FATHER CHARLES PRITCHARD, S J

(THE CWM AS IT IS TODAY)

When the poison of the Oates Plot spewed over the country in 1678, Fr Charles Pritchard was one of the Jesuits at the College of St Francis Xavier at a place called the Cwm, near Llanrothal in Monmouthshire. This priest of “meekness and simplicity” was soon to be engulfed in a terrifying ordeal.

Sir Edmund Berry Godfrey was the London magistrate appointed to investigate the Oates Plot and when he was found dead in mysterious circumstances, Catholics came under suspicion. A reward of £500 was offered for the discovery of the murderer /murderers. It was then that the professional criminal and perjurer, William Bedloe, inspired by the reward of £500, came on the scene. In November, Bedloe appeared before the Lords and announced that Godfrey had been murdered by three Jesuits. One of the Jesuits, claimed Bedloe, was Fr Charles Pritchard. Since, as confirmed by the Jesuit Provincial letter for 1680, Fr Pritchard had been on the English mission for sixteen years and in all that time, he had never left South Wales, he could not have played a part in Godfrey’s murder in London. Bedloe, purporting to be a trusted emissary of the Jesuits, also declared that Fr Prichard was his informant! Of course, this was all fantasy, for why would the Jesuits, who carried out their ministry at great risk to themselves, trust a known felon and perjurer? However, with Oates and Bedloe avidly spreading their vicious lies and certain politicians using them to their own advantage, the ashes of anti Catholicism were soon fanned into a raging inferno.

Intoxicated with the celebrity status he was now enjoying and the success of his fabrications so far, Bedloe went on to dizzying heights of fictional accusations. He asserted that he had learned of plans for uprisings all over Wales and that every noteworthy Catholic in the country was aware of the plot. Some of this information, fanaticised Bedloe, had come from the Rector of the Cwm, Fr David Lewis. Fr Charles Pritchard, according to Bedloe, was to murder the Duke of Buckingham and Bedloe himself had been offered £4,000 to commit a murder!

The son of James and Elizabeth Pritchard, Charles Pritchard was born in 1637 at Blaen Llymman, Monmouthshire. He became a Jesuit in 1663 and around 1667 he embarked upon the English mission. He spent the remainder of his life ministering in the South Wales area, particularly Monmouth.

In light of the Oates Plot and Beldoe’s preposterous accusations, Fr Lewis grasped the gravity of the situation and decided to evacuate the Cwm, and the priests were dispersed. Some were sheltered by Catholic families but some had to take to hiding in woods and countryside.

Fr Pritchard now had a price on his head. A reward of 80 gold Crowns was offered for his capture and conviction. Despite this, for six months the priest was sheltered in the home of an unidentified faithful friend in the area of Monmouth. By day he remained hidden but at night Fr Pritchard emerged to attend to the needs of Catholic families in the area. Under such conditions, Fr Pritchard’s health suffered greatly and one dark night, whilst engaged in the visitation of his flock, he suffered a fall. As a result of this fall, the courageous Jesuit died in his friend’s house on 14th March 1680. He was buried secretly in the garden. At 43 years of age, Fr Charles Pritchard, S J, had given his life in the service of the oppressed Catholics of South Wales.

*FOR RELATED POSTS, SEE

http://lastwelshmartyr.blogspot.com/2010/07/jesuit-college-at-cwm.html

http://lastwelshmartyr.blogspot.com/2010/01/father-ignatius-price-s-j.html