Irish birth record, https://www.irishgenealogy.ie/files/civil/birth_returns/births_1896/02159/1818778.pdf: "Superintendent Registrar's District Cashel, Registrar's District Kilpatrick. Births Registered in the District of Kilpatrick in the Union of Cashel in the County of Tipperary. No. 224. On 23 June 1896 at Rossmore, birth of John, male, father Thomas English of Rossmore, National School Teacher, mother Eliza English formerly O'Brien; informant: Thomas English, father, of Rossmore; 10 July 1896; Stephen Keogh, Registrar."

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Fr Denis W. Martin, Priests of 1928, Brisbane, 2003, pp 200-205:
Mons. John English

Forty years after he had left the Cathedral, people still spoke of 'the wonderful lunchtime talks' on the Catholic Faith that Dr English delivered. If they didn't remember the subject matter, the impression remained of the charming priest with his great ability to move them by the gift of expression.

John English was Irish, born the youngest of ten children, at Rossmore, Goold's Cross, Co Tipperary in 1897. Education was begun at the local National School before he transferred to the renowned Jesuit College at Mungret in Limerick. It was here that he met Patrick O'Donnell. They became life long friends who went together to study for the priesthood at All Hallows. While Paddy moved on to the Pontifical Urban College in Rome, John stayed at All Hallows where he was ordained in June of 1922. His abilities were no doubt recognised, so he proceeded to the Gregorian College in Rome for postgraduate studies. Under Jesuit tuition there, John was ultimately awarded doctorates in both Canon Law and Divinity.

In 1925, he set out for Brisbane. He was met on arrival here by his aunt who was Mother Kevin RSM and so popular that the Warwick Catholics 'kept' her there for 44 years. Dr English spent about six months at Nambour. In 1926, he became Rector of St Leo's University College. His great ability as a speaker and orator were quickly recognised. In 1928, 'still only a young Irish priest of 31 years of age', he delivered an address at the great Eucharistic Congress in Sydney. From this time on he was constantly in demand as a speaker: every type of ecclesiastical and civic form of address was to be assigned to him over the years and he mastered all of them. The Courier Mail was to comment, 'He could be counted upon to make a fine speech on almost any subject at a few seconds notice.'

Another contributed, 'He was an outstanding and unforgettable orator in the classical idiom of his time. He was literally the Golden Voiced preacher, lecturer and public speaker endowed with a rich voice, phenomenal fluency, a magnificent vocabulary, a beautiful poetic quality, an altogether classical approach and rare ability to capture the enthusiasm, imagination and response of a congregation or audience' - high praise indeed.

And Archbishop Guildford Young who specialised m oratory himself proclaimed Dr English 'the third best orator in the world.' With such obvious talent, John could not help but be 'rising fast.' He was made a Vicar General, Administrator of the Cathedral in 1936, frequently accompanied the Archbishop on official duties and indeed deputised for him when necessary. His lunchtime addresses in the Cathedral have been mentioned, but in the 1930s too, when a section of the Protestant Churches was attacking Catholicism, Dr English was the defender of the Faith at regular Sunday evening services in the Cathedral. These were broadcast live on radio station 4KQ. He claimed that one of the rabid Protestants, Rev Mr Butler, left town for good after copping a broadside.

In January of 1940, Dr English was appointed Parish Priest of Clayfield and soon after was made a Domestic Prelate and given the title Monsignor. He was to remain at St Agatha's for 28 years. Now being in his own 'household' for the first time, the presbytery became noted for the hospitality he dispensed. Many visiting American and other Service personnel were his guests during World War II. One high ranking US serviceman who had never previously met a Catholic priest was profoundly impressed when, after a wedding ceremony, John took the little party over to the presbytery to celebrate and generously laid out the whisky and cigars. He himself was quite a heavy smoker, one of those who left the ash to fall where it would. To this day may be seen his large silky oak desk, the top of which still bears the burn marks.

Mons. English's closest friend in Brisbane was Mons. Prout. Soon another old friend from schooldays was to reappear on the scene, P M O'Donnell. The question now arises, why was not Mons. English, Chancellor etc, made Coadjutor Archbishop of Brisbane? After all, according to Tom Boland, Archbishop Duhig had been working to have Dr English made at least a Bishop of somewhere as far back as 1931, and says 'he pushed English for a diocese more than once'. True enough, the 'Australian movement' had been successful in having some Australian-born priests appointed bishops, but Irish bishops were in control. Was it time to break this dominance? The years rolled on, and the question of a Coadjutor became a matter of sooner rather than later. If John English was still in the running, it is said that a malicious rumour was put about which probably dashed all possibility. The rumour was that he had been seen on a golf course with a strange woman.

In 1948, the Apostolic Delegate, Dr Panico, who had favoured native-born appointees, nominated an Irish friend of his from Sale in Victoria: Archbishop Patrick O'Donnell arrived in 1949. How did Mons. English react? After all, Paddy O'Donnell was a friend of long standing and Mons. English was too nice a person and too much a Churchman to make waves. Still there were reactions: Mons. English had stated that he would never have an Australian priest as an assistant; he despised 'the vice of jealousy, the bare mention of which would evoke strong emotion from him'; and probably out of frustration he took more and more to the whisky.

When funerals or ceremonies were on at the Cathedral, Mons. English was nearly always one of the two officials who 'assisted at the throne' ie wearing their birettas and full monsignorial robes they sat on little piano-style stools, one on either side of the Archbishop's canopied chair. Afterwards he always liked to come past and say a cheery, 'Hello boys' to the Seminarians, whereas the others seemed to strut past and not see anyone else. Or again as John was leaving the Cathedral precinct, wearing his dark glasses and leather gloves and driving a Citroen Goddess, he always gave the students a friendly wave as they waited for the hired Cribb Island bus to return them to Banyo.

Fr Harry Bliss now takes up the story: 'It was at Clayfield that he and I became the best of mates. It had been reported to me when I was at Ipswich that Mons. English had stated that he would never have an Australian priest as an assistant. After an initial hiccup, he had no trouble adjusting to my ways and vice versa. When I went to Clayfield in 1967, John English had been Parish Priest there for twenty-seven years. I had been ordained only four years. The people of Clayfield saw their pastor only at Mass if they were well, and at home if they were sick. He was not a visiting pastor and often remarked upon the ease with which I could wander around the homes of Clayfield talking shop and drinking innumerable cups of tea.

'He was a most affable and very well educated priest. The businessmen, lawyers, doctors, entrepreneurs and ordinary men and women called on him regularly for advice or a social chat. People seemed to be completely at ease with him. When I called to see him prior to taking up duties, he came to the door swaying ominously and with a slurred voice greeted me with "Harry, you are very welcome". It was my first intimation that this Irish bred officer of the Brisbane Church had an alcohol problem. John English was always a favourite of the Archbishop of the day (Sir James Duhig), which was strange because Sir James could not tolerate anyone who drank to excess.

'English loved dogs and for many years he had two Irish Setters. When I was there, he had only one dog, a Golden Retriever, named Lana. I asked him what sex it was and he said, "Neither, she's been defrosted". He liked to have conversation with young priests and seminarians. He was genial, witty and fairly decisive, always well dressed in public, and loved to have other priests to lunch or dinner.

'John English was privy to many Archdiocesan happenings that were not generally well known, and was called upon by Duhig many times to investigate backgrounds of priests who got on the wrong side of the Archbishop. He got on very well with the other Vicar General, Timothy Molony, and travelled to Ipswich for the three famous clergy dinners there each year. In my time, he only celebrated one Mass, the Sunday 6.00am. He loved to play practical jokes on his priest friends, and the stories go on and on.

'My relationship with this great man was almost father/son. He was a dear man and a dedicated priest. The tragedy of his life was that he missed out on becoming a Bishop.

'When I found him dead in his room after the Easter Vigil Mass in 1968, I was shattered. After telling the congregation at the 6.00 am Mass that their pastor was dead, the people could be heard weeping as they left the Church. Guildford Young celebrated the morning Mass at Clayfield, prior to taking John's body from there to the Cathedral.'

Mons. English died on 14th April 1968. He was laid to rest at Nudgee.

(Reproduced by permission of Fr Denis Martin.)