In Memoriam: Monsignor Gadd, Notable Lancashire Clergyman

The passing of Monsignor Gadd, a prominent figure among the Roman Catholic clergy in Lancashire and the recent Rector of All Saints’ Church, Barton, Manchester, marks the end of an era. Born in Salford in 1838 to a venerable Lancashire family with centuries of documented genealogy, Monsignor Gadd’s demise draws attention to a peculiar connection with a historical incident—the Fenian attack on a prison van in Manchester in 1867.

At the tender age of 29, Father Gadd, as he was then known, found himself entwined with the events that unfolded during the Fenian assault. The assault occurred in 1867 when a prison van was attacked, resulting in the shooting of Sergeant Brett. Father Gadd, spending a vacation near Limerick at the time, received an urgent telegram beckoning him back to Salford. The message conveyed dire news: “Come back at once. Five Irishmen are under sentence of death in Salford gaol.”

Father Gadd promptly attended the gaol, where the five men were separately confined. Despite facing threats of death if he persisted in his ministrations on the scaffold, Father Gadd, undeterred, continued to offer prayers audibly outside the cells. As the morbid crowd gathered to witness the execution and Irishmen across the city prayed for the condemned, Father Gadd, who had put his worldly affairs in order in response to the threats, spent the night with the prisoners.

On the day of execution, Father Gadd marched alongside the condemned men to the scaffold, providing them solace until the end. One of the condemned, O’Brien, clutched Father Gadd’s hands even after the fatal bolt had dropped, breathing for three-quarters of an hour before finally succumbing.

The demise of Monsignor Gadd evokes memories of a time when he, then Father Gadd, demonstrated courage in the face of Fenian threats, standing firm in his commitment to minister to those facing death. This strange reminiscence of a scaffold horror serves as a poignant footnote to the life of a clergyman whose dedication transcended the ordinary.

Sheffield Daily Telegraph – Tuesday 02 July 1907