William Bernard Ullathorne

English Benedictine monk and bishop, b. at Pocklington, Yorkshire, 7 May, 1806; d. at Oscott, Warwickshire, 21 March, 1889. His father was a lineal descendant from [Saint] Thomas More, but had fallen in life and was then the chief tradesman of the village. His mother, a distant connection of Sir John Franklin, the Arctic explorer, was a convert. When he was ten years old, the whole family removed to Scarborough, where young Ullathorne made his first acquaintance with the sea. His lively imagination and adventurous spirit led him to desire to be on the ocean and to see the world; and for three and a half years his wish was gratified, during which time he made several voyages in the Mediterranean and the Baltic Sea and elsewhere. It was on one of these voyages that a chance opportunity of attending Mass at Memel, a port in the Baltic, proved the turning-point of his life, for he then and there made up his mind to devote his life to the service of God. On his return to England, therefore, he entered as a novice of the well- known Benedictine community at Downside, near Bath, in February, 1823. He received the habit in March, 1824, and was professed a year later, taking the name of Bernard. Later on he spent a year as prefect at Ampleforth College, near York, and was ordained priest at Ushaw College in 1831. Soon after his return to Downside, in response to an invitation from Dr. Morris, O.S.B., Vicar Apostolic of the Mauritius, Ullathorne offered himself as a volunteer for the Australian mission, which then formed part of that vicariate. His offer was accepted, and in view of the difficulty there had always been of governing the colony from such a distance, Dr. Morris gave him full powers as his vicar-general there. +