William Clifford

William Clifford, Third Bishop of Clifton, 1857 to 1893

The future Bishop was born at Irnham in Lincolnshire on 24 December 1823, the son of the Seventh Baron Clifford of Chudleigh. He received his early education at Hodder Place, near Stonyhurst, and, at the age of 15 he went to live in Rome where his father had a house. In Rome, he studied at the Collegio di Nobile and later at the Venerable English College. He left Rome in 1848 to continue his studies at the Jesuit College in Louvain. On 26 July 1849, he received the Diaconate at Bruges and returned to complete his studies at St Beuno's College in North Wales. He was ordained priest by Bishop William Hendren at the Pro-Cathedral on 25 August 1850. After his ordination, he returned to Rome where, in September 1851, he was awarded the degree of Doctor of Divinity. He served as a priest in the new Diocese of Plymouth until 1857, when, on 15 February, he was consecrated Bishop of Clifton by Pope Pius IX. He was enthroned at the Pro-Cathedral on 17 March 1857.

During the next 36 years at Clifton, he succeeded in laying the foundations of the modern diocese. The early years saw the diocesan finances restored, often with the Bishop's private means. In 1867, he re-purchased the Prior Park estate to re-open the school and the seminary. From 1871 to 1874, he undertook a massive refurbishment of the Pro-Cathedral under the guidance of Charles Hansom, the architect responsible for the first buildings at Clifton College. At his personal expense, he had the new premises for the boys' school built to comply with the needs of the 1870 Education Act. In 1882, to mark his Silver Jubilee as Bishop, he completed the church at Prior Park, which had remained half-finished since lack of funds had caused work to cease in 1845.

Nationally, Bishop Clifford is best remembered for the important part he played at the Vatican Council of 1870.

In spite of failing health, Bishop Clifford made his last Ad Limina visit to Rome in June 1893 and he died at Prior Park on 14 August of the same year. He is buried at Prior Park.