(Vol. vi., pp. 125. 297. 400.; Vol. vii., pp. 242. 243.)
Your correspondent A. S. A. seems very anxious to possess a complete list
of the vicars-apostolic of England. With their names, and the date of their
consecration and death, collected from various sources, I am able to supply
him.
The last survivor of the Roman Catholic bishops consecrated in England
prior to the reign of Elizabeth was Dr. Thomas Watson, appointed bishop of
Lincoln in 1557 by Queen Mary, and deprived (on the accession of Elizabeth)
in 1559. {309}
Upon his death, in 1584, the Catholic clergy in England were left without a
head, and the Pope some time after appointed an _arch-priest_, to
superintend them, and the following persons filled the office:
_Consecrated._ _Died._
1598. Rev. George Blackwell.
-- Rev. George Birkhead 1614.
1615. Rev. George Harrison 1621.
On the death of the latter the episcopate was revived by the pope in
England, and one bishop was consecrated as head of the English Catholics.
_Consecrated._ _Died._
1623. Dr. William Bishop 1624.
1625. Dr. Richard Smith 1655.
1685. Dr. John Leyburn, with whom, in 1688, Dr.
Giffard was associated; but almost immediately after
this England was divided into four districts, and the
order of succession in each was as follows:
_London or Southern District._
_Consecrated._ _Died._
1685. Bishop Leyburn 1703.
1688. Bishop Giffard (translated from
the Midland District, 1703) 1733.
1733. Bishop Petre 1758.
1741. Bishop Challoner 1781.
1758. Bishop Honourable James Talbot 1790.
1790. Bishop Douglas 1812.
1803. Bishop Poynter 1827.
1823. Bishop Bramston 1836.
1828. Bishop Gradwell 1833.
1833. Bishop Griffiths 1847.
_Midland or Central District._
1688. Bishop Giffard (translated to
London, 1703).
1703. Bishop Witham (translated to the
Northern District, 1716).
1716. Bishop Stonor 1756.
1753. Bishop Hornihold 1779.
1766. Bishop Honourable T. Talbot 1795.
1786. Bishop Berington 1798.
1801. Bishop Stapleton 1802.
1803. Bishop Milner 1826.
1825. Bishop Walsh (translated to
London, 1848).
1840. Bishop Wiseman (coadjutor).
_Western District._
1688. Bishop Ellis 1726.
1715. Bishop Prichard 1750.
1741. Bishop York 1770.
1758. Bishop Walmesley 1797.
1781. Bishop Sharrock 1809.
1807. Bishop Collingridge 1829.
1823. Bishop Baines 1843.
_Northern District._
1688. Bishop James Smith 1711.
1716. Bishop Witham 1725.
1726. Bishop Williams 1740.
1741. Bishop Dicconson 1752.
1750. Bishop Honourable, F. Petre 1775.
1768. Bishop Maire (coadjutor to Bishop
Petre) 1769.
1770. Bishop Walton 1780.
1780. Bishop Gibson 1790.
1790. Bishop William Gibson (brother
to the preceding bishop) 1821.
1810. Bishop Thomas Smith 1831.
1824. Bishop Penswick 1836.
1833. Bishop Briggs, removed to the new district
of Yorkshire in 1840, and became Roman Catholic
Bishop of Beverley in 1850.
In 1840, England and Wales were divided among eight vicars-apostolic, and
from that time until the year 1850 the following was the arrangement:
_London._
_Consecrated._ _Died._
1833. Bishop Griffiths 1847.
1825. Bishop Walsh 1849.
1840. Bishop Wiseman, at first coadjutor to Bishop
Walsh here, as he had been in the central District.
Elevated to the archiepiscopate, 1850.
_Central._
1825. Bishop Walsh, removed to London
in 1848.
1846. Bishop Ullathorne; became Roman
Catholic Bishop of Birmingham,
1850.
_Western._
1823. Bishop Baines 1843.
1843. Bishop Beggs 1846.
1846. Bishop Ullathorne; removed to the
Central District, 1848.
1848. Bishop Hendren, became Roman
Catholic Bishop of Clifton, 1850.
_Northern._
1833. Bishop Briggs; removed in 1840 to
the new district of Yorkshire.
1840. Bishop Riddell 1847.
1848. Bishop Hogarth; became Roman
Catholic Bishop of Hexham, 1850.
_Eastern._
1840. Bishop Wareing; became Roman
Catholic Bishop of Northampton,
1850.
_Yorkshire._
1833. Bishop Briggs, from the Northern
District; became Roman Catholic
Bishop of Beverley, 1850.
_Lancashire._
1840. Bishop G. Brown; became Roman
Catholic Bishop of Liverpool,
1850.
1843. Bishop Sharples (coadjutor) 1850.
_Wales._
1840. Bishop T. J. Browne; became Roman Catholic
Bishop of Newport, 1850.
In 1850 came another change, and one archbishop and twelve bishops were
appointed to rule {310} over the Roman Catholic Church in England and
Wales:
_Archbishop of Westminster._
_Consecrated._
1850. Cardinal Nicholas Wiseman.
_Bishop of Hexham._
1850. William Hogarth.
_Bishop of Beverley._
1850. John Briggs.
_Bishop of Liverpool._
1850. George Brown.
_Bishop of Birmingham._
1850. William Ullathorne.
_Bishop of Northampton._
1850. William Wareing.
_Bishop of Newport and Menevia._
1850. Thomas Joseph Browne.
_Bishop of Nottingham._
1850. Joseph William Hendren (from Clifton); resigned
his bishoprick, 1853.
_Bishop of Clifton._
1850. Joseph William Hendren (removed in 1851
to Nottingham.)
1851. Thomas Burgess.
_Bishop of Salford._
1851. William Turner.
_Bishop of Plymouth._
1851. George Errington.
_Bishop of Shrewsbury._
1851. James Brown.
_Bishop of Southwark._
1851. Thomas Grant.
The foregoing I believe to be, in the main, a correct account of the Roman
Catholic episcopate in England and Wales from the accession of Elizabeth
down to the present year.