Thomas John Francis Strickland, known as Abbé Strickland (c.1682–1740) was an English Roman Catholic bishop of

Namur Namur (; ; nl, Namen ; wa, Nameur) is a city and municipality in Wallonia, Belgium. It is both the capital of the province of Namur and of Wallonia, hosting the Parliament of Wallonia, the Government of Wallonia and its administration. Namu ...

and doctor of the Sorbonne.

Biography

He was the fourth son of Sir Thomas Strickland of Sizergh and his second wife, Winifred Trentham, daughter and co-heiress of Sir Christopher Trentham of

Rocester Abbey Rocester Abbey was a medieval monastic house at Rocester, Staffordshire, England of which there is now no trace above ground level. The Augustinian abbey of St. Mary, Rocester was founded in Dovedale between 1141 and 1146 by Richard Bacon, a ha ...

. He was brought up in France, where his family had fled at the

Glorious Revolution The Glorious Revolution; gd, Rèabhlaid Ghlòrmhor; cy, Chwyldro Gogoneddus , also known as the ''Glorieuze Overtocht'' or ''Glorious Crossing'' in the Netherlands, is the sequence of events leading to the deposition of King James II and ...

. His father died at

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine in northern France. It is the prefecture of the Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one of ...

in 1694. He graduated from the English College, Douai in 1712, and then went to England. He lived in London for some years, where he endeavoured to effect reconciliation between the English Catholics and the government, but unsuccessfully. All he achieved was the enmity of the

Old Pretender James Francis Edward Stuart (10 June 16881 January 1766), nicknamed the Old Pretender by Whigs, was the son of King James II and VII of England, Scotland and Ireland, and his second wife, Mary of Modena. He was Prince of Wales fro ...

and his exiled Court. Notwithstanding his family's long record of loyalty to the Stuarts and the Church, they attacked him as an enemy of the Catholic faith. Strickland in return denounced the Pretender's bigotry. Strickland was made bishop of Namur in 1727. He resided at

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

for some years as an agent of the English government, and was employed by the Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI, who had high personal regard for him, sent him in 1734 on a mission to England in connection with a vain attempt to create war with France. He died in Namur in 1740 and was buried in the Cathedral.

References

;Attribution 1680s births 1740 deaths Bishops of Namur {{Belgium-RC-bishop-stub