| Admin_History | Henry Lionel Dalton was born in Bombay [Mumbai] on 19 November 1903. His birth certificate records his family name as Gomes but Dalton adopted an English surname probably around the time when he started attending St Mary's, the Jesuit school in Mumbai. After the completion of his studies, Dalton stayed on in a teaching capacity at the school due to the shortage of Jesuit staff following the end of the First World War.
Dalton entered the Society of Jesus on 12 August 1921, taking up his novitiate at the Sacred Heart College in Shembaganur. His contemporaries there included Charles Gomes SJ (later Bishop of Ahmedabad) and Edwin Pinto SJ (later also Bishop of Ahmedabad). During his regency, Dalton again taught at St Mary's in Mumbai for a period of five years. He went on study Theology at Kurseong before being ordained priest on 21 November 1934. Dalton completed his tertianship at St Mary's Mount in Kodaikanal. After taking his final vows, Dalton continued his teaching career and during the Second World War he served as chaplain to the Bombay Railway Battalions.
In 1955, Dalton left India for England. In September 1971, Dalton was formally transferred to the English Province and he never returned to India. In England, Dalton served the parish of St Ignatius in Preston (1955-1957), Wimbledon College in Edgehill (1957-1965) and the Church of the Holy Name in Manchester (1965-1970). Until the time of his death in 1977, Dalton lived at Bridge House in Westbourne, West Sussex, and carried out regular supply work all over the United Kingdom including on several occasions in the Western Isles.
Henry Dalton died in Chichester on 18 April 1977 after having suffered a short period of ill health. He was buried at the Church of St Anthony and St George in Burton Park, Duncton.
A full obituary can be found in Letters & Notices, volume 83, pp. 40 - 43.
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