Hartwell de la Garde Grissell
Encyclopedia
Thomas Grissell
Thomas Grissell was an English public works contractor who was responsible for constructing a number of prestigious buildings in England.-Early life and education:...
, a prosperous public works contractor. He was educated at Harrow School
Harrow School
Harrow School, commonly known simply as "Harrow", is an English independent school for boys situated in the town of Harrow, in north-west London.. The school is of worldwide renown. There is some evidence that there has been a school on the site since 1243 but the Harrow School we know today was...
and in 1859 matriculated to Oxford University as a commoner of Brasenose College.
According to Walter Bradford Woodgate
Walter Bradford Woodgate
Walter Bradford Woodgate was a British barrister and oarsman who won the Wingfield Sculls three times, and various events at Henley Royal Regatta including the Silver Goblets five times and the Diamond Challenge Sculls once...
, a contemporary at Brasenose with Grissell and the founder of Vincent's Club
Vincent's Club
Vincent's Club is a sports club predominantly but not exclusively for Oxford Blues at Oxford University.The club was founded in 1863 by the oarsman Walter Bradford Woodgate of Brasenose College, Oxford, and he was the first president of the club...
(of which Grissell was a member), he was 'a non athlete, but ... popular'. During his time at University Grissell came under the influence of the leading tractarian, Dr. Henry Parry Liddon
Henry Parry Liddon
Henry Parry Liddon was an English theologian.- Biography :The son of a naval captain, he was born at North Stoneham, near Eastleigh, Hampshire. He was educated at King's College School, and at Christ Church, Oxford, where he graduated, taking a second class, in 1850...
. He became increasingly involved with the Anglican High Church movement and was admitted to the Brotherhood of the Holy Trinity, a movement existing to promote High Church
High church
The term "High Church" refers to beliefs and practices of ecclesiology, liturgy and theology, generally with an emphasis on formality, and resistance to "modernization." Although used in connection with various Christian traditions, the term has traditionally been principally associated with the...
principles within the University.
It was at also Oxford that Grissell developed a strong interest in ecclesiastical ritual. He came to believe that the Book of Common Prayer
Book of Common Prayer
The Book of Common Prayer is the short title of a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion, as well as by the Continuing Anglican, "Anglican realignment" and other Anglican churches. The original book, published in 1549 , in the reign of Edward VI, was a product of the English...
had its roots in the Catholic liturgy and argued for greater ritualism in Anglican worship. In 1865 he published a work called 'Ritual Inaccuracies', in which he attempted to 'bring the rubrics of the Protestant Communion Service into line with those of the Roman Missal
Roman Missal
The Roman Missal is the liturgical book that contains the texts and rubrics for the celebration of the Mass in the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church.-Situation before the Council of Trent:...
'. Reminiscing about this period of his life he was to write:
I soon came to the conclusion myself that this exhumation of scraps and snatches of an ancient rite, and the profane distortion of the rubrics of the Roman MissalRoman MissalThe Roman Missal is the liturgical book that contains the texts and rubrics for the celebration of the Mass in the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church.-Situation before the Council of Trent:...
for the disguise of Protestant worship was little better than an imposture.
Whilst working on his book Grissell came into contact with a number of Catholic priests and developed a leaning towards Roman Catholicism. Under the direction of Fr. Edward Caswall
Edward Caswall
Edward Caswall was an Anglican clergyman and hymn writer who converted to Roman Catholicism.He was born at Yateley, Hampshire, July 15, 1814 son of Rev. R. C. Caswall, sometime Vicar of Yateley, Hampshire...
, a priest of the Birmingham Oratory
Birmingham Oratory
The Birmingham Oratory is a Catholic oratory and church, on the Hagley Road, in the Birmingham suburb of Edgbaston in England.-History:The church was constructed between 1907 and 1910 in the Baroque style as a memorial to Cardinal Newman, founder of the English Oratory...
, Grissell began to read Catholic works. Writing in the year of his death, he recalled his conversion:
I came, after careful study of the question, to the conclusion that the Church of England, being purely a national Church, could hardly be considered Catholic and universal, in the sense of its being the Divine teacher of all nations, and that it was in schism … Prayer at length obtained for me the inestimable happiness of submitting myself to the Church, and of obtaining thereby the full certitude of my possessing undoubted and valid sacraments, and the enjoyment of that peace on earth which the true old faith can alone assure.
Grissell was received into the Catholic Church on 2 March 1868, at the hands of Henry Edward Manning, the Archbishop of Westminster.
In 1869 he moved to Rome, where he served as Cameriere
Papal Gentlemen
The Papal Gentlemen, also called the Gentlemen of His Holiness, are the lay attendants of the pope and his papal household in Vatican City. They serve in the Apostolic Palace near St. Peter's Basilica...
(a Chamberlain of Honour) to Pope Pius IX. The Cameriere wore a Spanish-style costume with cape and sword and had the duty of attending upon the Pope during ecclesiastical and state functions. With his love of ritual Grissell relished life in the Papal Court, and writing in later life he reminisced:
Having had the privilege for a period of some thirty-five years of being Chamberlain to three successive Pontiffs, [I have] many diaries … These many interesting reminiscences include an Œcumenical Council, four Jubilees, three CanonizationCanonizationCanonization is the act by which a Christian church declares a deceased person to be a saint, upon which declaration the person is included in the canon, or list, of recognized saints. Originally, individuals were recognized as saints without any formal process...
s, two Papal Consecrations of Bishops, many Consistories (including those at which Cardinals Manning, Howard, and Newman received their hats), a Blessing of the Golden RoseGolden RoseThe Golden Rose is a gold ornament, which popes of the Catholic Church have traditionally blessed annually. It is occasionally conferred as a token of reverence or affection...
, and of the Ducal Sword and Cap, an 'Anno Santo,' two Conclaves, and two Coronations, as well as many pilgrimages and visits of Sovereigns to His Holiness.
The temporal power of the Pope came to an end in 1870, when Victor Emmanuel II seized Rome, but Grissell nonetheless continued to serve under Pius IX and his two immediate successors, Leo XIII and St. Pius X. He was rewarded for his service, being created a Knight Commander of the Order of St. Gregory the Great
Order of St. Gregory the Great
The Pontifical Equestrian Order of St. Gregory the Great , was established on September 1, 1831, by Pope Gregory XVI, seven months after his election.It is one of the five orders of knighthood of the Holy See...
and, in 1898, one of the four Papal Chamberlain
Papal chamberlain
Papal chamberlain was one of the highest honours that could be bestowed on a Catholic layman by the Pope, and was often given to members of noble families. It was mostly an honorary position, but a chamberlain served the Pope for one week per year during official ceremonies...
s 'di numero' (an honour usually reserved to the Roman nobility). Writing from Rome in 1900 Oscar Wilde
Oscar Wilde
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish writer and poet. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s...
referred to Grissell as a stalwart of the conservative Papal Court:
We came to Rome on Holy Thursday ... and yesterday, to the terror of Grissell and all the Papal Court, I appeared in the front rank of the pilgrims in the Vatican, and got the blessing of the Holy Father - a blessing they would have denied me.
He was wonderful as he was carried past me on his throne--not of flesh and blood, but a white soul robed in white and an artist as well as a saint-the only instance in history, if the newspapers are to be believed. I have seen nothing like the extraordinary grace of his gestures as he rose, from moment to moment, to bless-possibly the pilgrims, but certainly me.
Whilst residing in Rome Grissell amassed a vast collection of relics and sacred curios, including a portion of the Crown of Thorns
Crown of Thorns
In Christianity, the Crown of Thorns, one of the instruments of the Passion, was woven of thorn branches and placed on Jesus Christ before his crucifixion...
and the entire body of St. Pacificus. The centrepiece of the collection was the reputedly miraculous image of the Madonna called 'Mater Misericordia' (now housed in the Oxford Oratory
Oxford Oratory
The Oxford Oratory Church of St Aloysius Gonzaga is the Catholic parish church for the centre of Oxford, England. It is located at 25 Woodstock Road. The church is presently served by the Congregation of the Oratory....
and popularly known as 'Our Lady of Oxford'), to which Pius IX granted indulgences at Grissell’s request. Besides being an expert in matters liturgical, Grissell was a noted numismatician and was elected to a fellowship of the Society of Antiquaries of London
Society of Antiquaries of London
The Society of Antiquaries of London is a learned society "charged by its Royal Charter of 1751 with 'the encouragement, advancement and furtherance of the study and knowledge of the antiquities and history of this and other countries'." It is based at Burlington House, Piccadilly, London , and is...
.
When not serving at the Papal Court, Grissell resided at 60 High Street in Oxford. Here he set up a private oratory, which was frequented by many early convert members of Oxford University. In 1877 he suggested the possibility of establishing a society for the University's Catholics and in the following year this idea came to fruition with the foundation of Oxford University Newman Society
Oxford University Newman Society
For Newman Centers around North America see Newman Centre.The Oxford University Newman Society is Oxford University's oldest Roman Catholic organisation, named as a tribute to Cardinal Newman, who advanced the cause of Catholicism at Oxford both as an Anglican striving to recover Anglicanism's...
(which prior to 1888 was called Oxford University Catholic Club). Roman Catholics had only recently been readmitted to the University, and their presence there remained controversial. In 1883 Grissell was accused of proselytizing and had to be escorted from Pembroke College whilst a mob of undergraduates hurled missiles and shouted 'No-popery' taunts at him. However, despite such obstacles Grissell continued to promote Catholicism within the University and he was to be influential in persuading Leo XIII to lift the papal ban on Catholics attending the English universities; this was to result in the foundation of Oxford University's Catholic Chaplaincy.
Grissell died in Rome on 10 June 1907, leaving his relic collection in trust to the Catholic Archdiocese of Birmingham, with the proviso that it be housed within a special chapel within the church of St. Aloysius Gonzaga in Oxford. He also bequeathed a notable collection of Papal coins to the Ashmolean Museum
Ashmolean Museum
The Ashmolean Museum on Beaumont Street, Oxford, England, is the world's first university museum...
.
To mark the centenary of his death in 2007 Oxford University Newman Society
Oxford University Newman Society
For Newman Centers around North America see Newman Centre.The Oxford University Newman Society is Oxford University's oldest Roman Catholic organisation, named as a tribute to Cardinal Newman, who advanced the cause of Catholicism at Oxford both as an Anglican striving to recover Anglicanism's...
mounted an exhibition commemorating his life and times, which was held in his Oxford alma mater, Brasenose College.