The Departure of Father Lockhart
Father Lockhart continued to minister faithfully to the mainly Irish Catholics of the parish for many years. He was fully occupied. In addition to his normal duties as the parish priest, his work included the supervision of homes for young male workers and the elderly. He also wrote extensively in his efforts to proclaim the Gospel and strengthen the Catholic Church in England, and for years edited The Lamp and Catholic Opinion. He translated some of the greatest books of Father Antonio Rosmini, the founder of the Order, and published them. He also gave popular lectures and fully supported the Temperance Movement.
However, in 1870, Doctor Manning (Father Lockhart’s great friend), who was by now Archbishop Manning, asked that the Fathers might like to hand Kingsland now to the diocese and start a new parish in the Holborn area. This was agreed to and in June 1874, Father Lockhart left Kingsland and went on to found the parish of Saint Ethelreda, Ely Place, a pre-reformation church, which he bought back for the Rosminians and restored. At his farewell party at the church, Archbishop Manning paid a glowing tribute to Father Lockhart and his work in the parish. Needless to say, parishioners were loath to see Father Lockhart leave, for he had great zeal and energy and was a good preacher.
After Father Lockhart
After a few years, the Rosminian nuns left the school to join Father Lockhart at Ely Place and for the next few years lay teachers ran the school. As the years passed the school became very popular with more and more parents trying to get their children in, even though the government had now entered the field of education and a new Board School had been built across the road (De Beauvoir School). By the end of the century the school had become overcrowded and needed modernisation but it was always difficult to get this done, for the parish was perennially short of funds.
Fr William Lockhart
Our Lady & St Joseph's School / The Ursulines of Jesus
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