William Bernard Ullathorne

The Most Reverend William Bernard Ullathorne O.S.B.
Bishop of Birmingham
Church	Roman Catholic Church
Diocese	Birmingham
Appointed	29 September 1850
Term ended	January 1888
Successor	Edward Ilsley
Other posts	Titular Archbishop of Cabasa
Orders
Ordination	24 September 1831
Consecration	21 June 1846 by John Briggs
Personal details
Birth name	William Ullathorne
Born	7 May 1806 Pocklington, Yorkshire, England
Died	21 March 1889, (aged 82) Oscott College, New Oscott, England
Buried	Dominican Sisters Convent, Stone, Staffordshire, England
Nationality	English
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Parents	William Ullathorne and Hannah Ullathorne (née Longstaff)

William Bernard Ullathorne (7 May 1806 – 21 March 1889) was an English prelate who held high offices in the Roman Catholic Church during the nineteenth-century.

Early life

Ullathorne was born in Pocklington, Yorkshire, the eldest of ten children of William Ullathorne, a prosperous businessman with interests in groceries, draperies and spirits, and Hannah (née Longstaff), who converted to Roman Catholicism when she married. When he was nine years of age, Ullathorne's family relocated to Scarborough, where he began his schooling. He is a descendant of Saint Thomas More through his great grandmother, Mary More. ^[1]

At 12 he was taken from school and placed in his father's office to learn the management of accounts. The intention was to send him to school again, but Ullathorne wished to go to sea, and at the age of 15, with his parents' permission, he made the first of several voyages to the Baltic Sea and Mediterranean. While attending Mass in Memel he experienced something in the nature of a conversion, and on his return asked the mate if he had any religious books. Ullathorne was given a translation of Marsollier's Life of St Jane Frances de Chantal, which deepened his religious devotion. At the end of this voyage he returned home. In February 1823, aged 16, he was sent to Downside, near Bath, where he was mentored by John Bede Polding, afterwards the first Archbishop of Sydney, who influenced him greatly.^[2]

Priesthood

In 1823 Ullathorne entered the monastery of Downside Abbey, taking the vows in 1825. He was ordained priest in 1831, and in 1833 went to New South Wales as vicar-general to Bishop William Placid Morris (1794–1872), whose jurisdiction extended over the Australian missions. It was mainly Ullathorne who caused Pope Gregory XVI to establish the hierarchy in Australia. Ullathorne returned to Britain in 1836,^[3] met Bishop Murphy and enlisted for the Australian mission. After another visit to Australia, Ullathorne settled in England in 1841, taking charge of the Roman Catholic mission at Coventry. He was consecrated bishop in 1847 as Vicar Apostolic of the Western District, in succession to Bishop C.M. Baggs (1806–1845), but was transferred to the Central District in the following year.^[3] Ullathorne helped found St Osburg's Church in Coventry.^[2]

Bishop of Birmingham

On the re-establishment of the hierarchy in England and Wales, he became the first Roman Catholic Bishop of the Diocese of Birmingham. During his nearly four decades of tenure at the see 67 new churches, 32 convents and nearly 200 mission schools were built. In 1888 he retired and received from Pope Leo XIII the honorary title of Archbishop of Cabasa. He died at Oscott College^[3] and his monument is in the crypt of St. Chad's Cathedral, Birmingham, although he was buried in the sanctuary of the Church of St Dominic and the Immaculate Conception at Stone, Staffordshire. There is Bishop Ullathorne RC School in Coventry which is named after him.^[4]

Of Ullathorne's theological and philosophical works the best known are The Endowments of Man (1882); The Groundwork of the Christian Virtues (1883); Christian Patience (1886). For an account of his life see his Autobiography, edited by A. T. Drane (London).^[3]

Notes

1. http://www.thomasmorestudies.org/docs/Descendants_John.pdf
2. Schofield & Skinner 2009, The English Vicars Apostolic, p. 242.
3.  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Ullathorne, William Bernard". Encyclopædia Britannica. 27 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 566.
4. "Bishop Ullathorne School". Retrieved 20 May 2014.

References

• "Bishop William Bernard Ullathorne, O.S.B.". Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved 20 May 2014.

• Schofield, Nicholas; Skinner, Gerard (2009). The English Vicars Apostolic. Oxford: Family Publications. ISBN 978-1-907380-01-3.
• T. L. Suttor, 'Ullathorne, William Bernard (1806–1889)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Vol. 2, MUP, 1967, pp 544–546; retrieved 15 October 2009
• Serle, Percival (1949). "Ullathorne, William Bernard". Dictionary of Australian Biography. Sydney: Angus and Robertson.
• Mennell, Philip (1892). " Ullathorne, The Most Rev. William Bernard". The Dictionary of Australasian Biography. London: Hutchinson & Co. Wikisource 
• "The autobiography of Archbishop Ullathorne : with selections from his letters" at Archive.org
•  Lee, Sidney, ed. (1899). "Ullathorne, William Bernard". Dictionary of National Biography. 57. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
• Champ, Judith F. "Ullathorne, William (1806–1889)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/27985. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)

External links

• Works by or about William Bernard Ullathorne at Internet Archive
• Works by William Bernard Ullathorne at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)