Rev William Byrne
Title:
Rev
First Name:
William
Middle Names:
L.
Preferred Name:
Surname:
Byrne
Order:
Date of Birth:
Place of Birth:
Manchester
Country of Birth:
England
Date of Ordination:
Place of Ordination:
Country of Ordination:
Australia
Ordination Diocese:
Bathurst
Seminary:
Date of Death:
Place of Death:
Dubbo NSW
Country of Death:
Australia
Date of Burial:
Place of Burial:
Dubbo NSW
Country of Burial:
Australia
Find A Grave URL:
Appointments Table
Diocese | Place | Role | Start Day | Start Month | Start Year | End Day | End Month | End Year | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bathurst | Bathurst | Professor, St Charles Seminary | Linane Vol 2 | ||||||
| Bathurst | Bathurst | President, St Charles Seminary | 1885 | 1888 | Linane Vol 2 | ||||
| Lismore | Kempsey | Linane Vol 2 | |||||||
| Bathurst | Dubbo | Oct | 1894 | Linane Vol 2 |
Biographical Notes
Fr T.J. Linane, From Abel to Zundolovich, Vol. 2: Biographies of Priests on the Australian Scene up to 1900, 1980, pp 9-10:
Byrne, William L., Very Rev., V.G., English
"Luminous Intellect and Faithful Priest" (Dubbo Dispatch)
Byrne could also be described as the last secular priest to occupy the Presidency at St. Stanislaus' Bathurst, before the change-over to the care of the Vincentians. Many things are said in the history of St. Stanislaus' Bathurst, written by Fr. John Hall CM. "Eloquent, scholarly, convincing..." are some of the eulogistic words spoken about him. He was born in February 1858 in Manchester. As a child he went to live with his parents in Queen's County (now County Leix). At the age of 16 he came to Australia, doing all his studies at St.Charles' Seminary, Bathurst. He was ordained for the Bathurst Diocese by Dr. Matthew Quinn on 29.6.1880. Immediately he was given a teaching post at St. Charles', and was President in the period 1885-8. 1888 marked the last year of teaching by secular priests in the seminary that gave so many worthy priests to Bathurst and other dioceses. The difficulty was not in the capacity of seculars to train seculars. Rather in securing enough competent Professors. In any case, the days of St. Charles' were numbered with the opening of the new Seminary at St. Patrick's College, Manly. For a time Byrne served in the Lismore-Grafton Diocese, being stationed in Kempsie. The mantle of Vicar General fell on his shoulders. When Dubbo became vacant as a parish he returned to his diocese of choice but did not live long. He died 10.10.1894 and is buried in the Mortuary Chapel, Bathurst. Age: 36. A past student had this tribute to pay in later years: "His over-mastering zeal for the students must have shattered his constitution and led to an early demise. The ideal he aimed at was make them true Christian gentlemen, whose word would be their bond. And many a past man who today has a wide circle of friends to esteem him, owes much to Father William Byrne...".
(Footprints, Vol. 1, No. 11)
Ref.: MDHC Files, Torquay per Fr. Patrick Fox C.M., Ashfield NSW.