George Oliver (historian)
Encyclopedia
George Oliver was an English Roman Catholic priest and historian of the Exeter
Exeter
Exeter is a historic city in Devon, England. It lies within the ceremonial county of Devon, of which it is the county town as well as the home of Devon County Council. Currently the administrative area has the status of a non-metropolitan district, and is therefore under the administration of the...

 area.

Life

He was born at Newington, Surrey, on 9 February 1781, and was educated, first at Sedgley Park School
Sedgley Park School, Wolverhampton
Sedgley Park School was a Roman Catholic Academy located on the outskirts of Wolverhampton, then part of Staffordshire.Originally the home of the Barons and Baronesses Dudley until 1757, Sedgley Park School was founded by William Errington, at the recommendation of Bishop Richard Challoner, on 25...

, Staffordshire
Staffordshire
Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...

, and afterwards at Stonyhurst College
Stonyhurst College
Stonyhurst College is a Roman Catholic independent school, adhering to the Jesuit tradition. It is located on the Stonyhurst Estate near the village of Hurst Green in the Ribble Valley area of Lancashire, England, and occupies a Grade I listed building...

. During the eleven years that he spent at Stonyhurst, Father Charles Plowden
Charles Plowden
Charles Plowden was an English Jesuit teacher, writer and administrator.-Life:He was descended from Edmund Plowden, in a Catholic family...

 was his spiritual director, and took an interest in his literary studies. He was promoted to holy orders at Durham
Durham
Durham is a city in north east England. It is within the County Durham local government district, and is the county town of the larger ceremonial county...

 by Bishop William Gibson
William Gibson (bishop)
William Gibson was an English Roman Catholic bishop who served as the Vicar Apostolic of the Northern District from 1790 to 1821.Born in Stonecroft, near Hexham, Northumberland on 2 February 1738, the son of Jasper Gibson and Margaret Gibson . He was ordained to the priesthood in 1764...

, in May 1806.

In October 1807 he was sent to the mission of the Society of Jesus
Society of Jesus
The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...

 at St. Nicholas
St Nicholas Priory
The Benedictine Priory of St Nicholas or just St Nicholas Priory was a Benedictine monastery founded in Exeter, England in 1087. At the dissolution of the monasteries the church and chapter house range were pulled down but the domestic buildings were left intact...

, Exeter, as successor to Father Thomas Lewis. This mission he served for forty-four years, retiring from active duty on 6 October 1851. He continued, however, to reside in the priory, and occupied the same room till the day of his death.

Oliver was one of the last Catholic priests, pupils of the English Jesuits, who did not enter the Society, but remained in the service of the English province, and subject to its superiors. On 30 March 1843 he was elected an honorary member of the Historical Society of Boston, U.S., and on 15 September 1844 he was created D.D. by Pope Gregory XVI
Pope Gregory XVI
Pope Gregory XVI , born Bartolomeo Alberto Cappellari, named Mauro as a member of the religious order of the Camaldolese, was Pope of the Catholic Church from 1831 to 1846...

. On the erection of the canonical chapters in 1852, after the restoration of the hierarchy
Universalis Ecclesiae
Universalis Ecclesiae is the incipit of the papal bull of 29 September 1850 by which Pope Pius IX recreated the Roman Catholic diocesan hierarchy in England, which had been extinguished with the death of the last Marian bishop in the reign of Elizabeth I. New names were given to the dioceses, as...

 by Pope Pius IX
Pope Pius IX
Blessed Pope Pius IX , born Giovanni Maria Mastai-Ferretti, was the longest-reigning elected Pope in the history of the Catholic Church, serving from 16 June 1846 until his death, a period of nearly 32 years. During his pontificate, he convened the First Vatican Council in 1869, which decreed papal...

, Oliver was appointed provost of the chapter of Plymouth, a dignity he resigned in 1857. He died at St. Nicholas Priory, Exeter, on 23 March 1861, and was buried on 2 April near the high altar in his chapel.

Works

Oliver's works relate mainly to the county of Devon
Devon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...

. They include:
  • ‘Historic Collections relating to the Monasteries in Devon,’ Exeter, 1820.
  • ‘The History of Exeter,’ Exeter, 1821, 8vo; 2nd edit. Exeter, 1861. An index to the second edition, privately printed in 1884, was compiled by J. S. Attwood.
  • A translation of Father John Gerard's Latin ‘Autobiography’ from the manuscript at Stonyhurst College; printed in fourteen numbers of the Catholic Spectator, 1823–6.
  • ‘Ecclesiastical Antiquities of Devon, being Observations on many Churches in Devonshire, originally published in the “Exeter and Plymouth Gazette,” with a Letter on the Preservation and Restoration of our Churches,’ Exeter, 1828,; written with the Rev. John Pike Jones of North Bovey, who contributed the introduction and the descriptions of twelve churches.
  • ‘Ecclesiastical Antiquities in Devon, being Observations on several Churches in Devonshire, with some Memoranda for the History of Cornwall,’ 3 vols., Exeter, 1839–40–1842. A new work.
  • ‘Cliffordiana,’ privately printed, Exeter [1828], containing a detailed account of the Clifford family, three funeral addresses, and a list of the pictures at Ugbrooke Park. The author made collections for an enlarged edition, and wrote a series of thirteen articles on the ‘Cliffords of Devonshire’ that appeared in the ‘Exeter Flying Post’ between 1 June and 29 September 1857.
  • ‘Memoir of the Lord Treasurer Clifford,’ London [1828?], reprinted from the Catholic Spectator; the article was subsequently rewritten, and appeared in the ‘Exeter Flying Post,’ 22 and 29 June 1857.
  • ‘Collections towards illustrating the Biography of the Scotch, English, and Irish Members of the Society of Jesus,’ Exeter, 1838; a second edition, limited to 250 copies, London, 1845. These biographical notices appeared originally in the ‘London and Dublin Weekly Orthodox Journal,’ vols. ii.–iv. (1836–7).
  • ‘Merrye Englaunde; or the Goldene Daies of Goode Queene Besse’ (anon.), London, 1841. This first appeared as a serial story in the ‘Catholic Magazine,’ vols. ii., iii. (1838–9). The plot is laid in Cornwall, and is based upon the adventures and persecutions of some catholic families in that county.
  • ‘Description of the Guildhall, Exeter,’ in conjunction with Pitman Jones, Exeter, 1845; 2nd edit. 1853.
  • ‘A View of Devonshire in MDCXXX, with a Pedigree of most of its Gentry,’ by Thomas Westcote
    Thomas Westcote
    -Life:Baptised at Shobrooke in Devon on 17 June 1567, he was the third son of Philip Westcote of West Raddon in the parish of Shobrooke, by his wife Katharine, daughter of George Waltham of Brenton in the parish of Exminster, Devon...

    , edited by Oliver in conjunction with Pitman Jones, Exeter, 1845.
  • ‘Monasticon Diœcesis Exoniensis, being a Collection of Records and Instruments illustrating the ancient conventual, collegiate, and eleemosynary Foundations in the Counties of Cornwall and Devon, with Historical Notices, and a Supplement, comprising a list of the dedications of Churches in the Diocese, an amended edition of the Taxation of Pope Nicholas, and an Abstract of the Chantry Rolls,’ Exeter: P. A. Hannaford, 1846. An ‘Additional Supplement … with a Map of the Diocese, Deaneries, and Sites of Religious Houses,’ appeared in 1854. These are additions to the edition of William Dugdale
    William Dugdale
    Sir William Dugdale was an English antiquary and herald. As a scholar he was influential in the development of medieval history as an academic subject.-Life:...

    's ‘Monasticon’ by Sir Henry Ellis and Bulkeley Bandinel
    Bulkeley Bandinel
    Rev. Dr. Bulkeley Bandinel was a British scholar, ecclesiastic and librarian.He was born in the parish of St Peter-in-the-East, Oxford, firstborn son of Rev. Dr. James Bandinel of Netherbury by his wife, Margaret . Educated at Reading under Richard Valpy and then at Winchester College, Bandinel...

    . An "Index nominum, locorum et rerum" by J. S. Attwood was published at Exeter in 1889.
  • ‘Collections illustrating the History of the Catholic Religion in the Counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Wilts, and Gloucester. … With notices of the Dominican, Benedictine, and Franciscan Orders in England,’ London, 1857.
  • ‘Lives of the Bishops of Exeter, and a History of the Cathedral,’ Exeter, 1861.
  • Letters on ecclesiastical and parochial antiquities, family history, and biography, extending over a period of nine years, sent under the signature of ‘Curiosus,’ to local newspapers, and principally to the ‘Exeter Flying Post.’ These communications were collected and inserted in two folio volumes by Pitman Jones, who added notes. Winslow Jones, son of the latter, presented these volumes in 1877 to the library of the Devon and Exeter Institution. Forty-eight of the communications contain the memoirs of about seventy-five celebrated Exonians.


Oliver was a contributor to the English Catholic periodicals of his time, his articles relating generally to catholic biography, history, or antiquities. He also had the principal share in preparing for publication the ‘Liber Pontificalis’ of Edmund Lacy, bishop of Exeter, which appeared in 1847, as edited by Robert Barnes.

A lithographed portrait of Oliver was published shortly after his death by George G. Palmer of Exeter. This was reproduced as a frontispiece to Thomas Nadauld Brushfield's ‘Bibliography.’

External links

Attribution
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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