Charles Michael Baggs

Charles Michael Baggs (1806–1845) was a Roman Catholic bishop, controversialist, scholar and antiquary. He briefly served as the Vicar Apostolic of the Western District of England from 1844 to 1845.

Early life and family

He was born in Belville, County Westmeath, Ireland, on 21 May 1806, the eldest son of Charles Baggs and Eleanor Kyan. His father was a Protestant barrister of Dublin (Ireland), who afterwards was judge of the court of vice-admiralty in Demerara, British Guyana (South America). His mother was the fourth daughter of John Howard Kyan of County Wicklow. Through his mother's family he is directly descended from the O'Cahans, a significant Irish clan in Ulster.

Education

His father being a member of the Church of Ireland, he was sent to a Protestant academy at Englefield Green in Berkshire. Early in 1820, his father died suddenly at Demerara, three days after hearing of the death of a friend for whom he had become security for 60,000 shillings. Upon the news of this double calamity, Charles Baggs was removed by his mother from Englefield Green to a Roman Catholic seminary at Sedgley Park, Staffordshire in June 1820. Twelve months later, he was transferred, at the instance of Bishop William Poynter, to St. Edmund's College, Ware, Hertfordshire, as an ecclesiastical student.

Three years later, he was sent to the English College, Rome to complete his ecclesiastical studies, arriving there on 9 June 1824. He became a distinguished student, winning prizes in logics, Hebrew, physics, mathematics and theology.