Fr. Bernard Vaughan : A Memoir,  Dale, M, 1923, Longmans Greens and Co.

Courtfield and the Vaughans,  Vaughan, M, 1989, Quiller Press.

Catholic Church in England and Wales 1500-2000, Kennedy, P(Ed), 2001, PBK Publishing.

Fr. Bernard Vaughan was a prominent Jesuit preacher of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The brother of Cardinal Herbert Vaughan (who founded the Mill Hill Missionaries), he came from one of the most famous Catholic families in the country.  It was a family which had weathered the Reformation and was related by marriage to almost every other leading Catholic family in the country.  It was Bernard's great-grandfather, Thomas Weld, who gave Stonyhurst to the Jesuits in 1794.   His parents, John and Eliza Vaughan had nine sons of which six entered the church.  Of their five daughters, four became nuns.

Fr. Bernard Vaughan S.J. Reproduced with kind permission  of the Quiller Press Ltd.

Fr. Bernard Vaughan chose to join the Jesuits and developed a reputation as an outspoken preacher who did not fail to let his mind be known. A measure of the degree to which he was familiar to the population of the time is indicated by the fact that he is mentioned several times in James Joyce's "Ulysses".
 

Fr. Vaughan travelled throughout Britain and indeed the world, but in 1910 he found time to visit Wakefield on the occasion of the re-opening of St. Austin's following some redecorations.  He had been in Wakefield the previous year and opened St. Austin's  Grand Bazaar fundraising event and had promised to return when the work was completed.
 

Fr. Vaughan opening  the Bazaar in 1909.       Courtesy: Wakefield Express

His visit in 1910 caused a degree of upset among Protestants of Wakefield due to a  sermon he gave, which was reported in some detail in the local press.  He talked of the importance of his faith and the need to convert Protestants to share in the infinite treasure of the Catholic church.  His wording, however, shocked some readers and caused a flurry of letters to the press in response.  The matter was a subject of debate for several weeks.