Thomas Weld (cardinal)
Encyclopedia
Thomas Weld was a member of the Weld-Blundell family
and an English
Roman Catholic bishop
and cardinal
.
on 22 January 1773, was the eldest son of Thomas Weld of Lulworth Castle
, Dorset
, by his wife Mary, eldest daughter of Sir John Stanley Massey Stanley of Hooton
, who belonged to the elder and Catholic branch of the Stanley family, now extinct.
He was educated at home under Charles Plowden
. He supported religious communities that were driven into England by the French Revolution
. He agreed with his father in giving the banished Jesuits the mansion of Stonyhurst
. The Trappist
nuns were received at Lulworth; while the Poor Clares from Gravelines
and the Visitandines were also special objects of his bounty. George III, in his sojourns at Weymouth, used to visit Lulworth, and always expressed the greatest regard for the family.
On 14 June 1796 Weld married, at Ugbrooke
, Lucy Bridget, second daughter of Thomas Clifford of Tixall
, fourth son of Hugh, third Lord Clifford
. Their only issue was Mary Lucy, born at Upwey
, near Weymouth, on 31 January 1799. The loss of his wife at Clifton
on 1 June 1815, and the subsequent marriage of his only child to her second cousin, Hugh Charles Clifford (afterwards seventh Baron Clifford), on 1 September 1818, left him at liberty to embrace the ecclesiastical state, and to renounce the family property to his next brother, Joseph Weld (see below). He placed himself under the direction of his old friend, the celebrated Abbé Carron, and Mgr Hyacinthe-Louis de Quélen
, Archbishop of Paris
, ordained him priest on 7 April 1821.
On 20 June 1822 he began to assist the pastor of the Chelsea
mission, and after some time he was removed to Hammersmith
. The Holy See
having nominated him coadjutor to Alexander Macdonell
(1762–1840), Bishop of Kingston, Ontario
, the ceremony of Weld's consecration as titular Bishop of Amyclae, a town in the Peloponnese
, was performed at St Edmund's College, Ware, by Bishop William Poynter on 6 August 1826.
Circumstances, however, delayed his departure for Canada
. His daughter being in failing health, he accompanied her and her husband to Italy
, and shortly after his arrival at Rome
, Cardinal Alboni, on 19 January 1830, announced to him that Pope Pius VIII
had decided to honour him with the purple. He was admitted into the College of Cardinals
on 15 March 1830, and on this occasion a Latin ode was composed and published to Dominic Gregorj.
His daughter died at Palo on 15 May 1831, and was buried on 18 May in the church of San Marcello al Corso
at Rome, from which he derived his title. On his elevation to the Sacred College he received assurances from persons of high influence and dignity in England that his nomination had excited no jealousy, but on the contrary had given general satisfaction. His apartments in the Odescalchi Palace were splendidly furnished, and periodically filled by the aristocracy of Rome, native and foreign, and by large numbers of his fellow-countrymen
He died on 10 April 1837, and his remains were deposited in the church of Santa Maria in Aquiro
. The funeral oration, delivered by Nicholas (afterwards Cardinal) Wiseman, has been published.
) in spring 1784, and they went through a form of marriage on 15 December 1785. The marriage was considered invalid under the Royal Marriages Act 1772
because it had not been approved by King George III
and the Privy Council
.
His brother, Joseph Weld (1777–1863), third son of Thomas Weld, was born on 27 January 1777. He received the exiled Royal family of France at Lulworth in August 1830, the king and his suite remaining there for some days, until their removal to Holyrood House. He was the owner of the "Alarm", "Arrow" and "Lulworth" yacht
s, which he navigated himself until very late in life, and, having a practical knowledge and a real liking for the sea, he was always very fortunate in the construction and sailing of his vessels. He died at Lulworth Castle on 19 October 1863. Joseph was also founder of the Isle of Wight
based Royal Yacht Squadron
.
Weld-Blundell family
The Weld family, which became in its main branch the Weld-Blundell family, is an old English family that claims descent from Eadric the Wild and has branches in several parts of England and America. The main branch are descended from Humphrey Weld, Lord Mayor of London, whose grandson of the same...
and an English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
Roman Catholic bishop
Bishop (Catholic Church)
In the Catholic Church, a bishop is an ordained minister who holds the fullness of the sacrament of Holy Orders and is responsible for teaching the Catholic faith and ruling the Church....
and cardinal
Cardinal (Catholicism)
A cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical official, usually an ordained bishop, and ecclesiastical prince of the Catholic Church. They are collectively known as the College of Cardinals, which as a body elects a new pope. The duties of the cardinals include attending the meetings of the College and...
.
Life
Weld was born in LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
on 22 January 1773, was the eldest son of Thomas Weld of Lulworth Castle
Lulworth Castle
Lulworth Castle, in East Lulworth, Dorset, situated south of Wool, is an early 17th century mock castle. The stone building has now been re-built as a museum....
, Dorset
Dorset
Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...
, by his wife Mary, eldest daughter of Sir John Stanley Massey Stanley of Hooton
Hooton, Cheshire
Hooton is a village in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England in the south of the Wirral Peninsula near Ellesmere Port.- History :...
, who belonged to the elder and Catholic branch of the Stanley family, now extinct.
He was educated at home under Charles Plowden
Charles Plowden
Charles Plowden was an English Jesuit teacher, writer and administrator.-Life:He was descended from Edmund Plowden, in a Catholic family...
. He supported religious communities that were driven into England by the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
. He agreed with his father in giving the banished Jesuits the mansion of Stonyhurst
Stonyhurst
Stonyhurst is the name of a rural estate owned by the Society of Jesus near Clitheroe in Lancashire, England. It is dominated by Stonyhurst College, its preparatory school Stonyhurst Saint Mary's Hall and the parish Church of St Peter's.-The Estate:...
. The Trappist
TRAPPIST
TRAPPIST is Belgian robotic telescope in Chile which came online in 2010, and is an acronym for TRAnsiting Planets and PlanetesImals Small Telescope, so named in homage to Trappist beer produced in the Belgian region. Situated high in the Chilean mountains at La Silla Observatory, it is actually...
nuns were received at Lulworth; while the Poor Clares from Gravelines
Gravelines
Gravelines is a commune in the Nord department in northern France.It lies at the mouth of the river Aa 15 miles southwest of Dunkirk. There is a market in the town square on Saturdays. The "Arsenal" approached from the town square is home to an extensive and carefully displayed art collection....
and the Visitandines were also special objects of his bounty. George III, in his sojourns at Weymouth, used to visit Lulworth, and always expressed the greatest regard for the family.
On 14 June 1796 Weld married, at Ugbrooke
Ugbrooke
Ugbrooke Park is a country house located in a valley between Exeter and Newton Abbot in Devon, England. It dates back over 900 years, having featured in the Domesday Book. Before the Reformation the land belonged to the Church and the house was occupied by Precentors to the Bishop of Exeter...
, Lucy Bridget, second daughter of Thomas Clifford of Tixall
Tixall
Tixall is a small village and former civil parish in the English county of Staffordshire lying on the western side of the Trent valley between Rugeley and Stone, Staffordshire and roughly 4 miles east of Stafford...
, fourth son of Hugh, third Lord Clifford
Hugh Clifford, 3rd Baron Clifford of Chudleigh
Hugh Clifford, 3rd Baron Clifford of Chudleigh was born on 14 April 1700 and died on 26 March 1732 in Ugbrooke, where he was buried. He was the son of Hugh Clifford, 2nd Baron Clifford of Chudleigh and his wife Anne, née Preston....
. Their only issue was Mary Lucy, born at Upwey
Upwey, Dorset
Upwey is a village in south Dorset, England. The village is situated on the A354 road in the Wey valley and has been absorbed into the Weymouth built-up area and is four miles north of the town centre in the outer suburbs...
, near Weymouth, on 31 January 1799. The loss of his wife at Clifton
Clifton
Clifton is an English surname, place name or given name. It means "settlement by a cliff" in Old English. It may refer to:-Australia:*Clifton, Queensland, town and Shire south of Toowoomba*Clifton Beach, Queensland...
on 1 June 1815, and the subsequent marriage of his only child to her second cousin, Hugh Charles Clifford (afterwards seventh Baron Clifford), on 1 September 1818, left him at liberty to embrace the ecclesiastical state, and to renounce the family property to his next brother, Joseph Weld (see below). He placed himself under the direction of his old friend, the celebrated Abbé Carron, and Mgr Hyacinthe-Louis de Quélen
Hyacinthe-Louis De Quelen
Hyacinthe-Louis De Quelen was Archbishop of Paris.-Biography:Born in Paris, he was educated at the College of Navarre. Ordained in 1807, he served a year as Vicar-General of Saint-Brieuc and then became secretary to Cardinal Fesch. When the latter was sent back to his diocese, de Quelen exercised...
, Archbishop of Paris
Archbishop of Paris
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Paris is one of twenty-three archdioceses of the Roman Catholic Church in France. The original diocese is traditionally thought to have been created in the 3rd century by St. Denis and corresponded with the Civitas Parisiorum; it was elevated to an archdiocese on...
, ordained him priest on 7 April 1821.
On 20 June 1822 he began to assist the pastor of the Chelsea
Chelsea, London
Chelsea is an area of West London, England, bounded to the south by the River Thames, where its frontage runs from Chelsea Bridge along the Chelsea Embankment, Cheyne Walk, Lots Road and Chelsea Harbour. Its eastern boundary was once defined by the River Westbourne, which is now in a pipe above...
mission, and after some time he was removed to Hammersmith
Hammersmith
Hammersmith is an urban centre in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in west London, England, in the United Kingdom, approximately five miles west of Charing Cross on the north bank of the River Thames...
. The Holy See
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
having nominated him coadjutor to Alexander Macdonell
Alexander Macdonell (bishop)
Bishop Alexander Macdonell was the first Roman Catholic bishop of Kingston, Upper Canada.-Early years:...
(1762–1840), Bishop of Kingston, Ontario
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kingston
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kingston is a Roman Catholic archdiocese in Canada that includes part of the Province of Ontario and includes the suffragan dioceses of Alexandria-Cornwall, Peterborough, and Sault Sainte Marie....
, the ceremony of Weld's consecration as titular Bishop of Amyclae, a town in the Peloponnese
Peloponnese
The Peloponnese, Peloponnesos or Peloponnesus , is a large peninsula , located in a region of southern Greece, forming the part of the country south of the Gulf of Corinth...
, was performed at St Edmund's College, Ware, by Bishop William Poynter on 6 August 1826.
Circumstances, however, delayed his departure for Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. His daughter being in failing health, he accompanied her and her husband to Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, and shortly after his arrival at Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, Cardinal Alboni, on 19 January 1830, announced to him that Pope Pius VIII
Pope Pius VIII
Pope Pius VIII , born Francesco Saverio Castiglioni was Pope in 1829 and 1830.-Biography:He was born in Cingoli, Marche, the son of Count Ottavio Castiglioni and his wife Sanzia Ghislieri. He studied Canon law and, in 1800 became bishop of Montalto...
had decided to honour him with the purple. He was admitted into the College of Cardinals
College of Cardinals
The College of Cardinals is the body of all cardinals of the Catholic Church.A function of the college is to advise the pope about church matters when he summons them to an ordinary consistory. It also convenes on the death or abdication of a pope as a papal conclave to elect a successor...
on 15 March 1830, and on this occasion a Latin ode was composed and published to Dominic Gregorj.
His daughter died at Palo on 15 May 1831, and was buried on 18 May in the church of San Marcello al Corso
San Marcello al Corso
San Marcello al Corso is a church in Rome, Italy, devoted to Pope Marcellus I. It is located in via del Corso, the ancient via Lata, connecting Piazza Venezia to Piazza del Popolo....
at Rome, from which he derived his title. On his elevation to the Sacred College he received assurances from persons of high influence and dignity in England that his nomination had excited no jealousy, but on the contrary had given general satisfaction. His apartments in the Odescalchi Palace were splendidly furnished, and periodically filled by the aristocracy of Rome, native and foreign, and by large numbers of his fellow-countrymen
He died on 10 April 1837, and his remains were deposited in the church of Santa Maria in Aquiro
Santa Maria in Aquiro
Santa Maria in Aquiro is a church in Rome, Italy. It is dedicated to Mary, mother of Jesus, and is located on Piazza Capranica.The church is ancient – it was restored by Pope Gregory III in the VIII century, and thus must have existed before then. One theory is that it was the titulus Equitii,...
. The funeral oration, delivered by Nicholas (afterwards Cardinal) Wiseman, has been published.
Family
His uncle, Edward Weld (c.1740–1775), married Maria Smythe in July 1775, but he died just three months later after a fall from his horse. His widow later married Thomas Fitzherbert in 1778, but he died in 1781. The widowed Mrs Fitzherbert was introduced the George, Prince of Wales (later King George IVGeorge of the United Kingdom
George of the United Kingdom may refer to the following monarchs of the United Kingdom:* George I of Great Britain * George II of Great Britain * George III of the United Kingdom * George IV of the United Kingdom...
) in spring 1784, and they went through a form of marriage on 15 December 1785. The marriage was considered invalid under the Royal Marriages Act 1772
Royal Marriages Act 1772
The Royal Marriages Act 1772 is an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain which prescribes the conditions under which members of the British Royal Family may contract a valid marriage, in order to guard against marriages that could diminish the status of the Royal House...
because it had not been approved by King George III
George III of the United Kingdom
George III was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of these two countries on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until his death...
and the Privy Council
Privy Council of the United Kingdom
Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, usually known simply as the Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the Sovereign in the United Kingdom...
.
His brother, Joseph Weld (1777–1863), third son of Thomas Weld, was born on 27 January 1777. He received the exiled Royal family of France at Lulworth in August 1830, the king and his suite remaining there for some days, until their removal to Holyrood House. He was the owner of the "Alarm", "Arrow" and "Lulworth" yacht
Yacht
A yacht is a recreational boat or ship. The term originated from the Dutch Jacht meaning "hunt". It was originally defined as a light fast sailing vessel used by the Dutch navy to pursue pirates and other transgressors around and into the shallow waters of the Low Countries...
s, which he navigated himself until very late in life, and, having a practical knowledge and a real liking for the sea, he was always very fortunate in the construction and sailing of his vessels. He died at Lulworth Castle on 19 October 1863. Joseph was also founder of the Isle of Wight
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...
based Royal Yacht Squadron
Royal Yacht Squadron
The Royal Yacht Squadron is the most prestigious yacht club in the United Kingdom and arguably the world. Its clubhouse is located in Cowes Castle on the Isle of Wight in the United Kingdom...
.