RC

www.historicalhowden.co.uk

The Roman Catholic Church of the Sacred Heart in Howden

 In  England, in (1534) Henry VIII declared himself, by the Act of Supremacy head of the Church in England.  Within the next 25 years, England had become a Protestant nation.  Mary I, a devout Roman Catholic, tried unsuccessfully to reverse the process.  Under Elizabeth I, Roman Catholics who refused to attend new church services or recognize the Queen as head of the Church were persecuted.  The persecution became worse after 1570, when the Pope cut off Elizabeth from the Roman Catholic Church.  Roman Catholics in England lost their civil rights.  Many were fined, imprisoned, or put to death.  But some families retained their faith in secret.  

Some of the more well known families who did dare to follow the Catholic faith in the Howden area were; the Methams, the Vavasours and the Babthorpes.

In the  1530's, with the help of Thomas Cromwell, Henry had dissolved the monasteries and took over their land and wealth. The monks received pensions, and some were compensated in other ways as well. A rising against Henry's action, called the Pilgrimage of Grace, took place in the north-east. It was mainly a protest against the dissolution of the smaller monasteries. But the rebels were also discontented with changes in agriculture. 

Henry VIII sold most of the monastery lands to top up his treasury and pay for his overseas wars and ambitions. Speculators bought much of the land and quickly resold it for profit. A new class of landowner came into being in England.

During the years of 1570 and 1616 numerous Priests in the Howden area were captured taken to York and hanged, drawn and quartered. In one case a Priest named Robert Thorpe was visiting a Thomas Watkinson the night before Palm Sunday but was seen by the neighbours, who immediately alerted the magistrate of Howden, and breaking into the house captured Thorpe and Watkinson. Both men were hanged in York on the same day, Thorpe being a priest was hanged, drawn and quartered but Watkinson was just hanged.

Another priest, a Thomas Atkinson who had survived some 30 years living and working in the Howden area was finally caught in 1616 while visiting the Vavasour family. They were all taken including the children to York prison where Atkinson was hanged. drawn and quartered, there is no information as to what fate befell the family.  

 In 1725 and again in 1764 there were only 3 Roman Catholic families in Howden.

In the later 1800's, such men as Cardinals Manning and Newman helped to re-establish Roman Catholicism as an important element in English life.

In the book "Historical Notes on English Catholic Missions" by Mr. B.W. Kelly, published in 1907 Mr. Kelly makes the following statements:

"There were about 150 Catholics in Howden by 1850 when the mission was started by Fr. R. Cook"

"Being denied the use of the town hall for Mass on Sundays Fr. Cook preached to the people from the town's cross, with such success that he was able to erect a temporary chapel." 

There is doubt as to the validity of Mr. Kelly's statements. But there is  proof of the (first baptism, being held on the 8th July 1849, performed by Father A. A. Camburini) , from the Parish Registers. There must have been other baptisms before this date, if Mr. Kelly statement is correct, the 150 Catholics did not appear over-night. The baptisms  must have been either unrecorded due to the difficult times or recorded in Registers of neighbouring Missions. 

However during the next two years, 25 baptisms are recorded. Father Cooke signing for five of them and discloses the correct spelling of his name as Robert Cooke. Father Camburini seems much more important, performing at least 20 baptisms to Father Cooke's 4. The records giving the impression that Father Camburini was the priest in charge.  

The dates of the baptisms appear to show they were not performed on a regular Sunday basis and would indicate a visiting priest rather than priest visiting Howden for a regular Sunday Mass.

From 14th October 1849 to 5th May 1850 Father Camburini's name does not appear in the Book of Baptisms, he may not have visited  Howden or his visits were not recorded, however during these 7 months a Father S. J. Walsh appears for one baptism, but he was not one of the local secular priests. From 5 May 1850 Father Camburini's name re-appears and his visits were more than one a month in fact the dates suggest he was visiting Howden every Sunday and gives rise to the fact that there was a Mass held in Howden every Sunday from 5th May 1850.

Father Camburini disappears from the Howden records on 1st. July 1851, but by this time changes were afoot in the Church in England. The Hierarchy had been restored on the 29th September 1850, there was a new Cardinal Archbishop in Westminster. Howden was now part of the new Dioces of Beverley, and despite local opposition the new Church of the Sacred Heart was nearing completion.

 The church of the Scared Heart was designed by the same man who designed the "Hansom cab" (J. A. Hansom) and building was started in 1850. Today the church is well attended by a fairly large Catholic community from Howden and the surrounding villages.

With the opening of the Church on the 3rd July 1851, the Howden community was established as a parish in fact if not in name. A new priest was appointed and it is assumed he was resident. His name was Father P. J. Gray and he was Oblate of Mary Immaculate.

Little is known of Father Camburini, there is no record to show he attended the solemn opening of the new Church, and his name never appears again in the Parish Records.

It is thought he was Italian ( he cannot disguise the origins of his name). His first name was Ambrose and he sign himself as an Oblate of Mary Immaculate. But where did he come from? there is no records of any community of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate in the Howden area and yet given the regularity of his visits he must have lived within horse-riding distance of the town.

With the opening of the church, baptisms increased, a total of 49 up to 1852, indicating the congregation was growing, and with it the priests spiritual and pastoral progress seemed assured.

But all was not well with Father Gray, as an Oblate of Mary Immaculate, he always added O. M. I. after his name, but when he signed a baptism register in November 1852 and again in January 1853 he added the letters C. P. instead of O.M.I. he had left his congregation the Oblates of Mary Immaculate and joined another congregation, usually called Passionists.   This was not unusual for priests to transfer from one congregation to another. But Father Gray must have been unsettled by the 27th. March his signature shows that he no longer considered himself a Passionists, but was now a secular priest, with the letters M.A. after his name to signify "missionary apostolic". 

There would appear to have been a crisis with  Father Grey departing and Father Francis J. Lynch and Father Francis Richmond performing a couple of baptisms both being O.M.I's.

This ended the connection between Howden and the Oblates of Mary Immaculate.

Father Gray was replaced in October 1853 after a 6 months period without a priest and possibly no Sunday Mass, a bad time for the booming Howden congregation.

The names of  Father G. Brehan, Father C. Joliet and Father Thomas Atkinson  appear in 1853 for four marriages, the number of officiating clergymen is an indication to an unstable parish.

Father Thomas Danson, priest of the Diocese of Beverley arrived in Howden in October 1853 and remained for 28 years and presided over the golden age of the parish.

At the time of writing the present priest is Fr. James  Blenkinsopp

For more information on the Catholics in Howden during the middle ages suggested reading is the book Howden an East Riding market town, and a short collection of facts named the Founding of a Parish  by  the Rev. R.W. Connelly, S. M., M.A.  from which some of information above as been taken.