Hobart, Richmond, Launceston, Tas

Fr T.J. Linane, From Abel to Zundolovich, Vol. 2: Biographies of Priests on the Australian Scene up to 1900, 1980, pp 92-93:

Cotham, James Ambrose, OSB, English
In the Polding Party of 1835
A twenty page article on this important character can be studied in the Australasian Catholic Record of January 1977 (Polding Centenary issue), and available if required from the Editor: Rev. F. Mecham, Holy Family Presbytery, Pacific Highway, Lindfield 2070. The Tasmanian historian and writer of the article, Fr. W.T. Southerwood, was kind enough to send me a pre-view of this article, so I will take the liberty of quoting the first paragraph, under the caption "A Benedictine Pioneer in Van Dieman's Land (Tasmania)": "James Ambrose Cotham was born in Warrington in Lancashire, England, in 1810. Little is known about his family life. One of his brothers and probably an uncle joined the Society of Jesus. Educated at St. Edmund's Benedictine school at Douay, he entered the community there on May 18, 1829. Within twelve months, at the age of twenty, he became a solemnly professed monk of St. Edmond's. Five years later, before his studies had been concluded, he was prematurely ordained to the priesthood in order to accompany Bishop John Bede Polding to his Australian Mission ......

The 'Oriental' arrived in Hobart Town on August 7, 1835. Cotham accompanied Polding to the dilapidated St. Virgil's chapel high on the hill above the town, to meet the Pioneer Father Philip Conolly ... During the Polding month-long stay, Cotham assisted at the blessing of a plot of land as a site for a church at Richmond... The bishop set up a small school and announced that he was leaving the Benedictine priest to assist Conolly. Little did he realise at the time that his Tasmanian sojourn would last fifteen years ... In his early months in the colony, Cotham found himself the victim of official bigotry and prejudice ..."

And so Fr. Southerwood's life story of Cotham continues ... and a summary of what is on the 'Abel to Zundolovich' file has to suffice for purposes here. The assistant (or should he be termed the priest bearing the brunt of responsibility for attention to the dispersed flock?) found it impossible to live with Conolly and said so in measured terms to Polding. The successor to Conolly, Fr. James Watkins, wasn't much help. On 2 June 1838, Cotham moved to Launceston, and there had bother in obtaining a Government salary. Prior to that he had opened the nave of St. John's Church at Richmond on 31 December 1837, and now in his new domain he was able to ask Fr. Therry to lay the foundation stone of a church in 19 March 1839. He opened St. Joseph's himself on 8 September 1842 — despite the parsimony of a grant from Government. Except for a six months absence on leave in Adelaide, he carried the burden of pioneering in northern Tasmania until 1846, a difficult assignment even for a strong, determined (even if somewhat headstrong) character. We find him acting as chaplain to the Penal Department for some six years, and theologian to Dr. Willson at the 1844 Sydney synod. In fact, he appears to have been a chaplain to Willson for a number of years, and defended the Bishop in the dispute with Fr. J.J. Therry.

When he sailed for England in January 1851 he probably intended to return. This is indicated by the fact that he sought "leave of absence" from the Penal Department, but did not resign. Fr. Southerwood's account of his activities in the last thirty-two years of life makes good reading: "During a twenty year pastorate at Cheltenham he built St. Gregory's church. On retirement in 1873, he went back to his old monastery at Douay for three years. The next two years were spent at the Cassinese monastery of La Cava in Italy. In 1878 he returned to England to St. Michael's Belmont, Hereford. Although an elderly monk of 68, he asked to be given active pastoral work again. From the end of 1879 until 1881 he worked in the solitary little mission of Bonham, Wiltshire. By now he was a confirmed vegetarian. His dinner was composed of dried onions, salt and bread. His last days were spent in great pain at Belmont. He slept at the top of the tower. This is reminiscent of his house at Launceston, where he noted the existence of a good room in the tower. He claimed his years in the outback "made life in a crowded house barely tolerable". Cotham died of cancer, May, 1883. He left his life savings for building projects at Belmont. The place of interment was Wolverhampton, and the age 72 or 73.
(Footprints, Vol. 2, No. 12)
Ref.: ACR, Jan. 1977 — Article by Fr. W.T. Southerwood, who refers to copious sources — Cotham's Diary, Downside Review, etc.