The

Lisbonian
Magazine

English College Lisbon

January 2011
The Lisbonian
– The magazine of the Lisbonian Society
All correspondence should be addressed to:
The Editor
Kevin Hartley
8 Hanbury Hill
Stourbridge DY8 1BE

The Lisbonian is the bi-annual magazine of the Lisbonian Society, appearing

in January and July, and covers a wide range of topics of current and
historical interest.
The magazine is distributed to all members of the Society and to those
who have expressed an interest in the College. Articles relating in any way
to Lisbon past or present and especially to former students of the College
are always very welcome.
Anyone wishing to submit an article for consideration should in the �rst
instance contact Kevin Hartley as above or by email:
kevinhartley@yahoo.co.uk

Lisbonian Society
Lisbonian Society
Correspondence relating to the should be addressed to the
new address
Hon Secretary Lisbonian Society
V Rev Canon Gerard Hetherington, KHS
1st Floor Flat
8 St Peter’s Street
WINCHESTER SO23 8BW

2 | The Lisbonian magazine – January 2011

 Contents

Editorial ............................................................. 4
The New Society Treasurer ................................. 5
Lisbonian Annual General Meeting 2010 ........... 6
Alma Mater – The Lisbonian Society .................. 8
Interview – Dr Michael Williams .........................12
Letters to the Editor ...........................................17
Royal English College – Valladolid ......................19
Good Causes .....................................................24
A Fado to Savour ...............................................27
Re�ections – Looking Back on the Papal Visit… ..28
The Last King of Portugal ...................................29
Street Pastors .....................................................38
Lest We Forget ...................................................39

The Lisbonian magazine – January 2011 | 3

Editorial
The life and times of the last King
of Portugal provide a sad coda to
momentous times in Portugal. It
isn’t known whether Manoel II ever
visited a Travessa dos Inglesinhos but
the students of those days appear to
have continued the quiet tenor of
their lives through assassination and
revolution as revealed by the article
in this issue of The Lisbonian.
The Royal English College of St
Alban in Valladolid must rightly
be regarded as grander elder sister
to our Lisbon College. With royal
patronage, �nancial stability – not
to mention en suite rooms – it was
perhaps inevitable that Valladolid
should survive where Lisbon
succumbed.
It has been announced that another
institution – a cousin establishment
– is to close. Readers who have had
the opportunity to visit the Lisbon
Room at Ushaw will no doubt be
concerned about its future security.
It is to be hoped that along with the
extensive and important collection
belonging to Ushaw, the Lisbon
collection will be safely preserved
for future generations.
Most post-war Lisbonians at some
Kevin Hartley
your editor
welcomes
feedback and
articles!
4 | The Lisbonian magazine – January 2011
time or other sat at the feet of Michael
Williams in the Divines’ Library.
This issue of the magazine carries
an article with the Dogma Prof and
Vice-President, fondly known for
reasons lost in the mists of time as
‘Tippett’. Michael’s interests ranged
wide, from dogmatic theology to
history, to astronomy, as anyone
who listened to his explanations
of the night sky on the terrace at
Quinta de Pêra can attest, and he
isn’t yet lost for words.
The Papal Visit is now for most
people little more than a fond
memory, and for some a continuing
financial burden. The writer of
Ref lections adds an individual
perspective on the event.
The picture of the beautiful
Arches reproduced in this issue,
is a poignant reminder of the
place where generations of newly
ordained priests gave their first
blessings to family and friends.
Unfortunately, one picture we
would like to include remains
unavailable. Some years ago there
was a promise that a plaque would
be affixed to the wall near the
entrance to the College, explaining
in Portuguese and English the
history of the building (see Bill
Dalton’s reference in his toast to
Alma Mater). Sadly, this has never
been realised. Brethren will hope
this omission is soon remedied.
Kevin Hartley
 The New Society Treasurer
After many years of service Fred
Robinson has decided to stand
down from being Treasurer to
the Society. He has seen the
accounts through ‘interesting
times’ but gone are the days when
investments had to be nursed and
detailed balance sheets prepared.
Thank you, Fred, for all you have
done. At the Annual General
Kevin Hartley
Meeting held in Leeds on 6 July
2010 I was appointed to the post.
I would like to thank all those who
have kept their annual subscription
up to date. If you haven’t paid
this year’s subscription of £10.00
please make your cheque payable
to ‘The Lisbonian Society’ and
post it to me at 8, Hanbury Hill,
Stourbridge, DY8 1BE.

All for One and One for All!

O Roma Felix, quae duorum Principium Sit Trinitati sempiterna gloria, Honor,
Es consecrata gloriouso sanguine! potestas atque jubilatio,
Horum cruore purpurata ceteras Excellis In unitatae, quae gubernat omnia, Per
orbis una pulchritudines. universa saeculorum saecula. Amen

Opinions and views expressed in The Lisbonian are deemed to be those

of the contributors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Editors
or the Lisbonian Society.

The Arches – English College Lisbon

The Lisbonian magazine – January 2011 | 5

Annual General Meeting
Hinsley Hall, Leeds, 6-7 July 2010
Invited to the Feast away for some of the brethren but
Although the attendance at the no alternative meeting place came
meeting in July was, unlike the readily to mind. Although Hinsley
economy, slightly up on the Hall is very comfortable, readers
previous year, there was much are invited to suggest venues that
discussion about ways and means might be more easily accessible.
of getting more to come to the feast
which continues to be provided
by the munificence of CaTEW.
Strangely Luke 14: 15-24 was not
brought in evidence, though all
were urged to persuade at least one
other member to attend. For those
who don’t have any oxen to try
out, the dates to be noted are 5-6
July 2011 and the venue will again
be Hinsley Hall. It was suggested © 2010 Peter J Harrison – Lisbonian Society
President 2010 – Peter Chappell
that perhaps Leeds was too far
Peter Chappell – President
We met under the genial presidency
of Peter Chappell who had breezed
in from his exile in Gozo to sample
the delights of a British summer.
As usual, the Council met in secret
session for unde�ned purposes,
while oi polloi consumed quantities
of Hinsley Hall’s tea and coffee and
rather nice biscuits.

When is it a-Coming?
And what of the AGM itself?
Certainly there was discussion
about the possible appearance of
the definitive College History –
something akin to the expectation
of the Messiah. As in previous years,
© 2010 Peter J Harrison – Hinsley Hall

6 | The Lisbonian magazine – January 2011

by kind permission of CaTEW,
the Society was able to assist a
number of good causes: Santa Maria
Education Fund (Paraguay); Sisters
of Mercy in Lima; the work of Barry
O’Leary in Ecuador, the Knights of the
Holy Sepulchre Seminary at Beit Jala,
near Bethlehem (you can �nd more
details at info@lationseminary.org)
Reaching the Unreached (India), Fr
Casimir (Africa), and the Society of
St Peter Apostle; and the Society of
Saint Gregory to support the annual
James Crichton Memorial Lecture.
CaTEW also continues to fund
the production of The Lisbonian
magazine.

© 2010 Peter J Harrison – Frank Austin Jubilarian

© 2010 Peter J Harrison – Lisbonians 2010
2009 missed his photo last year!
Time Gentlemen Please!
Time �ew by, as it does on such
occasions, until someone reminded
the assembly that the bar was now
open, which served admirably to
concentrate minds. The movement
bar-wise reminded one of the
occasion when a student once
grandly informed the President
that he could not in conscience
take the wine that was provided in
the refectory because he had taken
the pledge (his background was
Irish) prior to con�rmation. The
decisive response, ‘Well, you are in
Portugal now’, quickly put paid to
any argument on that score!

Live forever, Alma Mater, be her

sons for ever blest…
The Lisbonian magazine – January 2011 | 7
Of Past Times
We might physically have been
in Lisbon but the atmosphere
had an unmistakeable echo of
the myriad cafés in the Baixa and
the suburbs (for those who �nd
this comment incomprehensible,
see the Interview with Michael
Williams elsewhere in this issue
– Ed). Conversation ranged
randomly from Salt Lakes to Pêra,
Alma Mater &
The Lisbonian Society
by Bill Dalton
Changing Times
The times they are a-changing;
and we change along with them.
Most obviously, hair grows grey
or disappears, teeth fall out; and
memory slips its clutch like a
Toyota for no apparent reason;
friends and College contemporaries
run out of time, one regularly
scans the obituary columns and
notes another name with only
mild surprise; one’s Christmas
card list becomes ever more and
8 | The Lisbonian magazine – January 2011
from Jim Sullivan to diocesan
reorganisation, interspersed with
spontaneous commentaries on
England’s lack of soccer success/
ability.
And so to table. The undoubted
highlight of the meal was the
Toast to Alma Mater and the
Lisbonian Society, introduced with
indefatigable wit by Bill Dalton,
and here reproduced in full.
more manageable. Still, it was
something of a shock to realise
that with the death of Ronnie
Aylward I was the last surviving
member of our class.
I regard it as completely natural
that a ruminant octogenarian’s
thoughts should turn to the Dodo.
As I presume is well known,
the Dodo, like Queen Anne, is
extremely dead – its epitaph
could rightly accommodate all the
epithets bestowed on a bird in the
famous parrot sketch. One should
be prepared to shed a passing
tear at the passing of the Dodo.
Apparently a native of Madagascar
and Mauritius, the Dodo had
enjoyed an Eden-like existence
– plenty of food available, no
predators to worry about. The
latter only appeared in the shape of
Sixteenth or Seventeenth century
Dutch or Iberian seafarers. One
can appreciate that, unlike the
modern cruise ship, their caravels
did not provide a varied and
sybaritic menu. The occasional
island stop-over would have been
a heaven-sent opportunity for a
different main course. According
to one theory, ‘Dodo’ derives from
the Portuguese or Spanish doudo
meaning ‘stupid’, presumably on
the grounds that the dodos, having
no previous knowledge of the
genus ‘predator’ failed to recognise
its bi-pedal species and happily
formed a welcoming party on the
beach, only to have their heads
clubbed and their necks wrung for
Dodo Bird – Raphus Cucullatus – now extinct
The Lisbonian magazine – January 2011 | 9
The meat however was as tough
as old boots’, rather ‘tough as old
dodos…!
their simplicity. Another theory
would have it that Dodo is from
a Dutch word meaning ‘hard’ or
‘tough’, on the supposition that its
�esh hardly rivalled �llet steak. On
which hypothesis one would have
expected to �nd within the pages
of Egon Ronay, instead of the
occasional judgement, ‘the meat
however was as tough as old boots’,
rather ‘tough as old dodos’! In this
etymological dispute I tend to side

In this etymological dispute I tend
to side with President Bill Clinton
in his robust and dismissive
appraisal – ‘It’s Portuguese,
stupid!’
with President Bill Clinton in his
robust and dismissive appraisal
– ‘It’s Portuguese, stupid!’
Although I have dwelt some
little time on the circumstances
surrounding its sad disappearance
from our planet, it is not the dead
Dodo that is my concern. Rather,
let us take a step back in time and
imagine what might have been the
psychology and perspectives of the
moribund Dodo. Like Sampson
bereft of his dreaded locks, or
Hannibal’s soldiers dissolute in
Capua, centuries of easy living had
led generations of dodos to ditch
their wing exercises. As �ightless
and as earthbound as humans
grounded by volcanic ash, dodos
would gather in sombre mood for
the dawn chorus, intoning sad
antiphons – ‘Oh for the wings,
the wings of a dove!’, and ‘Where
have all the dodos gone, long time
passing’, and ‘O my love is not
a sailor man!’ Did an occasional
individual of limited intelligence
and embryonic artistic bent
attempt to peck into a rock-face
a message for later researchers,
such as ‘The Do’s and Don’ts of
Dodoism, how not to receive
Strangers. Signed: ‘Dodo, a bird
10 | The Lisbonian magazine – January 2011
of passage!’ As their numbers
diminished, as they hunkered
down for the long night, did they
hanker for some Superdodo, who
would tell the annals of Dododum,
of its rise and fall, of the many and
varied vicissitudes through which
it had lived, of the individuals and
series of communities who had
fashioned and been fashioned by
its continued, if often precarious,
survival through the centuries?
Another species under threat
of extinction would have the
wherewithal to inscribe on the
boundary wall of their former
habitat ‘To the memory of hundreds
of men from another land who
sheltered here in exile, who grew
and learned and were shaped for
the service of others in their own
country!’ One day perhaps the
casual tourist, Michelin Guide in
hand, might pause nearby and
wonder why this alleyway was
named Travessa dos Inglesinhos.
Luckily, I – or much more likely
one of you – might happen by
and be able to explain the force of
the enclitic inho. And so, suitable
for Jane Austen’s time, one might
render it as ‘The passage of our
dear little Englishmen’. For these
more laddish times, we might turn
it to ‘Short cut for those good old
English blokes!’
To the question, ‘Are they still
here?’ the reply would come, ‘Ah
no, they were but birds of passage.
They have moved on as we all
must, my friend.’
It is alleged by some of the pious
ladies of the Rua da Rosa and
adjacent streets that sometimes,
on a still night, if one walks by the
old College walls you will catch
the sound of a male voice choir,
soft but still discernible: it is the
assembly-chant of the Inglesinhos
as they gather together – ‘Live
forever. Alma Mater, be her sons
forever blessed…’ It is a call not
All Together Now!
Una voce concinamus,
Una stirpe proditi
Matrem Fratres salutamus
Quamvis longe dissiti
Pulchram piam, acclamamus
Vi amoris �lii.
© 2010 Peter J Harrison – Lisbonian Society Dinner 2010 –Toasting Alma Mater
The Lisbonian magazine – January 2011 | 11
Live forever. Alma Mater, be
her sons forever blessed…
Gentlemen, I give you Lisbon
Alma Mater and the Lisbonian
Society!
to be gainsaid! And therefore,
gentlemen, I give you Lisbon Alma
Mater and the Lisbonian Society!
Una �de sociati,
Una spe con�dimus –
Filiorum pietati
Debitis honoribus,
Matri et Fraternitati,
Crescat laus ex omnibus.
 Interview
with Michael Williams
Q. Where did you do your studies for
the priesthood?
A. I was sent by my uncle to
Stonyhurst where I studied
Philosophy and Theology for
five years, mostly under Jesuit
professors.
Q. Your uncle?
A. Nepotism! Thomas Williams,
Archbishop of Birmingham. When
the war ended I went to Rome
to complete my studies but then
suggested that I might as well stay
on and study for my doctorate.
So I was four years in Rome. My
uncle had died in 1946 and when
I returned to England Archbishop
Masterson put me into Saltley, a
Birmingham town parish, where
I remained for three years, until
(chuckle) I was head-hunted.
Q. Headhunted? That sounds rather
dramatic.
A. George Dwyer wanted someone
for the Catholic Missionary Society,
but there was someone else, a Jim
The Booth Line ticket was for the
whole journey to Lisbon… but we
were told that we would have to
continue our journey by train. So
we took the tram into Porto and
found the train for Lisbon….
12 | The Lisbonian magazine – January 2011
Sullivan, President of the English
College Lisbon.
Q. Dif�cult decision!
A. Well, I had known something
of Spain and the opportunity to
see something of a similar country
was attractive, so Lisbon won.
Q. You knew about the College?
A. Oh, yes, of course, but I didn’t
know anyone from Lisbon. I went
out on the SS Hilary, the Booth
Line ship, with Benny Ruscillo
and three new boys, like myself:
Jack McLeish, Peter Ryder and
Leon Morris.
Q. Leon Morris! That must have been
interesting!
A. (Chuckle) Yes, quite! There was
another fellow passenger. Father
Paul, from Corpo Santo.
Q. He wrote, he told us, very good
books about Fatima.
A. That’s the one. Anyway, we came
ashore at Leixões. The Booth Line
ticket was for the whole journey
to Lisbon. I can’t remember the
details but we were told that
we would have to continue our
journey by train. So we took the
tram into Porto and found the
train for Lisbon. We arrived at
Rossio in the middle of the night
and were met by Jim Byrne and
Guazzelli. They took us to a bar
for beer and a prego. Hang on, I
thought, it’s Friday. We shouldn’t
be eating meat. I didn’t know then
about the Bulla.
Q. The Bulla?
A. You know, the dispensation
granted to Spain and Portugal for
services to the Church. Driving out
the Moors! So eventually we got to
the college. And then there were
the ‘Waiting Days’.
Q. They were an interesting survival,
weren’t they, of the time when an
individual turning up at the college
had to be vetted before being admitted,
in case he was a government spy.
© 2009 Peter J Harrison – Mick Williams in conversation
The Lisbonian magazine – January 2011 | 13
A. Could be.
Q. And how did you settle into life in
the Bairro Alto?
A. It was quite different to anything
I had expected. The language,
for example. As I said, I knew
some Spanish and I didn’t think
Portuguese would be all that
different. I soon learned! And the
culture. You remember José, the
Profs’ servant. I had some pictures,
nothing special, tourist posters,
that sort of thing. I asked him to
put them up in my room. And he
did, upside down. That struck me
quite forcibly. He had no visual
concept.
 A. Not really. With the Nuncio,
I found the regime quite yes. Panico was quite keen to
restrictive, but then it wasn’t very visit the College, I think he was
quite keen to get away from the
much different anywhere else. I Portuguese clergy. And there was
got the impression that, on the Corpo Santo, of course, we had
whole, students enjoyed life… quite a lot of social contact with
them.
Q. He had come down from the North Q. And with the lay community?
to escape being cursed by a witch. A. Oh yes, the Stilwells, the O’Neills
A. I didn’t know that. Quite – on the Hilary I had met two of
possible. the O’Neills, brother and sister.
Q. Were you appointed Vice President And there were others.
on your arrival? Q. As Vice-President, you were
A. Oh, no! Jim didn’t appoint me responsible for discipline in the
until the following year, the year College.
Gerry Collins and Mike Horrax A. Yes. I found the regime quite
were ordained. And Colin Doyle. restrictive, but then it wasn’t very
I had known him at Cotton but much different anywhere else. I
he hadn’t been a candidate for the got the impression that, on the
priesthood at that time. That came whole, students enjoyed life.
after the war.
Q. I get the impression that the
hierarchy weren’t all that enthusiastic
about Lisbon.
A. I think that’s right. Grif�n was
a supporter. I knew him from
Birmingham (Bernard Grif�n was
ordained in 1924 after studies at
Oscott and Rome. He had been
Secretary to John McIntyre and had
been ordained auxiliary bishop of
Birmingham in 1943 and became
Archbishop of Westminster in
1943). Heenan was a supporter,
too. Some of the other bishops
weren’t interested.
Q. Did you, the profs that is,
have much contact with the local
hierarchy? Inglesinhos’ Transport!

14 | The Lisbonian magazine – January 2011

Q. ‘Café life is still the best!’
A. Of course we knew that students
went into bars and cafés. It had
been the same in Rome. We weren’t
supposed to go into bars but everyone
did. In Lisbon, we just tried to make
sure we didn’t go into the same bars
as the students! One of the great
things about Lisbon was that we were
a thousand miles from Rome and a
thousand miles from England.
Q. Students sometimes decided to
leave of their own accord, or they were
asked to leave. How were decisions like
that made?
A. It was very much a collective
decision. Jim had a voice but it was
the council decision in the end, as I
remember it.
Café life is still the best!’ Pasteis de Nata beyond reach!
The Lisbonian magazine – January 2011 | 15
Of course we knew that students
went into bars and cafés. It had
been the same in Rome. In Lisbon,
we just tried to make sure we
didn’t go into the same bars as
the students!
Q. And the political situation in
Portugal?
A. It didn’t affect us really.
Q. The College had always held
itself aloof from what was going on
politically. The College magazine
diary had comments such as ‘machine
gun fire in the street, lectures as
normal.’

The truth was wider than Hervé,
but I suppose Hervé provided
a framework, a guide to the
direction we were supposed to be
going in…
A. (Laugh) That’s right. We didn’t
think of the regime as seriously
oppressive. Salazar had rescued
the country from chaos, and the
Church at that time regarded the
right-wing politics of Italy, Spain
and Portugal quite benignly. The
Church was authoritarian.
Q. You lectured from Hervé but from
time to time you threw away the book
and gave us an inspired lecture.
A. Yes, well, the truth was wider
than Hervé, but I suppose Hervé
provided a framework, a guide to
the direction we were supposed to
be going in. (Hesitation…) That’s
the problem with change. What
being a Christian means. The
introduction of the vernacular, for
example. It was no longer enough
to just go along… You have to
think about the meaning, how it
affects you as an individual.
The Second Vatican Council had
a big influence on Jim Sullivan…
He was very positive in his
response to what was coming out
of the Council, quite liberal, very
ready to entertain other views…
16 | The Lisbonian magazine – January 2011
Q. Were the staff ever vetted by Rome,
about the curriculum, standards of
teaching?
A. (Vigorous shake of the head)
No! Never!
Q. As a student, I found Jim very
remote, with very little interaction
with us at an individual level,
apart from the compulsory annual
Christmas whist-drive. How did you
�nd him as a colleague?
A. The Second Vatican Council
had a big influence on him. I
remember, in the President’s
sitting room, tuning in to the
latest radio announcements. He
was very positive in his response
to what was coming out of the
Council, quite liberal, very ready
to entertain other views.
Q. You left Lisbon in 1966
A. Or was it 1967?
Q. What motivated you?
A. There were changes consequent
on Vatican II. Wider horizons.
Charles Davies… I felt that I was
perhaps too cosy in Lisbon, I was
enjoying myself, with a pleasant
life, agreeable surroundings. I
didn’t think that the Council was
going to change much in Portugal.
It was time to be going back to
England.
Thank you Michael.
Letters to the Editor
From Mike Horrax
Many thanks for the copy of
The Lisbonian. The presentation
seems to get progressively
better. Congratulations to all
concerned!
Sincerely, Mike
83, Coningsby House
Sandygate Grove
Shef�eld S10 5TG
From Philip Gummett
Many thanks for the latest edition
of The Lisbonian. It arrived whilst
I was in hospital, and I can assure
you it cheered me up no end! I
was especially interested in three
of the articles… ’Pat Cross’ by his
daughter; ‘The College Organ’
and ‘Ronald Aylward’. Pat Cross
and I were from the same diocese
and sailed from Tilbury on the
‘Highland Princess’ (Pat came
from East Ham, whilst I lived in
Becontree). We had both had to
‘endure’ a grilling from Bishop
Doubleday (ordained Bishop of
Brentwood 1920) and his Chapter
of Canons. It was quite nerve
wracking especially for two 14
year-old boys! However we were
accepted as candidates and sent
off to Lisbon in the care of Pat
(Charlie) Hannon later to be
ordained in Luz (I think) on the
Octave Day of the Feast of the
Sacred Heart. He celebrated his
�rst Mass at sea, en route back to
England. Cornelius Murphy was
The Lisbonian magazine – January 2011 | 17
also in the party. Unfortunately
Pat was rather late in booking our
berths so that we ended up being
allocated cabins in the Steerage
section of the ship – at the stern
and over the main engines! Pat
always was a bit of a ‘dare-devil’,
and we enjoyed each other’s
company out in Lisbon, in Luz,
in the Quinta and out walking
in the countryside. I lost touch
with Pat when I returned home
in 1943 to join the Royal Navy,
but I met up again with him
when he was at ‘Simmaries’ – now
Saint Mary’s University College
Twickenham – studying for his
Teaching Certificate. We kept
in touch through the Lisbonian
Society, especially with the help
of ‘Taffy’ Gwilliams, and Victor
Guazzelli.
C a t h e r i n e G i b s o n ’s ‘ A n
Appreciation’ brought back many
happy memories. I think, that
although Bill Dalton claims to be
the ‘last surviving member of his
class’, I was already out in Lisbon
when Bill and Ronnie Aylward
arrived! If my memory serves me
well, I was one of the Waiters
assigned to look after Ronnie
Aylward and later, Bill Dalton?
Perhaps Bill can remember that
far back? We were all in Lower
House together in ‘Grammar’
before proceeding upwards into
‘Syntax’. I have so many happy
memories of my life in Lisbon,
both in the Lower House and
then struggling through two years
of Philosophy, before deciding
(with the help of our Confessor,
Fr Enda) that I should come home
and have a good think about my
vocation. I did and after much
prayer and thought I decided that
my vocation was to serve the Lord
as a layman, although later I had
the opportunity of being ordained
a Deacon, for which I am truly
thankful. And now here I am, a
Widower, living on my own, here
in South Wales, with 10 children,
23 grandchildren and 16 great
grand children, so far!
The article on the College organ
reminded me of the many times I
had to pump the bellows so that
our organist could practise, and on
the several occasions when Albino,
who normally pumped the organ
during Mass or whatever, would
fall asleep and so the organ would
stop playing! Happy memories.
‘Live forever Alma Mater, be her sons
for ever blest.’ Indeed!
With my fraternal love. Yours in
the Lord.
Philip
11 Glynmarch Street,
Deri, Bargoed CF81 9HZ
papagumme@aol.com
From Peter Chappell
I enjoyed the meeting but it passed
so quickly. I also spent time with
friends in Hull and Filey; good
weather for both weeks. It was
good to see the green �elds and
18 | The Lisbonian magazine – January 2011
rolling hills again (also enjoyed
the fish and chips!). Naturally,
our days here are spent with blue
skies and hot sunshine. I really
feel settled out here now and am
enjoying life: satis�ed to be saying
Mass for the English communities.
Always nostalgic to see the lads
and reminisce. Happy memories!
Blessings, Chappie
peterfrancischappell@hotmail.com
From Barry O’Leary
I wish to express my gratitude
to the brothers for their kind
donation last year towards a project
on the Ecuadorian missions. I am
working on developing a project
for people who are mentally
challenged. Phase One has already
been built and now I am moving
on to Phase Two which consists of
a permanent home for abandoned
mentally challenged people. If
anyone would like to come and
see for themselves the work that
is being done they would be very
welcome and I would be pleased to
look after them during their stay.
Barry O Leary
Casa Parroquial
Puerto Quito
Nor-occident
Pichincha Ecuador
Letters
T he Lisbonian welcomes
your letters and e-mails.
Correspondence should be
addressed to the Editor at the
address on page 2.
 The Royal English College
of St Alban Valladolid
First Impressions Spanish. They were prepared for
this ordeal by being lodged with
The �rst thing that strikes one on
Spanish families for six weeks for
opening a copy of the Vallisoletan,
a crash course in the language.
the journal of the Royal English
Fortunately written work was
College of St Alban, is the glossy
examined more for its content than
professionalism of the production,
its syntax and grammar! Perhaps,
which re�ects the inherited wealth
too, the Spanish contribution is
of an establishment founded
not so surprising when one takes
in 1589. Unlike Lisbon, which
into account the degree to which
notoriously staggered from one
the college is integrated in the
�nancial crisis to another in the
civic and cultural life of the city.
course of its three hundred year
The highlight of the year must
existence, Valladolid has long been
be the ceremonies of La Semana
the beneficiary of legacies and
Santa, with the college taking an
donations from Spanish Royalty
active part in the processions of
and aristocracy, with property
the Cofradias, the confraternities
holdings throughout Castille.
The second noticeable thing is
the amount of Spanish in the
magazine: an article on La Virgen
de Los Ingleses also known as La
Vulnerata (a statue of the Virgin
and Child desecrated by drunken
English troops in the taking of
Cadiz and now honoured in the
College Chapel), another about
Los ‘Obispos’ del Colegio de Ingleses
de Valladolid – about the seven
students of the college who became
bishops. One has to remember that
students of the College formerly
attended the Augustinian faculty
of the Pontifical University of
Comillas for all their lectures
and were required to write their
assignments and examinations in La Virgen de Los Ingleses – Valladolid Spain

The Lisbonian magazine – January 2011 | 19


In 1589… Englishmen in Spain
were treated with great hostility,
the luckless students were
imprisoned on suspicion of being
spies…
of Penitentes, culminating in the
exuberant celebrations of Easter
Day.
First Students Arrive
As in the case of the Lisbon
College, albeit much earlier, the
�rst students to come to Valladolid
were from Douai. In 1589, only
a year after the debacle of the
Armada, when the presence of
Englishmen in Spain was treated
with great hostility, the luckless
students were imprisoned on
The Royal English College – Valladolid
20 | The Lisbonian magazine – January 2011
suspicion of being spies, and were
only released when the King, Philip
II (it seems that Philip’s personal
commitment to the foundation of
the new establishment was limited
to the extent of ‘100 Crowns’)
gave permission to Father Robert
Persons to appeal for funds in
Valladolid as he was busy ‘gathering
together such Englishmen as were
there and providing for them until
the weather and time and other
opportunities’ did serve for them to
continue their intended journey to
England.
‘Weather, time and other opportunities’
might well have been coded
references to greater ambitions.
Persons was a highly political
animal. He had entered Oxford in
1562 and had become a fellow and
tutor at Balliol College in 1568.
By 1574 his Catholic leanings, as
well as quarrels within the college,
had obliged him to resign and
leave the country. By 1575 he
was in Rome where he entered
the Jesuits. He had conspired with
France and Spain in favour of Mary
Stuart and his choice of Spain for
the establishment of seminaries
could well have been with a
view to creating a base for ‘shock
troops’ who would follow in the
wake of an invasion to ensure a
Catholic successor to the heretic
Elizabeth.
Philip II had, brie�y, been joint
monarch with Mary Tudor. On
her death he had contemplated
marriage with Mar y’s sister
Elizabeth and even after that
plan had come to nothing, and
despite hostile activity against his
possessions, he had attempted to
maintain cordial relations with
England until the �nal straw came
with the Treaty of Nonesuch which
provided support for Protestant
rebels against Philip’s rule in
the Netherlands. The attempt to
invade England in 1588 had come
to nothing but no doubt Philip,
who regarded himself as the Chief
Defender of Catholic Europe,
would be sympathetic to the
aspirations of young Englishmen
seeking to bring back their mother
country to the Catholic fold.
A Multitude of Dissolute Youths
The ruler of England certainly had
no doubts about their intentions.
A proclamation made by Elizabeth
in 1591 declared that:
The King of Spaine, for
furthering of other intentions
against England, has dealt
with Cardinal Allen and
Father Persons to gather
together with great labour
upon his charges a multitude
of dissolute youths to begin
this seminary of Valladolid
and others in Spaine…
The ‘multitude’ that so threatened
her realm was modest enough in
reality. In 1591, with the help of
funds from Spanish contributors
and provided by English exiles
in the Low Countries, Persons
was able to buy property and
The Lisbonian magazine – January 2011 | 21
open a chapel in Valladolid. The
following year Pope Clement
VIII gave formal approval to the
foundation. Further colleges were
opened: St Gregory’s in Seville in
1592 and St George’s in Madrid
in 1610. These latter two were
suppressed in 1767 with the
expulsion of the Jesuits when
their students joined those in
Valladolid and Dr Philip Perry
became the �rst secular priest of
the united colleges in 1768. The
Rector is still nominally appointed
by the King. Bureaucracy has never
moved swiftly: Bishop Challoner
had to appeal to Charles III and
received restitution for the lost
property on the grounds that
these did not belong to the Jesuits
but compensation for the Seville
building was not received until
1964 when it was used to build
a new wing that was opened by
Cardinal Heenan in 1969).
Despite the failure of the ‘Invincible
Rt Rev Richard Challoner ( Bishop of Derbra)
from an engraving published in 1781
 make reparation for the sacrilege,
Some rioting English solders the students and staff of the
broke into a church in the town College persuaded her to take the
statue to their chapel where it still
and desecrated a statue of the is displayed in the reredos and
Madonna and Child… venerated as La Vulnerata.
Armada’ the Spanish still had plans Regime Change
to attack England once more and
In former times students in
in 1596 were assembling a �eet
Valladolid, as in Lisbon, were only
at Cadiz when it was destroyed
able to return home after three
by a force led by the Earl of Essex
years. Latterly the regime changed
and Walter Raleigh. Some rioting
to the extent that home visits were
English solders broke into a church
made at Christmas and in Summer
in the town and desecrated a
every year. Similarly, clerical
statue of the Madonna and Child,
garb was abandoned in favour of
cutting off both arms of the Virgin
civvies. Now, with students only
and leaving only the feet of the
taken for a preliminary ‘taster’
Christ Child. The damaged statue
year before carrying on in other
was rescued by the wife of the
colleges in the UK or in Rome,
Governor of Castile and taken to
and with lectures being given
her chapel in Madrid. Wishing to

Royal English College – Valladolid – courtyard

22 | The Lisbonian magazine – January 2011

in-house, the need to be �uent
in Spanish is no longer urgent.
This so-called propaedutic year
is designed to give men, (there
are 29 currently in residence
aged between 18 and 50), some
introduction to systematic study
and catechesis and prayer, a
time of discernment leading to
a better understanding of what
priesthood is about. For many of
these men the experience of living
in community, with its regular
pattern of study, prayer and
mealtimes, must be a revelation.
Some drop out but the success of
the course may be measured by
the proportion of students who
continue to other seminaries.
The staff, mostly former students,
consisted of the Rector and
Vice Rector, a Theology Tutor
and Spiritual Director. There
were some lectures in-house, in
theology and liturgy. Thomas
Holland (later Bishop of Salford),
ordained in Valladolid in 1933
began to lecture there in dogmatic
theology in 1936 before moving
to Lisbon where he continued as
a member of staff until 1943 when
he became a Royal Navy Chaplain,
gaining the DSO for his activities
during the Normandy landings.
He was not the only link with
Lisbon: Matthew Aleworth arrived
from Valladolid in 1636; Joseph
Blacoe was destined by the Jesuits
to study in Valladolid but in 1694
when he arrived in Lisbon in poor
health:
The Lisbonian magazine – January 2011 | 23
A description of Lisbon’s Quinta
de Pêra in its heyday drew a
sharp intake of breath from at
least one Valladolidian!
‘Mr President Mathias Watkinson
charitably proposing to procure
a suf�cient alms among ye
Portuguese Gentry for his
maintainance admitted him into
ye house.’
Roll-Call of Martyrs
Thomas Blount survived six
months in Valladolid before being
sent back to England and then
on to Lisbon in 1635. Thomas
was to die in Shrewsbury jail
under sentence of death in 1647.
Lisbon had her confessors but
Valladolid’s roll-call of martyrs,
saints and blessed reads like a
dramatic sketch of Reformation
persecution: Ambrose Barlow,
John Lloyd, Thomas Garnett are
among the names that roll off the
tongue.
A Country Retreat
Like Lisbon, the Valladolid College
has a country house, though a
description of Lisbon’s Quinta de
Pêra in its heyday drew a sharp
intake of breath from at least one
Valladolidian! The country house, at
Viana, is now used mainly for retreats
and for visitors. Part of the estate was
compulsorily taken for construction
of the high-speed AVE line from
Madrid to Valladolid. Interestingly,
as Spanish rail track was constructed
on a 5ft 6inches gauge (almost
identical to the Portuguese gauge)
rather than the standard European
gauge of 4ft 8.5 inches, the high
speed trains that go from Valladolid
to serve Hendaye and other places in
the north are �tted with adjustable
axles.
overnight in the Château Impney
near Droitwich, and visits to
Valladolid appear to be frequent.
And, importantly, the Association
– not all of whose members are
ordained – has a future. It has been
agreed that anyone completing the
Propaedutic Year may become a
member in the year that his cohort
comes to ordination, regardless of
whether or not he is ordained.

College Association
The Association is strong and
active. In June forty stayed

Good Causes
Every year, at the Meeting, the brethren are given the opportunity to
designate a number of causes which they would like to see benefiting
from the resources of the Lisbon Fund administered by CaTEW. It is
good to be able to record the responses of some of the recipients.

Santa Maria Education Fund crucial support for the poorest,

(Paraguay)
To Tony Flynn:
I am writing to you, on behalf of
Margaret Hebblethwaite and all
those who work for and bene�t
from the Santa Maria Education
Fund, to thank you for the recent
and very generous donation of
£500 from the Lisbonian Society,
which you have managed to secure
for us. We are very grateful for your
support, particularly in these times
of �nancial stress for so many. The
Fund is making a real difference in
Santa Maria (Paraguay), and none
of it would be possible without
your help. You can be sure that
the donation is being used as
ef�ciently as possible to provide
brightest, most hard-working
students, to help them achieve the
potential so desperately needed in
Paraguay.
Kate Brown, Trustee
[ED You can get more information about
the Santa Maria Education Fund by
logging in to: info@santamariadefe.
org]
A Project for Mentally
Challenged People in Ecuador
For some years the Lisbonian
Society has contributed to the
work of Barry O’Leary. He writes:
According to a national survey
carried out in 2004, 12.14% of
the population of Ecuador suffer
from some type of handicap.

24 | The Lisbonian magazine – January 2011

The proposed project focuses
attention on three rural boroughs
situated on the coastal region at
the foothills of the Andes some
three hours travel north west of
Quito. Between them they have a
population of 36,664 and where
the project is to be established
there are 4,451 persons requiring
attention. At present there are no
service facilities in the area and
only those who can afford the
costs of travel and accommodation
are able to �nd provision in the
city of Quito.
We have conducted a sample
survey of disabled people which
confirms the need for services
to help people with mental
handicap, cerebral palsy, Downs
Syndrome, hearing deficiency,
visual de�ciency and other, mainly
physical, handicaps.
Between 1992-2005 I was director
for social and community services
in the diocese of Santo Domingo
de Los Colorades before assuming
the leadership of the Society of
St James the Apostle in Boston,
One of the projects which was set
up by the Fundacion Accion Social
Caritas in 1997 was a centre for
mentally challenged children and
I continue to maintain contact
with the foundation and hold a
position on the board of directors.
The project continues to function
and since 2007 has attracted
financial support from central
government. In 2009 I and the
current director and assistant
The Lisbonian magazine – January 2011 | 25
director of Fundacion Accion Social
Caritas were approached by the
government to set up services for
mentally and physically challenged
people in the rural region of
Noroccidente de Pinchincha.
The general objective is, through
the co-ordination of family,
community and social services,
to contribute to and promote the
quality of life of challenged people
so as to strengthen their sense
of autonomy and independence
and thus enable them to actively
participate in society.
We aim to develop a planned
programme for each individual,
consisting of therapy, life skills,
occupational skills and social
skills, involving their active
participation in recreation and
sporting activities. Where a person
is abandoned due to lack of
family support and maintenance,
provision will be made through
a community project modelled
on that of L’Arche. Under my
direction a new foundation, called
Los Amigos de L’Arche is currently
being set up and the members
will include parents, a mentally
challenged young man, two local
priests as well as community
leaders.
Reaching the Unreached
Put forward for a grant by Tony Flynn,
Reaching the Unreached is a project, led
by Brother James Kimpton fsc, to assist
deprived people in Tamil Nadu, South
India. As well as providing housing and
education, 48 remote villages have
been given secure water supplies by
the drilling of bore-holes (some going
down as far as 300 feet). Isobel Bodger,
Administration Assistant of RTU, writes:
‘Thank you very much for the
wonderful gift received today from
the Lisbonian Society. Brother
James has recently celebrated
his 85th birthday, with dancing
and drama from the children
– just what he loves! He was also
pleased that once again all the
16-year olds had passed their
government exams; and the 18-
year old girls had also got good
results, with only a few needing
to re-sit a subject. On a sadder
note, a girl and boy, aged 8 and 6,
had been admitted to one of the
children’s villages. Their mother
had committed suicide; the father
Reaching the Unreached – Drilling for water
26 | The Lisbonian magazine – January 2011
had remarried but his new wife
and her family wanted nothing
to do with these children – what
a tragic experience; but they will
be cared for and loved at Reaching
the Unreached.’
SISTER HEDWIG
Peter Codd’s contact with Sr Hedwig
springs from the link Portsmouth Diocese
has with a Diocese in Cameroon, West
Africa, namely Bamenda Diocese (where
he spent six years as a Fidei Donum priest).
When the link began in 1974, Bamenda
Diocese included the region where Sr
Hedwig is working, but that region has
since become the Diocese of Kumbo.
Hedwig has been heavily involved
in prisoner welfare and has visited
Bamenda and Kumbo prisons
regularly. Hedwig writes to express
her thanks for the continued
Sister Hedwig – and clients from the prison farm

support offered by the Society: it was nice to see them ready to

‘I am very well and busy with my
work. I have been out in 8 villages
teaching those living with HIV/
AIDS how to cook balanced food
for themselves and their children,
learn. Father I wish to thank you
for your prayers and support. May
God give you all you need for body
and soul. Please give my regards to
those who supported you.’

A Fado to Savour
In the July 2010 edition readers were invited to attempt the
t r a n s l a t i o n o f a f a d o . H e r e i s A n t h o n y H o g a r t h ’s o f f e r i n g .
There are as many words in the fado as to make it a language in itself, words of
the sur�ng wave, twisting and turning on the sea, or the twinkling star hovering
over the lost rooftops of a town I have always loved.
Those hushed words I sing in the fado speak of lost dreams, promises, journeys
of times past… and of fate.
Whichever way I look at it, in truth the fado is to me a story book, a painted
masterpiece, sun set over a lost roof of a town I love, the words of the fado as
everyday language: breath, love and beautiful light.

The Lisbonian magazine – January 2011 | 27

 Reflections
Looking Back on the Papal Visit 2010
‘I tell you, I am very proud of
the English people!’ The speaker
was an elderly Italian lady and
she was talking about the visit of
the Pope. She is an avid watcher,
via satellite, of Rai Uno, the main
Italian TV channel, and follows
all the reportage regarding the
Holy Father, whose Italian she
says is ‘perfect, with just a little
word now and again, maybe.’
Aged 85 herself, she admires
Benedict’s stamina and thinks his
smile is ‘lovely’. She dismissed
the protest groups as insigni�cant
and thought everyone else was
great, ‘so happy to see the Pope’,
with one exception: the Queen,
‘She looked so miserable, why
couldn’t she smile like he did?
She only laughs when she is with
the horses.’ There didn’t seem
much point in suggesting that Her
Majesty’s features in repose are not
the most animated. But she was
right about the Papal visit. I’m not
a great one for Papal protocols and
Vatican diktats but my reservations
melted with the evident warmth
I watched his reactions to the
service in Westminster Abbey,
could almost see him thinking,
‘So, THIS is what the Anglicans are
like…’
28 | The Lisbonian magazine – January 2011
the Pope exhibited during what
must have been an exhausting
four days. I’m quite a bit off his age
but I‘m not sure I would have had
the stamina to keep up the round
he was subjected to. I think he
might have learned a thing or two
as well. I watched his reactions to
the service in Westminster Abbey,
could almost see him thinking,
‘So, THIS is what the Anglicans are
like!’ A parishioner commented on
how good it was to see Anglican
and Catholic bishops sitting side
by side, and the Pope imparting
a blessing in company with a
married man who is officially
regarded by our Church as a
dressed-up lay person.
I’m not convinced about some
of the things Pope Benedict is
promoting: the encouragement,
for example, of Anglo-Catholics
to form what looks likely to be
a separatist wing of the Catholic
Church in England, soul-mate
with the Tridentines and the Pius
X movement in all but language.
I wasn’t happy to see him giving
Communion on the tongue, a
practice that I grew up with but
now find abhorrent. But I can
sympathise with him celebrating
the Eucharistic Prayer in Latin:
he says himself that he is not at
ease in English (though he did
brilliantly in his speeches during
the visit) and the Latin would
come more easily to him.
But now he’s gone back to Rome,
what happens next? I remember
conducting a �ve-day residential
retreat for teenagers, a time of
heightened emotions, animated
discussion and argument,
Masses celebrated with intense
concentration. ‘That’s it, now,
‘I said to them as they climbed
into their coach amidst tearful
farewells, ‘you’ve got to go back to
your parishes and bring something
of this into ordinary life.’ I can’t
The Last King of Portugal
Manoel II
The New King
Afterwards known as O Patriota,
O Desventurado, or O Rei Saudade,
depending on one’s political
viewpoint, Manoel Maria Filippe
Carlos Amélio Luís Miguel Rafael
Gabriel Gonzaga Francisco de Assis
Eugénio de Bragança Orleães Sabóia
e Saxe-Coburgo-Gotha – to give him
his full designation – the third
child of Dom Carlos I and Amélie
of Orleans (the second child,
Maria Ana, died shortly after birth)
and originally destined for a career
in the Navy, Manoel became King
of Portugal on 1 February 1908
on the assassination of his father
Carlos and his elder brother Prince
Luís Filipe in Black Horse Square
– Praça do Commércio.
The Lisbonian magazine – January 2011 | 29
say now how well they succeeded.
By the time you read this, the
Papal Visit will be four months
into history: ask yourself, what has
been the outcome?
Contributions to Ref lections are
invited, on condition of strict
anonymity, from any member of
the Society. The subject is entirely
at the choice of the contributor and
should be of approximately 500
words in length. The views of the
contributor do not necessarily
re�ect the editorial policy of The
Lisbonian. Ed
Assassination in the Square
Accompanied by his uncle, the
Infante Afonso, Duke of Porto,
he had been waiting to greet his
father, mother and elder brother
on their return form a few weeks’
stay in Villa Viçosa. When the
royal party disembarked at Cais
de Sodré from the ferry that had
brought them across the Tagus, he
and the Duke joined their carriage.
Two assassins – Alfredo Costa and
Manuel Buiça – the latter carrying
a ri�e under his coat, burst from
the crowd and sprayed the royal
carriage with bullets. Dom Carlos
died immediately, The twenty-
year old Prince Luís Filipe was
mortally wounded and the young
Dom Manoel took a bullet in the
arm. The Queen was unhurt. A
few days later, aged nineteen, the
prince was publicly declared King
of Portugal as Manoel II.
Late King’s Obsequies
The College magazine – T he
Lisbonian recorded the deaths with
an effusive eulogy of Carlos and his
son. Luís Filipe in particular was
described as ‘noble by birth, he
was nobler still by education. His
Mother had trained him in every
Catholic and manly principle.’ Mgr
Brindle, Bishop of Nottingham and
a distinguished former student of
the College, celebrated Requiem
Mass for the deceased at St James,
Spanish Place, in the presence of
the King and Queen and the Prince
and Princess of Wales. He later
celebrated another Requiem at St
Patrick’s Soho, at which Lisbonians
assisted.
King Dom Manoel II of Portugal
30 | The Lisbonian magazine – January 2011
Revolution and Flight
Manoel reign was to last little
more than two years: on the night
of 3 October 1910 the royal palace
of Necessitadades was bombarded
by the guns of two cruisers under
the command of Admiral Reis
and on the following day, after
the palace had been besieged
and street fighting had broken
out in the city, Manoel left Lisbon
for Mafra where he was to spend
his last night in Portugal. On
the 5 October, together with his
mother and grandmother, he
travelled to Ericeira. The party
was rowed out to the Royal Yacht
(ironically the vessel was by this
time Government property having
been sold to the State in an attempt
to balance the Royal books). The
north was considered to be still
loyal to the monarchy but it was
too dangerous to sail to Oporto and
instead the ship turned south to
Gibraltar. King Edward VII made
his own Royal Yacht available
to the exiled monarch who was
to find a permanent home in
England.
Royal Marriage
There had been talk of Manoel
marrying into the British Royal
Family – an engagement to the
Princess Patricia, daughter of the
Duke of Connaught was rumoured
and later, during his State Visit to
Britain in 1909 Princess Alexandra,
daughter of the Duke of Fife was
thought to be a likely candidate.
Royal Marriage – Manoel and Augusta Viktoria, Princess of Hoensollern – September 1913
In the event, Manoel went into
exile a bachelor but in April
1913 he became engaged to
Augusta Viktoria, Princess of
Hoensollern who, in the familiar
way of European royals, was a
second cousin. The marriage
was celebrated in September of
the year with much pomp and
ceremony and conducted by the
exiled Patriarch of Lisbon. It was
unfortunate for both of them that
Manoel had, on the way back
from his visit to Britain in 1909,
stopped off in Paris where he
had become enamoured of Gaby
Deslys, a royal trophy whom he
brought back home with him
and settled her in the palace
at Bussaco. It was not only her
The Lisbonian magazine – January 2011 | 31
charms that she had brought with
her to Portugal: in June 1910 the
king was diagnosed as suffering
from syphilis. Whether it was this
disease that was the reality behind
her alleged kidney infection that
cut short their honeymoon in
the Black Forest is not recorded.
Whatever the reality, the marriage
was to remain childless.
Church and State Separate
One consequence of the revolution
was the introduction, the following
year, of the Law of Separation of
Church and State and a savage
assault on long-accepted religious
liberties and privileges. The College
was inevitably affected. Such were

A savage assault on long-
accepted religious liberties
and privileges. The College was
inevitably affected. Such were the
restrictions that would have been
imposed by the Law that closure
seemed the only option if it were
to be implemented…
the restrictions that would have
been imposed by the Law that
closure seemed the only option
if it were to be implemented. The
wearing of clerical dress in public
was prohibited and, as regards
seminaries, the entire academic
course was under government
control, down to the choice of
text-books. Thanks to the efforts
of of�cials of the British Legation
and Consulate, together with
representatives of the German
French and Italian diplomatic
missions, not only the College
but Corpo Santo and Bom Sucesso
(Ireland at this time being part of
the United Kingdom), as well as
the Protestant communities, were
exempted from the restrictions.
Back in England
The ex-royals settled at Fulwell Park
in comfortable exile, furnished by
kind permission of the Republican
Government with property from
the royal palaces. Manoel was also
awarded a monthly allowance of
a thousand guineas. The couple
32 | The Lisbonian magazine – January 2011
became regular worshippers at St
James’ church in Pope’s Grove,
donated silverware for use at the
altar, silver communion cruets, a
ciborium and a silver baptismal
shell, as well as stained glass
windows to commemorate the
700th anniversary of St Anthony
of Lisbon – Santo António de Lisboa,
rogas por nós.
After Manoel’s death his widow
also donated the organ from
Fulwell Park. The house was
demolished in 1934 and a housing
estate built on the site but the road
names preserve the memory of
the royal couple and their sojourn
in Twickenham: Manoel Road,
Augusta Road, Lisbon Avenue,
Portugal Gardens.
Attempts at Restoration
Perhaps Manoel was resigned to
his comfortable exile, welcome
among the British royalty – he
was a Knight of the Order of the
Garter and faithfully attended
the annual service in St George’s
Chapel in Windsor – but there were
attempts among the Portuguese
Royalists to restore him to the
throne. The north was always,
and possibly still is, the centre of
resistance to republicanism.
Royalists had also established
a base in Galicia and it was
from there that the half-English
Henrique Armstrong Mitchell de
Paive Couçeiro led an incursion
into Portugal, bearing the
Braganza blue and white �ag, but
without the Royal crown in an
attempt to denote the neutrality
of political ambitions. The
attempt was doomed to failure
from the �rst despite the decision
of the Republican War Minister to
withdraw troops from the frontier
after the armaments that had been
gathered in Galicia were seized by
the Spanish authorities.
On the �rst anniversary of the
revolution, the �ag was hoisted
over the small town of Vinhais
but in the face of the Republican
proclamation against anyone who
might be tempted to collaborate,
Couçeiro decided to retreat to
rearm and re-organise in Galicia.
A second incursion was launched
in July 1912. Several towns in the
Minho declared for the Crown;
Couçerio appeared in front of the
town of Montalegre, causing such
panic among the Republicans
that their troops withdrew from
Chaves. Vila Verde da Raia was
taken. But success was short lived.
Republican civilians in Chaves
beat off the ill-organised attack
columns. Five and a half thousand
troops were mobilised and the
invasions were put down with
considerable loss of life; many
were wounded and captured but
Couçeiro managed to make good
his escape back into Spain.
Whose Head on the Coin?
Politics, at high level, only
marginally touch the mass of the
population: it is in the every-day
The Lisbonian magazine – January 2011 | 33
Royal Standard of Braganza
activities that impressions have to
be made on the man-in-the-street.
From time immemorial coinage has
been used to convey the message
and so it was that the new Republic
wasted little time in issuing a new
currency. Réis, the old fractions
of the Escudo were replaced with
Centavos, ten Réis becoming one
Centavo, and ten Centavos being
the equivalent of the old Testão.
The royal portrait was replaced by
the head of ‘Republica’. So went
the legislation, although as late as
the sixties in the back streets of the
Bairro Alto ‘Milréis’ were still alive
and well and urchins still begged
for ‘Testões para São António!’
At the same time new postage
stamps, allegedly in imitation of
the French, were introduced.
Republican In�ghting
Civil disturbance and military
revolution was not con�ned to
Royalist attempts. The Republicans,
having taken over the government
of the country proceeded to �ght
among themselves. The Lisbonian
magazine of June 1915 refers to
one such on 15 May, being careful

After breakfast, as students were
walking in the garden they could
hear shells whistling overhead as
the ships in the river fired…
to point out that this was not a
Monarchist versus Republican
affair but between two republican
factions. It seems to have been
led by elements of the navy,
the uprising being signalled by
warships in the Tagus opening �re
at three o’clock in the morning.
College Vantage Point
Typically, the Inglesinhos thought
that this was just the beginning
of yet another ‘Festa day’. After
breakfast, as students were walking
in the garden they could hear shells
whistling overhead as the ships in
the river �red on the Artilharia
Barracks near the Penitencaria. The
library was thought to be a better
vantage point to see the cruiser
Couracado – Vasco da Gama
34 | The Lisbonian magazine – January 2011
Vasco da Gama in action, though
the brave souls did take cover
under desks when the guns were
�red. At �rst the general opinion
was that this was another Royalist
attempt to take power but the �ags
that could be seen on the ships
were Republican, not the blue
and white of the Royalists. There
was �ghting throughout the city
while the Vasco da Gama and other
navy vessels ranged up and down,
selecting targets for their guns. The
Lisbonian records that:
‘No one in the College seemed to
take the revolution seriously.
Classes went on as usual,
sleeping hour as usual. Even
the usual evening game went
on in the yard, despite the
chance of a stray shot �nding
its way into the premises.’
It was all over by the evening of
the next day, 15 May.
Continued Unrest
The peace proved to be fragile.
The evening of 5 December 1917
saw the commencement of three
days of a far more violent and
murderous revolution. Lisbon was
thrown into chaos and confusion:
no one seems to have had any
clear idea of who the opposing
parties were and the uproar was
further fuelled by the grievances
of the city’s poor who took the
opportunity to loot shops and
stores for foodstuffs – wine and
olive oil were said to be running
in the gutters – and clothing.
Calm College Routine
As usual on such occasions,
College life continued its habitual
rhythm. Rosary and Spiritual
Reading, as well as reading during
supper were punctuated by loud
explosions which seemed to be
taking place immediately over the
College. The boom of guns and
the crackle of ri�e �re continued
all night: ‘There was no question
of sleep; Morpheus had forsaken
the City.’ Despite skirmishes
in the Bairro the students and
staff maintained their sangfroid:
shrapnel damaged windows, food
supplies were disrupted and on the
7 December there was only stale
bread and potatoes to be had. By
the following day the Government
capitulated. Sidónio Pais, an army
major, assumed the Presidency,
as well as the offices of Prime
Minister and Minister for War.
The Lisbonian magazine – January 2011 | 35
The Lisbonian reported that:
‘One result of the revolution
has been to make the people
happier; they all feel that
they can speak freely now,
and above all, food seems to
be more plentiful. Everything
now seems to point to a
period of success for Portugal.
Let us hope that it will be
realised.’
Political Unrest
The hope was not to be. In 1918
there was a General Election, the
Monarchist party gaining 39 seats
to the Republicans’ 106; there was
a left-wing revolt and Pais was
assassinated. Couçeiro took the
opportunity occasioned by the
chaotic state of the country to launch
yet another attack, proclaiming the
restoration of the Monarchy in
Oporto on 19 January 1919. When
the War Minister came to Oporto
to try to rally the garrison he was
arrested. A provisional government
was established throughout the
north as far as Viseu. Further south,
Monarchists brie�y succeeded in
occupying the fort at Monsanto but
were quickly overcome. With the
arrival of reinforcements in the
north the Republic was restored
and drastic action was taken against
all who had participated in the
attempted uprising.
The King’s Part
Manoel’s part in these uprisings
is rather obscure. He had urged

Republicans looked forward to
a German victory but Portugal
eventually declared itself on the
side of the Allies…
the British government to
recognise the young Republic
in 1911, possibly to counteract
the possibility of any Spanish
intervention (bitter memories of
the Spanish rule in the seventeenth
century were still lively). He
offered verbal encouragement
Couçerio’s attempts to force what
was claimed to be a neutral return
to the monarchy through the
ballot box.
Europe at War
During the course of the First World
War Manoel urged monarchists to
cease their agitation. Some of the
Republicans looked forward to
a German victory but Portugal
eventually declared itself on
the side of the Allies, largely
through fear that Britain might
otherwise realise its threat to
encroach on Portuguese territory
in Mozambique. Manoel offered
his services in whatever way
was thought fit. Disappointed
when all that he was offered
was a role in the Red Cross he
nevertheless threw himself into
participating in conferences, fund
drives, visits to hospitals and the
wounded soldiers on the front,
which ultimately gave him a lot
36 | The Lisbonian magazine – January 2011
of grati�cation. The visits to the
front were dif�cult for the French
government, but his friendship
with King George V was suf�cient
enough to alleviate their concerns.
Regardless, most of his efforts
were not credited; years later he
lamented, ‘The operating room in
the Portuguese Hospital in Paris,
during the War, was constructed
by me. Do you know what they
put on the plaque? “From a
Portuguese in London.”’ He was
also responsible for the creation
of the Orthopedic Department at
Shephards Bush Hospital which
continued until 1925 to treat the
dis�guring effects of the War. A
proof of his recognition by the
English was when his friend
George V invited him to join him
in the victory celebrations during
the parade of soldiers in 1919.
Restoration or Resignation
Perhaps at heart Manoel knew
that attempts at restoration were
futile. Although regions of the
North were staunchly Royalist,
the general mood of the country
was anti-monarchist. His father’s
dictatorial rule had been widely
unpopular and shortly before
the assassination there had been
an attempt to take over the
Ministry of the Interior, resulting
in the imprisonment of more
than ninety Republican suspects.
During his brief time as King
he had stated that he wished
to reign but not govern and for
Manoel, a comfortable life in
exile, surrounded by much of the
material trappings of monarchy,
befriended by King George V and
the British aristocracy, respected
by the local Catholic population,
might well have seemed preferable
to an uncertain existence lived out
in fear of the assassin’s bullet.
Final Return to Portugal
King Manoel was a keen tennis
player and a regular visitor to the
annual Wimbledon tournament.
On Friday 1 July 1932 he was at
Wimbledon. The following day
he suffered from a sore throat. He
died unexpectedly in his residence
on 2 July 1932, suffocated by
tracheal oedema. After a Requiem
Mass at Westminster Cathedral,
the body was moved through
Twickenham, where the streets
Royal Crypt House of Braganza – Monastery of São Vicente de Fora
The Lisbonian magazine – January 2011 | 37
were lined by school children, to
the church of St Charles Borremeo
in Weybridge.
The Portuguese government, led
by Head of State Salazar, authorized
his burial in Lisbon, after a state
funeral. His body arrived in Lisbon
on 2 August 1932, onboard the
British cruiser HMS Concord.
The body was received at Praça
do Commércio where a crowd of
people had gathered and the
roads were inundated with people
interested in seeing the funeral
procession. His body was interned
in the Royal Crypt of the Braganza
Dynasty in the Monastery of São
Vicente de Fora.
Street Pastors
Street Pastors is an inter-
denominational Church response
to urban problems, engaging with
people on the streets to care, listen
and dialogue. Members of various
churches, Street Pastors engage
with people where they hang out,
on the streets, in the pubs and
clubs etc. They are committed to
getting to know people, to �nd
out their needs and to establish
what can be done to help. In this
way people know that the Church
is there for them in a practical
way, not preaching, but listening,
working in an unconditional
way.
The movement was pioneered in
London by Rev Les Isaac, Director
of the Ascension Trust, and has
seen some remarkable results,
including drops in crime in areas
where teams have been working.
There are now over 100 teams
around the United Kingdom.
Each city project is run by a local
coordinator with support from
the Ascension Trust and local
churches and community groups,
in partnership with Police, Council
and other statutory agencies.
To be a Street Pastor you need to
be over 18 (no upper age limit),
a church member and able to
commit to a 12 session training
programme including subjects
such as counselling skills, drugs
awareness, sociology, knowing the
38 | The Lisbonian magazine – January 2011
community, role and responsibility,
and street safety. Each Street Pastor
team consists of at least two
groups of four, each of which will
work a minimum of one night a
month.
One such Street Pastor writes: ‘It
has been a rewarding experience,
primarily because it is centred
around being present for people
in their environment. And so it
is very much a case of being led
and drawn by the people and the
situations we encounter, and by
God’s grace, by the prompting of
the Holy Spirit. It is exciting to be
among the buzz which permeates
the early evening in the town
while people chatter their way to
various entertainment venues – to
be a friendly and calm presence. By
the early hours of the morning the
atmosphere is far more charged
as hundreds of people pour out
of bars and clubs, police keep a
very strong presence and taxis
dodge pedestrians, now far less
‘safety conscious’ after a night of
drinking.’
We e n c o u n t e r p e o p l e w h o
are vulnerable on account of
unexpected events eg. having
become separated from friends
and now having to find their
way home alone – we talk and
wait with people, and help them
arrange a safe way home. People
who have got caught up in con�ict
can be given a sense of greater
safety and calm – they can then
consider the course of action they
need to follow next. Week after
week people stop to talk about the
issues on their mind, relationships,
and the meaning of life. There is
no doubt that, like ourselves, the
people we encounter are searching
Someone Loves Us?
Through the good of�ces of Simon
Johnson, The Lisbonian is now
available in Adobe™ pdf on-line
(either directly, by entering ‘The
Lisbonian’ into your search engine,
or through iRecusant). As a matter
of interest, Simon Johnson has
provided information about the
numbers who have used the site.
There have been 2264 ‘hits’ – that
is people who have clicked on the
blog article. 220 have downloaded
Lest We Forget
Something for You to Dig Out?
Pictures and memories associated
with the College and life in
Portugal in past and present
times are always appreciated
to make The Lisbonian more
interesting to the readers. Send
us your pictures and we can
scan them, if of suitable quality,
and return them to you if you
wish. Ed
The Lisbonian magazine – January 2011 | 39
for meaning and anchoring in the
course of their life’s journey. We
pray that they will know fullness
of life through their relationship
with God.
It is our prayer that ‘being there’
when people need, shows God’s
care and involvement in people’s
lives right where they are.
a copy as a full PDF. The only
other stats that it gives are the
locations of the hits: 72% Western
Europe (UK, Ireland, France, Spain,
Portugal, Germany, Italy …in fact
the map is pretty much covered
except some Balkan states. 16%
USA and Canada. 6% Australasia
3% China a few hits from South
America but not enough to make
a percentage – that plus ‘Rest of
World’ makes up the 3%.
© Peter J Harrison 2010 – Mgr James Sullivan’s
Tombstone, Hinsley Hall, Leeds
 English College Lisbon
© 2010 Peter J Harrison – Living Publications – Design and Typesetting
Printed by www.printservicespandw.co.uk