Life

Gradwell was born at Clifton-in-the Fylde, Lancashire

Lancashire

Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...

.

He went to the English College, Douai

English College, Douai

The English College, Douai was a Catholic seminary associated with the University of Douai . It was established in about 1561, and was suppressed in 1793...

 in 1791. The college being suppressed by the French revolutionists, he was confined for some time, and was not allowed to return to England till 1795. With most of the Douai refugees, he went to Crook Hall

Crook Hall

Crook Hall was a Roman Catholic seminary that replaced Douai Abbey as the main English Roman Catholic seminary. It was superseded by Ushaw College....

, 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...

, where he was ordained priest in 1802.

He taught poetry and rhetoric for seven years at Crook Hall, and at Ushaw College

Ushaw College

Ushaw College was a Roman Catholic seminary near Durham, England that closed in 2011. Ushaw was the principal seminary in the north of England for the training of Catholic priests.-History:...

. About this time, Pope Pius VII

Pope Pius VII

Pope Pius VII , born Barnaba Niccolò Maria Luigi Chiaramonti, was a monk, theologian and bishop, who reigned as Pope from 14 March 1800 to 20 August 1823.-Early life:...

 decided to reopen the English College, Rome, and on John Lingard

John Lingard

Dr. John Lingard was an English Catholic priest, born in St Thomas Street in Central Winchester to recusant parents and the author of The History Of England, From the First Invasion by the Romans to the Accession of Henry VIII, an 8-volume work published in 1819...

's recommendation, Gradwell was appointed rector (1818).

Under his administration the establishment flourished. He also acted as Roman agent for the English vicars Apostolic, exhibiting tact and diplomacy in this office. In 1821 the pope made him a doctor of divinity.

In 1828 he was consecrated Bishop of Lydda, as coadjutor to James Bramston

James Bramston

James Bramston , satirist, educated at Westminster School and Oxford, took orders and was later Vicar of Harting. His poems are The Art of Politics , in imitation of Horace, and The Man of Taste , in imitation of Pope. He also parodied Phillips's Splendid Shilling in The Crooked Sixpence. His...

, the vicar Apostolic of the London district, and he came to London soon afterwards to take up his new duties. After some years of ill-health, he died of dropsy in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

.

Works

His writings include: "A dissertation of the Fable of Papal Antichrists" (London, 1816); "A Winter Evening Dialogue ... or, Thoughts on the Rule of Faith" (London, 1816); and various journals, letters, and MSS. in connexion with his residence in Rome; his notes on the old archives of the English College there are of historical interest; all are in the Westminster archdiocesan archives.