Father william ullathorne biography

​Ullathorne, The Most Rev. William Bernard, D.D., O.S.B., first Vicar-General of Australia, was born at Pocklington, Yorkshire, on May 7th, 1806. His father was a grocer, draper, and spirit merchant in the town, supplying it with coal and discounting bills for its inhabitants in the absence of a bank. The family history is somewhat curious. The Archbishop's great-grandfather was a gentleman of property in the West Riding of the county of York, having acquired an estate through his marriage with Miss Binks, one of the lineal descendants of the great Sir Thomas More and a connection of the Waterton family. The property was forfeited through Mr. Ullathorne being mixed up in the 1745 ​rebellion, the Archbishop's grandfather and his brother being placed in charge of Dr. Lawrence, of York. At his residence they were frightened by discovering a skeleton in their bedroom cupboard, and ran away, the former becoming apprentice to a shoemaker, and the latter a chemist in London. The Archbishop's mother was a native of Spilsby,in Lincolnshire, of which county her father was Chief Constable. Mrs. Ullathorne was also a cousin of Sir John Franklin, the Arctic explorer and Governor of Tasmania. His parents were both engaged prior to their marriage at Townsend's great drapery establishment in Holborn, London. Mr. Ullathorne having converted his future wife to the Catholic faith, married her, and they then started in business on their own account at Pocklington. The Archbishop was educated at Protestant schools at Burnby and Scarborough, to which town his father removed in 1815. When twelve years of age he was employed in his father's business for twelve months, and then went to sea on the brig Leghorn, of Scarborough. After being several years a sailor he went back to his father's business, but in Feb. 1823 was sent to be educated at the Benedictine Priory at Downside, Bath.

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EnglishBenedictinemonk and bishop, b. at Pocklington, Yorkshire, 7 May, 1806; d. at Oscott, Warwickshire, 21 March, 1889. His father was a lineal descendant from [Saint] Thomas More, but had fallen in life and was then the chief tradesman of the village. His mother, a distant connection of Sir John Franklin, the Arctic explorer, was a convert. When he was ten years old, the whole family removed to Scarborough, where young Ullathorne made his first acquaintance with the sea. His lively imagination and adventurous spirit led him to desire to be on the ocean and to see the world; and for three and a half years his wish was gratified, during which time he made several voyages in the Mediterranean and the Baltic Sea and elsewhere. It was on one of these voyages that a chance opportunity of attending Mass at Memel, a port in the Baltic, proved the turning-point of his life, for he then and there made up his mind to devoted his life to the service of God. On his return to England, therefore, he entered as a novice of the well- known Benedictine community at Downside, near Bath, in February, 1823. He received the habit in March, 1824, and was professed a year later, taking the name of Bernard. Later on he spent a year as prefect at Ampleforth College, near York, and was ordainedpriest at Ushaw College in 1831. Soon after his return to Downside, in response to an invitation from Dr. Morris, O.S.B., Vicar Apostolic of the Mauritius, Ullathorne offered himself as a volunteer for the Australian mission, which then formed part of that vicariate. His offer was accepted, and in view of the difficulty there had always been of governing the colony from such a distance, Dr. Morris gave him full powers as his vicar-general there.

Ullath

​ULLATHORNE, WILLIAM BERNARD (1806–1889), Roman catholic bishop of Birmingham, afterwards archbishop of Cabasa, was born at Pocklington in the East Riding of Yorkshire on 7 May 1806. His father, who was a grocer, draper, and spirit merchant, belonged to the ancient catholic family of the Ullathornes, and his mother, a convert, was a distant relative of Sir John Franklin, the arctic navigator. When William was between nine and ten years old the family removed from Pocklington to Scarborough, and at the age of fifteen he became a sailor, and made several voyages to the Baltic and the Mediterranean. Touching at Memel on one of these voyages, he landed on a Sunday in order to hear mass, and was powerfully affected by the solemnity of the celebration and the devotion of the people. Soon after his return home he was placed, in February 1823, at the Benedictine College of St. Gregory, Downside, near Bath.

On 12 March 1824 he received the Benedictine habit, taking the name of Bernard, and on 5 April 1825 he made his profession as a religious. He next studied theology under Dr. Brown, afterwards bishop of Newport and Menevia, and in October 1828 he was made subdeacon. In September 1830 he was raised to the diaconate at Prior Park by Bishop Peter Augustine Baines [q. v.]. He was ordained priest at Ushaw College on 24 Sept. 1831.

In 1832 he accepted the invitation of Bishop Morris to assist him in the Australasian mission as vicar-general, and at the same time received from government the appointment of his majesty's catholic chaplain in New South Wales. Embarking on 12 Sept. 1832 at London, he reached Sydney on 19 Feb. 1833. A graphic account of his missionary labours in Australia is given in his ‘Autobiography,’ including a most interesting description of his intercourse with the convicts, who then formed a large portion of the Australian population. It was mainly through his representa