Henry Formby
Encyclopedia
Henry Formby was an English Roman Catholic priest and writer.
grammar school, the Charterhouse School
, London, and Brasenose College, Oxford
, where he took his M. A. Having taken Anglican orders, he became vicar of Ruardean
in Gloucestershire
, where in 1843 he completed his first book, "A Visit to the East", and he showed the interest in ecclesiastical music that always characterized him in a pamphlet reprinted from "The English Churchman" called "Parochial Psalmody Considered" (1845).
At this time he was profoundly influenced by the Oxford Movement
, and soon after his friend John Henry Newman became a Catholic, he decided to resign his living and join the Catholic Church. His reception took place on 24 January 1846, at Oscott
, where he continued studying theology till he was ordained priest, 18 September 1847.
He was attached to St. Chad's Cathedral.
He also published "The Young Singer's Book of Songs" (1852), "School Songs and Poetry to Which Music Is Adapted" (1852), and he was one of the editors of the "First Series of Hymns and Songs for the Use of Catholic Schools and Families" (1853). Other works belonging to this period were: "The Duties and Happiness of Domestic Service" (1851), "The March of Intellect; or, The Alleged Hostility of the Catholic Church to the Diffusion of Knowledge Examined" (1852), and "State Rationalism in Education; An Examination into the Actual Working and Results of the System of the Board of Commissioners of National Education in Ireland" (1854).
Besides his interest in ecclesiastical music, he published a series of illustrated books, including his "Pictorial Bible and Church History Stories", which began with "Pictorial Bible Stories for the Young" (1856). An edition of the complete work was published in 1857, followed by another in three volumes with new illustrations in 1862, and an abridged one-volume edition in 1871.
From 1857 to 1864 he took charge of the mission at Wednesbury
; during which time he published "The Fifteen Mysteries of the Rosary" (1857), "The Life of St. Benedict" (1858), "The Parables of Our Lord Jesus Christ" (1858), "The Life of St. Patrick" (1862), all of which were illustrated. A sermon on "Our Lady of Salette" (1857) and "The Inquiry of a Retired Citizen into the Truth of the Catholic Religion" (1863) were also published while he was at Wednesbury.
In 1864 he retired from active missionary work and withdrew to the Dominican priory at Hinckley
in Leicestershire, where he spent the remaining twenty years of his life in issuing books and pamphlets and in helping to train the novices; For some years he edited "The Monthly Magazine of the Holy Rosary". His later publications included:
He also wrote other devotional and educational books.
, Lancashire. The family had been Catholic until the eighteenth century, when, with the exception of a younger branch, they lost their faith and closed the chapel of their fifteenth-century mansion.
Life
Henry Formby was educated at ClitheroeClitheroe
Clitheroe is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Ribble Valley in Lancashire, England. It is 1½ miles from the Forest of Bowland and is often used as a base for tourists in the area. It has a population of 14,697...
grammar school, the Charterhouse School
Charterhouse School
Charterhouse School, originally The Hospital of King James and Thomas Sutton in Charterhouse, or more simply Charterhouse or House, is an English collegiate independent boarding school situated at Godalming in Surrey.Founded by Thomas Sutton in London in 1611 on the site of the old Carthusian...
, London, and Brasenose College, Oxford
Brasenose College, Oxford
Brasenose College, originally Brazen Nose College , is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. As of 2006, it has an estimated financial endowment of £98m...
, where he took his M. A. Having taken Anglican orders, he became vicar of Ruardean
Ruardean
Ruardean is a village in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, England, to the west of Cinderford. It is situated on a hillside with views west towards the mountains of South Wales. Little now remains of the village's industrial history, but once it was a centre for iron ore smelting furnaces,...
in Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....
, where in 1843 he completed his first book, "A Visit to the East", and he showed the interest in ecclesiastical music that always characterized him in a pamphlet reprinted from "The English Churchman" called "Parochial Psalmody Considered" (1845).
At this time he was profoundly influenced by the Oxford Movement
Oxford Movement
The Oxford Movement was a movement of High Church Anglicans, eventually developing into Anglo-Catholicism. The movement, whose members were often associated with the University of Oxford, argued for the reinstatement of lost Christian traditions of faith and their inclusion into Anglican liturgy...
, and soon after his friend John Henry Newman became a Catholic, he decided to resign his living and join the Catholic Church. His reception took place on 24 January 1846, at Oscott
Oscott
Oscott is a ward in the northwest of Birmingham, England, within the formal district of Perry Barr.The Ward is centred on the area known as Old Oscott, and should not be confused with nearby New Oscott. It includes the former Booths Farm sand quarry, Aldridge Road Recreation Ground, Witton Cemetery...
, where he continued studying theology till he was ordained priest, 18 September 1847.
He was attached to St. Chad's Cathedral.
Works
He published three works on plain chant:- "The Catholic Christian's Guide to the Right Use of Christian Psalmody of the Psalter" (1847);
- "The Plain Chant the Image and Symbol of the Humanity of the Divine Redeemer and the Blessed Virgin Mary" (1848); and
- "The Roman Ritual and Its Canto Fermo, Compared with the Works of Modem Music, in Point of Efficiency and General Fitness for the Purpose of the Catholic Church" (1849).
He also published "The Young Singer's Book of Songs" (1852), "School Songs and Poetry to Which Music Is Adapted" (1852), and he was one of the editors of the "First Series of Hymns and Songs for the Use of Catholic Schools and Families" (1853). Other works belonging to this period were: "The Duties and Happiness of Domestic Service" (1851), "The March of Intellect; or, The Alleged Hostility of the Catholic Church to the Diffusion of Knowledge Examined" (1852), and "State Rationalism in Education; An Examination into the Actual Working and Results of the System of the Board of Commissioners of National Education in Ireland" (1854).
Besides his interest in ecclesiastical music, he published a series of illustrated books, including his "Pictorial Bible and Church History Stories", which began with "Pictorial Bible Stories for the Young" (1856). An edition of the complete work was published in 1857, followed by another in three volumes with new illustrations in 1862, and an abridged one-volume edition in 1871.
From 1857 to 1864 he took charge of the mission at Wednesbury
Wednesbury
Wednesbury is a market town in England's Black Country, part of the Sandwell metropolitan borough in West Midlands, near the source of the River Tame. Similarly to the word Wednesday, it is pronounced .-Pre-Medieval and Medieval times:...
; during which time he published "The Fifteen Mysteries of the Rosary" (1857), "The Life of St. Benedict" (1858), "The Parables of Our Lord Jesus Christ" (1858), "The Life of St. Patrick" (1862), all of which were illustrated. A sermon on "Our Lady of Salette" (1857) and "The Inquiry of a Retired Citizen into the Truth of the Catholic Religion" (1863) were also published while he was at Wednesbury.
In 1864 he retired from active missionary work and withdrew to the Dominican priory at Hinckley
Hinckley
Hinckley is a town in southwest Leicestershire, England. It has a population of 43,246 . It is administered by Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council...
in Leicestershire, where he spent the remaining twenty years of his life in issuing books and pamphlets and in helping to train the novices; For some years he edited "The Monthly Magazine of the Holy Rosary". His later publications included:
- "The Cause of Poor Catholic Emigrants Pleaded" (1867);
- "Fleury's Historical Catechism continued to the Vatican Council" (1871);
- "The Book of the Holy Rosary" (1872);
- "De Annis Christi Tractatus" (1872);
- "Sacrum Septenarium" (1874);
- "The Children's Forget-me-not" (1877);
- "Compendium of the Philosophy of Ancient History";
- "Little Book of the Martyrs of the City of Rome" (1877);
- "Five Lectures on the City of Rome" (1877);
- "Monotheism ... the primitive Religion of the City of Rome" (1877);
- "Ancient Rome and Its Connection with Christian Religion" (Part I, 1880; Part II, unfinished at his death);
- "The Growing Unbelief of the Educated Classes" (1880);
- "Safeguards of Divine Faith in the Presence of Sceptics, Atheists, and Free-thinkers" (1882);
- "A Familiar Study of the Sacred Scripture", his last work.
He also wrote other devotional and educational books.
Family
His father, Henry Grenehalgh Formby, was the second son of Richard Formby of Formby HallFormby Hall
Formby Hall is located to the north-east of Formby in the English county of Merseyside, in secluded woodland adjoining the Formby Hall Golf and Country Club. The present house, built for William Formby, dates back to 1523 but it is believed that the Formby family has occupied the site since the...
, Lancashire. The family had been Catholic until the eighteenth century, when, with the exception of a younger branch, they lost their faith and closed the chapel of their fifteenth-century mansion.