John Douglass D.D. (1743–1812), catholic prelate, was
born at Yarm, Yorkshire, in December 1743,
the son of John
Douglass and Brigit Senson or Semson. John Douglass (snr) had fled
Scotland because he was a Jacobite supporter.
The family appears to have met Bonnie Prince Charlie in 1745 as he and
his supporters made their way south. There is some evidence
that he was descended from the Thomas
Douglas(1), Baillie of Edinburgh (1616-1686), the
son of James, 8th laird of Cavers(1)
He was sent at the age of
thirteen to the English college, Douay. He took the college oath in
1764, and defended universal divinity cum laude in 1768.
John Douglas' presence of the seminary at Douai in France came to an end
with the French Revolution. In October 1793 the college property was
confiscated, so the professors and students returned to England where
the penal laws against Catholics had been relaxed. Afterwards he
went to the English college, Valladolid, as professor of humanities,
arriving there 27 June 1768. At a later period he taught philosophy.
Bishop John Douglass, Vicar Apostolic of the London District, sent the
earliest refugees to stay at Old Hall Green Academy, a school near to
Ware, Hertfordshire, where a small school had secretly existed since
1769, and there Bishop Douglass established St. Edmund's College as the
place of education for the clergy of the London District.
Owing to ill-health he left Valladolid 30 July 1773, and was priest of
the mission of Linton and afterwards at York. While he was a missioner
at York he was selected by the holy see for the London vicariate in
opposition to the strenuous efforts made by the ‘catholic committee’ to
have Bishop Charles Berington translated from the midland to the
London district. Several catholic laymen, adherents of that association,
went so far as to maintain that the clergy and laity ought to choose
their own bishops without any reference to Rome, and procure their
consecration at the hands of any other lawful bishop. It was even
proposed by them, after the appointment of Douglass, to pronounce that
appointment ‘obnoxious and improper,’ and to refuse to acknowledge it.
Dr. Charles Berington, however, addressed a printed letter to the London
clergy, resigning every pretension to the London vicariate, and the
opposition to Douglass was withdrawn.
He succeeded the Hon. James Talbot, D.D., as vicar-apostolic of the
London district. His election by propaganda on 22 Aug. 1790 was approved
by the pope on the 26th of that month, and expedited on 1 Sept. His
briefs to the see of Centuria in partibus were dated 25 Sept. 1790. He
was consecrated 19 Dec. the same year, in St. Mary's Church, Lullworth
Castle, Dorsetshire, by Dr. William Gibson, bishop of Acanthus, and
vicar-apostolic of the northern district.
The Catholic Relief Act, passed in June 1791, repealed the statutes of
recusancy in favour of persons taking the Irish oath of allegiance of
1778. It was Douglass who suggested that this oath should replace the
oath which was proposed during the debates on the measure and warmly
discussed by the contending parties. The act likewise repealed the oath
of supremacy imposed in the reign of William and Mary, as well as
various declarations and disabilities; and it tolerated the schools and
religious worship of Roman Catholics.
Douglass was one of the first members of the ‘Roman Catholic Meeting,’
organised in May 1794, in opposition to the Cisalpine Club (Milner,
Supplementary Memoirs of English Catholics, p. 201). He seems to have
been of a gentle disposition, though he was resolute in matters of
principle. He was a determined opponent of the veto, and he severely
censured the Blanchardist schismatics. To him St. Edmund's College, Old
Hall Green, owes its existence as an ecclesiastical establishment, in
which is preserved the continuity of the English college of St. Omer,
through its president, Dr. Gregory Stapleton, settling there with his
students at the invitation of Douglass, 15 Aug. 1795, after their
liberation from imprisonment during the French revolution. Dr. Milner
submitted his ‘Letters to a Prebendary’ to Douglass for revision.
Douglass erased nearly one-half of the original contents before sending
it back to the author, who printed the work in its curtailed form.
Douglass died at his residence in Castle Street, Holborn, on 8 May 1812
(Gent. Mag. vol. lxxxii. pt. i. p. 599). Dr. William Poynter, who had
been appointed his coadjutor in 1803, succeeded him in the
vicariate-apostolic of the London district.
An account by Douglass of the state of the catholic religion in his
vicariate in 1796 is printed in Brady's ‘Episcopal Succession,’ iii. 180
seq. He published some charges and several pastorals, two of which were
translated into Spanish. He also for many years published ‘A New Year's
Gift’ in the ‘Laity's Directory.’ The volume of that publication issued
in 1811 contains an engraved portrait of him, and a bust of him by
Turnerelli was executed in the following year.
|
10 Sep 1790 |
46.8 |
Appointed |
Vicar Apostolic of London District, England, Great Britain |
|
10 Sep 1790 |
46.8 |
Appointed |
Titular Bishop of Centuria |
|
19 Dec 1790 |
47.0 |
Ordained Bishop |
Titular Bishop of Centuria |
|
8 May 1812 |
Died |
Vicar Apostolic of London District, England, Great Britain |
Editor's notes:
1. I have not been able to verify this information. The dates seem wrong
as the 8th Laird died in 1612. Elsewhere, I record the baillie as John,
son of the the 8th Laird.
2. Presumably, as a catholic, he was unmarried and had no children.
3. Alfred Douglass, who built Corio
Villa, is thought to be a descendant of John Douglass and his
wife Bridget at Yarm, Yorkshire.
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