Joseph Robert Cowgill (23 February 1860 – 12 May 1936) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Minister (Christianity), Christian clergy who is an Ordinary (church officer), ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which me ...

of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. He served as the third Bishop of Leeds.

Life and ministry

Joseph Cowgill was born in village Broughton in

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in Northern England.The Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority areas of City of York, York and North Yorkshire (district), North Yorkshire are in Yorkshire and t ...

on 23 February 1860. He was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

to the priesthood on 19 May 1883 at an age of 23. He then served as assistant

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

in the Diocese of Leeds. On 26 September 1905, Cowgill was appointed as

coadjutor Bishop A coadjutor bishop (or bishop coadjutor) ("co-assister" in Latin) is a bishop in the Latin Catholic, Anglican and (historically) Eastern Orthodox churches whose main role is to assist the diocesan bishop in administering the diocese. The coa ...

of Leeds and titular Bishop of Olena. He received his

episcopal consecration A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of dioceses. The role ...

on 30 November 1905 from Thomas Whiteside, Bishop (later Archbishop) of Liverpool, with Francis Mostyn,

Bishop of Menevia The Bishop of Menevia was the ordinary of the Diocese of Menevia in the Province of Cardiff in the Catholic Church in Wales. The Diocese of Menevia covered an area of roughly consisting of Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion, Neath Port Talbot, ...

(later

Archbishop of Cardiff The Archbishop of Cardiff-Menevia is the ordinary (Catholic Church), ordinary of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cardiff-Menevia. The position came about after the merger of the Archdiocese of Cardiff and the Diocese of Menevia in 2024, afte ...

) and

Samuel Webster Allen Samuel Webster Allen (23 March 1844 – 13 May 1908) was an English bishop of the Roman Catholic Church. He was the Bishop of Shrewsbury from 1897 to 1908. Born at 78 Lord Street, Stockport, Cheshire on 23 March 1844, Allen was educated at St Ma ...

, Bishop of Shrewsbury serving as

co-consecrators A consecrator is a bishop who ordains someone to the episcopacy. A co-consecrator is someone who assists the consecrator bishop in the act of ordaining a new bishop. The terms are used in the canon law of the Catholic Church, Lutheran Churche ...

. Cowgill became the third Bishop of Leeds, when he succeeded William Gordon who died in office on 7 June 1911. Joseph Cowgill was known as ''Children's Bishop,'' and he celebrated the requiem mass for

Mother Mary Loyola Mother Mary Loyola (1845–1930) was an English Roman Catholic nun and an author of bestselling Catholic books. James Fallon SJ, writing for the Jesuit magazine ''America'' in 1931, called her one of the "most prolific and popular" writers in t ...

, who was an internationally bestselling writer with many books for children. He was the one to set up (in 1911) the Diocesan Rescue and Protection Society to develop a more systematic approach to addressing the needs of poverty and disadvantage in the Diocese. An annual collection in all missions and the annual Good Shepherd collection in schools was established that year to fund the new initiative. So Catholic Care was established. He died on 12 May 1936 and was buried at the

Killingbeck Killingbeck is a district of east Leeds, West Yorkshire, England named after the Killingbeck family, historic local landowners, and is situated between Seacroft to the north, Cross Gates and Whitkirk to the east, Gipton to the west, Halton ...

Cemetery in

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

References

External links

Diocese of Leeds
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cowgill, Joseph Robert 1860 births 1936 deaths 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in England Roman Catholic bishops of Leeds