Conferences – English Catholic History Association

The Canons Regular of the Lateran, based at their Abbey in Bodmin, played a key role in the revival of the Catholic faith in Cornwall in the 19th century. They arrived in England from France in 1881, as a result of the anti-clerical legislation in that country at that time, and were asked by the Bishop of Plymouth to remain in his diocese to assist in the re-evangelization of Cornwall, based in a mother-house in Bodmin.  During the years which followed, they established missions in many Cornish towns and these remain as permanent Catholic churches today.  Abbot Anthony spent his novitiate in Bodmin.  He gives a personal account of his life as a young novice, as well as an overview of the history of the Canons in Cornwall and their foundation as an Order in the 4th century by St Augustine of Hippo.

HOW TO LISTEN TO THIS TALK     Playing time 26 minutes

Unlike the Arundells, the Molesworths were not an old Catholic family, but they played a very signficant role in the revival of Catholicism in Cornwall, after the conversion in the mid 19th century, of Paul Molesworth, a Church of England clergyman and the 10th Baronet, and his wife, Jane.   Paul and Jane Molesworth became significant benefactors of the new Catholic mission churches, with gifts of goods or land to the new churches in Penzance, Newquay, Liskeard and Plymouth Cathedral, amongst others. The land on which the present Catholic Church of Newquay stands, was given by the family.  Mrs Shaw is a descendant of the family and gives a fascinating personal account of the family’s involvement in the Catholic life of Cornwall.

There is one correction to the genealogical detail in this talk: Prudence Molesworth who married Hugh Gregor of Trewarthenick, was the sister of John M. the 4th Baronet, not John M. the 5th.

HOW TO LISTEN TO THIS TALK     Playing time 26 minutes

This is the first of three talks on Catholicism in Cornwall.  The Arundells were a leading Cornish family, with branches at Wardour Castle in Somerset and lands at Chideock in Dorset.  The family came to England with William the Conqueror and comprises 31 generations over 900 years.  Mrs de Gaynesford, who is a descendant of the Arundells, gives a moving account of the tenacity with which the Cornish branch of the family held to the Catholic faith during penal times.  Sir Humphrey Arundell who led the Prayer Book Uprising in Cornwall of 1549 was martyred at Tyburn and Sir John Arundell spent 5 years in total in the Tower of London for the crime of sheltering priests at his home of Lanherne.  He died there after torture and starvation.

HOW TO LISTEN TO THIS TALK     Playing time 43 minutes

Until the Civil War in the mid 17th century Wales was the most Catholic part of Britain. Mrs O’Keefe details the increasing severity of the laws against the practice of the Catholic religion in England and Wales from the time of Elizabeth I onwards, together with the way these laws were largely disregarded in Monmouthshire as a result of the high proportion of leading Catholic families who held positions of responsibility in public life, despite the penal laws against them.  However, after the ‘Popish Plot’ of 1678 this changed, resulting in the deaths of several priests such as David Lewis, Philip Evans and John Kemble, who were canonised in 1970 as 3 of the 40 Martyrs of England & Wales.  Mrs O’Keefe is a lecturer at Cardiff University in medieval art & architecture, with a special interest in religious history.

HOW TO LISTEN TO THIS TALK     Playing time 55 minutes

The Christian origins of the town of Wells may go back to Roman times.  The excavation of an early mortuary indicates the presence of Christian worship dating from the early Saxon period.  Evidence of Christian burials date from the 8th century.  In 705 AD the first minster church was consecrated, which, when the parochial system was introduced became the cathedral church of Somerset.  There was mediaval rivalry between it and the Abbey of Glastonbury which retained its independence from Wells with some difficulty.  The Bishopric was added to that of Bath in the early medieval period and has remained so to this day.   The present day world-famous medieval cathedral was altered internally during and after the Reformation, but still substantially reflects its Catholic origin.

HOW TO LISTEN TO THIS TALK     Playing time 38 minutes