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 ENGLEFIELD

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ENGLISH

Englefield, Sir Henry Charles, Bart., antiquary and scientist, b. 1752; d. 21 March, 1822. He was the eldest son of Sir Henrj' Englefield, sixth baronet, by his second wife, Catherine, daughter of Sir Charles Bucke, Bart. His father, who was the son of Henrj' Englefield, of White Knights near Reading, had in 1728 succeeded to the title and the Engelfield estates at Wooton Basset, Wilts; so that Henrj' Charles in- herited both White Knights and Wooton Basset on the death of his father, 2o May, 1780. He was never married and devoted his entire life to study. In 1778 at the early age of twenty-six he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, and in the following year Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries. For many years he was \-ice-president of the latter, and succeeded the Marquess TowTishend as president. Owing, however, to his being a Catholic, objection was taken to his re-election, and he was replaced by the Earl of Aberdeen. Under his direction the society produced between 1797 and 1813 the series of engravings of English cathedrals, to which series he contributed the dissertations on Dur- ham, Gloucester, and Exeter. In 1781 Englefield joined the Dilettanti Society and acted as its secretary for fourteen years. Besides his antiquarian studies, which resulted in many contributions to "Archfe- ologia", he carried on research in chemistry, mathe- matics, astronomy, and geologj'. His "Discoverj' of a Lake from Madder" won for him the gold medal of the Society of Arts. He took no part in public life, owing to Catholic disabilities, but was intimate with Charles James Fox, and his cheerful temperament and viva- cious conversation won him many friends. His por- trait was painted by Sir Thomas Lawrence, and two bronze medals were struck bearing his likeness.

In Catholic affairs Englefield took a prominent part, being elected in 1782 a member of the Catholic Com- mittee, formed by the laity for the promotion of Catholic interests, a body which subsequently found itself in conflict with the \icars Apostolic. In the early stages of this tlispute he was one of the moving spirits and contributed the pamphlet, mentioned below, in answer to Dr. Ilorsley, the Anglican prelate. The latter aftemards became the friend of the Catholics, and it was through his influence that the Catholic Relief Bill of 1791 was modified to suit the require- ments of the bishops. Throughout the dispute Engle- fielcl took an independent line, and at times went rather far in his opposition to the 'vicars Apostolic, as in 1792, when he was prepared to move a strong resolu- tion at the general meeting of English Catholics. He was dissuaded at the last moment by the three who un- dertookto act as "Gentlemen Mediators" between the two parties. During his latter years his eyesight failed ; he died at his house, Tilney St., London, the baronetcy thereupon becoming extinct. His works are: "Tables of the Apparent Placesof theCometof 1661 " (London, 1788); "Letter to the Author of 'The Review of the Case of the Protestant Dissenters'" (London, 1790); "On the Determination of the Orbits of Comets" (London, 1793); "A Walk Through Southampton" (Southampton, 1801); "Description of a New Transit Instrument, Improved by Sir H. Englefield" (London, 1814); "The Andrian, a Verse Translation from Ter- ence" (London, 1814); "Description of the Principal Beauties, Antiquities and Geological Phenomena of the Isle of Wight", with engravings from his o-mi drawings, and a portrait (London, 1816); "Observa- tions on the Proliable Consequences of the Demolition of London Bridge" (London, 1821). Gillow has printed (op. cit. inf.) a list of papers contributed to the trans- actions of the Society of .\ntiquaries. Royal Society, Royal Institution, Society of .\rts, and the Linn^an Society, as well as to " Nicholson's Journal" and "Til- lock's Philosophical Magazine".

Annual RegMtr (London. 1822). LXIV; Moses. A Collection of Vases Formed bu Sir H. Englc-iifld (London, 1819), with por- trait; SoTHEBY, Life of Sir H. Enotefwld (London, 1819); Ipem, Memorial Dedicated to the Society of Dilettanti (London, 1822);

GlLLOw. Bibl. Diet. Eng. Cath. (London. 1886). II, 171; Wroth in Diet. A'a(. Biog. (London. 1SS9), XVII; Wabd, The Dawn of Catholic Emancipation (London, 1909).

Edwin Burton.

English College, The, in Rome. — I. Found.\tion. — Some historians (e. g., Dodd, II, 108, following Polydcre Vergil, Harpsfield, Spclman, etc.) have traced the origin of the English College back to the Saxon school founded in Rome by Ina, Iving of the West Saxons, in 727. To an antiquity so great, how- ever, the college, venerable though it be, has no just claim. It dates from about the middle of the four- teenth century, when the Hospice of St. Thomas of Canterbury was founded. This hospice owed its es- tablishment to the jubilees, which brought pilgrims to the Holy City from every country of Europe. Tho.se who arrived from England in 1350 to perform their devotions, found it difficult to obtain suitable accom- modation. This suggested an institution, national in character, where English pilgrims might receive shelter and hospitality. The archives of the English College seem to point to the establishment of a guild of lay- men, which acquired certain property in the Via Mon- serrato, the principal persons who took part in the transactions being John Shepherd and Alice his wife, who devoted themselves and their fortunes to the service of the pilgrims in the hospice, and William Chandler, chamberlain, Robert de I'inea, syndic, and John Williams, officials of the community and society of the English of the city. The deeds show that the property in question was acquired in the year 1362, which therefore may be taken as the date of the founda- tion of the hospice. But from the time of Henry VIII the hospice began to decline. After the persecution had broken out anew under Elizabeth, many of the clergy went into exile. Some of those who found their way to Rome were received into the hospice, and formed a permanent community therein. During Dr. William Allen's ^■isit to Rome in 1576, it was ar- ranged with Pope Gregorj' XIII that a college should be founded there for the education of priests for the English Mission. As soon as he returned to Douai (30"july, 1576) he sent ten students to Rome to form the nucleus of the new college; six more went in 1577, and again six in 1578. Dr. Gregory Martin, writing on 26 May, 1578, to Father Campion, tells him that twenty-six stutlents are living either in the hospice it- self or" in the house next door, which has internal com- munication with the hospice (Douai Diaries, ,\ppen- dix, p. 316). Indeed, the Pope had already deter- mined to convert the hospice into a seminary; and at Christmas, 1578, "There came out a Bicrc from the Popes Holines comanding all the ould Chaplines to depart within 15 dayes, and assignins; all the rents of the Hospitall unto the use of the Semmary, which was presently obayed by the said Priests" (Father Per- .sons's Memoirs: Catholic Record Societ.y, II, 144). Unfortunately, however. Cardinal Morone, the Protec- tor of England, and therefore also of the College, ap- pointed as its rector Dr. Clenock, the warden of the hospice, who was assisted by two Jesuit Fathers as prefect of Studies and procurator. Dr. Gregory Mar- tin, again wTiting to Father Campion, 18 Feb., 1579 (from Reims), informs him that there are in the col- lege in Rome "at the present moment forty-two of our students, most of whom are divines, one rector, three fathers of your Society, and six servants. They live in the hospital and the adjoining house. The rev enues of the hospital have been transferred to the seminary, except what is required for the entertain- ment of the pilgrims" (Douai Diaries, Iviii, and .Ap- pendix, p. 319). However, internal dissensions soon arose. Most of the students of the college were, of course, English; but there were also seven or eight Welshmen, for no national distinction was made be- tween the Cambrian and the Saxon, all being consid- ered as English for the purposes of the institution.