John Ayscough

Francis Bickerstaffe-Drew, better known as John Ayscough and born Francis Browning Bickerstaffe, (11 February 1858 – 3 July 1928) was a British writer and Roman Catholic priest.

Biography

Born in Headingley, Leeds, the younger son of Harry Lloyd Bickerstaffe, an Anglican cleric, and Elisabeth Mona Brougham Drew, the daughter of Pierce Drew of Heathfield Towers, Muckridge, Youghal, County Cork, Ireland.

He had one sibling, an elder brother, Pierce.

In 1878, he converted to Roman Catholicism, while an undergraduate at Pembroke College, Oxford. Bickerstaffe-Drew was ordained as a Catholic priest in 1884 and served as a chaplain in the British Army for more than thirty years. He was appointed a chaplain to the forces (4th class), ranking as captain, on 27 January 1892, and while stationed in Malta was promoted to chaplain to the forces (3rd class), ranking as major, on 1 February 1903. As army chaplain he served with the British Expeditionary Force in France during the First World War and was mentioned in despatches. He was made a private Papal Chamberlain by Pope Leo XIII in 1891 and by Pius X in 1903, was a member of the Pontifical Chamber of Malta.

Bickerstaffe-Drew died in Salisbury, England on 3 July 1928, aged 70.

Distinctions

Honorary degree from the University of Notre Dame

Honorary degree from the Marquette University

Knight of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre

Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice (1901)