Richard Huddleston or Hudleston (1583–1655), was an English

Benedictine monk The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, they ...

Life

Huddleston was born in 1583 at Farington Hall, near

Preston, Lancashire Preston () is a city on the north bank of the River Ribble in Lancashire, England. The city is the administrative centre of the county of Lancashire and the wider City of Preston, Lancashire, City of Preston local government district. Preston ...

. He was the youngest son of Andrew Hudleston, esq., of Farington Hall, and Mary, the third daughter of Cuthbert Hutton of Hutton John, Cumberland. He studied under Thomas Sommers, a Catholic schoolmaster at

Grange-over-Sands Grange-over-Sands is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish on the north side of Morecambe Bay in Cumbria, England, a few miles south of the Lake District Lake District National Park, National Park. In the United Kingdom Census 201 ...

, Lancashire, and was subsequently sent to the

English College at Douay The English College ( French: ''College des Grands Anglais'') was a Catholic seminary in Douai, France (also previously spelled Douay, and in English Doway), associated with the University of Douai. It was established in 1568, and was suppressed ...

. Afterwards he studied philosophy and divinity for some years in the

English College at Rome The Venerable English College (), commonly referred to as the English College, is a Catholic seminary in Rome, Italy, for the training of priests for England and Wales. It was founded in 1579 by William Allen on the model of the English College ...

. Returning to Douay he was ordained a priest in 1607, and in the following year was sent on the English mission. Again visiting Italy he was professed as a Benedictine monk at

Monte Cassino The Abbey of Monte Cassino (today usually spelled Montecassino) is a Catholic Church, Catholic, Benedictines, Benedictine monastery on a rocky hill about southeast of Rome, in the Valle Latina, Latin Valley. Located on the site of the ancient ...

. In 1619 he came back to the mission, and was instrumental in conversions among major families in Lancashire and Yorkshire to the Roman Catholic faith. One example is that of the family of Sir John Gascoigne whose children, nearly all, opted for a religious life including

Catherine Gascoigne Catherine Gascoigne (1601 – 21 May 1676) was the English abbess of Cambrai from 1624 to 1673. Life Gascoigne was born in Yorkshire. Her parents were Lady Anne (born Ingelby of Lawkland Hall) and Sir John Gascoigne who was the first Baronet of ...

who was an abbess in

Cambrai Cambrai (, ; ; ), formerly Cambray and historically in English Camerick or Camericke, is a city in the Nord department and in the Hauts-de-France region of France on the Scheldt river, which is known locally as the Escaut river. A sub-pref ...

until 1673. Huddleston died at Stockeld Park, the seat of the Middletons, on 26 November 1655.

Works

Huddleston left several pieces in manuscript, which appear to have been lost, and a ''Short and Plain Way to the Faith and Church'', published by his nephew, Father John Hudleston, London, 1688; reprinted in the "English Catholic Library" vol. ii., London, 1844, under the editorial care of the Rev.

Mark Aloysius Tierney Mark Aloysius Tierney (September 1795, in Brighton – 19 February 1862, at Arundel) was an English Catholic historian. Life After his early schooling under the direction of the Franciscans in Baddesley Green, Warwickshire, he was educated at ...

; and again, London, 1850. Charles II, while concealed at

Moseley Moseley ( ') is an affluent suburb in south Birmingham, England, south of the city centre. It is located within the eponymous Moseley ward of the constituency of Birmingham Hall Green and Moseley (UK Parliament constituency), Hall Green and ...

after the defeat at

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engl ...

, read this treatise in manuscript, and declared that he had seen nothing clearer upon the subject.Taunton, Ethelred Luke. ''The English Black Monks of St. Benedict'', Volume 2, John C. Nimmo, 1897. p. 209
/ref> ''An Answer to Father Huddleston's Short and Plain Way'' was published by an anonymous writer; and at a later period another ''Answer'', by Samuel Grascome, appeared at London, 1702; 1715.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Huddleston, Richard 1583 births 1655 deaths English Benedictines Clergy from Preston, Lancashire 17th-century English Roman Catholic priests