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Record
Dates
1817-1902
Person Name
Eyre; Charles Petre (1817-1902); Archbishop; Canon; Vicar-General (Hexham and Newcastle); Titualr Archvishop of Anaarbus; Apostolic Delegate for Scotalnd; Apostolic Administrator of the Western District of Scotland
Surname
Eyre
Forenames
Charles Petre
Title
Archbishop
Epithet
Canon; Vicar-General (Hexham and Newcastle); Titualr Archvishop of Anaarbus; Apostolic Delegate for Scotalnd; Apostolic Administrator of the Western District of Scotland
DatesAndPlaces
Born at Askham Bryan Hall, Askham Bryan, near York, England, on 7 November 1817, he was the fifth of nine children of John Lewis Eyre (died 1880) and Sara Eyre, née Parker (died 1825)
Activity
Although previously considered for other bishoprics, it was not until 29 November 1868 that he was officially nominated for a prelacy. He was appointed Titular Archbishop of Anazarbus and Apostolic Delegate for Scotland on 3 December 1868. He was consecrated at the church of Sant'Andrea della Valle, Rome on 31 January 1869. The principal consecrator was Cardinal Karl-August von Reisach, Archbishop Emeritus of Munich and Freising, and the principal co-consecrators were Henry Edward Manning, Archbishop of Westminster and Frédéric-François-Xavier Ghislain de Mérode, Titular Archbishop of Melitene.
Following the resignation of Bishop John Gray on 4 March 1869, Archbishop Eyre was appointed the Apostolic Administrator of the Western District of Scotland on 16 April 1869. He travelled to Glasgow in March 1869, charged with organising the re-establishment of Roman Catholic hierarchy in Scotland. After attending the First Vatican Council (1869–70), he returned to Scotland in a mission to build schools and to unite the Scottish catholic community, bitterly divided between Scottish and Irish Catholics. In 1874, he opened St Peter's Seminary at Bearsden (subsequently removed to Cardross under the same name).
Despite some resistance among Scottish Catholics, the Scottish hierarchy was restored by Pope Leo XIII on 15 March 1878. The Western District was divided into the Archdiocese of Glasgow, the Diocese of Argyll and the Isles and the Diocese of Galloway; with Charles Petre Eyre appointed as the first Roman Catholic archbishop of Glasgow since the Scottish Reformation.
Six years later he established a cathedral chapter. Archbishop Eyre was successful to a large extent in integrating the new establishment into Scottish society. The University of Glasgow awarded him an Honorary Doctor of Laws in 1892. He was one of the early patrons of Celtic FC, founded in 1888 with a name designed to inspire unity between Scottish and Irish Catholics in the Glasgow area.
He died at his home in Glasgow on 27 March 1902, aged 84. He was buried in his seminary at Bearsden; now the site of the new Bearsden Academy building. His body was later moved to St Andrew's Cathedral, Glasgow. Archbishop Eyre left a number of religious and historical works, including works on Scottish saints, the medieval church of Glasgow, and St Cuthbert.
Code
SCA/DS/UK/4
Catalogue
RefNo
Title
UC/AJ/AJ1/1/16/4
Archbishop Charles Eyre
SCA/B/7
Archbishop Charles Eyre
Album amicorum of George Strachan
Useful Links
Catholic-Heritage.net
British Jesuit Archive
The Archdiocese of Birmingham
Ushaw College Library
Scottish Catholic Archives
Cathoic Archives Society
The National Archives
The National Records of Scotland
University of Aberdeen
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