| Description | This subfonds contains the personal papers of Fr Cyril Martindale SJ and includes a large number of his correspondence, writing and sermons, including those produced during his stay in Denmark during World War II. The collection also includes diary extracts, photographs, certificates, drawings and items from his childhood. |
| Admin_History | Cyril Charles Martindale was born on May 25th 1879, in Bayswater, London as the only child of Arthur Martindale and Marion McKenzie. Cyril attended school at Amesbury House, Temple Grove and Harrow. Cyril was received into the Catholic Church in 1897 and entered the noviceship at Manresa House, Roehampton on 7 September 1897. Owing to poor health Cyril was transferred to Aix-en-Provence on 25th May 1898, completing his noviceship there and took his first vows as a Jesuit back in Roehampton in September 1899.
Following this he moved onto St Mary's Hall, Stonyhurst to study Philosophy (1899) and then to Pope's Hall (later Campion Hall) in Oxford (1901) where he studied the Classics and attained multiple academic awards for his work; including the Gaisford Prize for Greek Verse and the Chancellor's Prize for Latin verse.
After leaving Oxford in 1905 he went onto teach for a year at Stonyhurst and for 2 years at Roehampton.
In October 1908 Cyril started his theological course at St Beuno's but was sent, at the end of his second year of theology to the house of the exiled French Jesuits at Ore Place, Hastings, where he was ordained in 1911.
Following his ordination Cyril was given work in the sub-faculty of Litterae Humaniores at Oxford. In connection with his university work he made his first foreign excursion as priest during an extensive visit to Europe in 1923. One year later on February 2nd 1924 he Cyril took his final vows as a Jesuit at Stonyhurst.
1927 saw Cyril leave his work at Campion Hall for Farm Street Church, London, which was to be the centre of his activity until April 1940. During these years Cyril travelled often, including a fateful trip to New Zealand and Australia to attend the International Eucharistic Congress in Sydney. Soon after landing in New Zealand Cyril was very seriously injured in a car accident and the injuries, in particular to his skull, sustained during this experience would affect him for the rest of his life.
During a visit to Denmark in April 1940 Cyril was detained by the German forces and had to spend the entirety of WWII in Copenhagen.
Acting upon an invitation from the Duke and Duchess of Palmella Cyril spent the summer of 1947 in Portugal leading Retreats and researching the miracle of Fatima. He published his experiences in 1948 in a work titled 'Portuguese Pilgrimage'.
In the spring of 1950 he suffered from double pneumonia and never fully recovered.
Later, in 1953, he would retire to Burton Hill, Petworth due to ill health. This is where he lived until his death on March 18th, 1963. |