Talbot, James
TALBOT, JAMES
Vicar Apostolic of the London District (1781–90);b. Shrewsbury House, Isleworth, Middlesex, 1726; d. Hammersmith, Jan. 26, 1790. Brother of the 14th earl of Shrewsbury, he was educated at Douay College and ordained there on Dec. 19, 1750. For several years he lectured in theology and philosophy until chosen to be coadjutor to Bishop Challoner of the London District, who consecrated him on Aug. 24, 1759. He was the last Catholic priest to be indicted in court for saying mass (1771). He embodied the spirit of penal times, and read-justed with difficulty to the relaxations effected by the First Relief Act of 1778. Gentle and unassuming, he spent his wealth generously in charitable works. He was buried in Hammersmith church, but in 1901 his body was transferred to the seminary of Old Hall, Ware.
Bibliography: e. h. burton, The Life and Times of Bishop Challoner, 1691–1781, 2 v. (London 1909). b. n. ward, The Dawn of the Catholic Revival in England, 1781–1803, 2 v. (London 1909) v.1. j. kirk, Biographies of English Catholics in the Eighteenth Century, ed. j. h. pollen and e. burton (New York 1909) 228.
[b. whelan]