Fr Morris was the first priest to serve St. Austin's parish.  He arrived in Wakefield in 1826 and supervised the building of the church to the plans of Joseph Ireland, a well-known Catholic architect of the era.   Fr Morris had been trained as a Jesuit, but was not enrolled in their order for purely practical reasons.  He was trained at a time when it was still illegal to become a Jesuit and hence he spent his entire ministry in a strange situation, serving the Jesuits and yet not entirely recognised as one of them.   Shortly after his arrival in Wakefield, the locals began their inevitable opposition to his presence.  The pamphlet below is just one example of the kind of propoganda in circulation at the time.   When St. Austin's opened on 4th March 1828, there were but 29 communicants, but Fr. Morris was to build up numbers in the parish considerably over the next years.

 

Fr Morris set up a school for the children of the parish in the rooms beneath the church, and the congregation grew from small roots to a considerable number.  Figures show, for example, that there were 73 Confirmations in 1838, and 110 in 1843.   By the time he left in 1844, Fr Morris had created firm roots for a parish that would still be going strong 175 years after its formation, and which would play a role in the formation of at least four daughter parishes.

 
 
 
 
 

Last Updated 22 June 2006

Amendments to: dpfgilroy@hotmail.com