Person DS/UK/1767 Stephenson; Noel (1905-1981); Jesuit Priest Stephenson Noel 1905-1981 Jesuit Priest Male

Fr Noel Stephenson was born on the 15th December 1905, into an Irish Roman Catholic family and brought up in Ireland. The family moved to Wimbledon, London during his teenage years. He and his sister Joan (later a Sacred Heart Nun) entered Wimbledon College in 1918. Noel entered the noviceship at Manresa House in 1923 at the age of seventeen. His noviceship, juniorate and philosophy was followed by a fourth year at Heythrop College doing a degree in Maths and Classic. Following this, he ttaught at Stonyhurst College, a year in Lower Grammar and two years in Upper Rudiments. According to his sister, he was permitted to do his Theology in Ireland at Milltown Park, being ordained on the 24th June 1937, followed by a tertianship at St Beuno’s in North Wales. In 1939, he was appointed to Preston, but as WW2 loomed he became a military chaplain. He was one of two English Province Jesuits who landed together on the beaches of Normandy on D-Day, June 6th, 1944. He was said to have received 13 wounds from shrapnel and was soon evacuated. Following the War, he was appointed to Osterley in 1946, teaching English, Latin and French. After only two years, he went to Mount St Mary’s School for the start of a long stint as priest-schoolmaster for twenty-five years. He was also the senior classics master before transferring to become senior physics master. Noel was reportedly knowledgeable and competent in both disciplines. Additionally, he involved himself in the building of an astronomical observatory with the aid of senior boys, which was very well recieved by the school community. As time went on, and Noel became older, he took fewer teaching responsibilities at Mount. Instead, he turned his attention to the pastoral and spiritual well-being of students, and was reported to be assisting with boys’ confessions in the early 1970s. Similarly, Fr Peter Harrison recounted that Noel’s work in the Mount community included holding mass at the local parishes of Clowne, Whitwell, Eckington and at Kiveton Park. In 1974, he was made Chaplain at the Convent of St. Clotilde in Lechlade, Oxfordshire on a permanent basis in succession to Fr Borrett (Stephenson had been confessor to the convent from 1961). He was reportedly happy in this semi-retired position, and would visit the Mount community for his annual retreat, until 1980 when he became too unwell. Noel died on the 17th November 1981. International Standard Archival Authority Record for Corporate Bodies, Persons and Families - ISAAR(CPF) 2nd edition - ICA 2004 ISBN 2-9521932-2-3 National Council on Archives, Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997 Yes user 14/11/2022 user 14/11/2022 f98dde8f-a8ba-4eb1-b7ed-2df023962d04