Richard Huddleston or Hudleston (1583–1655), was an English

Benedictine monk , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , found ...

Life

Huddleston was born in 1583 at Farington Hall, near

Preston, Lancashire Preston () is a city on the north bank of the River Ribble in Lancashire, England. The city is the administrative centre of the county of Lancashire and the wider City of Preston local government district. Preston and its surrounding distri ...

. He was the youngest son of Andrew Hudleston, esq., of Farington Hall, and Mary, third daughter of Cuthbert Hutton of Hutton John, Cumberland. He studied under Thomas Sommers, a Catholic schoolmaster at

Grange-over-Sands Grange-over-Sands is a town and civil parish located on the north side of Morecambe Bay in Cumbria, England, a few miles south of the Lake District National Park. In the 2001 census the parish had a population of 4,042, increasing at the 2011 ...

, Lancashire, and was subsequently sent to the English College at Douay. Afterwards he studied philosophy and divinity for some years in the

English College at 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, ...

. Returning to Douay he was ordained priest in 1607, and in the following year was sent on the English mission. Again visiting Italy he was professed as a Benedictine monk at

Monte Cassino Monte Cassino (today usually spelled Montecassino) is a rocky hill about southeast of Rome, in the Latin Valley, Italy, west of Cassino and at an elevation of . Site of the Roman town of Casinum, it is widely known for its abbey, the first h ...

. In 1619 he came back to the mission, and was instrumental in conversions among major families in Lancashire and Yorkshire to the Roman Catholic faith. One example is that of the family of Sir John Gascoigne whose children, nearly all, opted for a religious life including

Catherine Gascoigne Catherine Gascoigne (1601 – 21 May 1676) was the English abbess of Cambrai from 1624 to 1673. Life Gascoigne was born in Yorkshire. Her parents were Lady Anne (born Ingelby of Lawkland Hall) and Sir John Gascoigne who was the first Baronet of ...

who was an abbess in

Cambrai Cambrai (, ; pcd, Kimbré; nl, Kamerijk), formerly Cambray and historically in English Camerick or Camericke, is a city in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, department and in the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, regio ...

until 1673. Huddleston died at

Stockeld Park Stockeld Park is a Grade-I listed country house and estate situated between the towns of Wetherby and Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England, which is now the home of Peter (a great-grandchild of Robert John Foster) and Susie Grant. The estate spa ...

, the seat of the Middletons, on 26 November 1655.

Works

Huddleston left several pieces in manuscript, which appear to have been lost, and a ''Short and Plain Way to the Faith and Church'', published by his nephew, Father John Hudleston, London, 1688; reprinted in the "English Catholic Library" vol. ii., London, 1844, under the editorial care of the Rev.

Mark Aloysius Tierney Mark Aloysius Tierney (September 1795, in Brighton – 19 February 1862, at Arundel) was an English Catholic historian. Life After his early schooling under the direction of the Franciscans in Baddesley Green, Warwickshire, he was educated at ...

; and again, London, 1850. Charles II, while concealed at

Moseley Moseley is a suburb of south Birmingham, England, south of the city centre. The area is a popular cosmopolitan residential location and leisure destination, with a number of bars and restaurants. The area also has a number of boutiques and ot ...

after the defeat at

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Englan ...

, read this treatise in manuscript, and declared that he had seen nothing clearer upon the subject.Taunton, Ethelred Luke. ''The English Black Monks of St. Benedict'', Volume 2, John C. Nimmo, 1897. p. 209
/ref> ''An Answer to Father Huddleston's Short and Plain Way'' was published by an anonymous writer; and at a later period another ''Answer'', by

Samuel Grascome Samuel Grascome (1641–1708) was a clergyman of the Church of England, then, after the nonjuring schism, a member of the breakaway church. Early life The son of John Grascome of Coventry, he was educated at Coventry grammar school, and was admit ...

, appeared at London, 1702; 1715.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Huddleston, Richard 1583 births 1655 deaths English Benedictines Clergy from Preston, Lancashire 17th-century English Roman Catholic priests