| Admin_History | Fr Francis Vavasour SJ was born on 4 December 1900 and came from an Catholic family in Yorkshire. During the nineteenth century members of the Vavasour family, alongside other old English Catholic families, emigrated to New Zealand. The Vavasours built a large estate named Ugbrooke on the South Island.
Upon the death of Francis's father in the 1920s it was he who took over the management of Ugbrooke in New Zealand until 1926, when he handed it over to one of his brothers. Francis returned to England and entered the Society of Jesus as a Novitice at Manresa House in Roehampton on 1 July 1926 aged 25 under Fr William Peers-Smith SJ. He was ordained on 6 September 1934.
In 1936, he gained the post of Procurator at Stonyhurst College, which he remained in for 16 years. This was followed by another six years as Rector at Stonyhurst (1952-1958). After a short spell as Revisor Arcarum, he became Procurator of the English Province, a post he held until 1972.
Following his twenty years of service as Procurator, Fr Vavasour settled back in New Zealand with his brother where he died on 18 October 1981. |