Catholic History – Cheltenham Local History Society

THE CATHOLIC MISSION AT CHELTENHAM 1799-1809 by Richard Barton and Brian Torode

A census reveals that there were only 210 Roman Catholics living in the whole of Gloucestershire in 1773, served by four resident chaplains who were attached to the families at Hartpury Court, Beckford Hall, Horton Court and Hatherop Castle. During the early 1780’s a Franciscan priest, Father Andrew Weetman, who was missioner at Perthyre near Monmouth, also celebrated Mass periodically in Gloucester and at Stroud. The Catholic community in the city was undoubtedly very small as it had been virtually eclipsed after the chapel there had been ransacked by the followers of William of Orange less than a century beforehand.

BIRDSALL AND THE FOUNDING OF THE CHELTENHAM CATHOLIC MISSION by Richard Barton

‘Death at Broadway, Worcestershire, after a severe and lingering illness, the Very Rev John Birdsall, aged 63, for 25 years Catholic Priest of this town and President of the Order of Benedictines. A man beloved and respected by his congregation and numerous friends – in him the poor have sustained an irreparable loss. He possessed very superior talent and was a most accomplished scholar’ (Cheltenham Free Press, Saturday August 5th, 1837)

AFTER BIRDSALL (1837-1852) by Richard Barton

During the first forty years of the Catholic Mission in Cheltenham Birdsall had accomplished much of the pioneering work. He built the chapel and established a viable and stable resident congregation. He also opened a poor school and stood up to the opposition of the evangelicals in the town especially during the period of Catholic Emancipation.

ST GREGORY’S SCHOOL, CHELTENHAM by Richard Barton

A significant development at Cheltenham was the provision of a charity school for the poor, annexed to the Catholic chapel and opened on 23rd April 1827. The school was made possible as a result of the bequest of the Honourable Mrs Marcia Vavasour, who died in Cheltenham, together with a donation from Lord Shrewsbury.

ANTI-CATHOLICISM IN NINETEENTH CENTURY CHELTENHAM by Richard Barton

Between the passing of the Catholic Emancipation Bill in 1829 and the Restoration of the Hierarchy in 1850, Catholicism throughout the country experienced a certain amount of opposition, but in Cheltenham this reached the proportions of outright hostility. It seems strange to think that only forty years before the 1850 riot Dom Augustine Birdsall, the resident priest, was able to report that he had managed to open his chapel without experiencing opposition. During these years the religious scene in Cheltenham had dramatically changed, largely due to the influence of one man, Rev Francis Close.

DEAN CLOSE’S FIGHT AGAINST ‘ROMANISM’ by Brian Torode

Cheltenham had had a Roman Catholic presence certainly since the end of the 18th century and we know that since 1807, L’Abbe Cesar Robin, who had come to Cheltenham to teach French, was saying Mass for local Catholics first in private houses, then in the back room of a public house in North Street, later in the Town Hall in Regent Street. This later venue did not endear the community to local Protestants who objected when their desire to use the Hall clashed with a ‘Popish’ Mass booking.

DAUGHTERS OF THE CROSS IN CHELTENHAM 1863-1873 by Richard Barton

During the 1850’s education for wealthy middle class girls experienced a revolution in Cheltenham as a result of the innovative work of Miss Dorothea Beale, the Principal of the Ladies’ College. She believed, passionately, that girls should have an identical education to boys and she opened up to her pupils a far wider curriculum than they would previously have enjoyed. Wealthier Roman Catholic families had no suitable school for their daughters and this naturally discouraged many of them from settling in the town. Dom William Benedict Scarisbrick O.S.B., the Benedictine assistant priest.

ST GREGORY’S CONVENT, CHELTENHAM by Richard Barton

Recently, a rather interesting building has been sold in Cheltenham – the former St Gregory’s Convent in Saint Paul’s Street North. Opposite to the old convent is another building which is up for sale too and this is the former St Gregory’s School, which served the Catholic children of Cheltenham from 1857 until 1936. These two buildings were, for many years, closely associated as the convent was the home for the teachers at the school. St Gregory’s School was founded in 1827 and, by 1853, it had outgrown.

NAZARETH HOUSE, CHELTENHAM, 1884 – 1916 by Richard Barton

From 1884 Nazareth House was one of the chief outlets for charitable works in Cheltenham. The present community of sisters is fortunate in that it possesses a ‘Foundation Book’ from which one may trace the development of the House to the present day. Details of bequests, as well as information about the erection of the buildings, are provided and major liturgical celebrations receive due mention as do the many friends of the community.

URSULINES IN CHELTENHAM by Richard Barton

During the year 1907 a community of Ursuline Sisters from Angers was driven out of France as a result of the anti-clerical legislation which had closed many Catholic schools run by religious. Mere Marie Chrystome Audouin and a number of Sisters crossed to Diss in Norfolk. From there they moved to ‘Inholmes’ in Pittville Circus Road, Cheltenham.