TAUNTON, ETHELRED LUKE

Ecclesiastical writer, b. Rugeley, Staffordshire, England, Oct. 17, 1857; d. London, May 9, 1907. During his education at Downside School, he wished to become a Benedictine, but was prevented by delicate health. He studied music until he entered the Institute of St. Andrew at Barnet (1874), which he left to join the oblates of st. charles at Bayswater (1880). After ordination (1883) he left the Oblates (1886) and served the mission at Stoke Newington in North London until physical injury partially paralyzed him and permanently incapacitated him from active work (1888). However he read widely, wrote numerous periodical articles and several books, translated some works, and founded the short-lived St. Luke's Magazine during his convalescence at Bruges, Belgium (1888–90). In church music and liturgy he was considered an authority, but a partisan tone, particularly evident in his historical writings, made him a controversial figure. Despite his professed objectivity, he was frequently charged with prejudice as well as inaccuracy. This was notably true of his best-known book, The History of the Jesuits in England (1901), and his article on the Jesuits in the 11th and subsequent editions of the Encyclopaedia Britannica, a revision of Littledale's hostile article in the ninth edition (1880).

Bibliography: Downside Review 26 (1907) 223–224. g. l. norgate, The Dictionary of National Biography from the Earliest Times to 1900, 63 v. (London 1885–1900) 3:480. j. h. pollen, Month 97 (1901) 512–518; 98 (1901) 315–318; 117 (1911) 561–574, a critique of Taunton's writings.

[d. milburn]