William Weathers

Bishop William Weathers (12 November 1814 – 4 March 1895 in

Isleworth Isleworth ( ) is a town located within the London Borough of Hounslow in West London, England. It lies immediately east of the town of Hounslow and west of the River Thames and its tributary the River Crane, London, River Crane. Isleworth's or ...

, Middlesex, England) was a Roman Catholic bishop of the

Catholic Church in England and Wales The Catholic Church in England and Wales ( la, Ecclesia Catholica in Anglia et Cambria; cy, Yr Eglwys Gatholig yng Nghymru a Lloegr) is part of the worldwide Catholic Church in full communion with the Holy See. Its origins date from the 6th ce ...

as well the titular Bishop of Amycla. His parents were originally Protestants from Wales. He, his mother and siblings were converted to

Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

after his father's death. He was educated at the Franciscan school at Baddesley (1823–28), and at Old Hall, where he remained for forty years, and held in turn every office. Before his ordination (1838) he was already a master (1835). He was prefect of discipline 1840–43, vice-president and procurator 1843–51, prefect of studies for some years, and president 1851–68. His presidency forms a memorable epoch in the history of the college and of Catholicism in southern England. The years succeeding the restoration of the Hierarchy saw a readjustment of standards. With a view to invigorate the future

secular clergy In Christianity, the term secular clergy refers to deacons and priests who are not monastics or otherwise members of religious life. A secular priest (sometimes known as a diocesan priest) is a priest who commits themselves to a certain geogra ...

, Archbishop Henry Edward Manning, also a convert to Roman Catholicism, albeit from

Anglicanism Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the ...

, thought it necessary that the control of the seminary should be in the hands of his newly formed congregation, the Oblates of St. Charles. Under Manning's influence, Cardinal Nicholas Wiseman appointed a staff at St Edmund's College, Ware, who were neither desired nor welcomed by the president (1855–56). The result was an attempt to manage the college without the president's co-operation. The Westminster Chapter took up the matter, and, after an appeal to Rome, the Oblates were withdrawn in 1861. Dr. Weathers' own appreciation of higher ideals is indicated by the remodelling of the college rules during his presidency, and by the invitation and firm support given to Dr. Ward, a convert and a layman, as lecturer in theology (1852–58). When Archbishop Manning removed the divines to

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in 1869, he appointed Weathers rector of that seminary, which position Weathers held until the seminary was closed by Cardinal Herbert Vaughan in 1892. At his own choice, he then became chaplain to the

Sisters of Nazareth The Congregation of the Sisters of Nazareth, until recently known as the Poor Sisters of Nazareth, are a Roman Catholic apostolic congregation of religious sisters of pontifical right, based in London, England. Members live in "Nazareth Houses" i ...

at Isleworth. He had been created

D.D. A Doctor of Divinity (D.D. or DDiv; la, Doctor Divinitatis) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity. In the United Kingdom, it is considered an advanced doctoral degree. At the University of Oxford, doctors of divinity are ra ...

in 1845, became a canon of Westminster in 1851, was named a

domestic prelate Monsignor (; it, monsignore ) is an honorific form of address or title for certain male clergy members, usually members of the Roman Catholic Church. Monsignor is the apocopic form of the Italian ''monsignore'', meaning "my lord". "Monsignor" ca ...

Pope Pius IX Pope Pius IX ( it, Pio IX, ''Pio Nono''; born Giovanni Maria Mastai Ferretti; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878, the longest verified papal reign. He was notable for convoking the First Vatican ...

in 1869, and was consecrated bishop, as auxiliary to Archbishop Manning, in 1872. In 1868 he went to Rome as representative theologian of the English bishops in the deliberations preparatory to the

First Vatican Council The First Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the First Vatican Council or Vatican I was convoked by Pope Pius IX on 29 June 1868, after a period of planning and preparation that began on 6 December 1864. This, the twentieth ecu ...

. He published (under the name Amyclanus) ''An Enquiry into the Nature and Results of Electricity and Magnetism'' (1876).
Catholic Hierarchy Biodata
{{DEFAULTSORT:Weathers, William 1814 births 1895 deaths People from Isleworth Converts to Roman Catholicism from Evangelicalism 19th-century Roman Catholic bishops in England English academics Roman Catholic writers Place of birth missing