Life

Born at Carlton, Yorkshire, he was seventh son of Nicholas Stapleton, by his third wife, Winifred, daughter of John White of Dover Street

Dover Street

Dover Street is a street in Mayfair, London, England. The street is notable for its Georgian architecture as well as the location of historic London clubs and hotels, which have been frequented by world leaders and historic figures in the arts. It also hosts a number of contemporary art galleries...

, London. He went to the English College, Douay, in 1762. Ten years later, then a deacon

Deacon

Deacon is a ministry in the Christian Church that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions...

, he was appointed professor of music. On his ordination, a year later, he became procurator of the college, and he retained that post for more than twelve years.

After this he travelled abroad with a pupil; and on his return from Italy, in 1787, he was appointed president of the English College at St. Omer, in succession to Alban Butler

Alban Butler

Alban Butler , English Roman Catholic priest and hagiographer, was born at Appletree, Northamptonshire.He was educated at the English College, Douai, where on his ordination to the priesthood in 1735 he held successively the chairs of philosophy and divinity...

. About three years after the outbreak of 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 and the students of the English colleges at St. Omer and Douay were imprisoned in the citadel of Doullens

Doullens

Doullens is a commune in the Somme department in Picardie in northern France.Its inhabitants are called Doullennais and Doullennaises.-Geography:...

. In 1795 he obtained leave to go to Paris, and after difficulties he procured from the directory an order for the release of all the students, 94 in number. They were conveyed to England in an American vessel, and landed at Dover

Dover

Dover is a town and major ferry port in the home county of Kent, in South East England. It faces France across the narrowest part of the English Channel, and lies south-east of Canterbury; east of Kent's administrative capital Maidstone; and north-east along the coastline from Dungeness and Hastings...

 on 2 March 1795.

Soon afterwards Stapleton, with Bishop John Douglass

John Douglass (bishop)

John Douglass was an English Roman Catholic prelate, Vicar Apostolic of the London District from 1790.-Life:He was born at Yarum, Yorkshire, in December 1743, and was sent at the age of thirteen to the English College, Douai. There he took the college oath in 1764, and defended universal divinity...

, went to the Duke of Portland and William Pitt

William Pitt the Younger

William Pitt the Younger was a British politician of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He became the youngest Prime Minister in 1783 at the age of 24 . He left office in 1801, but was Prime Minister again from 1804 until his death in 1806...

, to solicit their approval of a plan for converting the school at Old Hall Green

Old Hall Green

Old Hall Green is a village in Hertfordshire, England.In 1793, an academy, St. Edmund's College, Ware, was established there which provided a school for Catholic boys and a seminary to train priests serving England's recusant community. St Edmund's College was one of two facilities which replaced...

, near Ware, Hertfordshire, into a Catholic college. The duke had previously known Stapleton, and he and Pitt gave them encouragement. Stapleton took his students to Old Hall Green, and on 19 August 1795 the first stone was laid of St. Edmund's College, Ware

St. Edmund's College, Ware

St Edmund's College is the oldest post-Reformation Roman Catholic school in England. It is an independent school in the British public school tradition set on in Ware, Hertfordshire. During two periods of its history, it has also incorporated a seminary....

. Stapleton presided over it till the autumn of 1800, when, having accompanied the Rev. John Nassau to Rome on a secret mission, he was raised to the episcopate.

Stapleton's appointment to be titular bishop of Hierocæsarea and vicar-apostolic of the Midland district, in succession to Charles Berington

Charles Berington

Charles Berington was an English Catholic bishop, Vicar Apostolic of the Midland District and Titular Bishop of Hiero-Caesarea.-Life:...

, was approved by the pope on 29 May 1800, and he was consecrated on 8 March 1801. He took up his residence at Long Birch, near Wolverhampton

Wolverhampton

Wolverhampton is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. For Eurostat purposes Walsall and Wolverhampton is a NUTS 3 region and is one of five boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "West Midlands" NUTS 2 region...

, and employed John Milner

John Milner (bishop)

John Milner was an English Roman Catholic bishop and writer who served as the Vicar Apostolic of the Midland District from 1803 to 1826.-Early life:...

as his secretary. He died at St. Omer on 23 May 1802, and was succeeded in his vicariate by Milner.