Canon Bernard Smith

 Above: A tablet set into St Peter's church reads-

"Outside of this church was restored 1904 in memory of Bernard Canon Smith."

Bernard died in 1903 aged 88. He was believed at the time of his death to be the oldest serving Catholic priest in England. He had been at Marlow for 53 years.

Bernard was born to an Anglican family in Great Ponton, Lincolnshire where his father was the rector. In his youth Bernard aligned himself to the Tractarian movement. He was given the Anglican living at Leadenham near Lincoln in 1839 but resigned and joined the Catholic church in 1842. For an ordained minister to go over to Rome was horrifying to some and a malicious (or hopeful) letter was sent anonymously to the Morning Advertiser newspaper saying reports that Bernard had resigned and converted was a lie put about by dishonest Catholics. Bernard quickly wrote to the paper to refute this.

In 1845 he was ordained as a priest and in 1853 came to Marlow to take over from John Morris. He later said that his first impulse on arriving here was to not get out of the carriage and go straight away again. Quite why his first impression was so so daunting I'm not too sure! 

Bernard's friend R. W Sibthorpe visited him at Marlow in 1865 and wrote to a mutual friend of the visit "I found Smith grown considerably stout but as usual very cheerful, very kind and giving me a hearty welcome." Bernard's church he said was "perfection of its kind..beautifully kept" with a congregation of about 180.

The letter also mentions that attending one of the two schools* attached to the church was two younger brothers of the Marquess of Queensbury, whose mother had converted to Catholicism. Mr Morris said that this was not popular with the Marquess or the boys' guardian and so Bernard had always to be on the alert for a potential abduction of the boys!

Another friend of Bernard was the dramatist Charles Reade. Bernard also helped Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin with translations when Pugin was working on his Glossary of Ecclesiastical Ornaments and Costume, a work Bernard later revised and enlarged. Pugin was friends with Bernard prior to the latter joining the Catholic Church to which Pugin already belonged. When he learnt that Bernard had converted he wrote of his joy and of that fact that he had long suspected things were going that way with him.

Pugin had worked on Bernard's church in Leadenham, something which was not very popular with some who thought the finished style too decorative and suspiciously Catholic in tone. Bernard had already made changes to the church interior that were reminiscent of more opulent Catholic church interiors having a Sanctuary painted blue with gold stars and introducing a processional crucifix, church candles, and an altar cross. The local gentry were quick to air their distain for this and Bernard felt unsupported by his church superiors in dealing with their anger. 

After he left his position those changes in Leadenham that could be easily reversed were so.

Bernard had been reciting some prayers in Latin too, so objections of his congregation were more than  about cosmetics. 

The living at Leadenham was in the presentation of his mother Justina who must have had some difficult conversations with parishioners when Bernard converted.

Leadenham's loss however would become Marlow's gain.

Working in any church doesn't give someone too many leisure hours but when he did get some free time Bernard could indulge his hobby of being a butterfly fancier, logging any unusual specimens that fluttered through Marlow and breeding his own butterflies at home. He was ever ready to swap knowledge or pupae with others interested in the creatures or to invite people to see his collection. And that's the thing about Canon Smith- he was generous and friendly to all. Every single mention of him I have read says this. 

His death triggered an outpouring of letters and other tributes to him in the press and journals and his funeral was conspicuously attended by those from all denominations. He was known to give charitable and friendly support to anyone in Marlow he heard needed it without asking or caring what denomination they were.

He was also a keen gardener and liked to visit his parishioners gardens to swap tips and plants. Bernard was knowledgeable about very many subjects in fact. When he first arrived in Marlow he'd spent time correcting classical texts for the publishers Longman, and others. He also tutored young men seeking to enter universities such as Oxford. 

  

He had early in his days in Marlow suffered vocal abuse from a minority who could not abide the renewed presence of a Catholic church in the town. It is a credit to him that it was said that some of those same abusers would later be sincere mourners at his funeral due to his kindness to them when they were in need. Bernard himself recalled the anti Catholic prejudice that he himself had entertained as a younger man. As an Oxford undergraduate he said he had made his mind up not to befriend any Catholics and to end friendships with any who introduced a Catholic to him! 

Bernard's habit in his younger days of riding a donkey up to and into the church at Easter was also said to have endeared him to some, as an amusing eccentric. This was actually something occasionally done in other churches in England but presumably not locally as the sight was sufficiently novel for parties of High Wycombe chair makers to make a special journey to Marlow to watch it every year. Some of these came initially to mock (mounting the donkey wasn't too easy for Bernard as he was a rather hefty man) but he took it in good spirit and that won them over. (You can read about other Easter, and May Day traditions in Marlow here)

Bernard died in 1903 at the Presbytery. Ill health in the last few years had finally meant he consented to the employment of a helper at Marlow in the form of curate the Rev James Purcell. They say he had become almost beggared by the extent of his generosity in his later years. He was sorely missed by the poor in particular. 

*There was a private upper school for fee paying pupils (girls and kindergarten) and a mixed ordinary school.

Bernard's grave at St Peter's Church, Marlow.

Researched and written by Charlotte Day. Photos and additional research  by Kathryn Day.

Related Posts

Early history of St Peters Church including anti Catholic prejudice here

Menu of posts related to the churches and chapels of Marlow here

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©Marlow Ancestors. You are welcome to use this content for family or local history with credit to this blog and a link here so the sources I list below remain credited too. Thanks.

Sources:

Maidenhead Advertiser 28th October 1903 and Essex Standard 14th June 1839. Copies held British Library and accessed by me via their partnership with the BNA 

The Entomologists Journal and Record of Variation. Vol 15. Ed by James William Tutt. Digitized by Google.

Recollections of A.N Welby Pugin And His Father Augustus Pugin by Benjamin Ferrey and Edmund Sheridan Purcell. 1861. Published by E Stanford.

A Register Of The Presidents, Fellows, Demies, Instructors In Grammar And Music, Chaplains, Clerks, Choristers And Other Members Of St Mary Magdalene College In The University Of Oxford From The Foundation Of The College To The Present Time. By John Rouse Bloxam. Published by W Graham 1881, Oxford. This contains the letter about the 1865 visit to Smith.

Census as transcribed by me from microfilm.

The Bengal Catholic Herald 1843, Volume 4. Digitized by Google.

The Life of Cardinal Wiseman - Wilfred Ward (1902 edition)