Alfred Weld S. J. (1823

Leagram Bowland-with-Leagram is a civil parish in the Ribble Valley district of Lancashire, England, covering part of the Forest of Bowland. According to the census, the parish had a population of 181 in 1951, 128 in 2001 and 169 at the Census 2011. As ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

– 1890

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

) was an English

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

priest, professor of Science and Director of

Stonyhurst Observatory The Stonyhurst Observatory is a functioning observatory and weather station at Stonyhurst College in Lancashire, England. Built in 1866, it replaced a nearby earlier building, built in 1838, which is now used as the ''Typographia Collegii''. ...

. While working at the observatory, he welcomed in 1848 the Italian refugee Jesuit,

Angelo Secchi Angelo Secchi (; 28 June 1818 – 26 February 1878) was an Italian Catholic priest, astronomer from the Italian region of Emilia. He was director of the observatory at the Pontifical Gregorian University (then called the Roman College) for 28 y ...

, who went on to be a pioneer in

Astronomy Astronomy () is a natural science that studies astronomical object, celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and chronology of the Universe, evolution. Objects of interest ...

. Weld was ordained in 1854. After briefly managing St Marys Hall in

, he became Novice Master at Manresa House,

Roehampton Roehampton is an area in southwest London, in the Putney SW15 postal district, and takes up a far western strip running north to south of the London Borough of Wandsworth. It contains a number of large council house estates and is home to the U ...

. During this period, in 1862, he was the founding editor of the Jesuits' in-house magazine, ''Letters and Notices'' (still circulating in the new Millennium) and ensured ''

The Month ''The Month'' was a monthly review, published from 1864 to 2001, which, for almost all of its history, was owned by the English Province of the Society of Jesus and was edited by its members. History ''The Month'', founded and edited by Frances M ...

'' (a Catholic review) was edited by the Society. It was his desire to foster a community of writers. The anonymous author of his obituary in ''Letters and Notices'', wrote: "It is no exaggeration then to say that the literary work of the Province, so promising, so prolific, and so fruitful of good which has marked the last thirty years, is in great measure due to the initiatif and large-minded encouragement of Father Weld." It was during Weld's time at the helm that the poet

Gerard Manley Hopkins Gerard Manley Hopkins (28 July 1844 – 8 June 1889) was an English poet and Jesuit priest, whose posthumous fame placed him among leading Victorian poets. His prosody – notably his concept of sprung rhythm – established him as an innovato ...

was welcomed into the Society. Weld was rapidly elected Provincial of the English Province in 1864. In 1871 he became Rector of St Beuno's Theological College in

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. Two years later in 1873 he became English Assistant to the Jesuit General,

Peter Jan Beckx Peter Jan Beckx (also ''Pieter Jan Beckx'', in French ''Pierre Jean Beckx''; 8 February 1795 – 4 March 1887) born in Zichem (Belgium) and died in Rome, was a Belgian Jesuit priest, elected the twenty-second Superior-General of the Socie ...

. He spent the last three years of his life with the Zambesi Mission, having first directed operations from

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

and then going out himself to replace

Henri Depelchin Henri Joseph Depelchin, SJ (also Henry Depelchin) (24 January 1822, Russeignies, East Flanders, Netherlands – 26 May 1900, Calcutta, District of West Bengal, British India), was a Belgian Jesuit priest and missionary in India and Africa. As ...

SJ to rescue the failed settlement, carry on missionary work and manage St Aidan's College in

Grahamstown Makhanda, also known as Grahamstown, is a town of about 140,000 people in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is situated about northeast of Port Elizabeth and southwest of East London, Eastern Cape, East London. Makhanda is the lar ...

, (now

Makhanda, Eastern Cape Makhanda, also known as Grahamstown, is a town of about 140,000 people in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is situated about northeast of Port Elizabeth and southwest of East London. Makhanda is the largest town in the Makana Loc ...

). Alfred Weld was born into an old English

recusant Recusancy (from la, recusare, translation=to refuse) was the state of those who remained loyal to the Catholic Church and refused to attend Church of England services after the English Reformation. The 1558 Recusancy Acts passed in the reign ...

family, son of Mary Searle and George, eighth son of

Thomas Weld (of Lulworth) Thomas Bartholomew Weld (1750–1810), known as Thomas Weld of Lulworth Castle, was a member of the English Catholic gentry, landowner, philanthropist and bibliophile. He was connected to many of the leading Catholic families of the land, such ...

and Mary Stanley-Massey-Stanley. His paternal grandfather was the benefactor and founder of the Jesuit

Stonyhurst College Stonyhurst College is a co-educational Catholic Church, Roman Catholic independent school, adhering to the Society of Jesus, Jesuit tradition, on the Stonyhurst, Stonyhurst Estate, Lancashire, England. It occupies a Grade I listed building. Th ...

. Cardinal Weld was his uncle.The Welds in the Catholic Encyclopedia
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Distinctions

* Fellow of the

Royal Astronomical Society (Whatever shines should be observed) , predecessor = , successor = , formation = , founder = , extinction = , merger = , merged = , type = NGO ...

Publications

His publications include: * ''The Suppression of the Society of Jesus in the Portuguese Dominions'', London, 1877

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Weld, Alfred 1823 births 1890 deaths People from Ribble Valley (district) 19th-century English Jesuits English Roman Catholic missionaries Jesuit missionaries Fellows of the Royal Astronomical Society

Alfred Weld Alfred Weld S. J. (1823 Leagram, Lancashire – 1890 South Africa) was an English Jesuit priest, professor of Science and Director of Stonyhurst Observatory. While working at the observatory, he welcomed in 1848 the Italian refugee Jesuit, Ange ...