On this site, whose present address is Old Oscott Hill, Birmingham, B44 9AG, UK, Bishop Hornyold built ‘Oscott House’ as a residence for the Vicars Apostolic of the Midlands. In 1794, it became St. Mary’s College, Oscott, and was the first Seminary to open in England after the reformation. The college was transferred to a new site not far away (the present day Oscott) in 1838; then for a short while it was a school until in 1846 John Henry Newman and his community who had recently been received into the Church were granted the site as a house of retreat and study. It was Newman and his followers who gave it the name “Maryvale”, which it still retains, and it is specified in the Papal Brief as the location of the first English Oratory of St. Philip in 1848.

In the light of this it is easy to understand the enthusiasm with which the Founder greeted the acquisition of Maryvale by the Oblates. It was offered to them by Bishop Ullathorne as a novitiate and house of studies when it was vacated by Newman in 1848.The terms were that they were to serve the local mission and keep the property ‘in tenantable repair’. On 8 July 1849 the General Council approved its acceptance by Fr. Aubert, the superior of the Oblate mission in Britain.

The novitiate community moved in from Market Weighton in East Yorkshire. Father Bellon was superior and master of novices. The house was intended to be more than a novitiate. A decision was made that all Oblates assigned to the foreign missions should spend at least a year in England to learn English and become inculturated. When in full swing the community numbered some 25 to 30 persons. On his first visit to Britain in 1850 the Founder visited Maryvale and wrote to Tempier on 23 June: “What a pretty house, what a quiet and agreeable site!” And on 1 July he wrote Tempier: “I found there a fine community quite well situated in a decent house where life is well regulated”. After other visits he returned to Maryvale on 20 July to ordain Claude Sallaz to the priesthood, L. F. Babel and McDonagh to the diaconate, and L. J. Dunne as subdeacon and to confer minor orders on Charles T. Zucher, F. J. Lynch and P. Kirby, all on 21 July 1850.

Father Tempier paid a short visit to Maryvale on his way to Canada in May 1851 and conferred there with Father Noble on future directions. Already heavy financial burdens were making the continued retention of Maryvale impossibility and the search was on for another site for the novitiate and house of studies. One was found at Sicklinghall in Yorkshire of which the Oblates took possession in May 1852 and the Oblates left Maryvale. It passed into the hands of the Sisters of Mercy who ran an orphanage and established a school for poor children until 1980. The present Catholic College for Theology and Catechesis developed out of the Adult Centre for Catechetics opened by Bishop Dwyer in 1980.

The following took the habit in Maryvale:

  • James Dunkley, 14 August 1849, who was received by Fr. Aubert.
  • James Geraughty, 7 September 1849, who was received by Fr. Bellon as a Brother.
  • John Bushel, 7 September 1849, who was received by Fr. Bellon as a Brother.
  • Michael Byrne, 27 September 1849, who was received by Fr. Bellon.
  • William Laffan, 31 October 1849, who was received by Fr. .Aubert.
  • James Gubbins, 31 October 1849, who was received by Fr. Aubert.
  • James O’Connell, 24 December 1849, who was received by Fr. Bellon. [left 9 August 1850]
  • Daniel Monahan, 16 February 1850, who was received by Fr. Bellon. [left before profession]
  • George Balpe, 16 February 1850, who was received by Fr. Bellon.
  • William Winter, 11 June 1850, who was received by Fr. Bellon.
  • Richard Fell, 11 June 1850, who was received by Fr. Bellon as a Brother.
  • James Cooney, 20 July 1850, who was received by Fr. Aubert as a Brother.
  • George Cooper, 7 December 1850, who was received by Fr. Aubert.

The following made their oblation in Maryvale:

  • Jean Gobert, 15 August 1849.
  • Patrick Kirby, 15 August 1849.
  • James Egan, 25 January 1850, before Fr. Bellon.
  • James Gubbins, 1 November 1850.
  • William Laffan, 1 November 1850.
  • George Featherstone made vows for one year in Maryvale, 15 August 1849.

Bishop Ullathorne conferred orders on 8 scholastics, prior to the ordinations noted above conferred by the Founder on 20 July 1850.

Michael Hughes, o.m.i.