Newman, Cardinal John Henry^[1]

1801 - 1890  (89 years)

• Name	Newman, Cardinal John Henry
  Born	21 Feb 1801	London, England
  Christened	9 Apr 1801	St. Benet Fink, London, England
  Gender	Male
  Died	11 Aug 1890	Oratory, Edgbaston, Birmingham, England
  Buried	19 Aug 1890	Rednal, Warwick County, England
  Notes	John Henry was ordained in the Church of England in 1824, and became vica of St. Mary's, Oxford. In 1832 he wrote "Lead Kindly Light." Defecting to the Church of Rome in 1845, he received his rodination and doctorate of divinity in 1846, and ultimately sttled in the Oratory at Edgbaston, Birmingham, England. He was created a Cardinal in the Roman Catholic Church in 1879 by Pope Leo XIII. Through his writings, he created a greater understanding of the Catholic Church. Cardinal John Henry Newman died in Birmingham on August 11, 1890. In 1893 the first Newman Club was formed at the University of Pennsylvania. John Henry Newman was born on 21st February, 1801, in London, the eldest son of a London banker. His family were ordinary church-going members of the Church of England, without any strong religious tendencies, though the young John Henry did learn at an early age to take a great delight in the Bible. He was sent to Ealing School in 1808, and it was there, eight years later, that he underwent a profound religious conversion, which was to determine the rest of his life as a quest for spiritual perfection. In 1817 he entered Trinity College, Oxford, where he was a very successful student. Five years later he was elected to a coveted Fellowship of leading Oriel College. He was ordained and worked, first as a curate in the poor Oxford Parish of Saint Clement’s, and a little later as Vicar of the University Church of Saint Mary the Virgin. There, his spiritual influence on his parishioners and the members of the University was truly enormous. He worked as a College Tutor, and a little later began to research the first of the many theological works which were to put him at the forefront of religious writers.In 1833 he went on a tour of the Mediterranean with a friend who was in very poor health. While in Sicily he himself fell desperately ill with fever. On his recovery it struck him that God had spared him to perform a special task in England. On his return home he eagerly set about organising what was to become know as the Oxford Movement. The Movement, which spread rapidly, was intended to combat three evils threatening the Church of England – spiritual stagnation, interference from the state, and doctrinal unorthodoxy. When studying the history of the early Christian Fathers in 1839, Newman received an unexpected shock, for it appeared that the position of his own Church bore a close resemblance to that of the early heretics. He was also worried when many of the English Bishops denounced one if his works a few years later – some not just denouncing but going out of the way to espouse heretical positions themselves. He decided to partly retire from Oxford, and, joined by a few others a little later, he moved to quarters at the nearby hamlet of Littlemore. For three years he lived a strict religious life, praying for light and guidance. By 1845 he saw his way clear, and on 9th October he was received into the Roman Catholic Church by Father, now Blessed, Dominic Barberi. He had at last found ‘the One True Fold of the Redeemer’.Conversions meant ostracism by friends and relatives. Undaunted, Newman set out for Rome to study for the priesthood. While there he became attracted by the idea of the Oratory – a Congregation of priests founded by Saint Philip Neri in the sixteenth century. He founded the first English Oratory at Maryvale, near Birmingham, in 1848, moving soon afterwards to Alcester Street, near the town centre, where he converted a disused gin distillery into a chapel. They moved to a new and more permanent base three years later, but throughout continued to be engulfed by work among the poor Catholics of what was soon to become a city.In 1851 the Bishops of Ireland decided that a separate University should be established for Catholics, and invited Newman to become its founder and first Rector. It was a demanding task for an older man, but despite the strain of fifty six crossings to and from Ireland in seven years, he succeeding in establishing what is know today as University College, Dublin.When he returned to England, Newman faced a life of trials, as he was suspected and even resented by some in authority. Several projects which he took up, including a magazine for educated Catholics, a mission at Oxford, and a new translation of the Bible, met with rejection or failure.During old age, Newman continued in Birmingham, quietly writing, preaching and counselling (from the age of twenty three he had been above all a pastor – ‘a father of souls’) until, when seventy eight, a big surprise came. As a tribute to his extraordinary work and devotion, Pope Leo XIII made the unprecedented gesture of naming Newman, an ordinary priest, a Cardinal. After a life of trials the news came as an joyful relief and Newman declared ‘the cloud is lifted for ever’. Cardinal Newman died on 11th August 1890 and received a universal tribute of praise. The Times wrote: ‘whether Rome canonises him or not he will be canonised in the thoughts of pious people of many creeds in England.’ The Cork Examiner affirmed that, ‘Cardinal Newman goes to his grave with singular honour of being by all creeds and classes acknowledged as the just man made perfect.’
  Person ID	I523	McFadyen and Parker
  Last Modified	2 Aug 2006

  
  

  Father	Newman, John,   b. 1767, Cambridgeshire, England ,   d. 1824  (Age 57 years)
  Mother	Fourdrinier, Jemima,   b. 19 Nov 1772,   d. 17 May 1836, Littlemore, Oxford County, England  (Age 63 years)
  Married	29 Oct 1799	St. Mary's Church, Lambeth, Oxford County, England   [2]
  Family ID	F171	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Photos » Slide Show		Cardinal John Henry Newman - 1844 Self-Description of 1848: "Those sad long years of anxiety have stamped themselves on my face - and now that they are at an end, yet I cannot change what has become a physical effect." (The Letters and Diaries of John Henry Newman, ed. Charles Stephen Dessain et al., vol. 12; London: 1961-1972, 223)
  		Cardinal John Henry Newman - 1873 Engaving by Brown A man who visited Newman in 1875 describes him: ". . . very kindly, with a sort of grave sweet simplicity which coming from so old a man, has in it something inexpressibly touching . . . He looks very aged, hair more white than silvery, body stooped, a very large and prominent nose and large chin, brow which seems good, though one can't see it for the tangled hair falling over it; an air of melancholy, as of one who has passed through terrible struggles, yet of serenity, as of one who had found peace. Not a priest in his manner - still an Englishman more than a Roman Catholic." (The Letters and Diaries of John Henry Newman, ed. Charles Stephen Dessain et al., vol. 29; Oxford: 1973-1977, 238, n. 1)
  		Cardinal John Henry Newman - 1879
  		Cardinal John Henry Newman - 1881
  		Cardinal John Henry Newman - 1882
  		Cardinal John Henry Newman - 1884
  		Cardinal John Henry Newman - 1888 The poet Francis Turner Palgrave described Newman in 1886: "[his voice had] much of its old strange sweetness . . . the look of almost anxious searching had passed into the look of perfect peace. His mind was not only bright as ever, but with the cheerfulness and humour of youth. [He welcomed me with] great and perfect humility." (The Leters and Diaries of John Henry Newman, ed. Charles Stephen Dessain et al., vol. 31; Oxford: 1973-1977, 184, n. 5)
  		Cardinal John Henry Newman - 1890
  		Cardinal John Henry Newman - 1890
  		Cardinal John Henry Newman - 1864
  		Cardinal John Henry Newman - 1863 Self-Description of 1863: "I am an old man; my hair white, my eyes sunk in . . . but when I shut my eyes and merely think, I can't believe I am more than 25 years old, and smile to think how differently strangers must think of me from my own internal feelings." (The Letters and Diaries of John Henry Newman, ed. Charles Stephen Dessain et al., vol. 20; London: 1961-1972, 409)
  		Cardinal John Henry Newman - 1867
  		Cardinal John Henry Newman - 1874 Sketch by Lady Coleridge, 1874; courtesy of Franciscan nuns of Maryland, Milford-on-Sea A woman who visited Newman in 1876 describes him: "[It is] impossible to describe his fascination of voice and manner . . . his voice was low and very sweet; it had a wonderful ring of sympathy in it." (The Letters and Diaries of John Henry Newman, ed. Charles Stephen Dessain et al., vol. 28; Oxford: 1973-1977, 32, n. 2)

  
  

  Histories

  Newman, Cardinal John Henry An overview of his personal data, chronology, and his Biographical Essay from 1911

  
  

• Sources

  [S13] Parker Linage, Various - Last update Rowland Leslie Parker 1994-03, (A compilation of many family authors over the years.). [S44] Published Paper or Magazine. Married Oct. 29, 1799, John Newman, Esq., of Mansion-house-street, to Miss Fourdrinier, daughter of the late Henry Fourdrinier, Esq, of Lombard-street (Gentlemand's. Magazine. Nov 1799, 992)