John Meadows was involved with Ignatius' monastery from its early days at Elm Hill, and later spoke against it at the anti-Ritualist lectures of 1868 in exchange for a sovereign...
John Seymour Meadows was born in 1851 in Lowestoft, Suffolk, to Maria (née Liddlton, b. 1826) and Henry Meadows (b. 1825). On the 1851 census Henry was working as a tailor and the three of them were living with Maria's parents - Maria (b. 1795) and Robert Liddleton (b. 1799), a carpenter and victualler - on St. Andrew's Hill, along with another Liddleton grandchild - Henry (b. 1836) - four lodgers and a house servant.
On the 1861 census the Meadows family were living at Modd School Yard, Princes Street, Norwich. John, listed as a scholar, was now the eldest of four children: Emma (b. 1854), Minnie (b. 1856), Alice (b. 1859). They also had a house servant living with them, Harriet Riches (b. 1843).
Ignatius arrived at Elm Hill in February of 1864 and John was soon involved with the monastery. He spent some time there as Brother Stanislaus of the Third Order but had less to do with it by the time the better known Stanislaus, aka James Barrett Hughes, arrived in early 1865. After the 'uprising' of 1865, however, when Maurus and Stanislaus attempted to expel Ignatius from the Order, John said he went to London with Stanislaus and Brother Osmund (George Nobbs), and spent time with the latter at St. Joseph's Passionist monastery in Highgate.
In January 1868 John spoke against Ignatius alongside Brother Stanislaus at a widely advertised public meeting held at Hanover Square Rooms. The Morning Advertiser of January 28th reported:
John Meadows, a youth of about the same age [as George Mills, i.e. 17], was then called, and said he was known in the monastery as "Brother Stanislaus," a name given to him before Mr. Hughes entered. He could endorse what Mills had stated. Father Ignatius behaved with extreme cruelty to him. The Chairmas asked, "Were things done in the monastery which were disgraceful and unfit to be talked about?" Meadows replied, yes, and unfit to be thought about.
On February 3rd Ignatius sent a letter to the Rev. J Ormiston, one of the organisers, which was later printed in the Morning Advertiser of February 18th 1868, claiming that John had told somebody in Ignatius' circle that he had been paid a sovereign to appear the London lecture.
I am indeed truly grateful to receive so emphatic a denial from your own pen respecting the statement which "John Meadows" made to my friend at Norwich, on the authority of Hughes, who gave him a sovereign to act as an accomplice with him. ...
As to your witnesses against us last Monday, Mills, Meadows, and Nobbs, they were made to say what they did, evidently. Who put the improper questions to Mills but Hughes himself, and he was never told to do so. He said it was necessary, and when I told him I could not frame my lips to ask such things, he said that every one of the boys and young men were guilty of all he accused them of, and required to be warned against such sins.
But remember, none of these were inmates of the monastery, and they were guilty of these sins as Protestants, not as Ritualists.
Again, Meadows and Nobbs, in spite of the careful training they received at S. William's house, long before Hughes came, continued secretly to be so bad that when I discovered what they were, I expelled them altogether from the place; they were indeed, with their street companions, guilty of things too horrible to think of, as Meadows acknowledged at your meeting.
Ignatius' father, Francis Lyne, who supplied copies of the letter and submitted his own missive to the same edition, said of John:
"Mr." Meadows desiring to give a full return for his fee, said, "Except Brother Stanislaus (Mr. Hughes), they all tried to drag the youths as deep into sin as possible." Who will believe this?
John was again present at a men's only lecture held at the London Tavern in March 1868. The Star reported on the event:
Young men whose names were announced as "Mr. Nobbs" and "John Meadows," and who were said to have been "brothers" of the Norwich monastery, then gave an account of their practicul experience of that institution, and detailed particulars of the scandals referred to by the excommunicated Brother Stanislaus. The particulars were of such a libellous and disgusting character as to render their publication both dangerous and unfit to be read. The substance of them was that whilst Brother Ignatius was on the Continent the worst immoralities were openly practised in the monastery, particularly by one of the monks in that institution, and that some of the young brothers were subjected to dreadful "penances."
On December 25th 1869 John married Sarah Nursey (b. 1850); the wedding notice in the January 5th 1970 edition of the Norfolk News reported that it took place at the Register Office on King Street. On the 1871 census John was listed as a tailor and the couple were staying at St. Giles Street, in the house of Sarah's aunt and uncle, Frances (b. 1811) and Edward Langton (b. 1756). The latter was listed as the librarian of Norfolk Public Library.
John's son Edward Ernest Langton Meadows was born on May 31st 1871. In 1874 another son, William "Willie" Henry Langton Meadows, joined the family. Although John would describe himself as Catholic in 1879, on April 15th 1876 both Edward and William were baptised into the Church of England - albeit of the High Anglican variety - by the Rev. Hillyard at St. Lawrence.
Walter John Meadows was born on March 11th 1877.
In 1879 when "ex-monk-Widdows" (George Nobbs / Brother Osmund) began making a name for himself in Scotland, John was just about the only person from his past willing to vouch for him. On April 18th 1879 the Dundee Courier published a letter from John on the subject:
MR WIDDOWS AND HIS NORWICH FRIENDS.
13 UPPER ST GILES STREET, NORWICH,
April 16, 1879.
SIR, -I have just seen the account in your paper of the meeting at Dundee, which prevented the Rev. T. G. Widows from delivering his lecture. I hope you will allow me a small space in your valuable paper to inform its numerous readers what I know about Mr Widdows. We were boys, here together, serving at the same altar. I was present when he was dedicated to the B. V. Mary, in the Monastery of SS. Mary and Dunstan, in the presence of a large congregation, in 1864.
I was with him in London; went to the same monastery as he did, and received the Holy Communion from same Dominican priest; and at the Passionists' Monastery at Highgate we had the same confessor.
I remember him leaving London for France with Father Stanislaus, with absolute intention of entering a monastery and leading a religious life; and I must say, sir, I envied him. I was intended for the same, but my confessor told me I had not the vocation for a monk, so I married instead, and am still a member of the Catholic Church.
Mr Widdows came to his native city after an absence of twelve years, a credit to himself and friends, who are in a respectable position here, and was most enthusiastically received by the boys of his boyhood days, and invited to their homes, and will always be welcome if he conducts himself as well in the future as the past, in spite of priestly tyranny.
A priest here mentioned the fact of Mr Widdows being mobbed down in Dundee by a packed meeting, and has suggested the same course should be adopted here, which disgusted me that I have taken two of my children from the Convent School. A few weeks since I felt very sorry that Mr Widdows should have turned an apostate, but since I have read what the priests in Dundee caused to be done by mob law, and what they wish to do here, I begin to think that our cause and faith are not on the firm foundation I have believed in.
Trusting that the liberty of speech in Scotland wiil not be allowed to suffer from the conduct of such bigoted men as those who filled the Hall in Dundee, what I have said I feel it's only a conscientious duty I owe to my friend T. G. Widdows.
I am, sir, your obedient servant,
John Meadows
(How truthful this letter was is anyone's guess, especially given all we know now of Widdows' exploits. The only school record I could find shows Edward at the Norwich Hospital School from xmas 1880 - 1885.)
The Dundee Courier of 7th May 1879 printed another letter John had written to "a gentleman in Dundee" who had been making inquiries about Widdows.
MR WIDDOWS AND HIS NORWICH FRIENDS.
13 UPPER ST GILES STREET, NORWICH,
May 3, 1879.
DEAR SIR, --I reply to yours just to hand, and I have to say, when Mr Widdows is in this city it is only by chance I see him now and then. Sometimes he is here a week and away again, and I do not see him. The people here, generally speaking, are proud of him, and believe him to be a truthful and honourable young man. Even my fellow Catholics do not persecute him, but pray for his return to the Church.
Respecting his visit to Dundee, the people here think he bas been very unjustly dealt with. For myself, I have no interest in Mr Widdows or his work, nor the way he does it, therefore what I say to you is quite disinterested. I have known him for about twenty years, and have always found him to be a most honourable and moral young man, and there are hundreds in Norwich who would say the same thing. His relations are also highly respected.
I have only to add that every time he lectures here, in his native city, our St Andrew's Hall, which will accommodate 4000, is not large enough to contain the crowds who flock to hear him. I simply make these statements in justice to my old playmate and schoolfellow.
I believe, since his trouble in Dundee, he has been ill, and is still so. In conclusion, I beg to say I wish him every success in life in all his undertakings, although I do not suppose I shall ever agree with him in religious matters.
Respectfully yours,
JOHN MEADOWS.
The only truthful statement is that they'd known each other about 20 years! In reference to the letter Widdow told the Dundee Courier of May 14th: "I did not know that John Meadows had written. I have not seen him since I was in Dundee, and I did not see his letter till I read it in a Norwich paper. I must say that the editor of Norwich Argus is against me because I called him a Jew; and because they cannot say anything against me now, they speak of things I did, or may have done when I was a boy, such as that I went to school at the Boys' Home, &c.
On August 7th 1879 the Dundee Courier reported on Widdows' appearance on "Sunday evening last" at the Albion Halls in Glasgow. Among various other matters concerning his past, Widdows mentioned John:
John Meadows never was a monk. We were boys together serving at the same altar, and there is not a year's difference in our ages. John went to a monastery to become a monk, but he did not like it. His confessor told him he had not the vocation, so he left the monastery and returned to Norwich and took to himself a wife, and he is in Norwich now.
On the 1881 census the Meadows family were living at 14 Afghan Terrace in Heigham. John was still working as a tailor to provide for Sarah and their four children - including the new addition Alice Francis Meadows, born on January 27th. Alice was baptised on September 14th 1881.
John died in the first quarter of 1885, at the age of 34.
On the 1891 census Sarah was living at 91 Stafford Street with their four children. Edward was working as a clerk, William as a porter, Walter as a shop assistant, and Alice was still at school.
Edward married Amelia Marshall (b. 16/07/1872) on August 20th 1896. Edward worked as a coal merchants' clerk and the couple had three children: Gladys May (b. 1898), Raymond Ernest (b. 1901), and Marjorie Edith (b. 1904). The 1901 census lists them at 20 Gloucester Street, and the 1911 census at 21 Gloucester Street. The 1939 register listed Edward as a retired brewers' clerk, living with Amelia at 14 Synagogue Street. Edward died in 1952.
William worked as a railway clerk and married Martha Elizabeth Amis in 1900 - the 1901 census lists them at 128 Old Palace Road, Heigham, with Martha's brother Frederick (b. 1878) who was working as a dentist's assistant. They moved to 232 Dereham Roa in 1905 according to the electoral register, where they listed on the 1911 census with their son, Robert William Ernest (b. 1905). William died on November 1st 1934, leaving Robert his effects worth £445.
Walter married Beatrice Louisa Ransome (b. 1878) on June 4th 1900. On the 1901 census they were working as a wine merchants manager and dressmaker, respectively, and living at Backs Court with a domestic servant, Florence A Bassendin (b. 1884). They had a daughter, Vera Beatrice, born on September 12th 1906. Walter served in the RAF during WWI and died in 1945.
I'm not sure what happened to Alice - the last definite mention I found of her was on the 1891 census...
