Charles Eyre (bishop)
Charles Petre Eyre | |
|---|---|
| Archbishop of Glasgow | |
 Charles Petre Eyre, Archbishop of Glasgow | |
| Church | Roman Catholic Church |
| Archdiocese | Glasgow |
| In office | 1878–1902 |
| Successor | John Aloysius Maguire |
| Previous post(s) | Vicar Apostolic of the Western District(1869–78) Titular ArchbishopofAnazarbus(1868–78) Apostolic DelegatetoScotland(1868–69) |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | 19 March 1842 (Priest) |
| Consecration | 3 December 1868 (Bishop) byKarl-August von Reisach |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Charles Petre Eyre 7 November 1817 |
| Died | 27 March 1902 (aged 84) Glasgow,Scotland |
| Buried |
|
| Nationality | British |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
| Parents | John Lewis Eyre and Sara Eyre (née Parker) |
| Alma mater | St Cuthbert's College, Ushaw Venerable English College |
| Motto | Neminem metue innocens |
| Coat of arms |  |
Charles Petre Eyre(1817–1902) was aRoman Catholicclergyman who was appointed the first Roman Catholic archbishop of Glasgow since the Scottish Reformation. He served as archbishop from 1878 to 1902.
Family
[edit]Born at Askham Bryan Hall,Askham Bryan,nearYork,England, on 7 November 1817, he was the fifth of nine children of John Lewis Eyre (died 1880) and Sara Eyre, née Parker (died 1825).[1]His father later became a director at theLondon and South Western Railway.His family was therecusantEyre family ofDerbyshire,a family which had retained their Roman Catholic beliefs since theEnglish Reformationand suffered land loss as a result.
Education and early ministry
[edit]On 28 March 1826, Charles was received intoSt Cuthbert's College,nearDurham.He received thetonsureand the fourminor orders(acolyte,exorcist,lectorandporter) fromBishop Briggson 17 December 1839 and he wasordainedasubdeaconby the bishop on 25 May 1839.[1]In December 1839, he entered theVenerable English College, Rome,and wasordainedapriestthere on 19 March 1842.[2]He returned to England and was appointed an assistant priest at St Andrew's Catholic Church,Newcastlein 1843, before being transferred toSt Mary's Church, Newcastlein 1844; becoming the senior priest there in 1847. Afterwards, he took positions atWooler,Illness and Haggerstone between 1849 and 1856, before returning to Newcastle. He was for many years acanonof theDiocese of Hexham and Newcastle;and for some time wasvicar-generalof the diocese.[1]
Episcopal career
[edit]Although previously considered for other bishoprics, it was not until 29 November 1868 that he was officially nominated for a prelacy. He was appointedTitular ArchbishopofAnazarbusandApostolic Delegatefor Scotland on 3 December 1868.[3]He wasconsecratedat the church ofSant'Andrea della Valle,Romeon 31 January 1869.[1]The principalconsecratorwas CardinalKarl-August von Reisach,Archbishop Emeritus of Munich and Freising, and the principal co-consecrators wereHenry Edward Manning,Archbishop of Westminster andFrédéric-François-Xavier Ghislain de Mérode,Titular Archbishop of Melitene.[2]
Following the resignation of BishopJohn Grayon 4 March 1869,[4]Archbishop Eyre was appointed theApostolic Administratorof theWestern District of Scotlandon 16 April 1869.[1]He travelled toGlasgowin March 1869, charged with organising the re-establishment of Roman Catholic hierarchy in Scotland. After attending theFirst Vatican Council(1869–70), he returned to Scotland in a mission to build schools and to unite the Scottish catholic community, bitterly divided between Scottish and Irish Catholics.[5]In 1874, he opened St Peter's Seminary at Bearsden (subsequently removed to Cardross under the same name).
Despite some resistance among Scottish Catholics, theScottish hierarchy was restoredbyPope Leo XIIIon 15 March 1878. The Western District was divided into the Archdiocese of Glasgow, theDiocese of Argyll and the Islesand theDiocese of Galloway;with Charles Petre Eyre appointed as the first Roman Catholic archbishop of Glasgow since theScottish Reformation.[2]
Six years later he established acathedral chapter.Archbishop Eyre was successful to a large extent in integrating the new establishment into Scottish society. TheUniversity of Glasgowawarded him anHonoraryDoctor of Lawsin 1892. He was one of the early patrons ofCeltic FC,founded in 1888 with a name designed to inspire unity between Scottish and Irish Catholics in the Glasgow area.
In 1893 Eyre invitedMary Lescherand theSisters of Notre Dameto come fromLiverpoolto establish a community in Glasgow.[6]TheNotre Dame Training Collegebegan teaching in January 1895. In 1897Notre Dame High School in Glasgowwas opened as a private secondary andMontessori school,[6]
He died at his home at 6 Bowmant Gardens in Glasgow on 27 March 1902, aged 84.[2]He was buried in his seminary at Bearsden; now the site of the newBearsden Academybuilding. His body was later moved toSt Andrew's Cathedral, Glasgow.Archbishop Eyre left a number of religious and historical works, including works on Scottish saints, the medieval church of Glasgow, andSt Cuthbert.[1]
Notes
[edit]- ^abcdefBrady 1876,vol. 3, p. 474.
- ^abcd"Archbishop Charles Petre Eyre".Catholic-Hierarchy.org.David M. Cheney.
- ^Brady 1876,vol. 3, pp. 473–474.
- ^"Bishop John Gray".Catholic-Hierarchy.org.David M. Cheney.
- ^Gallagher, Thomas (1987).Glasgow, the Uneasy Peace: Religious Tension in Modern Scotland, 1819–1914.Manchester University Press. pp. 43–46.ISBN978-0-7190-2396-5.
- ^abMatthew, H. C. G.; Harrison, B., eds. (23 September 2004),"Mary Adela Lescher",The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography,Oxford: Oxford University Press,doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/48666,retrieved16 June2023
References
[edit]- Brady, W. Maziere(1876).The Episcopal Succession in England, Scotland and Ireland, A.D. 1400 to 1875.Vol. 3. Rome: Tipografia Della Pace.OCLC613910125.
- McHugh, Mary (2004). "Eyre, Charles Petre (1817–1902)".Oxford Dictionary of National Biography(online ed.). Oxford University Press.doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/37405.(Subscription orUK public library membershiprequired.)
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