These are the history pieces which appeared in the Batley St Mary of the Angels and Birstall St Patrick’s bulletin during July 2025. As the parishes are jointly administered and a single bulletin produced, the history pieces are not solely focused on St Mary of the Angels, although St Patrick’s was not formed as s separate parish until 1905. Prior to that it was part of St Mary’s.
As part of the St Mary of the Angels One-Place Study I have written in more detail about some of these events, and where this is the case the link to the fuller piece is included.
05/06 July 2025
Members of St Patrick’s Roman Catholic Church Total Abstinence Association travelled by charabanc to visit Middleton Lodge, Ilkley on Sunday afternoon, 04 July 1925. Rev. Father Peter Russell (president of the Association) and Rev. Father Peter McBride of St Mary’s accompanied the members. The party was shown around the monastery and grounds by Passionist Father, the Very Rev. Father Herbert, who recently conducted a successful mission in Birstall, and they retuned home greatly impressed and educated byr their visit.
Jane Roberts – Parish Historian, Website: https://pasttopresentgenealogy.co.uk
12/13 July 2025
On 12 July 1934 Father Godfrey Hunt died in New York. The tenth of Patrick Hunt and wife Mary Kilkenny’s 11 children, he was born in Birstall in 1878 as Patrick Hunt, the family subsequently moving to Batley. After completing his education at Glastonbury college, the St Mary’s parishioner left England for the Franciscan Mount St Sepulchre Monastery in Washington, becoming an American citizen in 1901. From there he moved to the Holy Land to train as a Franciscan, being received into the Order in 1903. In 1908 he was ordained as a priest in Jerusalem. He served as a Chaplain with the Americans in the First World War, and afterwards he returned to the Holy Land, acting as a liaison officer between British authorities, and Muslim and Jewish officials to ensure the safety of the Holy Places, guiding pilgrims and becoming a Counsellor of the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Places. He made regular visits to his family in Batley, and on his death a solemn requiem mass was celebrated at St Mary’s.
Jane Roberts – Parish Historian, Website: https://pasttopresentgenealogy.co.uk
For more information about the life of Father Godfrey Hunt click here.
19/20 July 2025
The children of Batley Councillor James Ellis Walsh and his wife Mary Agnes, featured in the newspapers on 18 July 1953 for their fine record of grammar school entrance examination passes. The recent success of daughter Winifred in passing the Notre Dame School entrance examination and the county examination, meant nine of their children had achieved this accolade. Whereas Winifred was a pupil Catholic school in Heckmondwike when she sat the entrance exam, the other eight were former St Mary’s pupils. Eldest son James went on to attend Batley Grammar School; son Patrick went to St Michael’s College, Leeds; daughters Mary, Rose, and Angela all attended Notre Dame School, Leeds; daughter Eileen was still studying at Notre Dame; whereas sons Denis and Andrew were being educated at St Michael’s College
Jane Roberts – Parish Historian, Website: https://pasttopresentgenealogy.co.uk
26/27 July 2025
Sunday 25 July 1897 marked the official opening of the new school’s buildings at St Mary’s. In the morning High Mass, for which a 6d entrance fee was charged, was celebrated by former parish priest and now Bishop of Leeds William Gordon. Afterwards a collection was taken for school funds. In the afternoon the Bishop performed the official opening ceremony. The building work, which commenced the previous April, concentrated around erecting totally new senior schools’ accommodation, housing 444. The new senior schools building had a large school-room, three class rooms and a cookery room in the basement. There were separate entrances, corridors and cloak-rooms for boys and girls, and separate play grounds. The final phase of work, which was still ongoing, was the conversion of the old senior school into infant schools accommodating 185. Designed by Birstall and Morley architects J. W. Burrows, the estimated cost was around £4,000.
Jane Roberts – Parish Historian, Website: https://pasttopresentgenealogy.co.uk
Past To Present Genealogy 