About
Remembered for his multi-volume scholarly work The History of England, from the First Invasion by the Romans to the Accession of Henry VIII (1819), this early nineteenth-century historian and priest is also notable as the writer of the Roman Catholic hymn "Hail Queen of Heaven, the Ocean Star."
Before Fame
After training for the priesthood at Douai, France's English College, he published one of his earliest works: Catholic Loyalty Vindicated (1805).
Trivia
In 1836, he anonymously translated the Four Gospels.
Family Life
Born to Catholic parents who refused to join the Church of England, he spent his youth in Winchester, England.
Associated With
He and his Lithuanian contemporary, Antanas Strazdas, were both priests, writers, and hymn lyricists.
