 
 between himself and the editor of the " Daily Post." In the 
 contest he was worsted. The brilliant Wexfordman, with 
 the advantages of an excellent education, a considerable 
 knowledge of Catholic theological works, a facile pen, and the 
 advantage, from a political standpoint, of being quite un- 
 orthodox, overwhelmed the rival editor. Mr. Whitty laid 
 down the following proposition in the editorial columns of 
 the " Post " : — " Frankly accepted and boldly turned to 
 " account, the loss of the Temporal Power might have secured 
 " to the Catholic Church a new lease of life, more vigorous 
 " and beneficent than it had ever yet enjoyed." The 
 " Northern Press " replied to this rather specious argument 
 
 * For an excellent exposition of the case for the Temporal Power, 
 see Bishop Whiteside's Pastoral on the accession of Pius the Tenth.
 
 145 
 
 in a well-informed, but rather loosely written, editorial, 
 which gave Mr. Whitty an opportunity of shewing that all 
 Liverpool Catholics did not follow Mr. Harpers reasoning. 
 On October 23rd, 1860, he wrote : " We have asserted 
 " frequently that the Ultramontanes did not represent the 
 " Roman Catholics of England and Ireland. There is in 
 " this town a Catholic newspaper, called the ' Northern 
 " ' Press,' conducted, in reference to its principles, with con- 
 " siderable ability, but, as its principles are vile, hurtful alike 
 " to rehgion and to man. The English Roman Catholics 
 " decline to support it, they refuse to subscribe, they do not 
 
 ■ read it. This is not to be wondered at, for it is eternally 
 i busing Victor Emmanuel, Garibaldi, and the 'Daily Post.' " 
 
 It is evident from a perusal of its columns that the 
 Northern Press" was not a Liberal organ, and this very 
 probably accounts for Mr. Whitty's assertion that the 
 English Roman Catholics did not read it, to say nothing of 
 its extravagant language and want of dignity, which 
 certainly did give offence to many leading Catholics. Here 
 is a fair sample : " What we want to know is, who made the 
 " ' Daily Post' our teacher? What right has this miserable 
 " driveller to thrust itself before us as a teacher of what is 
 best for Catholics to do or not to do? Who is to blame for 
 
 ■ this weekly, almost daily, insulting scribble against us 
 " Catholics? We will answer that question. Catholics are 
 " themselves to blame. We are a mean, miserable^ time- 
 " serving body, after all, without a spark of true Catholic 
 " honesty about us. The smiles of fortune and success in 
 " this world generally emasculate character, so that men who 
 
 ought to be at the head of eveiy Catholic movement sit at 
 " ease, in the midst of their acquired abundance, and neglect 
 " thpir duty to their follow man. Nationality, public spirit, 
 " self-sacrifice, are blotted out from their vocabulary, and the 
 " more they advance in prosperity, the more they are eaten 
 " up by .srlfiflhness. . . So Victor Emmanuel is applauded, 
 " Garibaldi is raised to the gods, and tlio Pojk^ iiinv fall to 
 " the ground, for all these liberal minded Catholics care. 
 " Catholics arc t-o blame for the shame and obloquy that has 
 " of late boon thrown on their religion. Wo 1 ruckle to 
 " the spirit of the world ; we sneak along and hide our honest 
 " feelings, bocaui<^ we are too cowardly to stand up for them 
 "and boar the battle with the world. The 'Daily Post' 
 ' comes out, morning aftor morning, with lios and calumnies, 
 " and we road it, and, what is worse, fool but little indig- 
 " nation, when the mantle of burning shame should crimson 
 " our cheeks to hoar and road thfso vil«^ insults to our holy 
 " Faith." There is internal evidence in this picturesque bit 
 
 J
 
 14tj 
 
 of ink slinging that Mr. Whitty had good grounds for his 
 belief that some Catholics of prominence were not quite 
 orthodox on the question of the Temporal Power. It must, 
 however, be said that at this early period of the Italian move- 
 ment no one anticipated that the Sovereign Pontiff would be 
 deprived of the whole of his territory, and placed in the invi- 
 dious position of being practically a subject of the King of Italy 
 without that freedom which the Head of the Church should 
 enjoy in his relations with the Christian world. Herein lay 
 the real nature of the differences which did prevail in 
 " English Roman Catholic " circles, in Liveipool and neigh- 
 bourhood. The " Daily Post '" replied briefly that it had 
 " never printed a line insulting to any Christian faith." 
 Catholic opinion was excited at the vigorous attacks on the 
 Temporal Power by this journal, and a movement began, 
 which came to nought, to establish a daily paper which the 
 Catholics of the town might read without having their 
 feelings wounded. At a meeting of St. Mary's Young Mens 
 Society, Father Almond, O.S.B., said, " while we look forward 
 " to that boon, let us not forget the boon we have, the 
 " ' Northern Press.' Let us not separate this night without 
 "saying, 'bad luck to the 'Daily Post!"" (Hissee.) 
 
 The " Mercury ' departed from the lofty tone which had 
 characterised its columns. Instead of confining its criticisms 
 to the real points at issue in Italy, it poured out a torrent of 
 personal abuse on Pope Pius, whose allocutions it described 
 " as largely enriching the literature of Billingsgate." To make 
 matters worse, wild stories were put in circulation of perse- 
 cution of Protestants in Spain, which lost nothing in the 
 telling, week after week, in the press and on the platforiii. 
 Bishop Goss spoke out against these accusations and 
 challenged Sir Robert Peel to produce evidence in support 
 of the allegations. Public opinion was too excited to secure 
 a fair hearing, and the first evidence of this was the rejection 
 from Vauxhall Ward by two votes, of the retiring Catholic 
 Liberal, Mr. C. J. Corbally. 
 
 This gentleman accepted his defeat quietly and sought 
 a seat on the Burial Board of the Parish His nomination 
 was challenged on religious grounds by the Tory leaders, but 
 the great bulk of the Liberal electors stood by him, and with 
 Messrs. Thornely and S. B. Jackson he was successful at the 
 poll. With his partner, Mr. Richard Sheil, he was placed 
 on the Commission of the Peace, on the nomination of the 
 Liberal leader. The Catholic Club organised a series of 
 lectures to educate public opinion on the points then disturb- 
 ing the Protestant mind, the first lecture being delivered in 
 the Philharmonic Hall, by Dean O'Brien, Limerick, founder
 
 147 
 
 of the Young Men's Societies, the subject matter being "" The 
 " Church and Human Progress." 
 
 The elections in 1861 closied an interesting chapter in the 
 pohtical history of Liverpool Catholics. Compulsory attend- 
 ance of children in elementary schools was in the air, and the 
 establishment of a system of national schools was fast becoming 
 a fixed principle of the Liberal party. Hitherto Catholics of 
 all ranks, with very few exceptions, in Lancashire were staunch 
 opponents of the Conservative party ; now there were signs of 
 disintegration. Fearful lest the rising school of Liberalisjn 
 might injure the denominational schools, some of the Catholic 
 gentry, notably Sir Robert Gerard, appeared on the Conserva- 
 tive platform. That they were influenced by the demand for 
 household franchise and Parliamentary reform and other 
 advanced Liberal proposals is certain, but the rupture was 
 precipitated by the new developments of education policy. 
 
 Mr. W. E. Gladstone had refused to stand again for the 
 county division then known as South Lancashire. This con- 
 stituency included Southport, Wigan, St. flelens, Warrington, 
 Leigh, Ormskirk, and the freeholders of Liverpool and Man- 
 chester. If anywhere, there was a large Catholic vote inside 
 this area. To secure it was the aim of the Liberals and Tories 
 alike for their respective champions, Mr. Cheetham and Mr. 
 Charles Turner. The Liberals estimated that the Noncon- 
 formist and Catholic electors out-numbered the official 
 Conservatives by three to one, and looked forward with great 
 confidence to a substantial majority. 
 
 The Conservative candidate had been defeated in Liverpool, 
 as already related, because of his strong anti-Catholic views 
 and his constant appearances on McNeill's platform. That 
 any (Jatholic would vote for him appeared to be outside the 
 bounds of possibility. Lord Derby made a strenuous effort to 
 win tho st^at for Mr. Turner, and' the Liberal Party became 
 alarnuKi at tho circulation of a rumour that at the previous 
 general election Cardinal Wiseman had issued private 
 instructions to the Bishops to support. Lord Derby, who had 
 promised in return, so it wa.s alleged, tf) concod<' tho appoint- 
 ment of paid Catholic chaplains to the army, navy, prisons, 
 and workhoust^.* Bishop Goss was charged with using his 
 infbienco against thf IvilxM-al ranrliflatc, ,-ind many hivorpool 
 Catholics acc»pt/od this accusation as well founded. The 
 Catholic Club met to consider tho situation. Mr. P. S. 
 Bidwill, Colonel of tho Irish Voluntror Corps, preisided. Tho 
 deciflion was as follows: — "That, while disapproving on 
 " prinriple of certain views and opinions of Mr. Ch^'otham, it 
 
 • See Disraeli'R letter to the Gnrdinal. quoted in Wilfrod Ward's Ijif«,
 
 148 
 
 ' is the duty of all Catholics to support him, as he is the only 
 " exponent of Liberal principles in home legislation with 
 " which Catholics are identified." Mr. Charles Turner won 
 by 835 votes.* The Liverpool polling showed that he had only 
 a majority of 88 votes, which centainly went to prove that the 
 Catholic freeholders had voted in accordance with the 
 recommendation of the Catholic Club. In Manchester, Mr. 
 Cheetham had a majority of 400, but in the country districts 
 he was out-voted. The Liberal leaders attributed the 
 unexpected result to Bishop Goss, and alleged that the clergy 
 did interfere in the contest at his suggestion. The " Liverpool 
 " Mercury," on the other hand, observed: " We know that aa 
 " a rule the Catholic clergy interfere less in political matters in 
 " the way of solicitation than the brethren of any other 
 " denomination, and that the Jesuits never vote at all." The 
 Birkenhead contest furnished some evidence which seemed to 
 the Liberal leaders to confirm their suspicions. A meeting was 
 summoned by the priests of Birkenhead to decide the relative 
 claiins of Messrs. Brassey and Laird. It was decided to 
 support the Conservative candidate, whereupon a protest was 
 published, signed by 326 Irish voters, declaring that no voter 
 was invited to this meeting, save those who were known to be 
 favourable to Mr. John Laird. Canon Chapman, Rector of St. 
 Werburgh's, openly took the field against Mr. Brassey, and 
 marched at the head of one hundred Catholic voters to the 
 polling place. Mr. Brassey was defeated by 323 votes; the 
 Catholic vote being responsible for this result. 
 
 This was the beginning of the gradual drifting apart 
 from each other of Irish and English Catholics, which 
 became more marked in later years. At that moment the 
 separation was particularly unfortunate, and it led to the 
 disappearance from public and even semi-public affairs of both 
 Irishmen and Englishmen who could ill be spared from the 
 active work of propagating much-needed charities. 
 
 One of these works was the saving of the faith of Poor 
 Law children. In February, 1860, the Catholic Poor School 
 Committee, London, conceived the idea of establishing Poor 
 Law Schools to which the Guardians could send the Catholic 
 children from the workhouses. It was a brilliant idea, and as 
 it emanated from Catholics it must excite " Protestant " 
 hostility. Quite apart from the Catholic purpose, the removal 
 of Poor Law children into private institutions licensed by the 
 Government was infinitely better than the crude methods which 
 prevailed for thirty years in even the best managed Unions. 
 
 •The bells of St. Peter's, Church Street, and St. Nicholas', ChapBl 
 Street, were rung in honour of the Conservative victory.
 
 149 
 
 Mr. Jones, churchwarden, called the attention of the Select 
 Vestry to the movement, and proposed that, " This Board 
 '■ views with concern and regret the agitation begun in London 
 " for separate Poor Law Schools." He further quoted a para- 
 graph from the " Northern Press " to the effect that but for 
 the presence of Mr. James Whitty, the Select Vestry would 
 be as active a proselytising agent as the other Boards of 
 Guardians in the country. The Vestry declined to share the 
 fears of Mr. Jones, not because they entirely disagreed with 
 him, but because the members regarded the proposal as outside 
 the range of practical politics. A local committee was formed 
 to further the work, and a Bill was lodged in Parliament 
 framed by Lord Petre and the Honblo. Charles Langdale. 
 Their hands were strengthened when Mr. James Whitty called 
 public attention to the large numbers of Catholic children sent 
 from the Kirkdale Schools to Protestant families in the 
 neighbourhood of Bacup. He suggested that when such 
 children were sent out, the Governor be instruct-ed to require 
 a written undertaking from the employer that he would send 
 the child t-o a place of worship on Sundays in accord with the 
 religion described in the Poor Law creed register. This act 
 of justice had been denied for years, and what was worse, the 
 Veatry declined to defend the children when employers 
 flagrantly forced the child labourer to attend an alien service. 
 Mr. Whitty 's suggestion was rejected, whereupon a deputation, 
 consisting of the Very Rev. Provost Cookson, Mr. John Yates, 
 and Mr. J. Neale Lomax, waited upon the Schools Committee, 
 and gave details of the proselytism practised. They further 
 announced that the Catholic Club would be willing to under- 
 take the entire responsibility of finding suitable situations for 
 every boy and girl discharged from the Kirkdale Schools. They 
 besought the hearty co-operation of the Vesi;rymen, and 
 Buggeeted as a practical method that they should bo furnished 
 with a list of the children about to bo discharged. 
 This proposal was not accepted. Despite the detailed 
 information supplied to them, many of the members, 
 in good faith, drclinrd to believe that any employer coiild be 
 so bigoted or unreasonable as to tamper with an omployen's 
 religious faith. Eventually the victory was gained, l'"athcr 
 Gibwon, the visiting priest, being supplied with the lists asked 
 for. Mr, Crripper oppoeed the confirmation of this agreement 
 at the Vestry meeting on the ground that a .similar application 
 might be sent in by the Methodist body, as if the latter wert> 
 not entitled to the rights of citizenship. Until unfortunate 
 political complications many years later broke up thia 
 admirable work on the part of the Catholic Club, hundreds of
 
 150 
 
 children were placed with Catholic families or with Protestant 
 employers who most loyally kept faith. No better work was 
 ever done for the poor by the Catholic leaders, and we who live 
 under happier conditions ought to remember their names with 
 deep affection. Bishop Goss presided at a meeting to celebrate 
 this victory. He stated that over two hundred children had 
 been discharged annually, of whom two-thirdsi lost their 
 religion by reason of tkeir environment. During the " Educa- 
 " tion Campaign " of 1906, the writer spent some time ia a 
 mining centre in North-East Lancashire, to which hundreds of 
 children had been sent during the sixties, and personally 
 examining the abundant proofs submitted was satisfied that 
 Dr. Goss's estimate of two-thirds under-estimated the loss of 
 faith, nay, of all religious belief. 
 
 The pajrment of Catholic chaplains was the next Poor 
 Law problem. The House of Commons appointed a Select 
 Committee to enquire into this question, as well as the 
 proposal that it should be compulsory on Guardians to appoint 
 a certain number of Catholic teachersi in workhouse schools. 
 Mr. James Whitty gave evidence before this Committee. It 
 came as a great surprise to those who believed that the work- 
 house was filled with Catholics to learn from Mr. Whitty 's 
 evidence that, though the majority of the rcnident>i of the 
 parish were Catholics the proportion receiving indoor relief in 
 1861 was 1,204, as against 1,478 non-Catholics. The Orange 
 element severely attacked Mr. Whitty for giving evidence 
 without having obtained previously the permission of the 
 Vestry, and the Liberals, led by Mr. Peck, quite as warmly 
 resented any attempt to silence such an experienced Guardian. 
 Without waiting to see what the Select Committee would 
 recommend, the Vestry passed a resolution protesting against 
 any changes being made, on the motion of its most illiberal 
 member, Mr. Satchell. The same section made a desperate 
 effort to prevent a Catholic gentleman, Mr. Lightbound, Dale 
 Street, from succeeding to a vacant seat, but were defeated ; 
 in fact, they were defeated mainly by their violent speeches. 
 
 The emigration from Ireland to America during the year 
 1861 reached a high figure, and was followed by a movement 
 in the same direction from Liverpool. It is unfortunate that 
 no particulars' were obtained, as in 1847, of the emigrants 
 arriving in the Mersey, so that it could be computed how 
 many Irish people living in the city had been caught by the 
 emigration fever. The number of Catholics in the town has 
 always been a disputed point. Father James Nugent, speak- 
 ing on St. Patrick's Day, 1861, asserted in a positive manner 
 that there were at least 150,000 Catholics- out of a total
 
 151 
 
 population of 462,749. On the following Feast of St. Patrick, 
 Bishop Goss stated that on an average seven thousand children 
 were in daily attendance at the schools, which at first sight 
 would appear to traverse Father Nugent's figures, but closer 
 examination of the prevailing conditions only serves to show 
 how fallacious it would be to estimate the population by the 
 school attendance. There was no compulsory attendance then 
 as now. In 1854, eight years before the Bishop's statement, 
 7,450 children marched through the streets in procession, and 
 no less than five schools were unrepresented. How did it 
 come about that eight years later there were less children 
 apparently in Catholic schools? As early as 1852, the 
 Inspector of Schools noticed the extraordinary fact that in 
 the small school of St. Hilda 650 entered their names on the 
 biioks in one year, and during the same period 400 left. 
 Compulsory education has been the handmaid of religion in 
 Catholic Liverpool since 1870 ; the pity is the same law did not 
 dat-e from 1850. Father Nugent stated that at this period* 
 uo less than 23,000 children were roaming about the streets 
 and docks, a dreadful fact which set his fertile brain to work 
 out many a scheme of social salvation. The St. Vincent de 
 Paul Society made the first move early in 1861, by opening a 
 house, 15, Everton Crescent, I to accommodate seventy boys 
 who earned their living — a sad and precarious one — by street 
 trading. This splendid work of saving the boy, under the 
 inspiring leadership of Father Nugent, developed later on, and 
 the Jesuit Fathers at St. Francis Xavier's did their share by 
 establishing a Ragged School in Birchfield Street, Islington, 
 transferred afterwards to 79, Finch Street. J Here were 
 gathered a host of poor street urchins, provided with free 
 meals and clothing, and, under the care of the Sisters of 
 ('harity, given some training in religious and secular know- 
 ledge. The Jesuit Fathers provided them with breakfast on 
 Sunday mornings, aiirl then marched them to St. Francis 
 Xavier's to hear Mass. This institution lasted until the 
 passage of the Act of 1870 made school attendance compul- 
 sory. || The work of rescue was still f nrther devclopr'd on May 
 18, 1862, when the Rev. J. II. Fisher opened the orphanage in 
 
 * 18G1. 
 
 t The grcftt dovolopmcnt of thn work bo btigun is now to ho 
 witncBHcd ill tho well-known Fiithcr Ijorry'H Homos, Shaw Street. 
 
 I Now Kcinpstoii Street. 
 
 II Father Qeorgo Porter, S.J., made the Huporintondnncy of this school 
 his special work. He established a dispciigary here for the Kick poor, and 
 serurod the voluntary Kcrviccs of Drs. A. M. Klip;h (Councillor and 
 Al'lonnan for nearly 30 years), John Bligh (now a Juwtico of tho Poaco), 
 Shepherd, Kirk, O'Leary, CavanaKh, ajid Austin Williams. Free mculs 
 h:'vc always been a feature of St. Francis Xavier's School,
 
 152 
 
 Beacou Laue, which was placed under the care of the Sisters of 
 Charity. Later ou it became a Certified Industrial School, and 
 continues in the twentieth century its beneficent work of 
 juvenile reclamation. 
 
 Bishop Goss, in the second year of his episcopate, 
 invited the Sistei-s of the Good Shepherd to open a refuge in 
 Liverpool, and their first house was established in Netherfield 
 Road.* The work of reclaiming the sad wreckage of fallen 
 womanhood did not meet with much appreciation from the 
 surrounding population, many attacks being made upon the 
 house by bauds of bigoted Orangemen, who little knew the 
 self-sacrifice of the saintly sisters. Father Nugent had a 
 special love for this work, and gave early evidence of his 
 appreciation of the Good Shepherd nuns by acting as secre- 
 tary of the successful bazaar in their aid, by which the sum 
 of three thousand pounds was raised. At that date, Novem- 
 ber, 1861, the nuns had removed to Mason Street, where they 
 had fifty penitents under their care.f With the proceeds of 
 the bazaar a site was bought at Ford, where the nuns labour 
 to this hour. Miss Rosson, sister of the Mr. John Rosson 
 whose name figures so prominently in preceding chapters, 
 contributed one thousand pounds in aid of this great charity. 
 
 In June, 1862, a renewal of hostilities took place between 
 Messrs. Whitty and Harper in their respective journals. The 
 editor of the " Daily Post '" provoked the fight by the follow- 
 ing leader : — " The Pope finds in the four hundred prelates 
 " assembled in Rome, willing abettors of his policy. Some, 
 " if not all the prelates, were disposed to launch at the King 
 " of Italy and his subjects the awful thunders of the Church. 
 " They advised the Holy Father to pronounce excommunica- 
 " tion against Victor Emmanuel and his adherents, and to 
 " relieve his subjects from the oath of allegiance. The 
 " 'Opinione Nationale " avouches this fact, but, nevertheless, 
 " we are incredulous. For a long time the thunders of the 
 " Church have been innocuous ; the Bishops representing both 
 " Catholic and Protestant Powers would hardly recommend a 
 " proceeding which strikes direct at the solemn compact 
 " between princes and people. It is the old story of relieving 
 " people from their oaths, and the adoption of the repudiated 
 " doctrine of the dethroning of Sovereigns. Excommunication 
 " has lost its force, and in Italy it would be fulminated in 
 " the teeth of public opinion, which even in times long past 
 " annulled the power of the Pontiff. The Bishops, however, 
 " are to present an address to the Pope, expressing sympathy 
 
 * The area which figured so prominently in the Police Enquiry, 
 Liverpool, February, 1910. 
 
 + See "Tablet," November, 1861.
 
 153 
 
 " and promising support. Of course, the brief report is not 
 " to be relied upou ; it would be strange indeed, if, amidst 
 " four hundred prelates from every corner of the world, there 
 " were not a few with courage enough to tell the Head of the 
 " Church a few wholesome truths.' This was an exasperating 
 leader, and provoked a reply from the " Northern Press " : — 
 " The Editor of the ' Post' is not, we are well aware, a theo- 
 " logian ; but he is what is commonly known as clever, he has 
 " plenty of strong commonsense, and has had the immense 
 ■' advantage of a knowledge of the fundamentals of the 
 " Catholic Faith; and, for this reason, such writing displays a 
 " far greater amount of stupidity than it would in the writing 
 " of one who had always been ignorant of the fundamentals 
 '■ of the Catholic doctrine ; it is doubly criminal. Excommu- 
 ■' nication is a purely spiritual force. God sometimes enforces 
 " it with temporal judgment ; sometimes, as in the case of 
 " Napoleon the First, as a warning to the criminal ; sometimes, 
 " as in the case of Cavour, a warning to others. But the 
 " mere temporal judgment is scarcely to be considered in the 
 " force of the excommunication. That is the terrific penalty 
 "of eternal perdition." This was just the kind of writing 
 which Whitty delighted to reply to, and he took full advantage 
 in hifl reply. He pointed out that but a few days earlier he 
 was called by a Protestant paper " a Papist, a Jesuit in 
 " disguise, and now the ' Northern Press ' comes along with the 
 " regret that a writer, once a Catholic, should have fallen so 
 " completely into the Protestant groove of thought. The 
 " ' Daily Post ' concerns itself only with politics, never with 
 " theology. If theologians depart from their profession, they 
 " become amenable to censure or to criticism. We dare not 
 " say that we are as good Christians as our neighbour in Post 
 " Office Place, but as we know a great deal more about the 
 " Roman Catholic faith than he does he will not l)e offended 
 " if we tell him that, refraining from eating beefsteak and 
 " onions on Fridays does not constitute a good C-'atliolic. lie 
 " is pleased to ascribe to us the usual folly of perverts ; and 
 " as he ought to be a good judge in that case, having from 
 "being a had Protcst.'int become a good Calholir, we tlaie 
 not fjiiostion his inferences, although we repel his insinua- 
 " tions. Now, as we know a great deal more about theology 
 " than lif- docs, we will show him that ho is utlorlv ignorant 
 " of the Catholic doctrine on the point." Mr. M. J. Whitty 
 then proceeded to publish in exfrnsn the evidence given bv 
 Dr. Doyle, the famous Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin, before 
 a Parliamentary Cf)mmittfv in 1825. The object of this 
 Committee was to find out some means of convincing English
 
 154 
 
 public opinion that Catholics could be loyal to lawfully cou- 
 stituted sovereignty as a preparation for the passage of 
 Catholic Emancipation. It was scarcely fair of the Editor of 
 the " Post '" to overwhelm his Catholic rival with the evidence 
 of an Irish Bishop, of whom in all probability Mr. Harj>er had 
 never heard. In any case, there were plenty of theologians 
 of equal rank whose opinions were quite opposed to Jr. 
 Doyle's; but the point upon which Mr. AVhitty fastened was 
 the emphatic declaration that it was not in the power of any 
 Pope to absolve the Catholic people from their oath of 
 allegiance. He knew very well that the Catholic people of 
 Italy had taken no oath of allegiance to a King of Italy, and 
 that Pope Pius was not depriving any monarch of his kingdom, 
 a point which Bishop Doyle made in his famous evidence. Be 
 that as it may, it was undeniably clever to confound the 
 untrained Editor of the "Northern Pi-ess " by setting up a 
 Bishop against him. The article concluded with the biting 
 taunt: "The Catholics of Liverpool, we presume, read the 
 "'Northern Press' as they do 'Punch,' for the pleasure 
 ■' aflForded by extravagant nonsense." 
 
 In October, 1862, a debating society attached to one of 
 the Anglican churches in Birkenhead announced a discussion 
 on the question — " Is Garibaldi a patriot? " This simple 
 announcement brought about a serious disturbance of the 
 peace of Birkenhead, and had an unfortunate influence on the 
 political relations between the Catholics and Liberals of 
 Liverpool. A great crowd of Irish labourers gathered outside 
 the schoolroom where the debate was announced to be held, 
 and prevented by force the delivery of a single speech. In the 
 riot which ensued a large number of persons were seriously 
 injured. To make matters worse, the Rev. Mr. Baylee, to whom 
 reference has already been made in a previovLS chapter, created 
 a feeling of consternation by a statement that he heard the 
 Rector of St. Werburgh's, Canon Chapman, cheering and 
 encouraging the Irish labourers in their uncalled-for and 
 indefensible attack on the meeting place. This serious 
 accusation aroused hot passions on both sides of the Mersey. 
 As a matter of fact, Canon Chapman was fifty miles away from 
 Birkenhead at the time of the disturbance. There was a priest. 
 Father Brundritt, who addressed the rioters, not in terms of 
 encouragement, but of condemnation. When the Catholic 
 population learned that Mr. Baylee's son had called at St. 
 Werburgh's Presbytery and begged Father Brundritt 's aid 
 to disperse the crowd, and that he bore testimony to the 
 successful intervention of the priest, a storm of indignation 
 filled Liverpool as well as- Birkenhead against the deliberately
 
 155 
 
 uttered calumnies against Canon Chapman. Not for the fijrst 
 time had Mr. Baylee, senior, provoked disorder in Birken- 
 head ; this time bloodshed followed. The debate was 
 announced again, and would have passed off without inter- 
 ference had the passions of both sides not been inflamed to fever 
 heat. Even the local authorities lost their heads. Two 
 hundred men of the Forty-Ninth Regiment were brought into 
 Birkenhead, and one thousand special constables sworn in. 
 The high sense of duty which auimat-ed the amateur policemen 
 may be gauged from their behaviour on the parade ground, 
 where they called for cheers for Garibaldi and groans for Pope 
 Pius the Ninth and Napoleon the Third. In the streets a 
 battle was fought in which the special constables were put tc 
 flight; blood flowed freely, and but for the military, Birken- 
 head would have had occasion to long remember the mouth of 
 October. The " Daily Post " gave a long detailed report of 
 the riot, and spoke out freely against its originators. Mr. 
 S. B. Harper, always on the look-out for any excuse to attack 
 Mr. Whitty, wrote a furious attack on " the blackguardly 
 ■' report," and expressing " intense disgust " at its publication. 
 The " Post " simply replied that the report which appeared in 
 the ■' Northern Press " had been lifted bodily from its own 
 columns, but that wherever the word " Catholic '" appeared it 
 wa!^ struck out by Mr. Harper. In every contest the 
 " Northern Press '' was easily worsted by the leading daily. 
 
 Mr. John Yates was the Liberal candidate for Castle 
 Street Ward at the time ol the riot, and spoke out with con- 
 siderable heat against the Irishmen of Birkenhead. Mr. M. J . 
 Whitty claimed this sipeech as another proof of his assertion 
 that the leading Catholics of Liverpool were not " Ultraraon- 
 " tanes,'' and lamented the bad feelings engendered on both 
 sides of the Mersey by " the Pope's miserable bit of land.'' 
 The Liberal electors of Castle Street Ward did not 
 stop to consider whether Mr. Yates was or was not 
 an Ultramontane, nor did they attach much import- 
 ance to his denunciation of the riot^jrs ; sufliciont for 
 some of them that Mr. Yates was a Catholic. He lost a 
 seat in a Liberal stronghold through Liberal defections. The 
 nif^ral was not lost on the rank and file of the Irish population. 
 Flad John Yate.s applauded the rioters he would have lost his 
 seat in the Council ; ho suffered (he same loss, despite his 
 uiisfjaring advocacy of free spcx;(ii .ind liis |X)pulaiity with tho 
 " Daily Post." 
 
 Liverpool dislikes moderate men. That Castle Street 
 vot-ers should set such a bad example was a revelation of how 
 easy it was to arouse anti-Calliolir feeling, even against such
 
 156 
 
 a man as Yates. They oould not have behaved worse had he 
 opened a recruiting bureau for the Pope in his office. In 
 a lew months the Liberal dissentients showed signs of regret, 
 and when Mr. Yates unseated his Conservative opponent on 
 an election petition, they returned him to the Council. He 
 was just too late to record his vote for Councillor Sheil's nomi- 
 nation as alderman ; the proposal was defeated by the casting 
 vote of the Mayor. 
 
 One of the indirect results of the Civil War in 
 America was the difficulty which Father Gibson and 
 Mr. J. Neale Lomax experienced in finding situations for 
 the Catholic boys discharged from the workhouse. The 
 cotton famine had closed down the mills in which many of 
 these boys and girls found employment. In two years, over 
 two hundred children had been placed with Catholic families, 
 and on July 7th, 1862, at a meeting convened by Canon 
 Cookson, it wa:; reported by Father Gibson that, owing to the 
 cotton famine, he had been unable to deal with forty boys. 
 He stated that, under the circumstances, the Vestry had to 
 send them into districts where they were certain to lose their 
 faith. On the cessation of hostilities the Committee resumed 
 its beneficent work. Meanwhile, Mr. James Whitty was 
 working quietly to secure the appointment of one Catholic 
 teacher on the Kirkdale staff, and received a powerful backing 
 from the editor of the " Daily Post." Though defeated in 
 the Vestry, he secured the concession of a Catholic being 
 appointed labour master. This man conducted the children 
 from Kirkdale to St. Anthony s, to Mass and Benediction, 
 a long journey, necessitated by the strange policy of the 
 Schools Committee, which, refusing permission for Mass 
 inside, compelled some non-Catholic officer to attend Mass 
 outside. The new arrangement at least relieved one officer 
 of an irksome duty. 
 
 Bishop Goss inaugurated a new departure in rescue work 
 in August, 1863. He summoned a meeting in the Concert 
 Hall, Lord Nelson Street, to consider a proposal to establish 
 a training ship in the Mersey for Catholic boys needing 
 reformatory treatment. The Bishop's Committee, after much 
 experience of the work, made representations that industrial 
 and farming work was not successful with certain types of boys 
 committed by the magistrates, and suggested that a training 
 for the sea would be much more beneficial. The Admiralty 
 expressed willin^ess to hand over the frigate, Clarence,* for 
 the purpose, and to put tlie ship into condition for the new 
 work ten thousand pounds was required. At the meeting 
 
 • Burnt down forty years later. The institution still exists at 
 Parn worth, VVidnes.
 
 157 
 
 eight hundred pounds was placed in the Bishop's hands, many 
 donations coming in from Px'otestant friends of the new 
 movement. 
 
 A new responsibility was placed on the Bishop's shoulders 
 by the passage into law of the Prison Ministers Bill, in 1863. 
 This Act enabled the Justices to appoint paid ministers of 
 religion to instruct prisonei's not registered as members of 
 the Anglican Church. It was a great concession to Catholics, 
 who had agitated for it unceasingly for the previous twenty 
 years. Unlike the Town Council, Select Vestry, and other 
 governing bodies, the Justices of Liverpool were always 
 conspicuous by their impartiality. In this year they met to 
 consider the appointment of a Catholic Chaplain, and fixed 
 the sum of three hundred pounds per annum as stipend. 
 The choice fell upon Father James Nugent. No happier 
 selection could have been made. The recommendation had 
 to run the gauntlet of the Town Council, and the Conservative 
 party therein demurred, on the ground that the Council 
 alone had the right to fix the stipend, and even to refuse to 
 pay such. The Rev Dr. Taylor,* one of the most brilliant 
 members of the evangelical school of thought, stimulated the 
 Council, by a vigorous platform agitation, to refuse payment 
 to the new chaplain. His eloquent tongue delivered a series 
 of passionate and bitter attacks on the Catholic Church, in 
 which he also laid down the strange proposition that the 
 Catholic population of Liverpool had no right to assistance 
 from the rates, as they did not, except in few instances, make 
 any contribution to the common purse. This taunt at the 
 poverty of his own Catholic countrymen was unworthy of 
 Dr. Taylor, and brought down on his head a severe castiga- 
 tion from Mr. Whitty of the " Daily Post,''who had mastered 
 Ihe elomonts of political economy. The Home Secretary 
 stopped the controversy by deciding that as the chaplain's 
 salary came out of funds made up out of fines and court fees 
 the Town Council harl no veto. It was a happy decision and 
 prevented further agitation, though the argument of the 
 Ffome Secretary is not quite so una-ssailablo as appeai-s at 
 first sight. 
 
 Having disposo<^l of Dr. Taylor, Mi-. Wliilty then turned 
 his attention t^) the liishop, who, until now, had been left 
 severely alone by the " Post." Dr. Goss began one of his 
 T^ent^n past^jfalfl in those t^rma : "The times in wliieh we live 
 "are not favourable to the work of our salvation. Wo are 
 
 ♦ Arrlidracon of Tiiverpool, fathnr of Mr. fJoralfl KyffmTaylor, 
 fleeted M.P. for Kirkrlaln, J\ily, 1010. He was much rcRported by 
 CatholicH in lato years, anfl on his rlciath the flag was hoisted half- 
 mast on the tower of St. Charles', Aigbiirth Road.
 
 158 
 
 ■ living iu a constaut whirl of excitement. The quiet old 
 ' times have passed away for ever. Even the lone farm house 
 
 on the outskirts of civilisation, and the hovel on the moss, 
 
 ■ are laid open to the busy world by some intei"secting line 
 
 ■ of railway, or by the busy purveyors of uews, who are 
 paid for gratifying the itching curiosity of busy idlers 
 panting for excitement. The penny post carries the scandal 
 
 ' of every village far and wide, and the penny paper daily 
 
 ' lays before its readers, all that is being done on the groat 
 stage of life. Public and private vices alike find room, if 
 
 ' they are only thought sufficiently exciting. The melan- 
 choly suicide, the desperate burglary, the cruel murder, 
 
 ' the dexterous robbery, the successful forgery, the daring 
 
 ■ theft, the insidious advertisement, the revolting details of 
 ' the divorce court, the coroner's inquests on the victims of 
 ' science and quackeries in the attempt to hide the shame of 
 ' crime, or conceal the guilt of murder, ara found side by 
 ' side with the horrors of distant battle fields, the success 
 ' of revolt and treason, and blasphemous sneers against the 
 
 ■ Mother of God, her Divine Son, or His anointed 
 ' ministers." This vigorous and picturesque epitome of the 
 
 contents of a daily journal illustrates the literary skill as 
 well as the outspokenness of the Bishop. In this case it was 
 the mere prelude to a straight talk with his flock on Lenten 
 duties, but Mr. Whitty fastened on it as a reflection on the 
 Press, and attacked the author iu equally vigorous language : 
 Pious and pure minded himself, he would make all others 
 good if he knew the way ; but unfortunately, in one direc- 
 tion at least, he has mistaken it. Dr. Goss, like used- 
 up aristocrats, associates cheapness with nastiness; he is 
 tolerant of papers at threepence, but reprobates papers at 
 one penny. The reports he objects to appear in the dear, 
 as well as in the cheap papers, with a difference : the 
 details are given more copiously in the former than in the 
 latter. If Dr. Goss knew a little more of humanity and 
 society than he does, he would not have fallen into the 
 error of good, but mistaken, people, in denouncing the 
 publication of proceedings in the Law Courts. What the 
 preacher says in the pulpit is excellent, but it is in part 
 an abstraction. It wants the apt and frightful illustration 
 which the newspaper furnishes. It is now a custom and a 
 fashion to affect an imitation of the past, and Dr. Gose, 
 disgTisted with all that is modern, laments that all that was 
 good has disappeared. This mode of misjudging is as 
 ancient as Homer; and the good Bishop of Liverpool only 
 errs a little more than Gladstone, who holds in as much 
 reverence the heroic ages in Greece, as Dr. Goss does the
 
 159 
 
 " middle ages in Europe."' As a matter of fact the Bishop 
 made no distinction between threepenny journals and penny- 
 ones, and beyond his reference to the " quiet old times,'" there 
 was no allusion, direct or implied, to the middle a,ges. Acting 
 generally upon the principle that his pastorals were intended 
 for the members of his flock alone, the Bishop rarely noticed 
 newspaper or platform criticisms, but the " Post,'" by its 
 lengthy reports of his speeches and sermons, made its Monday 
 editions the medium of conveying Dr. Goss's opinions to a 
 much larger constituency. He, however, waited his oppor- 
 tunity to reply to the above criticism, and gave Mr. Whitty 
 something to reflect upon, both as a Catholic and a journalist. 
 It is veiy probable that Dr. Goss would have refused to 
 notice the " Daily Post "' leader, had its author been a non- 
 Catholic. " The Press, ' he wrote, " has done much for the 
 "spread of knowledge and the defence of our liberties; but 
 " it exceeds its province when it ventures to discuss the 
 " mysteries of Divine revelation, or unravel the intricacies 
 " of theology. It weakens its own influence by going out of 
 " its sphere, and it is laying the foundation of its own ruin 
 " when it strives to depreciate every authority but its own. 
 " It presumes to lecture the Pope on theology, the Com- 
 " mander-in-Chief on military affairs, the Lord Chancellor 
 " on law, and the Prime Minister on affairs of State. It is a 
 " mighty engine, but it is too often made subservient to party 
 " views, irrespective of principle. It is considered as an 
 " investment of capital, and is worked with a view to the 
 " interests of shareholders. Its writers, though men of 
 " ability, are often devoid of political integrity, inasmucli as 
 " they write at the same time for papers of opposite politics. 
 " • • . . Within its proper sphere there is no more useful 
 " organ for the protection of right than the public press ; but, 
 " a.s men do not wish to see the pulpit converted into a 
 " platform for political discussion, so neither should the 
 " platform he converted into a pulpit for the discussion of 
 " religious topics." This was but tlio beginning of Dr. Goss's 
 writings and speeches on public matters, and of more than 
 one controversy with the editor of the '' Daily Post." In very 
 truth, during his long npisoopat-e. Dr. Goss was, in fact as in 
 name, the Bishop of Liverpool. 
 
 In November. lRfi3, Mr. James Whitty contested 
 V;Mixha1l Ward as the Liberal candidate against. Mr. Thomas 
 Kigby, and won tho soat by nineteen votes. Soon afterwards 
 tho Mayor announced that ho had invited Garibaldi to visit 
 Liverpool during his sojourn in England in order to offer him 
 civic hospitality. The three Catholic memhrrs of the Council. 
 MfwSMT'-- Sluil. Yates, mul Whitty, did not divide the Council
 
 160 
 
 against this proposal, contenting themselves with a protest. 
 The '■ Daily Post " accused them of " preferring the Pope to 
 '■ the Roman Catholic Church." Dr. Parsons, at a dinner in 
 the Catholic Club, eulogised the action of the three Councillors, 
 who, like himself, were devoted members of the Liberal Party, 
 whereupon Mr. Whitty, in a series of special articles written 
 under the nom-de-plume of " Roman Catholic," vigorously 
 assailed the doctor. In one of these contributions he advised 
 him to restrain his fiery eloquence, and to borrow a copy of 
 Dr. Lingard's " Histoiy of England " from Mr. James Whitty, 
 so that he might learn something of Papal opposition to 
 English liberty in the days of King John. Dr. Parsons wrote 
 several clever replies, but did not appear to quite appreciate the 
 significance of " Roman Catholic s " contention that Stephen 
 Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury, had been censured by 
 Pope Innocent for his share in forcing the King to concede 
 Magna Charta.* One sentence in the " Post " created intense 
 irritation : " The Father of the Faithful is obliged to surround 
 " himself with foreign troops, lest his people might force him 
 "to do them justice." These articles, widely read as they 
 were by all classes, made the position of Catholic public men 
 almost intolerable; hampered in their public work, their 
 charitable projects hindered in their development, worried 
 with anxiety lest the humbler members of the Catholic body 
 should take to reprisals, as in Birkenhead, their position was 
 not at all enviable. Fortunately, Garibaldi did not visit the 
 town, being recalled to Italy, where a renewal of the war 
 against the Papal States was threatened. His name, however, 
 became the rallying cry of party ; the Constitutional Con- 
 servatives boldly availing themselves of the halo which 
 surrounded the revolutionary leader. A bye-election was 
 fought in St. Anne's Ward. Mr. James Fairhurst, who had 
 done much useful service on the Select Vestry, standing as 
 the Liberal candidate. Being a Catholic, the Tory leaders 
 hoped to defeat him by reason of the feelings aroused over the 
 question of the Temporal Power of the Pope, and the protest 
 made agaiijst a civic reception being accorded to Garibaldi. 
 The usual party cries were dropped ; the Pope and Garibaldi 
 were skilfully kept before the eyes of the electors. Fortu- 
 nately, Mr. Fairhurst's long services to his party, and his 
 personal worth, kept the bulk of the Liberal electors on hLs 
 side, and he secured the seat by a narrow majority. At the 
 same moment Mr. Henry Sharpies was appointed a magistrate, 
 thus maintaining the prestige of the Catholic body. 
 
 * The chapter on this Hubject in Dr. Lingard's History, will 
 well reward the Catholic reader.
 
 161 
 
 About this time another " religioxis disturbance " arose 
 at Brownlow Hill. Father Thomas Wilson, who had acted as 
 chaplain at the fever wards, caught the deadly infection, and 
 after one year's service in the mission, at the early age of 28 
 years, died of typhus fever on April 13, 1864. From want of 
 experience he had committed several minor indiscretions from 
 the point of view of the Vestry, which was on the eve of 
 passing a vote of censure when the fatal illness seized him. 
 Mr. James Whitty, in order to lessen the mortality which 
 dogged the footsteps of every priest entering the fever wards, 
 suggested that the Vestry consent to a rota of seven clergymen 
 being arranged so that the duty of ministering in the deadly 
 atmosphere might not fall so heavily on any individual priest. 
 The Guardians had no appreciation of the heroism of such men, 
 nor of the motives which induced them to undertake such 
 duties, and consequently refused to listen to the suggestion. 
 Bishop Goss refused to maintain silence in such circumstances. 
 He wrote to the Vestry reminding them that the Rev. Dr. 
 Roskell had lost his life from the infection of the Brownlow 
 Hill fever wards, and to excite their generosity mentioned the 
 fact that this heroic priest had declined promotion in the 
 Church that he might live only for the fever-stricken poor of 
 the Parish of Liverpool. As to the late chaplain, Father 
 Wilson, his decease was a serious loss to the Catholic body, as 
 he was a master of the Greek, Latin, German, French, and 
 Italian languages, a profound student of Hebrew and Anglo- 
 Saxon, and was marked out for high distinction in the world 
 of education. The " Daily Post " made its first onslaught on 
 the Dissenters because of the illiberal votes given by their 
 representatives on the Vestry in this connection. " Dissenters 
 " scarcely ever have sufficient wisdom to prefer plain sense to 
 " crotchets. . . . It is not often we agree with the 
 " Bishop; but it is simple justice to say that no public writer 
 " could have more justly laid down the duty of the Workhouse 
 "Committee, or enforced it with more cogency." A rota of 
 three priests was eventually agreed to — Father Cotham, S.J., 
 St. Francis Xaviors; Fnthf>r r.onnir,* O.M.I., Holy Cross; 
 Father Van Hee, Our Lady's, Eldon Street. 
 
 The Catholic population of the Parish of Liver- 
 pool began in the early sixties to flow eastwards, 
 from the congested areas of Scotland, Vauxhall, 
 Exchange, and St. Anne's Wards. In 18G1, tho 
 proportion of Catholic marriages in the parish to the total 
 number solemnised in all other churches and chapels in the 
 
 • Father Lenoir celebrated his goidon jubilee in Kimberloy, South 
 
 Africa, in 1910. 
 
 K
 
 162 
 
 eame area was 23 per cent., which fell to 19 in the two 
 
 following years, the actual figures being 868, 692, 768. This 
 proportion is some evidence of the changing character of the 
 population. Temporary provision had been made in St. 
 George's Schools, West Derby Road, to meet the wants of the 
 residents of that district in so far as Sunday Mass. The 
 erection of a permanent church was decided upon, and on 
 May 8, 1864, Bishop Goss laid the foundation-stone of St. 
 Michael's. He opened the new church on September 24th of 
 the following year, Dr. Dorrian, then coadjutor Bishop of 
 Down and Connor, preaching the first sermon ; Father George 
 Porter, S.J., occupying the pulpit in the evening. Father 
 Tobin was the first rector. 
 
 St. Patrick's parish had become so extensive and populous 
 that a school-chapel, dedicated to Our Lady of Mount Carmel, 
 waa built and opened in November, 1866. Archbishop 
 Errington preached on this occasion. Father Michael Donnelly 
 was placed in charge of this new outpost of the Faith in Toxteth 
 Park. In the north end. Father Seed, the indefatigable 
 Rector of St. Alban's, undertook to provide school accommo- 
 dation for one thousand children. Land wa^ bought in 
 Boundary Street, and on July 15, 1866, the Bishop blessed the 
 foundation-stone. The provision of these two schools was 
 evidence of the foresight of the Bishop and clergy in antici- 
 pating the passing of a new Education Act with compulsory 
 education and School Boards as its main features. In view 
 of the meagre assistance given by the Education Department 
 of that day to voluntary schools, the financial burden on 
 parishes such as the two mentioned, was a strain which was 
 relieved only by the consolation that it was undertaken for the 
 glory of God. Greater sacrifices loomed ahead, as will be 
 seen later, with the changes in education law, and were quite 
 as cheerfully undertaken. 
 
 These developments had the eflFect of needlessly irritating 
 Dr. Hugh McNeill, who renewed his public attacks on the 
 Church. Unmindful of the fact that notoriety is the life 
 ambition of certain types of controversialists, two priests 
 entered the lists, and secured for Dr. McNeill exactly what 
 he desired, renewed public interest in his lectures against 
 Catholicism, which only too often sounded depths quite 
 unworthy of his undoubted knowledge and ability. Father E. 
 Powell, secretary to the Bishop, wrote a series of letters to the 
 newspapers defending Catholics from the very slanderous 
 statements which were recklessly made against them, and then 
 Father E. Guy, O.S.B., took up the challenge and attracted 
 large congregations to Seel Street by his sermons on these
 
 163 
 
 controversial topics. Reading these letters, lectures, and 
 sermons in cold print, one is compelled to admire the learning, 
 literary ability, and enthusiasm of their authors, while 
 regretting that such energy was wasted in a futile discussion 
 which temporarily revived a feeling of bitterness between some 
 sections of the inhabitants. Liverpool seems to have the 
 unenviable peculiarity of latent intolerance bursting forth into 
 red heat just when all sections have settled down into complete 
 harmony in civic or social work for the good of the masses. 
 The extreme Irish Nationalists a few months before this waste 
 oi words created consternation in purely Catholic circles by an 
 unexpected demonstration against Mr. A. M. Sullivan, editor 
 of the historic Irish weekly, the Dublin " Nation." He visited 
 Liverpool, in March, 1864, to deliver a lecture in aid of the 
 schools of St. Mary, Woolton. The subject of his address was 
 " Napoleon the First.'' His reputation as an orator attracted 
 a crowded audience in the Concert Hall, Lord Nelson Street, 
 and Father Bernard O'Reilly occupied the chair. A number 
 of Irishmen holding strong political views, in order to 
 emphasise their disagreement with some opinions which Mr. 
 Sullivan had expressed in the editorial columns of his paper, 
 created a disturbance at ^.his gathering. The reverend chair- 
 man warmly rebuked the interrupters for their behaviour at 
 a meeting held with the sole purpose of helping a Catholic 
 school, and Mr. Sullivan* stated that the disturbers had 
 crossed over from Dublin to give him annoyance. Some 
 Liverpool men did take a share in creating the "scene," the 
 first sign of the growth in England of a new school of Irish 
 Nationalist thought. 
 
 On the first day of November, 1865, Mr. John Yates 
 retired from Catstle Street Ward to contest Vauxhall, and 
 dfifeated Mr. R. R. Minton by thirty-eight votes. On the 
 samo day Mr. James Fairhurst lost his seat in St. Anne's 
 Ward by fifteen votes, and was elected for Scotland Ward on 
 the retirement of Mr. Clarke Aspinall. Mr. Richard Sheil 
 had the unique experience of being olectx^d an alderman of 
 Liverpool twenty-four years after his deprivation of the game 
 honour aft/cr the famous municipal elections of 1841. During 
 the Vauxhall contest Mr. Minton asKrrted that no less than 
 twenty thousand perHons rowidod in fifty small streets in the 
 ward. The " Liverpool Mercury," on October 26th, called 
 attention to the indifference of the Town Council to matters of 
 public health, declaring that the death-rate was no lower than 
 
 •A. M. Rullivan, M.P. for Moafh and Loufh, I/cador of tho 
 Temperance Movement, and a brilliant advocate of tho Home Rule 
 Movement.
 
 164 
 
 twenty years earlier. Mr. Minton admitted that the death- 
 rate in Vauxhall Ward was 42 per thousand of the estimated 
 population. Epidemics of disease were frequent, and carried 
 off large numbers of the poorer classes. The Medical Officer 
 of the Corporation reported that in Great Crosshall 
 Street, Marybone, and Fontenoy Street, an area of 63,609 
 superficial yards, there were living 1,993 families, consisting 
 of 9,632 persons. During the year 1865, 116 of these had 
 died from fever, especially typhus. The Government of the 
 day sent a special Medical Commissioner, Dr. Buchanan, to 
 enquire into the outbreaks of typhus in this and other areas in 
 Liverpool. He reported that 60 per cent, of the attacks 
 occurred among young people under twenty years of age, and 
 quoted with approval the opinion of Professor Christiansen 
 that typhus only assumed an epidemic character at periods of 
 great want among the labouring classes. The Commissioner 
 added that from his own observation, " where there is starva- 
 " tion there is most frequently typhus." Liverpool's Medical 
 Officer attributed the ravages of the disease to " poverty, 
 "overcrowding, and filth." The greatest sufferers by far 
 were Irish. Under the conditions named by medical experts, 
 great masses of people were existing, with consequent moral 
 as well as physical deterioration, both of which told against the 
 spiritual fervour of the people as compared with that of the 
 first Irish comers to the town. The rescue work and gaol 
 statistics of the next chapter must be read in conjunction with 
 this frightful picture of poverty and its concomitants in a large 
 town.
 
 165 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 The working boys' home, nowadays a oommon feature of 
 rescue work among children, was first established in 1865, by 
 Father Henry Gibson,* visiting priest to the Kirkdale schools. 
 It IS gratifying to Catholics, especially in Liverpool, that a 
 priest of this diocese was half a centviry ahead of all social 
 reformers in inaugurating this splendid system of aiding the 
 child wage earner. It occurred to Father Gibson, as the 
 natural outcome of the Liverpool movement to find situations 
 for the poor children under the care of the Select Vestry. He 
 had had a wide and varied experience of the children of the 
 poor and wretched. Long before the passage into law of the 
 Prison Chaplains Act, he had undertaken, at the request of 
 Bishop Goss, to visit the Kirkdale gaol, where his experience 
 of juvenile prisoners gave him a special knowledge of the 
 causea which, in Liverpool, conspired to create criminals. 
 Knowing the bottom cause it was easy to find the remedy. 
 He began by taking into his own house eleven boys who had 
 been found employment in Liverpool by the Catholic Club 
 Committee, and whose earnings were, as yet, too small to 
 pay for suitable board and lodging. His health gave way under 
 the strain of the serious efforts he put forth to save the Catholic 
 child from moral destruction. He was the author of a well 
 known series of instructions, " Gibson's Catechism made 
 " easy," derived from those given by him as chaplain of the 
 Kirkdale schools, and a series of " Lives of the Saints." His 
 name deserves to be held in the affectionate remembrance of 
 every lover of child life, and the prayerful recollection of 
 the Catholics of Liverpool. He left Liverpool in 1871, and 
 diod at Holton-le-Sands, March 7th, 1907. The j^reat layman 
 who was his active colleague in this meritorious work, Mr. Jamos 
 Whitty, retired from the Select Vestry in 1865, in favour of 
 Mr. Thomas Martin. Twelve years' servico in Brnwnlow Hill 
 entitled him to a rest, and though he took up the more 
 honoured, but lees useful, work of a Town Councillor, his 
 place at the Select Vcwtry was never adequately fillr<l. 
 Spnakin;:^ on March 20th. 1805,1 he threw light on ihr- fearful 
 leakage of Catholic children under Poor Law management. 
 
 •B'oMicr of Mr. OibRon, of th" firni of R«>3mol(lH A OibBon, an<1 
 Tinclo of Colonfl J. T'. FlpynoldH, .T.P., who, ftH honorary prnidcnt, of 
 Father T'crrv'H Tfom^.i, Rhaw Rtropt, fltill rarrios on tbo gloriouR 
 work founded fortv-fivo voarB ago by hiH nainfly rolative. 
 t Beo " Daily PoHt," March 2lBt, 1866.
 
 166 
 
 When he joined the Veetry in 1853, no creed register was 
 kept in the workhouse, and, in consequence, out of a total 
 of one thousand only sixty children heard Mass, a fearful 
 heritage for the children of the Irish famine. On the day of 
 his retirement from the Vestry, six hundred and sixty, out 
 of a total of twelve hundred, were being fully instructed in 
 the faith of their fathers. Father James Nugent now stepped 
 in as the protector of all poor children in the town which 
 gave him birth, and his magnificent work in this sphere alone, 
 iiTcspective of his other multifarious activities, raised for 
 him an imperishable monument in the hearts and minds of 
 his fellow townsmen,* and incidentally raised the status of 
 the Catholic body in a town traditionally Pntestant. As 
 early as 1849, he established, with the help of Mrs. Baines, 
 a bouse in Spitalfields, to feed and provide a bed for the poor 
 waifs who had begun at that early date to infest the streets 
 of Liverpool. They belonged entirely to the race from which 
 the worthy priest himself had sprung, for the famine years , 
 made an impression on him which was never effaced. Later 
 on, in the sixties, he opened a house in Soho Street, and 
 finding the task of maintaining it unaided beyond his means, 
 his practical mind suggested the idea of enlisting the active 
 sympathy of the young men of the town, especially those of 
 the middle classes. For this purpose he organised a meeting 
 in the Catholic Club, where he laid his proposals before a 
 representative gathering of young men. The personal magnet- 
 ism of the enthusiastic young priest secured for him at the 
 very outset the co-operation of a willing band of workers. 
 The new organisation bore the title, " the Association of 
 " Providence for the protection of oi-phan and destitute 
 " boy8."t Numerous meetings were held in various parte of 
 the town to gain sympathy and enlist workers, and to make the 
 subscribers feel their share in the good work, Father Nugent 
 arranged that they were allowed to nominate any child in 
 their various districts for admission to the new institution. 
 Father Nugent had no particular political proclivities . To do 
 the work which lay at his own door was the cardinal feature 
 of his life's work, leaving statesmen and politicians to deal 
 with the causes which provided him with so large a sphere 
 
 • Father Nugent was ordained in St. Nicholas, August 30th, 1846, 
 probably the first ordination in Liverpool. After eight years study 
 in Ushaw and Rome, spent two-and-a-half years in missionary work 
 in Blackburn and Wiean. Recalled to Liverpool on New Year's 
 Day, 1849, and spent the remainder of his life there. 
 
 t More than thirty years later one of his latest institutions has 
 a somewhat similar title : the House of Providence, West Dingle, 
 Toxtcth Park.
 
 167 
 
 for his philanthropic work. He had mo&t certainly a warm 
 comer in his heart for the Irish race, but this did not 
 prevent him from pointing out the follies and vices of his 
 countrymen in England. Herein lay the bottom cause of his 
 general unpopularity at that time, and in later years with the 
 growing Nationalist party, which looked to the removal of 
 the causes of Irish emigration, while he set his heart 
 upon the curing of the results, and at the same time 
 removing the prejudices which confused crime and strong 
 drink with Irish blood and Catholic faith. At this first 
 meeting, Father Nugent claimed the special help of the better 
 class Irishmen on the ground that ninety-five per cent, of the 
 poor children running about the streets bore Irish names. 
 
 One of his first recruits was Mr. John Denvir, a cultured 
 Irishman, who was the head and front of the Nationalist 
 organisation in Liverpool until his appointment, in 1885, as 
 chief organiser of the Irish movement in England, Wales and 
 Scotland, necessitated his removal to London, where he now 
 resides. He was the first governor of the Boys' Refuge, and 
 first editor of the " Catholic Times." His fine literary gifte 
 resulted in the foundation of the " Irish Library ; " the 
 establishment and editorship of two local papers, " The 
 " United Irishman " and the " Nationalist " ; his latest work, 
 published a few years since, being a well-written and copious 
 history of the Irish in Great Britain. He had often been 
 invited to take a seat in Parliament for an Irish constituency, 
 but preferred to remain outside performing work more in 
 harmony with his great gifts, notably that of organising the 
 Irish vote in Groat Britain. Having taken the teetotal 
 pledge from Father Mathew, he naturally found himself in 
 a congenial atmosphere when Father Nugent added the 
 crusade against drink to his many undertakings. His name 
 figures as s&crctary of the first mooting of the Association of 
 Providence hold in the Bevington Theatre in 1865. 
 
 The neglect of the authorities to deal ofTectivoly with 
 juvenile " criminals " ia eloquently told in the Police Report of 
 tho Hear! Const-ablo in 1865. No ]nm than 833 children wore 
 dealt with undor the Juvenile OfTendrrs Act during tho 
 previous year, hut owing to the apathy of tho police in the 
 first inst^-incp, and t<o orrtAin defects in the ma(-hinery pre- 
 acribed by th<^ Act, dnflpiio the strenuous cfTorts of the 
 fltipendiary Mfigistrate, only 13 were committed to the 
 reformatory ships, Akbar and Clarence. Some idea of the 
 shocking condition of I^iverpool child life may be gleaned 
 from the following table, giving tho figures of children tried
 
 168 
 
 before the magistratee for vagrancy, begging, thieving and 
 
 kiiidied offences. 
 
 1862 1863 1864 1865 
 
 Under ten years of age 112 87 83 49 
 
 Ten to twelve years 252 208 222 210 
 
 Twelve to fourteen 323 430 429 356 
 
 Fourteen to sixteen 472 578 565 610 
 
 1,159 1,303 1,299 1,225 
 
 In comparing these figures with later years it must be 
 borne in mind that later Acts of Parliament created a large 
 number of offences for which young people for their own 
 protection might be charged before the magistrates, and it 
 should also be borne in mind that neither the police nor the 
 public were as keen on saving the child as a generation which 
 came under the influence of a Nugent, a Garrett, or a Major 
 Lester. 
 
 Father Nugent had undertaken the secretaryship cf the 
 Clarence Committee, and his experience of that work, as well 
 as his wider and more varied work in the gaol, gave his public 
 utterances greater weight than would have attached to a less 
 experienced man. In the prison he met not only the adult, 
 but the child committed there for serious offences against 
 property. His first annual report to the magistrates contains 
 the very significant statement that out of 5,281 " Catholica'' 
 committed from September 30, 1863, to the same month of the 
 following year only sixteen men and four women " attended 
 " church " when outside the prison walls. "When Catholics of 
 Irish birth or descent cease to attend Mass, moral degradation 
 has certainly overwhelmed them. These annual Reports are 
 of interest too, as throwing light upon certain causes which 
 tended to the committal of crime, and Father Nugent did not 
 hesitate to point them out to his townsmen in the hope that 
 they would be removed by political action. The want of 
 education in adults, who as children had been excluded from 
 the Council schools, and the absence of compulsory attendance 
 from the Statute Book, to mention two causes only, were doing 
 deadly wrong. The proportion of males in Walton Gaol who 
 could neither read nor write was 45 per cent. ; in the case of 
 female prisoners 54 per cent. A Catholic has views of his 
 own as to what constitutes real education, and Father Nugent, 
 in his capacity as a priest, after fifteen years' experience, 
 appraised the value of mere secular knowledge at its real value. 
 In one of the Reports* he wrote: " Education is not an absolute 
 " preservative against crime, yet it must always be an incal- 
 
 • October, 1864.
 
 169 
 
 " cnlable advantage towards gaining an honest livelihood, to 
 " make a position in a town like Liverpool." He was referring 
 to the casual labour which, then as now, is such a fruitful 
 cause of poverty and drink. It was the curse of the Irish 
 labourer who came to Liverpool after the famine with 
 nothing to depend upon but his physical strength. Deprived 
 of the discipline implied in the acquisition of a definite trade, 
 he was exposed to t,rials and difficulties which tended towards 
 moral deterioration, and was, with various other minor causes, 
 a fruitful source of intemperance. Father Nugent observed 
 this dread fact, and kept records of the history of every person 
 coming under his supervision in Walton Gaol, to drive home 
 the full significance of the evil of casual labour. In January, 
 1866, he published some of these records. Male prisoners : 
 1,002 labourers, 103 hawkers, 87 servants, 25 shoeblacks, 200 
 sailors, and 312 mechanics. The figures on the female side 
 of the gaol are much more painful in significance 607 
 followed no occupation, 369 were basket women, 88 char- 
 women, and 964 were prostitutes. The Catholic males 
 comprised 61 per cent, of the total male inmates of Walton 
 Gaol, and the Catholic females 62 per cent, of the female 
 inmates. Contrast these figures with the Catholic population 
 in the prisons fifteen and twenty years earlier and the reader 
 will realise the change which had come over the faxie of 
 Liverpool. " From a careful analysisof the year 1865," wrote 
 Father Nugent, " four-fifths of the crime of the Irish people 
 " came from 75 per oent. of those who are de/pendent upon 
 " contingent labour. They are the first to suffer, and the 
 " last to benefit by any change in the commerce of the town." 
 It is not without its significance that out of 2,099 prisoners 
 in one year, 1,022 had been born iri Liverpool. The Liverpool 
 "Daily Post" in an editorial on the 1865 Report, observed 
 that, in Ireland, highway robbery, theft or burglary were 
 almost unknown. " No people in the world, perhaps, excel 
 " more in family affection than the Irish Their conduct 
 " wh'*n they go abroad testifies to this fine quality in their 
 " naturo, and Liverpool merchants pass abundant proofs 
 " through their hands of the pecuniary contributions made 
 " to their poor relatives at home." The following detailed 
 statement of the nationality, religion, education and occupa- 
 tion of all the prisoners committed to the borough gaol, 
 during the year ending September 30th, 1864. was found 
 among Father Nugent'a papers.* It is in his own hand- 
 writinij, and was most likely circulated by him privately in 
 high Catholic circles to s^cnre active support for the Refor- 
 
 • Lent by the Very Rov. Canon PinniDgton to the writer.
 
 170 
 
 matory Association founded in June, 18G5, in the archdiocese 
 of Weetniinfiter. 
 
 To enable the reader to appreciate the real significanoe 
 of the tables, Father Nugent was careful to define clearly 
 the meaning of the terms he employed. 
 
 Felony. — All offences against property; against the 
 Criminal Justices' Act, Juvenile Offenders for Reformatory, 
 Juvenile Offenders Act; whether summarily dealt with or 
 convicted at Sessions. 
 
 Vagrancy. — All persons tried and convicted at the 
 Sessions; those remanded for further enquiries and after- 
 wards discharged at the Police Courts; misdemeanours; not 
 accounting for ; and all offences against the Merchant Shipping 
 Act. 
 
 Assaults. — All offences against the person, wounding, 
 grievous bodily harm and threatening. 
 
 The following figures are then tabulated. 
 
 Malbs. 
 
 Catholics. Protestants. 
 
 Felony 336 433 
 
 Assaults 708 470 
 
 Vagrancy 869 898 
 
 Drunkenness 825 479 
 
 2,738 2,280 
 
 Females. 
 
 Catholics. Protestants. 
 
 Felony 248 215 
 
 Assaults 431 246 
 
 Vagrancy and Prostitution ... 1,520 772 
 
 Drunkenness 884 579 
 
 3,083 1,812 
 
 Closer examination of these figures shew that drunken- 
 ness accounts for 30" 1 per cent., and accounts for 25 9, or in 
 other words 56 per cent, of the Catholic male prisoners were 
 convicted for these two classes of offences. Vagrancy acoounte 
 for 31-7 and felony for only 12*3 per cent, of the whole 
 convictions, 2,738 in number. In this case of Catholic 
 females, felony occurred only in 8 per cent of the convictions; 
 assault* 14 per cent.; drunkenness 28"7 ; vagrancy and pros- 
 titution, 49*3. The following table shows the proportions ae 
 between prisoners professing to be Catholics or Protestants : —
 
 171 
 
 Catholic Maxes. Protestant Males. 
 
 Felony 123 per cent. ... 19 percent. 
 
 Drunkenness 31-1 ,, ... 20 6 ,, 
 
 Assaults 25-9 „ ... 21 
 
 Vagrancy 317 „ ... 39-4 
 
 
 100 100 
 
 Catholic Females. Protestant Females. 
 
 Felony 8 percent. ... 119 per cent. 
 
 Drunkenness .... 28-7 ,, ... 319 „ 
 
 Assaults 14 „ ... 13-6 
 
 Vagrancy and 
 
 Prostitution .. 49-3 „ ... 426 ,, 
 
 100 100 
 
 Sixty-six per cent, of the Catholic male prisoners were 
 labourers, against 50 per cent, of the Protestant; Catholic 
 mechanics, 22 per cent. ; Protestants, 28 per cent. ; Catholic 
 sailors, 8 f>er cent. ; Protestante, 14 per cent.. The remainder 
 came under the headings of no occupation, shopmen, clerks, 
 dealers, shopkeepers. On the female side no less than 40 per 
 cent, came under the ominous description of no occupation 
 (excluding all the prostitutes), and very few indeed were 
 domestic servants. This last-named fact made a deep impres- 
 sion on Father Nugent's mind, and explains his lifelong 
 insistence on the value of domestic training for girls belonging 
 to the working classes. As time went on he realised more 
 and more the deplorable results accruing from wives of 
 labourers and other ill-paid classes of labour having had no 
 training in the management of a household before marriage. 
 Father Nugent then proceeds in this valuable memorandum 
 to make an analysis of the birthplace of the Catholic prisoners, 
 from which we learn which portions of Ireland contributed 
 their quota to the crowded alleys and streets. 
 
 luisn-noKN Malkb. 
 
 Leinster. Connaught. Ulster. Munster. 
 
 649 566 337 205 
 
 The County and City of Dublin alone acj:^ounted for 52 
 
 per cent, of Leinstor's total. Analysing the Connaught 
 
 immigrants, wo find that tho County Mayo supplied 295; 
 
 Galway, 138; Roscommon, 59; Sligo, 58; Leitrim, 16. The 
 
 greater number of the Ulster prisoners came from Belfast. 
 
 TlUBH-ISOKN FeMALKR. 
 
 Leinster. Connaught. Ulster. Munster. 
 936 571 412 274
 
 172 
 
 As in the case of the malee, Dublin County and City 
 account for 54 per cent, of Leinster "crime"; Mayo, 258; 
 Galway, 149; Roscommon, 74; Sligo, 67; Leitrim, 21. 
 
 Two cases are not recorded. The educational status of 
 the prisoners tells its own story of misgovernment at home and 
 denial of opportunities in Liverpool. Forty-four per cent, of 
 the Irish-born males were quite unable to read or write, 43*3 
 per cent, of Liverpool-born Catholics being in the same posi- 
 tion ; 55-6 per cent, of Irish-born females were also illiterate, 
 compared with 57'2 of Liverpool-born Catholic women. It will 
 come as a surprise to most Irish readers to find that the 
 Province of Leinster, and especially the County of Dublin, had 
 sent so many immigrants into Liverpool. No doubt, in the 
 years immediately following 1847 an immense number of Con- 
 naught-born persons arrived in Liverpool, but save on the 
 hypothesis that they were more virtuous, more industrious, 
 and more sober, which is not to be lightly accepted as a fact, 
 it is a strange phenomenon that such a small percentage found 
 their way to Walton Gaol. On the other hand, it is equally 
 difficult to believe that Leinster and County Dublin men had 
 a double dose of original sin, and that the number of prisoners 
 was therefore out of all proportion to the actual number 
 immigrating into and settling in Liverpool. Nor can the 
 numbers be accounted for by reason of the large number of 
 weekly sailings between Dublin and Liverpool, as Wexford, 
 Dundalk, and Drogheda were in quite as close communication. 
 The more likely view is that the Connaught people did not 
 settle down in Liverpool in such large numbers as is believed.* 
 
 The Inspector of Reformatory Schools wrote a very signifi- 
 cant Report to the Home Secretary in 1865 on the subject 
 of juvenile offenders against the law. He said it was 
 attributable " to the rapid rate at which the lower classes, 
 " especially of Irish labourers, immigrate to the great centres 
 " of employment, crowding the already overcrowded dwellings 
 " more and more, and throwing thousands of neglected, 
 " untaught children on the streets and allies (sic) for exercise 
 " and recreation." This gentleman had evidently keen powers 
 of observation, and put his finger on the main causes which 
 led to the demoralisation of child life in Liverpool and other 
 large centres. His observations are a complete defence of the 
 position taken up by Irish Nationalists that misgovernment 
 in Ireland being responsible directly for the Irish land system, 
 the " British garrison " in Ireland, it was to blame for the 
 
 * Denvir's "Irish in Britain" corroborates this view: "hardy 
 Connanght men generally passed through Liverpool on their way 
 to the English agricultiual conntics."
 
 173 
 
 consequences, which included the overcrowding of English 
 cities and towns. Her Majesty's Inspector was not a politician, 
 however, and could not suggest in any event the Home Rule 
 solution of the problem ; he could but suggest compulsory 
 attendance at elementary schools. 
 
 In the Soho Street Refuge there was provision for only 38 
 children permanently, and on on-e night 647 wretched lads had 
 been provided with a meal, and a makeshift arrangement had 
 to be made to provide 134 with a night's shelter.* It may be 
 observed in passing that many of these children were not 
 Irish, as Father Nugent, to avoid sectarian difficulties and 
 the odious charge of proselytism, had publicly pledged his 
 word to take in Protestant boys, and hand them over next 
 morning to the managers of the Everton Terrace Ragged 
 School. In this way he won the confidence of all classes, and 
 maintained it to the end of his life. There were many leading 
 Catholic laymen who attributed the growth of criminality in 
 young men and women to the workhouse system. In a con- 
 troversy with the Rev. Thomas Carter, Protestant Chaplain 
 of Walton Gaol, Mr. J. Neale Lomax wrote that, " the main 
 " portion of the criminals came from the workhouse. It cannot 
 " be otherwise so long as Guardians send out children, babies 
 " of thirteen years, almost without education, either religious 
 " or profane, into the world to shift for themselves." The 
 Liverpool Select Vestry was considerably in advance of its 
 time in providing separate schools at Kirkdale. Throughout 
 England, however. Guardians were indifferent to child train- 
 ing ; in Liverpool it was not so. What the Select Vestry did 
 do was to put obstacles, from a Catholic point of view, in the 
 way of children receiving full Catholic instruction, and this 
 was the thought running in Mr. Lomax's mind. He quoted 
 with deadly effect the following opinion expressed in the 
 Police Court in October, 1853, by the Stipendiary Magistrate: 
 " From time to time the young female prisoners in the dock 
 " say they have been brought up in the Kirkdale Schools. 
 " This must be a very unsuccessful institution, else so many 
 " of its scholars would not bo brought up before mo." Five 
 years later, 1858, Mr. Brown, the Poor Law Inspector, wrote 
 that the schools were a" failure," an opinion which ho modified 
 after a clo.ser examination. Catholic opinion was unanimous 
 in condemning the results of the Kirkdale training. Father 
 Henry Gibson spoke serious words of warning against the 
 character of the religious training. Morning and evening 
 prayers by eight hundred children, left to the supervision 
 " of a boy and a girl," and sent out to church without much 
 
 •See Mr. John Denvir'a letter, " Daily Post," February, 1867.
 
 174 
 
 if any supervision,* were not likely to impress young minds 
 with the necessity or importance of church attendance in after 
 life. Indeed, the priest had on one occasion declared that 
 boys from Kirkdale were rapidly transformed into thieves. t 
 Thanks to the numerous concessions won by Mr. James Whitty, 
 and the new scheme for securing employment and lodging 
 for Catholic children, these dangers were being rapidly 
 removed, but it was seriously urged that the non-churchgoers 
 who were found in Walton by Father Nugent had come in the 
 main from the workhouse children. Father Nugent carefully 
 avoided any recriminations, preferring to deal with the circum- 
 stances which surrounded children in the late sixties. To 
 public men accustomed to ten years' working of an Act to 
 regulate street trading children,! it will come as a proof of 
 the foresight of Father Nugent, that in January, 1866, he 
 said: " If street trading by children under fourteen years of 
 " age were checked juvenile offences would decrease." The 
 experience of the Liverpool Watch Committee has juartified 
 this belief, and the extension of similar powers to the whole 
 country will do much to improve the moral tone of the street 
 traders of the nation. || 
 
 To enlist the aid of enlightened Protestantism in Liver- 
 pool for the salvation of the child was Father Nugent's greatest 
 service to the Church in Liverpool, if not the whole of Eng- 
 land. It broke down barriers, scotched prejudice where it did 
 not make it hide its head in shame, created a more tolerant 
 atmosphere, and, what was more important still, brought 
 about the recognition of the social work performed by the 
 priests of the town, and its influence on the chareicter of the 
 Catholic citizen. On February 15, 1865, Liverpool was sur- 
 prised to find that Father Nugent had secured the aid of the 
 new Stipendiary, Mr. T. Stamford Raffles, in his crusade for 
 the salvation of the neglected child. He had organised a 
 public meeting in St. George's Hall to inaugurate the new 
 movement, which made him the most prominent citizen of the 
 town. That Mr. George Melly sat beside the Stipendiary wac 
 no surprise ; his fine public spirit knew no distinction of party, 
 creed, or race. The following year, November 28, 1866, 
 Father Nugent achieved a greater sTiccess when in the Small 
 Concert Hall, St. George's Hall, he gathered around him 
 nearly every member of the Town Council, Conservative and 
 Liberal alike ; the Protestant Chaplain of Walton Gaol, and 
 his own co-religionist. Lord Howard of Glossop, M.P., in 
 
 ♦ " Daily Post," February 20, 1866. 
 
 t J. N. Lomax, Catholic Club, 1866. 
 
 J Passed in 1899 for Liverpool, at the instance of the City Coimcil. 
 
 II Now happily the law of the land.
 
 175 
 
 support of his rescue work in Soho Street. In his speech at 
 this memorable gathering he stated that, diiring the past year 
 of its working, the Association of Providence had dealt with 
 four hundred children, mostly on their personal application 
 at Soho Street. Of these thirteen had found a permanent 
 residence in the Beacon Lane Orphanage. He gave particulars 
 of the ages of these child applicants for assistance. One was 
 three years of age; two, four years; 18, six years; 34, seven 
 years; 21, eight years; 28, nine years; 22, ten years; 38, 
 eleven years; and 44, twelve years. The remainder ranged 
 from thirteen upwards. He had also undertaken the leading 
 part in the management of St. George's Industrial School, 
 West Derby Road, and to wipye oflF a debt of £5,000, which had 
 been incurred in providing that institution, obtained the 
 services of Mr. John Farn worth, Mayor of the town, who pre- 
 sided at the St. George's Hall meeting, supported by a large 
 number of non-Catholic philanthropists. On that day, October 
 22, 1866, was inaugurated that civic acknowledgment of 
 Catholic charities of such character, wliich, happily for Liver- 
 pool, still continues. In this year the Liverpool Town Council 
 voted £1,500 towards fitting up the " Clarence " Training 
 Ship, whereupon the Orange Association forwarded a strong 
 protest against any further help being given, " because the 
 " propagation of the doctrines of the Church of Homo are 
 " contrary to the spirit of the Constitution as established at 
 " the Reformation, which has made this country the most 
 " wealthy, happy, and free of all the nations in Europe.' 
 Among the four signatories to this protest occurs the name of 
 Mr. Joseph Ball, afterwards Lord Mayor of the city in 1905. 
 To the great disappointment of Catholic workers in the rescue 
 of children, Bishop Goss made an attack on the Reformatory 
 and Industrial Schools system. " I am not one of those who 
 " believe that compulsory reformation, any more than com- 
 " pulsory education, will prove in tlie long run a very great 
 " benefit. ... I do not think that compulsion will make 
 " any man good. You may watch him, you may guard him, 
 " but at the same time there are means of vice which he may 
 " gratify in ffj)ite of even pan-ntal care or the striclcst watch- 
 " fulnesK. T am averse to anything like compulsion ; and I 
 " must say that I regret the enactment of these reformatory 
 " laws ; T think it is a retrogade step. 1 regret that laws have 
 " been passed which take away the freedom of the young before, 
 " almost, they may bo said to come within the meshes of the 
 " laws of the country, for they have the effect of taking away 
 " fhildren who have no settled means of livelihood, but are 
 ' found wandering ab(»ut the streets. Still, it is the law, and
 
 176 
 
 " therefore it is our duty to endeavour to provide for those 
 " whom the law commits to our care." The Bishop went on to 
 argue " that education was a parental duty, and wo ought to 
 " be jealous of the State slipping in between a parent and 
 " child, because if it has the right to compel education it has 
 " the right to prescribe what the education should be." 
 
 To lay down the principle of parental rights did not 
 involve any attack on reformatory or industrial schools, and 
 Mr. John Yates publicly condemned the Bishop for making 
 a pastoral letter the medium of spreading erroneous ideas as 
 to their curative or preventitive value, adding that at that 
 very moment there were 194 boys on the " Clarence " who, but 
 for the reformatory law, would surely have been in gaol. The 
 law had saved hundreds of children from drifting into crime, 
 and, incidentally, had saved their faith. The Tory papers 
 attacked Dr. Goss, who must have rubbed his eyes with 
 astonishment when he read the only defence of this extra- 
 ordinary pastoral in the editorial comments of the " Daily 
 " Post. ' The Bishop answered the criticisms by saying that 
 he had only referred to the children running about the streets 
 being deprived of their liberty, quite unmindful of the obvious 
 fact that the Industrial Schools were founded to save this 
 class of children from falling into ways of crime. Dr. Goss 
 made amends for his ill-timed jibe at rescue work by another 
 pastoral one month later in date, when he wrote: "It is in 
 " the reformation of juvenile criminals that the greatest 
 " solicitude has been exhibited, and the wisest measures have 
 " been adopted." Two months later both the Bishop and his 
 defender, Mr. M. J. Whitty, learned the value of the con- 
 tention of Mr. John Yates, that a reformatory or industriail 
 school was a better place for a child than a gaol. A boy, 
 aged seven years, was committed to gaol in default of paying 
 a fine of five shillings. The child had committed the heinous 
 oflFence of flinging a stone at a child of equal age, who had 
 called him " a turncoat and a Protestant." On hearing of 
 the decision, Mr. M. J. Whitty sent over to the Police Court 
 the amount of the fine, and after examining the boy in his 
 editorial sanctum in Lord Street, wrote that " this English 
 " arab had been educated like Rob Roy's sons." Nor did 
 the Bishop's views on compulsory attendance at school meet 
 with the approval of his clergy. Some of the older clergy had not 
 forgotten the Inspector's criticism of a school in Liverpool in 
 1852, certified for 135 boys, which received 650 during the year. 
 With characteristic courage, Father Nugent attended a meet- 
 ing in the Law Association Rooms of various clergymen of all 
 creeds, and made what would appear to be the best speech of
 
 177 
 
 his life from the point of view of solid argument in advocacy 
 of compulsory attendance at school. In answer to the criti- 
 cisms of the Reformatory system, he said it was next to 
 impossible to do much good with boys committed at fourteen, 
 fifteen, and even sixteen years of age. Dr. Goss himself, in 
 preaching at Holy Cross, said there were 300 children running 
 wild in that parish, neither attending school nor receiving 
 adequate parental supervision. Father Guy, O.S.B., spoke 
 at the same meeting, and boldly declared that the only hope 
 of saving the children lay in their being compelled to attend 
 school every day. There was much force in the contention 
 that once the right of the State to compel attendance was 
 acknowledged, the time was not far distant when it would 
 claim to decide what was education. This has unfortunately 
 proved true ; but the immediate problem at that day was to 
 choose between the schoolroom and the streets, between crime, 
 ignorance, and public disorder and a combined religious and 
 secular education for a class of child who would not otherwise 
 receive any training. Bishop Goss, however, was not con- 
 vinced, and showed his impartiality by attacking St. George's 
 School, West Derby Road, in another pastoral letter. He 
 quoted the Inspector's remark : " This school reports nothing 
 "satisfactory." Neither the clergy or laity serving on St. 
 George's Committee would submit silently to public criticism 
 from the Bishop, and in reply published the reports cf the 
 same Inspector for the three previous years. They disturbed 
 even the equanimity of Dr. Goss by the bold statement that 
 the unfavourable report was due to the Inspector's private 
 opinion that " superintendence by religious orders, male or 
 " female, was utterly unsuitable." His Lordship next 
 assailed the Toxtoth Poor Law Guardians. During the year 
 18G7 several Anglican clergymen secured seats on the Toxtoth 
 Board ; and on one occasion distinguished theniselvee by 
 attaching more importance to capacity to play that much 
 maligned instrument, the harmonium, than to proficiency in 
 imparting secular knowlcdgo to Poor I>aw children. It did 
 not affect the Catholic body in any way, but the Bishop seized 
 the opportnnity to speak his mitifi on a delicate question, the 
 presence of clorgymon on j)ublic bodies. Quite in keeping 
 with his usual practice, he selected the altar of St. Patrick's, 
 situate in the Toxtcth area, to make his statement. After 
 castigating the would-be educationalists, the Bishop observed 
 that there had been introduced " what he thought, was one of 
 " the worst elements which nould be introduced into the 
 " administration of civil and social affairs. He was a 
 " Churchman, and therefore not likely to underrate the ser-
 
 178 
 
 " vices or capacities of Churchmen ; but he thought the priest 
 " should keep to the altar, that he should perform the duties 
 " for which he was ordained."^'' The Catholic body has been 
 in the happy position of always finding laymen, Nationalists 
 or Liberals, to undertake public work, while it is a misfortune 
 that the Catholic Conservative has shirked public duty ; it 
 may be for political reasons. 
 
 The proposal to establish an Anglican bishopric in Liver- 
 p^3ol brought forth a spirited protest from Bishop Goss. lie 
 denounced the scheme in a sermon delivered in St. Alban's 
 Church, Athol Street, in June, 1867. The Rector of Liver- 
 pool, Mr. Campbell, replied with equal warmth: " As reported 
 " in the ' Northern Press," your Lordship denounced an 
 " attempt to introduce another Bishop into the diocese of 
 " which you are the lawfully constituted Bishop, as a gross 
 " injustice to you, and a liagrant attempt to make a spiritual 
 ■' harlot of the See to which another one was already wedded. ' 
 He, in turn, accused Dr. Goss of coming into a See to which 
 the Bishop of Chester f was already wedded, a statement 
 obviously aimed at the Bishop's declaration that " the Pope 
 " studiously made it a point to act with the utmost delicacy 
 " towards the national susceptibilities of Englishmen, and 
 " with the highest good taste abstained from appointing 
 "Bishops to any Sees already occupied by Protestants.' 
 Salford, Shrewsbury, and LiverpM3ol are cases in point. 
 Unfortunately, the Rector of Liverpool, in his reply, quoted 
 a section of the ill-starred Ecclesiastical Titles Act, which 
 placed Dr. Goss under a penalty of one hundred pounds foi 
 " assuming " the title of Bishop of Liverpool. From the 
 altar of St. Joseph's, Grosvenor Street, the Bishop answered 
 that " his title had been conferred upon him by the successor 
 " of a long line of Pontiffs, and of him who had conferred upon 
 " an English King the title. Defender of the Faith. If the 
 " monarch plumed himself upon a title which he had no reason 
 " to adopt, because he had been unfaithful to the giver, it was 
 " strange that Rector Campbell should remind him of this 
 " ancient penalty of one hundred pounds." 
 
 A few days later the Rector voted in the majority against 
 a proposal that a paid Catholic Chaplain should be appointed 
 to the huge workhouse and hospital in Brownlow Hill. Dr 
 Goss made his visitation of St. Philip Neri's, almost under the 
 shadow of tbe building in which this vote was recorded, and 
 
 * It is remarkable that no priest was ever nominated for the 
 Liverpool School Board or Liverpool Select Vestry, and until the 
 death of Mr. Michael Fitzpatrick in 1906, a priest did not serve on 
 the Education Committee. 
 
 t The diocese of Chester included Liverpool.
 
 179 
 
 taunted the fighting Rector that " at an age when he must be 
 " rather thinking of the Day of Judgment, forgetting the 
 " infirmities of life, he came down to the Vestry, not to 
 " advocate fair play, but to deprive the Catholic body of its 
 " just claims." The incumbent of St. George's Church,* the 
 Rev. John Kelly, who had already made his debut in the 
 arena of Orange theology, took up the cudgels in defence of 
 the Rector, but the Bishop, who never refused to break a lance 
 with a worthy foeman, treated the violent discourses of this 
 militant gentleman with silent contempt. 
 
 The Fenian movement f had already made its mark on the 
 Irish political movement, and seriously disturbed the authori- 
 ties at \Vestminster and Dublin Castle. Many hundreds of 
 Liverpool Irishmen were members of the Irish Republican 
 Brotherhood, and thousands were warm sympathisers of the 
 new movement to free Ireland by physical force from further 
 misgovernment. The well-known raid on Chester Castle was 
 planned in Liverpool, and some local Irishmen participated in 
 the attack on the prison van in Hyde Road, Manchester, when 
 the Fenian leaders, Kelly and Deasy, were rescued. Both the 
 Bishop and the clergy found themselves in an awkward posi- 
 tion by reason of the presence in Liverpool of so many 
 adherents of the ' Fenian '' movement. Their position was 
 not made easier by the silly attempts of itinerant Irish 
 preachers and their allies to confuse Fenianism with 
 Catholicism. Meetings were held by these persons to denounce 
 the revolutionary movement, and the addresses delivered 
 proved to be a strange incoherent medley of " misdoings in 
 " convents, tales of torture, and priestly intrigues with 
 " Fenian leaders.'' On November 23rd, 1867, Allen, Larkin, 
 and O Brien were executed in Manchester for their participa- 
 tion in the attack on the prison van, and the death of Sergeant 
 Brptt, who was uniritf-ntionally shot in the mi'lee. Probably 
 at no time during the nineteenth century was Irish feeling so 
 deeply stirred as by this execution, J and so alarmed were the 
 authorities in consequence that great military preparations 
 were made to cope with an ox}>ected outbreak in Liverpool. 
 Handbills w»Te distributer! announcing that a " funeral pro- 
 '■ cession " would be held in honour of the Manchestnr 
 Martyrs on Sunday, December ir)tli. Irishmen were invited to 
 
 • Tho site in now oocupiod by the Qiincn VictoriR Momori'il. 
 
 t Oiin of its leaders, Mr. Stephoii .Tnscj)}i Mcany, wiih sub-oditor 
 of the " r)aily Post," under Mr. M. J. Wbitty, and was rreditod with 
 Bomc of tho anticlerical writinps in that journal. ITo waB nontcnced 
 to fifteen years' penal servitude. 
 
 I The Protestant rector of Wignn used' very bitter lanpiiaRC in 
 denouncing the verdict and Hcntonce.
 
 180 
 
 meet outside the Rotunda Theatre, Stanley Road, and to 
 inarch in solemn order as far south as St. Patrick's Chapel, 
 Park Place. The Orange organisation, under the leadership 
 of Mr. Joseph Ball, announced its intention of holding a 
 counter-demonstration on the same day, and at the same place 
 and route. The Mayor of the town, Mr. Edward Whitley,* 
 issued a proclamation forbidding the proposed Irish procession, 
 whereupon the Orangemen countermanded their intended 
 hostile gathering. 
 
 Mr. M. J. Whitty, writing in the " Daily Post," appealed 
 to the Irishmen of the town to abandon the demonstration, as 
 it might affect their employment and social position, not quite 
 the grounds of appeal which would have induced Irishmen to 
 lay down their arms. The authorities were convinced that 
 their proclamation would be defied, and as the last resort 
 Canons Fisher, Wallwork, and Bernard O'Reilly were invited 
 to confer with the Mayor at the Town Hall. The outcome of 
 this conference was the issue of the following letter from St. 
 Edward's, addressed by the Bishop : — " To the Irish portion of 
 " our beloved flock in the town of Liverpool and its vicinity. 
 " We earnestly and affectionately exhort you, and if need be 
 " command you, by that authority which we hold from God, 
 " and in virtue of our sacred office, that you abstain from join- 
 " ing in any procession. May God in His mercy bless you; 
 " may He give happiness to your fair but afflicted country." 
 
 This appeal fell upon deaf ears for the most part. 
 Another gathering was announced for the neighbourhood of 
 Sheil Park, just outside the then boundary of the municipal 
 boundary. 'The County Justices held a hurried meeting and 
 proclaimed this meeting. Bishop Goss resolved to issue a final 
 appeal to the Irish Catholics to obey his request. " We repeat 
 " the injunction we have already given ; and we command you 
 " that in no part of the county subject to our jurisdiction do 
 " you hold any meeting or join in any procession. You have 
 " always been wont to listen to our words, and to obey our 
 " commands. Do not send sorrow to us at a time when we are 
 " about to celebrate the great festival of peace." 
 
 With great reluctance the leaders accepted the Bishop's 
 counsel, and the proposed meetings and processions were 
 abandoned. The Mayor publicly returned thanks for " the 
 " most essential and serviceable aid rendered by the Catholic 
 " Bishop and clergy." In one of his pastoral letters Dr. Goss 
 displayed his knowledge of Irish political history by his state- 
 ment that every revolutionary movement in Ireland had been 
 organised by Irishmen outside the pale of the Catholic Church, 
 
 * Elected M.P. for the Everton Division of Liverpool, 1885.
 
 181 
 
 and created some surprise by the assertion made on the 
 authority of the Irish Hierarchy, that the Fenian movement 
 had been begun by Irishmen who were opposed to the Catholic 
 Church. Preaching during that memorable month of 
 November, he expressed his " sincere sympathy with the Irish, 
 " for no country had ever been more cruelly wronged." 
 
 In 1868, on Sunday, March 8th, Dr. Goss blessed the bell 
 at St. Alexander's, Bootle. In the course of his address he 
 referred with scorn to the action of the Bishop of Manchester, 
 who, when called upon to consecrate a cemetery, did not 
 perform the ceremony according to the rubrics of the English 
 Church, because some snow was falling. To the amazement 
 of the Burial Board, he simply contented himself with entering 
 the office of the Registrar and signing a deed, which he said 
 in excuse was all that was needed. The Bishop ol Liverpool 
 was no respecter of persons, and spoke out emphatically on 
 every subject of public importance which came under his notice. 
 He observed with some interest and pride that at a meeting 
 of Anglican and Dissenting clergymen, held to consider some 
 means of removing one serious blot on the reputation of the 
 town, the non-attendance at Church services of the masses, 
 there were uttered words of praise for the Catholic clergy for 
 their assiduous and successful exertions in this respect among 
 the Catholics belonging to the labouring classes. 
 
 Taking advantage of the " Fenian alarm," Mr. Joseph 
 Ball, who had taken to himself the entire credit of frightening 
 the Irish from holding the proposed " funeral " procession in 
 the previous December, now resolved to ent-er public life by 
 opposing Mr. Thomas Martin, the retiring Catholic member 
 of the Self'Ct Vestry. The fight for the Disestablishment of 
 the Irish Church, the wrangle still going on in Liverpool over 
 the Temporal Power, and the irritation in some Protestant 
 quarters at Dr. (Joss's sermons and pastorals, presaged a big 
 victory for thf Orange-Church candidate. The issue, as defined 
 by Mr. Ball, was simplicity itself: no Catholic of any 
 nationality or political belief should be allowed a »eat on any 
 public body. 
 
 A tremendous struggle, unecjualied in the history of the 
 town, was the result, and for ten days practically all business 
 wa* suspondo.d. The polling place was the Tjaw Association 
 Rooms, Cor)k Street, in the very heart of cimimercial Liver- 
 pool. At the end of the first day's polling Mr. Ball securod 
 751 votes recorded by 296 voters, against Mr. Martin's 441 by 
 121 persons. Next day Mr. Ball's votes had jumped up to 
 2,061 from 628 voten» ; Mr. Martin being in a minorit,y witli 
 1,648 votes recorded by 609 eledors. The Liberal party issued
 
 182 
 
 a manifesto in Mr. Martin's favour, protesting against th« 
 doctrine that no Catholic was fit to enter public life. Still 
 Mr. Ball led, his votes and voters being 3,583 and 1,401 ; Mr. 
 Martin's, 3,021 and 1,212. The Catholics refused to allow the 
 poll to be closed, and made a herculean effort to improve their 
 position. House-to-house visitations were made ; vehicles of 
 all kinds were requisitioned, but on the fourth day they were 
 still in a bad position, with 3,567 vot^es against 4,185; 1,483 
 voters against 1,684. Still they refused to acknowledge 
 defeat, and next day secured a majority of voters, though still 
 in a minority of votes. The end of the eight days' fight showed 
 Martin ahead with 4,396 voters against 3,696, and 8,243 votes 
 against 7,970; thus at last voters and votes were against Mr. 
 Ball. Neither side would give way now, and finally, on 
 Saturday, April 25th, Mr. Thomas Martin routed the Orange 
 nominee lay 9,946 votes to 9,470, and by 5,684 voters to 4,740. 
 Mr. Ball retired from the contest on the spurious plea that the 
 Liberal party had diverted the contest int-o political channels, 
 instead of allowing it to be fought out on Orange versus 
 Catholic lines. 
 
 The question of how to deal with the destitute children of 
 the town came up again during this year, on the initiative of 
 the leading Catholics of the town, who never missed a chance 
 of calling public attention to the evil results resulting there- 
 from. The magistrates met on June 24th, 1868, to consider 
 what action they could take, and the esteem in which they 
 held Mr. C. J. Corbally was shewn in their voting him to the 
 chair. Father Nugent gave them his views, also stating that 
 no less than two thousand children were trading in the streets. 
 The following table shows the numbers of young people 
 arrested from 1860 to 1867 :— 
 
 1860 1861 1862 1863 1864 1865 1866 1867 
 
 768 823 1159 1303 1299 1225 1133 1500 
 
 The difficulty of finding permanent employment was 
 intensified by the passing of the Workshops Act, which forbade 
 the employment of any child unable to read or write. Thus 
 the very class which did not attend school, or at best most 
 irregularly, was doubly handicapped in the search for employ- 
 ment, and had no alternative but to seek a precarious living 
 in the streets. The sale of matches and smallwares was as often 
 as not a mere cloak for begging, and at best was demoralising. 
 Beyond the suggestion that the police should take greater 
 advantage of the Industrial Schools Act, the magistrates were 
 practically powerless. A census was taken at midnight on 
 January Ist, 1869, of all children found in the streets
 
 183 
 
 either trading or wandering about without any control being 
 exercised over them.* It was found that 541 little boys and 
 172 little girls were at that very late hour offering small 
 articles for sale or begging. Father Nugent gathered 500 
 Catholic boys off the streets and entertained them in the Boys' 
 Refuge, Soho Street. He made the startling comment on the 
 demoralisation which had set in amongst the generation which 
 had sprung up from the famine immigrants that only twenty 
 boys present had been. born in Ireland. The principal speaker 
 at this pleasant meeting was Mr. Charles Russell, destined to 
 be Lord Chief Justice of England. Father Nugent announced 
 that his Association of Providence had decided to extend the 
 sphere of their activities, and side by side with the work being 
 done at 22, Soho Street, to establish a Boys' Refuge in St. 
 Anne Street, in the former residence of the Judges of Assize. 
 Mr. Samuel Greg Rathbone, Mr. William Rathbone, and Mr. 
 Weld Blundell gave one hundred pounds each; Mr. W. 
 Clarkson and Lord Howard, fifty pounds; Mr. G. Melly, 
 twenty pounds ; Chief Justice Lush sent a donation of five 
 pounds. The founder had decided to train the boys in some 
 industrial occupation which could be followed on leaving the 
 institution, believing this to be the only way to prevent them 
 slipping into the army of street traders and later on entering 
 the dismal host of casual labourers. To create a taste for a 
 regular life was Father Nugent's chief aim. He did not, 
 however, escape some hostile criticism, especially from Mr. 
 M. J. Whitty, in the editorial columns of the " Daily Post." 
 He was elegantly described as an admirable stage manager, and 
 denounced for purchasing printing machinery at a cost of four 
 hundred pounds. At the same time the " Albion " joined the 
 " Post " in demanding exact financial statements of receipts 
 and disbursements. Father Nugent had purchased the rapidly 
 declining " Northern Press," and began to print it at his 
 Refuge in Soho Street. The "Post" accused him of having 
 engaged a " vitufxjrative writer " to assail Mr. Whitty, and of 
 having purchased the " Northern Press " with money given to 
 him for charitable purposes. Father Nugent wrote an indig- 
 nant reply, denying that ho had employed anyone to " put 
 " down " the " Daily Post," and though admitting that the 
 " Northern Press ' was printed at the Soho Street Refuge, it 
 was so done because of a contract arranged with the c/omniitt-ee, 
 who had no responsibility for its contents, and that the 
 machinery was not purchased out of public subscription, but 
 had been presented f^) him by a |)ers<inal friend. The '' Post " 
 pursued him in a vindictive spirit for many years, and, alluding 
 
 • See Speech of Mr. O. Melly, Fobrutiry 4, 1809.
 
 184 
 
 to his absence from an education meeting, sneeringly said 
 it would never have done for a priest to be shouted down by 
 cries of " Produce a balance-sheet." Father Nugent was not 
 easily dissuaded once he had made up his mind, and pursued 
 his work of saving the Catholic child, unmindful of Mr. 
 Whitty a attacks, which, for once in his career, were based on 
 personal dislikes. 
 
 In anticipation of the passage into law of a Bill 
 for compulsory attendance at school, a meeting of all 
 parties was held early in 1869, to found the Education Aid 
 Society, the precursor of the present Council of Education. 
 The objects aimed at were : Payment of school fees in cases of 
 proved poverty, and a choice of schools for the parents, so as 
 to avoid any religious difficulty. The Bishop of Chester pre- 
 sided, and was supported by two priests, who spoke to the 
 resolutions — Father Guy, O.S.B., and Father Hilary Lenoir, 
 O.M.I., of Holy Cross. 
 
 Mr. William Rathbone, M.P., moved the main resolution, 
 setting forth the objects of the new movement. The Rev. Dr. 
 Taylor moved as an amendment that no parent be helped 
 unless he sent his child to a Bible school. It was a repetition 
 of the policy of the Anglican clergy in 1841, which was now 
 filling the gaols and reformatories ; the policy that Dr. Taylor 
 had laid down in 1864, against the payment or appointment of 
 a Catholic Chaplain to the borough gaol. Catholics were not 
 ratej>ayers because they were poor, a bit of new political 
 economy. Now, voluntary assistance was to be denied. His 
 speech was an attack on Dr. Goss and Cardinal Cullen, and 
 the violent polemics in which he indulged would have defeated 
 the new organisation had not the same Rathbone who faced 
 McNeill thirty years earlier been ready now to face his no less 
 bigoted successor. The margin of victory was narrow ; three 
 votes. 
 
 The report of the Government Inspector for 1868 told 
 eloquently the need for compulsory education in Liverpool. 
 Onl^ 5,719 Catholic children were in average attendance, while 
 the non-Catholics were in a more pitiable plight. Notwith- 
 standing their being two-thirds of the population, only 8,254 
 were attending school. From this Report we learn that there 
 were night schools at Holy Cross, average attendance, 117 ; St. 
 Thomas and William, averaging 41 ; St. Oswald's, Old Swan, 
 62; and at St. Nicholas', Copperas Hill, 406 girls were in 
 attendance. 
 
 On July 22, 1869, Bishop Goss opened the Boys' Refuge 
 in St. Anne Street, in the presence of Lord Howard and a 
 large attendance of the leading Protestant gentlemen of the
 
 185 
 
 town. His Lordship expressed his delight that one of his own 
 clergy had come forward with sufficient courage and resolution 
 to venture upon the purchase of that large house to remove 
 the destitute boy from the dangers of the streets. Dr. Goss 
 had additional proofs of the enthusiasm with which his flock 
 worked in this direction. Mr. J. Neale Lomax reported that 
 in six years the Association founded by Canon Cookson and 
 Mr. J. Whitty had found situations in Catholic families or 
 with Catholic employers for 263 boys and 346 girls discharged 
 from the Kirkdale Schools. The Catholic Guardians were 
 able, too, to congratulate themselves and their Protestant 
 supporters upon having secured the appointment of a Catholic 
 schoolmistress at Kirkdale, who was responsible for the 
 religious instruction of the Catholic children. Another 
 organisation which was rendering yeoman sei"vice for the girls 
 was St. George's Industrial School for Girls, located in 
 Laburnum House, Fairfield. 
 
 In January, 1854, a few Belgian nuns of the Augustinian 
 Order were introduced to Liverpool by the Very Rev. Canon 
 Wallwork, and located themselves in Everton Crescent. It 
 was the only institution in England which made Valenciennes 
 lace, but the nuns did not confine their training to this unique 
 branch of industry. They trained poor girls in all branches 
 of domestic work, and found them situations in different 
 families in the town. Owing to the success which they 
 achieved in a few years after their arrival they rented a build- 
 ing known as the West Derby Hospital, and in 1868 took 
 possession of Laburnum House. The Finance Committee of 
 the Corporation had paid one shilling per week per child for 
 some years, under the provisions of the Reformatory Act, but 
 ooMed to continue the payment in 1868, at which date 108 
 destitute girls were in training. On June 21st, 1868, Dr. Goss 
 laid the foundation-stone of the new schools of St. Vincent de 
 Paul, consequfint upon th(! compulsory acquisition by the 
 Corporation of the Jordan Street Schools, present/ed by Mr. E. 
 Chaloncr. On this occasion ho dolivored an address which was 
 regarded as an attack on the Irish p<^pulation, and tn the 
 close of his episcopate, four years later, his observations were 
 keenly resented by many Irishman. " All men," said he, 
 "possessed fair chances of advancing lliemselvcs; the paths 
 " of preferment were closed against none.' He was interrupted 
 by a man in the crowd with the remark, " Yes, my Lord, if 
 " he is not an Tri.Mhman." The Bishop noticed fhe interruption, 
 and sharply replied, "What does that man say? Lut him 
 " speak out like a man if he has anything to say.' He went 
 on to contend that, though Ireland " had sufTered great and
 
 186 
 
 " cruel wrongs, in Liverpool, as in the re^t of England, Irish- 
 '' men had a clear stage, if they would only be true to them- 
 " selves, and refrain from drink and other vices." These 
 words only were reported in the daily Press, and it was alleged 
 they only formed a small portion of a severe criticism of the 
 Irish members of the Bishop's flock. Whilst his Lordship's 
 comments on the drink habit were undeniably true, it was 
 doubtful whether the Irish labourer drank any more than his 
 neighbour in the same humble walk of life. Dr. Goss was 
 not, however, so accurate in his assertion that Irishmen had 
 a clear stage for preferment. The maxim, " No Irish need 
 "apply," had not yet disrappeared from the employer's 
 vocabulary, and between the instinctive dislike of Rome on 
 the one hand, and the anti-Irish feeling due to Irish political 
 agitations — notably the Fenian movement — on the other, the 
 prospects of preferment were very small indeed. Indeed, it 
 would not be an exaggeration to say that, but for the fortu- 
 nate circumstance that most of the stevedores were Irishmen, 
 the Catholic Irish labourers on the dock side would have had 
 a hard time. Railway developments and dock extensions 
 needed men of considerable physical strength to carry out the 
 work of excavating, and in this department Irishmen got more 
 than their share. Navvying does not appear to have had any 
 special attraction for the average English labourer in Liver- 
 pool. The Irish party resented a Bishop lending the weight of 
 his experience and authority to criticisms which they refused 
 to admit were well grounded. Bishop Goss was, however, never 
 deterred by public criticism from expressing his opinions' freely, 
 and in this instance he acted in perfect good faith ; he found 
 it difficult to believe that his own countrymen could be so 
 deeply prejudiced against Irishmen.
 
 187 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 The year 1870 opened a new chapter in the history of 
 Catholic Liverpool. Mr. W. E. Forster's Education Bill 
 provided for the establishment of new local education 
 authorities and compulsory attendance at school of all children 
 from five to twelve years of age. The Catholics and the 
 Anglicans were the only bodies, save in a few instances, such 
 as the Wesleyans, who had made any serious effort to provide 
 educational facilities for the children of the nation. To supply 
 the deficiency was the avowed intention of the authors of the 
 new Bill, but there were not wanting far-seeing critics who 
 urged that the effect would be to supplant the existing volun- 
 tary schools. This opinion, which has been abundantly 
 justified by after events, prejudiced the School Board experi- 
 ment at the very outset, as the different religious bodies, 
 especially the Anglican authorities, made strenuous efforts to 
 capture* the new education authorities. The provisions of 
 the Bill made it clear that a heavy financial burthen would be 
 placed on the shoulders of the Catholic body, and few indeed 
 seemed to realise what the ultimate effect would be when the 
 Bill became an Act of Parliament. As soon as the Speech 
 from the Throne announced the forthcoming measure, Liver- 
 pool Catholics took counsel one with the other. A meeting 
 was held in the Catholic Club, 34, Church Street. Canon 
 Bernard O'Reilly was in the chair, and Father James Nugent 
 acted as secretary. It was decided to oppose the passage of 
 the Bill, and to organise a series of public demonstrations to 
 stir up public opinion. The committee appointed consisted 
 of men holding every shade of ptjlitical opinion — Conservative, 
 Liberal, and Homo Ruler. Sir Robert Cerard, Thomas Weld 
 Blundell, J. B. Aspinall, Henry Sharpies, Francis Reynolds, 
 Edward Ivoeming, P. S. Bidwill, Hugh Cullen, James Whilty, 
 John Yates, John MacArdle, and others; such a committee 
 88 ould only have been brought into existence in the face of 
 some grave danger to Catholic interests. 
 
 The demonstration hr«ld in the Theatre Royal, | William- 
 son Square, on St. Patrick's Day, came as a aur])rise to 
 Liverpool citizens, accustximed though they were to huge public 
 gatherings when party or racial feeling ran high. The siiuare 
 
 ♦ I>orfJ Bttlisbury'H advice to donominationaliHls : " Capture the 
 8cbool Boardn." 
 
 t Now a Cold Store.
 
 188 
 
 was packed by a great multitude who were unable to gain 
 admission to the crowded theatre. Sir Robert Gerard pre- 
 sided ; the principal speakers being the eloquent Irish member, 
 John Francis Maguire, Father George Porter, S.'J., Rector of 
 St. Francis Xavier's,* Father Nugent, Mr. George Segar, and 
 Mr. John Yates. The dominant note of the speeches may be 
 found in the terse resolution adopted : — " Religion being the 
 " basis of all true education, this meeting holds that any 
 " system which would tend to secularize education cannot be 
 " acceptable to the Catholics of this country." After the 
 lapse of forty years, and in the midst of a renewed fight for the 
 same principle laid down in this resolution, one rises from the 
 perusal of the newspaper reports, captivated by the eloquent 
 speeches which raised the memorable meeting in Williamson 
 Square to a pitch of hitherto unparalleled enthusiasm. It 
 was decided, on the motion of Father Nugent, to send a depu- 
 tation to Mr. Forster to point out certain provisions in the Bill 
 which gave an unfair advantage to the proposed School Boards. 
 The deputation consisted of Canon O'Reilly and Messrs. 
 Aspinall, Whitty, and Yates. This demonstration waa 
 followed by another, organised by the Christian Doctrine Con- 
 fraternities, which was attended by two thousand " of the 
 " poorest Catholics in the town.'' All classes of Catholics were 
 united in opposition to the Bill, whilst they resolved that in 
 the event of its becoming law they would rise to the heavy 
 responsibilities entailed by the provision of new schools and 
 the better equipment of those already in existence. All 
 Catholics were animated by the principle laid down in a 
 remarkable leading article in the " Catholic Times " : " If 
 " Saint Ambrose were alive at the present moment, he would 
 " sell the very chalice from the altar, and consecrate in glass 
 " to find means to save the children." As if to add fuel to the 
 fires of controversy, Mr. Newdegate, M.P., selected this 
 moment to introduce his famous Bill for the inspection of 
 convents. There was a well-grounded belief that the large 
 Liberal majority behind Mr. Gladstone in the House of 
 Commons would furnish Mr. Newdegate sufficient supporters 
 to combine with the Orange-Protestant elements on the Oppo- 
 sition benches to carry his tyrannical proposal. To encourage 
 this possible coalition a series of meetings was organised in 
 Liverpool by the Rev. Dr. Taylor, ably assisted by a new 
 recruit to the ranks of Anti-Catholic controversialists, the Rev. 
 Mr. Vernon White, minister of the Presbyterian Church in 
 Islington, f To the great credit of the leaders of the Con- 
 
 • Afterwards Archbishop of Bombay. 
 ■{■ Comer of Salisbury Street — now a Jewish Synagogue.
 
 189 
 
 servative party in the town, they refused to give any counten- 
 ance to these meetings, else Dr. Taylor's grossly insulting 
 language about the nuns, and the violent harangues of himsielf 
 and Dr. White, would have brought about public disturbances 
 in the streets. It is painful to think that such scholarly men 
 could speak of the Sisters of Charity and Mercy and the teach- 
 ing nuns in such terms as were used during this short-lived 
 but vicious agitation. To make matt-ers worse for the Liberal 
 party which supported Mr. Forster, these Orange leaders were 
 thick and thin supporters of the Education Bill, which they 
 interpreted as an attack on the voluntary school system. It 
 was difficult to keep the Catholic working-men in hand during 
 this quarrel, and Mr. Neale Lomax organised a series of 
 meetings, which were attended by them in large numbers, to 
 defend the fame and work of these good women. The Protes- 
 tant section of the community were attracted to Saint Francis 
 Xavier s to hear the brilliant sermons of Father George 
 Porter, S.J., in explanation of the works of mercy and charity 
 performed every hour of the day by women whose only thought 
 was to help the poor children, the sick in the slums, the daily 
 practice of the corporal works of mercy. As Father Nugent 
 said of them, these sermons " were worthy of the priest who 
 " was the foremost preacher in Liverpool." These addresses 
 took the sting out of the attacks of Drs. Taylor and White, 
 who retired beaten from the field. The Bill was successfully 
 resisted, and not one moment too soon. Liverpool Catholics 
 were prepared to give their last penny for the schools, but 
 there was a grim resolve in their hearts to resist to death the 
 first violation of a Liverpool convent. 
 
 Attention was once more devoted to the Education Bill. 
 Mr. Gladstone encouraged the Catholic agitation by his speech 
 on the " case of the Roman Catholics," which, he said, " weighs 
 much on ray mind. I am very much opposed to the extrava- 
 " gant claims which their heads mako on their bohalf, but 
 " still, they raise important considerations in the civil 
 "interests of the community." Substantial changes were 
 mad*' in tho Bill, and it became law. The School Tioards could 
 teach the Bible in their schools ; hence the voluntary schools 
 could not be prevented from giving religious instruction. 
 
 Bishop Goss, on September 11th, 1870, addressed a 
 pastoral htter to his flfK^k on the new siluafion:- " Thf Act 
 " places the Church of England in a position of peculiar hard- 
 " ship, and involves us in a difliculty of which our fellow- 
 " citizens have little or no share. Our present schools will 
 " not be molest^'d briyond bt-int,' thrown open to children of any 
 " religious denomination, and having to set aside special times
 
 190 
 
 " for religious instruction." His Lordship urged upon his people 
 the practice of reading the New Testament at night when the 
 family w£is gathered together, but he was unsparing in his 
 denunciation of the indiscriminate reading of the Old Testa- 
 ment, as the Jews of old did not allow their children to read 
 many passages. This- criticism was aimed at the exponents of 
 pure Bible teaching in all schools. " Mahomet," he wrote, 
 " reverently put aside every scrap of paper bearing the name 
 " of God ; but Parliamentary Christians are willing to expose 
 " it to the sorriest end, provided they can enforce it upon an 
 " unwilling people." The pastoral proceeded to appeal for the 
 necessary funds to meet the estimated need of eight thousand 
 school places. During the month of September a meeting 
 of the clergy and laity was held in the Law Association Rooms, 
 Cook Street, to discuss the situation. Provost Cookson stated 
 that as compulsory attendance was now enjoined on all 
 children from five to twelve years of age, 23,754 Catholic 
 children came within these limits. The total provision already 
 made amounted to 15,646, thus leaving the deficiency men- 
 tioned in the Bishop's pastoral. Mr. James Whitty enquired 
 what was the area in which the deficiency existed, and was 
 informed that it lay between Woolton and Little Crosby, 
 Huyton and the River Mersey. On the motion of Father 
 George Porter, S.J., a new committee was formed to raise 
 funds and otherwise deal with school problems, with the 
 cumbersome title of " The Liverpool Education Crisis Catholic 
 " Committee. ' 
 
 The average attendance at each of the Catholic schools in 
 the year 1870, taken from the official Blue Book, showed 
 clearly, from a Catholic point of view, the wisdom of making 
 education compulsory. : — St. Francis Xavier's, 834 ; St. 
 Anthony's, 745; St. Mary's, 708; SS. Thomas and William, 
 628; Holy Cross, 502; St. Peters, 488; St. Alban's, 455; 
 St. Anne's, 449; Mount Vernon, 336; St. Oswald's, 281; 
 St. Nicholas, 254; Mount Carmel, 236; St. Helen's, 144; the 
 Practising School at Mount Pleasant, 142.* That is to say, 
 that only 6,202 children were in average attendance out of a 
 total of not less than twenty thousand children between the 
 ages of five and twelve, and out of at least fourteen thousand 
 for whom accommodation had been provided. Provost 
 Cookson's figures included several country schools — Woolton, 
 Gillmoss, Crosby, and other small places in the outskirts of 
 the town. It is incredible that less than five thousand children 
 
 " Several schools are not included in the return, but this does not 
 affect the issue. All these schools are within the present Municipal 
 borough of Liverpool. This was not so in 1870.
 
 191 
 
 were attending school inside the area now occupied by the 
 Parliamentary constituencies of Scotland, Exchange, and 
 Abercromby, * then much more crowded centres of population 
 than now. At one of the Education meetings Father Nugent 
 gave the figures of 150,000, as representing the Catholic popu- 
 lation of Liverpool. Accepting the rule that there were 183 
 children between the ages of five and twelve to every thousand 
 of the population, the average attendance ought to have been 
 10,980, instead of 6,202. This indifference to education was 
 due not so much to want of school places as to poverty. 
 Hundreds of families needed the earnings of the children. The 
 economic results of the Act of 1870 have been as remarkable as 
 was the development of the Catholic school to the expulsion of 
 Catholic children under Conservative rule in 1841. 
 
 A year's grace was allowed for preparation of plans of 
 new schools, for submission to the Imperial Government. To 
 make full use of this period was the aim of the Bishop. He 
 summoned a meeting in the Theatre Royal, on October 24th, 
 over which he presided, to raise funds for the much-needed new 
 school buildings. The Archbishops of Trebizondf and Balti- 
 more,! the Duke of Norfolk, Lord Howard of Glos&op, Sir 
 Piers Mostyn, Baron Vasconcellas,§ supported the Bishop, 
 with the Marquis of Bute, who made his first appearance on a 
 Catholic platform. It was resolved that, " as the Act recog- 
 " nised the rights of parents to control the education of their 
 " children, it was the duty of every Catholic to make all possible 
 '• exertions to afford parents the means of discharging this 
 " responsibility." A general fund for the whole country was 
 opened, to which the Duke of Norfolk contributed the "hand- 
 some sum (jf tf!n thousand pounds ; a similar amount being 
 subscribed by the Marquis of Bute. Lord Howard gave five 
 thousand pounds, and seven donations of one thousand pounds 
 wero also subscribed. In all the total donations amounted to 
 forty-six thousand pounds, proof positive of the eager desire 
 of the leading Catholics of the country to safeguard the Faith 
 of the children. It should bo remembered with gratitude that 
 th« Catholic aristocracy acted with such magnificent 
 generosity to provide schools for Irish children. Gratitude is 
 ■hortrlived. One Irishman, at least, tenders to their memory 
 
 * Th.i present attondance — Septemhnr, lOlO-in the samo areas 
 is 13,000. 
 
 t Archbi.sliop Krrington, formorly :i priest at 8t. Nicholas', 
 CopperaH Hill; roctor of Bt.. Mary'H, DoiiKhiH, IhIo of Man, after 
 reftigning hi^ oOirf! nf coadjutor archbishop of Westminster. 
 
 J Dr. Kenrick. 
 
 S The vavilt of the Vaneoncnllfis family may be Been, much 
 neglected, in the main nvejuie of Ford Ci-miAcry.
 
 192 
 
 grateful homage. Father Nugent rendered splendid service 
 by stirring up the Catholic middle classes: to a full sense 
 of their responsibility in such a critical moment, both by his 
 speeches and letters, and the columns of the " Catholic 
 " Times."* The Rector of St. Patrick's, a Belgian priest, 
 Father Edward Goethals,t held a meeting in February, 1870, 
 to devise means to build an additional school in Hyslop Street. J 
 At St. Michael's, West Derby Road, Father Tobin raised 
 seven hundred pounds ; one thousand pounds was subscribed 
 in the parish of Our Lady Immaculate, St. Domingo Road ; 
 one thousand and fifty pounds at St. Alexander's and land 
 was purchased at Waterloo, all to meet the requirements of 
 the new Education Act. At a meeting in St. Alban's, Athol 
 Street, it was announced by the Rector, Father Seed,f that, 
 from 1863 to 1870, five thousand seven hundred pounds had 
 been raised in pence, to meet the cost of the erection of the 
 parish schools, which had amounted to £7,163 6s. 7d. As the 
 result of a renewed eflFort only five hundred pounds' debt 
 remained. 
 
 One serious and far-reaching resTilt of the Act of 1870 
 was the decision of the Irish Christian Brothers not to accept 
 inspection, examination, or supervision of their work by the 
 Government Inspectors. In the course of a few years they 
 ceased to teach in the Liverpool schools. Canon O'Reilly wa^ 
 the last priest to retain their services at St. Vincent's, || from 
 which school they departed in 1876, to the everlasting regret 
 cf the Catholics of Liverpool. Thoy did noble work in Liver- 
 pool, and raised the standard of the boys' schools as the Nuns 
 of Notre Dame did for the girls. To the Irish population their 
 departure was a serious loss, as they inculcated love of country 
 as well as of religion, and wielded an extraordinary influence 
 over the children of the Irish race. Many of their pupils filled 
 high positions in the town, and at least three of them are 
 members of the Liverpool City Council at this moment. 
 
 The School Boards opened up a new field of public work 
 for the laity. Five Catholics were nominated at the first 
 
 *'*With courat^c, energy, and foresight, all may do what the 
 Jesuits at St. Francis Xavier's have accomplished." — " Catholic 
 Times," July 23, 1870. 
 
 •f Now Dean Goethals, forty-four years rector of this mission. 
 I Both Schools had 1,334 children on the rolls, September, 191C. 
 
 J Canon Seed. 
 
 H The writer was a pupil at St. Vincent's under these excellent 
 men. Brothers Goodwin, Kelly and Timmons were the last teachers. 
 They were succeeded by the Brothers of the Christian Schools, who 
 only remained a few years. Bishop Whiteside brought the Irish 
 Christian Brothers back to Liverpool to take charge of a Pupil 
 Teachers' Centre. They are now in charge of the Catholic Institute.
 
 193 
 
 elections — Mr. John Yates, Mr. James Whitty, Mr. C. J. 
 Corbally, Mr. Edmund Browne,* and Mr. Henry Sharpies. 
 It was felt that the Catholics by united action could carry the 
 five candidates, and as there were, according to calculations 
 made by Father G. Porter, S.J., 13,000 Catholics on the 
 register out of a total of 40,000, victory was a certainty. 
 Strenuous efforts were made to elect the new Board without a 
 contest, and several candidates having been induced by their 
 respective proposers to withdraw, the Catholics withdrew Mr. 
 H. Sharpies, the remaining four being elected. On the 1st of 
 November, Colonel P. S. Bidwill gained a seat in Vauxhall 
 Ward without a contest, and Mr. John McArdle was re-elected 
 for Scotland Ward by 1,251 votes. There were now six 
 Catholic members of the Town Councilf — Alderman Sheil, 
 Councillors Bidwill, Fairhursit, MacArdl©, Whitty, and Yates, 
 all members of the Liberal party. When the new Council met 
 they found that the Finance Committee had agreed as a con- 
 cession to Orange sentiment to allow a statue of Dr. McNeill 
 to be placed inside St. George's Hall. The Catholic members 
 opposed this decision, Colonel Bidwill proposing that a 
 plebiscite be taken ; but the motion was rejected by 40 votes 
 to 12, Liverpool thus emphasising its conception of the fitness 
 of things by placing the libeller of Queen Victoria side by side 
 with its greatest son, Mr. W. E. Gladstone. 
 
 In the midst of the struggle over the Education 
 Bill, the solitary Catholic member of the Select 
 Vestry, Mr. Thomas Martin, was waging the same 
 fight which his predecessors had fought for twenty- 
 eight years. In January, 1870, he moved: "That, in the 
 " opinion of this Board, it is undesirable that the religious 
 " teaching and instruction should bo dependent upon the 
 " voluntary attendance of the Catholic clergy; and, that with 
 " a view of remedying same steps bo taken to secure the 
 " services of one or more clergymen whose duties shall be to 
 " attend to the wants of the Catholic inmates, who shall be 
 " officers of the Select Vestry, and who shall be paid adequate 
 "salaries for their services." Mr. Glover senonded, and the 
 motion was lost by the casting votn of the chairman. The 
 need was frp"cin.\]y felt in the Kirkdalc Schools, where, in 1870, 
 there wf»re 872 Catholic fhildrcn. During Uio fnur yoars. 1860 
 to 1870, 1,479 Protestant and 1 ,248 C;atholic children had been 
 admitted to the schools. By 1870, for the first time in the 
 
 • Father of the Rev. Jonoph Brownn, late Rector of Stonyhurat, 
 and now Ror-tor of St. Franf.iH Xiivirr'n (1010). 
 
 t Father Nugent, nix years hoforo, prodirted that the proposed 
 Reform Bill would give Catholics great electoral power. 
 
 M
 
 194 
 
 pariah, the Catholic children were in a majority, a significant 
 comment on the social status of Irish labourers in Liverpool. 
 In September, Bishop Goss wrote again to the Veetry, pointing 
 out that owing to the outbreak of fever in the town — there 
 were one thousand cases under the care of the Guardians — his 
 priests were overwhelmed with work, and asked the Board to 
 sot aside a small sum of money which would enable him to 
 obtain the services of another priest. He urged that as all 
 ratepayers paid poor rate, all were entitled to share in its 
 distribution. The suggestion was rejected by twelve votes to 
 ten, whereupon Alderman Woodruff declared his intention to 
 raise the amount among his Protestant friends. The 
 " Catholic Times " took up another aspect of Select Vestry 
 work, and vigorously assailed that body for its general policy 
 of sending out such Catholic children as could not be provided 
 for by the Catholic Committee to non-Catholic homes. Father 
 Nugent was again ahead of his time in urging the boarding out 
 of children with Catholic families,* while they were still very 
 young. He wrote : — " The Select Vestry is in an economical 
 " mood, and object to pay more for boarding out children than 
 " they would pay for them in their Industrial School. It is 
 " dearer for a time to turn a pauper into a respectable 
 " citizen." Owing to the prevalence of fever in the town, the 
 Medical Officer of the Schools prohibited the children going 
 out to Mass. Mr. Birchall, the Governor, said that one of the 
 teachers " read Mass " to the others on Sunday, and the highly 
 intelligent committee decided that the ministrations of the lay 
 sacerdotalist was quite sufficient. Shortly afterwards they 
 gave permission to a priest to enter the schools on Sundays 
 while the pestilence prevailed without, to give religious instruc- 
 tion, whereupon Mr. Martin waxed sarcastic at the committee, 
 which previously sheltered itself behind the Medical Officer, 
 now allowing a priest from a fever-stricken area to go inside. 
 Messrs. Yates, Whitty, and Lomax proceeded to London to 
 enter a protest with the President of the Local Government 
 Board. The Inspector reported that the provision of Catholic 
 instruction was " unsatisfactory." Attending the committee, 
 he gave his reasons, but they still refused to allow a priest to 
 " read Mass " while permitting a young teacher to do so, The 
 " Catholic Times " called upon the Irish members of Parlia- 
 ment to enquire if the Catholic Emancipation Act had been 
 repealed in Liverpool, and went on to say, " but for the 
 "judicious action of Mr. H. J. Hagger, Vestry Clerk, the 
 '" Veetry would often run riot. With a few exceptions, it is 
 
 * This is now the practice of all Boards of Guardians, acting 
 nnder the Order of the Local Government Board.
 
 195 
 
 " composed of men whose intelligence is only bounded by 
 " obstinate bigotry, and whose liberality is in inverse ratio to 
 " their refinement." The Toxteth Board set them a good 
 example. Having laid it down as a necessary condition of 
 receiving outdoor relief that all children must attend a school 
 which they regarded as well equipped, a decision which 
 excluded St. Patrick's, a deputation from the Catholic Club 
 waited on the Board, which immediately set the matter right. 
 
 At the Easter of 1870, Mr. John Clarke, Great Howard 
 Street, gained a seat on the Vestry, and threw himself with 
 much vigour into the fight for a Catholic Chaplain, which was 
 the only outstanding " religious difficulty " which prevented 
 the Liverpool Parish Guardians from working together in 
 perfect harmony. 
 
 Father Nugent, in the August of 1870, decided to visit 
 Canada and the United States, with the intention of ascer- 
 taining by personal observation what prospect awaited young 
 people emigrated from the crowded streets of Liverpool. It 
 had long been a source of great difficulty to the managers of 
 Industrial and Poor-Law Schools to find suitable employment 
 for boys when the time came for their being discharged. The 
 experiment of sending boys to Canada was just beginning to 
 attract public attention, and as Father Nugent was about to 
 take out a small party of children he resolved to lay his plans 
 before the leading citizens and secure their co-operation. 
 Summoning a meeting, which was attended by Poor-Law 
 Guardians, magistrates, and others interested in the removal 
 of children from dangerous surroundings, he unfolded his plan 
 of action. Canon O'Reilly, on behalf of the clergy, gave his 
 blessing to the mission, and on the 18th August Father Nugent 
 made his first trip across the Atlantic. After nine months 
 sojourn in America, during which he visited the great 
 industrial centres and the agricultural districts of Canada and 
 the United States, he returned to Liverpool, when he was 
 presented by the Cliristian Brothers in charge of the Boys' 
 Refuge with his portrait in oils.* A great meeting of citizens 
 was held in St. George's Hall to hear Father Nugent's report 
 of his experiences. Fathor Kelly, of St. James', Bootle, pre- 
 sided, supportofl by thir+y Livorponl priests, who were 
 naturally deeply interested in any movement, which would save 
 the children from the sad fate of the streets. " Let any 
 " man," sairl Father Nugent, " walk our streets, let him go 
 " along Marybone, Vauxhall Rood, or Scotland Road, and his 
 " heart will sink as ho sees not only poverty, but naked, di^- 
 " gusting pauperism. When I see so many poor girls 
 
 • This portrait still hangR in tho Committoe Roora, St. Anne Street.
 
 196 
 
 "crowding the workhouses and prisons; when I see the 
 " noblest race God has created degraded and demoralised in 
 " our large towns, is it not the duty of every man that has a 
 " spark of humanity in his veins, to stretch out his hands and 
 ■' give the warm feelings of his heart to put them in a position 
 " where they can be self-reliant, where they can gain their 
 ■'bread without becoming a race of paupers?'' The famine 
 y<?ars and the continued curse of Irish misgovernment had laid 
 their deadly hands on the large towns of Great Britain, Liver- 
 pool worst of all. Local Irish Nationalists did not relish 
 Father Nugent's strictures, but the practical mind of the 
 experienced priest knew the evils of the town, and devoted his 
 wonderful energy and enthusiasm to their cure. 
 
 The Select Vestry invited Father Nugent to appear before 
 the Schools Committee to discuss the practicability of sending 
 children to Canada from the Kirkdale Schools, especially those 
 between eight and ten years of age. It was a remarkable 
 change to find the Vestry taking up so reasonable an attitude 
 towards the Catholic children, and here again the magnetic 
 personality of Father Nugent proved a valuable asset to the 
 Catholics of his native town. The Vestry agreed to try the 
 experiment, while the enthusiastic priest went from town to 
 town, winning numerous supporters for his new rallying cry 
 "Save the Boy." 
 
 On Sunday, January 23rd, 1870, during the course of a 
 mission in St. Joseph's Church, Grosvenor Street, someone 
 created a stampede by a foolish cry of " Fire.'' Fifteen persons 
 were trampled to death in the ugly rush from the building. 
 Mr. Alderman Hubback, the Mayor of the town, opened a fund 
 for the relief of the bereaved families, a kindly act which 
 created an immense amount of good feeling towards himself 
 and the civic authorities. His action was all the more appre- 
 ciated as he was a prominent member of the Conservative 
 party, and he gave further proofs of his generous instincts by 
 giving official recognition to the efforts of the parishioners of 
 St. Alexander's to erect new schools. Father E. Powell, who 
 was attached to this mission for nineteen years, organised a 
 bazaar at St. George's Hall, and secured the services of the 
 Mayor to preside on the opening day. 
 
 At St. Francis Xavier's, Father George Porter, S.J., 
 signalised his rectorship by hanging a peal of eight bells in 
 the tower of the church, which Bishop Goss solemnly blessed 
 on the 24th July, 1870. This incident was the unfortunate 
 occasion of creating friction with Mr. Verner White, who 
 waxed furious at the " audacity " of the Jesuits, and after 
 making a strong protest threatened legal proceedings to secure
 
 197 
 
 the removal or permanent silence of the new bells. The diffi- 
 culty v\ as solved with great tact by i a, her Porter, who adroitly 
 changed the hour of the evening service from seven o'clock to 
 half-past six, thus saving the alleged annoyance to the Presby- 
 terian worshippers at the Islington Church. When this 
 brilliant priest left to undertake the important duties 
 of Archbishop of Bombay, Bishop Goss addressed to him a 
 public letter, couched in affectionate language, of farewell and 
 congratulation. He was succeeded by his brother. Father 
 Thomas Porter, S.J., afterwards Bishop of Jamaica. 
 
 The crowded condition of Scotland and Vauxhall Wards, 
 districts already well supplied with churches and schools, 
 needed, in the Bishop's judgment, further church accommoda- 
 tion. A Dissenting chapel in Bevington Bush became vacant, 
 which was purchased for £1,560, and on the 27th November, 
 1870, was opened by the Vicar-General, Canon Fisher. On 
 the fifth day of the same month he wrote to Father 
 O'Donovan,* then a curate at St. Joseph's, Grosvenor Street, 
 appointing him rector of the new mission. " The Bishop has 
 " placed this mission under the protection of St. Bridget, 
 " knowing well how fervent and heartfelt is the devotion of 
 " Ireland's faithful children to that much-favoured saint." 
 
 The sermons and other addresses of Bishop Goss during 
 the last two years of his life attracted more public attention 
 than any delivered during the nineteen years of his episcopal 
 rule. Preaching at Little Crosby, in May, 1871, he severely 
 criticised the general attitude of the Press towards revealed 
 religion. The movement for the destruction of the Temporal 
 Power of the Pope, then nearing its final stages, afforded spe- 
 cious pretexts for articles hostile not only to Catholicism, but 
 to ovory form of Christian belief. Bishop Goss aroused the 
 anger of his old-time critic, Mr. M. J. Whitty, by one sentence 
 in this Little Crosby sermon, which ran as follows: — " In the 
 " newspapers dogmas and traditions have been cast aside, and 
 "crude notions put forward of the origin of man." Mr. 
 Whitty ocrupiod two columns of the " Daily Post" with his 
 reply to the Bishop. " People have ceased," he wrote, " to 
 " place much value upon sormfjns of any kind, whether Catholic 
 " or Protestant ; and, above all, thny regard with perfect 
 " indifference all that is said by Cardinal Cullon, or even by 
 "your Lordship in pastoral letters. The profane scoff and 
 " pronounce it hosh : the piou.s rfgard yr.ur arlvire as a matter 
 " of course, nothing more. Newspaper men see so much of the 
 behind the scenes ' of social life that their very cleverness 
 
 * Now a Canon of the Chapter, who has since built a fine new 
 Church and Schools.
 
 198 
 
 " and cynicism causes them to question whether there can be 
 " such a thing as true religion, morality, or sincerity in the 
 " world. The Press is not the pulpit, but the abuse of its 
 " liberty, of which the Bishop complains, once removed, it 
 " could be made a powerful machine for the moral and social 
 "elevation of the masses." The admission contained in the 
 last sentence, as well as the definite statement that journalists 
 do not believe there can be real morality or sincerity in the 
 world, opened up a wide field for controversy. Father Guy, 
 O.S.B., took up Mr. Whitty's cynicisms, and in a series of 
 brilliant letters and sermons, disposed of the proposition that 
 " newspaper men," as such, were quite so sceptical or 
 materialistic as the able editor of the " Daily Post " would have 
 the world believe. The " Post," a few weeks later, created 
 some feeling against Bishop Goss, by publishing his sermon at 
 St. Joseph's, with the unjustifiable heading : " Reproof of the 
 " Irish." His Lordship had said: " Eternal honour to those 
 " who love their country. Irishmen have as much right here 
 " as in Ireland, and with that to endeavour to acquire political 
 " power and influence, through the fulfilment of the law of 
 " God, so that they might become a reformed j>eople." Had 
 the heading been " Reproof of the Teetotallers " there would 
 have been some justification, as in the same sermon he advo- 
 cated temperance as distinguished from total abstinence. He 
 " disfavoured greatly," teetotalism, " because it had been 
 " introduced upon the false principle that it was prescribed by 
 " God." 
 
 The Bishop attacked the Liverpool School Board because 
 of its general attitude towards Catholics. That body had 
 decided upon the introduction of Bible teaching into all the 
 schools provided by them out of the rates, and the Catholic 
 members argued that, if any Catholic children attended the 
 new schools, it would be in accord with the Board's principles 
 to permit them to read the Douai version of the Bible. With 
 unnecessary heat the majority rejected the proposal, thus 
 following the example of the Tory Town Council thirty years 
 earlier. The Board went further to display its hostility 
 towards the arrangement made a year earlier, by which one 
 shilling per head per week was paid towards the maintenance 
 of children committed at their instance to Catholic industrial 
 schools. It was urged that such payments were an infringe- 
 ment of the principles of the Education Act of 1870. To 
 encourage the members disposed to act upon this policy, a 
 number of public meetings were addressed by Rev. Drs. Taylor 
 and Verner White, and Mr. Hugh Stowell Brown.* To make 
 
 • His statue standB outside the Myrtle Street Baptist Church.
 
 199 
 
 matters worse, two of the best of the Liberal leaders, Mr. 
 William Crosfield* and Mr. George Melly, M.P., waited on the 
 School Board to protest against the further continuance of the 
 weekly payments. Eventually, owing mainly to the influence 
 of Mr. James Whitty, a compromise was arranged on the basis 
 of continuing the payments for all children committed to the 
 Industrial Schools prior to the date of this interesting debate 
 and decision. It was the first time that Nonconformists and 
 Churchmen joined hands against the Catholics of the town. 
 Certainly it was a new feature in the political life of Liverpool 
 to find prominent Liberal leaders uniting with ultra-Tories of 
 the stamp of the Rev. Dr. Taylor in resisting Catholic claims, 
 especially on such a delicate question as the rescue of poor 
 children from a life of shame. It is quite true there was a 
 finely-drawn question of principle at issue, but just soich an 
 issue as to justify Cardinal Newman's fine simile about 
 stretching principles until they break like the string of a violin. 
 At any rate, one immediate consequence was a further loosen- 
 ing of the close ties which bound the Irish and Catholic people 
 to the Liberal party, a disintegrating influence which has 
 probably continued to this very hour. A municipal contest 
 was the turning point. The retiring member for Exchange 
 Ward was Mr. J. J. Stitt, who was also a member of the School 
 Board. In the course of the debate over the proposed provision 
 of Douai Bibles for Catholic children in Board Schools, he 
 indulged in criticisms of that version which were at once 
 irrelevant to the issue at stake, grossly offensive to his Catholic 
 colleagues, as well as betraying an ignorance of the written 
 Word which was quite inexcusable in an educated man. The 
 Catholic voters of the parish of Holy Cross resolved to teach 
 him a lesson in good manners and sound Liberalism, if the 
 latter tnrm really included Bible teaching in Board Schools. 
 Mr. Stitt was opposed by a Conservative, and appealed to the 
 Catholics of Holy Cross to support his re-election. This they 
 emphatically refused to do, and, under the leadership of Mr. J. 
 Nealo Lomaxf and Mr. John Prondivillo,! strenuously fought 
 for the return of Mr. Stitt's opponent. To do so was to break 
 away from a tradition as old as the first election of the reformed 
 Town Council, and created consternation in both Liberal and 
 Catholic circles. Mr. Stitt was defeated in this stronghold of 
 
 • Mombcr of tho Town Council, and father of Mr. Wm. Cronfiold, 
 Councillor, Solect Vestryman, Member of tho Dock Board, and ex- 
 Membor for Lincoln, who died in l()Ofl. 
 
 f A htatiio of tho Sacrid Heart in tho main avenue, Ford 
 Cemetery, marks his last resting plaoe. 
 
 t A wfdl-known tug owner; was a member of tho Birkenhead 
 Board of Guardians for many yoara.
 
 200 
 
 Liberalism by 241 votes ; bis defeat being the first proof of the 
 political power placed in the hands of Catholics by the passing 
 of the household franchise. Mr. Stitt did not improve matters 
 by his speech at the close of the poll, when he asked " whether 
 " we have the right to think and si)eak for ourselves ; whether 
 " we are to listen to the dictation of that hierarchy whose 
 " principal characteristic has ever been the snppreesion and 
 " stifling of public opinion." Mr. Stitt took himself too 
 seriously. The hierarchy had never heard of him, and at the 
 worst had only asked for Bible teaching, which was the main 
 plank in Mr. Stitt's educational platform. Bishop Goss replied 
 to the defeated candidate's outburst from the altar of St. 
 John's, Fountains Road. After warmly defending the action 
 of the Holy Cross parishioners, he went on to say that he 
 " always held the doctrine that politics were safely left in the 
 " hands of the laity. At the same time, when faith or morals 
 " were concerned he held it to be his duty to lay the matter 
 " fairly and distinctly before his people, while he still held that 
 " either a bishop or a clergyman had a right to use his civil 
 "privilege." A bye-filection for a seat on the School Board 
 caused the Conservatives and Churchmen to nominate Mr. 
 L. R. Baily,* the Dissenters nominating the Rev. Dr. Verner 
 White. The Bishop for the first time interfered in a local 
 election, by asking his people to support the Conservative 
 candidate. A fiercely fought contest ensued, out of which Dr. 
 White emerged the victor by 1,089 votes. That the Conserva- 
 tives should be defeated in Liverpool was a great surprise, 
 especially with a large body of Catholics at their bcick. It 
 served to show either that the Catholics disregarded the 
 Bishop's advice by abstaining from voting, or, that the strong 
 current of Protestant feeling swept away the ordinary claims 
 of party. The polling shewed that the latter supposition was 
 the right one. In Scotland Ward, Mr. Baily polled 2,056 
 votes, in Vauxhall 502, Holy Cross parish 786, to name only 
 three thickly populated Catholic districts. 
 
 Mr. J. J. Stitt, stung by his defeat at the hands of 
 Catholic voters, endeavoured to carry a proposal at the School 
 Board to prevent the payment of school fees of children whose 
 parents through illness were compelled to seek indoor me'dical 
 aid from the Guardians. This penal proposal was also to 
 apply to orphan children living with relatives. The motion 
 was rejected by ten votes to three. The " Catholic Times," in 
 commenting upon this debate, made an attack on the 
 committee of the Seamen's Orphanage for refusing to make 
 provision for the religious training of the orphans of Catholic 
 
 *Defeated Captain O'Shea in Exchange Divigion, 1885
 
 201 
 
 sailors. It pointed out that the land upon which the 
 Orphanage stands had been presented by the Town Council, 
 and that the committee, by their conduct, were turning a 
 generous municipal gift into an endowment for the State 
 religion. This criticism eventually — though not immediately 
 — secured fair treatment for the orphans of Catholic 
 seamen. 
 
 For some time Liverpool had made no move towards 
 supporting His Holiness Pius the Ninth in his serious struggle 
 to resist the seizure of Rome and the patrimony of Peter. In 
 1870 a detachment of Papal Zouaves reached Liverpool and 
 were welcomed by the Earl of Denbigh, Chevalier Lloyd, and 
 three prominent local Catholic gentlemen — Messrs. Lomax, 
 Prendiville, and Denvir — who entertained them to a public 
 luncheon. One of the number, a young Englishman, named 
 Francis Woodwark, was seized with a fatal illness, and the 
 Oblate Fathers had him conveyed to the Presbytery of Holy 
 Cross, where he was tenderly nursed, but to no avail. The 
 Requiem Mass, sung by Father Coopman, O.M.I., was the 
 occasion of a great demonstration of respectful sympathy, and 
 the Zouave was laid to rest in Anfield Cemetery in the 
 presence of his fellow soldiers. 
 
 " The silence of Lancashire," as Father Nugent called it, 
 was broken by a demonstration organised by the Catholic 
 Young Men's Societies, an organisation for which he had a 
 special affection. The Earl of Denbigh presided, and Mr. A. 
 M. Sullivan, M.P., editor of the historic weekly, "The 
 " Nation," stated the case for the Temporal Power of the 
 Popye. " The Pope has had in Rome one great attribute, the 
 " want of which Europe has felt, is feeling, and will still more 
 " deeply feel. The Papacy had a mediative and arbitrative 
 " character. What princes among themselves will ever agree 
 " to be a president in a family of kings? Such a man was the 
 " Pope in history, such he must be if chaos and anarchy are 
 " not to succeed." 
 
 On the 26th February, 1871, Alderman Richard Shell 
 passed away at the ripe age of eighty years. For fifty years 
 he harl be<;ii a prominorit figure in every Catholic movement. 
 Born in Dublin, in 1790, he was a member of the same family 
 which gave to Ireland the brilliant writer and M.P., Richard 
 Lalor Shr-il. After spending many years of his life in llayti, 
 Mr. Shf^il came to Livnrponl, and carried on large business 
 with great success. No Catholic movement was complete 
 without his prc5»enre, whilst his intrrost in public matters was 
 »o intense that the Tory Corporation paid him the compliment 
 of naming one of its public parks with his surname. Quo of
 
 202 
 
 the first three Catholic councillors, the first Catholic alderman, 
 he had the unique honour of being the first to re-enter the 
 Council and again become the only Catholic alderman. Dark 
 complexioned, he looked like a Spanish monk, and his mer- 
 chant friends used to say of him that he had missed his 
 vocation. His warm Irish temperament and mellifluous 
 brogue made him a host of friends in all parties which he with 
 kindly wisdom turned to £U3count for the benefit of his 
 co-religionists. Indeed, had he so desired even a Conservative 
 majority would have elected him to the honourable position 
 of the Chief Magistracy. To do honour to his memory, and 
 as an acknowledgement of his signal services to the Church, 
 the Vicar-General sang the Requiem Mass in the absence 
 through illness of the Bishop. His mortal remains were 
 interred in Anfield Cemetery. 
 
 In addition to his multifarious works, Father Nugent 
 added that of the crusade against intemperance. Branches 
 of the new " League of the Cross " were established at almost 
 every mission; weekly meetings held in various parts of the 
 town, which were addressed at length by the " second Father 
 " Mathew," as he was termed, and as an antidote to the 
 public house in the slums, the weekly concerts were begun 
 which have since become a feature of social work among all 
 sections of Liverpool reformers. As an evidence of the 
 deadly results of intemperance, the School Board in the 
 second year of its existence addressed a memorial to the 
 magistrates pointing out that 25,000 children were attending 
 school irregularly as the result of excessive drinking on the 
 part of the parents. Father Nugent, to the hour of his 
 death, always regarded the temperance crusade as the 
 greatest work of his life, and as the most successful in its 
 results. 
 
 As far back as the early fifties the Medical Officer of 
 Health had suggested the provision of a mortuary chapel on 
 moral and sanitary grounds. The epidemic of 1865 induced 
 a Protestant gentleman, named Robert Hutchinson, to make 
 the generous offer of providing such a chapel in a poor 
 Catholic neighbourhood. The first stone of All Souls, 
 C-ollingwood Street, was laid on December 11th, 1866, but 
 after contributing £2,825, the generous donor became 
 involved in serious financial complications and the work was 
 stopped. Some time later a special subscription was made 
 to complete the work, to which the Earl of Derby, Mr. 
 William Rathbone, Mr. S. G. Rathbone, Messrs. Lamport 
 and Holt, and D. and C. Maciver contributed one hundred 
 pounds each. This timely assistance enabled the Catholic
 
 203 
 
 authorities to complete the church, which was opened by 
 the Vicar-General, Dr. Fisher, on St. Patrick's day, 1872. 
 Father T. Hogau was appointed Rector. In June, Father 
 John Nugent was appointed to found a new uxission " between 
 " Kirkdale, Ford and Gillmoss." A Protestant gentleman, 
 named Mr. C. Harvey, placed an out-building in Rice Lane 
 at his disposal, which was duly opened for Divine Service, 
 on October 20th, 1872, again by the Vicar-General, the 
 Bishop having passed away to his eternal reward seventeen 
 days before. A temporary school had been provided in 
 Raymond Street, to provide accommodation for the new 
 parish of St. Sylvester's; new schools for St. Peter's parish, 
 to be erected in Gilbert Street, were on the point of 
 completion ; St. Patrick's new schools were opened on April 
 2nd, 1872 ; and in May an old chapel was fitted up to serve 
 as an addition to the school accommodation. From a letter 
 written to the " Catholic Times," January 7th, 1871, by 
 Father Moses Doon, we learn that a dis&enting chapel in 
 Claremont Grove had been purchased for the purposes of a 
 temporary Catholic chapel, and he publicly thanked Dean 
 Kelly, Bootle, for generously providing him with an altar. 
 The chapel, under the title of St. John, was opened on the 
 12th February, 1871, when the Vicar-General preached the 
 first sermon. 
 
 The flow of the Catholic population northwards from 
 the centre of the town, was shewn by the provision of this 
 church and that of the Blessed Sacrament at Walton, just 
 as the erection of St. Michael's and the new schools at St. 
 Oswald's testified to the extensions eastwards. Such develop- 
 ments seemed to indicate a great and growing increase 
 in the number of Catholics in the town, but the many 
 circumstances already alluded to in the condition of the 
 people did not make the picture quite so rosy as would 
 appear at first sight. One of the last sermons delivered by 
 the Bishop in his usual outspoken manner indicated that he 
 was under no delusions as to the real character of this 
 apparent progress. "There are" ho said, "from 150,000 to 
 " 200,000 Catholics in Liverpool, and only 50,000 went to 
 " Mass. His opinion was that, as Catholics, they wore growing 
 " up into a vast population nominally, but that they were 
 " growing up forgetful of their duties."* The figures given 
 by Father Gibson as to performance of the Easter duty of 
 approaching the sacraments boro out the Bishop's statement. 
 
 Tn Liverpool the average attendance at Mass on Sunday 
 mornings was only 51,270; the numbers observing the law 
 
 •Sormon nt Rt. I'.riflRfit'n, .T.-vntmry H, 1R72. Tho prosnnt I 
 figures (1910) are :— Population 135,000 ;' attendance at Masa 08,000. /
 
 204 
 
 of approaching the Sacraments at Easter or thereabouts 
 amounting only to 42,354. Contrast this with the figures for 
 Preston and \Vigan. The numbers attending the Sunday 
 Mass were 14,671 in Preston and 5,602 in Wigan. but the 
 numbers performing the Easter obligation are the important 
 feature as compared with Liverpool; 13,334 in Preston, and 
 5,718 in Wigan. In the other portions of the diocese 38,029 
 attended Mass, and 35,751 received the Sacraments.* 
 Demoralisation had set in twenty years before, hence the 
 serious statement of the Bishop that Liverpool was rapidly 
 reaching a stage of nominal Catholicism. The pity is that 
 compulsory attendance at school had not been the law in 
 1850, instead of 1870, else a different set of figures had been 
 the result. 
 
 It is not without its significance that in October, 1859, 
 the Bishop had stated that " not from surmise but from 
 " actual computation " 50,000 then heard Mass on Sundays. 
 In twelve years there had been no increase. 
 
 On October the 3rd, 1872, Dr. Goss, who had been ailing 
 for some years, passed away suddenly, in his fifty-eighth year.f 
 Born in Ormskirk, the son of a Protestant father, he shewed at 
 an early age the signs of his vocation for the priesthood. 
 Educated at Ushaw and Kome, he became a professor and 
 vice-president at St. Edward's College, Liverpool, of which, 
 with Monsignor Provost John Henry Fisher, J he was one 
 of the founders. His life was of the most simple character. 
 At no time had he an income of five hundred pounds per 
 annum. § The great work of his life was the provision of schools 
 for the children of the diocese, especially during the last two 
 years of his life, when he made a herculean and successful 
 effort to provide new schools to meet the requirements of the 
 new Education Act. " We will not cease while there is a 
 " single Catholic child, not alone in Liverpool, but in the 
 " whole of the diooese, that has not a good Catholic school 
 " near at hand." No more fitting epitaph could be inscribed 
 on his tomb in Ford cemetery than this loving declaration of 
 his keen interest in the children of his diocese. Archdeacon 
 Manning, preaching at the Requiem Mass, said of him that 
 some of his natural traits were solidarity of character, a 
 masculine simplicity and openness of heart which was 
 
 • December 18, 1871. 
 fA boy sent in haste to summon the Bishop's friend, Father Ray, 
 was ' homns Whiteside, who 22 years later became the fonrth Bishop 
 of Liverpool. 
 
 X Bom in Manchester, on the site of the present Town Hall. He 
 ■was a schoolfellow of Dr. Ryle, first Protestant Bishop of Liverpool. 
 § Ushaw Magazine, 1895.
 
 205 
 
 exhibited in his face, and a calm, deep, tnanly speech, which 
 displayed at once the character and inward spirit of his 
 mind. He had known how Dr. Goss was sometinaes strong 
 and resolute, almost to vehemence, in decisions which he 
 thought truth or justice required, but no man was more for- 
 bearing, more considerate or more equitable to others, or more 
 ready in balancing justice, to change his conclusions when 
 facts or reason could be adduced against him. " I do not 
 " know that I was ever more impressed than in reading a 
 " few simple words, which he once spoke in a time of great 
 " disorder — a time, it may be, of great danger — from the 
 " very place, it may be, from which 1 speak — ' so long as my 
 " ' hand can hold my pastoral staff, so long as my voice can 
 '■ ' ring, I will never cease to denounce the evil.' " The future 
 Cardinal Archbishop had twelve years earlier paid Bishop 
 Goss a high compliment. Referring to the long drawn out 
 dispute over Oscott,* and the constant appeals to Rome which 
 vexed the soul of Cardinal Wiseman, Provost Manning, as 
 he then was, wrote to the Cardinal on hearing of the visit 
 to Rome of Bishops Clifford and Brown (Shrewsbury), " I do 
 " not think that the two who are going are formidable after 
 " Dr. Errington and Dr. Goss.'' The panegyric of the Arch- 
 bishop of Westminster, shews how much his opinion of the 
 dead Bishop of Liverpool had changed as the result of a 
 closer and fuller knowledge, as he had once written of him 
 during the time of the Oscott dispute, " Goss with his usual 
 " rough violence — the crozier, hook and point." 
 
 The closing years of his life were somewhat embittered 
 by the prolonged litigation over the will of Samuel Holland 
 Moreton, and the attacks of the " Liverpool Courier " on the 
 Vicar-General, Mon&ignor Fisher, who drew up the disputed 
 document. Moreton, to whom some reference has already 
 been made in the^e pages, became possessed, on August 19th, 
 1854, of certain rij^'hts in the Hundred of Wirral, formerly 
 held by a Mr. Samuel Spencer. Licredible as it may appear 
 to the present generation, these " rights " included a claim 
 to administer justice, summon jurors, fine certain ofTcnders, 
 decide points of law, order payment of debts, levy distresses, 
 etc., and for a thousand years previously private individuals 
 had so acted. In pursuance of these rights he seized the 
 Manor House, Thornton Houph, and claimed the foreshore of 
 the Mersey nn the Cheshire side, which claim was successfully 
 resisted by the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board some years 
 later. 
 
 • See Mr. Wilfrid Ward's "Life of Cardinal Wiseman."
 
 20S 
 
 In March, 1869, he was seized with a fatal illness at his 
 residence in Islington Flags. Bishop Goss, owing to severe 
 illness, was not able to attend him, whereupon the Vicar- 
 G«neral, Dr. Fisher, proceeded to the bedside of the dying 
 man. Moreton requested Dr. Fisher to write out a will in 
 words which he dictated, leaving all his property to the 
 Bishop, and refused to listen to the suggestion that Messrs. 
 John Yates, Edward Whitley,* or Mr. Bateson, should be 
 sent for to frame his last testament in proper form. Moreton 
 declared that the lawyers had ruined him, and were the 
 " scrapings of hell," and that he had no intention of allowing 
 his property to fall into the hands of his wife's relations. 
 
 Next day. Dr. Fisher dictated a form of will to his 
 brother. Father Fisher, using a formula from a standard work, 
 " Jarman on Wills." An urgent messenger arrived at St. 
 Edward's College on that day, requesting the immediate 
 presence of Dr. Fisher, who, proceeding to Mr. Moreton'a 
 residence, shewed the written will to the sick man who signed 
 it, the witness being a Protestant servant. f 
 
 Mrs. Moreton, who appears to have lived at Thornton 
 Hough, arrived, and was informed by Canon Fisher of her 
 husband's decision. No allowance for her was specifically 
 set forth in the will, Moreton acting on his declaration made 
 years before that Dr. Goss could give Mrs. Moreton whatever 
 he liked. Five years before he had told Canon Fisher that 
 he intended to make the Bishop his sole legatee, and in 1868, 
 made the same statement to his own clerk and collector of 
 rents. 
 
 Mr. Moreton was buried in the churchyard of Neston 
 Catholic Chapel. 
 
 On April 9th, 1869, the Liverpool organ of Protestant 
 ascendancy, the " Courier," devoted a column and a half to 
 an attack on Bishop Goss alleging that the will was not a 
 genuine one. Moreton " made a will, or rather, as rumour 
 " puts it, had a will made for him, in which the whole of his 
 " extensive proj>erty goes to the Church of Rome, in the 
 " person of her chief representative here. Dr. Goss, the titular 
 " Bishop of Liverpool." ..." The days of clerical judge- 
 " ships in England are, we presume, past ; otherwise, should 
 " Dr. Goss be entitled to exercise the unfamiliar but 
 " presumably tremendous powers of his Lordship (of the 
 " Hundred of Wirral) we might anticipate that one of the 
 " first and most welcome of his judicial acts would be to harass 
 " and oppress arch heretics like ourselves, should we ever 
 
 • A well-known solicitor, Mayor, and M.P. for Everton. 
 t See "Courier," June, 1870.
 
 207 
 
 " come within his clutches, for the unpardonable sin of 
 " shewing the public how the Church of Rome still endeavours 
 " to enrich herself out of deathbed patients." 
 
 The spectacle of a Catholic Bishop in possession of the 
 rights of the Wirral Hundred Lordship was too terrifying for 
 the nerves of the Tory editor. 
 
 Mrs. Moreton engaged the services of the distinguished 
 Irish barrister, Andrew Commins, LL.D.,* to secure a sub- 
 stantial annual allowance. On this becoming known, the 
 " Courier " proceeded forthwith to fan the flames of anti- 
 Catholic feeling, by insinuating that " the worldly wisdom 
 " which characterises Roman Catholic policy," would secure 
 " a quiet arrangement " with Mrs. Moreton. 
 
 It also gave prominence to a wild story that the parish 
 priest of Neston had given credence to a statement of his 
 servant that the ghost of the deceased had been wandering 
 about the lanes of Wirral, declaring to all and sundry that it 
 could not rest unless Mrs. Moreton acquiesced in the " quiet 
 " arrangement.'' 
 
 Notices were served in the name of Bishop Goss on all 
 the tenants of the estate, notifying the change of ownership, 
 whereupon a caveat was entered by Mrs. Moreton, and to 
 complicate the whole situation, a man named Hill was found 
 just in time to prevent the will being proved, who declared 
 he was the heir-at-law. The Duchy of Lancaster also put in 
 an appearance, and in June, 1870, Lord Penzance, after a 
 trial which lasted four days, decided that Moreton was 
 incapable of making a will, with costs against the Bishop. f 
 
 Dr. Goss was laid aside by a complete breakdown in 
 health, and at the time of the trial was undergoing treatment 
 in Carlsbad. The " Courier " broke out in a fierce attack on 
 tho Bishop. " It shews the devices by which the Roman 
 " Catholic Church acquires its vast possessions, and the tactics 
 ' of the ready instruments by whom the wealth is gathered. 
 " The compilation of the will can only bo referred to an 
 " unscrupulous spirit of aggrandisement on the part, not of 
 •' individuals, but of the Roman Catholic Church." J 
 
 'Ex-M.F^. for B.E. Cork and Roacommon, Aldnrman of the 
 City Council. 
 
 t Mr. Charlos RubbcH, aftcrwr»rdB Lord Chief JuHtice, was junior 
 eoiinsnl for Bishop Gobb. 
 
 J The value of the estate was computed at from £36,000 to £60,000.
 
 208 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 The selection of a successor to the lat© Bishop was, in 
 the peculiar circumstances of Liverpool, a task of no little 
 dillicuity. Two remarkable editorial articles appeared in the 
 " Catholic Times," written by Father Nugent, at a moment 
 when rumour was busy speculating as to the likely appoint- 
 ment of one prominent ecclesiastic, Monsignor J. H. Fisher, a 
 life long friend of Dr. Goss. On November 2nd, 1872, these 
 words appeared: "The See of Liverpool is the centre of 
 " Catholic life and action in England. Its judicious and 
 " vigorous administration is more important to the progress 
 " of the Catholic Church in this country than even the 
 " Metropolitan See of Westminster. There is a Catholic 
 " power and spirit in Lancashire, a union of classes, a 
 " numerical strength, which a man of judgment and ability 
 " could direct beyond all other dioceses in England. Here 
 " there is a landed gentry, a large and intelligent body of 
 " commercial men, an energetic middle class of tradesmen and 
 " farmers, and, more than all, the overwhelming numbers of 
 " the working classes. . . Here is a position which requires 
 " no ordinary man, but a prelate gifted with piety, self- 
 " sacrifice and knowledge; a man with a large grasp of mind, 
 " familiar with the difficulties and trials which beset a priest's 
 "life, having the singular ability to rule; but wielding the 
 " crosier with a firm hand and a gentle heart. A bishop to 
 " fill so important a position, must be a man of large views, a 
 " representative of no particular section of the clergy, but 
 " one who will gather round him the multiplied strength of 
 " the Church's power, and be the same to the regular as to 
 " the secular clergy." The powerful position of the Liverpool 
 diocese was not at all exaggerated, and the temperate tone of 
 the article deserved a better recognition than it received. 
 When the news reached Liverpool in February, 1873, that 
 Canon Bernard O'Reilly had been appointed, Father Nugent 
 penned these words in his newspaper : " The important 
 " position which the diocese of Liverpool holds in the Catholic 
 " world in England ; the fact that the town itself is the strong- 
 " hold of Catholicity; the goodwill and growing disposition of 
 " public bodies to do fuller justice to Catholics than was done 
 " in past times ; and the immense responsibility resting on the 
 " shoulders of the leading prelate, might induce some of our 
 " fellow Catholics to desire the appointment of a man of
 
 209 
 
 " more striking brilliancy, and of larger experience in dealing 
 " with public questions, or of one whose practical knowledge 
 " of Church affairs abroad was more personal and more inti- 
 " mate; but on these heads we experience but little fear for 
 " Dr. O'Reilly, as we feel that his sterling piety and his 
 " innate good sense will supply any such deficiency." On the 
 22nd of March, this final comment appeared: '' Dr. O'Reilly 
 " has been essentially a working parish priest ; his career has 
 " been one of homely and modest usefulness; he has not come 
 " out into the glare of public life, or sought to bask in the 
 " sympathising smiles of those who love to appreciate public 
 " merit; and for these reasons it would be almost impossible 
 " for us to bring his numerous meritorious actions prominently 
 " before those who are unacquainted with him save by name. 
 " But from what we know of him we can foretell a most useful 
 " and solid episcopal career. We do not expect a brilliancy, 
 " or that energy and vigour of thought, habit and language, 
 " which distinctly marked his lamented predecessor ; but we 
 " do expect, and we know we shall find, a calm, peaceful sway, 
 " devoid of external excitement, or political or social conflicts; 
 " a rule that will be firm in conception, and yet mild and 
 " temperate in action, a consideration for the wants and 
 " feelings of his flock that will compel him to act for their 
 " best interests, and a steadfast effort to support the exertions 
 " of his clergy in all that they have to undertake for the benefit 
 " not only of their particular congregations but the Catholic 
 " community at large." These editorials created an estrange- 
 ment between the newly-appointed Bishop and their author 
 which lasted for a very considerable period. 
 
 The new Bishop was not anxious to bear the burthen, 
 and according to his biography in the Ushaw Magazine, 
 written by Father John Kelly, ho hurried to tlie Bishop of 
 Beverley to consult him as to the best means of escaping the 
 responsibility. 
 
 On the feast of his favourite saint, March 19th, 1873, and 
 in his own beloved church of St. Vincont de Paul, Canon 
 0'R«'illy was consecrated Bishop of Livorpool. Arclibishop 
 Manning, the Bishops of Nottingham, Birmingham, Ply- 
 mouth, Beverley, Hexham, and Shrewsbury were present, 
 whilst Ireland welcomed another Irishman to the episcopate, 
 by the prrsrnco of Dr. Nnlty, Bishop of Meath, anrl I)r. 
 Dorrian, Down and Connor. On the same occasion Father 
 Roger Bode Vanghan, was eonserraled coadjutor to the 
 Archbishop of Sydney, Dr. Polding, O.S.B 
 
 At the dinner of the Catholic Club held a few days later 
 the new Bishop laid down the lines upon which he intended to 
 
 N
 
 210 
 
 act with regard to interference in political matters: " He wae 
 '■ told he was a Liberal^ and that recent events in connection 
 " with education had made him a Tory. He was in his 
 " politics simply a Catholic, and if he had a leaning towards 
 '■ Liberalism, he must have had his views more or less 
 " modified by a recent course of events, and he believed that 
 " that was the position of all Catholics. They were ready to 
 " throw evei-y party to the winds, and to assume simply the 
 " name of Catholics."' These remarks, delivered in a club 
 traditionally Liberal, of which every member was, and had 
 been, hard workers for the Liberal cause, marked the serious 
 cleavage in the Catholic body consequent on the passing of 
 Forster's Education Act. The ties which bound the Liberals 
 and Catholics of the town had been unloosened. Whatever 
 the Bishop's opinions were on political qu<^tions he never 
 thrust them on his flock during his reign of twenty-one years, 
 and in this he followed the sage advice of the experienced 
 Archbishop of Westminster, Dr. Manning. In the northern 
 portion of his diocese he had now to rule over the faithful 
 Catholic people of the Fylde, who had clung to the ancient 
 faith with as much tenacity as the Irish who lived in the 
 south-western district. No doubt, in 1873, the northern 
 Catholics were Conservatives, with but a few and striking 
 exceptions. The Bishop had expressed the opinion that all 
 Catholics were prepared to throw every party to the winds 
 and remain simply Catholic. In this he was somewhat under- 
 rating the striking developments among his own countrymen 
 who were preparing to act on that policy for the sake of 
 Ireland. The result of the Fenian movement had been to 
 create a militant Nationalist spirit on the part even of those 
 Irishmen who disliked the secret methods of the Irish Repub- 
 lican Brotherhood. To distrust all English political parties, 
 and rely upon themselves, was the mainspring of Irish 
 political action until Mr. Gladstone's Home Rule Bill of 1886 
 united them once again in Liverpool to their ancient allies. 
 The Home Rule movement, under Butt, may be said to have 
 had its origin in Liverpool, where later on Parnell was 
 selected as the president of the Irish organisation. Had not 
 Dr. O'Reilly displayed his " innate good sense " by keeping 
 rigidly aloof from politics of all kinds, it is with his own 
 countrymen he would have come into collision. After the 
 bitter controversies of forty years originated by the McNeills, 
 Taylors, and Verner Whites, the ten years' press and platform 
 onslaught on the Papacy and the Temporal Power, the 
 irritation of a large Irish section because of the late Bishop's 
 prohibition of the Manchester Martyrs' procession, and a 
 slowly growing tolerance on the part of the local
 
 211 
 
 authorities, Liverpool needed a prolonged rest from either 
 episcopal or clerical interference in political or religious 
 controversies. Dr. O'Reilly realised this necessity, and 
 devoted the whole of his energies to his episcopal duties, the 
 provifiion of churches and schools and the establishment of a 
 diocesan seminary. A few months after his consecration a 
 parliamentary vacancy occurred in Liverpool, consequent upon 
 the death of Mr. S. R. Graves. The Liberals selected Mr. 
 W. S. Caine, who had been defeated in 1868, and the Home 
 Rule Association brought out Andrew Commins, Doctor of 
 Laws, the scholarly, cultured leader of the newly-formed 
 Irish Organisation. As there were some twelve thousand 
 Irish electors on the register, the election of Mr. Caine was 
 impossible in a three-cornered contest. To complicate the 
 issues, the Rev. Mr. Verner White, imitating the example of 
 McNeill, resolved to turn the election into a Protestant-versus- 
 Catholic fight, and fearing the defection of the Orange voters, 
 Mr. John Torr, the Conservative candidate, was forced to 
 declare that he would vote for the refusal of any Parliamen- 
 tary, School Board, or Parochial grants, to educate any 
 Roman Catholic in workhouses, parish schools, or prisons, in 
 his fauth, or pay any stipend to a Catholic Chaplain. The 
 Home Rule Association, which was simply concerned with 
 the one object of forcing to the front the solution of the 
 Irish question, having interviewed the Liberal candidate, 
 withdrew Dr. Commins, and strove with might and main to 
 defeat Mr. John Torr, who won the fight by 1912 votes. 
 What struck all parties as the serious side of the contest, 
 was that Mr. Caine only received 16,790 votes, thus proving 
 that the Irish electorate considerably outnumbered the 
 Liberal voting strength. Having demonstrated their power 
 the Irish party took up a more aggressive attitude the 
 following year at the general election. The minority seat 
 was held by Mr. William Rathbone, who was again 
 nominatfMl with Caino to fight the Liberal battle. In the 
 Catholic Club dissensions broke out, as the result of the pro- 
 poeal of the younger Irish members that a Catholic candidate 
 should be brought out. It was urged that eleven or twei"© 
 thousand votes would sfcuro the third seat, and the authors 
 cf tho proposal were quite indifToront as to the almo«t certain 
 result of defeating Mr. Rathbono. 
 
 Tho issues wore again complicated by the f!xtreme wing 
 of tho Liberal party demanding from Rathbone and Caine 
 a pictlgo to vote for the repeal of clause twenty-five of the 
 Education Act. This section was the only protection Cathf)Iic 
 parents enjoyed against bfing forced to send their children 
 to Board Schools, and the Nonconformist attitude towards
 
 212 
 
 Mr. Rathbone on this point justified the action of the Home 
 Rule Association in demanding pledges on the question of 
 local government for Ireland. 
 
 A state of confusion arose from these complications 
 which threatened to bring in its train an overwhelming defeat 
 of the Liberal party. The " Daily Post," in a leading article 
 of January 26th, 1874, declared emphatically that the Liberal 
 party " could not even hope to win the second seat, and looked 
 " with great anxiety to the decision of the Irish party." 
 
 Mr. Rathbone, while favouring, as a matter of principle, 
 the repeal of clause twenty-five of the Education Act, could 
 not vote for its " absolute repeal " unless provision were made 
 to give parents a choice of schools, but Mr. W. S. Caine's 
 attitude was much more aggressive. 
 
 On January the twenty -seventh, the Catholic Club met 
 to receive the report of the deputation which had waited upon 
 the Liberal leaders, to discuss the possibility of a Catholic 
 standing with Mr. Rathbone for the second seat. It was 
 alleged that " great discourtesy " was shewn to the deputation 
 by many leading Liberals, and, as the result of a stormy 
 discussion, the Catholic Club decided, by 39 votes to 37, to 
 nominate their own candidate. The minority were anxious 
 to avoid such a serious rupture with the Liberals, especially 
 as it involved the defeat of Mr. William Rathbone, and urged 
 that the small majority of two, justified further consideration 
 being given to the matter. It was then agreed to interview 
 both Liberal candidates as to their attitude towards the 
 demands put forward by the extreme Nonconformists. 
 Messrs. Yates, Whitty, Browne and Martin Rankin com- 
 posed the deputation, and presented their report to a special 
 meeting on January 29th; Mr. C. J. Corbally presided. 
 A motion was proposed to support both candidates, but a 
 strong feeling prevailed that the answers to the deputation 
 were ambiguous, and an amendment was proposed in these 
 terms : " that in view of the arbitrary and precipitate conduct 
 " of the Liberal Association, the meeting was not justified in 
 " recommending the Catholic electors to take any particular 
 " course." This suggestion was adopted by forty votes to 
 twenty-one. Messrs. Yates and Whitty did not regard them- 
 selves as in any way bound by this vote, and issued a 
 manifesto to the Catholic electors in favour of the Liberal 
 candidates. The next night, Messrs. Bidwill, Corbally, 
 Browne, Cullen, Rankin, and Prendiville, appeared on the 
 Liberal platform. All these gentlemen, save Mr. John 
 Yates, were Irishmen, and their action was regarded as a 
 direct challenge to the rising school of Irish Nationalists, who
 
 213 
 
 were more anxious to raise the Home Rule issue at this 
 election than to have the contest fought around the problema- 
 tical amendment of a clause in the Education Act of Mr. 
 W. E. Forster. The ultra-Catholic members of the Club had 
 joined hands with the latter in refusing to suppoi't the 
 Liberal candidates. The Home Rule Association then met, 
 and were addx-essed by Mr. John Ferguson of Glasgow,* Mr. 
 John Denvir, and Mr. Alfred Crilly.f It was decided to 
 invite Mr. James Samuelson to stand as th« Liberal Home 
 Rule candidate. This gentleman had, however, accepted an 
 invitation to contest the Borough of Birkenhead in the 
 Liberal interest, and was therefore unable to comply with 
 the request of the Irish Home Rulers. His selection would 
 have given the Liberal party a splendid chance of 
 winning the two majority seats. Liverpool was then a three- 
 membered constituency, and each elector was only permitted 
 by the law to vote for two candidates, an arrangement which 
 secured one seat for the minority. Mr. W. S. Caine, annoyed 
 at the attitude of the " Catholic Times," which had strongly 
 recommended the adoption of a Catholic candidate, a policy 
 which he attributed to Father Nugent, made an ungracious 
 attack on its owner for having attended a meeting to honour 
 the new mayor, Mr. A. B. Walker. Mr. Cain© contrasted 
 Father Nugents action at the Town Hall with the tem- 
 perance demonstration held the next night, when Archbishop 
 Manning attended to give his blessing to the League of the 
 Cross, Father Nugent's new organisation. This did not make 
 for Mr. Caine's success at the poll. Mr. Samuelson, { on the 
 other hand, would have had the undivided support of both 
 Irishmen and Catholics. The Home Rule Association issued 
 an appeal to their supporters to abstain from taking any 
 part in the election, a policy which secured the defeat of Mr. 
 Cain*'. In Scotland Ward, only sixty-three per cent, of the 
 Irish electors went to the poll for Rathbone and Caine, the 
 remainder abstaining in obedience to the Homo Rulers. Sfill 
 more serious results flowed from this cont+'st. The Catholic 
 Club hnld a meeting at which the conduct of those members 
 who had refused to abide by its decision was brought under 
 
 • Of the firm of C.imoron aiul PorguRon, jmlilishorB ; a ProtoHtant 
 Nationalist, and a leading momber of the Glasgow City Council until 
 hifl do.ith a fr^w years ago. 
 
 I A prominent figure in Irish politics in Liverpool. Hold tlio 
 post of Hecrntary to tho Finariciiil Iloform ABsociation. A witty, 
 eloquent, and geninl Irishman. 
 
 J Ifc was tho brother of Alderman Bernard Samuelson. In 
 November, 1H85, ho stood for the Kirkdale Division, when Mr. John 
 Rodmond, now loader of the Irish Party, gtood in tho Nationalist 
 interest.
 
 214 
 
 review. These gentlemen then joined officially the Lfiberal 
 organisation, leaving the field free for Irish Nationalists to 
 direct the Irish vote, and putting an end to Catholic organisa- 
 tions as such during the episcopate of Bishop O'Reilly. The 
 previous November, Mr. J. Neale Lomax went to the poll 
 at a School Board election, when Mr. James Fairhurst gained 
 a seat, as a protest against the policy of the Catholic Club. 
 It was clear that a cleavage had taken place in the Catholic 
 leadership, and the Catholic Club gradually ceased to possess 
 any political influence in the town. The division in the 
 Catholic ranks manifested itself even more openly on two 
 occaisions in quick succession. In February, 1874, Messrs. 
 Booth and Hakes, at the School Board, proposed that no 
 school fees should be paid in necessitous cases if the children 
 attended a denominational school. Dr. Hakes was a member 
 of the Evangelical Church party, and knew that from the 
 establishment of the School Board, the Church schools had 
 received one thousand and seven pounds, and the Catholic 
 schools during the same period six hundred and thirty-three 
 pounds. His proposal occupied two full days' discussion, in 
 the course of which he laid it down as his conviction that, 
 " Roman Catholics were instructed in such a way as only to fit 
 "them for gaols or workhouses.' The motion was defeated 
 by a combination of all parties, one of the majority being 
 Dr. Cross of Islington. This gentleman was invited to stand 
 for St. Anne's Ward, in the Conservative interest, in the 
 month of March, whereupon Mr. Joseph Ball called upon the 
 Orange electors to vote for the Liberal candidate. 
 
 Victory for the latter seemed certain when the great bulk 
 of the Catholic electors upset all calculations by voting for 
 Dr. Cross, who secured an easy victory. A week later, April 
 8th, 1874, the Liberal party retaliated. Mr. John Pren- 
 diville was nominated for a seat on the Select Vestry, along 
 with Mr. Charles Doherty, a retiring Catholic member. The 
 extreme wing of the Liberal party, not satisfied with the 
 voting at St. Nicholas' vestry, demanded a poll for the 
 purpose of defeating both candidates. The leaders took up 
 the attitude that as the churchwardens' list included Mr. 
 Doherty, the Liberal voters be urged to support him. The 
 poll was opened on April 8th, and continued day by day, 
 until the same day in May, when, seeing no hope of ultimate 
 success, Mr. Prendiville withdrew after receiving 10,191 
 votes from 8,661 electors. The one cry of the dissentient 
 Liberals was, " who voted against Mr. J. J. Stitt? John 
 " Prendiville !" an effective reference to the Exchange Ward 
 contest of 1871. On the other hand the Irish leaxlers who
 
 215 
 
 had counselled abstention at the parliamentary elections, a 
 policy which Mr. Preudiville defied, were very lukewarm in 
 his support as the poll shewed. That a combination of 
 Tories, Liberals, and angry Nationalists should secure the 
 defeat of an excellent Catholic gentleman was to be regretted, 
 but the one lesson to be drawn from this unfortunate contest 
 and the St. Anne's Ward election, was that Liberal Irishmen, 
 like Mr. James Whitty and Mr. C. J. Corbally, could no 
 longer direct the Irish vote, and that even Mr. John Yates 
 had ceased to be a political factor of importance. The Liberal 
 Catholic had had his day. The future lay with the Irish 
 Nationalist, then preparing to take an important part iu the 
 public life of Liverpool. In October, 18/5, the Irish party 
 took the field openly against all comers, by boldly nominating 
 Mr. Laurence Connolly for Scotland Ward, against the 
 retiring Liberal, Mr. William Williams. To challenge the 
 claim of a friendly Home Rule Liberal to represent an Irish 
 ward, especially when his personal and political record was 
 spotless, and one who was backed by the Rector of St. 
 Anthony's, was a rude awakening to the moderate Irishman, 
 and a warning to both political parties. The " Catholic 
 " Times "' backed Mr. Connolly's candidature, and taunted 
 the Catholic Club with " fondly supposing itself to govern 
 " Catholic opinion in Liverpool. In his election address, 
 Mr. Connolly declared himself a Home Ruler pure and 
 simple, and expressed the opinion that the liquor trade 
 ought to be placed " on a more satisfactoiy basis." He 
 advocated Sunday closing of all public houses, and was 
 " convinced that much of the crime and drink was due to the 
 " impoverished dwellings " of the labouring classes. Dr. 
 Alexander Murray Bligh was the chairman of the committee 
 which carried ou this memorable fight, which terminated in 
 an Irish victory by 928 votes. Mr. Connolly retained his 
 seat until November, 1886, when his duties as Nationalist 
 mcm])or for Longford, and the responsibilities of the huge 
 fruit business he liad built up, compollprl him to retire. 
 
 The Liberal party threatened reprisals, nut against tlie 
 Nationalists, but with curious inconsistency and ingratitude 
 against the Catholic Irishmon who had been their thick and 
 thin Hupfxtrtcrs. Mr. Edward Browne, one of th(^ main sup- 
 porters of Rathbono and Caine, though officially selected 
 again to stand for Pitt Street Ward by the Liberal leaders, 
 lost sufTif^iont Libfral support fn bn dffoated by ton votes. 
 Sufficient for them that ho was both Irish and Catholic, and 
 therefore united by a double tie to the Nationalist nominee 
 for Scotland Ward.
 
 216 
 
 On August 18tli, 1876, Mr. James Whitty passed away. 
 Born in Ballyteague, Co. Wexford, he began business in 
 Bradford, in 1839, as a woollen merchant, removing to Liver- 
 pool in 1846. In Price Street the firm of Whitty and Whelan 
 laid the foundations of a prosperous business, and in the 
 midst of his many engagements Mr. Whitty found time to 
 enter the Select Vestry, where, as has been already related, 
 he rendered brilliant service to his fellow Catholics. Later 
 on, both in the Town Council and School Board, his keen 
 wit and intellectual resource secured many concessions to the 
 poor people whom he delighted to represent. His death was 
 a severe blow to Catholic interests, and the great demonstra- 
 tion which accompanied the final obseqviies testified to the 
 high esteem in which he was held by all sections of the 
 community. The monument in Ford cemetery, erected by 
 public subscription, bears an inscription which epitomises 
 his personal worth and public spirit, "A man of rare talent, 
 "persuasive eloquence, and untiring zeal; these qualities he 
 " devoted to the service of the poor of Liverpool, irrespective 
 " of creed or country." A warm-hearted, patriotic Irishman, 
 anxious to serve his native land, he was unable, like many of 
 his day and generation, to rightly appraise the value to 
 Ireland of the new and aggressive policy of the Home Rule 
 party. Nevertheless, like John Rosson at an earlier date, he 
 stood, during thirty years' public service, the leader of the 
 Catholic party, the foremost of its defenders, the most 
 successful in achievements. The Home Rulers now resolved 
 to add another member to the Town Council, and selected 
 Mr. Charles MacArdle, a well-known cotton broker, who was 
 returned unopposed for Vauxhall Ward, a fact which induced 
 Father Nugent, who supported Mr. MacArdle, to comment 
 severely on the " impotency of the Catholic Club to grapple 
 " with the situation." The Liberal party sought in vain to 
 secure a candidate to contest the Home Rule supremacy, 
 their last hope being a Liverpool Irishman, who, strange to 
 relate, became some years later one of Parnell's lieutenants* 
 in Parliament. Mr. MacArdle remained in the Council for 
 nine years, and continued to be a member of the School 
 Board until the dissolution of that authority on the passing 
 of Balfour's Education Act in 1902. f 
 
 In November, 1876, the Irish pai*ty resolved on the bolder 
 step of ousting the retiring Irish Ciatholic members for 
 Vauxhall and Scotland Wards. In the first named ward 
 Colonel P. S. Bidwill offered himself for re-election. He 
 
 • Mr. Garrett Byrne, 
 t Died January, 1906.
 
 217 
 
 had become very unpopular by publishing on the day 
 following the death of Bishop Goss, a private letter on the 
 delicate question of the Temporal Power. Such a breach of 
 confidence brought down the severest censures from priests 
 and people. Dr. Andrew Commins was selected by the Home 
 Rule Association to oppose Bidwill, and at a meeting held in 
 Oriel Street, presided over by Councillor Charles MacArdle, 
 the issue was made clear. Ireland's demand for Home Rule 
 must be pressed home on any and every occasion. In Scotland 
 Ward, Dr. A. M. Bligh raised the Irish flag against 
 Councillor John MacArdle. The " Mercury ' devoted a 
 special leader* to this interesting development and propheti- 
 cally warned the electors of the results certain to flow from 
 a Home Rule victory in both wards. " Much more than the 
 " Municipal elections will depend upon the issue of this 
 " struggle. Should the Home Rulers I succeed in electing Dr. 
 " Bligh, it will be immediately telegraphed to Ireland and 
 " America that the first seaport in the world has chosen Home 
 '■ Rulers for its representation in the local parliament, and 
 " an effort will be made immediately to secure a Home Ruler 
 " as a minority candidate for the representation of the 
 " borough." The priests were hopelessly divided in both 
 wards; some supporting the moderate men on the ground of 
 past services, some supporting the advanced movement. 
 Dr. O'Reilly made no sign. The literature issued by t)ie 
 Liberal Irishmen reflected grave discredit upon them, while 
 they did not scruple to break up the Home Rule meetings by 
 brute force. Mr. Philip Smith, f Great Howard Street, 
 nominatf^d Colonel Bidwill; Mr. S. B. Guion, the well-known 
 shipowner, and Mr. Leicester, the miller, were the 
 nominators of Mr. John MacArdle. Dr. Bligh only won 
 Scotland Ward by 212 votes, a narrow majority when com- 
 pared with Mr. Connolly's 928, a year earlier, and Dr. 
 Commins defeat/ed Colonol Bidwell by 191 votes. The 
 following,' year Mr. Patrick dc Lacy Garton, was nominated 
 by the Nationalist parly against the retiring Catholic Tiiberal, 
 Mr. James Fairhurst, in Scotland Ward. The latter named 
 gentleman had dnno y<'(imati .service for his co-rciligionists, 
 but was not anxious to fight a contested election. The 
 " Mercury " appealed to hira to stand again, promising him 
 that the full Cf)nservativ'> vote would bo recordod in hia 
 favour, in order to stem the tide of Home Rule successes. 
 Tie df'i'linpd to divide his co-religionists, and though strenuous 
 
 * Oot. 19, 1879. 
 t The "Morniiry" erlitorial wroto the words "Home Rulers" 
 with Hinall initiul lottorM - " liomo riilor'*." 
 
 J Vice-Chairman of the Select Ventry, 1895.
 
 218 
 
 (efforts were made to secure a Catholic candidate they failed, 
 whereupon a Conservative candidate entered the lists, only 
 to be defeated by 84(3 votes. One outstanding diliiculty 
 remained to be solved ; that was the membership for 
 Vauxhall Ward of Mr. John Yates. The Home Rule party 
 wisely resolved not to oppuse his re-election. Had they done 
 so they would have lost the moral prestige which had already 
 been gained by them, and most certainly the clergy to a man 
 would have taken sides with Mr. Yates. It would have been 
 difficult for the Bishop to have held his peace in the event of 
 Irish opposition to the veteran Catholic leader. Fortunately 
 better counsels prevailed, and Mr. Yates held his seat without 
 opposition until the ever memorable contest in 1886, when 
 even the powerful influence of Mr. Charles Stewart Paruell, 
 failed to defeat this fine type of English Catholic Liberal. 
 
 The Home Rule party was now in the ascendant. It 
 claimed the sole right to direct the Irish vote, and resolutely 
 refused to support any candidate who did not put in the 
 forefront of his political programme Ireland's demand for 
 self-government. Father Nugent having made some obser- 
 vations at a public meeting, which were regarded as reflecting 
 upon the Home Rule movement in Liverpool, Mr. W. J. 
 Oliver, on behalf of the Home Rule Association, demanded 
 an immediate explanation or withdrawal. The words which 
 gave offence were these : " Some people have taunted me with 
 '■ not taking a more prominent and active part in the great 
 " Irish questions of the day. Few would dare call in question 
 " my deep and long continued interest in the best concerns 
 " of the Irish people. But I will never be found in the train 
 " of men in whom I have no faith — who discuss national 
 " questions in public houses, and who desecrate the green flag 
 " of our race with excess of drink."' Father Nugent did not 
 look with a kindly eye on the large number of Irish publicans 
 who were taking an active part in the Home Rule movement, 
 and it was to them that the above quoted observations were 
 addressed. In his reply to the protest of Mr. Oliver, he 
 stated that the Home Rule Association was not before his 
 mind when he made his speech, nor were his allusions to 
 drink levelled against its officers or leaders. He was only too 
 ready to acknowledge that Drs. Commins, Bligh and John 
 Bligh, Messrs. Denvir, MacArdle and Connolly, were seeking 
 to raise the character of the Irish people of the town, both 
 by example and by precept. This little controversy shewed 
 how jealous the Irish leaders were of the good name of the 
 Home Rule Association, and their determination to oppose 
 either priest or laymen who sought to discredit the Irish 
 movement.
 
 219 
 
 With the avowed object of putting pronounced Home 
 Rulers in every public position, the Irish party interfered in 
 both School Board and Poor Law elections, two departments 
 of public activity heretofore left entirely in the hands of the 
 Catholic clergy and laity. At the Select Vestry elections of 
 1879, they nominated Dr. John Bligh against Mr. J. Miles, 
 who was a Liberal with strong Irish and Catholic sympathies, 
 and kept the j>oll open for two days. Having secured a 
 majority of 380 voters, but not of votes, owing to the then 
 law of votes in projx)rtion to rateable value, Dr. Bligh was 
 withdrawn. 
 
 At the School Board election of the same year the 
 Catholics decided to increase their representation from four 
 to five members. Mr. Edward Browne having, to the great 
 regret of his co-religionists, withdrawn his name, the Home 
 Rulers demanded that Mr. William Madden, solicitor, and 
 Mr. Edward Magee, should be accepted. As a compromise 
 Dr. John Bligh was proposed by the clergy, and at a meeting 
 of representative Catholics, held in St. Nicholas" Schools, 
 Dr. O Reilly presiding, it was resolved to re-nominate Messrs. 
 Segar, W^alton and Yates, with the addition of Dr. Bligh and 
 Mr. Rowland Wilkinson. As victory was quite impossible 
 without the hearty co-operation of the Home Rulers, the name 
 of Mr. Wilkinson was withdrawn a few days before the poll, 
 and Dr. Patrick Canavan* substituted. Catholic interests 
 were safe in Irish hands, and it was fortunate for both 
 sections of Catholics that an open rupture was avoided. 
 
 From every point of view the Bishop's strictly neutral 
 position was abundantly justified and helped materially the 
 principal objects which he had in mind to be carried out 
 succeasfully. On the day of his consecration there were 121 
 churches in the diocese, served by 133 seculars and 88 
 regulars. Twenty years later he bequeathed to his successor 
 the services of 254 secular priests, 150 regulars, and 161 
 churchea. The first important act he performed was 
 to raise a memorial to his brilliant predecessor. To his 
 practical mind statues in marble or memorials in brass mit^ht 
 be left to more favourable times; no more fitting memento 
 could be raised to perpetiiale the memory of a bishoj), who 
 had in thf; last four years of his life increas<'d the school 
 accommodation in Liverpool alone by five thousand places, 
 than another building in which to train the little ones he 
 loved so dearly. The outcome of the subscription list was 
 the Bishop Goss Memorial Schools, attached to the Church of 
 
 *In later years Dr. Canavaii rcmovod to Bootle from OrnaL 
 Oeorgo Rquare, and hocamo a moniher nf the School Board and Tnwu 
 Council of that borough.
 
 220 
 
 St. Joseph. Lady Stapleton Bretherton headed the list of 
 subscribers with five hundred pounds; Messrs. Henry 
 Sharpies, Francis Reynolds, James Reynolds, Henry Jump, 
 John Mercer and D. Gordon Stuart subscribing one hundred 
 pounds each. The remainder of the money was obtained by 
 the generous offerings of all classes of Catholics anxious to 
 do honour to the memory of Bishop Goss. 
 
 Eleven hundred square yards of land were purchased at 
 the heavy initial cost of four thousand pounds ; and the 
 school buildings entailed the expenditure of a further six 
 thousand pounds. On April 16th, 1877, the schools were 
 formally opened by the Vicar-General, Monsignor Fisher, in 
 a simple address to the assembled school children, who began 
 their school career by reciting the De Profundis for the late 
 Bishop. The Brothers of the Christian Schools, and the 
 Sisters of Notre Dame, were entrusted with the supervision 
 of the new schools. In March, 1876, the adjoining church 
 collapsed. Steps were taken immediately to provide a new 
 church, and with such success that on the evening of the 15th 
 August, the foundation stone was laid by Bishop O'Reilly, 
 who opened the new church on March 19th, 1878. Father 
 Maurice Duggan, rector of the mission for 25 years, retired 
 during this year, his successor being Father Robert Bridge, 
 afterwards vice-rector of St. Joseph's seminary at Upholland. 
 
 The development of the south end of the town induced 
 the Bishop to consider the provision of a new church of Our 
 Lady of Mount Carmel, to replace the school chapel which 
 afforded accommodation for only fourteen hundred in a 
 district containing five thousand Catholics. Dr. O'Reilly 
 presided at the public meeting held on December 12th, 1875, 
 to consider ways and means, and in the course of his address 
 paid a high tribute to the Sunday collectors who had gathered 
 five thousand pounds in the course of the previous nine years. 
 At this gathering he announced his intention of building a 
 new church between High Park Street* and St. Anne's, Edge 
 Hill, to meet the wants of a rapidly growing population, as 
 already the better paid artisan and clerk were migrating from 
 the crowded central districts. The new church of Mount 
 Carmel was completed in the summer of 1878, and opened by 
 the Bishop on July 21st. 
 
 In the extreme north of the town, then outside the 
 Municipal boundaries, the Rev. J. P. Nugent, after a severe 
 struggle of six years, had the pleasure of seeing the comple- 
 tion of the new church of the Blessed Sacrament, and its 
 
 Note. — The Goss Memorial Window in St. Alexander's was unveiled 
 
 on May 7, 1876. 
 ♦The Church of St. Bernard, Kingsley Road.
 
 221 
 
 opening by the Bishop on June 16th, 1878. On the boundary 
 line of Liverpool and Bootle, Dr. O'Reilly saw the necessity 
 of providing extra Church accommodation, and on November 
 3rd, 1878, he opened a temporai-y chapel, dedicated to Our 
 Lady of Perpetual Succour, and served from St. Alexander's. 
 
 Close by, in Kirkdale Road, he purchased a Masonic Hall 
 in December, 1877, and on February 3rd, 1878, the mission 
 of St. Alphonsus' began its career under the guidance of the 
 Rev. E. J. Birchall. 
 
 Meanwhile the Bishop, with great heartiness, was 
 pushing on the all-important work of building carefully 
 planned and well-equipped permanent schools. Father 
 O'Donovan, rector of St. Bridget's, had undertaken the heavy 
 responsibility of building new schools in Limekiln Lane. " I 
 " hope you will strain every effort to provide a new school, ' 
 Dr. O'Reilly wrote to him at the close of the year 1875. The 
 district was a very jwor one, inhabited entirely by a 
 labouring population, whose scanty earnings ill provided for 
 daily needs, but the zealous Irish priest rose superior to 
 every obstacle, and on January 7th, 1878, the splendid schools 
 of St. Bridget were formally opened by the Vicar-General. 
 Few, if any, of the Catholic schools of the town have so high 
 a record for efficiency and excellent results, and visitors of 
 other creeds, inspectors and educationalists of all classes, have 
 related in generous terms their high appreciation of the fine 
 work done within the walls of St. Bridget's under the 
 direction of Father O'Donovan. 
 
 In the same year. Father Pierse Power completed the 
 new schools of St. John, which were opened on June 17th, 
 1878, by the Vicar-General, in the name of the Bishop who 
 had already won the reputation of a builder of churches and 
 schools. The Brothers of the Christian Schools were placed 
 in charge of the boys' departments of both schools, and 
 marked their entrance into Liverpool by establishing in 
 Shaw Street a male pupil teachers' centre, under the 
 patronage of the Sacred Heart, on March 1st, 1878. The 
 Nuns of Notre Dame, who had charge of the girl.s' and 
 infants' departments, had gradually forged aliead and lifted 
 the Catholic body above and beyond every denomination in 
 the land by tlioir extraordinary successes in the Queen's 
 Scholarship examinations and the unique results of the 
 Training College. In 1872, in face of candidates from every 
 corner of the land, Mount Ploapant aecurrid one place in 
 the first ten, and thirteen in the first hundred, while in ]87f) 
 and 1878 they won first piano, and in the lattor year gained 
 also the second, sixth and twelfth places. For nine years
 
 222 
 
 the students of Notre Danie carried off the prizes offered by 
 the Liverpool Council of Education to the Liverpool student 
 gaining the highest place in the Queen's Scholarship examina- 
 tion. Such a succession of triumphs astonished non-Catholic 
 educationalists, who paid high tribute to the brilliant 
 services rendered to elementary education by the Sisters of 
 Notre Dame. Dr. O'Reilly, visiting the College in December, 
 1878, told the Sisters with what satisfaction he was able to 
 tell Pope Leo the Thirteenth, in a recent visit to Rome, that 
 one thousand trained teachers had been sent out from Mount 
 Pleasant since its foundation, and how delighted His 
 Holiness was to hear that a Catholic girl had come out first 
 in an examination for which 2,000 students had entered. 
 The success of Mount Pleasant entailed unpleasant conse- 
 quences. Mr. Robert Lowe did many stupid acts in his 
 capacity as a Liberal Minister, but none more so than his 
 foolish attempt to strangle the Training Colleges by the 
 introduction of the vicious principle of payment by results. 
 Under this regulation the Training Colleges were not paid 
 any grants until the trained teacher had been, at intervals 
 of one year, inspected at his or her school, and gained 
 favourable reports from the Inspectors. Mr. Lowe further 
 laid it down that one-fourth of the cost of the student's 
 education must be provided by fees and subscriptions. In 
 other words, only the well-to-do were to be permitted to enter 
 the teaching profession, and this was decreed by a Liberal 
 Minister. An entrance fee of five pounds had now to be exacted 
 from the successful Queen's Scholar, and the Sisters of Notre 
 Dame had to wait two or more years to receive the grant 
 which they had so well earned. The first fruit/S of repressive 
 and reactionary regulations were the destruction of the 
 Catholic Training College at St. Leonard's-on-Sea, after eight 
 years' successful working. Mount Pleasant withstood the 
 storm, thanks mainly to the wisdom of its gifted Superior, 
 Sister Mary Theresa.* She circularised the clergy to engage 
 teachers who had been two years in training, and to retain 
 them so that the grant might not be lost, and by her 
 endeavours a Committee was formed representing the dioceses 
 of Liverpool, Salford, Shrewsbury, Beverley and Birming- 
 ham, to devise ways and means of thwarting the new penal 
 regulations. For ten years, thanks to Liberal administra- 
 tion. Mount Pleasant was the only Catholic girls' Training 
 College in England, and during that period saved the Catholic 
 body from educational shipwreck. 
 
 • Founder of Everton Valley Collegiate School, now one of the 
 foremost secondary schools in the country.
 
 223 
 
 In 1876 the new High School buildings, designed by Mr. 
 Edmund Kirby, were completed and opened on January' 10th 
 of that year, a worthy addition to the buildings already 
 provided on the Mount Pleasant site. 
 
 The Government Report for 1877 tells the tale of con- 
 tinued Catholic progress. In that year the children, 
 belonging as they did to the pooi-est class of the community, 
 earned on examination results an average amount of 
 149. ^d. per head, as compared with 14s. 2i^d. by the 
 wealthy Anglican schools, and 14s. 5d. by the rate endowed 
 scholars of the Board Schools. As the aggregate income from 
 all sources was only £1 lis. l|d. per head, the brilliant 
 successes attained by the Catholics, handicapped as they were 
 moat severely by this small income, eloquently testifies to 
 the self-sacrifices and teaching ability of their teachers, both 
 lay and religious.* 
 
 Filled with zeal for the service of the poor, Dr. O'Reilly 
 introduced the Little Sisters of the Poor into Liverpool, in 
 1874. The newcomers began their gi'eat work of charity in 
 Hope Street, where they provided accommodation for sixty 
 inmates, and five years later their progress was such that 
 the Bishop blessed the foundation stone of their new home 
 in Belmont Road, on April 24th. 
 
 The Little Sisters have saved many hundreds of old 
 people from the fate of entering the workhouse, and have 
 set an example to Poor Law administrators of how to deal 
 with the deserving poor. Inside these homes a refuge has 
 been found free from the necessary official restraint, which, 
 however well meant, can never be the same as personal service 
 given not for salary but for the love of God. There are no 
 more familiar figures in the town than the Little Sisters, 
 and none more widely respected by the general community. 
 
 The Sisters of Charity opened a new reformatory school 
 for girls in May Place, in November, 1876, and when the 
 industrial school in Mason Street was condemned by the 
 Home Offirf> in 1879, a bazaar was orgai)is<Hl. and with the 
 proceeds was built the new school at Freshfield. 
 
 The School Board, in the early years of its existence, 
 tried a curious experiment to withdraw children from 
 
 *()n thu fV-ath of HiHl.'r M.-iry of St. T'liilip in 1001. thf inont 
 brilliant of all tho SiiporiorH of Mmiiit PlcaHJiiit, Sir Francis S.iiidford, 
 Hccretarv of tho Education Dopnrtment, wrote: " Sho is a woman 
 who might fenrlosHly placo hor hiind ovon on tho holm of State." In 
 1899, tho l.Tt« Mr. William Rathhonn rtiif^poHtpd to tho writer that 
 Binttir ATarv Hhonld Ix! oo-optod on tho Trohnical Tnfltruction 
 Gommittoe, which then carried on tho work of thoTccbnical Tnstruclion 
 Aotn. The invitation wa« conveyed and declined.
 
 224 
 
 denominational schools, the bait being one penny per week 
 school fee. Despite the warnings of many members who 
 predicted failure for the experiment, a building was rented 
 in Love Lane. Whatever chance a. new Board School might 
 have in a district where there was an obsolete church school 
 with high school fees, there was certainly little chance in 
 a Catholic neighbourhood. Father Ross, O.S.B., made up 
 his mind to demonstrate to the School Board that Catholic 
 children would only attend a Catholic school. The days of 
 1832 were past, never to return. 
 
 After a trial of eight months the School Board closed the 
 Love Lane building, having spent £1,144 on the experiment, 
 receiving only £5 3s. 2d. in school fees. As the editorial in 
 the "Daily Post'* tersely put the case: "The Roman 
 " Catholics of the Love Lane district were not content with 
 "not patronising the school. The priest tabooed it; the 
 " people stoned it." Nor was Catholic hostility merely 
 confined to Board Schools. The Council of Education had 
 been previo\xsly formed. Its scheme of rewards and scholar- 
 ships for elementary schools, demanded success in a Scriptural 
 examination, as an essential condition. Here, at the very 
 outset, shipwreck threatened an organisation which aimed 
 at helping the children of all classes, because an examination 
 was insisted upon which would eflFectually exclude all 
 Catholics from the benefits of the new scheme. It was not 
 that an examination in Scriptural knowledge was objected 
 to, but the method of conducting the same. A Town's 
 meeting was summoned at the Town Hall, to give the 
 Council of Education the seal of approval of the munici- 
 pality. It was at this gathering that leading Catholics 
 protested against the scheme, and refused to give any further 
 assistance to the movement unless Catholic children were 
 permitted to select an • alternative paper. The Town's 
 meeting had to be adjourned in consequence. Eventually the 
 eloquent advocacy of the Catholic claim by the Rev. Charles 
 Beard, minister in charge of the Renshaw Street Unitarian 
 Chapel, brought about the desired result, and one more victory 
 for Catholic principles recorded. 
 
 The Liverpool School Board established a new institu- 
 tion for the correction of boy truants, an experiment of 
 much value for the Liverpool of the seventies. Both 
 Catholic and Protestant children were committed to the 
 Hightown School, and housed in separate buildings. Mr. 
 S. G. Rathbone, who was the initiator of this experiment 
 and anxious that no religious difficulty should arise to 
 
 *See "Daily Post," May 12, 1874.
 
 225 
 
 prevent its success, supported the demand of the four 
 Catholic members for pure Catholic teaching. The Board 
 declined on the ground that the Act of 1870 forbade the 
 expenditure of public iponey on dogmatic teaching. After 
 some lengthy debates, the School Board gave permission for 
 the use of the Douai Bible, but decided that any Catholic 
 prayer books must be provided voluntarily. To permit their 
 use was sufficient strain on the School Board conscience, 
 without going to the extreme of paying for them. Mr. 
 S. G. Rathbone finally set the whole matter right. The 
 children were to be given religious instruction separately, 
 and allowed out on Sundays to attend Mass, and a Catholic 
 master was appointed to supervise them. No Catholic 
 •pictures or objects of devotion could be exhibited in the 
 school room, the bare elementary rights conceded by statute 
 were permitted. It may well be doubted whether any man 
 but a Rathbone could have prevented vigorous Catholic 
 opposition to a project conducted on such lines. The estab- 
 lishment of Day Industrial Schools by the School Board 
 created another religious difficulty. These schools were to 
 be mixed like the Hightown Truants' Schools, and Bishop 
 O'Reilly displayed great reluctance in giving sanction to 
 Catholic children attending them. Here the Catholic 
 members won a substantial victory, supported by a broad- 
 minded, sympathetic Home Office Department. The 
 provisions for religious teaching ; appointment of Catholic 
 teachers in proportion to school jwpulation ; the right of the 
 parochial clergy to nominate certain teachers to give religious 
 instruction or to give it themselves ; and the selection of the 
 superintendent and deputy of each school, from Catholics 
 and Protestants alternately, finally induced Bishop O'Reilly 
 to withdraw his opposition. The whole system lias worked 
 satisfactorily in Liverpool, though needing the constant 
 vigilance of Catholic representatives on the Board, but in 
 a largf) measure the admirable rules of the Homo Office are 
 resfxjnsible for the success of these mi.xed schools. On the 
 aide of higher education Catholic Liverpool was progressing 
 favourably. In 187G, the Jesuits at St. Francis Xavier's 
 orcct.<'d the new cullcgf^ in Salisbury Street, at a cost of 
 £30,000, to meet the growing demand of the middle classes 
 of Liverpool and vicinity for highf-r fducatii)ii. Jri 18.53, 
 tho number of wholars in thn old building, on the site of 
 the present prosbyU-ry, wafl but twonty-four, increased to 
 frixty-one in 1858. At the end of the year 1867, one hundred 
 and fighty-Hfven wore enrolled, and when Forster's Act 
 rnvolutioni.sed clnmfmtary education, two hundred and sixty 
 boys were attending the classical or commercial courses. 
 O
 
 22G 
 
 Seven years after the opening of the new building the 
 students increased to three hundred and sixty, and by the 
 close of the year 1885, four hundred boys were on the rolls. 
 When the jubilee of the foundation was celebrated in 1892, 
 it was stated that three thousand five hundred students' had 
 passed through the college, a great number filling important 
 poeitions in the professional life of the town and country. 
 Sir Joseph Walton, Judge of the High Court, Mr. W^alter 
 Whitty,* Mr. W^illiam Madden, f are but a few of the 
 barristers; Messrs. J. S. Bradley, J. P. McKenna,J H. J. 
 Holme, J. A. O'Hare, P. E. O'Hare,^ Lynch, Stanna- 
 nought, P. C. Kelly,|i Gradwell, McEvoy,1[ and T. P. 
 Maguire, solicitors practising in the city ; numerous medical 
 men, including Clarke, Callan, Dr. Baxter,** Murphy, 
 Mackarel and Rafter, and a host of commercial men, who 
 have freely given their services to the public in one capacity 
 or another. ti Up to the year 1892, no less than eighty 
 students at the College had entered the sacred ministry. Of 
 these, quite contrary to popular expectation, only twenty-two 
 joined the Society of Jesois, while forty-four became secular 
 priests. Five became monks of St. Benedict, three Fran- 
 ciscans, three Redemptorists, two Oblates of Mary Immaculate, 
 and one entered the Dominican order. Monsignor Verdon, 
 Bishop of Dunedin, New Zealand, wa^ a former student under 
 the Jesuit Fathers. Some of the most brilliant members of the 
 Jesuit Society have served at St. Francis Xavier's as rectors 
 or on the College staff, and it will be long ere the memory of 
 Fathers Sumner, Thomas Porter, George Porter, Harris, 
 Donnelly, and Hayestt will be forgotten by former students 
 of the College. The successes of the boys in the Oxford Local 
 Examinations, which they entered for the first time in the 
 year 1877, have been one long unbroken record of successes. 
 Down to the moment of writing the first place among Liver- 
 
 * Son of the late Mr. James Whitty. 
 
 t Served on the School Board and Town Council. 
 
 I Member of the Liverpool School Board. 
 
 § Member for Scotland Ward until his death. 
 
 II Member for Brunswick Ward in the present City Council. 
 
 •I Served three years as member for Low Hill Ward. 
 •* Member for St. Anne's Ward and Justice of the Peace. Served 
 for years on the West Derby Board of Guardians. Mr. George 
 Lynskey, LL.B., son of Mr. G. J. Lynskey, City Councillor, who has 
 just passed a series of brilliant examinations in the law, is one of the 
 latest successful students of the College. 
 
 tt Councillor Austin Harford, J. P., Liverpool ; and ex-A.lderman 
 Walter Cole, Dublin City Council, were students at St. Francis 
 Xavier's College. 
 
 XI Elected English Assistant to the new Jesuit General Died in 
 Rome, 1906.
 
 227 
 
 pool students has always been won by St. Francis Xavier's 
 boys, and as often aa not, in one section or another, they 
 have beaten the whole of the boys in every secondary school 
 in England.* 
 
 Turning from €Kiucational matters, it deserves notice that 
 during Bishop O'Reilly's episcopate, and under his sage 
 counsel great concessions were won from the three Boards of 
 Guardians. A vigorous fight was waged to secure the appoint- 
 ment of a paid chaplain in the case of the Select Vestry, and 
 the barest consideration from the Toxteth and West Derby 
 Boards, both of which had inherited the worst traditions of 
 the Satchells and Bremners of Brownlow Hill. In January, 
 1876, Mr. Digby Smith, a Catholic vestryman, withdrew a 
 notice of motion for the appointment of a chaplain, on the 
 ground that it was useless to persevere further in the matter. 
 In face of repeated defeats, it required a considerable amount 
 of moral courage to renew the struggle in the Vestry Board 
 Room. Mr. William Rathbone had joined the Board a little 
 before this date, and publicly expressed his " regret to learn 
 " that there was no chance of carrying Mr. Digby Smith's 
 " motion. It had seemed to him as a matter of discipline, it 
 " would be better to have the priest an officer of the Parish, 
 " and, as a matter of justice, if the richer denomination had 
 " a paid chaplain, the poorer were entitled, indeed more 
 "entitled." 
 
 Several times during the year 1877, Mr. Cosgrove, a 
 Catholic Vestryman, raised the question, and during the 
 sucoeeding threo years, Mr. Philip Smith, made the question 
 his own. In June, 1880, the nearest approach to victory was 
 the voting on Mr. F. J. MacAdam's motion, which was lost 
 by eleven votes to ten. Mr. Edmund Kirhyf won the fight 
 at the Birkenhead Board by his personality. He had no 
 powerful backing of Catholic colleagues and no Rathbone, 
 with the prestige of his name and family, to assist him, yet 
 he won a notable victory, which was the prelude to the 
 victory in Brownlow Hill. Mr. Garrett M. Byrne, a former 
 Veetryman, and now a member of that section of the Home 
 Rule Members of Parliament which gave its allegiance to the 
 Protestant Parnoll, called the attention of Her Majesty's 
 Government to the excuse ofTered by tho West Dnrby Board 
 of Guardians for rfjecting Father Hall's motion ; the excuse 
 being that such payments were not legal. Mr. A. M. 
 
 • Ont of 42 RoTiior City RchoJarBhips, tonablo nt the Liverpool 
 University, offered by the Liverpool City Council, Binre 1904, St. 
 FranciB Xavier'H boys have won 20 ; falling? to the Catholic Institute 
 or the Mount Pleasant and Everton Vallev girls. 
 
 t The well-known architect, Mr. E. Kirby, P.R.B.I.A.
 
 228 
 
 Sullivan, M.P. for Meath, also spoke in the debate on the 
 intolerant conduct of the Select Vestry and West Derby 
 Guardians. He knew Liverpool well, both Catholic and Irish, 
 and his speech made a powerful impression on the Liberal 
 Ministry, and drew from the President of the Local Govern- 
 ment Board the important statement that, while the 
 appointment of a Catholic chaplain was not legal, it was 
 distinctly proper to appoint a priest or minister of a Dissenting 
 body as religious instructor. Mr. Philip Smith, on November 
 16th, 1880, renewed the demand, whereupon Mr. Joseph 
 Woodcock, the Conservative leader in Brownlow Hill, moved 
 as an amendment that the Select Vestry was prepared to 
 receive and favourably consider an application for payment 
 from persons rendering service to the inmates in the form of 
 religious instruction. Mr. Smith shrewdly accepted Mr. 
 Woodcock's amendment, and in a few weeks. Father 
 O'Donnell, who had given thirteen years' ungrudging service, 
 was appointed religious instructor at a salary of £150; and 
 the priest at the Kirkdale schools, on making his application, 
 was awarded £75 per annum. The long drawn out fight of 
 forty years was at an end. 
 
 The Toxteth Union now called for vigorous action from 
 the Catholics of St. Patrick's and Mount Carmel parishes. 
 The Catholic vote in both parishes hg,d increased enormously, 
 and had secured a large Liberal representation on the Board, 
 but was not strong enough to secure direct representation 
 owing to the property franchise being left undisturbed. It 
 was powerful enough, however, to compel the Guardians to 
 take action in the case of a boy named McCourt who, appren- 
 ticed to a tradesman in a Welsh town, found himself debarred 
 from attending Mass. A deputation from the Catholic Club 
 waited on the Toxteth Board, and secured a vote in favour of 
 compelling the boy's employers to observe the " covenant " he 
 had made with the Guardians. It was at this meeting that 
 Mr. John Yates, on behalf of Bishop O'Reilly, made the 
 announcement that it was intended to ask the whole of the 
 Guardians of the three Liverpool Boards, to hand over to hia 
 direct care all the Catholic children in the workhouses, at the 
 same cost per child as was borne by the ratepayers. The 
 Bishop O'Reilly Poor Law School, at Leyfield, West Derby, 
 perpetuates the proposals made that day, but which were not 
 agreed to during the Bishop's lifetime. The inmates of the 
 Toxteth Workhouse were not allowed the privilege of hearing 
 Mass within its walls, and had to walk to St. Anne's, Edge 
 Hill. Unmindful of the experience of the Select Vestry, the 
 dominant party refused to make any concession until Novem-
 
 229 
 
 ber, 1878, when they were caught napping, as by a majority 
 of one vote Catholics secured the use of a room for Divine 
 service. The victory was short lived. A fortnight later it 
 was rescinded. The Catholics made a compact with the 
 Liberal party at the Easter elections of 1879, for the purpose 
 of ousting some of the retiring Conservative Guardians. Two 
 Catholic candidates were placed on the Liberal list, but, 
 though all the Liberals were returned, the two Catholics 
 were defeated. Liberal Toxteth did not like Toryism; neither 
 did it relish the prospect of a Catholic sitting in the High 
 Park Street Board Room. The Bishop gave his views on this 
 extraordinary contest a few days after the polling. " The 
 " black spot was Toxteth, where Catholics were refused the 
 " smallest privileges. While the Liberal representatives were 
 " returned by as many votes as would have sufficed, if dis- 
 '' tributed, to have returned three Catholic candidates, not 
 " a single one was elected. The so-called Liberals of Toxteth 
 " Park were a disgrace to their professions, and ho hoped 
 " Catholics would bear in mind that they could not always 
 " depend on professions. At the next elections, even if they 
 " incurred the odium of the Liberals, they should make 
 " Catholic interests a test of all candidates."* This unex- 
 pected pronouncement expressed the feeling of every Catholic 
 elector who had worked hard to secure the Liberal victory. 
 The following year's contests equalised the Liberal and 
 Conservative representation, but the two Catholic candidates 
 were again defeated. Negotiations were opened between the 
 Liberal leaders and the Catholic body, and in 1881, as the 
 result of a great and sustained effort, the Conservatives were 
 routed. Led by Mr. Edward Paull,t a fine type of sturdy 
 Quaker Tjiberal, the victors, by ten votes to five, not only put 
 an end to tho intolerant policy of previous Boards, but 
 resolved t^ pay a stipend of seventy-five pounds to a Catholic 
 chaplain. Father Edward Goethals, rector of St. Patrick's, 
 played an important part, in soruring this final victory, and 
 one f)f his ruratos, Fath'^r Fanning]; became the first chaplain 
 to the Smithdown "Road Workhouse. 
 
 W«;3t Derby now stood alono in obstinate refusal to con- 
 cede anything to Catholics. It had rejected Father Hall's 
 proptsab by twenty votes to seven, and on one occasion in 
 1880, when the Vicar-Ccneral wrote a polite letter informing 
 the Board of Faihrr MrKntogart's withdrawal from serving 
 the Catholic inmatea at Walton Workhouse, and expressing 
 
 •"Mercury," April 23, 1879. 
 t Councillor for Oroat George Ward ; Alderman and Justice of 
 tho rcacc. 
 I Father Fanning hold the position until his death, September 10, 1909.
 
 230 
 
 the hope that the new nominee would be acceptable, the 
 irate Guardians decided " that the letter be utterly dis- 
 " regarded." A Catholic Association was founded to 
 organise the voters inside the area of the Union, and to 
 educate the electors on the merits of the Catholic claim. In 
 the two first years of its existence the Association carried 
 eight Catholic candidates to the Guardiansi and the Local 
 Board. Many years were still to pass by before West Derby 
 hoisted the flag of religious equality. In 1877, a controversy 
 broke out in the " Catholic Times " between Father Tobin of 
 Chorley, and the chaplain of Kirkdale schools, as to the 
 dangers to faith resulting from sending boys to colliery 
 districts in north and north-cast Lancashire. Father 
 Tobin insisted that this policy of the Liverpool Guardians 
 meant certain loss of faith, and he quoted hisi own letters to 
 certain employers of labour in his district who would not 
 afford facilities to their young Catholic employees to attend 
 Mass. Father Bonte admitted the fact. On January 12th, 
 1877, he wrote that 150 boys had been " located unfavourably, 
 " and have lost or are losing their faith." The decay of the 
 spirit of the Catholic Club had brought in itsi train the 
 breaking up of the fine work inaugurated by Father Gibson 
 and Mr. J. Neale Lomax, of finding situations for Catholic 
 boys in Catholic families or in surroundings which merited 
 the approval of the local clergy. Politics had wrecked the 
 Catholic Club, especially its adherence to Liberalism, and no 
 other organisation had as yet arisen, despite spasmodic 
 attempts here and there in the town. The letters of Father 
 Tobin aroused the attention of Catholics of all shades of 
 opinion ; the Select Vestry it-self joining in the work by 
 insisting on certain conditions being observed by the 
 employers. 
 
 Bishop O'Reilly did not lose sight of the main objects of 
 the Catholic school, that of providing a sound religious 
 training. From the point of view of secular knowledge the 
 schools were as efficient as any in the country. The results of 
 the examinations in the year 1872, shewed that the Catholic 
 schools stood first with 6r88 of passes, against 61 "57 in the 
 British ; 6047 in the Anglican and 49' 15 in the Board Schools. 
 In 1875 the last named had forged ahead reaching 6189 
 against 59'6] in Catholic and 58' 17 in Anglican Schools. To 
 test the quality of the religious instruction the Bishop insti- 
 tuted an annual religious examination, and appointed Canon 
 Carr* to perform the duty of examiner. The result was a 
 
 • Now Monsignor Carr, Vicar General, and Provost of the 
 Chapter ; in the sixtieth year of his priesthood.
 
 231 
 
 sxirprise. The boys' schools in Liverpool only gained 14 per 
 cent, of marks, as against 40 per cent, in the girls and 77 in 
 the infants' departments. In some of the leading schools of 
 the town, Canon Carr reported " the ignorance of prayers, 
 " catechism, and necessary religious knowledge as extra- 
 " ordinary." Excluding St. Anne's and Mount Carmel, there 
 were 27,096 children, and reckoning these two schools as 
 having two thousand between the ages of three and fourteen, 
 29,096 Catholic children resided in the town. Only 22,334 
 were on the rolls, and worse still only 14,000 were in atten- 
 dance on the day the Canon held his examination. What 
 was noticeable in the report was the superiority of the girls' 
 schools as compared with the boys'. This led Father Holden, 
 in his report, to observe that " boys' schools have certainly 
 " not the benefit of teachers so well organised and zealously 
 " devoted to religious education." At every visitation Dr. 
 O'Reilly referred to this deplorable state of affairs, and not 
 least among the many worthy works of his episcopate ranks 
 the splendid improvement in religious education in the 
 Liverpool schools. 
 
 Following up the temperance work to which he devoted 
 so much time and attention, Father Nugent founded 
 Branches of the League of the Cross at St. Joseph's, 
 Mount Carmel, St. Anthony's, Eldon Street, St. 
 Alexanders, and St. Michael's, numbering 11,192 
 members, of whom the weekly visitations shewed that 
 75 per cent, were fulfilling their promise of total abstention 
 from intoxicating liquor. Besides these there were over 
 18,000 members in other parts of the town The weekly 
 meetings were hold in the League Hall, William Brown 
 Street, on the site of the present Reading Room and Art 
 Gallery, and here in January 26th, 1874, Archbishop 
 Manning, to shew his appreciation of Father Nugent's work, 
 addressed a monstro mooting. He was accompanied by Bishop 
 O'Reilly who expn'ssod his personal views on the question of 
 total abstinence in the following terms. He was not a total 
 abfltainf^r him«oIf, and in his ox|><Tionoo had fcnuid men whom 
 he did not advise to take the pledge, because they were in 
 no danger and did not need to do so : "His experience had 
 " shown him too, that nothing hut total abstinence would 
 " keep some men from degrading thomsolvea or keep women 
 " from debasing thom.selvos, or would keep parents from being 
 " a curse to their children." In a humorous speech he 
 improHHod the audionce with the sincerity of Dr. Manning's 
 views, " who would not take a drink even tn prolong a life 
 "so useful to the Church in England." A limited company
 
 23ii 
 
 was formed to secure permanent headquarters for the League 
 of the Cross Crusade, which resulted in the building of the 
 well-known League Hall at the junction of Rose Place and 
 Cazneau Street. 
 
 In 1874 two prominent members of the Catholic com- 
 munity passed away, in the persons of Mr. Edward Chaloner 
 and Mr. Henry Sharpies. The former died on February 12th, 
 aged 75 years, and wa^ interred in the Old Swan Church, 
 under the Sacred Heart* altar. His life had been one of 
 consistent usefulness to the Church in Liverpool ; his purse 
 ever open to meet the varied demands of a poor and 
 struggling Catholic population ; churches', charities, and 
 especially their schools. It is to be regretted that in these 
 days the fine schools in Norfolk Street are better known as 
 St. Vincent's, rather than as the Chaloner Schools. Hia 
 memory deserves to be held in kindly remembrance by his 
 Catholic fellow-townsmen. Dr. O'Reilly, who held him in 
 high esteem, paid him the tribute of singing the Requiem 
 Mass at Saint Oswald's. Mr. Henry Sharpies died on 
 December 17th, of the same year. Like Mr. Chaloner he 
 was engaged in the timber trade.! Born in Liverpool in 
 1808, he had witnessed the growth of the sparse Catholic 
 population to the enormous numbers for whom church and 
 school accommodation could not be provided fast enough. 
 One of the first three Catholic Town Councillors, he became 
 also one of the first Catholic magistrates, and was specially 
 associated with the girls' orphanage, first in Mount Pleasant 
 and later in Falkner Street, and took a lively interest in the 
 Clarence Reformatory Ship. An Oscott man, his intellectual 
 attainments were considerable, and helped considerably to win 
 for him a high place in the affections of his fellow-citizens of 
 all parties. Bishop Sharpies, coadjutor Vicar-Apostolic, was 
 his brother, and died at his residence in the Old Swan. 
 Underneath the Lady Chapel of St. Oswald's, which he had 
 built, lies the body of Mr. Henry Sharpies awaiting the final 
 resurrection. 
 
 Mr. Michael James Whitty died suddenly on June 10th, 
 1873, aged 78 years. A native of Ferns, Co. Wexford, where 
 his father carried on the business of a maltster and owner of 
 small coasting vessels, Mr. Whitty entered the College of 
 Maynooth as an ecclesiastical student. In 1821 he proceeded 
 to London, with the intention of pursuing a literary career. 
 Here he wrote " Tales of Irish Life," illustrated by his friend, 
 
 *Mr. E. Chaloner paid for the erection of the side chapel in 
 which his remains lie. 
 
 His grandfather was the first man to import timber into Liverpool.
 
 233 
 
 George Cruikshank, the eminent caricaturist, and a history 
 of the rebellion organised by Robert Emmett. After spending 
 some years as editor of the London and Dublin Magazine, he 
 came to Liverpool on the invitation of Mr. Robert Rockliff, 
 of the well-known Liverpool firm of publishers and stationers, 
 and edited the Liverpool Journal. His erratic genius induced 
 him to resign this position to become Chief Constable or 
 head of the watchmen, and in this responsible post he had 
 ample opportunity of displaying his talent for organisation. 
 He founded the Fire Brigade as a branch of the Police 
 servic-e, and during his twelve years of office considerably 
 incresLsed the efficiency of the Police force. The temptation 
 to again wield the pen instead of the truncheon proved 
 irresistible ; the result being the foundation of the first penny 
 newspaper in England. 
 
 We have already seen specimens of his capacity as a 
 leader writer and critic, in his many controversies with the 
 late Bishop, the " Northern Press," and his intervention in 
 Catholic |X)litics, where his strong character revealed itself 
 in bold relief. That he was a thorn in the side of the 
 Catholic party, and on many occasions did serious harm 
 among non-Catholics by the form and character of his attacks 
 on the Pope and Church government, was beyond question, 
 and made him intensely unp(jpular with the leaders of the 
 Catholic community. In a well-written appreciation of the 
 deceased journalist, another side of his character was set 
 forth: "Though seeming the most dogmatic, disputatious, 
 " and self-assertive of men, he was naturally one of the most 
 " retiring ; as careless of the mere personal part of the matter, 
 " as he was of everything merely personal — attire, social 
 " precedence, and all things else of the kind. Known to do 
 " acts stealthily, physically the most repulsive, to ameliorate 
 " BufTering in thf» obscurest and most outcast walks of life." 
 
 A feature of the preeent issues of the "Daily Post," 
 " Talk on 'Change," was originat^^d by Mr. Whitty, who 
 gathered in jx",rson the gossip prevalent in the news-room. 
 
 His remains wore inffrrr-d in Anfiold Cemetery. Father 
 Guy, O.S.B., and Father Chaf)man, reading the burial service. 
 Among the mourners present were Major Greig, Head Con- 
 stable, Mr. Barry Sullivan, the eminent, tragedian, and Mr. 
 (now Sir) Edward R. Russell, who continues to edit the 
 " Liverpool Daily Post." 
 
 The provision of bo many now churche^<» and schools 
 premised the increasing growth of thu Caf'iolic population, 
 a supposition strengthened by the fact that so many of the 
 churches were erected on the confines of the old borough.
 
 234 
 
 I This, however, was not warranto by the actual facts. In a 
 census taken by the Anglican authorities in 1881, the total 
 number of Catholics was set down as 140,115, out of a total 
 of 552,425. Father Austin Powell disputed the accuracy of 
 the figures.* The total number of births in Liverpool in the 
 year 1879, amounted to 21,277, of which number 6,850 were 
 baptised in the Catholic churches, excluding St. Alexander's 
 on the border lines of Liverpool and Bootle. Father Powell 
 \/ put the case thus : " As the total births are to the Catholic 
 " births, so is the total population to the Catholic population." 
 The result of this calculation gave the number of Catholics 
 as 177,849, or 32 per cent, of the population. He further 
 argued that the birth rate shewed 38'9 per thousand persons, 
 or one birth for every 25^ persons'. Taking the mean figures 
 for the years 1879 and 1880, and multiplying them by 25^, 
 the Catholic population in 1881 was 176,026. 
 
 Father T. E. Gibson, on the contrary, accepted the 
 Anglican figure as approximately correct. Twenty years 
 earlier he had compiled figures by using as a multiple, not 
 25|, but 22, and later on the rather low figure of 20. Hia 
 figures for thirty years were as follows: — 
 
 Catholic 
 
 Population. Increase. 
 
 110,610 ... — 
 
 129,080 ... 17-17 
 
 133,460 ... 3-39 
 
 147,140 ... 10-25 
 
 Between the final estimates of the two priests there was 
 a difference of over 25,000 persons which needed some 
 explanation. None was forthcoming. Father Powell, while 
 admitting a higher death rate in certain well known Catholic 
 districts, still maintained that the only rational way of 
 estimating the population was to compare the Catholic births 
 with the total births and multiply them by a figure which 
 represented the number of births to a thousand of the total 
 population. 
 
 An Irish statistician, writing under the initials " G. S.'' 
 from Dublin, strengthened Father Powell's contention. The 
 census for 1851 shewed that there were 85,000 Iris'h born 
 persons in Liverpool, and as the census for 1861 shewed 
 almost the same number, those removed by death or migration 
 must have had their places filled by direct migration from 
 Ireland. " If we assume that the English born children or 
 " descendants of the 85,000 Irish born in 1851 are but equal 
 
 • " Catholic Times," December 16, 1881. 
 
 
 Baptisms 
 
 1851 
 
 ... 5,508 
 
 1861 
 
 ... 6,454 
 
 1871 
 
 ... 6,673 
 
 1880 
 
 ... 7,357
 
 235 
 
 " in numbers to their parents of Irish birth, there are 170,000 
 " Irish in Liverpool and 30,000 in the vicinity." 
 
 Four years later, when the Redistribution Aot of 1885 
 raised the question of defining the boundaries of the new 
 single member constituencies, the writer was one of two 
 persons who counted the Irish namesi on the list of electors, 
 with the result that over 15,000 distinctively Irish surnames 
 were found on the list. This did not include many Norman 
 or less pronouncedly Irish surnames, and of course excluded 
 all English surnames. There oould be no doubt that, in- 
 cluding the English Catholic population, the larger Irish 
 families and the great number of unmarried young Irish 
 labourers. Father Powell's figures were much nearer the 
 mark than Father Gibson s. Father Nugent's testimony on 
 this debatable point is of some importance. In a report 
 which he drew up he stated that in the year 1851, the 
 official census gave the population of Liverpool asi numbering 
 375,955. " It was then considered, owing to the immense 
 ''■ influx from Ireland, from 1846 to that date (1851), that 
 " the Catholic body was one-third of the inhabitants. If 
 " the population was 375,955, and the Catholic body was 
 •' one-third, then there would be 1'25,318 Catholics. In 1852 
 " the Catholic baptisms were 5,632, which, multiplied by 
 " 22\, equalled 126,720; near the average of one-third. It 
 " was then found that the borough of Liverpool doubled 
 " itself in twenty-five years." Eleven years later the number 
 of Catholic baptisms had increased to 6,915, which repre- 
 sented a population of 135,587 ; an increase of 8,867 persons! 
 
 What had become of the diflference? Had they become 
 merely nominal Catholics, as Bishop Goss had asserted? 
 Father Gibson gave the numbers attending Sunday Mass in 
 1871 and 1881 as respectively 51,250 and 57,687, and the 
 numbers observing the Easter precept as 42,354 and 57,295. 
 The increzise does not correspond with the natural increase 
 
 NoTK. — Writing in 1809, Father NuRont addfi: " The baptisms 
 in the whole diocoHe wero 14,. 00/), and it is supposed that half that 
 number would roprescnt tho bai)tiHJnH in thn (Jity ; i.e. 7,28-2 x '22J =: 
 103,8'!.'}. Hut this cannot l)o corroct. an it would only givn an increase 
 of HG7 bapliMniH in .'{? yoars. If thi- ('athf>lic populatif)n 50 yoars ago 
 was 120,720, and if fjivorpool doublos its population in 'IT) years, 
 surely the Catholic poptilation doubles itself in 50 years. Father 
 Nugent's opinion was that the multiple of 2.5 instead of 12\ wa.s the 
 soundnr method of calciilating th<i Catlmlic popul.atinn. This, ho 
 stated, was th<i view Ixld by (lardinals Manninp and Vaup^hstn, and 
 Canons Toolo, Oaklny and K»»rsh.aw. TIo afjreod with l*'ath(!r Powoll, 
 however, that tlin " ralioriaj way " was to comjuirc the Catholic 
 births with the total births, and multiply them by a T\v,y\ro which 
 represented the births per thousand of the entire population.
 
 236 
 
 of population, and Father Powell threw some light on the 
 undoubted leakage by his assertion that marriages are no 
 test because below the average, and " a large number are not 
 "solemnised in the Catholic Church." 
 
 No more significant proof of the decadence of the Faith 
 amongst the lower orders can be adduced than the " large 
 " number " marrying inside the walls of the Protestant 
 Churches. It implied a refusal to receive the Sacraments 
 before marriage rather than any unlawful union, and proved 
 that such persons were only Catholics in name. No doubt 
 they sent their children to Catholic schools, as many must 
 have been mixed marriages. An examination, in 1896, of 
 the register of an Anglican school in the heart of the parish 
 of Liverpool, shewed 33 per cent, of names of Celtic Irish 
 origin. These children were no doubt the offspring of mixed 
 unions, but neither Father Powell nor Father Gibson make 
 any reference to this source of leakage in their communi- 
 cations to the press. 
 
 One of Bishop O'Reilly's greatest achievements was the 
 foundation of the diocesan seminary at UphoUand. Aa 
 Father Nugent wrote on the Bishop's decease, this project 
 was " the cherished child of his heart, even to his last 
 breath;" its foundation the boldest act of his life. In 1875, 
 St. Edward's College, Everton, was extended to accommodate 
 double the number of students, but the Bishop felt the need 
 of providing a larger spiritual and intellectual centre to 
 provide priests for an ever-growing diocese. On the feast 
 of his patron saint, March 19th, 1877, he commenced the 
 task, and set an excellent example to his flock by heading the 
 subscription list with two sums of £1,7(J0 and £2,000 
 bequeathed to him as personal gifts by Mr. Gilbert Hayes 
 and Mrs. Santamaria, respectively. His clergy responded 
 handsomely to this call with the sum of £8,408, the total 
 subscriptions amounting to £34,659 lis. 8d., towards an out- 
 lay of £58,000.* Exactly two years after the scheme had 
 been launched the Bishop laid the foundation stone, and on 
 September 22nd, 1883, Upholland Seminary was opened* with 
 four professors and thirty-one students. The diocese of 
 Liverpool, especially the large towns, had had to depend to 
 a considerable extent upon the services of Irish priests " lent " 
 for short periods by their respective bishops, and splendid 
 service was rendered by them, especially among their own 
 people of Irish birth or descent. The common link of 
 nationality enabled priests and people to work much more 
 harmoniously than was possible with clergy of English birth or 
 
 • See Ushaw Magazine. Father Kelly's sketch of Dr. O'Reilly.
 
 237 
 
 training, due in the main to the prevailing political relations 
 between Ireland and Westminster. Fortunately, many young 
 Irish Levites " volunteered for the English mission " and 
 their permanent residence in the diocese kept up the strong 
 Irish tradition of unity between priests and people. 
 Sympathy is a precious gift, and between the Irish priest 
 and the poor Irish dwellers in the crowded streets, it was 
 much more generously and openly extended than was possible 
 between the clergy of the English race, belonging in the main 
 to the sturdy yeoman class in the northern portion of the 
 diocese. The latter had not the opportunity of appreciating 
 the many-sided character of the Irish race, and, it is much 
 to be feared, were not so intimately acquainted with Ireland's 
 unhappy history, even of the first half of the nineteenth 
 century. With the passage of time, the gradual amelioration 
 of the oppressive system of Irish landlordism, and the steady 
 decrease of Irish immigration into Liverpool, the need for 
 Irish born, if not Irish trained, priests has considerably 
 lessened, while on the other hand, the gradual softening of 
 racial prejudices, enabled thousands of Irishmen to value 
 and keenly appreciate the self-sacrifice and apostolic zeal of 
 the sons of St. Cuthbert, and, at a later day, the priests who 
 came out from St. Joseph's, Upholland. "rhis great change 
 was not felt so much in Dr. O'Reilly's lifetime as it is at 
 this moment. 
 
 On December 16th, 1883, the Vicar-General, Monsignor 
 Fisher, opened the temporary chapel of St. Francis 
 de Sales, Walton. It was but a stable with a loft, generously 
 lent by Mr. J. Morgan,* and for four years it served the 
 needs of the growing Catholic population in a district which, 
 centuries before, was the cradle of Liverpool Catholicism. 
 Under the guidance of Father Thomas Smith, those four 
 years were utilised to provide more suitable and lasting 
 accommodation, and on October 16th, 1887, the new school 
 chapel in Halo Road waa opened by the Bishop In his 
 sermon on that day, Dr. O'Rpilly mcnlioncMl the interesting 
 fact that, when in 1872 his predocp-ssor laid the responsibility 
 upon Father John P. Nugent of commencing the mission of 
 the Hlf^.ssofl Sacramr-nt, there woro only fiftv-six Catholics 
 in the whole of Walt^in. In five years this tiny number had 
 increased to five hundred and sixty. In June, 188G, the 
 population of the new mission of St. Fran(!is de Sales was 
 1,950, and on the day on which the Bishop was speaking 
 had reached close on 2,400 persons. The township of Walton 
 was added to the City of Liverpool in November. 1895. 
 
 • Whn, on hip wifo'n death, became a Jesuit prie»t, and died three 
 months after his ordination.
 
 238 
 
 At the extreme south end, the village of Garston, as it 
 was in the early eighties was served by the Benedictine 
 Fathers at St. Austin's, Grassendale. The inci-ease of the 
 Catholic population created the necessity for a new chapel. 
 A start was made on July 8th, 1883, with a temporary* 
 chapel dedicated to St. Francis of Assissi ; new schools being 
 added in the October of the following year. Father Frederick 
 Smith was placed in charge of the new mission, who, in 
 addition to his parochial duties, represented the district for 
 many years on the West Derby Board of Guardians, and 
 acted as one of the Diocesan Inspectors of Schools. | 
 
 The developments of the Lancashire and Yorkshire 
 Railway carried with them the removal of an old landmark 
 in local Catholic history. St. Mary's, Edmund Street, 
 representing the re-birth of Catholicism, was acquired under 
 an Act of Parliament for railway purposes, and on November 
 11th, 1883, Mass was said for the last time on the historic 
 site. A temporary chapel was built in Pownall Square, 
 pending the erection of the new church in Highlield Street, 
 which was solemnly opened on July 9th, 1885, by Bishop 
 O'Reilly. Two days previously it had been re-consecrated 
 by Dr. Scarisbrick, O.S.B., Bishop of Port Louis, who had 
 sejved on the mission at St. Peter's, Seel Street, from 1867 
 to 1871. This' change enabled the latter church to claim the 
 privilege of being the oldest building in Liverpool devoted 
 to Catholic worship. The memorial to Father Sheridan, 
 O.S.B., keeps up the link which binds the new church of 
 St. Mary to the past ; the beautiful alabaster altar with its 
 reredos of Caen stone, and its sculptured groups of the Dead 
 Christ and a recumbent figure of Father Sheridan in a 
 fourteenth century tomb, forming one of the finest decorative 
 features of a noble building. 
 
 St. Alexander's having been extended in 1884, the 
 temporary chapel of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour was 
 discontinued. 
 
 At the other end of the borough of Bootle, another link 
 with the past was broken by the acquisition, under com- 
 pulsory powers, by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway 
 Company, of the Church of St. James. On July 20th, 1884, 
 Bishop O'Reilly laid the foundation stone of the new church 
 in Marsh Lane, which he opened in February, 1886. With 
 the completion of the tower, the addition of new altars, 
 pulpit, stained windows and bells, improvements not com- 
 pleted until the year 1900. St. James' may worthily rank as 
 
 * New Church opened 1905. 
 J Until his death, November 26, 1909.
 
 239 
 
 a cathedral church, while the splendid elementary schools, 
 and a valuable adjunct in the shape of a Select School, 
 Parochial Hall, etc., justify it* claim as the best equipped 
 petrish in or near the city. 
 
 A worthy compliment was paid to Dean Kelly by the 
 Bishop, in permitting him to lay the foundation stone of the 
 new schools, immediately after his Lordship had performed 
 the same function for the new church. 
 
 In another of the outer districts, Waveitree, now in- 
 cluded in the borough of Liver{X)ol, Bishop O'Reilly, on 
 October 4th 1885, laid the first stone of the church of Our 
 Lady of Good Help, to take the place of the temporary 
 chapel in the old public ofiices of the Wavertree Local Board, 
 opened by Bishop Goss in 187 L 
 
 On May 24th, 1885, the first stone of the new church 
 of the Sacred Heart was laid to provide for the needs of the 
 increased population, due to the development of the great 
 open apace known to an earlier generation as Kensington 
 Fields, and on November 1st, the extension of Our Lady Im- 
 maculate, St. Domingo Road, was also opened by the Bishop. 
 This extension perpetuated the memory of Father Michael 
 Carney, B.A., who died a martyr of charity in January, 
 1885, from an attack of fever, contracted while performing 
 his sacred duties in the infectious diseases hospital in 
 Netherfield Road. 
 
 November 22nd, 1885, witnessed the opening of the fine 
 church of St. John, Kirkdale. The district had recently 
 been divided into two parishes, and in his address on this 
 interesting occasion, Bishop O'Reilly said that in 1875 there 
 were only 2,700 Catholics in the neighbourhood. Seven 
 years later the numbers increased to 7,500, and were in- 
 creasing at the rate of from seven hundred to one thousand 
 per annum. 
 
 In the heart of the Scotland Division the last of the 
 temporary churches disappoarod with the completion of the 
 new church of St. Sylvester, opened by the Bishop on Sep- 
 tember 22nd, 1889, seventeen years after Dr. Goss had 
 expressed his hope of erecting a commodious church ! 
 
 At tlu' Sfhof)] Tioard clfctions of IRR."), Drs. Canavan 
 and Johr) Tilijjh dorlinfd re-nomination, and Messrs. 
 Michael Fitzpatrif^k, W. J. Sparrow, liL.D.,* and J. A. 
 Dnughan.t wr-ro olrctod in fh^ir Htoarl. Aff^r o^>nRiderabIe 
 discussion it was ro.snlvcd to run a sixth candidate, Mr. John 
 
 • Professor of Law at tho liivorpool UniverBitv, 1908. 
 \ JtiBtico nf th« T'onrr, s.it in tho Counril ff)r Exrhanpo Ward for 
 Boirc ycarfl ; membor of the Liverpool Education Committee and 
 Catholic Education Council.
 
 240 
 
 Hand. Though the six candidates were successful serious risk of 
 losing several seats was incurred owing to want of organisa- 
 tion. Isolated Catholic organisations existed here and there, 
 but no central organisation. For some years unsuccessful 
 attempts had been mad© to promote such a body, but 
 political divisions prevented their realisation. A Catholic 
 Social Club had been founded on February 16th, 1881 at 
 14, Lime Street, Mr. Charles Russell* in the chair, supported 
 by Count Moore, M.P., and a large number of the clergy. 
 A Catholic Union was also founded, but both proved 
 failures. Mr. Doughan wrote to the " Catholic Times," 
 pointing out the lamentable fact that only 8,878 Catholic 
 electors recorded their votes, compared with 9,250 at the 
 election of 1873. 
 
 This falling-off was due entirely to the irritation felt 
 by the Nationalist party at the selection of a certain candi- 
 date, and though Mr. Doughan made no reference to the 
 fact, of which he was probably unaware, his efforts to pi'omote 
 a better state of things were well rewarded at the following 
 triennial elections, when the six candidates were trium- 
 phantly returned by a solid vote of 10,411 Catholic electors. 
 
 Walton, Wavertree, West Derby, and part of Toxteth, 
 though inside the Parliamentary borough of Liverpool, were 
 not included until 1895, in the School Board area. Walton 
 had a separate School Board, on which two Catholic represen- 
 tatives sat, and on the Toxteth Board Mr. Hugh Quinn, 
 solicitor, gained a seat and secured the recognition of St. 
 Charles' Schools, Aigburth Road. The Nationalist party 
 defeated Mr. Charles MacArdle in Vauxhall Ward by 
 electing Mr. Patrick Byrne, and in Great George Ward, Mr. 
 James Ruddin,t one of the Select Vestrymen, gained a seat 
 under Liberal auspices. 
 
 In November, 1886, the Nationalist party surprised 
 Liverpool by challenging the re-election of Mr. John Yates 
 for Vauxhall Ward. Here was the spectacle of an Irish 
 Nationalist opposing the return of a veteran English Catholic 
 with a splendid record of work performed for his co- 
 religionists for over half a century. Mr. Yates was a 
 convinced Liberal and Home Ruler, but his speech to a 
 deputation inviting him to stand again annoyed the 
 Nationalist party, who in their strength resolved to brook no 
 insult real or implied. Mr. Parnell sent a letter to Mr. 
 John Denvir wishing him success and " Parnell's message, 
 " ' vote for Denvir,' " met the eye on every hoarding. The 
 
 • Lord Chief Justice of England. 
 t Elected Alderman in 1892 ; Justice of the Peace. Died April, 1904.
 
 241 
 
 clergy refused to desert the old veteran, who won easily, 
 thanks to the Liberal and Conservative electors who voted 
 solidly in his favour ; the latter more from a desire to defeat 
 the Irish Nationalist than from any special love for the Liberal 
 candidate. A few months before the contest Mr. Yates was 
 entertained to a banquet, and a handsome presentation made 
 to him in recognition of his past services. Dr. O'Reilly 
 presided at this function to shew his personal esteem. 
 
 Mr. Yates died on December 31st, 1887, aged 80 years. 
 Born of Protestant parents, in Haslingden, on April 3rd, 
 18U7, he was sent to Sedgley Park to be educated, and as the 
 result became a convert. Coming to Liverpool, he followed 
 the profession of his father, that of a solicitor, and speedily 
 came to be regarded as one of the ornaments of the legal 
 body in the town. On the Select Vestry, the Town Council, 
 School Board, and during his six years' magistracy, he gave 
 abundant evidence of his upright sterling character, and 
 won for himself the esteem of his fellow-citizens of all 
 parties and creeds. He never trimmed his views on Catholic 
 or Irish questions to gain applause, as witness his personal 
 visit to Connemara to expose the Irish Church mission frauds, 
 or to quote Father Nugent, " what he did for the members of 
 " the Young Ireland party in Kirkdale gaol " during the 
 insurrectionary period of 1848. No church or school was 
 erected, no charitable movement founded, no social reform 
 inaugurated, during his long life in Liverpool, without his 
 name being prominently associated with it, either in the 
 shape of money, work or advice. His mortal remains were 
 interred at St. Oswald's, the Bishop presiding at the Requii^m 
 Mass. He was succeeded in the Council by a young Irish 
 labourer, Mr. John Gregory Taggart, selected by the 
 Nationalist party, who has proved to be one of the ablest 
 municipal administrators who ever sat in that chamber. 
 Quito recently he has bnon appointed a Justice of the Peace 
 and Alderman of the city.* 
 
 Livorpjol Catholics also lost by death, the services of the 
 Recorder, Mr. J. B. Aspinall, who died February 5th, 1886, 
 and Mr. C. J. rorbally. I)-cembnr 2nd. 1887. The InKor 
 gentleman was an Irishman, born 1812, who entered the 
 office of his uncle, the lato Aldermnn Shoil. becoming 
 eventually a partner. He, t-oo, sat in Iho Council for some 
 years as mcml>nr for Vauxhall Ward, and served on the 
 Burial Board of the Pariah of Livf'r[K)n]. For thirty un- 
 broken years he acted as treasurer of our oldest charity, the 
 Catholic Benevolent Society (a position now held by Mr. 
 
 • 1008.
 
 242 
 
 J. A. Doughan, J. P.), and acted in the same capacity for 
 the Clarence Reformatory Ship. Few of the Catholics who 
 have heeu raised to the bench won such a reputation in the 
 magistrates' room for probity and sound judgment. 
 
 The General Election of 1885 gave the Catholics of 
 England and Wales an opportunity of forcing to the front 
 the intolerable strain under which they suffered as the result 
 of being compelled to pay the rate for the maintenance of 
 Board Schools, and providing at the same time their own 
 schools and a large portion of the expenses of maintaining 
 them efficiently. Owing to the policy of Mr. Parnell, who 
 sought to obtain the balance of power in the House of 
 Commons, the Catholic body, as such, was enabled to press 
 home the Education question, without any fear of a diversion 
 by the Nationalist party. To prevent the Liberals securing 
 a working majority, Mr. Parnell's manifesto called upon the 
 Irish electors to vote for the Conservative candidates, and 
 so cordially did his followers respond that both parties 
 emerged from the electoral struggle equally balanced, quite 
 unable to carry on the work of government without support 
 from the Irish party. Foreseeing this likely development, 
 Cardinal Manning advised the Catholics of England to put 
 two questions to every candidate: "Will you do your utmost 
 " to place voluntary schools on an equal footing with Board 
 " schools ? Will you do your utmost to obtain a Royal 
 " Commission to review the present state of education in 
 " England and Wales, and especially the Act of 1870 and its 
 "administration by the School Boards?" 
 
 To these questions the Conservatives gave an answer in 
 the affirmative; the Liberals simply professing general 
 sympathy. Bishop O'Reilly had studiously avoided all refer- 
 ence to political questions in his pastorals, which were almost 
 entirely devoted to spiritual matters, but in this year he 
 wrote directly to his flock on the relation of their political 
 power to the settlement of the education question on lines 
 favourable to denominationalists. 
 
 " We are " he wrote, " upon the eve of a General Election, 
 " held for the first time under very altered circumstances. 
 " Vast numbers who, up to this, were not enfranchised will 
 " be entitled to vote.* We speak to you, and in doing so 
 " we have no intention, nay, it is far from our wish, to touch 
 " upon party politics, or even to touch upon matters of 
 " purely worldly interest. It is no concern of ours whether 
 " your politics are what are called Liberal or Conservative. 
 " Upon questions of purely secular interest you are much 
 
 • The Act of 1885 extended the household franchise to the Counties.
 
 243 
 
 " better qualified to judge than we are, and it is right and 
 " fitting that you should form your own opinions and to act 
 " upon them. There is, however, one issue at stake, to which 
 " it is our imperative duty to invite your most serious con- 
 " sideration, and that is, the education of your children and 
 " the future of our schools." . . . Quoting the questions 
 framed by Cardinal Manning, the Bishop proceeded : " Insist 
 " upon a clear answer to each of these questions. If the 
 " answer be favourable, give him your vote and all the 
 " support you can command. . . To many of you it may 
 " be painful to vote against the political party with which 
 " you have been long associated. Still, as the calls of conscience 
 " are above those of party, we hope you will look upon it as 
 " a duty to obey your conscience and not count the cost." 
 
 The elections of 1885 gave Liverpool its first Catholic 
 Member of Parliament, in the person of Mr. Thomas Power 
 O'Connor. He had sat for the borough of Galway since 
 1880, and was re-elected in November 1885, but decided to 
 fiit for the Scotland Division of Liverpool. Under the able 
 guidance of Mr. John Denvir, the Irish Nationalists of the 
 town made a great eflfort to so arrange the boundaries of 
 the adjoining division of Exchange that this seat also could 
 be held against all comers by a member of Mr. Parnell's 
 party. Ignoring the strong case made out by the Nationalists 
 the commercial classes in Exchange and Castle Street 
 Municipal Wards were separated by the Boundaries Com- 
 missioners, and at an Irish Convention held in Great Crosshall 
 Street,* during the summer of 1885, it wasi agreed, on the 
 motion of Dr. John Bligh, that " an Irish Nationalist be run 
 " for the Exchange Division, and that Mr. Justin MacCarthy 
 "be requested to stand as our candidate." At a great 
 meeting held next evening in the League Hall, Cazncau Street, 
 this decision was confirmed, on the motion of the present 
 writer, and was conveyed to the versatile novelist, journalist 
 and historian. On Sunday, August 9th, Mr. MacCarthy 
 visited Liverpool, accompanied by his son, and Mr. Timothy 
 Healy, M.P., and publicly accept od the invitation, which, 
 to the annoyance of many Liberals, was endorsed by the 
 Liberal loadf^rs. On the eve of the dissolution of Parliament, 
 Mr. Justin Ma/^Carthy was annnunoed as the candidate for the 
 city of Derry, being sent there by Mr. Parnoll as thn " only 
 " man " who could win the maiden city for Home Rule. No 
 word or «von hint had boen prfvionsly convoyed to Liverpool 
 of this new departure, and the loading men in the Nationalist 
 
 * In a dieusecl Mothodist Chapol, opposite Holy Cross Church, 
 now used as a glass warohouKC.
 
 244 
 
 party asked themselves what it all meaut. If only one man 
 could win Derry, to use Mr. Parnell s own woi'ds, why was 
 he sent to Liverpool eight weeks earlier as the candidate for 
 the Exchange Division^ Dame Kumour was very busy and 
 further developments were awaited with considerable anxiety. 
 A demonstration was announced for November 16lh, in the 
 League Hall, Mr. William O'Brien, M.l*., and editor of 
 " United Ireland, ' being announced as the chief sipeaker. To 
 everyone's amazement Mr. Parnell, on tiie very day of the 
 meeting, announced that he was coming with Mr. John E. 
 Redmond, and Mr. T. P. O'Connor. He gave reasions for 
 Mr. MacCarthy's withdrawal, and announced his selection of 
 Mr. T. P. O'Connor for the Scotland Division. In the course 
 of his speech he said, " I cannot absolutely say whether we 
 " are sufficiently strong enough to beat botn political parties 
 "in the Exchange Division, but our enquiries are still pro- 
 " ceeding, and we hope to have figures which will be conclusivt) 
 " one way or another in a few days. Until then we do not 
 " consider it advisable to replace the vacancy." 
 
 As a matter of absolute fact the figures had been supplied 
 to him long before this meeting, as the sittings of the Revision 
 Courts had been held earlier than usual. Notwithstanding 
 the enthusiasm of that memorable meeting, Mr. Parnell's 
 speech was a serious discouragement to the leading Irishmen, 
 who were quite certain of carrying an Irishman for 
 the Division. The excitement grew when it was announced 
 on the next day that the Liberal party had selected a strong 
 local candidate, Mr. T. E. Stephens, to fight for the seat 
 under the banner of Mr. Gladstone. The Conservative party 
 selected Mr. L. R. Baily, and the election warfare began in 
 earnest. A bolt from the blue fell in the Irish ranks when 
 the unusually well-informed London letter writer of the 
 " Daily Post," just four days after Parnell's speech, penned 
 the following paragraph: "What is remarkable is the 
 " ostracism of Captain O'Shea,* sitting on the Ministerial 
 " benches, but keeping up social relations with Parnell and 
 " his party." This somewhat obscurely worded paragraph 
 aroused intense suspicion in certain Irish circles, and the 
 position was very closely scrutinised, especially when Parlia- 
 ment was dissolved, the writs issued, polling days fixed, and 
 still no word from Mr. Parnell, as to the result of his study of 
 the figures as to the Irish vote in Exchange Division. In 
 every constituency in the three kingdoms, the Irish policy 
 had been decided upon except this one division. Late on the 
 evening of the twentieth of November a telegram was received 
 
 • He had negotiated the famous Kilmainham treaty
 
 245 
 
 announcing Parnell himself as the candidate. The same 
 evening, without any request from Liverpool, Captain O'Shea, 
 ignoring the official Liberal candidate, issued his address as 
 a supporter of Mr. Gladstone, supported by Mr. Joseph 
 Chamberlain and Lord Richard Grosvenor.* The Captain 
 was on the spot, but no Parnell nor any address from him. 
 The Nationalist headquarters were in the iemple, Dale Street, 
 and at the mere rumour of Parnell's candidature, canvassers 
 flocked in from all parts of the town to organise the Irish 
 vote. It is no exaggeration to say that Mr. O Connor's 
 candidature was quite neglected to make sure of Parnell's 
 victory in Exchange, and victory was certain in the opinion of 
 the electioneering experts. The more sober spirits asked how 
 could Parnell win with two Liberal candidates in the field? 
 The writer was one of two personsf selected to meet Mr. 
 Parnell on Sunday morning, November 22nd, in the North 
 Western Hotel, Lime Street, and conduct him to a consulta- 
 tion with the local Nationalist leaders in the Temple ofhces. 
 He made enquiries as to the effect upon the Irish voters of 
 " Mr. O'Shea's " candidature of which he appeared quite well 
 aware, and announced his intention of running Mr. John 
 Barry, M.P. for Wexford, for the Abercromby Division, to 
 keep out Mr. Samuel Smith. The same afternoon he addressed 
 a great meeting in the Concert Hall, Lord Nelson Street, and 
 an enormous open-air meeting on St. George's Hall Plateau. He 
 enjoined it as a duty upon every Irish elector to vote for the 
 Conservative candidates " unless some exception bo signified by 
 " the Central Executive." The significance of this phrase was 
 not lost on the younger men of the Central Branch, Great 
 Crosshall Street, and during the following twenty-four hours, 
 in a vigorous canvass of Exchange, Vauxhall and St. Anne's 
 Ward, their earnest advice was, " vote for Parnell if he stands, 
 " if not, vote for Parnell's policy, the balance of power, by 
 " voting for Mr. L. R. Baily." It was of importance to these 
 young enthusias-ts that Mr. Parnell made no allusion to 
 O'Shoa's candidature in his sj>ocches: "the contest will be a 
 " difficult one, but T believe it is just possible for mo to win." 
 Mr. T. P. O'Connor, interviewed by the " Central News," 
 doclarod tliat " tho only gentlemen to whom any exception can 
 " apply are Messrs. Josoph Cowan, Slory, Thompson and 
 " Henry Labouchere." Parnell's nomination papers, twenty 
 in number, were signed by prinsts, merrhants, shopkeepers and 
 laboiwrn whilo Captain O'Shea handed in but one paper, 
 
 • Sec "Daily Post" loader. 
 
 f Tho other was Mr. James A. Mulhall, now tho Irish secretary 
 of the Royal Liver Society.
 
 246 
 
 oontaining only one influential Liberal signature. Mr. T. E. 
 Stephens was also nominated. 
 
 At two o'clock Mr. Parnell quietly withdrew his nomina- 
 tion, and retired from the precincts of the Town Hall. The 
 same evening he appealed to the Irish electors to support 
 Captain O'Shea in these terms: " Mr. O'Sliea belongs to the 
 ''religion of the majority of Irishmen. If you desire to vote 
 " for him as an Irishman or Catholic, I see no reason why you 
 " should not do so.'' Nevertheless he worked strenuously for the 
 rejected member for Clare, only to be defeated by some Irish 
 Nationalists, who hated O'Shea and the chauge of front of 
 the Irish leader, matters which cannot be fully discussed in 
 these pages. O'Shea lost the seat by the narrow margin of 
 fifty-three votes; the other Liberal candidate only polling a 
 few votes. When Gladstone introduced the first Home Rule 
 Bill, a Liberal Home Ruler defeated Mr. Baily in Exchange 
 Division by two hundred votes, and this despite the defection of 
 the influential Liberal Unionists. The election of 1886 puts 
 beyond all doubt that Parnell would have won in 1885 had he 
 gone to the poll. Mr. Gladstone's Home Rule policy rent his 
 party in twain, and the Unionist party remained in power 
 until 1906, with the short interval of the years between July, 
 1892, and the election of 1895. 
 
 The schools were safe from Liberal interference, if they 
 ever intended to interfere, which may well be doubted, and it 
 was years afterwards before Mr. Balfour carried his one clause 
 Act increasing the imperial grant. It had been well had Mr. 
 Balfour's policy of increased grants been permitted to develop, 
 but militant denominationalists raised the demand — just in 
 itself — for rate aid, forgetting that the adoption of this 
 principle in an England of sub-divided religious thought, 
 introduced an element which appears to have escaped the 
 advocates of the new polic}', that of ratepayers' interference 
 and control. The foremost Catholic educationalist in Liver- 
 pool was Father William Dubberley, S.J., manager of the 
 Haigh Street schools from 1879 to his death on September 
 20th, 1896. He threw himself heart and soul into the great 
 work of perfecting elementary education. His unrivalled 
 knowledge of every detail of school management made him a 
 powerful defender of the Catholic schools, and a skilful 
 exponent of the claims of his oo-religionists for fair treatment. 
 
 The remaining years of Dr. O'Reilly's rule were devoted to 
 his spiritual work. New churches and schools were springing 
 up in all directions, and notably in the rapidly growing 
 suburbs of the old borough, whose parliamentary boundaries 
 were not co-terminous with the municipal. At the time of his
 
 247 
 
 death there were 27 schools in Liverpool, with an average 
 attendance of 22,000 children. 
 
 Owing to the generosity of two Liverpool Catholics,* a 
 school chapel was provided at Cabbage Hail, and dedicated to 
 All Saints on September 8th, 1889. The beautiful Church of 
 St. Clare, Sefton Park, also provided by the great generosity 
 of the founders of All Saints, was consecrated on June 3rd, 
 1890. Father Nugent, on the demolition of St. Mary's, had 
 urged its transference to the neighbourhood of Sefton Park, 
 but permission to do so was not obtained. At the river side of 
 the Sefton Park area, a temporary chapel was erected, and 
 dedicated to St. Charles on September 25th, 1892, followed by 
 the erection of new schools which were opened by the Bishop 
 of Salford. The infants' school at St. Francis Xavier's, blessed 
 and opened in 1879, by Father Thomas Burke, O.P., were 
 further enlarged in 1891, and under the enthusiastic guidance 
 of Father William Pinningtonf the fine schools of St. 
 Alphonsus, Stanley Road, were opened in 1889. 
 
 Many works of charity were founded during the last 
 decade of Dr. O'Reilly's rule. In 1881, the Catholic Children's 
 Protection Society was founded. This excellent organisation 
 emigrated to Catholic families in Canada many hundreds of 
 children whose prospects in life were hopeless, unless effec- 
 tually removed from their former surroundings. 
 
 The Society of St. Vincent de Paul made a beginning in 
 1891 with the Homes for Friendless Boys, which has since 
 developed to such an extent as to become one of the recognised 
 charitable institutions wBose annual meetings are held in the 
 Town IJall, under the chairmanship of the Lord Mayor. The 
 name of Arthur Chilton Thomas, a veritable Lancashire 
 Ozanara, is indissolubly bound up with tliis splendid effort to 
 save the friendless Catholic boy. A special committee was 
 formed of one delegate from each conference of the St. Vincent 
 do Paul Society, to carry on the projected " Home," and an 
 earnest effort made to secure a fund which would enable the 
 promoters to face the heavy expenditure involved. The name 
 of Bishop O'Reilly headed the first subscription list, followed 
 by Mfssr?. Francis W. Reynolds, Henry Jump, Mathcaon, 
 St-aploton Brotherton, Cullon, Bradloy, Sharpies, Doughan, 
 Browne, Walton, Fathers Murphy, S.J., Carr, and Birchall. 
 Many prnminon< Prote.stant laymon helped in the good work. 
 Over one hundred boys found a home in the house 105, Shaw 
 Street, during the first six months of its establishment; 
 
 • Frank and .lanioH ReynoldR. 
 t Member of the Wf>^t Dnrby Board of riuardiunH for flomp years. 
 Tn 1908 Momhnr of tlin Education Council ; Liverpool Education 
 Committoe. Elected to the Chapter, 1909.
 
 248 
 
 working boys in employment, but not receiving sufficient wagee 
 to keep themselves, and boys out of work for whom situations 
 were found, and street arabs whose means of livelihood were 
 as precarious as they were dangerous. 
 
 As early as July, 1892, Mr. Chilton Thomas began in the 
 " Xaverian to call public attention to the splendid possibili- 
 ties of this great charity, coupled with the necessity for civic 
 legislation, to minimise the dangers of street trading, as 
 Father Nugent had done forty years earlier From thence 
 onwards, he became the leading figure in Catholic rescue work, 
 devoting his life solely to saving the boy for Church and 
 country. 
 
 Father John Berry, rector of St. Philip Neri's, opened in 
 1892 St. Philip's Home for Street Trading Boys in Marble 
 Street, and a few years later took over the management with 
 Mr. Thomas, of the Homes in Shaw Street, which were con- 
 siderably extended and still bear his name. Owing to failing 
 health in 1897, he was compelled to leave the city, but con- 
 tinued his deep interest in the best work yet undertaken in 
 the diocese to scotch the most fruitful source of so-called 
 Catholic crime. Bishop O'Reilly took a keen interest in the 
 experiment, and one of his last acts before a fatal illness 
 seized him was to visit St. Philip's home in Marble Street, at 
 nine o'clock p.m., where, sitting on a form, he talked to the 
 boys about their labours in the streets, discussed with them 
 their earnings and their personal histories quite in the spirit 
 of his earlier work among the poor in St. Patrick's and St. 
 Vincent's. 
 
 In February, 1888, Bishop O'Reilly launched another 
 meritorious scheme for the betterment of the poor children of 
 his diocese. It had long been his earnest desire to secure the 
 removal of every Catholic child in a workhouse school to 
 institutions under his own care. With this object in view he 
 issued a pastoral letter to his flock, in which, he frankly 
 expressed his aims. "The Guardians, as a lule, are much 
 " fairer (here) than they appear to be elsewhere, and our poor 
 " children are treated, as far as their religion is concerned, in 
 " a much more liberal spirit. Still, they labour under very 
 " serious disadvantages. They are brought up amongst 
 " children who are not Catholics, and though, to a certain 
 " extent, they receive Catholic teaching, and are allowed to 
 " practise their religion, still the results are generally very 
 " unfavourable. They leave the workhouse schools, little 
 " illuminated with the brightness of their faith, and with but 
 " little fervour in the practice of their holy religion. Indeed 
 " they are often, in a manner, ashamed of their religion, and
 
 249 
 
 " being, as we have said, animated with but little fervour, they 
 " soon fall away from the practice of its teaching. These 
 " poor children help to swell the number of indifferent 
 " Catholics ; Catholics in name, they are strangers to every 
 " Catholic instinct." 
 
 The worthy Bishop did not live to see the fulfilment of 
 his hopes. Liverpool Guardians were unwilling to fall in with 
 hifl proposals, but his splendid initiative is worthily and 
 fittingly perpetuated in the Bishop O Reilly Memorial Poor 
 Law Schools, Leyfield, West Derby. As a matter of fact, a 
 Catholic teacher was not employed in a single workhouse school 
 in England, save in the schools of the Parish of Liverpool, 
 ample testimony to the need for such institutions as projected 
 by Dr. O'Reilly.* 
 
 Towards the close of 1893, he was stricken with a serious 
 illness, which culminated in his death, on April the ninth of 
 the following year. It is not often that, in a non-Catholic 
 daily newspaper, one may find a true picture of a Catholic 
 ecclesiastic, priest or Bishop, but the following leader from 
 the " Daily Post," from the pen of Sir Edward Russell, is a 
 true epitome of Dr. O'Reilly's life and work: — 
 
 " Dr. O'Reilly enjoyed the unqualified esteem of all who 
 " knew him. He was perhaps somewhat retiring, possibly 
 " somewhat shy. He was consistently and persistently occu- 
 " pied with his own business. He did not include in the scope 
 " of his business any attempt to dominate or pervade society. 
 " We are not commenting on this either in praise or blame. 
 " Possibly it might be the policy of a Roman Catholic Bishop 
 " to keep his church more in evidence socially than Bishop 
 " O'Reilly did. Certainly there have been precedents, both 
 " metropolitan and provincial, in favour of such a course. We 
 " are merely recording the fact that with the late Bishop it 
 " was very different, and (hat all his labours, great as they 
 " were, were confined within tho strict limits of the ecclesias- 
 " tical province. In this wo understand, from those who know 
 " the facts, that ho was far more successfxil than appeared 
 " from any display that attracted tho attention of the general 
 " community. His episcopate was very remarkable for church 
 " extension, and tho solid results that he achieved wore the 
 more notable because obtained in so quiet a manner, and 
 by means of such steady cnf-rgy and perseverance. 
 
 " Dr. O'Reilly was identified with Liverpool throughout 
 the whole of liis career. The early papsages of it lay in a 
 period and in a neighbourhood — tho cholera time in the 
 pqoreat parts of Liverpool — which made him thoroughly, 
 
 •See Pastoral Letter, July, 1888. 
 
 <( 
 
 <i
 
 250 
 
 • and indeed agonisingly, familiar wdth the greatest suffering 
 " and the most temble needs of the humblest of the people. 
 " Thi8 gave a stamp to his ministry and a bent to his episcopal 
 " action. It also led him into understanding and sympathetic 
 " mutual contact with many of the best members of other 
 "communions; and when he came into the full power of his 
 '■ episcopal office he was enabled to co-operate with the 
 '■ managers of our great charities, in a manner very much 
 " strengthened and made useful by his striking pa,storal ex- 
 " periences. We may presume it to be unlikely that this 
 " respected and lamented prelate will be succeeded by a man 
 " of similar type, but his memory will long be held in kindly 
 " reverence, and it will be recognised that he rendered to his 
 " church in this diocese, exactly the services which it most 
 " needed during the time he held sway." 
 
 Canon O'Toole, in the " Catholic Fireside," described him 
 from the point of view of a priest in these words : " The same 
 " sense of duty which had made the memoir of his life simply 
 " the spiritual record of his mission and parish* a few 
 " hundred yards in diameter, still characterised him " as a 
 Bishop. 
 
 In his funeral panegyric, Bishop Hedley, O.S.B., said: 
 " As I read him he was of a nature in which the simple, the 
 " childlike, and the affectionate largely predominated. Policy 
 " on a wide or elaborate scale was not congenial to him. His 
 " arrangements were for plain and evident needs ; and any 
 " man might know his mind. He loved cheerfulness in 
 " business ; he could smile himself, and liked those who dealt 
 " with him to smile also." 
 
 The municipality joined the sorrowing Catholics of the 
 city in paying tribute to the simple, hardworking, prayerful 
 prelate; its Lord Mayor, W. B. Bowring, and liis predecessor, 
 Mr. R. D. Holt, attending in state, the final obsequies. In 
 his beloved Upholland, the remains of the worthy Bishop lie 
 in peace; an abiding incentive to the future pnests from St. 
 Joseph's seminary, to model their life's work in the diocese 
 of Liverpool on his single-hearted devotion to the spiritual 
 w^^lfare of his beloved people. 
 
 * Bt. Vincent de Paul, James Street, 
 
 [the end.]
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Adam, William, first mayor of Liverpool ; will of 
 
 AlUes, T. W 
 
 All Saints', opening of school chapel ... 
 All Souls', CollingAvood Street — 
 
 Robert Hutchinson's generosity 
 Public subscription... 
 opened by Vicar-General ... 
 Father Hogan. rector 
 Almond, Father, O.S.B., attacks " Daily Post" 
 Amicable Society of St. Patrick 
 Anderdon, Rev. \\. H. ... 
 Anderson, P. M.. O.S.B.. Father 
 Anderton ... 
 Anglicans capture Corporation Schools 
 
 expel Catholic children 
 Appleton ... 
 
 Dr., O.S.B., Rev., death from fever 
 Aspinull, J. B., Recorder of Liverpool 
 Fontenoy Street schools 
 speaks in Sessions House 
 and St. Vincent's 
 speech at Catholic Club 
 Holy Cross 
 
 Forater's Education Bill 
 Attendance at Mass 
 Augu.<jtinian Nuns in Liverpool 
 
 BaineH. Bishop, preaches at St. Anthony's 
 death of 
 
 O.S.B., Father, preaches at St. Peter's 
 
 Mrs., Spitalficids rolugo 
 Banquets ... 
 Bannistor ... 
 
 Baptisms. Sec Statistics. 
 Barnvvall .. 
 
 Barratt 
 
 Baxter, Dr., J.J'., C.C. ... 
 I'ccsloy, (•. 
 
 K 
 
 Bench-holders. Sec .InHuits, St. Mary's. 
 Benedictines, Birkenhn.id Priory 
 
 Father Sowall. S..T., writes to Father 
 
 take rhar^'jo of ,St. Mary'H 
 
 Father ,VlacF>nnn!d Humraon.'< pariah 
 
 Bench-holders and 
 
 34 
 
 
 Page 
 
 , , , , , 
 
 3 
 
 
 .. 112 
 
 
 
 .. 247 
 
 
 .. 202 
 
 . 
 
 .. 202 
 
 ... 
 
 .. 203 
 
 . 
 
 .. 203 
 
 
 .. 146 
 
 > . • ■ . 
 
 .. 38 
 
 • ■ ■ • > 
 
 .. 135 
 
 . 
 
 .. 135 
 
 ... 
 
 42 
 
 > ... > 
 
 .. 50 
 
 • ... . 
 
 .. 68 
 
 . 
 
 .. 26 
 
 ... . 
 
 .. 86 
 
 
 .. 60 
 
 . t . • . 
 
 .. 108 
 
 
 .. 114 
 
 . * • ■ 
 
 . 123 
 
 
 .. 126 
 
 
 .. 139 
 
 . 
 
 .. 187 
 
 t, 121, 122, 203, 204 
 
 
 
 .. 185 
 
 
 47 
 
 
 74 
 
 . . t • 
 
 35 
 
 ... . 
 
 .. 166 
 
 
 34. 39 
 
 
 
 . 42 
 
 
 . 42 
 
 . 
 
 10 
 
 
 . 22() 
 
 
 46 
 
 
 4(i 
 
 
 4,5 
 
 Mac Donald, 
 
 
 O.S.U. 
 
 17 
 
 • t • . 
 
 . 19 
 
 Deting 
 
 . 20 
 
 19, 20, 
 
 21,22
 
 252 
 
 Benedictines at Sefton ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 24 
 
 at Gillmoss ... ... ... ... ... ... 24 
 
 build St. Peter's 25 
 
 extend St. Peter's ... ... ... ... ... 35 
 
 St. Mary's overcrowded ... ... ... ... 37 
 
 St. Peter's overcrowded ... ... ... ... 38 
 
 and Catholic Female Orphanage ... ... ... 40 
 
 Bishop Polding, O.S.B. 54 
 
 found St. Austin's ... ... ... ... ... 55 
 
 death of Father Glover, O.S.B 63 
 
 visit of Bishop UUathorne, O.S.B 70 
 
 found St. Anne's, Edge Hill 71 
 
 and St. Francis Xavier's ... ... ... ... 72 
 
 found St. Peter's schools ... ... ... ... 73 
 
 Ray Street schools ... ... ... ... 75 
 
 St. Austin's schools ... ... ... ... 73 
 
 St. Mary's new church ... ... ... ... 75 
 
 visit of Bishop Brown, O.S.B. ... ... ... 56 
 
 erection of St. Augustine's ... ... ... 95, 96 
 
 found St. Anne's schools ... ... ... ... 110 
 
 Benevolent Hibernian Society ... ... ... ... ... ... 38 
 
 Society ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 41 
 
 of St. Patrick 32, 38 
 
 Berry, John, Rev. ... ... ... ... ... ... -•• 248 
 
 Berry 107 
 
 Bidwill, Colonel 147, 187, 193, 216. 217 
 
 Billinge 16,21 
 
 Bilsborrow, Bishop ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 77 
 
 Birch, Sir Thomas, M.P 91 
 
 Birkdale Farm School 117 
 
 Birkenhead election ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 148 
 
 riots 154, 155 
 
 Bishop Eton 76 
 
 Blanchard, Edward 46 
 
 Blessed Sacrament Church, Walton ; new church opened ... ... 221 
 
 Bligh, Dr. A. M 151 
 
 elected for Scotland Ward ... ... ... 215 
 
 John, J.P 151 
 
 contest for Select Vestry ... ... ... 219 
 
 elected member of School Board 243 
 
 Blind Asylum 65 
 
 Blount 42 
 
 Blundell 6, 7, 27 
 
 Henry 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 
 
 Nicholas ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 7, 8 
 
 William, High Sheriff of Lancashire 65 
 
 Weld 93, 97, 183, 187 
 
 Blundell Street chapel. See St. Vincent's. 
 
 Bolas, O.S.B., Father 19 
 
 Botill, Hugh 3 
 
 Boys' Refuge ... ... ... ... ... ••• ... ••• 183 
 
 Bradley, J. S 226 
 
 Brancker, John, presents statue to St. Patrick's ... ... ... 40 
 
 accompanies O'Connell on 'Change ... ..• 54 
 
 Breiman, E. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ••• 34 
 
 P 33 
 
 Bretherton, Bartholomew, founds Rainhill chapel ... ... ... 55 
 
 E 42, 80, 90, 91, 98
 
 253 
 
 Brewer, O.S.B., Rev. Dr. ... ... ... ... 18 
 
 speech in aid of St. Francis Xavier's... 72 
 
 Briggs, Bbhop, appointed Vicar Apostolic ... ... ... ... 55 
 
 opens St. Austin's ... ... ... ... ... 55 
 
 lays down conditions for St. Austin's ... ... 56 
 
 pastoral ... ... ... ... ... ... 57 
 
 and St. Francis Xavier's ... ... ... ... 62 
 
 transferred to Yorkshire ... ... ... 65, 75 
 
 Brindle 123 
 
 Brown, Dr., O.S.B 56 
 
 Bishop of Shrewsbury 111,127 
 
 Bishop, appointed coadjutor Vicar Apostolic ... ... 65 
 
 consecration in St. Anthony's ... ... ... 65 
 
 opens Rainhill chapel ... ... ... ... 65 
 
 succeeds Bishop Baines ... ... ... ... 74 
 
 holds first ordinations at St. Nicholas' ... ... 74 
 
 opens St. Mary's church ... ... ... ... 75 
 
 resides at Eton Lodge, Woolton ... ... ... 76 
 
 abolishes lay committees ... ... ... ... 79 
 
 arranges for future church collections ... ... 80 
 
 opens St. Anne's ... ... ... ... ... 81 
 
 opens St. Alban's ... ... ... ... ... 95 
 
 foundation stone of St. Francis Xavier's ... ... 76 
 
 opens St. Francis Xavier's ... ... ... ... 95 
 
 restoration of hierarchy ; first Bishop of Liverpool 97 
 
 Haigh Street schools 100 
 
 hands over Standish Street to Oblates of Mary 
 
 Immaculate 107 
 
 in failing health ... ... ... ... ... Ill 
 
 coadjutor appointed ... ... ... ... ... Ill 
 
 lays foundation stone of Catholic Institute ... 112 
 authorises Mr. John Yates to prosecute editor of 
 
 " Liverpool Standard " 115 
 
 forms committee to establish Catholic Reformatory 116 
 
 invites Rodemptfjrists to Liverpool ... ... 123 
 
 favourite pupil of Dr. Lingard and vice-president 
 
 of Ushaw, death of 123 
 
 Browne, Edward, and parliamentary election of 1874 ... ... 212 
 
 defeato<l in I'itt Street Ward ... ... ... 215 
 
 elected to School Board ... ... ... ... 193 
 
 John 101 
 
 Bnindritt, Father, and Birkenhead riota ... ... ... ... 154 
 
 Bullcn 61 
 
 Burke 28 
 
 Bute. Mariiuin of 191 
 
 Butler. Chri.stoi)her 16, 21 
 
 Butt. IH.1VLC. M.l'. 125 
 
 Byrne 28 
 
 Garrett. .M.I' 216,227 
 
 Patrick, elected for Vauxhall Ward 240 
 
 CafferaU 61.98 
 
 elected Vestryman ... ... ... ... ... 132, 141 
 
 CahilJ, Rev. Dean, preachos at St. Patiick's ... ... ... 40 
 
 proachoH ut Holy Cross ... ... ... ... 10') 
 
 flu pports i.iivorpool " Catholic Citizen " ... 110 
 
 discourages St. Patrick's Day panidca ... ... Ill
 
 254 
 
 Callan. Dr 226 
 
 Gallon 61 
 
 Canavan. Dr. P., elected to School Board 219 
 
 CardweU 91 
 
 Carney, Rlichael, Father 239 
 
 Carpenter, Father, S.J., eaves Blessed Sacrament from rioters at 
 
 St. Mary's 
 Carr, Monsignor Provost 
 
 Can-oil, Father, S.J 
 
 Humphrey 
 Carter, \\illiam, Father 
 Catholic Association 
 Catholic Benevolent Society 
 
 " Catholic Citizen " 
 
 Catholic Club, foundation of ... 
 
 conference on school provision 
 and Christian Brothers at St. Mary's 
 Bishop Goss' speech at 
 address to Father INIathew 
 organises public lectures 
 and South Lancashire election 
 offers to find situations for Kirkdale school children 149, 1 50 
 
 ... 166 
 Forster's Education Bill 
 entertains Bishop O'ReUly 
 political dissensions in... ... 211,212, 
 
 Catholic Defence Associaton ... 
 Society 
 Emancipation ... 
 Institute of Great Britain 
 Catholic Institute, Hope Street — Rodney Street School 
 foundation stone of Hope Street school 
 opened by Cardinal Wiseman 
 Newman lectures on Turks ... 
 Catholic Magazine 
 
 Poor School Committee founded 
 Registration Society ... 
 Rent Society ... 
 Tract and Book Society 
 Catholic Times — " Northern Press " purchased 
 and Catholic .schools ... 
 and St. Francis Xavier's 
 attacks Select Vestry 
 criticises Seamen's Orphanage 
 and "Silence of Lancashire" 
 and appointment of Canon O'Reilly to vacant 
 
 bishopric 208, 209 
 and Mr. Caine's candidature for Liverpool 
 and Laurence Connelly's candidature 
 attacks Catholic Club... 
 controversy between Fathers Tobin and Bonte 
 
 " Catholic Vindicator " 
 
 Catholic Young Men's Society — 
 
 First branch at St. Mary's 124 
 
 " Silence of Lancashire 'demonstration ... ... ... 201 
 
 Cavanagh, Dr 151 
 
 Census, church attendance 34, 121, 122 
 
 Chaloner ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 45 
 
 11 
 79, 230 
 13 
 7 
 107 
 41 
 41 
 110 
 80 
 93 
 106 
 111, 126, 130 
 115 
 146 
 147, 148 
 
 187 
 209 
 213, 215, 216 
 ... 62 
 ... 42 
 41, 42, 44 
 57, 64, 63 
 ... HI 
 ... 112 
 ... 112 
 ... 112 
 ... 56 
 ... 93 
 ... 58 
 ... 42 
 ... 58 
 ... 183 
 ... 188 
 ... 192 
 ... 194 
 ... 200 
 ... 201 
 
 213 
 215 
 215 
 230 
 110
 
 255 
 
 Chaloner, E., and Institute of Great Britian 57, 61, 101 
 
 provides St. Oswald's schools 128 
 
 provides St. Vincent's schools 128 
 
 generous gift to Peter's Pence 143 
 
 death of 232 
 
 Chaloner, Peter, presents site for St. Austin's 56 
 
 Charles, builds school of St. Austin's 128 
 
 Chantries of Liverpool and Walton 2, 3, 4 
 
 Chapman 46 
 
 Canon, and Birkenhead election 148 
 
 and Garibaldi riots 154 
 
 Cholera. See under Statistics. 
 
 Chorley Street Chapel 13,14 
 
 Christian Brothers — 
 
 teach in Liverpool schools ... ... ... ... ... 70 
 
 found first evening schools ... ... ... ... ... 70 
 
 leave St. Mary's 106 
 
 leave Liverpool ... ... ... ... ... ... 192 
 
 invited to return by Bishop Whiteside 192 
 
 Christian Doctrine Society 109 
 
 Church attendance 34 
 
 collections for Royal Infirmary, 18th century 14, 26, 28 
 
 collectors 45, 46, 61, 123 
 
 Clarence Reformatory ship ... ... .■ -■. ... ... 156 
 
 Clarke, John, elected Select Vestryman 195 
 
 Clement, Pope ... ... ... ..- ■•• ... ... ... 15 
 
 Clifton 16, 17, 19, 20, 22 
 
 Collins, Father, O.S.B ... 29 
 
 Commins, Andrew, LL.D., counsel in Moreton will dispute ... 207 
 
 Irish candidate for Liverpool ... 211 
 
 elected Nationalist member for Vauxhall 217 
 
 Confirmations ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 32, 80 
 
 Connnught RanKcrs join procession to St. Patrick's ... ... 39 
 
 Connolly, Laurence, M.P., elected for Scotland Ward 215 
 
 Conservatives and Catholic education 51, 52, 59, (SI. 08. 69, 78 
 
 Convent Inspection agitation ... ... ... ... 113, 188, 189 
 
 Cookson. Provost 149, 190 
 
 Cooper, Father, O.S.B 81 
 
 Coopraan, Father. O.M.I 201 
 
 Coj)jjera3 Hill. Sec St. Nicholas'. 
 
 Corbaily, C. J., Treasurer Irish Famine Fund 85 
 
 Speech at Town's meeting against Oaths Bill ... 114 
 elected for Vauxhall Ward ... ... ... 134 
 
 defeated ... ... ... ... ... ••. 14() 
 
 elected to Burial Board ... ... ... ... 146 
 
 ap|)ointed magistrate ... ... ... 146, 182 
 
 clc ted to School Board 193 
 
 . Ic. tions of 1874 212 
 
 death 241 
 
 Coronation proccHsion, Queen Victoria ... ... ... ... 66 
 
 Corporation of Livcrjxiol. See Town Council. 
 
 Cotham. Father, S.J 161 
 
 CoHgrovc, Selwt VcHtryman ... ... ... ... ... ... 227 
 
 " Courier," Liverpool ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 44 
 
 dcfendH Select Vestry bigotry 78 
 
 attacks Bishop Gosa ... ... ... ... ... 206 
 
 Crilly, Alfred 213 
 
 Croft 46
 
 256 
 
 Crosby Street, St. Vincent's 
 
 CroBSO, John, founds charities of SS. John and Katherine 
 
 Rector. Rev., bequeaths Common Hall to Liverpool 
 
 Cullen, Cardinal, at St. Nicholas' 
 
 preaches at St. Patrick's ... 
 
 Hugh 
 
 Curtin 
 
 84 
 3 
 3 
 
 98 
 112 
 
 187, 212 
 ... 107 
 
 " Daily Post." See M. J. Whitty. 
 
 Dale, Father William, O.S.B 68, 70 
 
 death from fever ... ... 87 
 
 Daly, Midiael, fiist president Y.M.S. 125 
 
 Darby, Edward 126 
 
 Davey, Father, O.S.B., marches at head of St. Peter's children ... 122 
 Dawber, Father, seeks permission of Select Vestry to say Mass in 
 
 Workhouse 78 
 
 Day 45 
 
 Denbigh. Earl of 201 
 
 Dennett, Father ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 38 
 
 Denvir. John 130, 167, 201, 213, 218, 240, 243 
 
 " DisaiTection " of Liverpool Catholics 6 
 
 Di-sease. <See Statistics. 
 
 Doherty, Charles, Select Vestryman 214 
 
 Doon. Father Moses 
 
 Donnelly, Michael, Father 
 
 Dorrian, Bishop 
 
 Doughan, J. A., J.P 
 
 Dowling, Head Constable, dismissed Police Force 
 Doyle, b ather, fight for Catholic children in Workhouse schools. 
 See Select Vestry and James Whitty. 
 
 Dubberley, Father William, S.J. 
 
 Duckworth 
 
 Dugdale ... 
 
 Duggan, Father, marches with St. Joseph's children 
 
 Duncan, Dr. W. H., Medical Officer of Health, Reports 
 
 Dutertre, Father, O.M.L 
 
 Dwaryhouse 
 
 Earl of Sefton and St. Anthony's schools 
 Father Mathew ... 
 presents site Gillmoss school 
 
 Ecclesiastical Titles Bill 
 
 Eccleston ... 
 
 Edmund Street chapel. See St. Mary's. 
 
 Education — 
 
 Gerard Street school ... 
 Brougliam's Education Bill 
 St. Peter's schools 
 St. Nicholas' schools ... 
 Hibernian Schools 
 St. Francis Xavier's College 
 St. Austin's school 
 Graham's Education Bill 
 Ray Street schools 
 Faithful Companions ... 
 Father Nugent on value of 
 Nasmyth Stokes memorial 
 
 ■ • ■ 
 
 ... 203 
 
 • • • 
 
 ... 162 
 
 ... 
 
 102, 209 
 
 239,' 240, 
 
 242, 247 
 
 ... 
 
 ... 110 
 
 se flchooh 
 
 1. 
 
 
 ... 246 
 
 ... 
 
 ... 45 
 
 • • • 
 
 ... 45 
 
 ... 
 
 122, 139 
 
 84, 85, 88, 90 
 
 ... 
 
 ... 139 
 
 ... 
 
 ... 10 
 
 
 ... 69 
 
 ... 
 
 ... 115 
 
 ... 
 
 ... 60 
 
 ... 
 
 ... 97 
 
 ... 
 
 8 
 
 
 ... 32 
 
 ... 
 
 ... 33 
 
 ... 
 
 32,73 
 
 ... 
 
 ... 33 
 
 
 ... 33 
 
 
 ... 62 
 
 
 ... 73 
 
 ... 
 
 ... 74 
 
 ... 
 
 ... 75 
 
 
 ... 76 
 
 
 ... 90 
 
 ... 
 
 ... 93
 
 267 
 
 Education — 
 
 conference at Catholic Club ... ... ... ... ... 93 
 
 Haigh Street schools 100, 101, 102 
 
 Pt. Nicholas' new schools ... ... ... ... ... 102 
 
 Si. Hilda's 102 
 
 St. Helens 102 
 
 Inspectors' re))ort8 102, 103, 104, 135, 136, 137 
 
 Pupil Teachers 106 
 
 Privy Council grants ... ... ... ... ... ... 106 
 
 6S. Thomas and W illiam's 107 
 
 Holy Cioss 109 
 
 St. Anne 8 110 
 
 Catholic Institute HI, 112 
 
 schools procession ... ... ... ... ... ... 122 
 
 Jordan Street schools ... ... ... ... ... 128 
 
 Norfolk Street schools ... ... ... ... ... 129 
 
 Training College 130, 137 
 
 A\ iseman on ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 138 
 
 Forster's Education Bill 187 
 
 new schools 189. 191, 192 
 
 EleccioDB, Municipal ... 48. 53, 59, 68, 113. 119, 134, 156, 159. 160 
 
 163, 193, 199, 200, 214, 215, 216, 217, 240 
 
 Parliamentary, Defeat of Roscoe ... ... ... ... 36 
 
 Catholics defeat Orange candidate 1847 92 
 
 Catholics defeat Chas. Turner, 1857 ... 134 
 
 South Lincashirc, 1861 ... ... ... 147 
 
 Birkenhead Kloution ... ... ... 147 
 
 elections of 1874 213 
 
 election of 1885 244 
 
 School Board 200. 219. 140 
 
 Select Vestry, first el&'tJon j 77, 78, 79 
 
 Syrf'd rian.igan fight ... ... ... 120 
 
 James Fairhurst elected ... ... ... 119 
 
 Liberals triumph ... ... ... ... 131 
 
 Flanagan defeated ... ... ... 120 
 
 Prendivillc defeated ... ... ... 214 
 
 John Hligh rlefeatod 219 
 
 Ball V. ilartin 183 
 
 Toxtcth Guardians 229 
 
 Eltonhead 21 
 
 Emmett, Father, S.J., invites Boncdictincs to St. Mary's 18, 19. 20. 22 
 
 Errinj^ton, ArchLiahop 162, 191 
 
 Evening schoobi at St. Patrick's ... ... ... ... ... 70 
 
 Every. VV. 46 
 
 Exchange Division oloction, 1885 243 
 
 Ward election 199 
 
 Falter, Fiithcr, and rcli/ions ordors ... ... ... ... ... Ill 
 
 Fairclough, Father, O.S.Ii -H 
 
 Fairhurst, JamcB, oltHtcd Select Vestryman 119 
 
 clo< t<'d for St. Anne's Ward ... ... ... 100 
 
 de(cMt«;d in St. Anne's 163 
 
 (ill- l<vi for S'-olinnd Ward ... ... ... 103 
 
 rciiii'.s from Ojuncil ... ... ... ... 217 
 
 Faithful Companions, (rreat George Square : Evening schools at 
 
 St. Patrick's 76 
 
 Falknor Street orphanage, founrlntion of in Mount Pleasant ... 40 
 
 removed to Falknor Street ... ... 73
 
 258 
 
 Famine. 1847. See Statistics. 
 
 Fanning, Father, first chaplain Toxteth Workhouse ... ... 229 
 
 Farn worth ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 26 
 
 Fazackerley, priest ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 2 
 
 Fendler 46 
 
 Fenton, Rev. Mr., moves to expel Sisters of Mercy ... ... 132 
 
 Fever. <See Statistics. 
 
 Finney, James ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 61 
 
 Fisher, Father, O.S.B 41, 60, 68, 70 
 
 Monsignor, president St. Edward's 72,139 
 
 opens Beacon Lane Orphanage ... ... 151 
 
 and Fenian troubles ... ... ... ... 180 
 
 opens All Souls' 202 
 
 opens Walton school chapel ... ... ... 203 
 
 opens Claremont Grove chapel ... ... ... 203 
 
 Moreton will case ... ... ... 205, 206 
 
 opens Goss schools ... ... ... ... 220 
 
 Street " Martyrdom " 53 
 
 Fitzherbert ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 8 
 
 Fitzpatrick, Michael, president Y.M.S. 125 
 
 member of School Board ... ... 239 
 
 Flanagan 120 
 
 Fleetwood, Father, chaplain Brownlow Hill 141 
 
 Fleming, Bishop ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 66 
 
 Fontenoy Street schools. See Holy Cross. 
 
 Ford Cemetery, purchase of by Canon Newsham ... ... ... 142 
 
 opening by Bishop ... ... ... ... ... 143 
 
 Free and Independent Brothers ... ... ... ... ... 38 
 
 French prisoners in Tower, Water Street ... ... ... ... 30 
 
 Frodsham, Sir Richard, priest ... ... ... ... ... 4 
 
 Gandy 16 
 
 Gaol Statistics 89, 90, 94 
 
 Garston ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 6 
 
 Garton, P. de Lacy, elected for Scotland Ward 217 
 
 Gaunt, John of, founds chantry at St. Nicholas' ... ... ... 3 
 
 Gelybrand, Charles and Ellen, grant lands in Garston to St. Nicholas' 3 
 
 Gerard 42 
 
 Sir Robert 17, 18, 20, 21 
 
 Sir Robert 147, 187, 188 
 
 Mrs., lays first stone Rainhill chapel ... ... ... 55 
 
 Gerardot, Father Antoine 31, 41, 45 
 
 founder of St. Anthony s " French 
 
 Chapel " 
 
 Gerard Street school 32 
 
 Gibson,- Father Henry, and employment for children ... ... 156 
 
 chaplain Kirkdale Gaol ... ... ... 165 
 
 Kirkdale schools ... ... ... ... 165 
 
 founds first working boys' home ... ... 165 
 
 on religious teaching in Kirkdale schools... 173 
 
 Gibson, Bishop Mathew 15, 22, 32 
 
 Father, T. E. 7, 14 
 
 on Catholic population of Liverpool ... 234 
 Michael, presents spire St. Oswald's ... ... ... 71 
 
 Gilbert, Father, O.S.B., death from fever 87 
 
 Gillibrand, Father, S. J. 8 
 
 GillmoBs 19,24, 
 
 schools ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 60
 
 259 
 
 Gillow, Father Richard, St. Nicholas', death from fever 87 
 
 R 46 
 
 Thomas, provides school of SS. Thomas and William ... 107 
 
 98 
 
 Misses Mary and Isabella, lady visitors to Workhouse 134, 140 
 
 Glover, Father, O.S.B 43 
 
 dies from fever ... ... ... ... 63 
 
 S.J 33 
 
 Goethals, Dean ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 192 
 
 Cfood Shepherd nuns of. See Nuns. 
 
 Gore 34 
 
 Goss, Bishop, vice-president, St. Edward's ... ... ... ... 72 
 
 appointed coadjutor ... ... ... ... ... Ill 
 
 speech at Catholic Club ... ... ... ... Ill 
 
 at opening of Catholic Institute ... ... ... 112 
 
 speaks at Town's meeting for child rescue ... ... 116 
 
 inauguration of St. Vincent's ... ... ... 123 
 
 lays foundation stone of St. Vincent's ... ... 126 
 
 pays tribute to the Irish ... ... ... ... 126 
 
 opens St. Vincent's ... ... ... ... ... 127 
 
 and weekly collectors ... ... ... ... ... 127 
 
 opens Gordon Street schools ... ... ... ... 128 
 
 opens chapel. Our Lady Immaculate... ... ... 129 
 
 attacks Select Vestry ... ... ... ... ... 130 
 
 negotiations with (Select Vestry) re Catholic chaplain 134 
 
 asks electors to vote against Mr. Charles Turner ... 135 
 
 on Sunday recreation ... ... ... ... ... 135 
 
 opens Mount Vernon chapel ... ... ... ... 135 
 
 laid first stone St. James', Bootle ... ... ... 136 
 
 i)resides at inaugural meeting to found Holy Cross 139 
 
 aid foundation stone Holy Gross ... ... ... 139 
 
 Orange riots, Old Swan 139 
 
 opens Holy Cross ... ... ... ... ... 139 
 
 foundation stone. Our Lady's, Eldon Street ... 140 
 
 Easter Communion at Workhouse ... ... ... 141 
 
 blesses Stitions of the Cross, Ford Cemetery ... 142 
 
 consecrates Church Holy Sepulchre ... ... ... 142 
 
 visito Pope Pius Ninth with addresses and Peter's 
 
 Pence 143 
 
 Protestants in Spain ; challenges Sir Robert Peel ... 146 
 
 charged with interference elections of 1861 ... 147 
 Catholic foster parents for Poor Law children ; 
 
 gives statistics of leakage 150 
 
 gives statistics of school attendance ... ... 151 
 
 invit/»H Sisters of Good Shepherd ... ... ... 152 
 
 and training ship " Clarence " ... ... ... 156 
 
 on the daily j)rc.SH 157 158 
 
 replies to '• Daily Post " 159 
 
 writes to Select Vestry about death of Father Wilson 161 
 
 lays fonndati'in stone of St. Michael's ... ... 162 
 
 opens St. .Michaers 162 
 
 opens w^liodl chapel, .Mount Carmol ... ... ... 162 
 
 lays stfjne of St. .Mban's schools ... ... ... 162 
 
 appoints Father (Jibson chaplain, Kirkdale Gaol ... 165 
 
 attacks Reformatory B<;hool8 ... ... ... ... 175 
 
 opposes compulsory education ... ... ... 176 
 
 Tory pajxTs iitt.u^k and " Daily Post" defends ... 176 
 
 criticises St. Getjrgo's school ... ... ... ... 177
 
 260 
 
 Ooss. Bishop, and Toxteth Guardians ... ... ... ... 177 
 
 clergy men on public bodies ... ... ... 178 
 
 proposed Protestant Bishopric of Liverpool ... 178 
 
 controversy with the Rector of Liverpool ... ... 178 
 
 forbids Manchester Martyrs' procession ... ... 180 
 
 on Irish revolutionary parties ... ... ... 181 
 
 blesses bell at St. James' ... ... ... ... 181 
 
 opens Boys' Refuge. St. Anno Street ... ... 184 
 
 foundation stone, St. Vincent's new schools ... 185 
 
 criticises Irish habits ... ... ... ... ... 185 
 
 Forster's Ed\ication Bill 187 
 
 Pastoral letter on school accommodation ... ... 189 
 
 presides at Theatre Royal ... ... ... ... 191 
 
 urges Select Vestry to appoint chaplain ... ... 194 
 
 writes farewell letter to Father G. Porter, S.J. ... 197 
 
 creates parish of St. Bridget ... ... ... ... 197 
 
 on attitude of Press to religion ... 197 
 
 " Reproof of the Irish " 198 
 
 on teetotalisra ... ... ... ... ... ... 198 
 
 attack on School Board ... ... ... ... 198 
 
 defends Holy Cross parishioners ... ... ... 200 
 
 supports Tory candidate for School Board ... ... 200 
 
 on Catholic progress ... ... ... ... 203, 204 
 
 death of 206 
 
 Manning's panegyric ... ... ... ... ... 205 
 
 Moreton will case ... ... ... ... ... 205 
 
 " Courier's " attack on 206 
 
 memorial window ... ... ... ... ... 220 
 
 memorial schools ... ... ... ... ... 220 
 
 Gradwell, Joseph 226 
 
 Grandidier, Father 139 
 
 Grant, Bishop Ill 
 
 Father, S.J 100 
 
 appears before West Derby Guardians ... 132 
 
 Grayston, Father, St. Patrick's, death from fever ... ... ... 87 
 
 Green, Mass celebrated secietly at Green's Hotel, Dale Street ... 12 
 Green's description of second chapel in Edmund Street ... 12,13 
 
 Greenhough, Father, O.S.B 110 
 
 Gregson, Father, O.S.B. 18, 19, 24 
 
 Griffiths, Bishop... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 65 
 
 Guy, Father, O.S.B. 
 
 162, 177, 184 
 
 Haggar, Father, St. Patrick's, death from fever ... ... ... 87 
 
 Hales, Bishop ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 3 
 
 Halghton, Cecilia, bequeaths lands in Wavertree and West Derby 3 
 
 HaU 45 
 
 Father 227 
 
 Hardesty, Father, S.J 9 
 
 Harford, Austin, Councillor, J.P 226 
 
 Harper, S. B. See " Northern Press." 
 
 Harrington, Mayor warned against ... ... ... ... ... 6 
 
 suffer from Penal Laws ... ... ... ... ... 7 
 
 Harris, Raymond, Father, S.J., defends slave trade ... ... 14 
 
 Town Council thanks and votes 
 
 annual honorarium 15 
 
 differences at St. Mary's 16, 17 
 
 suspended by Vicar Apostolic ... 20 
 
 Harvey, C. 203
 
 261 
 
 Ha8ka)Tie ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 45 
 
 Havers, Father, S.J 13 
 
 Hayes, Father James, S.J., Enslish assistant at Rome ... ... 226 
 
 Gilbert .^ 236 
 
 Health of Town's Association ... ... ... ... ... ... 82 
 
 Henry, Duke of Lancaster, founds chantry at St. Mary's of the Quay 3 
 
 grants lands to St. Nicholas' ... ... 4 
 
 Hibernian Mechanical Society ... ... ... ... ... ... 38 
 
 Schools, Pleasant Street 32,33,45,94 
 
 Society 38 
 
 Hogan, Father Thomas, All Soula' 203 
 
 Hoghton 42 
 
 Hoigrave ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 45 
 
 Holland 7 
 
 Holme 61 
 
 H J 226 
 
 Holt, George, and Catholic Bchools ... ... ... ... ... 94 
 
 Holy Cross church ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 9 
 
 beginning of mission, Standish Street shippon... 94 
 
 S. H. Moreton provides a temporary chapel ... 94 
 
 Oblate Fathers take charge ... ... ... 107 
 
 Father Noble provides schools ... 107, 108 
 
 Hodson Street Ragged School 108 
 
 population of ... ... ... ... ... 108 
 
 Christian Doctrine and Temperance Societies in 109 
 
 Rev. Dr. Cahill's sermon, panic in chapel ... 109 
 
 B)lice brutality ... ... ... ... ... 109 
 
 ead Constable dismiesed ... ... ... 110 
 
 attendance at Maes ... ... ... ... 122 
 
 school children in procession ... ... ... 122 
 
 school attendance ... ... ... ... 190 
 
 and Papal Zouave ... ... ... ... 201 
 
 Hore 61. 91, 98 
 
 Howard. Lord, of Glossop 191 
 
 Howarth, Sir Ralph, prient ... ... ... ... ... ... 4 
 
 Hughea, JamcH, Select Vestryman, religious teaching, Kirkdalo 
 
 schools 1 17 
 
 Sunday Mass in Workhouse ... ... ... 119 
 
 Hume, Canon, Census of Vauxhall Ward 89 
 
 Ignatius, Father, C.P., attickod by Liverpool Orangemen ... 97 
 
 Inco Hiundull new uchools opened ... ... ... ... ... 7fi 
 
 Industrious UnivfjrHil Society ... ... ... ... ... ... 38 
 
 Notre iJaino. See Nuns of Notre Dame. 
 
 Institute of St. Klizabcth. Soho Street 124 
 
 Irish Catholics v. English Catholics : political differences in 1841... 07 
 
 1801... 147 
 
 Irish Catholic Club ; R. Shell, president 115 
 
 Irish Immigration 27, 28. 30, 31, 35, 36, 37, 
 
 47.63.83,84.85. 117, 150 
 
 Militia arrive in Liverpool ... ... ... ... ... 30 
 
 Poverty 37,38,40,47,03,82 
 
 Politics — 
 
 0'(>3nnoll and Liverp<x>l Rcpcalora 65, 66 
 
 '48 movement ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 92 
 
 Father O'Koilly denounces secret societies ... ... 92 
 
 Manchester Martyrs 179, 180 
 
 Home Rule movement ... ... ... ... ... 210
 
 262 
 
 Politics — 
 
 Caine-Torr election 
 general election, 1874... 
 oust Catholic Liberals from Council 
 Home Rulers and School Board elections 
 opposition to John Yates 
 Parnell's candidature 
 Italian Revolution, Liverpool Catholics and 
 
 211 
 
 211 
 
 215, 216, 217 
 219, 240 
 
 240 
 
 243. 244 
 
 92, 143, 144, 145, 
 
 146, 152, 154 
 
 James the Second and Liverpool Catholics 
 
 Jesuits, serving in Liverpool ... 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 
 
 Father Kirby's MSS 
 
 build St. Mary's, Lumber Street 
 
 rioters destroy ditto ... 
 
 celebrate Mass in Dale Street 
 
 erect new chapel, Edmund Street 
 
 rioters destroy second chapel 
 
 Moor Street chapel 
 
 Chorley Street chapel ... 
 
 suppression of the 
 
 hand St. Mary's to Benedictines 
 
 quarrels at St. Mary's ... ... 15, 16, 
 
 Father Emmett writes to Benedictine provincial 
 
 negotiations with St. Nicholas' committee ... 
 
 St. Francis Xavier's Society .. 
 
 dilBculties with Bishop Brown 
 
 O'Connell eulogises 
 Johnson, Father, S.J. ... 
 Jolivet, Father, O.M.I. ... 
 Jump 
 
 Kaye, John 
 
 Allan 
 
 Kearney 
 
 KeUy 44 
 
 Dean, Rev 203 
 
 P. C, C.C 226 
 
 Thomas, Father, St. Alban's 95 
 
 Crimean procession ... ... 122 
 
 D.D 87 
 
 Kennedy, Father, O.S.B 24 
 
 Kenrick, Archbishop ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 191 
 
 Father 122 
 
 Kirby, Edmund 223, 227 
 
 " Rose and Crown " 61 
 
 Father, S.J., agreement with parishioners of St. Mary's ...9, 10 
 
 Kirk, Dr. 151 
 
 Kirkdale Schools. See Select Vestry, James Whitty, and Father 8 
 Gibson. 
 
 Kirwan, Father 38 
 
 Knight, Sir Arnold, M.D., presides at founding of Catholic Club... 80 
 
 founds Health of Towns Association ... 82 
 and election tactics, 1847 ... 91, 98 
 
 Lace Street, Holy Cross parish 84, 85 
 
 Lancaster Assizes, action against Father MacDonald, O.S.B. ... 24 
 Lancaster ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 6 
 
 11, 13, 15. 16 
 9, 10 
 9 
 11 
 12 
 12 
 13 
 13 
 13 
 14 
 
 14, 17. 18, 19 
 
 17, 19, 20, 21 
 
 ... 19 
 
 33,34 
 
 61 
 
 62 
 
 72 
 
 61 
 
 139 
 
 61 
 
 15, 21, 34, 42, 45 
 32, 45, 108 
 44,98
 
 263 
 
 ... 149 
 5 
 
 ... 42 
 
 ... 140 
 
 15, 21 
 
 ... 79 
 
 7 
 
 ... 127 
 
 ... 189 
 
 34, 42, 45 
 
 ... 34 
 
 ... 46 
 
 184 
 
 36 
 
 48 
 
 50 
 
 50, 51, 59, 67, 68 
 52 
 
 161. 
 
 Langdale, Hon. Chaa. ... 
 
 Latham 
 
 I.athom 
 
 LaveUe, Dr., Rev. 
 
 Lawrence ... 
 
 Lay Committees, abolition of ... 
 
 Leadbetter 
 
 Leahy, Bishop 
 
 Leemincr, E. 
 
 Leigh, H. F., founder of St. Nicholas' schools 
 
 John, negotiations with Jesuits 
 Leonard, Peter ... 
 Lenoir, Father Hilary, O.M.I. ... 
 
 Liberal Party and Catholic Emancipation ... 
 win Town Hall ... 
 
 grant Town Hall for Catholic Charity Ball... 
 and Catholic education 
 Seel Street lease ... 
 Fi.sher Street " martyrdom " ... ... ... 53 
 
 appoint Catholic High SherUTa ... ... ... 55 
 
 Lilieral defeats ... ... ... ... ... 60, 68 
 
 and Irish unreformed corporations ... ... ... 60 
 
 Select Vestry bigotry 78, 79 
 
 Lightbound, Select Vestryman... ... ... ... ... ... 61 
 
 Liscard chapel. See St. Alban's, Liscard. 
 
 Liscard schools. Government Inspector's eulogy ... ... ... 136 
 
 Little Sisters of the Poor. See Nuns. 
 
 Livingston ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 107 
 
 Lomax, Neale John, aids foundation of St. Augustine's ... ... 95 
 
 waits on Select Vestry ... ... ... ... 149 
 
 difficulty in finding work for pauper children 156 
 controversy with Protestant chaplain, Kirk- 
 dale Gaol 173 
 defends nuns against Dr. Taylor ... ... 189 
 
 deput'ition to Poor Law Board ... ... 194 
 
 loads Holy Cross parishioners against J. J. Stitt 199 
 meets Papal Zouaves ... ... ... ... 201 
 
 contests School Board seat ... ... ... 214 
 
 Lumber Street chapel. Sec St. Mary's. 
 
 Lynch ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 44 
 
 Lythgoo, Father Kandal, S.J., letter to Father Glover as to St. 
 
 Nicholas' 33, 75 
 Francis, S. J., one of first masters at St. Francis' 
 
 College 63 
 
 MacAdam. F. J.. Select VoBtrvman 229 
 
 MacArdic, ChaH.. elected for Vauxhall Ward 218 
 
 MacCarthy, .John ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 41 
 
 ■ FiiHtin, M.P., candidate for P^xchango Division of 
 
 Liverpool 245 
 MacDonald. Fathc-r Archil.ald. O.H.B. 17, 19, 20, 21, 22, 24. 25, 26 
 
 Sec also St. Miiry'H and St. Pi-ter's. 
 
 MacHale, Archbishop, proachcH at St. Patrif^k'H ... ... ... 54 
 
 at St. Nii^hoias' 98 
 
 McArdle. John, councillor, Scotland Ward 189, 195. 219 
 
 McCnrron, Dr 91 
 
 McConvery, editor ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 110 
 
 McCormac, Father, first priest at St. Vincent's ... ... ... 73
 
 264 
 
 McEvoy, Father 83 
 
 McKenna. J.P., member of School Board ... ... ... ... 226 
 
 MoNeill, Hugh, campaign against Catholics ... 51, 52, 53, 58, 59, 
 
 78, 85, 114, 162 
 Mackworth, Sir Digby, defeated by Catholio voters ... ... 92 
 
 Madden, Denis ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 87 
 
 William, member of School Board 219,226 
 
 Maddocks, Canon 87 
 
 Magistrates, and Orange policemen ... ... ... ... 76, 77 
 
 Magrath, Father 139 
 
 Maguire, James ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ..'. " 28 
 
 John Francis, M.P 125, 188 
 
 Father Tom 53,64 
 
 T. P 226 
 
 Maher, Brother Joseph, St. Patrick's .. . ... ... ... ... 81 
 
 " Mail " attacks James Muspratt ... ... ... ... ... 55 
 
 and Registration Society ... ... ... ... ... 69 
 
 slanders priesthood ... ... ... ... ... ... 64 
 
 and Catholic progress ... ... ... ... ... 76 
 
 Manning, Cardinal, preaches at Requiem Mass for Bishop Goss . . . 204 
 consecrates Dr. O'Reilly ... ... ... 209 
 
 temperance address ... ... ... 213, 231 
 
 Mannock, Father, S.J. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 8 
 
 Mansell, Father, S.J 15 
 
 Mansfield, J. S., Stipendiary Magistrate, writes on child rescue to 
 
 Father Nugent 1 16 
 on Orange attack on Wiseman ... ... ... 139 
 
 Marriage statistics ... ... ... ... ... 56, 57, 161 
 
 Mixed 56, 57 
 
 Marsh ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 45 
 
 Marshall, T. W., School Reports 102 
 
 Dr., Rev 142 
 
 Mass, attendance at 34, 35, 121, 122, 205, 206 
 
 Martin, Thomas, Select Vestryman ... ... ... ... ... 165 
 
 Ball V. Martin election ... ... ... ... 181 
 
 and workhouse chaplain ... ... ... ... 193 
 
 Marybone ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 9, 37 
 
 Mason, Father, ex-Methodist ... ... ... ... ... ... 72 
 
 Mathew, Father Theobald, invited to Liverpool by St. Peter's 
 
 Abstinence Society 73 
 
 preaches at St. Anthony's and St. 
 
 Patrick's 74 
 
 guest of William Rathbone ... 74,115 
 
 visits Hibernian Schools ... ... 94 
 
 presented with addresses of welcome... 115 
 Meetings — 
 
 St. Mary's bench-holders 16, 20 
 
 Catholic Emancipation ... ... ... .•• ••• 41 
 
 Defence Society, 42, 52 
 
 school accommotlation ... ... ••• ••• 44, 70 
 
 Registration Society ... ... ... ••• ••• ••• 58 
 
 Church rate 60 
 
 St. Francis Xavier's ... ... ... ••• ••• ••• 61 
 
 Father Glover memorial ... ... -.• ••• ••• 63 
 
 Institute of Great Britain ... ... ... ••• ••• 64 
 
 O'Connell at Amphitheatre ... ... ... ••• ••• 72 
 
 Graham's Education Bill ... ... ... ... •■• 74 
 
 protest against O'Connell's arrest ... ... -•• 75
 
 265 
 
 Meetings — 
 
 Catholic Club 80 
 
 Health of Towns 82 
 
 against PMucation grants ... ... ... ... ... 91 
 
 general election. 1847 91,92 
 
 meeting in St. Mary's to found St. Augustine's ... ... 95 
 
 against Ecclesiastical Titles Bill ... ... ... ... 97 
 
 to promote local Catholic paper ... ... ... ... 110 
 
 to promote St. Vincent's ... ... ... ... — 123 
 
 to promote Holy Cross ... ... ... ... ... 139 
 
 to promote training ship ... ... ... ... ... 156 
 
 A. M. Sullivan 163, 201 
 
 Father Nugent's rescue work meetings ... ... 166, 174 
 
 Education Bill demonstrations, 187, 188, 191 
 
 Con%-ent Inspection meeting ... ... ... ... 188 
 
 to build new schools ... ... ... ... ... ... 192 
 
 Young Men's Society demonstration ... ... ... 201 
 
 " Mercury," Liverpool, and Catholic education 52 
 
 attacks Select Vestry ... ... ... 78 
 
 urges Catholics " to fight " 91 
 
 attiirCks Pius the Ninth ... ... ... 146 
 
 and clerical interference in elections ... 147 
 and " home rulers " ... ... ... 217 
 
 Merritt 34 
 
 Mixed marriages ... ... ... ... ... ... 66, 57 
 
 Molyneu.x 2,7,10,24,27 
 
 rectors of Walton ... ... ... ... ... ... 2 
 
 Monks Ferry ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 4 
 
 Morgan. J., Rev 237 
 
 Moor Street chapel ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 13 
 
 Moore, Count, M.P 125, 240 
 
 Moretfin, Samuel Holland, St. Francis Xavier's Society ... ... 61 
 
 provides temporary chapel, Standish 
 
 Street 94, 108 
 law suit over his will ... 205. 206, 207 
 
 Morris. Bishop 75, 81, 96 
 
 Morrow's Ma-ss, ordered by Corporation ... ... ... ... 4 
 
 MoBtyn, Sir E 42 
 
 Mount Pleasant. Sec Nuns of Notre Dame. 
 
 Mount Vernon. See. Sisters of Mercy. 
 
 Mowbray ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 2 
 
 Murii<;ipiil Elections. Htc Elections, municip:ii. 
 
 Murdoch, BiHhop... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... B.'i 
 
 Murphy, Bishop, first rector of St. Patrick's 39,81 
 
 Father B 31 
 
 Dr yf) 
 
 .MiiH[)ratt, James ... ... ... ... .. ... ... 55 
 
 Myrcfl ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 45 
 
 Nationalists attack A M. Sullivan, M.P 163 
 
 and Binhnp CoRH and IH74 olootionn 211,212 
 
 opp..Ho C.aholi'^ Lili.-ralH ... 215, 216. 217. 210 
 
 intcrforo in School Moard elontions ... ... 221, 210 
 
 and Katlier Nugent 196, 215, 218 
 
 Nethf-rton 24 
 
 Newm.in, Cardinal, Iftoturcs at ('.itholio Inatituto 112 
 
 Nowsham, Canon Tlioma.M, appointed U) St. Anthony's ... ... 80 
 
 and N(.rth Shore Mill Co. 80
 
 ?.66 
 
 Newsham. Canon Thomas, opens Standiah Street Mission 94 
 
 founds St. Alban's 95 
 
 Privy Clouncil fompliments ... ... 102 
 
 founds St. Hilda and St. Helen's schools 102 
 
 Education Inspector eulogises ... ... 103 
 
 marches with St. Anthony's children ... 122 
 
 purchases burial grounds. Ford .. . ... 142 
 
 retires from St. Anthony's 140 
 
 Nightingale. Father 87 
 
 Noble, Father, O.M.I., provides now schools in Fontenoy Street... 107 
 
 attacks Hodson Street proselytisers ... 108 
 
 organizes Temperance Society ... ... 109 
 
 novel method of teaching the uninstructed 109 
 
 chairman, Falkner Street Orphanage ... 110 
 
 helps to found a Catholic newspaper ... 110 
 marches at head of his parishioners to 
 
 Sessions House 114 
 Crimean procession, marches with Holy 
 
 Cross children 122 
 
 begins new church of Holy Cross 139 
 
 Norfolk, Duke of 191 
 
 Street chapel. See St. Vincent's. 
 
 Norris 7 
 
 North Corporation schools 50, 57, 60, 67, 69 
 
 "Northern Press," edited by Mr. S. B. Harper, con- 144, 146, 152, 
 
 troversies with " Daily Post " 153, 154, 155 
 
 Nugent, John, Rev., founds new mission in Rice Lane ... ... 203 
 
 completes church of Blessed Sacrament ... 220 
 Nugent, Father James (Monsignor) — 
 
 preaches on behalf Irish Famine Fund 86 
 
 on value of education ... ... ... ... ... 90 
 
 preaches at opening of Standish Street chapel ... ... 94 
 
 suggests coming of Nuns of Notre Dame ... ... 95, 104 
 
 speaks at laying foundation stone, Fontenoj Street schools 108 
 
 opening of schoob ... ... ... ... ... ... 109 
 
 speaks at Holy Cross Temperance Society ... ... 109 
 
 founds Catholic Middle School, Rodney Street ... ... Ill 
 
 organizes course of lectures ... ... ... Ill, 112 
 
 founds Catholic Institute, Hope Street Ill, 112 
 
 commences rescue work ... ... ... ... ... 116 
 
 suggests invitation to Redemptorists ... ... ... 123 
 
 and Young Men's Societies ... ... ... ... ... 125 
 
 a chaplain at Brownlow Hill ... ... ... ... 134 
 
 selects lady visitors for workhouse ... ... ... 134, 141 
 
 visits " Akbar " 138 
 
 success at Brownlow Hill ... ... ... ... ... 141 
 
 and Catholic population in 1861 ... ... ... ... 150 
 
 states number of street arabs in Liverpool ... ... 151 
 
 and Good Shepherd Nuns ... ... ... ... ... 152 
 
 appointed Gaol Chaplain ... ... ... ... ... 157 
 
 child rescue work ... ... ... ... ... ... 166 
 
 opens refuge in Spitalfields ... ... ... ... ... 166 
 
 opens refuge in Soho Street ... ... ... ... 166 
 
 founds " As.sociation of Providence " ... ... ... 166 
 
 and Irish faults 167 
 
 secretary, " Clarence " committee ... ... ... ... 168 
 
 first annual report to justices ... ... ... ... 168 
 
 statistics of Catholic prisoners 169, 170, 172
 
 267 
 
 Nugent, Father James (Monsignor) — 
 
 on value of education ... ... ... ... ... 168 
 
 on casual labour ... ... ... ... ... ... 169 
 
 occupations of prisoners ... ... ... ... ... 169 
 
 prison statistics of nationality ... ... ... 171, 172 
 
 on domestic training ... ... ... ... ... ... 171 
 
 condemns street trading ... ... ... ... ... 174 
 
 secures support from Mayor and leading citizens... 174, 175 
 
 and St. George's school ... ... ... ... ... 175 
 
 publicly advocates compulsory education ... ... ... 177 
 
 establishes Boys' Refuge, St. Anne Street ... ... 183 
 
 attacked by " Daily Post " and " Albion " 183 
 
 purchases " Northern Press " ... ... ... ... 183 
 
 organises opposition to Forster's Education Bill, 1870... 187, 188 
 
 and Father George Porter, S.J 189 
 
 Catholic population in 1870 191 
 
 stirs tip middle classes ... ... ... ... ... 192 
 
 advocates boarding out workhouse children ... ... 194 
 
 first visit of enquiry to America ; takes out party of 
 
 children 195 
 
 S resented with his portrait ... ... ... ... ... 195 
 
 ationalist criticism of ... ... ... ... ... 196 
 
 invited to discuss emigration by Select Vestry ... ... 196 
 
 Save the Boy meetings in various towns ... ... ... 196 
 
 and the " Silence of Lancashire " ... ... ... ... 201 
 
 tempt-ranco crusade ... ... ... ... ■■- 202, 231 
 
 on Canon O'Reilly's appointment as Bi-shop ... ... 208 
 
 advocates Catholic candidate for Liverpool ... ... 213 
 
 and Mr. W. S. Caine 213 
 
 supports Laurence Connolly's candidature for Scotland 
 
 Ward 215 
 
 supports Charles MacArdle for Vauxhall ... ... ... 216 
 
 critic ism of Home Rule Association ... ... ••. 218 
 
 opens the League Hall ... ... ... ... ... 232 
 
 Catholic population statistics ... ... •• ••• 235 
 
 Huggeatfl rebuilding of St. Mary's in Softon Park district 247 
 Nuns — 
 
 Faithful Companions, open boarding school. Groat 
 
 George Sciuaro 76 
 
 at St. Patrick's, open evening school ... ... ... 76 
 
 Good Shepherd — 
 
 Nothorfiold Road, attacks by Orangemen ... ... 152 
 
 Mason Street ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 152 
 
 Ford 152 
 
 Miss RoBson's g«»noro8ity ... ... ... ... ... 162 
 
 Father Nugent and ... ... ... ... ... ... 162 
 
 InHtitut^i of Notre Dame- - 
 
 nuns arrive in Liverpool ... ... ... ... ... 104 
 
 take charge of St. Nicholas Schools ... ... ... 104 
 
 fJovernmont roport« on ... ... ... ... 103. 105 
 
 ^)e^?in High ScIkkjI ... ... ... ... ... ... 105 
 
 takn fhartfo of Faikner Street orphanage ... ... ... 105 
 
 first pupil teachers' centre ... ... ... ... ... 106 
 
 (^lovernnii)nt report on value of Notre Dame m«^thod» I3r) 
 
 Training f'ollngo <'ommonco<i ... ... ... ... 136 
 
 Queen's SchoinrHhip buccohsoh ... ... ... !.'{7, 221 
 
 Sir James Kay Shuttloworth v sits Mount Pleasant ... 137 
 
 Inapoctor's report on Practising School ... ... ... 137
 
 2G8 
 
 Institute of Notrp Damo — 
 
 Robert Lowe's oppressive policy ... ... ... ... 222 
 
 Sister Mary Theresa 222 
 
 now High School buildings ... ... ... ... ... 223 
 
 Sister Mary of St. Philip 223 
 
 Institute of St. Elizabeth, Soho Street 124 
 
 Little Sisters of the Poor, Hope Street, Belmont Road ... 223 
 
 Sisters of Charity, open School for Blind ... ... ... 73 
 
 open Beacon Lane orphanage ... ... ... ... 152 
 
 May Place 223 
 
 Sisters of Mercy, Rev. Dr. Youens brings them to 
 
 Liverpool 72 
 
 Mount Vernon Convent completed ... ... ... ... 72 
 
 take charge of St. Francis Xavier's schools ... ... 100 
 
 at Falkner Street orphanage ... ... ... ... 105 
 
 West Derby Guardians and ... ... ... ... ... 132 
 
 Oblates of Mary Immaculate. See Holy Cross. 
 
 O'Brien, Dean, founds Young Men's Society, first branch at 
 
 St. Mary's 124 
 
 lectures at Philharmonic Hall ... ... ... 146 
 
 O'Brien, Father, S.J 13 
 
 O'Callaghan, Father, O.S.B., Crimean procession ... ... ... 122 
 
 funeral procession ... ... ••• 142 
 
 O'Carroll, Father, S.J 100, 101 
 
 O'Connell, Bishop 81 
 
 O'Connell, Daniel, addresses Liverpool meeting ... ... ... 54 
 
 guest of Wm. Rathbone ... ... ... ••• 54 
 
 and Liverpool Repealers ... ... ... ... 66 
 
 speech in aid of building fund of St. Francis 
 
 Xavier's 72 
 
 guest of E. Chaloner ... ... ... ... 72 
 
 visits St. Edward's and Mount Vernon Convent 72 
 
 lying in state on "Duchess of Kent," Liverpool 88 
 
 O'Connor, 28 
 
 Don, M.P. 88 
 
 T. P., MP. 245 246 
 
 O'Donnell 46, 66 
 
 Father, first paid workhouse chaplain ... ... ... 221 
 
 O'Donovan, Canon P., appointed Rector of St. Bridget's 197 
 
 O'Hare, J. A 226 
 
 P. E., Councillor for Scotland Ward 226 
 
 O'Leary, Dr 151 
 
 O'Neill 61 
 
 O'Shea, Captain, M.P 245, 246 
 
 O'Toole, Canon 35 
 
 Old Swan. See St. Oswald's. 
 
 Orange attacks on Catholics ... ... ... ... ••• 36, 43, 45 
 
 attack on St. Patrick's ... ... ... ... ••• 67 
 
 policemen ... ... ... ... ... ... 76, 77 
 
 attempt to pull down St. Patrick's statue ... ••• ••■ 92 
 
 attack on Father Ignatius ... ... .•• .•• •■• 97 
 
 attack on Wiseman ... ... ... ■•• ••. ••• 138 
 
 attack on Good Shepherd nuns ... ... -•. ••• 152 
 
 O'Reilly, Bishop, stricken with fever at St. Patrick's 87 
 
 denounces secret societies ... ... ••• ••• 92 
 
 repels Orange attacks on St. Patrick's 92 
 
 appointed rector of St. Vincent's ... ••• 122
 
 209 
 
 O'Reilly, Bishop, begins new church 
 
 leads St. Vincent's children in procession 
 
 laj's foundation stone, St. Vincent's 
 
 opening of St. Vincent's ... 
 
 affection for his collectors 
 
 intimate knowledge of his parishioners ... 127, 
 
 Jordan Street schools 
 
 Norfolk Street schools 
 
 rebukes Nationalists 
 
 Fenian troubles 
 
 Forster's Education Bill ... 
 
 and Father Nugent's emigration schemes 
 
 Father Nugent and 208, 
 
 consecrated Bishop 
 
 pohtical views 
 
 School Board election 
 
 founds Goss Memorial Schools 
 
 opens St. Joseph's new church ... 
 
 Mount Carmel now church 
 
 Blessed Sacrament, Walton 
 
 Our Lady of Perpetual Succour ... 
 
 beginning of St. Alphonsus' 
 
 introduces Little Sisters of the Poor 
 
 and Industrial Schools 
 
 proposes to take charge of pauper children 228, 
 
 attacks Toxtoth Liberals ... 
 
 institutes religious examination ... 
 
 on temperance 
 
 founds Upholland Seminary 
 
 opens school chapel. Hale Road ... 
 
 eives Walton's Catholic population 
 t. Francis', Garston 
 
 opens St. Mary's, Highfield Street 
 
 new church of St. James, Bootle... 
 
 Our Lady's, Wavertiee 
 
 Sacred Heart 
 
 St. John's now church 
 
 St. Sylvester's new church 
 
 presentation to .lohn Yates 
 
 jjaHloral letter, general election of 1885 
 
 founds All Saints', St. Clare, St. Charles 
 
 protection of Catholic children ... 
 
 visits trading boys' homo 
 
 death of 
 
 Sir Ivlward IIussoH'b appreciation of ... 249, 
 
 Bishop Hedloy's panegyric 
 Orrell, Charlnn 
 Our Lady of Good Help, Wavertroe, temporary chapel ()j)ono<l by 
 
 Bisllnp (}()HH 
 
 Bishop O'P.nilly lays 
 foiuulatinn Htf)nc 
 Our Lady Iromaculato, St. Domingo Road, opened hy Bishop Goss 
 
 school funds 
 Our Lady of Mount Carmel, school chapel 
 
 school attendanno 
 now church opened 
 Our Lady of Keconciliation, Eldon Street, mission founded 
 
 123 
 122 
 
 126 
 127 
 127 
 128 
 128 
 129 
 163 
 180 
 187 
 195 
 209 
 209 
 210 
 219 
 220 
 220 
 220 
 220 
 221 
 221 
 223 
 225 
 248 
 229 
 230 
 •231 
 236 
 237 
 237 
 238 
 238 
 239 
 239 
 239 
 239 
 239 
 241 
 242 
 247 
 247 
 248 
 249 
 250 
 250 
 42 
 
 239 
 
 239 
 129 
 192 
 l()2 
 190 
 220 
 123
 
 270 
 
 Our Lady of Reconciliation, Eldon Street, foundation stone and 
 
 opening new church 140 
 
 Our Lady and St. Nicholas' 1,2,3,4.8 
 
 Our Lady of Perpetual Succour 
 
 JIary's 
 
 157, 159, 175, 177, 
 
 180, 
 242, 
 
 " Papal aggression " 
 Papal Zouaves ... 
 Parker, Father ... 
 
 and Jesuits 
 
 Repealers 
 Blundell Street chapel 
 death from fever 
 Parnell, Charles Stewart, M.P. 
 Parsons, Dr. 
 
 Pastoral letters. Bishop Gibson and St. 
 Bishop Brown 
 Bishop Goss ... 
 Bishop O'Reilly 
 Penal laws 
 
 Pennington, Father, O.S.B. 
 Penswick, Thomas, Bishop, first rector of St. Nicholas 
 
 attends procession to St. Patrick's .. 
 founder of St. Patrick's 
 sings High Mass at opening 
 supports Catholic Emancipation Bill . . 
 project for new schools at St. Nicholas' 
 sings High Mass at opening of St. 
 
 Anthony's 
 appointed coadjutor 
 Vicar Apostolic ... 
 death of ... 
 
 buried at Windleshaw Abbey 
 memorial in Pro-Cathedral 
 
 Peter's Pence 
 
 Petition for removal of Jesuit disabilities 
 of clergy to Town Council 
 against Graham's Education Bill 
 for O'Cormell's release 
 Petre, Honourable Mrs. (Sister Mary Francis) 
 Pinnington, Father, S.J. 
 
 Canon 
 Pippard ... 
 Polding, Archbishop, O.S.B. 
 
 preaches at Woolton 
 departs for Australia 
 at St. Anne's ... 
 
 Polding 
 
 Poor Schools Committee 
 
 Pope, Father, O.S.B 
 
 Porter, George, Father, S.J. 
 
 Powell, Father Austin, on Catholic population 
 
 E 
 
 Daniel 
 Power, Father Pierse 
 
 at St. Anthony's 
 attacks Select Vestry 
 
 St. John's 
 
 Prendiville, John, and Exchange W'ard election 
 and Papal Zouaves 
 
 189 
 
 193, 196, 
 
 113, 162, 
 
 91, 
 
 221 
 
 97 
 
 201 
 
 60 
 
 62 
 
 66 
 
 73 
 
 86 
 
 245 
 
 160 
 
 22 
 
 79 
 
 189 
 
 248 
 
 6,7 
 
 29 
 
 34 
 
 38 
 
 39 
 
 40 
 
 41 
 
 44 
 
 47 
 
 55 
 
 55 
 
 55 
 
 55 
 
 55 
 
 143 
 
 44 
 
 68 
 
 74 
 
 77 
 
 105 
 
 11 
 
 247 
 
 II 
 
 54 
 
 54 
 
 81 
 
 61 
 
 93 
 
 29 
 
 197 
 
 234 
 
 196 
 
 113 
 
 139 
 
 140 
 
 140 
 
 221 
 
 199 
 
 201
 
 271 
 
 Prendiville, John, election of 1874 212 
 
 fights for seat on Select Vestry ... ... ... 214 
 
 Prenton ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 6 
 
 Prest 42 
 
 Price, Father, S.J 13, 14, 33 
 
 Prison Ministers Bill ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 157 
 
 Processions — 
 
 Queen Caroline ... ... ... ... ... ... 36 
 
 St. Patrick's Church 38 
 
 Day 77 
 
 St. Anthony's Church... ... ... ... ... ... 45 
 
 St. George's Hall opening ... ... ... ... ... 56 
 
 Crimean War Procession ... ... ... ... ... 122 
 
 to Ford Cemetery ... ... ... ... ... ... 144 
 
 funeral procession of Father O'Callaghan, O.S.B. ... 142 
 
 Manchester Martyrs ... ... ... ... ... 179 
 
 Pyke, Joseph 46 
 
 Quinn, Hugh, Toiteth School Board 240 
 
 Rainhill chapel founded... ... ... ... ... ... ... 55 
 
 opened ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 65 
 
 Rankin, Martin ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 214 
 
 Rathbono, William — 
 
 Hibernian Schools ... ... ... ... ... ... 33 
 
 Catholic Emancipation ... ... ... ... ... 41 
 
 Corporation schools ... ... ... ... ... ... 51 
 
 entertains O'Connell ... ... ... ... ... ... 54 
 
 defeated in Pitt Street Ward 59 
 
 defeated in North Toxteth 59 
 
 defeated in Great George Ward ... ... ... ... 68 
 
 entertains Father Mathew ... ... ... ... ... 74 
 
 High Mass at St. Patrick's 74 
 
 and Orange Policemen ... ... ... ... ... 76 
 
 denounces Irinh landlords ... ... ... ... ... 89 
 
 and Catholic electors ... ... ... ... ... ... 98 
 
 faces Orangemen in Sessions House ... ... ... 114 
 
 gift U) Hoys' Kofuge 183 
 
 BavcH Catholic interests ... ... ... ... ... 184 
 
 Rathbonc, VV illiam, M.P. for Ijivorpool and Carnarvon — 
 
 contribution to All Souls' 202 
 
 Livcrpo(jl elections 211, 212,r213 
 
 and paid chayilain for Liverpool Workhouse ... ... 227 
 
 Ray Stro<!t hoIiooIh. iS'«r St. Mary's. 
 
 Recorder rompIimontH priesta ... ... ... ... ... ... 113 
 
 Rcdemptorists ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 123 
 
 Reformatory movement ... ... ... ... ... ... 116 
 
 Religious cnnHiiH ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 121, 122 
 
 " KeligiouH lCiot.4 " 36,154 
 
 " Ufligious 'IVst^ " 36 
 
 Ropcalf^rH and Father I'arkcr ... ... ... ... ... ••• *'•> 
 
 Religious census, 1855 ... ... ... .. . . ... ... 121 
 
 Reports — 
 
 Gaol 89,90,94 
 
 Hoilth 84,86,88,90,164 
 
 Religious examinations . . ... ... ... ... 117 
 
 Schools 101, 102, 107, 135, 136, 137, 166, 184
 
 27-2 
 
 ... 42 
 
 187, 247 
 
 247 
 
 165 
 
 6 
 
 13 
 
 164 
 
 36 
 
 41 
 
 42, 45, 61 
 
 14, 36 
 
 45 
 
 48 
 
 49 
 
 49 
 
 140 
 
 134 
 
 161 
 
 21 
 
 11 
 
 16 
 
 Reynolds 
 
 Frank 
 
 James ... 
 
 J. P., Ctolonel 
 
 Rice 
 
 Rigby, Father, S.J 
 
 Riote, Birkenhead 
 Liverpool ... 
 Robinson, lather, O.S.B, 
 
 Rocklilf 
 
 Rodney Street school. See Catholic Institute. 
 Roscoe 
 
 Roskell, J. 
 
 elected for Lime Street Ward 
 loses his seat 
 Bishop ... 
 
 preaches at Holy Cross 
 Misses Annie and Eliza, lady visitors to Brownlow Hill 
 Rev. Dr., death from fever ... 
 Rosson, Andrew 
 John 
 
 and municipal reform ... 
 estimates Catholic population in 1832 
 and Catholic Institute of Great Britain 
 founds Catholic Registration Society 
 his scheme assisting Catholics to pay rates 
 estimates Catholic population in 1839 
 estimates number of Catholic voters 1839 
 Conservative hostility to 
 speech for reform of Irish corporations 
 organises meeting to promote St. Francis Xavier's 
 speech at St. Peter's, on ravages of disease in ranks 
 
 of the clergy 
 helps Rev. Dr. Youens to found Blind Asylum 
 satirises Irish "converted" priests ... 
 delivers address at St. Mary's foundation stone laying 
 and arrest of Mr. M. J. Whitty 
 aids foundation of Catholic newspaper 
 appointed by Spanish Government to visit Galway 
 Rosson, Miss 
 Rowe 
 
 Rowley, Sir Thomas, priest 
 Ruddin, Alderman James, J.P. 
 Rushton, Edward, stipendiary — 
 attends St. Patrick's ... 
 and Orange policemen 
 rejjort on Irish famine immigrants 
 and child rescue ... ... ... ... ... 115, 
 
 Russell, Lord, of Killowen 183, 207, 
 
 Sacred Heart, Hall Lane 
 
 Santley, Charles, Sir 
 
 Scarisbrick, Archbishop, O.S.B. 
 
 Scarisbricks 
 
 Scarisbrick, Chas., High Sheriff 
 
 School Board 
 
 and Bible teaching 
 
 and Catholic industrial schools 
 
 47 
 48 
 57 
 58 
 58 
 58 
 58 
 59 
 60 
 61 
 
 63 
 
 65 
 
 67 
 
 75 
 
 100 
 
 110 
 
 100 
 
 152 
 
 42 
 
 14 
 
 240 
 
 74 
 
 76 
 
 89 
 
 116 
 
 240 
 
 6, 7, 
 
 .. 239 
 
 .. 102 
 
 .. 238 
 27, 34 
 
 .. 55 
 
 .. 193 
 
 .. 198 
 
 .. 198
 
 273 
 
 199 
 
 224 
 
 224 
 
 49 
 
 53 
 
 59 
 
 119 
 
 163 
 
 193 
 
 215 
 
 217 
 
 217 
 
 192 
 
 School Board, Councillor Stitt and Douai Bible 
 Love Lane school tiasco 
 truants and day industrial schools 
 Scotland Ward, Election of Mr. R. Shell 
 
 defeat of xMr. Sheil 
 
 defeat of Thomas Gladstone 
 Mr Sheil re-elected ... 
 James Fairhurst elected 
 John McArdle elected 
 Laurence Connolly elected ... 
 Dr. A. M. Bligh elected 
 Patrick de Lacy Garton elected 
 Seed, Canon ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 162, 
 
 Seel Street Schools. <See St. Peter's. 
 
 Sefton, Earls of 24,69,115 
 
 Segar, George ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 188 
 
 elected to School Board 219 
 
 Select Vestry, First election ... ... ... ... ... ... 77 
 
 and Father Parker's accusations ... ... ... 78 
 
 and Father Dawber ... ... ... ... ... 78 
 
 Jermission for Mass in Workhouse ... ... ... 79 
 
 ohn Yates elected ... ... ... ... ... 79 
 
 and Irish famine of 1847 83, 84, 85, 86 
 
 statistics of Catholic inmates ... ... ... 117 
 
 unsatisfactory religious teaching in Kirkdale 117, 120 
 
 refuses luum in workhouse for Sunday Mass ... 119 
 
 SjTed-Flanagan contest ... ... ... ... 120 
 
 and Father Doyle 120, 121 
 
 proselytism in Kirkdale Schools, Bishop Goss' 
 
 charges 130 
 
 " chanting " of grace dispute ... ... ... 131 
 
 Scripture readers in workhouse ... ... ... 132 
 
 Mr. Cropper's enquiry ... ... ... ... ... 133 
 
 George Melly suggests lady visitors ... ... ... 134 
 
 Workhouse Committee and ^liss Gillow ... ... 141 
 
 Bishop Goss and Easter observance ... ... 141 
 
 Father Nugent, chaplain ... ... ... ... 142 
 
 Churchwarden Jones and Poor Law Schools ... 149 
 
 eniployors rofuso religious facilities to young people 149 
 
 payment of cha[)i.iin ... ... ... ... ... 150 
 
 attiuk(3<l liy Father Power ... ... ... ... 1-10 
 
 death of Father Wilson from fever ... ... ... 161 
 
 Bishop Gosh suggests chaplain to ... ... ... Kil 
 
 " D.iily Post " assailB 161 
 
 Father (Jibson ami Kirkdale children ... ... 165 
 
 Thomas Martin elected ... ... ... ... 165 
 
 "leakage" 166 
 
 Ne.ilo I/fimax on " criminalH " from workliouso ... 173 
 
 poor Law Inspctor's roiwrt on Kirkdale ... ... 173 
 
 Bishop GoHB attacks chnirmaa of ... ... ... 179 
 
 Ball-.Martin contest 181 
 
 Catholic teacher appointcnl ... ... ... ... IH5 
 
 Father Nugent fTiticisoH ... ... ... ... 194 
 
 teacher "roads" .Mass at Kirkdale ... ... ... 194 
 
 Father Nugent rompiiments Mr. Haggcr ... ... 194 
 
 John Clarke clentwl ... ... ... ... ... 195 
 
 Father Nugent interviews ... ... ... ... 196 
 
 Catholic chaplain at last ... ... ... ... 228
 
 274 
 
 17, 
 
 160, 
 
 Sowiill. Father. S.J 
 
 Sharpies. Bishop, appointed coadjutor 
 
 foundation St. Francis Xavier'e 
 confirmations 
 and Irish famine funds 
 opens St. Augustine's 
 Sharpies ... 
 
 Henry 
 
 Richard, elected for South Toxteth 
 secures Town Hall for Catholic Ball 
 Shepherd, Dr. 
 
 Sheridan, Father, O.S.B., and Christian Brothers 
 Shell, Richard, donation to St. Anthony's ... 
 elected for Scotland Ward, 1835 
 defeated in Scotland Ward ... 
 elected first Catholic alderman 
 speaks against uru-eformcd Irish corporations 
 Conservatives eject him from aldermanic seat 
 Catholic Club founded 1844, elected first president 
 presides at formation of Health of Towns Asso- 
 ciation 
 lays foundation stone Haigh Street schools 
 speaks at Town's meeting against Ecclesiastical 
 
 Titles Bill 
 speaks against selection of Liberal candidates, 
 
 elections of 1852 
 faces Protestant mob at Sessions House ... 
 presents address of Avelcome to Father Mathew 
 and Liberal candidate 
 re-elected for Scotland Ward, 1855 
 6peaks in support of new Holy Cross church 
 appointed justice of the peace 
 loses aldermanic seat by Mayor's casting vote 
 re-elected alderman, 1865 
 death of 
 sketch of 
 
 Shell Park perpetuates his memory 
 Simpson. K. 
 
 Sisters of Mercy. See under Nuns. 
 Sisters of Charity. See under Nuns. 
 
 Smith 
 
 Bishop, confirmations in 1813 ... 
 
 opens St. Nicholas' 
 
 death of ... ... ... ... — 
 
 Egerton, editor of " Mercury " 
 Digby, Selectvesti-yman... 
 
 Fred, Father 
 
 Philip, Vice-chairman, Select Vestry ... 
 Thomas, Father ... 
 South Corporation School 
 
 Sparrow, W. J., LL.D., elected to School Board 
 Sjjence, debate at Irish Sunday School meeting, criticises Pro- 
 testant Bishop of Dromore 
 Spencer, Rev. G.... 
 Stananought 
 
 " Standard " Liverpool, traduces the priesthood. Bishop Brown 
 
 demands apology 
 Standish Street chapel. iSee Holy Cross. 
 
 19, 22 
 74 
 76 
 80 
 85 
 96 
 45, 61 
 187, 232 
 49 
 
 50 
 151 
 106 
 46 
 49 
 53 
 63 
 00 
 68 
 80 
 
 82 
 100 
 
 97 
 
 97 
 114 
 115 
 
 98 
 114 
 139 
 146 
 156 
 163 
 201 
 201 
 202 
 112 
 
 ... 34 
 ... 32 
 ... 34 
 ... 55 
 
 42, 54 
 ... 227 
 ... 238 
 217, 227 
 237 
 50, 57. 60 
 ... 239 
 
 43 
 
 97 
 
 226 
 
 115
 
 275 
 
 Stiinley, Father, S.J 13 
 
 Thomas Massey, Sir ... ... ... ... ... ... 42 
 
 Starkey, Henrj-, first lay brother at St. Francis Xavier's ... ... 61 
 
 Statistics — 
 
 baptisms 28, 29, 35, 44, 48, 56, 93, 234, 235 
 
 church attendance 34, 35, 121, 122, 203. 204 
 
 confirmations ... ... ... ... ... ... 32, 80 
 
 crime 89, 90, 94, 167, 168, 169, 
 
 170, 171. 176. 182. 183 
 
 deaths 46, 82, 84, 85, 86. 
 
 87, 88, 89, 164, 194 
 
 disease 30, 46, 82, 84, 85, 
 
 86, 87, 88, 89, 164 
 famine collections ... ... ... ... ... 85, 86 
 
 gaol 89.90,94,116,167,168,169, 
 
 170, 171, 172. 173. 182 
 
 illiteracy 168, 172 
 
 immigration 27, 28, 30, 35, 36, 37, 47, 
 
 63, 83, 84, 85, 117, 150 
 
 -leakage" 150.230,236 
 
 marriages ... ... ... ... ... 56, 57, 162 
 
 population 27, 28. 35, 45, 48, 56, 57, 
 
 58,83,84, 117, 150. 151, 163. 
 191, 203, 204, 234. 237, 239, 
 
 poor relief 37, 47, 83, 84, 117, 141, 150 
 
 religious examinations ... ... ... ... 230, 231 
 
 schools 33, 44, 57, 63, 70, 76, 93, 101, 102, 107, 112. 
 
 117, 122, 135, 136, 137, 151, 184, 190, 191. 
 192, 222, 223, 225, 226, 230, 231, 236, 247 
 
 teachers 136, 137 
 
 voters 211, 213, 214, 215. 217, 
 
 218, 219, 235. 240, 244 
 Stokes, Nasmyth. secretary. Poor School Committee — 
 
 memori.il to Privy Council ... ... ... ... ... 93 
 
 rojwrt on .Mount Plivisant ... ... ... ... ... 137 
 
 Stretton, Bishop ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 6 
 
 St. Alban's, Liw^ard 45. 136 
 
 Athol Street, founded ... ... ... ... ... 95 
 
 att4!n<liin(e at Maws ... ... ... 122 
 
 mhoul children ... ... ... ... 122 
 
 new whcols 162, 192 
 
 wliool att45ndanco ... ... ... 1H(> 
 
 St. Alexander's, BiHhop fJotw blcwm^H bell at ... ... ... ISI 
 
 fundH for schools 192. 196 
 
 (li)tm memorial wind(jw ... ... ... ... 220 
 
 Onr Lady of Perpetual Succour ... ... ... 220 
 
 ext<-nHi(in of ... ... ... ... ... ... 238 
 
 St. AI|))i<>nHUH' nuHsion bogun ... ... ... ... ... ... 221 
 
 St. Anno's, chufh rommdii'cd . . ... ... ... ... 71 
 
 o|>en(Hl ... ... ... HO 
 
 conlirmationH ... ... ... ... ... ... 80 
 
 now HC^hcHllH ... ... ... ... ... ... 110 
 
 atUmdanr-o lit MaxH ... ... ... ... ... 122 
 
 Bishop ffdSH blcNMJs bolls... ... ... ... ... 135 
 
 whoof attflndan'o ... ... ... ... ... UK) 
 
 St. Anthony's, French rhiptil. I>rydcn Street 31 
 
 Father flcrardot at ... ... ... ... ... 31 
 
 description of ... ... ... ... ... ... 31
 
 276 
 
 St. Anthony's music at 32 
 
 Father Murphy preaches at ... ... ... ... 34 
 
 Society of St. Anthony 45, 46 
 
 Father Wilcock lays Hrst stone of new church ... 45 
 
 Bishop Penswick opens ... ... ... ... 47 
 
 record offertory at ... ... ... ... ... 47 
 
 baptisms at ... ... ... ... ... ... 48 
 
 Registration Society ... ... ... ... ... 58 
 
 Earl of Sefton's donation to... ... ... ... 69 
 
 Christian Brothers ... ... ... ... ... 70 
 
 Father Mathew visits 74 
 
 refuse Irish procession ... ... ... ... 77 
 
 retirement of Father Wilcock ... ... ... 80 
 
 appointment of Father Thomas Newsham ... 80 
 
 report on schools ... ... ... ... ... 102 
 
 attendance at Mass ... ... ... ... ... 121 
 
 school children's procession ... ... ... ... 122 
 
 school attendance ... ... ... ... ... 190 
 
 St. Augustine's, Great Howard Street- 
 meeting in St. Mary's to promote memorial church to 
 
 Benedictine Martyrs of Charity 95 
 
 purchase of warehouse in Chad wick Street ... ... 95 
 
 subscriptions ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 96 
 
 opening of ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 96 
 
 attendance at Mass ... ... ... ... ... ... 122 
 
 procession of children ... ... ... ... ... 122 
 
 St. Austin's, Grassendale, Bishop Briggs opens ... ... ... 55 
 
 presentation of Site by Mr. Peter Chaloner 56 
 
 conditions laid down by Vicar Apostolic 56 
 
 altar brought from Lisbon ... ... 56 
 
 opening of schools ... ... ... 73 
 
 gift of Charles Chaloner ... ... ... 128 
 
 St. Bridget's, mission commenced ... ... ... ... ... 197 
 
 schools opened ... ... ... ... ... ... 221 
 
 St. Charles' 247 
 
 St. Clare, Sefton Park 247 
 
 St. Edward's College, founded 72 
 
 visit of O'Connell 72 
 
 Confirmations 80, 129 
 
 St. Francis of Assisi, Garston, mission founded ... ... ... 238 
 
 of Sales, Walton, temporary chapel, school chapel ... 237 
 
 St. Francis Xavier's, Negotiations with trustees of St. Nicholas'... 33 
 
 formation of St. Francis Xavier's Society ... 61 
 
 meetings of the Society ... ... ... 61 
 
 weekly collectors ... ... ... ... 61 
 
 Father Joseph Johnson, S.J. ... ... ... 61 
 
 names of committeemen ... ... ... 61 
 
 public meeting in St. Peter's schools ... 01 
 
 first lay brother ... ... ... ... 61 
 
 purchase of site ... ... ... ... 62 
 
 opposition to ... ... ... ... ... 62 
 
 Father Parker and 62 
 
 beginning of college ... ... ... ... 62 
 
 Daniel O'Connell speaks in support of ... 72 
 
 Benedictines support ... ... ... ... 72 
 
 blessing of excavations ... ... ... 75 
 
 foundation stone ... ... ... ... 76 
 
 opening of ... ... ... ... ... 95
 
 277 
 
 St, Francis Xavier's, Vicar Apostolic of Madeira blesses new altar 
 
 and chancel 100 
 
 chancel screen and stone pulpit ... ... 100 
 
 first stone of Haigh Street schools ... ... 100 
 
 opening of schools ... ... ... ... 100 
 
 Sisters of Mercy take charge ... ... ... 100 
 
 letters of Father Grant, S.J 101 
 
 Mr. John Browne presents pedestals for gas 
 
 lightfi 101 
 
 Father Sumner, S.J 113 
 
 Orangemen attack ... ... ... ... 113 
 
 attendances at Mass ... ... ... ... 122 
 
 procession of school children ... ... ... 122 
 
 Father Grant, S.J., defends Sisters of Mercy 132 
 Government inspector praises Haigh Street 
 
 schoolmaster 136 
 
 pupil teachers from ... ... ... ... 137 
 
 Ragged School founded ... ... ... 151 
 
 dispensing for sick poor ... ... ... 151 
 
 Father Gotham, S.J., and fever wards ... 161 
 Father George Porter, S.J., speaks against 
 
 Education Bill 188 
 
 school attendance at ... ... ... ... 190 
 
 Father Porter defends the nuns ... ... 189 
 
 Father Porter's estimate of Catholic voters... 193 
 
 •• Catholic Times " and Jesuits ... ... 192 
 
 peal of bells hung, trouble with Islington 
 
 Presbyterians 196 
 
 Father Thomas Porter 197 
 
 new college of, opened... ... ... ... 225 
 
 brilliant success of students ... ... 225, 226 
 
 n.imcs of some distinguished students ... 226 
 
 Father Burke. O.P., opens infants' schools ... 247 
 
 St. fJeorge's Industrial Schools ... ... ... ... ... 185 
 
 St. Helen's school. Blackstock Street 102 
 
 school attendance ... ... 190 
 
 St. Hilda's school. Eldon Street 102, 103, 151 
 
 St. .Jamf-fl'. Bof.tio 238, 239 
 
 St. John's, Clanuuont Grove Chnpol 203 
 
 new whools ... ... . . ... ... 221 
 
 now church oiKJncd... ... ... . ... . . 239 
 
 St. Joseph's, GroBvenor Street — 
 
 Purch.uwi of All Saints' Protestant chunli 76 
 
 ProU-Htint protest ... ... ... ... ... ... 76 
 
 firHt collixrtion fur Irish faniino fund ... ... ... 83 
 
 Father \S hitak'ir dies from fever ... ... ... ... 87 
 
 atU'.ndanro at ,ManH ... ... .. ... .. ... 121 
 
 school children's proceesion ... ... ... ... ... 122 
 
 fatal panic at ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 198 
 
 GoHH Mnmorirtl schools ... ... ... ... ... 220 
 
 chur''h r.oUiipmiH, new church opened by Bishop (J'Koilly 220 
 
 St. Mary's, Foundation of ... ... ... ... ... ... 9 
 
 Father hirby's agroemont ... ... ... ... 11 
 
 Town (Vjiinril imd ... . . ... 11 
 
 PuIUmI down by rinters ... ... ... ... 11 
 
 dew'ription of now chapel ... . . ... 12, 13 
 
 destroyed sc^-ontl time ... ... ... ... ... 13 
 
 Father Price, S.J.. Icjivcs M
 
 278 
 
 St. Mary's, parishioners' quarrels 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 
 
 clerical disputes ... ... ... ... ... 16, 17 
 
 Jesuits invite Benedictines ... ... ... ... 18 
 
 Father MacDonald takes charge ... ... ... 19 
 
 Bishop Gibson's pastoral ... ... ... ... 22 
 
 Assize trial ... ... ... ... ... ... 24 
 
 baptisms 28, 48, 93 
 
 cleriry at ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 29 
 
 confirmations ... ... ... ... .., ... 32 
 
 schools ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 32 
 
 description of new chapel ... ... ... ... 37 
 
 Irish societies at ... ... ... ... ... ... 38 
 
 collection for Catholic orphanage 40 
 
 St. Mary's Society 75 
 
 Father Fisher, O.S.B., and his Irish flock 60 
 
 Irish Christian Brothers at ... ... ... 70, 75 
 
 protest meeting against Town Council's school policy 70 
 
 clergy petition churchwarden Birkett ... ... ... 70 
 
 Father Wilkinson castigates the churchwarden of 
 
 St. Nicholas', Chapel Street 71 
 
 Ray Street schools opened 75 
 
 foundation stone of St. Mary's ... ... ... ... 75 
 
 St. Mary's Society 76 
 
 opening of St. Mary's ... ... ... ... ... 75 
 
 confirmations ... ... ... ... ... ... 80 
 
 death of Fathers Dale and Gilbert from fever ... 87 
 
 death of Father Fisher 96 
 
 overcrov.'ded ... ... ... ... ... ... 94 
 
 meeting to promote memorial to Benedictine martyrs 
 
 of charity 95 
 
 Father Sheridan and Christian Brothers ... ... 107 
 
 attendance at Mass ... ... ... ... ... 121 
 
 school children's procession ... ... ... ... 122 
 
 renovation of Ray Street schools ... ... ... 135 
 
 funeral of Father O'Callaghan 142 
 
 school attendance ... ... ... ... ... 190 
 
 Edmund Street chapel demolished, new church, 
 
 Highfield Street, opened 238 
 
 St. Mary of the Quay, first chapel erected in Liverpool ... 1, 2, 3, 4 
 St. Michael, West Derby Road— 
 
 First chapel 162 
 
 foundation stone and opening ... ... ... ... 162 
 
 St. Nicholas', negotiations with Jesuits ... ... ... ... 33 
 
 charity schools ... ... ... ... ... ... 33 
 
 Town Council gift to 34 
 
 Mayor attends High Mass ... ... ... ... 34 
 
 opened by Vicar Apostolic ... ... ... ... 34 
 
 expenditure on schools ... ... ... ... 34 
 
 memorial to H. F. Leigh 34 
 
 Catholic Association at ... ... ... ... 41 
 
 Bishop Penswick ... ... ... ... 34, 41 
 
 Catholic Defence Society at ... ... ... ... 42 
 
 lay committee build new schools ... ... ... 44 
 
 Father Walker on school attendance ... ... ... 44 
 
 and St. Patrick's chapel 39 
 
 baptisms at ... ... ... ... ... ••■ 48 
 
 High Sheriff attends Mass in state ... ... ... 55 
 
 Catholic Institute Society at ... ... ... ..• 57
 
 279 
 
 St. Nicholas', Registration Societj' 
 
 Dr. Youens, rector 
 
 stained-glass \\indow3 unveiled 
 
 Christian Brothers 
 
 Bishop BrowTi's first ordinations at ... 
 
 confirmations 
 
 Father Gillow's death from fever 
 
 new schools 
 
 procession of school childi'en ... 
 
 attendance at Mass 
 St. Oswald, Old Swan, opened ... 
 
 spire and bells 
 
 schools provided by E. Chaloner 
 school attendance 
 St. Patrick's, foundation of 
 
 Protestant opposition to 
 
 English Catholics and ... 
 
 foundation stone laid 
 
 great Irish procession ... 
 
 booiety of... 
 
 Connaught Rangers and 
 
 Irish parishioners and projiosed English rector 
 
 Father Murphy first rector 
 
 church opened 
 
 John Branuker presents statue 
 
 Dr. Cahill visits ... 
 
 foundation of schools 
 
 baptisms at 
 
 publii- o.xamination of school childi'cn 
 
 Archbish(jp MacHale preaches at 
 
 picture of Crucifixion hung 
 
 John Rosson founds Registration Society at 
 
 Father Parker and Irish Repealers ... 
 
 Orangemen attack 
 
 Chri.stian Brothers at 
 
 first ovoiiing schools 
 
 Bishop L'liathorno, O.S.B., preaches at 
 
 Father J'arker and St. Vincent's 
 
 Father .Mathew at 
 
 Faithtiil Cfjmpanions at 
 
 close dnors against Irish procession ... 
 
 Father i'nrkcr and Select Vestry 
 
 confirm.itionH at ... 
 
 Bishop Murphy prwwihcH at 
 
 H(';iltli (if 'rr)wnH .'\s«<ifi;ition at 
 
 Futhrr I'arkcr's death from fever 
 
 FathorB (irayston Hn«l Haggar's deaths from fever. 
 
 Orange atl4-mpt t<^> pull down stiituo ... 
 
 attenrlani^e at .MnHH 
 
 pifKWHHif.n of wjhooi children ... 
 
 ni'w H< IiooIh 
 St. Patrick's (Vomm ... 
 
 Hill 
 
 St. Peter's. Father MacDonald. O.S.B., fuundn 
 muHJr at 
 doHcription of 
 Town fJoimcil and ItwiBe of 
 baptisms at 
 
 192 
 
 58 
 57 
 65 
 70 
 74 
 80 
 87 
 102 
 190 
 121 
 71 
 71 
 128 
 190 
 38 
 38 
 38 
 38 
 38 
 38 
 39 
 39 
 39 
 40 
 40 
 40 
 45 
 48 
 54 
 54 
 56 
 58 
 
 m 
 
 7(i 
 
 70 
 
 70 
 
 70 
 
 73 
 
 74 
 
 7ti 
 
 77 
 
 78 
 
 80 
 
 81 
 
 82 
 
 8« 
 
 87 
 
 »2 
 
 121 
 
 122 
 
 203 
 
 9 
 
 9 
 
 25 
 
 35 
 
 2« 
 
 2i\ 
 
 28, 48 
 
 «7. 
 
 25.
 
 280 
 
 St. Peter's, burhils 29 
 
 confirmations ... ... ... ... ... ... 32 
 
 extension of ... ... ... ... ... ... 35 
 
 sale of pews ... ... ... ... ... ... 35 
 
 debate on renewal of lease in new Town Council ... 51 
 
 Defence Association meeting ... ... ... ... 52 
 
 Father Tom Maguire ... ... ... ... ... 54 
 
 meeting to inaugurate St. Mary's new church... ... (JO 
 
 St. Francis Xavicr's ... ... 61 
 
 death of Father Glover, O.S.B. 63 
 
 Memorial to Father Glover ... ... ... ... 64 
 
 school attendances ... ... ... ... ... 73 
 
 Total Abstinence Society invite Father Mathew ... 73 
 
 confirmations ... ... ... ... ... ... 80 
 
 Rev. Dr. Appleton's death from fever... ... ... 86 
 
 attendance at Mass ... ... ... ... ... 121 
 
 school children's procession ... ... ... ... 122 
 
 school attendance ... ... ... ... ... 190 
 
 Gilbert Street school 203 
 
 St. Sylvester, Sylvester Street : Raymond Street school ... ... 203 
 
 new church opened ... ... 239 
 
 SS. Thomas and William's school, Edgar Street, founded 107 
 
 school attendance 190 
 
 St. Vincent's Church, Blundell Street chapel ... ... ... 73 
 
 public meeting ... ... ... ... 73 
 
 first priest at . . . ... ... ... ... 73 
 
 Norfolk Street chapel ... ... ... ... 94 
 
 separate parish ... ... ... ... 122 
 
 first rector's death ... ... ... ... 123 
 
 Father ' Reilly appointed 123 
 
 promotion of new church to replace Noi'folk 
 
 Street chapel 123 
 
 weekly collectors ... ... ... ... 123 
 
 Bishop Goss and weekly collectors ... 127 
 
 foundation stone ... ... ... ... 126 
 
 opening of new church ... ... ... 127 
 
 Jordan Street schools ... ... ... 128 
 
 school children's procession ... ... ... 122 
 
 attendance at Mass ... ... ... ... 122 
 
 Norfolk Street schools built ... ... ... 129 
 
 St. Vincent de Paul Society open 15, Everton Crescent ... ... 151 
 
 St. Werburgh, Birkenhead 98,154 
 
 Sullivan, A. M., M.P 125, 163, 201, 228 
 
 Sumner, Father, S.J 113 
 
 Synett 5 
 
 Taggart, Alderman J. G., J.P, 
 
 Talbot, Father, O.S.B 
 
 Tatlock, Father, S.J 
 
 Temperance movement 
 
 Tempest, Father, S.J 
 
 Thomas, Arthur Chilton 
 
 Tichborne, Father, S.J. 
 
 Tobin, Father 
 
 Town Council — 
 
 Erects St. Mary's of the Quay 
 builds chapel of St. Nicholas 
 provides burial ground 
 
 ... 241 
 
 ... 26 
 
 9 
 
 73, 74, 109 
 
 9, 11 
 
 247, 248 
 
 ... 13 
 
 192, 230 
 
 2 
 4 
 4
 
 281 
 
 Tovm Council — 
 
 orders Morrow's Mass to be celebrated 
 
 refuse permission to rebuild St. Mary's, Edmund Street 
 
 award honorarium to Father Harris, S.J. 
 
 grant lease to Seel Street chapel 
 
 present site of St. Nicholas' 
 
 grants Town Hall for Catholic Charity Ball 
 
 and elementary education 
 
 gives " facilities for Catholics " 
 
 debate on renewal of Seel Street lease 
 
 statistics of Catholic children in Corporation schools 
 
 discuss theological matters ... 
 
 expel Catholic children from schools 
 
 clergy petition 
 
 Watch Committee and Orange policemen 
 
 Mr. Blackburn suggests provision of schools for Catholics 
 
 and sanitation 
 
 eject Irish from cellar dwellings 
 
 George Holt's appeal for Catholic education 
 
 denounces restoration of Hierarchy 
 
 dismisses Head Constable Dowling 
 
 opposes Father Nugent's gaol chaplaincy 
 
 invites Garibaldi 
 
 and Clarence Reformatory ship 
 Dr. McNeill's statue 
 
 grants to Reformatory schools 
 Townley ... 
 
 Toxteth Guardians, Bishop Goss criticises ... 
 Catholic Club and 
 elettions ... 
 
 Father Fanning appointed chaplain 
 Tract and Book Society 
 Training Colleges ' ... ... ... ... ... ... 136, 
 
 Tuohy 
 
 Ullath'irn*;, Bishop. O.S. B., preaches at St. Patrick's 
 Upholland 
 
 Seminary 
 
 Vandorspitte, Father 
 
 Van Ho«. Father 
 
 Vaughan, of " Conrtfield," and election of 
 
 Vauxbali Ward, dc«<Tipli<»n of... 
 
 ilcfo.it iif Daniel Powell 
 flection of C. .F. ('orb.iliy 
 defeat of Mr. Corbally 
 John Yates olecjtcd ... 
 fKijiiiIation of 
 dcatb rate 
 
 Colonol iJjfiwill clivU'*! 
 CharKw .Mar-Ardl" fl<v'tfl<l 
 I>r. ComminH oiwtod 
 Dcnvir v. YaUvt rontost 
 John G. Taggart cloctod 
 P. Byrne elected 
 
 Verdon, Bishop ... 
 
 Verdon 
 
 Vicariates increased 
 
 1817 
 
 123, 1 
 
 4 
 
 11 
 
 15 
 
 26 
 
 34 
 
 50 
 
 50 
 
 50 
 
 52 
 
 57 
 
 51 
 
 68 
 
 68 
 
 77 
 
 79 
 
 82 
 
 90 
 
 94 
 
 97 
 
 110 
 
 157 
 
 159 
 
 175 
 
 193 
 
 185 
 
 93 
 
 177 
 
 228 
 
 229 
 
 229 
 
 58 
 
 137 
 
 16 
 
 70 
 
 26 
 
 236 
 
 39. 
 
 HO 
 . ll->i 
 
 91 
 88, 8!) 
 . 113 
 . 131 
 . 116 
 . 163 
 . 163 
 . 161 
 . 193 
 . 2l<i 
 . 217 
 . 210 
 , 241 
 . 240 
 . 226 
 
 61 
 . 65
 
 282 
 
 180, 
 97, 
 
 132, 
 
 Walker, Father 
 
 Wallwork, Canon, CVimean procession 
 
 Fenian troubles 
 Walmsley, Canon 
 
 Father E 
 
 Walton Parish Church ... 
 
 Walton, Mr., and Holy Cross 
 
 Justice, member of School Board 
 
 Wappeler, Father, S.J. 
 
 Waring 
 Webster ... 
 
 West, Father, S.J 
 
 West Derby Guardians, motion to expel Sisters of Mercy 
 
 Father Grant, S.J., defends the nuns 
 and Catholic chaplain 
 
 White, Father 
 
 Whitaker, Father, St. Joseph's, death from fever . . 
 
 Whitnall 
 
 Whitty, James, and Christian Brothers at St. Mary's 
 braves mob in Sessions House 
 president, Irish Catholic Club 
 presents address to Father Mathew 
 joins Select Vestry 
 proposes Catholic lay teacher for Workhouse 
 
 children 
 accuses Vestry of proselytising 
 and Sunday 5la8S in Workhouse 
 secures religious teaching at Kirkdale 
 defends Father Doyle 
 
 calls attention to employers disregarding Catholic 
 
 children's faith 
 secures remarkable concessions 
 gives evidence before House of Commons Committee 
 payment of chaplains 
 Orangemen denounce... 
 and Rector Campbell... 
 
 Scripture readers in Workhouse 
 advocates Catholic teachers in Kirkdale schools 
 induces Vestry to permit second priest to visit 
 
 Workhouse 
 elected for Vauxhall Ward ... 
 opposes civic welcome to Garibaldi 
 suggests rota of priests for fever wards 
 retires from Select Vestry ... 
 speech on Catholic leakage at Kirkdale 
 Forster's Education Bill 
 elected member first School Board 
 visits Local Government Board to protest against 
 
 Select "' 
 election of 1874 
 death of 
 Whitty, Michael James, founder of " Daily Post " — 
 Committed to Lancaster gaol 
 attacks Temporal Power 
 controversy with " Northern Press " 145 
 attacks Rev. Dr. Taylor 
 criticises Bishop Goss' pastorals 
 and John Yates 
 
 40, 44 
 
 . 122 
 
 185 
 
 122 
 
 122 
 
 2,4 
 
 139 
 
 219 
 
 13 
 
 42 
 
 5 
 
 12 
 
 132 
 
 133 
 
 229 
 
 41 
 
 . 87 
 
 34, 42 
 
 . 107 
 
 . 114 
 
 . 115 
 
 . 115 
 
 . 118 
 
 Vestry 
 
 1.52, 
 
 153, 
 
 144, 
 154, 
 
 118 
 118 
 119 
 120 
 121 
 
 149 
 121 
 150 
 150 
 150 
 131 
 132 
 156 
 
 141 
 159 
 
 160 
 161 
 165 
 165 
 187 
 193 
 
 194 
 212 
 218 
 
 99 
 145 
 155 
 157 
 158 
 155
 
 283 
 
 Whitty, Michael James, founder of " Daily Post " — 
 
 attacks Dr. Parsons ... ... ... ... ... ... 160 
 
 attacks Dissenters ... ... ... ... ... ... 161 
 
 defends Irish character ... ... ... ... ... 169 
 
 defends Bishop Goss' views on reformatories ... ... 176 
 
 and the child delinquent ... ... ... ... ... 176 
 
 and JIanchester Martyrs' procession ... ... ... 180 
 
 severely criticises Father Nugent ... ... ... 183, 184 
 
 ridicules Bishop (Joss' views on Press ... ... ... 197 
 
 Father Guy, O.S.B.. replies to 198 
 
 and " Reproof of the Irish " 198 
 
 Garibaldi visit 160 
 
 death of 233 
 
 Wilcock, Father, laid foundation stone of St. Anthony's 4.5 
 
 petition to Town Council ... ... ... ... 68 
 
 resigns St. Anthony's ... ... ... ... 80 
 
 Wilkinson, Father, O.S.B., letter to senior churchwarden ... ... 70 
 
 castigates churchwarden ... ... 71 
 
 foundation of St. Augustine's ... ... 9."> 
 
 Rowland 219 
 
 Williams, Father. S.J 14,15,16,17,18,19 
 
 See also St. Mary's. 
 
 Wilson, Father Thomas, death from fever ... ... ... ... 6 
 
 Wiseman, Cardinal, opens Catholic Institute... ... ... ... 112 
 
 lectures at Philharmonic Hall ... ... ... 11:2 
 
 visits " Akbar" 138 
 
 lecture on education ... ... ... ... 13S 
 
 asailed by Orangemen ... ... ... ... 138 
 
 James, burial at St. Oswald's ... ... ... ... 11;") 
 
 Woolton 19 
 
 Archbishop Folding, O.S.B.. preaches at ... ... ... 54 
 
 A. M. Sullivan lectures for \Voolton schools ... ... 163 
 
 ^^ orthy. Canon, speaks at Town's meeting against Ecclesiastical 
 
 Titles Bill 97 
 
 founds Catholic middle school ... ... ... Ill 
 
 Wright 34, 42 
 
 YaUw, John, and Catholic Instituto of Great Britain ... ... 57 
 
 iSt. P'rantMH X.'n-icr's Society ... ... ... ... 61 
 
 prcHident, St. Mary's Society ... ... ... ... 75 
 
 iirht Catholic monil)or Select Vostry ... .. ... 79 
 
 spoaks at SoKHJons House ... ... ... ... 114 
 
 domandH ajKilogy from "Liverpool Standard" ... 115 
 
 waits on Sclcft Vestry ... ... ... ... ... 149 
 
 donoun'CH Hirkunhcsad Irishmen ... ... ... 155 
 
 (ict«-at^l in Castlf! Street ward ... ... ... 155 
 
 clc'ted for Castlo Stn«ct 156 
 
 alleged by " Daily Post " to bo against Temporal 
 
 Power 155 
 
 criticiacH Bishop (Joss ... ... ... ... ... 176 
 
 and rorsttir'B Kdiiration Bill lH7 
 
 dnptitJition t«» .Mr. W. K. Korstor 188 
 
 elryt^Ml t<> lirHt School lioard ... ... ... ... 193 
 
 deputation to Poor Law Board ... ... ... 194 
 
 cl(!<;t<xl ff»r Vauxh.ill m3 
 
 elected to Schr)ol Board ... ... ... ... 193 
 
 supports Rnthbono and Caino ... ... ... ... 212
 
 284 
 
 Yates, John, Parnell's message, " Vote for Denvir 
 testimonial to 
 death of ... 
 
 Youens, Dr., Rev. 
 
 founds School for Blind ... 
 petition to Town Council 
 invites Sisters of Mercy ... 
 member Poor School Committee 
 
 240 
 241 
 241 
 
 57, 64 
 65 
 68 
 72 
 9S 
 
 Printed by C. Tinling 4 Co., Ltd., 53, Victoria Street, Liverpool.
 
 L'MVERSITV OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY 
 
 Los Angi'lcs 
 
 This book is DL'E on tlic last date staiiipi'd below. 
 
 Jgj SEP 18 197(1 
 
 iNTERLIBRARY LOANS 
 
 AUG 1 
 
 f^ee^^ttWItks Frdm 
 
 SEP 16 1986 
 
 h^VT- c 
 
 P 
 
 9 
 
 Date of Receipt 
 
 Form L9-Series 4939
 
 frh 
 
 3 1158 01105 2593 
 
 UCSnilTwrDM nr. 
 
 BRARY FACILITY 
 
 BX 
 
 1^96 
 
 L7B91 
 
 AA 000 636 806