Page:A catalogue of notable Middle Templars, with brief biographical notices.djvu/112



Admitted 3 November, 1580.

He is described in the Register simply as "William Fitche, late of New Inn," but he was the son of William Fitch, lord of the manor of Canfield, Essex, and he assumed the name of Canfield, under which he has ever been known. Becoming a Roman Catholic soon after his entry at the Temple, he proceeded to Douay and Paris and joined the Capuchin Order, taking the name of Benedict. Returning to England, he was arrested and kept in confinement for three years, when he was released at the request of Henry IV. of France. He then became Master of the Novices at Orleans and Rouen. He died in Paris 21 Nov. 1611.

He was celebrated as a preacher, and published several small treatises, including The Christian Knight;Tabulæ, quædam de bene Orando; The Rule of Perfection (1609). A volume containing The Miraculous Life of the Reverend Father Bennet of Canfield, partly autobiographical, was published in 1623.

Admitted 16 August, 1764.

Eldest son of William Fitzgerald of Ennis, co. Clare. He was educated at Dublin, where he had a distinguished career, and was called to the Irish Bar in 1769. He entered the House of Commons in 1776 as member for Fore, and subsequently for Kildare county, and there made a great reputation as an orator. As a politician he opposed the Union, but accepted the measure when carried, and sat in the Imperial Parliament for Ennis from 1802 to 1808, and again in 1812. He retired from politics the following year, and died 20 Jan. 1835.

Admitted 9 February, 1682-3.

He is described on the Register as "John Fitzgerald, Earl of Kildare and Baron of Ophaly (Offaly), Ireland." He was the only son of Wentworth Fitzgerald, the seventeenth Earl, who died 5 March, 1663-4. He was born in 1661, and at his father's death was committed to the guardianship of his grandmother, the Countess Dowager of Clare. On coming of age, he attended James, Duke of York, to Oxford, where he was complimented with the degree of D.C.L., 22 May, 1683, three months after his honorary admission, with a number of other persons of rank, to the membership of the Inn.

Admitted 10 November, 1571.

Son and heir of William Fitzherbert of Swynerton, co. Stafford, and grandson of Sir Anthony Fitzherbert, the learned Judge. He was entered at Oxford; but, embracing the Roman Catholic faith, and publickly defending it, had to leave, and in 1572 was imprisoned as a recusant. On his release he became associated with Gilbert, Parsons, Campion, and other Jesuits in promoting the Roman Catholic cause. He subsequently visited various parts of the Continent, and was ordained at Rome in 1601, and there acted as agent for the English clergy. He entered the Jesuit Order in 1613, and in 1618 became Rector of the English College at Rome. He died 7 Aug. 1640.

He was the author of a great number of works, including A Defence of the