Life

The fourth son of John Littledale, an auctioneer, he was born in Dublin on 14 September 1833. On 15 October 1850 he entered Trinity College, Dublin

Trinity College, Dublin

Trinity College, Dublin , formally known as the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, was founded in 1592 by letters patent from Queen Elizabeth I as the "mother of a university", Extracts from Letters Patent of Elizabeth I, 1592: "...we...found and...

, as a foundation scholar, graduated B.A. as a first class in classics, and in 1855 obtained the senior Berkeley gold medal and the first divinity prize. He proceeded at Dublin M.A. in 1858, and LL.B. and LL.D. in 1862, and at Oxford on 5 July 1862 D.C.L. comitatis causa.

He was curate of St. Matthew in Thorpe Hamlet

Thorpe Hamlet

Thorpe Hamlet is a suburb of Norwich, to the East of the city centre, in the Norwich District, in the English county of Norfolk. Until 1852 it was part of Thorpe St Andrew.- Amenities :...

, Norfolk

Norfolk

Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...

, from 1856 to 1857. From 1857 to 1861 he was curate of St Mary the Virgin, Crown Street, Soho, London, where he took an interest in the House of Charity.

Throughout the remainder of his life he suffered from chronic ill-health, took little part in any parochial duties, and devoted himself mainly to writing. Until his death he continued to act as a father confessor, and next to Edward Pusey is said to have heard more confessions than any other priest of the church of England. Through William Bell Scott

William Bell Scott

William Bell Scott was a Scottish poet and artist.-Life:The son of Robert Scott , the engraver, and brother of David Scott, the painter, he was born in Edinburgh. While a young man he studied art and assisted his father, and he published verses in the Scottish magazines...

 he came to know and influence Christina Rossetti

Christina Rossetti

Christina Georgina Rossetti was an English poet who wrote a variety of romantic, devotional, and children's poems...

.

He died at 9 Red Lion Square

Red Lion Square

Red Lion Square is a small square on the boundary of Bloomsbury and Holborn in London. The square was laid out in 1698 by Nicholas Barbon, taking its name from the Red Lion Inn. According to some sources the bodies of three regicides - Oliver Cromwell, John Bradshaw and Henry Ireton - were placed...

, London, on 11 January 1890. A reredos

Reredos

thumb|300px|right|An altar and reredos from [[St. Josaphat's Roman Catholic Church|St. Josaphat Catholic Church]] in [[Detroit]], [[Michigan]]. This would be called a [[retable]] in many other languages and countries....

 to his memory was erected in the chapel at St. Katharine's, 32 Queen Square, London, in March 1891.

Works

Littledale was a contributor to periodicals: ‘Kottabos’ (a college miscellany in Dublin), the Daily Telegraph, the Church Quarterly Review, and The Academy

The Academy (periodical)

The Academy was a review of literature and general topics published in London from 1869 to 1902, founded by Charles Appleton.The first issue was published on 9 October 1869 under the title The Academy: A Monthly Record of Literature, Learning, Science, and Art. It was published monthly from Oct....

. He was the author of books and pamphlets in support of Anglicanism, in opposition to Roman Catholicism.

In conjunction with the Rev. James Edward Vaux, Littledale wrote: ‘The Priest's Prayer Book,’ 1864 (seven editions), ‘The People's Hymnal,’ 1867 (eight editions), ‘The Christian Passover,’ 1873 (four editions), and ‘The Altar Manual,’ of which forty-six thousand copies were circulated. The People's Hymnal contained the hymn Come Down, O Love Divine, for which the words were translated by Littledale from the Italian of Bianco da Siena. The original poem was included in the Laudi Spirituali del Bianco da Siena of Telesforo Bini, of 1851.

He completed after the death in 1866 of the author, John Mason Neale

John Mason Neale

John Mason Neale was an Anglican priest, scholar and hymn-writer.-Life:Neale was born in London, his parents being the Revd Cornelius Neale and Susanna Neale, daughter of John Mason Good...

, who was a close friend, Neale's ‘Commentary on the Psalms from Primitive and Mediæval Writers,’ vols. ii. iii. and iv., 1868–74, and later edited two other editions of the entire work. He was also joint author with Neale of ‘Liturgy of SS. Mark, James, Clement, Chrysostom, Basil,’ 1868–9.

Littledale's ‘Plain Reasons for not joining the Church of Rome,’ a volume of which thirty-six thousand copies were issued in 1880 and following years, evoked replies from the Rev. W. Horsfall, the Rev. A. Mills, Oxoniensis, and H. I. D. Ryder. In 1874 Littledale edited a work entitled ‘The Church of England in presence of Official Anglicanism, Evangelicanism, Rationalism, and the Church of Rome. By Gervase.’

Other works were:

• ‘On the Application of Colour to the Decoration of Churches,’ 1857.
• ‘Religious Communities of Women in the early Church,’ 1862.
• ‘Carols for Christmas and other Seasons,’ 1863.
• ‘The North Side of the Altar,’ 1864; 3rd edit. 1865.
• ‘Catholic Ritual in the Church of England, Scriptural, Reasonable, Lawful,’ 1865, thirteen editions.
• ‘The Elevation of the Host,’ 1865, two editions.
• ‘Incense: a Liturgical Essay,’ 1866.
• ‘The Mixed Chalice,’ 1867, four editions.
• ‘The Christian Priesthood,’ 1867.
• ‘Prayers for the Dead,’ 1867.
• ‘Catholic Revision of the Book of Common Prayer: a Letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury,’ 1867.
• ‘Early Christian Ritual,’ 1867, four editions.
• ‘What is Ritualism? And why ought it to be supported?’ 1867.
• ‘The Children's Bread, or Communion Office for the Young,’ 1868, four editions.
• ‘Additional Services: a second Letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury,’ 1868.
• ‘A Commentary on the Song of Songs,’ 1869.
• ‘Church Reform,’ 1870.
• ‘The Crisis of Disestablishment,’ 1870.
• ‘Pharisaic Proselytism, a forgotten Chapter of early Church History,’ 1870.
• ‘Tradition,’ 1870.
• ‘The Two Religions,’ 1870.
• ‘Misapplied Texts of Scripture: a Lecture,’ 1870.
• ‘Church and Dissent,’ 1871.
• ‘Secular Studies of the Clergy,’ 1871.
• ‘Rationale of Prayer,’ 1872. Answered by John Tyndall
  John Tyndall
  John Tyndall FRS was a prominent Irish 19th century physicist. His initial scientific fame arose in the 1850s from his study of diamagnetism. Later he studied thermal radiation, and produced a number of discoveries about processes in the atmosphere...
  
   and others.
• ‘At the Old Catholic Congress,’ 1872.
• ‘Children at Calvary,’ 1872.
• ‘The Religious Education of Women,’ 1873; new edition, 1874.
• ‘The Relation of the Clergy to Politics,’ 1873.
• ‘Church Parties,’ 1874.
• ‘Papers on Sisterhoods,’ 1874–8.
• ‘Dean Stanley on Ecclesiastical Vestments,’ 1875, three editions.
• ‘Last Attempt to Reform the Church of Rome from within,’ 1875.
• ‘Apostolical Succession,’ 1876.
• ‘Ritualistic Practices (1), what they are; (2) what they mean,’ 1876.
• ‘Ritualists and Romanists,’ 1876.
• ‘Ultramontane Popular Literature,’ 1876.
• ‘An Inner View of the Vatican Council,’ 1877.
• ‘Christianity and Patriotism,’ 1877.
• ‘The Pantheistic Factor in Christian Thought,’ 1877.
• ‘Why Ritualists do not become Roman Catholics,’ 1878. Replied to by the Rev. Orby Shipley, 1879.
• ‘Future Probation,’ 1886.
• ‘A Short History of the Council of Trent,’ 1888.
• ‘Words for Truth; Replies to Roman Cavils against the Church of England,’ 1888.
• ‘The Petrine Claims: a Critical Inquiry,’ 1889.
• Controversy on the Constitutions of the Jesuits (Winnipeg, 1889). Involved Lewis Henry Drummond.

External links

• Project Canterbury page

Attribution