Joseph Edward Rudderham (17 June 1899 – 24 February 1979) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Christian clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which means 'carry before', 'be set above or over' or 'pref ...

of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. He served as

Bishop of Clifton The Bishop of Clifton is the Ordinary of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Clifton in the Province of Birmingham, England. The see is in the suburb of Clifton in the city of Bristol where the bishop's seat is located at the Cathedral Church of S ...

from 1949 to 1974. Born in

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

on 17 June 1899, one of seven children of William Rudderham, a Norwich wine merchant, and his wife Agnes Mary Ann Coan. He received his early education at Norwich Convent, then was sent to attend Junior Seminary at

St Bede's College, Manchester ("He never relaxed in idleness") , established = 1876 , closed = , type = Independent day school Public School , religious_affiliation = Roman Catholic , president = , head_label = Headteacher , head ...

in September 1910. He was forced to leave St Bede's in July 1917 when he was conscripted into the army, but returned to the College after the war. In 1919, he went on to

St Edmund's College, Ware St Edmund's College is a coeducational independent day and boarding school in the British public school tradition, set in in Ware, Hertfordshire. Founded in 1568 as a seminary, then a boys' school, it is the oldest continuously operating and ...

Christ's College, Cambridge Christ's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college includes the Master, the Fellows of the College, and about 450 undergraduate and 170 graduate students. The college was founded by William Byngham in 1437 as ...

and the

Venerable English College, Rome The Venerable English College (), commonly referred to as the English College, is a Catholic seminary in Rome, Italy, for the training of priests for England and Wales. It was founded in 1579 by William Allen on the model of the English College, ...

. Rudderham was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform va ...

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

for the

Diocese of Northampton The Diocese of Northampton is one of the 22 Roman Catholic dioceses in England and Wales and a Latin Rite suffragan diocese of Westminster. Its see is in Northampton. The Cathedral of Our Lady Immaculate and St Thomas of Canterbury is the moth ...

on 31 October 1926. He was appointed the

Bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

of the

Diocese of Clifton The Roman Catholic Diocese of Clifton is a Roman Catholic diocese centred at the Cathedral Church of Saints Peter and Paul in Clifton, England. The diocese covers the City and County of Bristol and the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire, ...

by the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of Rome ...

on 14 May 1949. His

consecration Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service. The word ''consecration'' literally means "association with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different grou ...

to the

Episcopate A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

took place on 26 July 1949, the principal

consecrator A consecrator is a bishop who ordains someone to the episcopacy. A co-consecrator is someone who assists the consecrator bishop in the act of ordaining a new bishop. The terms are used in the canon law of the Catholic Church, Lutheran Churche ...

was Archbishop

Joseph Masterson Joseph Masterson (29 January 1899 – 30 November 1953) was an English Roman Catholic Clergyman and sometime Archbishop of Birmingham. Masterson was born in Ardwick, Manchester, England, the son of William Masterson, an Irish immigrant shopkeepe ...

of Birmingham, and the principal co-consecrators were Bishop

Thomas Leo Parker Thomas Leo Parker (21 December 1887 – 25 March 1975) was an English prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the Bishop of Northampton from 1940 to 1967. Born in Sutton Coldfield on 21 December 1887, he was ordained to the priesthood ...

of Northampton and Bishop

Francis Joseph Grimshaw Francis Edward Joseph Grimshaw (6 October 1901 – 22 March 1965) was a British Roman Catholic bishop, who served as Archbishop of Birmingham from 1954 until his death. Early life Born in Bridgwater, Somerset on 6 October 1901, the eldest of ...

of Plymouth. He participated in all the four sessions of the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st Catholic ecumenical councils, ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions) ...

, held between in 1962 and 1965. Between 1965 and its opening in 1973 Rudderham (as

) oversaw the design and construction of a new

Clifton Cathedral The Cathedral Church of SS. Peter and Paul is the Roman Catholic cathedral of the city of Bristol (not to be confused with the Church of England Bristol Cathedral). Located in the Clifton area of the city, it is the seat and mother church of the ...

, the first to be built to the new requirements of the

. He retired on 31 August 1974 and assumed the title Bishop

Emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

of Clifton; his successor was Bishop

Mervyn Alexander Meryvn Alban Alexander (29 June 1925 – 14 August 2010) was the Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Clifton from 1974 to 2001. He was born on 29 June 1925 in Highbury, London, the eldest son of William and Grace Alexander. In 1926 the fam ...

, who had been his auxiliary since 1972. He died on 24 February 1979, aged 79.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rudderham, Joseph Edward 1899 births 1979 deaths 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in England Participants in the Second Vatican Council Clergy from Norwich People educated at St Bede's College, Manchester Roman Catholic bishops of Clifton English College, Rome alumni