Revd Richard Enraght SSC (1837-1898): Bordesley, Birmingham, 1874-1883.

Image Credit the Hathi Trust Digital Library
and The University of Michigan Library
The Old & New Birmingham by Robert Kirkup Dent (1880)
Holy Trinity, Bordesley, Birmingham.
(Church closed in 1968)

Bordesley, Birmingham in the 1860s-1880's

In 1865, Fr James Pollock was invited by Dr. Oldknow, the well-known Tractarian Vicar of Holy Trinity, Bordesley, to start a Mission among the newcomers in a part of his parish. Eventually, to ensure continuity of the Mission it was necessary to set up a separate District for St Alban the Martyr, Highgate, Fr James Pollock was soon joined by his brother Fr Tom Pollock to assist him in this new parish.

After Dr Oldknow died in 1874, and partly through Fr Tom Pollock of St Alban’s private influence, Dr Oldknow’s successor at Holy Trinity, Bordesley, was the Rev. Richard Enraght, a priest in every way in sympathy with the aims of his Tractarian predecessor. The two Birmingham parishes enjoyed close connections with their Anglo-Catholic traditions and the friendship of the three priests. The Pollock brothers and Fr. Enraght were former graduates of Trinity College, Dublin. [16] [17]

copyright © Revd Patrick Comerford
Holy Trinity, Bordesley in 2023
(Church closed in 1968)

An indication of Fr Enraght’s popularity and support of his use of ritualism in worship at Holy Trinity, was the attendances for Holy Communion, Sunday mornings would attract a congregation of between 400 to 500 while the Sunday Evensong (with sermon) would attract even more at 700 to 800 parishioners.

In 1875 a group of men from Fr Enraght’s congregation who played for the Church's cricket team formed a football club called the Small Heath Alliance F.C., eventually over the years this football club was to be renamed Birmingham City F.C.

Highgate, Birmingham.

Fr Enraght at Bordesley

With his parish’s support he was even able to introduce weekday celebrations of Holy Communion. Fr Enraght brought an increase of life and beauty to the services at Holy Trinity, together with a hearty loving kindness and helpfulness that made the vicarage and its residents most deeply loved. No one could say that Fr Enraght did not do his utmost; there were no aggrieved parishioners, not one of these parishioners complained of the services or wished them altered. [18].

Birmingham was the equal to Brighton in hostilities to Anglo Catholics from the Church Association, a radical group of Protestants, who had unlimited funds to mount prosecutions. The Church Association sort to separate Priests from their congregations by registering its members in these parishes, so as to become “aggrieved parishioners” and therefore the clergy could be prosecuted under the new PWR Act.

In one parish in the north of England they resorted to bribing parishioners to speak out against their priest, in one instance a churchwarden was offered £10,000 to give evidence, (a fortune in the Victorian era) [19] [20]. The Church Association was essentially aggressive. Its avowed object was ‘to uphold the Principles and Order of the United Church of England and Ireland’, which meant, in practice, fighting Ritualism by legal action wherever it occurred in the Country.

The Church Association earned the nickname, given by Bishop Magee (a non-ritualist Bishop and future Archbishop of York) as the ‘Persecution Company Limited’, because they employed special agents to seek out ritualist priest, [21] while many other opponents of The Church Association simply labelled it as, ‘ The Church Ass’ [22].

In London, the situation was no better. Fr. Lowder, the founder of the Society of the Holy Cross, was threatened with prosecution under the Public Worship Regulation Act but escaped legal action by the intervention of the Archbishop of Canterbury who feared the consequences of such a high profile Anglo-Catholic being put on trial.

On the 1st August 1880, Fr. Richard Enraght was invited to London to preach at the Church of St Peter’s, London Docks, by Fr. Charles Fuge Lowder, for High Celebration to mark the 4th anniversary of The Church of England Working Men’s Society. Sadly this was the last major service at St. Peters that Fr. Lowder would attend, as he died a few weeks later while on holiday for health reasons in Austria [23].

'Black Sheep' from Punch, 18 December 1874:-
Archbishop Tait has a crook which reads
PUBLIC WORSHIP REGULATION BILL,
the black sheep have RITUALISM written on their backs,
the wall is called the ESTABLISHED CHURCH,
and the sign post is TO ROME.

Prosecution

Fr Enraght practices at Holy Trinity, Bordesley included, adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, the use of Eucharistic lights, chasuble and alb, the use of wafer bread in Holy Communion, the ceremonial mixing of water and communion wine, making the sign of the Cross towards the congregation during the Holy Communion service, bowing his head at the Gloria and allowing the Agnus Dei to be sung, all of which his Bishop, Dr. Philpott forbade. These illegal practices resulted in Fr Enraght having to face the full force of the Law from its defenders, the Church Association's lawyers and the presiding Judge, Lord Penzance [24] [25].

"If the English Church be true portion of the one Catholic Church of Christ," argued Fr. Enraght, "is it not only reasonable that her Church buildings and services should resemble those of other branches of the Church Catholic. " [26]

Fr Enraght refused to attend his own trial on 12th July 1879 on the grounds, “as I could not recognize Lord Penzance or his court, which derives its authority - not from "this Church and Realm," but solely from an Act of Parliament, as having any spiritual jurisdiction over me, I was unable conscientiously to defend myself before it.” [27] He was convicted on the 9th August 1879 in his absence under the Public Worship Regulation Act by Judge Lord Penzance at the Arches Court on 16 counts of breaking the Law.

Fr Enraght's prosecution became known nationally as the “ Bordesley Wafer Case”, the collection of one of the pieces of evidence used in Court is documented here in a narration from “The History of the English Church Union”,: On August 31st, 1879, Mr Enraght denounced from the altar the conduct of a person who, on February 9th, had carried off from the altar a Consecrated Wafer, obtained under the pretence of communicating, in order to file It as an exhibit in the law courts as evidence of the use of wafer-bread.

A feeling of intense horror and indignation was excited when the fact of this fearful sacrilege became known. It was difficult to credit the fact that a Consecrated Wafer, after having been sacrilegiously secreted by a pretended communicant, had actually been delivered to Mr Churchwarden Perkins, the prosecutor, produced in Court as evidence, marked with pen and ink and filed as an exhibit! Thanks to some members of the Council of English Church Union, the Consecrated Wafer was obtained from the court and given over to the care of the Archbishop of Canterbury, who reverently consumed it in his private chapel at Addington on Friday December 12th, 1879.

It may be added that the indignant parishioners at the next ensuing vestry rejected Mr. Perkins when nominated as, churchwarden [28].

Imprisonment

(from the Daily Post Newspaper (Birmingham) 26th November 1880)

Fr Richard Enraght entering Warwick Prison in chains, handing a bag entitled, "Paraphernalia of Ritualism" to his Curate Revd Warwick Elwin (later to become the Vicar of St. Andrew the Apostle, Worthing, Sussex.)

After several preliminary failures by Lord Penzance over the course of the following year to imprisoned Fr Enraght, the Prosecutor at last succeeded on the 27th November 1880 and Fr Enraght was finally arrested at his vicarage and taken to Warwick Prison to serve his sentence. [29]

The following are extracts from a letter by a Mr W. Perrins to the London Church Review, giving an account of the arrest of Fr Enraght. It is as follows:-

"SIR,—Will you kindly permit me to send you a short account of the wonderful scenes that took place at the arrest of our dear friend Mr. R. W. Enraght? I arrived upon the scene a few minutes before the Vicar left the house, and such a scene I never saw before, and perhaps may never see such a one again. Ladies, with tears in their eyes and quivering lips and anxious faces, thronged around the door; and one grey-haired old man I spoke to burst into tears and said, "Ah, Sir, this is religious liberty in England." There were many working men of the congregation, with their dirty, but sympathetic faces, who had rushed from their work to bid a farewell to one they so loved and venerated, and all looked as though each heart was full. Fr Enraght, walking to his gate, paused on the step and indicated that he wished to speak to the vast crowd, and then he gave the memorable address, which those who heard will not in a hurry forget.

The emotion of the people was intense. We could hardly imagine we were in the nineteenth century, for as we stood after the address to sing the doxology, it seemed like the early Christians going to their martyrdom; but the most touching part of all up to the present was at the close of the singing. The assembly bared their heads, and those around knelt upon the pavement while the vicar pronounced a most solemn benediction. The prisoner then walked to the railway-station, followed by the vast crowd, who cheered most lustily, occasionally giving a hearty groan for "Perkins," etc., etc. During the whole of the proceedings I did not see or hear one dissentient."

“Reproduced from the “Our Warwickshire” website © Warwickshire County Record Office
(reference CR 2902/84).
Warwick Prison, Cape Road, Warwick. (demolished in 1934)

On arrival at Warwick Prison after the train journey:- "As we drew near the prison gate the vicar let down his cassock so that he might enter as a Priest. At the gate he shook hands with us all, Dr. Nicholson saying, "Let us give him the blessing before he enters," and there, upon the damp stones, the prisoner knelt, and the white-haired doctor, with uplifted hand, pronounced the most solemn benediction I think I ever heard. So ended the arrest of one of the best men who ever suffered for his Master, and the impression it has left upon our minds seems to be "disestablishment," for it is too great a price to pay for the advantages of being united to the State." [30]

A Mr. G. Wakelin’s recollections of the events surrounding Fr Enraght’s imprisonment where such:-
“To describe his leaving the vicarage where his people had ever found in himself and Mrs. Enraght helpers in all times of need and trouble, is beyond my power; most pathetic and touching was the going to Warwick Prison. His friends, and even those who had to carry out the sentence, were far more touched and overcome than was the vicar himself, who went through it with a calm fixed patience, with thorough cheerfulness and resignation.

The Governor of Warwick Prison, who was no High Churchman, said of Fr Enraght to one of his visitors: "The sooner that gentleman is out, sir, the better, for he is altogether in the wrong place". For nearly two months he was kept in Warwick Prison, and during that time a great meeting was held, when Birmingham Town Hall was filled from end to end, and so many came from far and near to protest against the imprisonment; the singing of the " Church's one Foundation " at the end was something impressive and touching.” [31]

The above Prison Pass, is issued to the:-
Revd James Benson Pollock, Curate at St Alban the Martyr, Highgate, Birmingham,
H. M. Prison Warwick 29^th November 1880 –

You are allowed to visit The Rev. R. W. Enraght between 2 and 5 any
Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

Please present this Order. John M. Anderson, Governor.

Fr. Enraght’s imprisonment became widely known in the USA. On the 19th December 1880, a sermon was preached in St. Ignatius Church in New York, by the Revd Dr. Ewer, S.T.D on the subject of 'The Imprisonment of English Priests for Conscience Sake', he praised the English priests stand, as "simply a determined resistance to a violation of Magna Charta, and was proud to make common cause with them, so far as is possible, from this distance, and feeling that when one member of the Catholic Church suffers, all the members suffer with him". the text of this sermon was printed in full in the New York Herald and New York Tribune the following morning, (there were also four other priests who served prison sentences in England, Arthur Tooth, T. Pelham Dale, Sidney Faithorn Green and James Bell Cox) [32]

While in prison Fr Enraght received a letter of support from the Conference of the Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament in the USA, "to express the sympathy of the Conference for Fr R. W. Enraght in his incarceration for conscience’s sake." [33]

In England, the Revd Prof. Edward Bouverie Pusey wrote a letter to the editor of The Times defending both Fr Richard Enraght and Fr Alexander Heriot Mackonochie saying, they have not been struggling for themselves but for their people. The Ritualists do not ask to interfere with devotion of others ….only to be allowed, in their worship of God, to use a Ritual which a few years ago no one disputed. [34] Over the Christmas period of his imprisonment Fr Enraght also received many letters of support and goodwill from his own and former parishioners around the Country as well as Christmas Cards from children in Bordesley [35]

See the full transcription of 'My Ordination Oaths' (1880) pamphlet written by Fr Enraght while incarcerated in Warwick Prison.

The text above, is from an 1880 protest poster against the Public Worship Regulation Act [58]
This poster was attached to walls and hoardings around England, to express the
continuing public opposition to the Public Worship Regulation Act.
A copy of this poster was also fixed to a wall close to Lambeth Palace,
which greatly annoyed Archbishop Tait of Canterbury.

Released from Warwick Prison

As Fr Enraght's prison sentence progressed , the English Church Union took steps to quash the proceedings that had been taken against him. Their case seemed unanswerable to an unprejudiced mind, but it was soon clear that the judges meant at all costs to stand by Lord Penzance. Fr Enraght was, however, released on the 17th January 1881 after 49 days in prison by the Court of Appeal upon the grounds of a technical informality in the writ for committal. The Prosecutor, by the advice of the Church Association, at once endeavoured to have Fr Enraght re-committed, but the English Church Union, by taking further legal proceedings, frustrated his attempts. [36] [37].

On the Revd Enraght’s release from Warwick Prison he was met at the New Street station Birmingham, by his solicitor Mr. Jacob Kowlands; the Revd. Warwick Elwin and many friends and well-wishers.
Revd Warwick Elwin, Fr Enraght's curate, later became the Vicar of St. Andrew's, Worthing and was the son of the Revd Whitwell Elwin, the critic and editor of the Quarterly Review.

In the evening an enthusiastic crowded meeting welcomed him back to Bordesley. The Yorkshire Post in a piece of bias reporting on Fr Enraght's return to Holy Trinity did not mention his welcomed return but merely emphasised the comments of one bystander at New Street Station who called out “No Popery; I hope they will soon have you in again” to which Fr Enraght simply remarked to his companions, “I should not have liked that man as Governor of Warwick Prison”. [38] [39]

See the full transcription of 'My Prosecution Under the Public Worship Regulation Act' (1883), written by Fr Enraght after his release from prison.

Eviction from Holy Trinity

It appears that through the failure of an appeal to the House of Lords in May 1882 by Fr Enraght, he became liable to another term of imprisonment. Three months later, under the provisions of the PWR Act, the benefice of Holy Trinity, Bordesley became vacant, although still canonically held by Fr Enraght.

On St Matthew's Day, 21st September 1882, Fr Enraght attended Dr Pusey's funeral at Christ Church, Oxford.

In March 1883 Bishop Philpott revoked Fr. Enraght's Licence and appointed another clergyman to the benefice against the wishes of the congregation.

Following Fr Enraght’s dismissal and his family's eviction from Holy Trinity vicarage by order of Bishop Philpott, a crowded meeting of the Congregation and Parishioners of Holy Trinity, Bordesley, was held in the Highgate Board School, on March 28th 1883, to say good-bye to Fr Enraght and Mrs. Enraght. Churchwarden Thomas Harris read the following testimonial on behalf of the Parish: -

"To the Rev. Richard William Enraght, B.A., on leaving Holy Trinity, Bordesley, Easter, 1883.
Our Dear Vicar, - The parting of friends is always sad, but the parting is made unspeakably painful by the grievous injustice which has robbed us of your ministry, together with the church and worship which we loved so well. For your ready sacrifice of yourself in submitting to persecution, imprisonment, and now casting out from your home and your work, in the cause of the Church, we may be allowed to express our unfeigned admiration; for the ungrudging labour, the great ability, and the unwearied affection with which you have for eight years and a half exercised your office as vicar of our church and parish, we can offer you no adequate thanks.

We believe that we shall show our gratitude best by bearing your many lessons in our hearts and proving them in our lives, when you are no longer here to help us. We feel that we owe Mrs. Enraght our sincerest thanks for the uniform zeal and the genial kindness with which she has always been eager to throw herself into every good work which concerned our welfare. In parting with you we ask her to accept a purse of 150 guineas which has been subscribed by us, the under mentioned members of the congregation, as a slight outward token of our love and our appreciation of the many benefits which have been conferred on us.

We pray that God may comfort you both in your suffering, and may grant you a congenial and peaceful sphere of labour, where the enemies of truth will not molest you. In reluctantly bidding you good-bye as our Pastor, we ask you still to remember us who have been bound to you by the strong tie of this common sorrow. “We are, yours most faithfully and affectionately, the Congregation and Parishioners of Holy Trinity, Bordesley” [40] [41]

When two months later Bishop Philpott (foolishly or courageously) preached at Holy Trinity on the 6th May 1883 the churchwardens handed him a formal protest condemning the removal of Enraght and stating that ‘we, the truly aggrieved, have been left as sheep without a shepherd’, and implying that the Rev. Watt’s (Fr Enraght’s replacement) actions in toning down ritual had led to a significant reduction in size of congregation [42].

See the full transcription of 'High Church & Low Church' (1883) - the congregation's rowdy protest against the installation of a new Vicar for Holy Trinity, of which the Daily News reported, "Probably the most disgraceful scene ever enacted in an English church".

The Royal Commission of 1881 and its report in 1883 marked a historic turning point for the Church of England. The sustained effort to repress ritualism in order to keep the Church in harmony with popular tastes and prejudices was abandoned. Ritualists’ policy of civil disobedience and its consequence of imprisonment had both embarrassed Evangelicals and cemented an alliance with the moderate High Church, thus posing a threat to the unity of the Church if the attempt to crush ritualism was kept up. Archbishop Tait was therefore obliged to subordinate his concern for National opinion and devote himself to mending his ecclesiastical bridges [43].

St Alban the Martyr, Highgate, Birmingham

The above photograph shows Fr Enraght’s chasuble on display at St Alban the Martyr, Highgate, Birmingham.
Fr Enraght was close friends with the Vicar and Curate of St Alban’s, the Revd James Samuel Pollock and his brother the Revd Thomas Benson Pollock, whom Fr Enraght had known since their days together at Trinity College, Dublin. The Pollock brothers were born on the Isle of Man. Holy Trinity Bordesley was the neighbouring Parish to St Alban the Martyr.

After Easter 1883 Fr Enraght and Family left Bordesley for Brighton.

See Revd Richard Enraght in Brighton, Sussex, from 1883 to 1884 :-

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