Joseph Gillow (5 October 1850,

Preston, Lancashire Preston () is a city on the north bank of the River Ribble in Lancashire, England. The city is the administrative centre of the county of Lancashire and the wider City of Preston local government district. Preston and its surrounding distri ...

– 17 March 1921, Westholme, Hale, Cheshire) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

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 ...

antiquary, historian and bio-bibliographer, "the

Plutarch Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for hi ...

of the English Catholics".

Biography

Born in Frenchwood House,

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...

, to a

recusant Recusancy (from la, recusare, translation=to refuse) was the state of those who remained loyal to the Catholic Church and refused to attend Church of England services after the English Reformation. The 1558 Recusancy Acts passed in the reign ...

English Roman Catholic family able to trace an uninterrupted pedigree back to

Conishead Priory Conishead Priory is a large Gothic Revival building on the Furness peninsula near Ulverston in Cumbria. The priory's name translates literally as "King's Hill Priory". Since 1976, the building has been occupied by a Buddhist community. History ...

in 1325, Gillow was the son of a

magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judic ...

, Joseph Gillow (1801-1872), and his wife, Jane Haydock (1805-1872), a descendant of Christopher Haydock, a Lancashire politician and a member of another prominent recusant English Roman Catholic family, the Haydocks of Cottam. Joseph Gillow was educated at

Sedgley Park School, Wolverhampton Sedgley Park School was a Roman Catholic Academy located on the outskirts of Wolverhampton, then part of Staffordshire. The school was founded by William Errington, at the request of Bishop Richard Challoner, on 25 March 1763. History Errington ...

(1862-1863) and

St Cuthbert's College, Ushaw Ushaw College (formally St Cuthbert's College, Ushaw), is a former Catholic seminary near the village of Ushaw Moor, County Durham, England, which is now a heritage and cultural tourist attraction. The college is known for its Georgian and Vict ...

(1864-1866), where his brothers and uncles had studied for the priesthood. At Ushaw, Gillow developed an abiding interest in Lancashire Catholicism, resulting in the publication of '' The Tyldesley Diary'' in 1873. In 1878 Gillow married Eleanor McKenna, daughter of John McKenna, of

Dunham Massey Hall Dunham Massey Hall, usually known simply as Dunham Massey, is an English country house in the parish of Dunham Massey in the district of Trafford, near Altrincham, Greater Manchester. During World War I it was temporarily used as the Stamford M ...

, with whom he had seven children. In marrying into the McKennas, Gillow secured himself a private income which allowed him to pursue his antiquarian interests.J.F.X. Bevan
‘Gillow, Joseph (1850–1921)’
''

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

'', Oxford University Press, 2004; accessed 1 August 2008 Gillow published various researches into the history of Roman Catholicism in

, but his greatest achievement was ''A Literary and Biographical History, or Bibliographical Dictionary of the English Catholics : from the Breach with Rome, in 1534, to the Present Time'' (5 vols, 1885-1902), available in Google Books. To fit his material into the five volumes allotted him by his publishers, he needed to abbreviate the later volumes. Cardinal Gasquet described the dictionary as a ‘veritable storehouse of information’, however, until 1986, no index was available. Gillow was appointed honorary recorder of the

Catholic Record Society The Catholic Record Society (Registered Charity No. 313529), founded in 1904, is a scholarly society devoted to the study of Reformation and post-Reformation Catholicism in England and Wales. It has been described as "the premier Catholic histo ...

at its foundation in 1904, and was a frequent contributor.

Other works

'Lord Burghley's Map of Lancashire', ''Miscellanea of the Catholic Record Society, 4'' (London, 1907), pp. 162-216 and frontispiece
* ''The Tyldseley Diary'' (editor) * ''The Haydock Papers'' * ''St. Thomas Priory: the Story of a Staffordshire Mission'' * ''Lancashire Recusants'' * ''A Catalogue of the Martyrs in Englande for Profession of the Catholique Faith since the yeare of Our Lord 1535''

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gillow, Joseph 1850 births 1921 deaths English antiquarians English Roman Catholics English bibliographers People from Hale, Greater Manchester Writers from Preston, Lancashire Alumni of Ushaw College Clergy from Preston, Lancashire 19th-century English historians 20th-century English historians

Biography

Other works

See also

References

External links