:William Pope (priest)

Pope came from a family with Anglican clerical connections. His great-grandfather was William Pope the elder,{{Refn|William Pope the elder (died Hillingdon 1789).|group=nb}} owner of Hillingdon rectory estate;{{cite book|author=Daniel Lysons|title=An Historical Account of those Parishes in the County of Middlesex: which are not described in the Environs of London|url=https://archive.org/details/anhistoricalacc00lysogoog|year=1800|publisher=Printed for T. Cadell, jun. and W. Davies|page=[https://archive.org/details/anhistoricalacc00lysogoog/page/n219 167]}} he married Mabel Mills,{{Refn|Mabel Pope née Mills (c.1735–1823).|group=nb}} daughter of Richard Mills, vicar of Hillingdon.{{cite news|url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000073/18230726/023/0004|url-access=subscription|title=Died|date=26 July 1823|work=Oxford Journal|page=4|via=British Newspaper Archive|accessdate=19 July 2024}} Pope's paternal grandfather was barrister William Pope the younger,{{Refn|William Pope the younger (died 1809), barrister.|group=nb}}{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/stream/registerofadmiss00gray#page/393/mode/1up|title=The register of Admissions to Gray's Inn, 1521–1889, together with the register of marriages in Gray's inn chapel, 1695-1754|last1=Foster|first1=Joseph|year=1889|work=Internet Archive|publisher=Hansard publishing union, Ltd.|page=393|accessdate=19 July 2024|location=London}} who worked in the Exchequer Office, Temple.{{cite book|title=The Gentleman's Magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v6BEAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA390|year=1809|publisher=F. Jeffries|page=390}} On 15 May 1790 he married Mary Heaton Pope,{{Refn|Mary Heaton Pope (baptised 22 December 1795).|group=nb}}{{cite book|title=The Political Magazine and Parliamentary, Naval, Military, and Literary Journal, For the YEAR|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z8IPAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA428|year=1790|page=428}} daughter of Sherlock Willis, vicar of Wormley, Hertfordshire.{{cite book|author=Arthur Jones|title=Hertfordshire 1731-1800 as Recorded in the Gentleman's Magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_hkA87TVeW4C&pg=PA163|year=1993|publisher=Univ of Hertfordshire Press|isbn=978-0-901354-73-0|page=163}}

Pope's father was the Evangelical preacher Reverend Frederick Sherlock W. Pope,{{Refn|Frederick Sherlock W. Pope (Middlesex 1793 – York 5 February 1852). Baptised 31 December 1793. GRO index: Deaths Mar 1852 Pope Frederick York 9d 20. His death certificate says: "Fifth February 1852, Parish of Saint Mary Bishophill Junior, York. Frederick Sherlock Pope, clerk. Cause of death: disease of the heart. Informant John Wood coroner, York". His memorial stone says: "This tablet is erected to the memory of the Rev. Frederick Sherlock Pope, curate of the Parish of Holy Trinity, to record the high esteem borne toward him, among whom he laboured for 4 years, with unwearied zeal, and disinterested benevolence. He died suddenly in York, Feb. 3rd 1852, aged 58 years". F.S.W. Pope is buried in Holy Trinity Priory Churchyard, York.|group=nb}}{{cite book |title=Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills 1384-1858. pp512/89-91 |date=8 June 1852 |publisher=HM Government |location=Canterbury, Kent |url=https://www.ancestry.co.uk/discoveryui-content/view/240255:5111?tid=&pid=&queryId=126284ea-1519-4188-b1ac-7e85426a5860&_phsrc=HFg51&_phstart=successSource |access-date=17 July 2024|url-access=subscription}}{{cite book |title=Church of England Baptisms 1559-1812|url-access=subscription|via=Ancestry |date=1793 |publisher=Church of England |location=Hillingdon, Middlesex, England |url=https://www.ancestry.co.uk/discoveryui-content/view/2790668:1624?tid=&pid=&queryId=804f4b22-0c8b-4b11-92d4-3cbc831bd496&_phsrc=HFg62&_phstart=successSource |access-date=18 July 2024 |quote=Hillingdon. 31 December 1793. Frederic, son of William Pope and Mary Heaton Pope Esquire.}} vicar of the Baxtergate Chapel of Ease, which later became St Ninian's Parish Church; it was located on Baxtergate, in Whitby.{{cite book |last1=Smales |first1=Gideon |title=Whitby Authors and their Publications, with the titles of all the books printed in Whitby. A.D. 670 to A.D. 1867. Works published between 1831 and 1850 |date=1867 |publisher=Home & Son |location=United Kingdom |page=102 |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Whitby_Authors_and_their_Publications_wi/0RrrftnUtoYC?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA102&printsec=frontcover |access-date=19 July 2024}}{{cite news |title=Deaths |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000193/18520207/052/0008 |access-date=22 July 2024 |work=Leeds Intelligencer |agency=|via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |date=7 February 1852 |page=8 col.5}} His mother was Eliza Jane Pope née Skinner.{{Refn|Eliza Jane Pope née Skinner (born Whitby c. 1798). |group=nb}} His parents married on 19 February 1824 in Stockton Parish, Durham.{{cite book |title=England, Select Marriages, 1538-1973 |date=1824 |publisher=HM Government|via=Ancestry|url-access=subscription |location=Stockton Parish, Durham |url=https://www.ancestry.co.uk/discoveryui-content/view/34997395:9852?tid=&pid=&queryId=126284ea-1519-4188-b1ac-7e85426a5860&_phsrc=HFg51&_phstart=successSource |access-date=17 July 2024}}{{cite web |title=1851 England census. F.S. Pope and Eliza Jane Pope, 20 South Parade, Holy Trinity Micklegate, York. HO107/2354. Page 84/82. Schedule 103. |url=https://www.ancestry.co.uk/imageviewer/collections/8860/images/YRKHO107_2353_2354-0404?pId=10894929 |website=ancestry.co.uk |publisher=H.M. Government |access-date=17 July 2024 |quote=20 South Parade. Fredk Sherlock Pope. Age 57. Curate of Holy Trinity Micklegate, York, born Middlesex, London. Wife Eliza Jane. Age 53. Born Whitby. Children: Sarah M. Pope, Fredk S. M. Pope, Louisa Pope, Elizabeth S. Pope, John S. Pope, Mary S. Pope, Charlotte Pope. All born in Whitby. |url-access=subscription|via=Ancestry}} One of Pope's uncles was Richard Whately, Protestant Archbishop of Dublin,{{cite book |last1=Gordon-Gorman |first1=William James |title=Converts to Rome : a biographical list of the more notable converts to the Catholic Church in the United Kingdom during the last sixty years |date=1910 |publisher=Sands |location=London |pages=220,221/242-243 |url=https://archive.org/details/a583403600gorduoft/page/n241/mode/2up |access-date=19 July 2024 |quote=Reverends William and John, both sons of Rev. F.S.W. Pope, were nephews of Richard Whately, Bishop of Dublin}} who married Pope's aunt, Elizabeth Pope, the sister of Rev. Frederick Sherlock W. Pope.{{cite news |title=Perverts to popery lay and clerical 1853 |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000488/18540114/006/0002 |access-date=18 July 2024 |work=Lancaster Gazette |agency=|via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |date=14 January 1854 |page=2 col.5}}{{cite book|author=Robert P. Dod|title=The Peerage, Baronetage, and Knightage, of Great Britain and Ireland for 1862|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B-ANAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA229|year=1862|page=229}} Another uncle was Rev. Henry Bishop who married F.S.W. Pope's sister Louisa,{{cite news |title=Married |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001428/18330917/024/0004 |access-date=19 July 2024 |work=Maidstone Journal and Kentish Advertiser |agency=|via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |date=17 September 1833 |page=4 col.4}} and a third uncle was the mathematician Baden Powell, who married another of F.S.W. Pope's sisters, Charlotte.{{cite book|author=Pietro Corsi|title=Science and Religion: Baden Powell and the Anglican Debate, 1800–1860|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VJHB3j_VCUQC&pg=PA144|date=26 May 1988|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-24245-5|page=144}} A fourth uncle was Reverend William Law Pope, brother of F.S.W. Pope.{{cite journal |title=Letters |journal=Notes and Queries |date=2 January 1864 |volume=29 |page=20 col.2 |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Notes_and_Queries/N8yo8evG6SMC?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA20&printsec=frontcover |access-date=19 July 2024 |publisher=Oxford University Press}}

Pope was born in Whitby on 16 March 1825.{{Refn|William Pope (1835–1905). GRO index: Deaths Dec 1905 Pope William 80 Knaresbro' 9a 76. Burial plot: Grove Road Cemetery, Harrogate, section K, number 12.|group=nb}}{{cite news |title=Death of Canon Pope, at Harrogate. Well-known disciple of Newman passes away. His connections with Ilkley and Harrogate |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001823/19051110/170/0008 |access-date=8 June 2024 |work=Wharfedale & Airedale Observer |agency=|via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |date=10 November 1905 |page=8 cols 4–6}} He was baptised on 11 April 1825 at Whitby.{{cite book |title=Select Births and Christenings 1538-1975 |date=1825 |publisher=HM Government |location=Whitby |url=https://www.ancestry.co.uk/discoveryui-content/view/141875413:9841?tid=&pid=&queryId=02023e1f-4e9e-461a-9b07-d377d273c445&_phsrc=HFg49&_phstart=successSource |access-date=17 July 2024 |quote=Father: Frederick Sherlock Pope. Mother Eliza Jane Pope.|url-access=subscription|via=Ancestry}} He was the eldest of at least eight siblings, the younger ones being: Sarah Margaret,{{Refn|Sarah Margaret Pope (born 1830, baptised 15 January 1830).|group=nb}}{{cite book |title=Select Births and Christenings, 1538-1975|via=Ancestry|url-access=subscription |date=1830 |publisher=HM Government |location=Whitby, England |url=https://www.ancestry.co.uk/discoveryui-content/view/111134664:9841?ssrc=pt&tid=109174777&pid=390074477146 |access-date=18 July 2024 |quote=15 January 1830: Baptism of Sarah Margaret Pope, in Whitby, England. Father Frederick Sherlock Pope, mother Eliza Jane Pope.}} Frederick Sherlock Willis,{{Refn|Frederick Sherlock Willis Pope (born 1831), baptised on 13 October 1831.|group=nb}}{{cite book |title=Select Births and Christenings 1538-1975 |date=1831 |publisher=HM Government|url-access=subscription|via=Ancestry |location=Whitby, Yorkshire |url=https://www.ancestry.co.uk/discoveryui-content/view/106889652:9841?tid=&pid=&queryId=126284ea-1519-4188-b1ac-7e85426a5860&_phsrc=HFg51&_phstart=successSource |access-date=17 July 2024}} Louisa,{{Refn|Louisa Pope (born 1834).|group=nb}} Elizabeth S.,{{Refn|Elizabeth S. Pope (born 1836).|group=nb}} John S.,{{Refn|John S. Pope (born 1837) He was possibly Father Xavier de Vacht, who attended Pope's funeral and retired in 1907, .|group=nb}} Mary Skinner,{{Refn|Mary Skinner Pope (1838 – Filey 3 May 1897). Baptised 10 August 1838. GRO index: Deaths Jun 1897 Pope Mary Skinner 58 Scarbro' 9d 220. The 1861–1881 censuses find her as an unmarried lodger in York or Whitby, living on her own means (fundholder).|group=nb}}{{cite news |title=Deaths |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001065/18970508/064/0003 |access-date=21 July 2024 |work=Driffield Times |agency=|via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |date=8 May 1897 |page=3 col.7 |quote=At Filey, May 3rd, aged 58 years, Mary Skinner Pope, daughter of the late Rev. F.S. Pope, Baxtergate, Whitby.}}{{cite book |title=Select Births and Christenings 1538-1975 |date=10 August 1838 |publisher=Church of England|via=Ancestry|url-access=subscription |location=Whitby, England |url=https://www.ancestry.co.uk/discoveryui-content/view/113469578:9841?tid=&pid=&queryId=4e22f84e-578f-4559-a78f-6d72f36d4859&_phsrc=HFg66&_phstart=successSource |access-date=21 July 2024 |quote=Mary Pope. Baptised 10 August 1838, Whitby, England. Father Frederick Sherlock Pope, mother Eliza Jane Pope.}} and Charlotte S.{{Refn|Charlotte Pope (born 1840).|group=nb}} John S. Pope was a Jesuit priest. The 1841 census finds the family at Bagdale, Whitby, with Frederick describing himself as a clergyman. William Pope was not present in any of the census pages which included his father.{{cite web |title=1841 England census. Bagdale, Whitby, Yorkshire. HO107/1265/11. Page 18/45. Schedule 790. |url=https://www.ancestry.co.uk/discoveryui-content/view/11946564:8978?tid=&pid=&queryId=dfcc1773-0321-42a6-b046-0ab6cc680b16&_phsrc=HFg59&_phstart=successSource |website=ancestry.co.uk|url-access=subscription|via=Ancestry |publisher=H.M. Government |access-date=18 July 2024 |date=1841}}

Pope attended St Peter's School, York, and was also educated by a private tutor.{{cite news |title=Obituary. The Very Rev. William Canon Pope |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/BL/0002447/19051118/082/0026?browse=true&fullscreen=true |access-date=8 June 2024 |work=The Tablet |agency=|via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |date=18 November 1905 |page=826, cols 1,2}} He was sent by his father to Christ's College, Cambridge. "[Pope] was entered for Oxford, but on account of the materialistic influence then prevailing at the university, and its probable effect on the young man, his father took him off the books, and he was sent to ... Cambridge". He received his Cambridge degree in 1848.

File:Marriage notice of Rev. William Pope (1).JPG

According to the Cambridge Independent Press and the newspapers which repeated the announcement, on 12 October 1848 at Great St Andrew's Church, Cambridge, one Revd. William Pope, B.A., of Christ's College, Cambridge, married Eliza D'Aguilar of Cambridge.{{cite news |title=Marriages |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000418/18481014/042/0003 |access-date=21 July 2024 |work=Cambridge Independent Press |agency=|via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |date=14 October 1848 |page=3 col.8 |quote=(By the Rev. J. Cooper, M.A.) The Rev. William Pope, B.A., of Christ's College, Cambridge, to Eliza, third daughter of Mrs D'Aguilar, of Park Terrace, Cambridge.}} However, in the 1851 census Pope is described as unmarried, and Eliza is not present. It is Rev. John Pawley Pope who is listed as the bridegroom on the 1848 marriage certificate of Eliza D'Aguilar.{{Refn|Re newspaper announcement of the marriage of William Pope and Eliza D'Aguilar. The GRO index for the same marriage gives a different name for the groom: Marriages Dec 1848 Pope John Pawley and D'Aguilar Eliza, Cambridge XIV 3. The original marriage certificate says, "St Andrew's the Great. Cambridge. October 12th 1848. John Pawley Pope (clerk) of Langley, Essex, son of merchant John Pope, and Eliza D'Aguilar. of Cambridge, daughter of Colonel George Thomas D'Aguilar. Both of full age, bachelor and spinster. Officiating minister was Thomas A. Pope". William Pope is not mentioned on the marriage certificate. J.P. Pope received his B.A. degree at Christ's College, Cambridge on 3 June 1846. He was assistant chaplain to the Madras Presidency, and died aged 33 years on 1 June 1857 on board the Royal Mail steamer Juno. |group=nb}}{{cite news |title=Degrees |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000420/18460606/032/0002 |access-date=22 July 2024 |work=Cambridge Chronicle and Journal |agency=|via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |date=6 June 1846 |page=2 col.2}}{{cite news |title=Obituary |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0002131/18570710/033/0002 |access-date=22 July 2024 |work=Nottingham Journal |agency=|via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |date=10 July 1857 |page=2 col.5}}

In his 1905 funeral oration about Pope, Dr Bray described him as being "semi-guileless", with "transparent sincerity". He had "dignity", "gravity", "reserve", and "held respect". He had "the refinement of the cultured scholar, and the earnestness of the devoted priest. He won friends wherever he went. Though a scholar of brilliant attainments, and able to hold his own in any society. he yet prepared to live a retired life ... unknown to the world".

In 1848 Pope was ordained as an Anglican deacon, and accepted the curacy of Bolton le Moors, Lancashire. On 18 September of the same year he officiated in Stillorgan Church in Ireland, at the marriage of his cousin Henrietta, daughter of Richard Whately, the Archbishop of Dublin, to Charles Brent Wale, son of General Sir Charles Wale, K.C.B.{{cite news |title=Married |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/BL/0000435/18480921/059/0003?browse=true&fullscreen=true |access-date=21 July 2024 |work=Dublin Evening Post |agency=|via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |date=21 September 1848 |page=3 col.6}}

Pope was "one of Cardinal Newman's converts", and a "follower of the Tractarian Movement". Newman inspired multiple secessions of men of the cloth in the United Kingdom: in 1851 thirty-eight Anglican clergymen converted to the Roman Church, in 1852 it was seven, and in 1853 Pope was one of three.{{Refn|The numbers of secessions from Anglicanism given here do not include conversions of laymen in the United Kingdom, or conversions of clergy and laymen outside the UK.|group=nb}} The Halifax Evening Courier described Pope as: "a disciple of Newman and survivor of that band of men who were led by Newman's influence into communion with the Church of Rome".{{cite news |title=A disciple of Newman |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0002843/19051107/036/0002 |access-date=8 June 2024 |work=Halifax Evening Courier |agency=|via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |date=7 November 1905 |page=2 col.4}} The Wharfedale & Airedale Observer stated that:

Canon Pope was always a great admirer of Cardinal Newman, in whose writings he was thoroughly well versed. He frequently recalled an interesting incident illustrating the influence of Dr Newman. When going up to Cambridge for his first term, some young men got into the train, and one of them remarked, Newman has become a Catholic, whereupon another immediately replied, Then so shall I.

Following his curacy at Bolton le Moors, Pope took up a curacy at the tiny, 13th-century St Edward's Church in Teffont Magna, Wiltshire, which was a chapel of ease for Dinton. The 1851 census finds him unmarried, living alone with a servant in Teffont Magna, and describing himself as curate of Dinton.{{cite web |title=1851 England census, Teffont Magna, HO107/1849. Page 7. Schedule 26 |url=https://www.ancestry.co.uk/imageviewer/collections/8860/images/WILHO107_1849_1850-0359?treeid=&personid=&rc=&queryId=e193293b-efed-406e-aef1-53eaf8a1245e&usePUB=true&_phsrc=HFg33&_phstart=successSource&pId=5500342 |website=ancestry.co.uk |publisher=HM Government |access-date=17 July 2024|via=Ancestry|url-access=subscription |quote=William Pope, unmarried, age 26, curate of Dinton, born Yorkshire Whitby.}} However, being "very unsettled" there, he left that position and returned to his father's home in York in 1852. His father was a member of the Protestant Alliance, at whose meetings strong comments were made against the Church of Rome. F.S.W. Pope attended one of its meetings on 30 January 1852. He had a suspected heart condition and, according to the coroner at his inquest, died suddenly of "a visitation of God" a few days later on 5 February.{{cite news |title=Great meeting of the York Protestant Alliance. The Maynooth endowment |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000266/18520131/028/0007 |access-date=22 July 2024 |work=Yorkshire Gazette |agency=|via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |date=31 January 1852 |page=7 cols 3–5}}{{cite news |title=Awfully sudden death of a clergyman |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000498/18520207/042/0006 |access-date=22 July 2024 |work=York Herald |agency=|via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |date=7 February 1852 |page=6 col.1}}

File:Canon William Pope (2c).jpg

In York, Pope preached at All Saints' Church, Pavement, and was accepted as a "very popular preacher"; however, he refused an offer by the Anglican diocese of a living in the city. He then experienced "a period of some doubt and anxiety" on religious questions. This was "the crisis of his life", and he was called to "arise and leave his father's house and kindred, and go into a strange country". He suffered doubts about the position of the Anglican Church and about his own theological position. In this "time of bitter suffering", he retired from his Anglican priesthood, and gave himself up to prayer and study, finding it very difficult to give up his old life and to begin a new one. Dr Bray said, "That was his prospect for eighteen terrible months, during which he sought to know his Master's will. At last he knew it. At last the call came strong and clear, and, forthwith, leaving all, he rose up and followed it".

In September 1853, Pope was received into the Church of Rome by Rev. Father Tracey Clark, S.J. For four years he studied theology in Rome, and was ordained in September 1857 at St John Lateran. He performed his initial mass in St Peter's crypt. He returned to England in 1857, having spent five years in Italy.

On his arrival in England in 1857 Pope took up mission work. In that year he was made priest of the Roman Catholic chapel in Egton Bridge.{{cite news |title=Egton Bridge, near Whitby |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000499/18571114/018/0005 |access-date=18 July 2024 |work=York Herald |agency=|via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |date=14 November 1857 |page=5 col.1}} According to The Tablet, "He was first appointed to Yarm, in the then Diocese of Beverley". According to the 1861 census, Pope was living and working in High Worsall near Yarm in that year, living alone with two servants, describing himself as a Catholic priest. At that time the village had an 18th-century chapel dedicated to St John.{{cite web |title=1861 England Census. Wilson Wind, High Worsall, Yorkshire. RG9/3689. Page 4. Schedule 19. |url=https://www.ancestry.co.uk/imageviewer/collections/8767/images/DRURG9_3686_3691-0725?treeid=&personid=&rc=&queryId=630add52-2724-488f-890f-4e9278b2ec3f&usePUB=true&_phsrc=HFg37&_phstart=successSource&pId=12298420 |website=ancestry.co.uk |publisher=H.M. Government |access-date=17 July 2024|via=Ancestry|url-access=subscription |quote=William Pope, unmarried, age 36. Catholic priest.}} After Yarm, he worked for a year in Hunslet, Leeds.

File:Sacred Heart Catholic Church - Stockeld Road - geograph.org.uk - 1197442.jpg

Pope was chaplain to the Middleton family at Middleton Lodge, Ilkley, from around 1867,{{Refn|Contemporary sources spell the family name and place name variously as "Middelton" and "Middleton". |group=nb}} and he remained there for twenty-two years, until 1889. Because there was no Roman Catholic church in Ilkley when he arrived, "he practically started the mission in Ilkley". Its congregation had been worshipping at a chapel at Middleton (now known as Middleton-on-Wharfe) since 1825. Therefore, besides being a private chaplain, Pope also acted as a parish priest to the local Catholic congregation in Nesfield, Addingham, Ilkley and Middleton. The building of the Church of the Sacred Heart, founded in 1878 on Stockeld Road in Ilkley, owed much to his leadership and organisation of its building committee. Pope also worked to build St Mary's School for Catholic pupils alongside the church, and he served on the Ilkley School Board between 1878 and 1889.{{cite news |title=Obituary: Canon Pope |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001782/19051107/165/0010 |access-date=8 June 2024 |work=Nottingham Guardian |agency=|via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |date=7 November 1905 |page=10 col.4}} Pope persuaded William Middleton to donate the land on Stockeld Road, and £1,300 ({{Inflation|UK|1300|1905|fmt=eq|r=2|cursign=£}}) was raised for the building.{{Inflation-fn|UK|df=y}} In 1881 he was living in the Priest's House with one servant, in Middleton in Wharfedale, describing himself as a Roman Catholic priest.{{cite web |title=1881 England Census. Priest House, Middleton in Wharfedale. RG11/4337. Page 1/79. Schedule 5. |url=https://www.ancestry.co.uk/discoveryui-content/view/23849446:7572?tid=&pid=&queryId=147d55e8-fc5a-4d0e-a2f3-4a6fd3e71768&_phsrc=HFg42&_phstart=successSource |website=ancestry.co.uk |publisher=H.M. Government |access-date=17 July 2024|via=Ancestry|url-access=subscription |date=1881 |quote=Priest House. William Pope, age 56, Roman Catholic priest.}} When he left Ilkley, he was presented with an illuminated address and a purse of gold.

File:St Robert's Catholic Church - Robert Street - geograph.org.uk - 1621370.jpg

File:Reliefs in St Roberts Harrogate (30a).jpg

The Tablet said that Pope had "lived and laboured" in Harrogate, and "wore himself out ... He loved his church, and he strove to make it more worthy as a dwelling place for the Divine guest; [the congregation] had only to look round and see the beauty and order of the beautiful church". For 16 years from 1889 until his death in 1905, Pope served in ministerial duties at St Robert's Church, Harrogate,{{cite news |title=Death of Canon Pope, of Harrogate |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000056/19051107/115/0009 |access-date=8 June 2024 |work=Freeman's Journal |agency=|via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |date=7 November 1905 |page=9 col.6}} at the same time serving as a canon of Leeds Cathedral. He was instrumental in organising the building of the schools attached to the church, in Robert Street, founded in 1895,{{cite news |title=Yorkshire items. The memorial stone |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000336/18950921/085/0005 |access-date=20 July 2024 |work=Leeds Times |agency=|via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |date=21 September 1895 |page=5 col.7}}{{cite news |title=Harrogate. Death of Canon Pope |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0002864/19051110/040/0005 |access-date=8 June 2024 |work=Bradford Weekly Telegraph |agency=|via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |date=10 November 1905 |page=5 col.3}} and in arranging the installation of the Italianate bas relief panels of the Stations of the Cross in the church's nave. Pope did not take part in public life in Harrogate, but dedicated himself to pastoral work with his congregation. The last census of his lifetime finds him at the presbytery of St Robert's, living alongside a lodger Philip Bethell who was a Roman Catholic priest born in France, and three domestic servants.{{cite web |title=1901 England Census. Presbytery, St Robert's Church, Harrogate. RG13/4054. Page 17/134. Schedule 93. |url=https://www.ancestry.co.uk/discoveryui-content/view/25828108:7814?tid=&pid=&queryId=2c9adc59-55af-4def-b391-ae679424b983&_phsrc=HFg46&_phstart=successSource |website=ancestry.co.uk |publisher=H.M. Government |access-date=17 July 2024|via=Ancestry|url-access=subscription |quote=St Robert's Presbytery, Robert Street. William Pope. Single. Age 76. Roman Catholic priest.}}

When money was bequeathed by a donor for stained-glass windows in the church, Pope organised the design and execution of two windows: the Virgin Mary and St Robert window on the right of the main altar, and the St Michael and St Theresa window on the left of the altar. They were designed by architects Goldie & Child, and executed by Edward Reginald Frampton or his father Edward Frampton.{{cite news |title=Stained glass windows in St Robert's Church |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000632/18911028/044/0002 |access-date=20 July 2024 |work=Yorkshire Evening Press |agency=|via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |date=28 October 1891 |page=2 col.6}} He had the sanctuary decorated with murals by Goldie and Child, in 1893,{{cite news |title=Chat in the porch. On Sunday last |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000336/18930617/027/0004 |access-date=20 July 2024 |work=Leeds Times |agency=|via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |date=17 June 1893 |page=4 col.8}} and he arranged for a new organ by William Hill & Son to be installed in 1899.{{cite web |title=Yorkshire, North, Harrogate, Our Lady Immaculate and St. Robert, Robert Street, [N02918] |url=https://npor.org.uk/survey/N02918 |website=npor.org.uk |publisher=National Pipe Organ Register |access-date=20 July 2024 |date=2023}}Musical Opinion March 1899 Towards the end of Pope's life, his curate was Rev. William Joseph Bickerdike,{{Refn|William Joseph Bickerdike (Tadcaster 1878 – Claro 3 February 1955). GRO index; Births Mar 1878 Bickerdike William Joseph Tadcaster 9c 810. Deaths Mar 1955 Bickerdike William J. 76 Claro 2c 126. |group=nb}} who was subsequently priest of St Joseph's Church, Bilton, for 26 years.{{cite web |title=Years of faith, history and legacy |url=https://www.stjosephsharrogate.org.uk/about/history/ |website=stjosephsharrogate.org.uk |publisher=St Joseph's Catholic Church, Harrogate |access-date=17 August 2024 |date=2024}} The church building, along with the Stations of the Cross in the nave, was consecrated long after Pope's death, on 10 May 1930, by Bishop Joseph Cowgill of Leeds.{{Refn| The painted wood and plaster panels of the Stations of the Cross at St Robert's Church were possibly imported from Munich and installed in the 1890s at the behest of Pope. |group=nb}}{{cite news |title=Church of Our Lady, Harrogate. Dean Bethell's fine achievement |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0004156/19300510/329/0016 |access-date=1 June 2024 |work=Nottingham and Midland Catholic News |agency=|via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |date=10 May 1930 |page=16 col. 2}}

Pope remained active until a few months before his death. In May 1905, he gave a guinea ({{Inflation|UK|1.05|1905|fmt=eq|r=2|cursign=£}}) to Yorkshire's Pickering Mission, for the adaptation of cottages and a barn for church use.{{Inflation-fn|UK|df=y}}{{cite news |title=Pickering Mission, Yorks |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0002447/19050527/053/0017 |access-date=8 June 2024 |work=Tablet |agency=|via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |date=27 May 1905 |page=17 col.1}} He also travelled to an event involving one of his sisters, Rev. Mother Mary Frances Pope, Mother Superior of St Mary's Convent, York.{{Refn|Rev. Mother Mary Frances Pope. It has not been possible to identify her birth name, because nuns are often given saints' names, and Pope did not have a sister with the birth name Frances, although several newspapers identified this notable Mother Superior as Pope's sister. A Latin address sent to her from the Vatican on her jubilee names her as Religiosse Moniali Mariae Franciscae Pope (Religious Nun Mary Frances Pope).|group=nb}} In July 1905, Pope attended the week-long celebration of her golden jubilee, which began with the ceremony of crowning. The event took place at the Bar Convent in York. He attended alongside Dr William Giles, titular bishop of Philadelphia in Lydia,{{Refn|William Giles (1830–1913), Bishop 1904–1913.|group=nb}} the rector of the English College, Rome, and the bishop of Leeds, besides local clergy from Leeds and Middlesbrough. At the ceremony, Pope presented a portrait of his sister to the convent.{{cite news |title=Leeds |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/BL/0002447/19050715/128/0038?browse=true&fullscreen=true |access-date=8 June 2024 |work=Tablet |agency=|via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |date=15 July 1905 |page=38/118 col.2}}

File:Gravestone of William Pope - priest (12).JPG

Pope enjoyed "robust health" for most of his life, but a few months before his death, he began to lose his "robust constitution" and became weaker, and less active in the church.{{cite news |title=Death of Canon Pope. Whitby man's notable career |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000633/19051106/072/0003 |access-date=8 June 2024 |agency=|via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |page=3 col.2}} By October 1905, Pope was reported by the Yorkshire Evening Press to be seriously ill, at home.{{cite news |title=Canon Pope |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000633/19051031/046/0002 |access-date=8 June 2024 |work=Yorkshire Evening Press |agency=|via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |date=31 October 1905 |page=2 col.8}} Pope died "peacefully" on 5 November 1905,{{cite news |title=Canon Pope |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001750/19051110/082/0006 |access-date=8 June 2024 |work=Catholic Times and Catholic Opinion |agency=|via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |date=10 November 1905 |page=6 col.6}}{{cite news |title=Canon Pope, of Harrogate |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/BL/0000747/19051107/132/0007?browse=true&fullscreen=true |access-date=8 June 2024 |work=Leeds Mercury |agency=|via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |date=7 November 1905 |page=7 col.7}} at the presbytery of St Robert's Church, Harrogate,{{cite news |title=Obituary: Canon Pope of Harrogate |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000687/19051107/161/0008 |access-date=8 June 2024 |work=Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer |agency=|via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |date=7 November 1905 |page=8 col.4}} having served as a Roman Catholic priest for 48 years.{{cite news |title=Death of Canon Pope |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0002031/19051111/074/0005 |access-date=8 June 2024 |work=Knaresborough Post |agency=|via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |date=11 November 1905 |page=5 col.6}} At the time of his death, his brother John was a Jesuit priest.

The "impressive" funeral service took place on 18 November 1905. It was attended by "large numbers of priests from various parts of the country", and the church was full with mourners. Every seat was taken, and there were people outside who were unable to get in.{{cite news |title=Leeds |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001750/19051117/054/0004 |access-date=8 June 2024 |work=Catholic Times and Catholic Opinion |agency=|via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |date=17 November 1905 |page=4 cols 3–4}} The chief mourner was William Gordon, Roman Catholic Bishop of Leeds, who was accompanied by more than fifty priests. In the sermon by Dr Bray of St Joseph's Seminary, Leeds, it was made clear that Pope was remembered as a "loved friend ... a faithful shepherd and a true and devoted priest ... a true Christian gentleman". After the funeral sermon, fifty chanting priests preceded the coffin bearers to the hearse. The funeral cortège then made its way from St Robert's Church to Grove Road Cemetery for the graveside service,{{cite news |title=The late Canon Pope |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000747/19051109/119/0006 |access-date=8 June 2024 |work=Leeds Mercury |agency=|via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |date=9 November 1905 |page=6 col.3}} which took place "in the presence of an exceptionally large gathering of Catholic clergy, members of the Catholic Church, and townspeople".{{cite news |title=Leeds. Death and funeral of Very Rev. Canon Pope |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001750/19051117/055/0004 |access-date=8 June 2024 |work=Catholic Times and Catholic Opinion |agency=|via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |date=17 November 1905 |page=4 col.3}} There was sung music at the cemetery and graveside. Rev. Father Bickerdike conducted the graveside service.{{cite news |title=The remains of the late Canon Pope |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000687/19051109/118/0007 |access-date=8 June 2024 |work=Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer |agency=|via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |date=9 November 1905 |page=7 col.3}}

File:Rev Austin J. Saxton (1a).JPG

Charles Newsham's unaccompanied four-part mass, a "solemn high mass of requiem",{{Refn|Father Charles Newsham (1791–1863), president of Ushaw College, Durham. GRO index: Deaths Mar 1863 Newsham Charles Durham 10a 153. See [https://ebin.pub/roman-catholic-church-music-in-england-1791-1914-a-handmaid-of-the-liturgy-0754661059-9780754661054.html Ebin: Roman Catholic Church Music in England, 1791-1914]. |group=nb}} was sung for Pope on 2 December 1905 at St Robert's. Father A. J. Saxton, Pope's successor, was the celebrant, and Father Bickerdike was subdeacon at the mass.{{cite news |title=Harrogate. Month's mind of Canon Pope |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0002447/19051209/052/0016 |access-date=8 June 2024 |work=Tablet |agency=|via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |date=9 December 1905 |page=16 col.2}} This was the same four-part mass by Newsham that was sung at Pope's funeral.

Pope's death was noted in the United Kingdom and in Ireland, as the passing of one of the last surviving converts of Newman. He was remembered across England, for example in Whitby,{{cite news |title=Death of Canon Pope of Harrogate |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001103/19051110/112/0005 |access-date=8 June 2024 |work=Whitby Gazette |agency=|via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |date=10 November 1905 |page=5 col.5}} Staffordshire,{{cite news |title=Death of Canon Pope |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000347/19051107/085/0003 |access-date=8 June 2024 |work=Staffordshire Sentinel |agency=|via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |date=7 November 1905 |page=3 col.7}} Newcastle,{{cite news |title=Death of Canon Pope |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003450/19051111/046/0003 |access-date=8 June 2024 |work=Newcastle Guardian and Silverdale, Chesterton and Audley Chronicle |agency=|via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |date=11 November 1905 |page=3 col.6}} Sheffield,{{cite news |title=Canon Pope of Harrogate |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/BL/0000250/19051107/200/0006?browse=true&fullscreen=true |access-date=8 June 2024 |work=Sheffield Daily Telegraph |agency=|via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |date=7 November 1905 |page=6 col.7}} Manchester,{{cite news |title=The Rev. Canon Pope |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000206/19051107/082/0008 |access-date=8 June 2024 |work=Manchester Courier |agency=|via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |date=7 November 1905 |page=8 col.4}} West of England,{{cite news |title=World's survey |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000265/19051108/071/0004 |access-date=8 June 2024 |work=Western Times |agency=|via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |date=8 November 1905 |page=4 col.5}} Northampton,{{cite news |title=The Rev. Canon Pope |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000317/19051110/080/0002 |access-date=8 June 2024 |work=Northampton Mercury |agency=|via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |date=10 November 1905 |page=2 col.6}} and Formby.{{cite news |title=The Rev. Canon Pope |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003298/19051111/011/0002 |access-date=8 June 2024 |work=Formby Times |agency=|via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |date=11 November 1905 |page=2 col.3}} He was remembered in Edinburgh,{{cite news |title=Rev. Canon Pope |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000576/19051107/022/0004 |access-date=8 June 2024 |work=Aberdeen Press and Journal |agency=|via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |date=7 November 1905 |page=4 col.7}}{{cite news |title=One of Newman's converts |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000452/19051107/065/0006 |access-date=8 June 2024 |work=Edinburgh Evening News |agency=|via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |date=7 November 1905 |page=6 col.1}} and also in Jersey where his name was misspelt as Revd Canon Pope Stroberts.{{cite news |title=Obituary |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001580/19051111/113/0008 |access-date=8 June 2024 |work=Jersey Independent and Daily Telegraph |agency=|via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |date=11 November 1905 |page=8 col.6}} Various newspapers in Ireland noted his passing. The Protestant Belfast News Letter noted his death in the accustomed polite manner, but used the headline, "A Newman Pervert".{{Refn|"Pervert" in the context of clerical secessions from Anglicanism was a synonym of "apostate", and its pejorative usage was a symptom of contemporary bitter controversy. However, in that context the word did not reference sexual behaviour. |group=nb}}{{cite news |title=A Newman pervert |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000038/19051107/149/0009 |access-date=8 June 2024 |work=Belfast News-Letter |agency=|via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |date=7 November 1905 |page=9 col.4}} Pope was memorialised in The Irish Weekly and Ulster Examiner,{{cite news |title=Death of Canon Pope |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0004159/19051111/044/0003 |access-date=8 June 2024 |work=Irish Weekly and Ulster Examiner |agency=|via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |date=11 November 1905 |page=3 col.2}} The Dundalk Examiner and Louth Advertiser,{{cite news |title=Death of Canon Pope |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001572/19051111/120/0008 |access-date=8 June 2024 |work=Dundalk Examiner and Louth Advertiser |agency=|via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |date=11 November 1905 |page=8 col.5}} The Derry Journal,{{cite news |title=The Rev. Canon Pope |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/BL/0001123/19051108/102/0007?browse=true&fullscreen=true |access-date=8 June 2024 |work=Derry Journal |agency=|via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |date=8 November 1905 |page=7 col.6}} The Drogheda Argus and Leinster Journal,{{cite news |title=News in brief. Rev. Canon Pope |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001445/19051111/019/0002 |access-date=8 June 2024 |work=Drogheda Argus and Leinster Journal |agency=|via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |date=11 November 1905 |page=2 col.3}} The Irish Independent,{{cite news |title=One of Newman's converts dead |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001715/19051107/155/0006 |access-date=8 June 2024 |work=Irish Independent |agency=|via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |date=7 November 1905 |page=6 col.7}} and The Irish Times.{{cite news |title=Rev. Canon Pope |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001683/19051107/062/0004 |access-date=8 June 2024 |work=Irish Times |agency=|via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |date=7 November 1905 |page=4 col.7}}

Pope's successor from November 1905 at St Robert's was Augustine Joseph Saxton, known as Rev. Austin J. Saxton,{{Refn|Austin J. Saxton (Leeds 1862 – Hull 1949). GRO index: Births Sep 1862 Saxton Augustine Joseph Leeds 9b 360. Deaths Dec 1949 Saxton Austin 55 Hull 2a 292.|group=nb}} who had previously served at Our Lady and All Saints Church in Otley for fifteen years.{{cite news |title=Canon Pope's successor |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000747/19051113/138/0006 |access-date=8 June 2024 |work=Leeds Mercury |agency=|via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |date=13 November 1905 |page=6 col.4}}{{cite news |title=To succeed the late Canon Pope at Harrogate |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000273/19051113/099/0004 |access-date=8 June 2024 |work=Yorkshire Evening Post |agency=|via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |date=13 November 1905 |page=4 col.7}}{{cite news |title=The surmise |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000747/19051115/123/0006 |access-date=8 June 2024 |work=Leeds Mercury |agency=|via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |date=15 November 1905 |page=6 col.5}}

{{Reflist|group=nb}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{Commons category-inline|William Pope (priest)}}
• [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Stations_of_the_Cross,_in_St_Robert%27s_Church,_Harrogate Stations of the Cross in St Robert's Church, Harrogate, installed during Pope's time there]

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Pope, William}}

Category:1825 births

Category:1905 deaths

Category:People from Whitby

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Category:19th-century English Roman Catholic priests

Category:20th-century English Roman Catholic priests

Category:Alumni of Christ's College, Cambridge

Category:19th-century English Anglican priests

Category:People educated at St Peter's School, York

Category:Converts to Roman Catholicism from Anglicanism

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Category:Canons (priests)

Category:People educated at St Peter's School, York