CACrown ArchivesThe cinema collection
Menu
Research dossier · General Reference

Charles Walmesley

Vicar Apostolic of England and Wales

Cross-disciplinary reference desk with index cards, atlas, dictionary and catalogue
General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 19, 2026
Entity authorityQ5083324 ↗
Source-derived summary

Charles Walmesley, OSB (best known by the pseudonyms Signor Pastorino or Pastorini; 13 January 1722 – 25 November 1797) was an English Catholic prelate who served as Vicar Apostolic of the Western District. He was known, especially in Ireland, for predicting the downfall of Protestantism in 1821–5 and the triumphant emergence of the Catholic Church. He was a member of the Benedictines.

Early life

He was the seventh son of John Walmesley of Westwood House, Wigan, Lancashire, and was born at Wigan Lane House in 1722. was educated at the English Benedictine College of St. Gregory at Douai (now Downside School, near Bath); and made his profession as a Benedictine monk at the English Monastery of St. Edmund, Paris (now Douai Abbey, near Reading), in 1739. Later he took the degree of DD at the Sorbonne.

Walmesley's scientific attainments soon brought him into notice as an astronomer and mathematician. He was consulted by the British Government on the reform of the calendar and introduction of the "New Style" in 1750–52, and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of London, and the kindred societies of Paris, Berlin, and Bologna.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Charles Walmesley” as vicar Apostolic of England and Wales. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA practical starting point whose main value is the path it opens into stronger specialist and primary sources. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1722, 1797, 1821, 1739—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1722-01-13. The account is most persuasive where Charles, Walmesley and Vicar can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as vicar Apostolic of England and Wales. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 19, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5083324. VIAF identifies the subject as 57395592. The Library of Congress control number is n86824412. 3 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1722, 1797, 1821 and 1739.

Critical limits

A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Charles Walmesley”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Charles Walmesley primary sources, Charles Walmesley archive and Charles research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Charles Walmesley”?
  2. Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
  3. Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Charles Walmesley” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.