Thomas Griffiths (2 June 1791 – 19 August 1847) was an English
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
* Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
* Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...
bishop.
Life
St. Edmund's College, Old Hall
Griffiths was born in London, and was the first and only
Vicar Apostolic of the London District
The Apostolic Vicariate of the London District was an ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales. It was led by a vicar apostolic who was a titular bishop. The apostolic vicariate was created in 1688 and was dis ...
educated wholly in England. At the age of thirteen he was sent to
St. Edmund's College, Old Hall, where he went through the whole course, and was ordained priest in 1814. Four years later he was chosen as president, at the age of 27. He ruled the college for fifteen years, and did much to give the college a sound financial basis.
Vicar Apostolic
He was then appointed coadjutor to
Bishop Bramston, then Vicar Apostolic of the London District. He was consecrated as
Titular Bishop of Olena at St. Edmund's College, 28 October 1833. Within three years Bishop Bramston died, and Bishop Griffiths succeeded him.
[Ward, Bernard. "Thomas Griffiths." The Catholic Encyclopedia]
Vol. 7. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 11 January 2019
A biographical sketch by one of his priests describes Griffiths as "...silent, meditative, bland, inoffensive, ever too happy to serve and oblige everyone; patient, enduring, forgiving; unmoved by slights, unkindness, or even insults -a man after God's own heart, full of faith, of hope, of love; not one thing today and another tomorrow, but ever consistent and the same."
Father Thomas of St. George's, Southwark. "Saint George's and the Late Bishop Griffiths", ''The New Catholic Weekly Magazine'', August 28, 1847, p. 266
/ref>
The agitation for a regular Catholic hierarchy in England became more and more pronounced and as a preliminary measure, in 1840, the four ecclesiastical "districts" into which England had been divided since the reign of James II of England
James VII and II (14 October 1633 16 September 1701) was King of England and King of Ireland as James II, and King of Scotland as James VII from the death of his elder brother, Charles II, on 6 February 1685. He was deposed in the Glorious Re ...
were subdivided to form eight, Dr. Griffiths retaining the new London District. Soon after this, the Oxford movement and attendant Catholic conversions began: and the immigration of Irish Catholics grew. At the same time the growth of the British colonies, many of which had been until lately ruled as part of the London District, brought him into contact with the government. In all these spheres Griffiths discharged his duties with practical ability; but it was thought that he would not have the breadth of view or experience necessary for initiating the new hierarchy, and (according to Bishop Ullathorne) this was the reason why its establishment was postponed.[
When Griffiths died, somewhat unexpectedly, in 1847 Ullathorne himself preached the funeral sermon. The body of the deceased prelate was laid temporarily in the vaults of Moorfields Church; but two years later it was removed to St. Edmund's College, where a new chapel 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 ...
was in course of erection, and a special chantry was built to receive the body of Griffiths, to whose initiative the chapel was due. An oil painting of Griffiths is at Archbishop's House, Westminster
Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster.
The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...
; another, more modern, at St. Edmund's College.[
]
References
;Attribution
* The entry cites:
**Thompson Cooper
Thompson Cooper (8 January 1837, Cambridge – 5 March 1904, London) was an English journalist, man of letters, and compiler of reference works. He became a specialist in biographical information, and is noted as the most prolific contributor to t ...
in '' Dictionary of National Biography'', s.v;
**Joseph Gillow
Joseph Gillow (5 October 1850, Preston, Lancashire – 17 March 1921, Westholme, Hale, Cheshire) was an English Roman Catholic antiquary, historian and bio-bibliographer, "the Plutarch of the English Catholics".
Biography
Born in Frenchwood Hous ...
, Bib. Dict., Eng. Cath. s. v.,
**Bernard Nicholas Ward
Bernard Nicholas Ward (4 February 1857 – 21 January 1920) was an English prelate who served in the Roman Catholic Church as the Bishop of Brentwood from 1917 until his death in 1920. He was "a distinguished educationalist and the foremost histor ...
, ''History of St. Edmund's College'' (London, 1893);
** William Maziere Brady, ''Annals of the Catholic Hierarchy'';
**E. Price in Dolman's Magazine, VI;
**Cox in ''Catholic Directory'' for 1848.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Griffiths, Thomas
1791 births
1847 deaths
Apostolic vicars of England and Wales
19th-century Roman Catholic bishops in England