Ferdinand Ashmall (9 January 1695 – 2 February 1798) was an English

centenarian A centenarian is a person who has reached the age of 100. Because life expectancies at birth worldwide are well below 100, the term is invariably associated with longevity. The United Nations estimated that there were 316,600 living centenarian ...

and

Catholic priest The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in common English usage ''priest'' refe ...

for the

Catholic Church in England and Wales The Catholic Church in England and Wales (; ) is part of the worldwide Catholic Church in full communion with the Holy See. Its origins date from the 6th century, when Pope Gregory I through a Roman missionary and Benedictine monk, Augustine, ...

Biography

He was born on 9 January 1695 in

Elwick, County Durham Elwick is a village and civil parish in the borough of Hartlepool in County Durham, England. It is situated near the A19 road to the west of Hartlepool. Historically, Elwick was a township until 1866 when it became a civil parish. History, p ...

to Thomas Ashmall and Mary Addison. He was admitted to Lisbon College on 9 August 1711, at age 15, to prepare for the priesthood. He was ordained on 18 February 1720 as a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

priest in Portugal. He returned to England in 1723 where he became the chaplain to Mary Salvin at Elvet, County Durham until her death in 1727. He then moved back to his family estate in Amerston. He later moved to New House, County Durham where he remained as the priest until his death. He died in New House, County Durham on 2 February 1798 in the 104th year of his life. It was the 73rd year of his ministry.Some sources incorrectly give his age as 104. The first source was his obituary posted in 1798. His birth and baptismal record puts his age at 103.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ashmall, Ferdinand 1695 births 1798 deaths English men centenarians 18th-century English Roman Catholic priests University of Coimbra alumni