Newman and His Contemporaries

by Edward Short

  Keble, John (1792–1866). Fellow and tutor of Oriel, Keble, whose assize sermon on National Apostasy (1833) helped launch the Oxford Movement, of which he was a leading figure, together with Newman, Hurrell Froude and Pusey. He became Vicar of Hursley in 1836. After Newman’s secession in 1845, he remained an influential figure for Anglo-Catholics.

  Kingsley, Charles (1819–1875). Novelist and Christian Socialist whose “gratuitous slander” prompted Newman to write his great autobiography, Apologia Pro Vita Sua (1864). For years after their controversy, Newman prayed for his accuser and was pleased when Kingsley publicly opposed the Church of England’s dropping of the Athanasian Creed.

  Lake, William Charles (1817–1897). After being at Rugby under Arnold, Lake entered Balliol College in 1835. A moderate High Churchman, he came under Newman’s influence in his last year as an undergraduate. He became a Fellow of Balliol in 1838, and took orders in 1842. He played a part in university reform in the 1850s, and left Oxford in 1858 to become Rector of Huntspill, Somerset. In 1869 he was appointed Dean of Durham by Gladstone, and helped to found the College of Science at Newcastle. In his autobiography, Lake described Newman’s abiding influence.

  Leo XIII (1810–1903). Ruling the papacy with brilliant mastery for over twenty-five years, Leo expanded the Church outside Europe, encouraged Catholics to rediscover the work of St. Thomas Aquinas, reaffirmed the Church’s role as the custodian of liberty, and enhanced the papacy’s international stature. In 1879 he made Newman a Cardinal. Leo XIII exhibited special solicitude for the conversion of England in his letter Ad Anglos (1895). In 1896 he pronounced the invalidity of Anglican orders.

  Liddon, Henry Parry (1829–1890). Pusey’s disciple and biographer, with whom Newman corresponded about matters relating to Pusey and the High Church.

  Lloyd, Charles (1784–1829). Regius Professor of Divinity and Bishop of Oxford. At Christ Church, Lloyd recommended that Pusey travel to Germany to report on the new biblical criticism being done there. His lectures on the apostolical roots of the Anglican Church inspired Newman, who later wrote of Lloyd: “He brought me forward, made me known, spoke well of me, and gave me confidence in myself.”

  Lockhart, William (1819–1892). After taking his B.A. at Exeter College, Lockhart joined Newman at Littlemore. In August 1843 he converted. Lockhart wrote vivid reminiscences of Newman in Cardinal Newman: Reminiscences of Fifty Years (1891).

  Lothian, Machioness of (1808–1877). Before meeting Lady Lothian for the first time in 1851, Newman told a mutual friend: “I shall be truly honored by a visit from Lady Lothian – I am not so oppressed by this mountebank Achilli, as to be unfit for ordinary duties …” The only daughter of the 2nd Earl Talbot, in 1831 the marchioness married John William Kerr, 7th Marquis of Lothian, who died in 1841. She was received into the Church in 1851 by Father Brownbill at Farm Street. A woman of great generosity and faith, she was very fond of Newman, as he was of her.

  Manning, Henry Edward (1808–1892). Convert and second Cardinal of Westminister, Manning went up to Balliol from Harrow in 1827. In 1832 he was elected Fellow of Merton and took orders. During the years leading up to his conversion, Newman often confided in Manning. Manning himself converted in 1851 after the Gorham Judgment. He was appointed Archbishop in 1865 and Cardinal in 1875. Although an Ultramontane, Manning had more in common with Newman than their personal antagonism might suggest.

  Maurice, Frederick Denison (1805–1872). Church of England theologian and controversialist who wielded great influence over many within and outside the Broad Church. Educated at home in the Puritan tradition, he went on to Cambridge, where he was one of the founding members of the Apostles, with Alfred Tennyson, one of his lifelong friends. His view of Anglicanism was Gladstonian: he saw the Church of England as a Catholic Protestant Church, flexible enough to appeal to both Anglo-Catholics and Protestants, but pre-eminently an English nationalist Church. Speaking of Maurice and his many acolytes in 1838, Newman observed, “What a set they are! They cannot make religion a reality; nothing more than a literature.” In 1863, Newman wrote to the editor of The Times to protest Maurice’s claim that he interpreted the 39 Articles in Tract 90 in a “non-natural” way. “I would rather be judged by my own words than by Mr. Maurice’s interpretation of them,” Newman wrote. “I distinctly repudiate his accusation that I maintained, either in Tract 90 or elsewhere, the right of a man’s subscribing the Thirty-nine Articles in a non-natural sense. Nor ought he to speak from mere memory, as he seems to confess he did, when making a serious charge against another. I maintained in Tract 90 that the Thirty-nine Articles ought to be subscribed in their ‘literal and grammatical sense;’ but I maintained also that they were so drawn up as to admit, in that grammatical sense, of subscription on the part of persons who differed very much from each other in the judgment which they formed of Catholic doctrine.” Later, after Maurice apologized, Newman wrote him back: “It has before now surprised and pained me, that you have in print spoken of me in terms which jarred with my recollection of you. I have nothing but kind and pleasant thoughts, of the occasions, in times long past, which you have given me, of intercourse with you. Your letter of the 27th has put all right—it has destroyed that incongruity between the past and the present which was to me so unwelcome; and I thank you for it.” Newman’s final estimate of Maurice was generous. “That M. is a man of great powers as well as of great earnestness, is proved by what he has done since—but for myself I ever thought him hazy, and thus lost interest in his writings.” Aubrey de Vere said that listening to Maurice was like trying to eat pea soup with a fork.

  Meyrick, Frederick (1827–1906). Fellow, Bursar and Dean of Trinity College, Oxford. His brother was Meyrick, Thomas (1817–1903), who stayed briefly at Littlemore and converted in 1845. After joining the Jesuits, Thomas suffered bouts of violent insanity, which his brother vividly describes in his memoirs.

  Monsell, William (1812–1894). Educated at Winchester and Oriel, Monsell married the sister of Lord Adare in 1836. He was M.P. for Limerick from 1837 until he was created Lord Emly in 1874. He held various offices in Gladstone’s Liberal governments. While a member of the Church of Ireland, Monsell became influenced by the Oxford Movement, and in 1850 he converted to Rome. He was one of Newman’s closest confidants.

  Mozley, Mrs. John, Jemima Newman (1808–1879). Newman’s second eldest sister and frequent correspondent.

  Mozley, Thomas (1806–1893). English divine and journalist and wife of Newman’s eldest sister Harriett.

  Neri, Philip (1515–1595). Newman’s patron saint and founder of the Oratory. Born in Florence, Philip learned the faith from the Dominican Fathers of St. Mark’s and was known for his good-heartedness, good spirits and contempt for humbug. He was canonized in 1622. Of St. Philip, Newman wrote: “He would not permit any forms or observances to be the characteristics of his Congregation, besides mutual love and hard work. For the interior life he sent [his Oratorians] back, with especial earnestness to the Apostolic Fathers…”

  Neville, William (1824–1905). Oratorian and Newman’s literary executor.

  Norfolk, Henry Fitzalan Howard, 15th Duke of (1847–1917). Succeeded his father in 1860, and was educated at the Oratory School, where he remained until July 1864. He was a model of the Christian gentleman, a generous supporter of Catholic schools and churches, and engaged in numerous public and political activities. Newman addressed his A Letter to the Duke of Norfolk (1875) to him. The Duke was also instrumental in securing Newman’s cardinalate from Leo XIII.

  Oakeley, Frederick (1802–1880). Educated at Christ Church, Oakeley became a Fellow of Balliol in 1827. After joining the Tractarians and befriending W. G. Ward, he converted in 1845. Once ordained, he became a priest at Islington, where he remained friendly with Newman for life.

  Ogle, Octavius (1829–1894). Fourth son of James Adey Ogle, he was at Wadham College, Oxford, then Fellow of Lincoln from 1852–1859.

  Palmerston, Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount (1784–1865). Engli
sh Whig statesman, Prime Minister from 1855–1858 and 1859–1865. When a deputation of Catholic Members of Parliament and of representatives of various corporate towns in Ireland called on Palmerston in 1862 to ask for a charter for the Catholic University, he declined on the ground that “the only possible system of education for Ireland was the mixed system.” He added that with Trinity College and the Queen’s Colleges there were “already in Ireland abundant facilities for the education of the sons of Catholic gentlemen.” Disraeli also declined to grant the Catholic University a charter. In 1872, Newman summed up his view of the Prime Minister when he told Lord Blachford , “… little as I like Lord Palmerston, poor man, I think he with his coarse theatrical ways was the chap to deal with the Yankees.”

  Pattison, Mark (1813–1884). Tractarian and scholar, Pattison’s life ambition was achieved when he became Rector of Lincoln College. An epitome of the disgruntled academic, Pattison wrote one of the greatest of Oxford memoirs, in which he fondly recalled the intellectual companionship that he enjoyed with his first cousin once removed, Philippa Meadows, an engaging autodidact, who had taught herself Greek and Latin. “We corresponded upon books, upon everything we thought or read, from as early a period as I remember, she taking the lead and I following.” But then their intellectual bond unraveled. “We were beginning to resume our philosophical speculations together when the rising tide of Puseyism carried us both off—me first, and her through me …” Pattison freely admitted the extent to which he subscribed to Tractarian principles before returning to his accustomed liberalism; but his adherence was never as thoroughgoing as hers. As he admits, “When her Tractarianism grew to white heat it took the shape, not of a devotion to tenets promulgated in the Tracts, but of exaggerated antipathy to everything that savoured of Anglicanism. Her mother, a good and sensible woman, became alarmed, and thought to stop the mischief by removing from Yorkshire to some place where Anglican privileges could be enjoyed in their plenitude. No place could surely surpass Hursley in this respect; and to Hursley they went. But it was too late. The daughter had got the Roman fever in her veins; everything about the services at Hursley was contemptible, disgusting, odious, and Keble himself, far from being a saint, was discovered to be an addled-headed old hypocrite.”

  Peel, Sir Robert (1788–1850). Served twice as Prime Minister: from 10 December 1834 to 8 April 1835 and from 30 August 1841 to 29 June 1846. Educated at Harrow and Christ Church, Peel won a double first in Classics and Mathematics and Physics in 1808. In 1814 he was awarded his M.A. He entered Lincoln’s Inn in 1809 and intended to pursue a law career, before his father bought him the seat of Cashel in Co. Tipperary with the help of the Duke of Wellington. In 1810 Peel began a parliamentary career that lasted until his death in 1850. Newman worked to unseat him as M.P. for Oxford when he reversed his position on Catholic Emancipation. He also attacked Peel for his Tamworth Reading Room scheme in 1841 through a series of letters to The Times, later published as The Tamworth Reading Room, one of Newman’s greatest works of satire.

  Pius IX (1792–1878). Enjoying the longest pontificate in history, Pius expanded the Church in England and America, carried out an unprecedented number of beatifications and canonizations, defined the Immaculate Conception of the BVM (1854) and consecrated the Catholic world to the Sacred Heart of Jesus (1875). With the publication of the Syllabus of Errors he disavowed the view that the pope “can or should reconcile himself to, or agree with, progress, liberalism, and modern civilization.” During his pontificate, at the First Vatican Council (1870) the doctrine of papal infallibility was defined. Despite, or perhaps because of his Ultramontanism, ‘Pio Nono’ was immensely popular.

  Pollen, John Hungerford (1820–1902). Great-great-nephew of Pepys and nephew of Sir John Walter Pollen, 2nd Baronet of Redenham, Hampshire, he was at Eton and Christ Church, then a Fellow of Merton from 1842–1852, where he came under the influence of the Tractarians. In 1844 he was curate at St. Peter-le-Bailey, Oxford, and from 1847 to 1851 he worked on the staff of St. Saviour’s, Leeds. In 1850 he refused the living of Kibworth in Leicestershire, nearly £1,000 a year, because he was doubtful of Anglicanism. In 1852 he converted to Rome. Afterwards, he devoted himself to art and architecture. In 1855 he became Professor of Fine Arts for Newman’s University Church, and built the University Church. Two years later he settled in London and became the first director of the South Kensington Museum from 1863 to 1867. He was also the private secretary to Lord Ripon. He married in 1855 and had a large family. Two of his sons became Jesuits and one joined Newman’s Oratory. Pollen was one of Newman’s most devoted, talented friends.

  Pusey, Edward Bouverie (1800–1882). Canon of Christ Church and leader of the Oxford Movement, Pusey led the Tractarians after Newman’s secession from the English Church in 1845. The historian Dr. Timothy Larsen describes him as a “Bible man who led an exegetical life.”

  Quin, Windham Thomas Wyndham, 4th Earl of Dunraven and Mount Earl (1841–1926). Tory politician and yachtsman, who competed for the America’s cup in 1893 and 1894. Most of his wealth came from lands owned in New South Wales. Although Dunraven’s staunch support of Lord Randolph Churchill scuttled his political career, he is principally known today for his lead role in drafting the Wyndham Land Act (1903), which revolutionized Irish land tenure by stipulating that Irish landlords should be bought out and the occupier become the owner. The DNB has a good entry on Dunraven, which concludes, “Few of his contemporaries touched life at more points, and although he experimented in many different directions, he dropped nothing that interested him … A large experiment in tobacco-growing at Adare was checked by the accidental burning of his factory in 1916; but even so he continued to grow as much Turkish leaf as would supply the cigarette factory that he had established.”

  Robinson, George Frederick Samuel Robinson, 1st Marquis of Ripon (1827–1909). Born at 10 Downing Street, when his father Viscount Goderich was briefly Prime Minister, his mother was Lady Sarah Hobart, daughter of the 4th Earl of Buckinghamshire. Despite being part of a wealthy Whig family, he was a descendant of Oliver Cromwell through his father and of John Hampden through his mother. In his youth, he became a radical and a democrat and approved the revolutions of 1848. For many years, he accounted himself a Christian Socialist. After spending six years in the House of Commons, he moved to the Lords. During the Crimean War he worked for Army reform; in the wake of the Indian Mutiny, he pressed for conciliation of India. As Under Secretary for War and Under Secretary for India, he advanced both policies. Thereafter he held various government posts. He also dealt adroitly in Washington with the aftermath of the American Civil War, and was rewarded in 1871 with a Marquisate. In 1874, after reading Newman’s writings for many years, he converted to Catholicism.

  Rogers, Frederic, later Baron Blachford (1811–1889). Permanent Under Secretary of State for the Colonies. He came to Oriel from Eton expressly to study under Newman, though he later broke off all relations with him after he converted. They were reconciled after 1863. Rogers was one of Newman’s closest Oxford friends and their correspondence is full of interesting exchanges. In 1880 Lord Blachford wrote to Newman from Menton to reminiscence about the time he spent with Mrs. Newman and her daughters at Iffley in 1831: “I often think of those old Iffley days in which she [Jemima] added so much to the pleasure of all about her, and certainly – I am going to say not least – to mine. What a long time back it is – and how pleasant to remember. Before Germany or Italy or a Reformed Parliament – and when so many other things were so little what they are, and Froude used to say ‘When will anything happen to disturb this stagnancy.’”

  Rosebery, Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of (1847–1929). Scottish statesman educated at Eton and Christ Church. From 1874, he held various government posts. He was Prime Minister from 1894–1895. In addition to writing books on Pitt, Peel, Napoleon and Chatham, Rosebery was a fan of the turf, winning the Derby in 1894, 1895 and 1905. After his highly frustrating stint as Rector of the Catholic University
in Dublin, Newman would have known what Rosebery was talking about when he said, “I have known the sweets of place with power, but of place with the minimum of power—that is a purgatory, and if not a purgagtory it is a hell.”

  Russell, Charles William (1812–1880). Irish Professor of Philosophy at Maynooth, Russell was critically sympathetic to Tractarianism and had a key exchange of letters with Newman before he converted.

  Russell, John, 1st Earl Russell (1792–1878). British Whig statesman, Prime Minister 1846–1852 and 1865–1866. When Lord John Russell introduced the abortive Ecclesiastical Titles Bill (1851), which was framed to outlaw Wiseman’s reconstitution of the English hierarchy, Ullathorne wrote to the editor of The Times: “Is it wise … to put the religious teachers of a large body of her Majesty’s subjects in conscientious opposition to the law … ?”

  Ryder, George Dudley (1810–1880). After studying with Newman at Oriel, Ryder converted with his wife and family in Rome in 1846. His eldest son, Henry Dudley Ryder, joined the Birmingham Oratory. His second son, George Lisle, became the Chairman of the Board of Customs.

  St. John, Ambrose (1815–1875). One of Newman’s best friends, St. John was educated at Christ Church and converted in 1843, after spending time at Littlemore. He studied for the priesthood with Newman in Rome.

  Saint-Simon, Claude Henri de Rouvroy (1760–1825). Founder of French Socialism, he sought to reform religion by abandoning dogma and setting up in its place a new humanitarian lay religion.

  Schleiermacher, Friedrich Daniel Ernest (1768–1834). German theologian influenced by Spinoza, Leibniz and Kant, he sought to revive religion by returning his contemporaries to “a sense and taste for the infinite.” A great advocate of feeling as the basis of religion, he opposed at once German rationalism and dogmatic Christian orthodoxy.