BLESSED PHILIP POWELL

Brecon has a proud history of loyalty to the 'Old Faith'.  Families such as  Powell and Lloyd have contributed much to the preservation of the Faith in that area and, as priests, shed their blood as Martyrs. One such priest was Philip Powell.

Blessed Philip Powell, O S B

Philip Powell was born at Trallong, Brecknockshire, to Roger ap Rosser Powell and Catherine Morgan on 2nd February 1594. Young Philip attended King Henry VIII Grammar School, Abergavenny.  The father of St David Lewis, Morgan Lewis, was headmaster and, being favourably impressed with Philip, recommended him to Dom Augustine Baker. Benedictine writer and mystic, Dom Augustine, was the uncle of Morgan's wife, Margaret, and therefore, a great uncle of St David Lewis.

Dom Augustine Baker, O S B
(Photo by J D Smith)

Dom Augustine, who was already supporting a seminarian, his nephew  John Pritchard, took on responsibility for young Philip Powell.  He supervised his law studies at Gray's Inn from 1610-14. Then, from 1614-19, and at Dom Augustine's expense, Philip was sent to Flanders to the University of Louvain, studying under Leander Jones, O S B.  He was ordained priest in 1618 and professed a monk on 15th August 1619.

On 7th March 1622, Fr Powell was sent on the English Mission.  For sixteen months he lived with Dom Augustine in Gray's Inn Lane, London.  In an attempt to elude the priest hunters, it was customary for priests working covertly on the English Mission to assume an alias.  Thus, Fr Philip Powell was also known as Philip Morgan or Philip Prosser.  For about twenty years Fr Powell worked in the areas of Cornwall, Devon and Somerset.  When Civil War erupted, the priest went to Cornwall and served as Chaplain to the Catholic soldiers in General Goring's army.  

After Goring's force disbanded, Fr Powell took ship for South Wales in an attempt to reach Monmouthshire.  Unfortunately, the ship was captured off Mumbles and on 22nd February 1646 Philip Powell was arrested by Captain Crowther.  Crowther kept him confined in the ship until 11 may when he sent him to London to be imprisoned in St Catherine's Gaol, Southwark.

Due to the terrible conditions and harsh treatment, Fr Powell became severely ill with Pleurisy.  His trial had been fixed for 30th May but it did not take place until 9th June.  He was tried in Westminster Hall, where he brilliantly defended himself.  Predictably, he was found guilty of being a priest and condemned to death. When the sentence of death was pronounced, Fr Powell exclaimed, "Oh what am I that God thus honours me and will have me to die for his sake?"  

On 30th June 1646, the sentence was carried out and Fr Philip Powell was hanged, drawn and quartered at Tyburn. He was 52 years old. He met his death with unshaken faith in the God he had so long served and therefore, with joy.  He is recorded as saying, "This is the happiest day and the greatest joy that ever befell me, for I am brought hither for no other cause or reason than that I am a Roman Catholic priest and a monk of the Order of St Benedict."  His remains were buried in the old churchyard at Moorfields, London.  A crucifix of his and some other relics are in the possession of Downside Abbey, Bath.

On 8th December 1929, Fr Philip Powell was Venerated when Pope Pius XI issued a decree of Martyrdom.  A week later, 15th December 1929, another steadfast son of Wales, Fr Philip Powell, was Beatified by Pope Pius XI.  

Blessed Philip Powell, pray for us.

MAY THEY REST IN PEACE

GREAT UNCLE, RICHARD BAKER

St David Lewis was a member of a large and prominent Abergavenny family.  Many traces and echos of his family can be found in and around the area.  The magnificent Priory Church of St Mary the Virgin has several memorials to his close family members.  One memorial is dedicated to his Great Uncle, Richard Baker.

Richard Baker was the eldest son of William Baker, Steward to Lord Abergavenny.  Richard was born in 1497.  He became an attorney at Law and practised in Abergavenny, working alongside his father. He was made Recorder of Abergavenny.                

Unfortunately, Richard died suddenly in 1551, aged just 54 years.  His brother, David, was summoned home from London by their father, William.  David took on the work of his brother Richard and he too became Recorder of Abergavenny.  David's story is a fascinating one and he eventually became a Benedictine, known as Dom Augustine Baker. He was instrumental in reviving the Benedictine Order in this country and his writings are still read and celebrated today.  

Richard Baker is less celebrated and definitely not as well remembered.  However, in the Herbert Chapel of St Mary's Priory Church,  there is a most unusual, and slightly confusing, memorial plaque.  It was placed there by his son, William Baker, sometime after 1598.  You will have to crane your neck a little and look up to see this memorial on the wall but, if you want to keep up with the relatives of our local Martyr, St David Lewis, it is worth the search (and the stiff neck).  

It seems that William's son, also named Richard, died in October 1598.  William then had erected a brass plaque commemorating both his father, Richard, and his son, the other Richard.  Are you still with me?  Well, hang in there because it just might get a little cloudier!

Richard Baker's Memorial in St Mary's Priory Church
(Photo J D Smith)

The inscription on the brass plaque is in Latin and this is the rough translation:

"To Richard Baker, his father, and a son of the same name.  To the father, once a Burgess of this Town.  To a son, in later times his likeness, having departed this life in peace:  the former aged 54, on 7th January 1551; the latter, 7th October, aged 41, and in the year of our salvation, 1598.  To both.  To the father of a numerous family who deserved well of his country, William Baker, with the respect due from a son to his father and with the greatest affection for his son, hoping to be partaker of the same happiness in the Resurrection of the Just, among the eternal spirits of the Kingdom of Heaven; intending for himself a tomb between them, being full of years, and wearied of anxiety.  Because of his grief for a renowned father and his son, he has placed and dedicate this, such as it is, Sacred to their Memory." 

Believe it or not, the inscription goes on a little more, still in Latin, but I don't have the translation. 

So, now we have found another connection to St David Lewis.  I hope that finding relationships to the Martyr helps bring home to us that St David Lewis was a real, flesh and blood man, with family and friends.  They all have left echos and shadows of  themselves. 

Would that the faith and courage of St David Lewis reverberate in our lives.  

St David Lewis, pray for us.   

Links to more family
First Principal of Jesus College
An Unexpected Discovery