Rudolph William Basil Feilding, 8th Earl of Denbigh, 7th Earl of Desmond (9 April 1823 – 10 March 1892), styled as Viscount Feilding until 1865, was a British peer and noted

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

convert, who founded the

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...

friary at Pantasaph, North Wales.

Early life

Feilding was born in 1823, the son of William Basil Feilding, 7th Earl of Denbigh, and his wife, Lady Mary Moreton, eldest daughter of Thomas Reynolds-Moreton, 1st Earl of Ducie. He was named after the claimed ancestor of the Feilding family, Rudolph I of Habsburg. Rollo and his twin sister Lady Mary Feilding were the first born children of their parents. Feilding was educated at

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

, where he was president of the University Pitt Club and took the degree of M.A. in 1844.

Career

Feilding was received into the Catholic Church in 1850, and took an active part in many Catholic works of charity under Cardinal Wiseman. As Viscount Feilding he was appointed honorary treasurer, jointly with Viscount Campden and Archibald J. Dunn, of the Peter's Pence Association. In 1850, Feilding was appointed

High Sheriff of Flintshire This is a list of High Sheriffs of Flintshire. The High Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly, the High Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county, but over the centuries most of the responsibilities ...

. On 29 June 1860, Feilding raised the 4th (Holywell) Flintshire Rifle Volunteer Corps as

captain-commandant ''Captain-commandant'' is a rank currently used in the Belgian Armed Forces and formerly used in the United States Revenue Cutter Service and its successor, the United States Coast Guard. Belgium Captain-commandant (; ; ) is a junior officer o ...

. After the unit was incorporated into the 1st Administrative Battalion, Flintshire Rifle Volunteer Corps, he commanded that from 1862 with the rank of

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

. On 2 July 1873, he became the battalion's honorary colonel, and continued in that role with its successor, the

2nd Volunteer Battalion, Royal Welch Fusiliers The 1st Flintshire Rifle Volunteers, later 5th (Flintshire) Battalion, Royal Welch Fusiliers, was a Wales, Welsh unit of the British Army's auxiliary forces. First raised in 1860, it fought as infantry at Gallipoli campaign, Gallipoli), in Sultan ...

Family

Feilding married, firstly, Louisa Pennant, great-granddaughter of the Welsh naturalist and travel writer

Thomas Pennant Thomas Pennant (16 December 1798) was a Welsh natural history, naturalist, traveller, writer and antiquarian. He was born and lived his whole life at his family estate, Downing Hall, near Whitford, Flintshire, in Wales. As a naturalist he had ...

. She died of consumption in 1853, without issue. He married, secondly, Mary Berkeley, daughter of Robert Berkeley, Esq. of Spetchley, Worcestershire. They had seven children, including: * Rudolph Feilding, 9th Earl of Denbigh (26 May 1859 –25 November 1939), who succeeded * Everard Feilding (6 March 1867 – 8 February 1936), Hon. Sec. of the

Society for Psychical Research The Society for Psychical Research (SPR) is a nonprofit organisation in the United Kingdom. Its stated purpose is to understand events and abilities commonly described as psychic or paranormal. It describes itself as the "first society to condu ...

* Lady Winefride Mary Elizabeth Feilding (24 September 1868 – 24 February 1959), who married Gervase Elwes on 11 May 1889 After his death in 1892, he was interred with his first wife Louisa at Pantasaph, dressed in the habit of the Third Order of St Francis, of which he was a member.

Ancestry

References

External links