Charles Sidney Beauclerk
Encyclopedia
Fr Charles Sidney de Vere Beauclerk SJ
(1 January 1855 - 22 November 1934) was a Jesuit priest who attempted to turn the town of Holywell
into the "Lourdes of Wales". He was also notable for his connection to the novelist Frederick Rolfe
and his involvement in the Oxfordian theory of Shakespeare authorship
.
, illegitimate son of Charles II
and Nell Gwyn
. He was also descended from Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford
and Charles Spencer, 3rd Duke of Marlborough
. Educated at Beaumont College
, he became a Jesuit in 1875 and was ordained to the priesthood in 1888. One of his brothers, Henry Beauclerk, also became a Jesuit, serving as a missionary in British Guiana (now Guyana), and another brother, Robert Beauclerk, joined the Jesuits but left before completing his seminary training.
in North Wales from 1890 to 1898. Holywell was named from St Winefride's Well
, a holy well
surrounded by a chapel
. The well has been known since at least the Roman
period, and has been a site of pilgrimage
since about 660
when Saint Winefride was beheaded there. At the time of Beauclerk's arrival the town was in a state of apparently "terminal decay", with industrial decline and poor housing. Beauclerk intended to restore Holywell to its former status as a centre of Catholic pilgrimage, aspiring to "purify it with literature and art". He developed the Holywell processions, and promoted the events through a journal, the Holywell Record, bringing in a significant number of pilgrims. He was assisted by Father Fletcher who established the Guild of Our Lady of Ransom in the town and predicted that Holywell would become the "centre for the conversion of England" to Catholicism. Beauclerk also believed that this would soon occur. He promoted a beautification programme for the town, including church rebuilding and public decorative schemes. He also commissioned Catholic religious art, most notably a statue of Jesus as The Sacred Heart
, which was transported through the town in a massive procession.
Beauclerk's assertions about conversion and his attempts to dominate the public space with Catholic imagery caused a backlash from Protestants, especially nonconformists. The heart from his Sacred Heart statue was removed. However, the increase in the number of pilgrims coming to the town was beneficial to local traders, a fact which mollified criticism.
In April 1895, the writer Frederick Rolfe
, then using the pseudonym "Mr Austin", arrived in Holywell and was engaged by Beauclerk to paint some new banners for use in the town's regular Catholic processions. Beauclerk allowed Rolfe to set up his studio in an unused schoolroom, and Rolfe took over as editor and chief writer for the Holywell Record. However, it was not long before Rolfe's relations with the parish priest began to deteriorate, and broke down altogether when Beauclerk rejected his request to be paid a hefty sum for painting the banners. Eventually Rolfe had to agree to a small fee of £50, but he used his control of the Holywell Record to attack Beauclerk relentlessly. By early 1897 Rolfe was drawing his every Holywell acquaintance into his feud with Beauclerk. Eventually the priest's position became untenable and the Jesuit Provincial decided to transfer him. Although he later recognised himself in Rolfe's 1904 novel Hadrian the Seventh
as "that detestable and deceitful Blackcote" (p. 15), "a hare-brained and degenerate priest" (p. 30), "Fr St Albans", the Jesuit General (p. 274), and "the bad priest" (p. 324), Beauclerk had the generosity to write and congratulate Rolfe when it was published.
After Beauclerk left, Holywell's capacity to attract pilgrims declined.
in Bournemouth; Manresa House at Roehampton, Surrey; chaplain of the Services College in Malta; and finally the Jesuit church in Accrington
, near Preston.
In his later years his personal hobby was the accumulation of evidence to prove that his ancestor Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford
, was the true author of Shakespeare's plays, an idea first suggested in 1920 by J. Thomas Looney
. He was the first person to propose that de Vere was the subject of the Ashbourne portrait, an idea he passed to Looney's follower Percy Allen
. According to Allen, Beauclerk created composite images by merging the established Welbeck portrait of de Vere with various known and alleged portraits of Shakespeare. In addition to the Ashbourne portrait, Beauclerk applied his method to the Grafton, Felton and Droeshout
portraits. Allen believed that Beauclerk's method "shows them all to be portraits of the same man - Edward de Vere".
Society of Jesus
The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...
(1 January 1855 - 22 November 1934) was a Jesuit priest who attempted to turn the town of Holywell
Holywell
Holywell is the fifth largest town in Flintshire, North Wales, lying to the west of the estuary of the River Dee.-History:The market town of Holywell takes its name from the St Winefride's Well, a holy well surrounded by a chapel...
into the "Lourdes of Wales". He was also notable for his connection to the novelist Frederick Rolfe
Frederick Rolfe
Frederick William Rolfe, better known as Baron Corvo, and also calling himself 'Frederick William Serafino Austin Lewis Mary Rolfe', , was an English writer, artist, photographer and eccentric...
and his involvement in the Oxfordian theory of Shakespeare authorship
Oxfordian theory of Shakespeare authorship
The Oxfordian theory of Shakespearean authorship proposes that Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford , wrote the plays and poems traditionally attributed to William Shakespeare of Stratford-upon-Avon. While a large majority of scholars reject all alternative candidates for authorship, popular...
.
Early life
Beauclerk was the third child of Charles Beauclerk, a Fellow of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, and Joaquina Zamora, daughter of Don J M Zamora, Chief Magistrate of Cuba. Beauclerk was a direct descendant of Charles Beauclerk, 1st Duke of St AlbansCharles Beauclerk, 1st Duke of St Albans
Charles Beauclerk, 1st Duke of St Albans, KG was an illegitimate son of King Charles II of England by his mistress Nell Gwynne.-Life:...
, illegitimate son of Charles II
Charles II of England
Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...
and Nell Gwyn
Nell Gwyn
Eleanor "Nell" Gwyn was a long-time mistress of King Charles II of England. Called "pretty, witty Nell" by Samuel Pepys, she has been regarded as a living embodiment of the spirit of Restoration England and has come to be considered a folk heroine, with a story echoing the rags-to-royalty tale of...
. He was also descended from Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford
Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford
Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford was an Elizabethan courtier, playwright, lyric poet, sportsman and patron of the arts, and is currently the most popular alternative candidate proposed for the authorship of Shakespeare's works....
and Charles Spencer, 3rd Duke of Marlborough
Charles Spencer, 3rd Duke of Marlborough
Charles Spencer, 3rd Duke of Marlborough KG, PC , known as The Earl of Sunderland between 1729 and 1733, was a British soldier and politician. He briefly served as Lord Privy Seal in 1755...
. Educated at Beaumont College
Beaumont College
Beaumont College was a Jesuit public school in Old Windsor, Berkshire, England. In 1967 the school closed. The property became a conference centre, and from 2008 an hotel.-History of the estate:...
, he became a Jesuit in 1875 and was ordained to the priesthood in 1888. One of his brothers, Henry Beauclerk, also became a Jesuit, serving as a missionary in British Guiana (now Guyana), and another brother, Robert Beauclerk, joined the Jesuits but left before completing his seminary training.
Holywell
Beauclerk was Parish Priest at HolywellHolywell
Holywell is the fifth largest town in Flintshire, North Wales, lying to the west of the estuary of the River Dee.-History:The market town of Holywell takes its name from the St Winefride's Well, a holy well surrounded by a chapel...
in North Wales from 1890 to 1898. Holywell was named from St Winefride's Well
St Winefride's Well
St Winefride's Well is a holy well located in Holywell, in Flintshire in North Wales. It is the oldest continually visited pilgrimage site in Great Britain....
, a holy well
Holy well
A holy well, or sacred spring, is a small body of water emerging from underground and revered either in a Pagan or Christian context, often both. Holy wells were frequently pagan sacred sites that later became Christianized. The term 'holy well' is commonly employed to refer to any water source of...
surrounded by a chapel
Chapel
A chapel is a building used by Christians as a place of fellowship and worship. It may be part of a larger structure or complex, such as a church, college, hospital, palace, prison or funeral home, located on board a military or commercial ship, or it may be an entirely free-standing building,...
. The well has been known since at least the Roman
Roman Britain
Roman Britain was the part of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire from AD 43 until ca. AD 410.The Romans referred to the imperial province as Britannia, which eventually comprised all of the island of Great Britain south of the fluid frontier with Caledonia...
period, and has been a site of pilgrimage
Pilgrimage
A pilgrimage is a journey or search of great moral or spiritual significance. Typically, it is a journey to a shrine or other location of importance to a person's beliefs and faith...
since about 660
660
Year 660 was a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 660 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.- Europe :* Slavic principality of Carantania is first...
when Saint Winefride was beheaded there. At the time of Beauclerk's arrival the town was in a state of apparently "terminal decay", with industrial decline and poor housing. Beauclerk intended to restore Holywell to its former status as a centre of Catholic pilgrimage, aspiring to "purify it with literature and art". He developed the Holywell processions, and promoted the events through a journal, the Holywell Record, bringing in a significant number of pilgrims. He was assisted by Father Fletcher who established the Guild of Our Lady of Ransom in the town and predicted that Holywell would become the "centre for the conversion of England" to Catholicism. Beauclerk also believed that this would soon occur. He promoted a beautification programme for the town, including church rebuilding and public decorative schemes. He also commissioned Catholic religious art, most notably a statue of Jesus as The Sacred Heart
Sacred Heart
The Sacred Heart is one of the most famous religious devotions to Jesus' physical heart as the representation of His divine love for Humanity....
, which was transported through the town in a massive procession.
Beauclerk's assertions about conversion and his attempts to dominate the public space with Catholic imagery caused a backlash from Protestants, especially nonconformists. The heart from his Sacred Heart statue was removed. However, the increase in the number of pilgrims coming to the town was beneficial to local traders, a fact which mollified criticism.
Rolfe
Frederick Rolfe
Frederick William Rolfe, better known as Baron Corvo, and also calling himself 'Frederick William Serafino Austin Lewis Mary Rolfe', , was an English writer, artist, photographer and eccentric...
, then using the pseudonym "Mr Austin", arrived in Holywell and was engaged by Beauclerk to paint some new banners for use in the town's regular Catholic processions. Beauclerk allowed Rolfe to set up his studio in an unused schoolroom, and Rolfe took over as editor and chief writer for the Holywell Record. However, it was not long before Rolfe's relations with the parish priest began to deteriorate, and broke down altogether when Beauclerk rejected his request to be paid a hefty sum for painting the banners. Eventually Rolfe had to agree to a small fee of £50, but he used his control of the Holywell Record to attack Beauclerk relentlessly. By early 1897 Rolfe was drawing his every Holywell acquaintance into his feud with Beauclerk. Eventually the priest's position became untenable and the Jesuit Provincial decided to transfer him. Although he later recognised himself in Rolfe's 1904 novel Hadrian the Seventh
Hadrian the Seventh
Hadrian the Seventh is a 1904 novel by the English novelist Frederick Rolfe, who wrote under the pseudonym "Baron Corvo"....
as "that detestable and deceitful Blackcote" (p. 15), "a hare-brained and degenerate priest" (p. 30), "Fr St Albans", the Jesuit General (p. 274), and "the bad priest" (p. 324), Beauclerk had the generosity to write and congratulate Rolfe when it was published.
After Beauclerk left, Holywell's capacity to attract pilgrims declined.
Later life
After he left Holywell, Beauclerk served at several other Jesuit houses: the community of retired Jesuits at BoscombeBoscombe
Boscombe is a suburb of Bournemouth. Located to the east of Bournemouth town centre and west of Southbourne, It developed rapidly from a small village as a seaside resort alongside Bournemouth after the first Boscombe pier was built in 1888...
in Bournemouth; Manresa House at Roehampton, Surrey; chaplain of the Services College in Malta; and finally the Jesuit church in Accrington
Accrington
Accrington is a town in Lancashire, within the borough of Hyndburn. It lies about east of Blackburn, west of Burnley, north of Manchester city centre and is situated on the mostly culverted River Hyndburn...
, near Preston.
In his later years his personal hobby was the accumulation of evidence to prove that his ancestor Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford
Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford
Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford was an Elizabethan courtier, playwright, lyric poet, sportsman and patron of the arts, and is currently the most popular alternative candidate proposed for the authorship of Shakespeare's works....
, was the true author of Shakespeare's plays, an idea first suggested in 1920 by J. Thomas Looney
J. Thomas Looney
John Thomas Looney . was an English school teacher who is best known for having originated the Oxfordian theory, which claims that Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford was the true author of Shakespeare's plays.-Life:Looney was born in South Shields...
. He was the first person to propose that de Vere was the subject of the Ashbourne portrait, an idea he passed to Looney's follower Percy Allen
Percy Allen (writer)
Percy Allen was an English journalist, writer and lecturer most notable for his advocacy of the Oxfordian theory of Shakespeare authorship, and particularly for his creation of Prince Tudor theory, which claimed that the Earl of Oxford fathered a child with Queen Elizabeth I.-Early writings:Allen...
. According to Allen, Beauclerk created composite images by merging the established Welbeck portrait of de Vere with various known and alleged portraits of Shakespeare. In addition to the Ashbourne portrait, Beauclerk applied his method to the Grafton, Felton and Droeshout
Martin Droeshout
Martin Droeshout was an English engraver of Flemish descent, whose fame rests completely on the fact that he made the title portrait for William Shakespeare's collected works, the First Folio of 1623, edited by John Heminges and Henry Condell, fellow actors of the Bard.-Shakespeare:Droeshout would...
portraits. Allen believed that Beauclerk's method "shows them all to be portraits of the same man - Edward de Vere".
Further Reading
- Benkovitz, Miriam, Frederick Rolfe: Baron Corvo, Hamish Hamilton, 1977, pp.73-104.
- Symons, A J A, The Quest for Corvo, Cassell, 1934, Chapter Seven 'The Nowt of Holywell'. The 1952 Folio Society of The Quest has a new appendix entitled 'Rolfe at Holywell', with the full text of many of Rolfe's letters to Beauclerk.
- Symons, Julian, 'The Battle of Holywell: A Story of Baron Corvo', in The Saturday Book, Volume V, 1945, pp. 215–234.
- Weeks, Donald, Corvo, Michael Joseph, 1971, pp.123-171.