115 years ago today the 37-year old Lancastrian priest, Thomas Whiteside, was consecrated Bishop of Liverpool at St Nicholas' Pro-Cathedral, Copperas Hill. The Lancaster Times printed no less than forty-four column inches on the consecration, under the heading, "The New Roman Catholic Bishop of Liverpool - A Lancastrian Enthroned." The principal consecrator was Cardinal Vaughan, Archbishop of Westminster; he was assisted by Bishop William Gordon of Leeds and Bishop John Bilsborrow of Salford. Bishop Whiteside played a large part in the golden jubilee celebrations at St Peter's in 1909, consecrating the new altar, celebrating Mass for the reopening of the church (after the various works carried out for the jubilee) and officiating at Benediction on the same day. He also made a well-documented visit to Lancaster in November 1894, a few months after his consecration; we shall hear more of this later. You can read a little more about Archbishop Whiteside in an earlier post, here.
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