Samuel Webster Allen (23 March 1844 – 13 May 1908) 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 ...

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

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 was the Bishop of Shrewsbury from 1897 to 1908. Born at 78 Lord Street,

Stockport Stockport is a town and borough in Greater Manchester, England, south-east of Manchester, south-west of Ashton-under-Lyne and north of Macclesfield. The River Goyt and Tame merge to create the River Mersey here. Most of the town is within ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

on 23 March 1844, Allen was educated at

St Mary's College, Oscott St Mary's College in New Oscott, Birmingham, often called Oscott College, is the Roman Catholic seminary of the Archdiocese of Birmingham in England and one of the three seminaries of the Catholic Church in England and Wales. Purpose Oscott Co ...

,His sketch in Mate's ''Shropshire, Part II: Historical, Descriptive, Biographical'' wrongly states it as "St Mary's College, Oxon" (i.e. Oxford, as in the university). then on scholarship entered the

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, ...

. He 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 ...

to the priesthood on 4 December 1870. He served as reporting stenographer at the Vatican Councils in 1869-1870. He returned to England, where he was Secretary to the Provincial Council of the

Archdiocese of Westminster The Catholic Diocese of Westminster is an archdiocese of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church in England. The diocese consists of most of London north of the River Thames and west of the River Lea, the borough of Spelthorne (in Surrey), and th ...

in 1873. In October 1879 he came to

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'Sh ...

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to th ...

, as secretary to

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the honor ...

, then Bishop of Shrewsbury, and was appointed Canon at the Catholic Cathedral there in 1883. He was also active in town life as Vice-Chairman of the Shrewsbury

School Board A board of education, school committee or school board is the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or an equivalent institution. The elected council determines the educational policy in a small regional are ...

(established 1881) and of the Atcham

Board of Guardians Boards of guardians were ''ad hoc'' authorities that administered Poor Law in the United Kingdom from 1835 to 1930. England and Wales Boards of guardians were created by the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834, replacing the parish overseers of the poor ...

, and was for some 20 years Roman Catholic chaplain at

Shrewsbury Prison HM Prison Shrewsbury was a Category B/C men's prison in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. It was decommissioned in March 2013, and is now open to the public. The Victorian prison as seen today sits on top of the original Georgian prison, the ...

. He gave up these public offices when he was appointed the Bishop of Shrewsbury 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 16 June 1897. 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 16 June 1897, 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 Cardinal

Herbert Vaughan Herbert Alfred Henry Vaughan, MHM (15 April 1832 – 19 June 1903) was an English prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Westminster from 1892 until his death in 1903, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1893. He was th ...

Archbishop of Westminster The Archbishop of Westminster heads the Roman Catholic Diocese of Westminster, in England. The incumbent is the metropolitan of the Province of Westminster, chief metropolitan of England and Wales and, as a matter of custom, is elected presid ...

, and the principal co-consecrators were

Edward Ilsley Archbishop Edward Ilsley was born in May 1838. He was the Roman Catholic Bishop of Birmingham from 1888 to 1911, and then the first Archbishop of Birmingham from 1911 to 1921 when his resignation was accepted by the Pope. He died in 1926. Career ...

, Bishop (later Archbishop) of Birmingham and Francis Mostyn,

Bishop of Menevia The Bishop of Menevia is the Ordinary of the Latin Rite Roman Catholic Diocese of Menevia in the Province of Cardiff. The Diocese of Menevia covers an area of roughly consisting of Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion, Neath Port Talbot, Pembrokeshi ...

(later

Archbishop of Cardiff The Archbishop of Cardiff is the ordinary of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cardiff.

). Allen died in office at the Cathedral House, Belmont, Shrewsbury of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

, after being ill since the previous October, on 13 May 1908, aged 64 and was buried in the General Cemetery in Longden Road, Shrewsbury.

Ambrose Moriarty Ambrose James Moriarty (9 August 1870 – 3 June 1949) was an English prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the Bishop of Shrewsbury from 1934 to 1949. Samuel Webster Allen, his predecessor as fourth bishop, was his uncle. Born at ...

, the later sixth Bishop of Shrewsbury, also born in Stockport, was his nephew.Biographical sketch, Moriarty, Rt Rev Ambrose JamesObituary of Moriarty

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Samuel Webster 1844 births 1908 deaths 19th-century Roman Catholic bishops in England 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in England People from Stockport Roman Catholic bishops of Shrewsbury English College, Rome alumni