William Timothy Cotter (1866–1940) was an Irish-born

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Christian clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which means 'carry before', 'be set above or over' or 'pref ...

who served as the third

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 letter ...

Bishop of Portsmouth,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

, from 1910 to 1940.

Life

William Timothy Cotter was born in Cloyne,

County Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns ar ...

, Ireland on 21 December 1866. He was educated at St. Colman's Fermoy; and studied for the priesthood at

Maynooth College St Patrick's Pontifical University, Maynooth ( ga, Coláiste Naoimh Phádraig, Maigh Nuad), is the "National Seminary for Ireland" (a Roman Catholic college), and a pontifical university, located in the town of Maynooth, from Dublin, Ireland ...

. Cotter 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 var ...

to the priesthood on 19 June 1892 at Portsmouth. He was appointed an Auxiliary Bishop of

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city status in the United Kingdom, city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is admi ...

and

Titular Bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox a ...

of ''Clazomenae'' on 14 February 1905. His consecration to the

Episcopate A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or offic ...

took place on 19 March 1905, King, John Henry. "Diocese of Portsmouth." The Catholic Encyclopedia
Vol. 12. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911. 1 March 2020 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 Church ...

was Bishop John Baptist Cahill of Portsmouth, and the principal co-consecrators were Bishop George Ambrose Burton of Clifton and Bishop Peter Amigo of Southwark. Five years later, he was appointed Bishop of Portsmouth on 24 November 1910. Bishop Cotter died in office on 24 October 1940, aged 73.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cotter, William Timothy 1866 births 1940 deaths Alumni of St Patrick's College, Maynooth People from County Cork Roman Catholic bishops of Portsmouth Christianity in Hampshire 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in England People educated at St Colman's College, Fermoy Cotter family