Robert Brindle DSO (4 November 1837 – 27 June 1916) 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 Bishop of Nottingham from 1901 to 1915.

Life

Born in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

on 4 November 1837, 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 27 December 1862. Brindle joined the

Royal Army Chaplains' Department The Royal Army Chaplains' Department (RAChD) is an all-officer department that provides ordained clergy to minister to the British Army. History The Army Chaplains' Department (AChD) was formed by Royal Warrant of 23 September 1796; until the ...

. During the

Gordon Relief Expedition The Nile Expedition, sometimes called the Gordon Relief Expedition (1884–1885), was a British mission to relieve Major-General Charles George Gordon at Khartoum, Sudan. Gordon had been sent to Sudan to help the Egyptians withdraw their gar ...

(1884–85), as an

army chaplain A military chaplain ministers to military personnel and, in most cases, their families and civilians working for the military. In some cases, they will also work with local civilians within a military area of operations. Although the term ''cha ...

he marched with the troops rather than riding with the officers; and handled an oar with the 1st Royal Irish Regiment as they rowed up the Nile.Snape, Michael Francis. ''The Royal Army Chaplains' Department, 1796-1953: Clergy Under Fire'', Boydell Press, 2008, p. 160
/ref> He was mentioned in Kitchener's dispatches for his services to the wounded during the

Battle of Omdurman The Battle of Omdurman, also known as the Battle of Karary, was fought during the Anglo-Egyptian conquest of Sudan between a British–Egyptian expeditionary force commanded by British Commander-in-Chief (sirdar) major general Horatio Herbert ...

and "only some technical difficulty prevented his receiving a knighthood at the end of the campaign." Sir Evelyn Wood said, "Father Brindle was doubtless the most popular man in the Expedition. His own flock naturally loved him, and he was respected by everyone ... He had a pony which he never rode, it being used to carry foot-sore men in turn." In recognition of services in Egypt and the Sudan, he was awarded the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a Military awards and decorations, military award of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly throughout the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth, awarded for operational gallantry for highly successful ...

on 16 November 1898. Brindle retired from the army as Chaplain to the Forces First Class in 1899. He was appointed an

Auxiliary Bishop An auxiliary bishop is a bishop assigned to assist the diocesan bishop in meeting the pastoral and administrative needs of the diocese. Auxiliary bishops can also be titular bishops of sees that no longer exist as territorial jurisdictions. ...

of Westminster and

Titular Bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

of Hermopolis Maior on 29 January 1899. His

consecration Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects ( ...

to the

Episcopate 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 ...

took place on 12 March 1899, the principal

consecrator 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 Churches ...

was Cardinal

Francesco Satolli Francesco Satolli (21 July 1839 – 8 January 1910) was an Italian theologian, professor, cardinal, and the first Apostolic Delegate to the United States. Biography He was born on 21 July 1839, at Marsciano near Perugia. He was educated at ...

, and the principal co-consecrators were Archbishop Cesare Sambucetti and Archbishop

Edmund Stonor Most Rev. Edmund Stonor (13 April 1831 – 28 February 1912) was a prominent British Roman Catholic archbishop. Born into the recusancy on 2 April 1831 at Stonor, England, the ancestral home of the Stonor family, he was the son of Thomas Stonor ...

. Nearly three years later, he was appointed the

Bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

of the

Diocese of Nottingham The Diocese of Nottingham () is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic church in England and a suffragan of the Metropolitan Diocese of Westminster. The diocese covers an area of , taking in the English counties of Nottinghamshire (now exclu ...

on 6 December 1901. When King

Alfonso XIII of Spain Alfonso XIII ( Spanish: ''Alfonso León Fernando María Jaime Isidro Pascual Antonio de Borbón y Habsburgo-Lorena''; French: ''Alphonse Léon Ferdinand Marie Jacques Isidore Pascal Antoine de Bourbon''; 17 May 1886 – 28 February 1941), also ...

of Spain and

Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg Victoria Eugenie Julia Ena of Battenberg (24 October 1887 – 15 April 1969) was List of Spanish royal consorts, Queen of Spain as the wife of King Alfonso XIII from their marriage on 31 May 1906 until 14 April 1931, when the Spanish Second Re ...

wished to be married, the Princess agreed to convert to Catholicism. Her uncle King

Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until Death and state funeral of Edward VII, his death in 1910. The second child ...

suggested that she take instruction from former army chaplain Monsignor Brindle. Despite anti-Catholic rhetoric on the part of her countrymen, Victoria was received into the Catholic Church in March 1906 at

Miramar Palace The Miramar Palace (, also known as or ; ) is a late 19th-century palace located on the La Concha Bay of the city of San Sebastián, Basque Country, Spain. It was built in 1893 commissioned by the Spanish royal family, based on an 1889 project ...

in a ceremony presided over by Bishop Brindle and the Bishop of Vitoria. He resigned as Bishop of Nottingham on 1 June 1915 and was appointed Titular Bishop of Tacapae. He died on 27 June 1916, aged 78. The Bishop was given a military funeral, his coffin covered with the Union Jack with his bishop's mitre on it.

Medals and awards

Egypt Medal The Egypt Medal (1882–1889) was awarded for the military actions involving the British Army and Royal Navy during the 1882 Anglo-Egyptian War and in the Mahdist War, Sudan between 1884 and 1889. Resentment at increasing British and other Eur ...

(three clasps, Suakin 1884, El-Teb-Tamaai, The Nile 1884-85) * Queen's Sudan Medal * Ottoman Order of Osmania, Fourth Class *Ottoman

Order of the Medjidie Order of the Medjidie (, August 29, 1852 – 1922) was a military and civilian order of the Ottoman Empire. The order was instituted in 1851 by Sultan Abdulmejid I. History Instituted in 1851, the order was awarded in five classes, with the Firs ...

, Third Class *

Khedive's Star The Khedive's Star was a campaign medal established by Khedive Tewfik Pasha to reward those who had participated in the military campaigns in Egypt and the Sudan between 1882 and 1891. This included British Army, British forces who served during t ...

1882 * Khedive's Sudan Medal (three clasps, Hafir, The Atbara, Khartoum) *

Order of Isabella the Catholic The Royal Order of Isabella the Catholic (; Abbreviation, Abbr.: OYC) is a knighthood and one of the three preeminent Order of merit, orders of merit bestowed by the Kingdom of Spain, alongside the Order of Charles III (established in 1771) and ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brindle, Robert 1837 births 1916 deaths 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in England Clergy from Liverpool Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic Recipients of the Order of the Medjidie, 3rd class Royal Army Chaplains' Department officers Roman Catholic bishops of Nottingham