Thomas Doyle D.D. (1793–1879) was an English

Roman Catholic priest The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the Holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in layman's terms ''priest'' refers only ...

, associated with the construction of

St George's Cathedral, Southwark The Metropolitan Cathedral Church of St George, usually known as St George's Cathedral, Southwark, is the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Southwark, south London, and is the seat of the Archbishop of Southwark. The cathedral is ...

Life

Doyle was born on 21 December 1793 in London, of Irish parents. He was studying at

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 ...

, where he had been organist, when in 1819

William Poynter William Poynter (20 May 1762, at Petersfield, Hampshire – 26 November 1827, in London) was an English Catholic priest, bishop as vicar apostolic in London. Life Early life Poynter was educated at the English College at Douai, where he was o ...

made him a priest to counter a shortfall. Doyle was sent to the site of the future St George's Cathedral, then the Royal Belgian Chapel, on the London Road in

Southwark Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...

, in 1820, and nine years later he became the senior priest there.

St George's Fields St George's Fields was an area of Southwark in south London, England. History Originally the area was an undifferentiated part of the south side of the Thames, which was low-lying marshland unsuitable even for agricultural purposes. There ...

was a site associated with the

Gordon Riots The Gordon Riots of 1780 were several days of rioting in London motivated by anti-Catholic sentiment. They began with a large and orderly protest against the Papists Act 1778, which was intended to reduce official discrimination against British ...

, and Doyle was instrumental in the construction of the cathedral there, designed by

Augustus Pugin Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin ( ; 1 March 181214 September 1852) was an English architect, designer, artist and critic with French and, ultimately, Swiss origins. He is principally remembered for his pioneering role in the Gothic Revival st ...

. Doyle began a discussion with Pugin on a large parish church, to accommodate an expanding Catholic population in South London, around 1839. He travelled in Europe to raise funds. Work started in September 1840, and the building was consecrated on 4 July 1848.

The

Protestant Association The Gordon Riots of 1780 were several days of rioting in London motivated by anti-Catholic sentiment. They began with a large and orderly protest against the Papists Act 1778, which was intended to reduce official discrimination against British ...

issued a special tract on the occasion, ''The Opening of the new Popish Mass House in St. George's Fields''. When the papal hierarchy was re-established in 1850, Doyle was made provost of the cathedral chapter of the newly erected See of Southwark. Doyle was a good friend of

John Henry Newman John Henry Newman (21 February 1801 – 11 August 1890) was an English theologian, academic, intellectual, philosopher, polymath, historian, writer, scholar and poet, first as an Anglican ministry, Anglican priest and later as a Catholi ...

, and wrote to him in 1841 expressing the regrets of Southwark Catholic clergy for the attack on the

Tractarians The Oxford Movement was a movement of high church members of the Church of England which began in the 1830s and eventually developed into Anglo-Catholicism. The movement, whose original devotees were mostly associated with the University of O ...

made by Joseph Rathborne. Doyle published frequently in ''

The Tablet ''The Tablet'' is a Catholic international weekly review published in London. Brendan Walsh, previously literary editor and then acting editor, was appointed editor in July 2017. History ''The Tablet'' was launched in 1840 by a Quaker convert ...

'', as "Father Thomas". He died at St George's Cathedral on 6 June 1879, and was buried there.

Augusta Talbot case

On good terms with

John Talbot, 16th Earl of Shrewsbury John Talbot, 16th Earl of Shrewsbury, 16th Earl of Waterford (18 March 1791 – 9 November 1852) was a British peer and aristocrat. Sometimes known as "Good Earl John", he has been described as "the most prominent British Catholic of his day ...

, Doyle around 1839 took on the guardianship of Augusta Talbot, a niece of the Earl. In 1850 this position involved him in publicly-expressed suspicion of his motives, when she was placed in St Joseph's Convent, Taunton (see St Joseph's Convent, Taunton#1851 case of Augusta Talbot). There was a court case in 1851, after which Augusta remained Doyle's ward, but left the convent, marrying Lord Edward Howard that year. The case involved

Craven Berkeley Craven FitzHardinge Berkeley (May 1805 – 1 July 1855) was a British Whig politician. Background Berkeley was the seventh son of Frederick Berkeley, 5th Earl of Berkeley, and Mary, daughter of William Cole. He was the younger brother of Willi ...

, Augusta's stepfather. He had married Augusta Talbot (née Jones), widow of George Henry Talbot and Augusta's mother, in 1839; she died in 1841. Doyle made a petition for access to Augusta (Doyle v Wright) in 1840. The custody petition of March 1851 continued that case. Popular interest in the issue linked anti-Catholic feeling with Augusta Talbot's status as an heiress to £80,000, around the allegation that the Catholic Church would profit if she died a nun.

Notes

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Doyle, Thomas 1793 births 1879 deaths 19th-century English Roman Catholic priests