Chapter 6 - The Remakings of an Observant Province

Summary

The Province entered a new phase of expansion in the second half of the nineteenth century after the friars accepted the mission at Woodchester in Gloucestershire, where a noviciate of strict observance was established in a purpose-built monastery through the support of Vincent Jandel, Master of the Order. The new recruits attracted to the Province enabled it to take on first new missions, and then open priories in large urban parishes at Newcastle, London, and Salford, ministering to the poor working-classes, while the friars continued to serve the poor of Leicester. This work required the funding of new churches and schools which often resulted in long-term debt and much anxiety for the friars responsible for raising funds. The period also saw the Province’s reliance on a small number of lay donors, the influence of which was seen in the construction of a large formation house at Hawkesyard in Staffordshire. The close of the period was marked by the adoption of an overseas mission on Grenada, which was at odds with the observant priory life that had attracted so many new members.