| Admin_History | Fr John Lynch, whose life is so intimately connected with Beaumont and Bournemouth, was born in Cheltenham 17 June 1848. For two years he was at St Cuthbert's (Ushaw), where the close association with the priesthood which he experienced there, may have been the seed-ground of his vocation. In 1862 he was sent to Beaumont Lodge, where he remained for the length of his school days always in the top class and always moving upwards. In 1871 he went as a novice to Roehampton, and after his philosophy, he did a little College work at his own school and at Hodder. He was ordained in 1880. Two years in a subordinate position at Hodder emphasized his obvious suitability for the control of the Preparatory Department at Beaumont. Up to 1888 this had formed part of the general College buildings, and there Fr Lynch provided all that additional care which the younger children required. In 1888 a new separate Preparatory School, dedicated to St John Berchmans, was opened and Fr Lynch moved there with his sixty boys, and there remained until 1903, with an interval of four years, in which he was Rector of the whole school. In 1903 the work of St John's was handed over to Fr Ignatius O'Gorman, and Fr Lynch moved to London to be Minister at the Mount Street Residence. In 1907 he was transferred to Bournemouth, where he spent several years as one of the clerical staff of the Sacred Heart Church. In 1919 he was summoned to Manresa House to play the part of Vice-Rector pending the appointment of Fr Albert Kopp as full Rector. However, from March 1921 his condition has been a precarious one and on 9 January 1926 he died. |