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Newman and his Family
by
Edward Short
A study in family history and influence, Newman and his Family looks at how John Henry Newman (1801-90), the priest, educator, theologian, philosopher, novelist, poet
and satirist both learned from and was transformed by his parents and his brothers and sisters. The son of a banker
in the City of London and a Huguenot mother whose family were famous and innovative paper makers and printers,
Newman was the eldest of six children, two boys and three girls--Charles, Harriett, Frank, Jemima and Mary. While
the family was reared Anglican, Charles abandoned Christianity for Owenite Socialism and Frank ended his days a
Unitarian. Although Mary died young, she had a profound influence on her brother, as did Harriett, who could never
reconcile herself to her brother’s conversion. Jemima was also opposed to his conversion, though she lived long
enough to witness (from afar) his strange, tumultuous new life as a Catholic. At the same time, since none of the
family followed their eldest brother into the Catholic Church, to which Newman converted in 1845, the book also
explores the limitations of Newman’s influence and the ways in which family differences led him to a deeper understanding
of such themes as home and ostracism, failure and faith, conversion and apostasy, disunity and prayer, infirmity
and love.
Based on Newman’s vast correspondence and the correspondence of his different family members, as well as on his
published and unpublished writings, Newman and his Family presents
the great religious thinker in a freshly personal light, where he can be seen sharing his theological and philosophical
convictions directly with those to whom he was most closely tied. While there are excellent studies available on
different aspects of Newman and his work, this is the first full-length study to show how the difficulties and
heartbreaks inherent in family life helped Newman to understand not only himself and his contemporaries but his
deeply personal Christian faith.
Table of Contents
Introduction
1. Father and Son
2. Mrs. Newman and Amor Matris
3. Charles Newman and the Idea of Socialism
4. Frank Newman and the Search for Truth
5. Mary Newman and the World to Come
6. Harriet Newman and English Anti-Romanism
7. Jemima Newman and the Misery of Difference
8. James Rickards Mozley and Late Victorian Scepticism
Conclusion: Family, Faith and Love
Publisher's Book Information
Online Book Preview
Author's Website
Reviews
"As in his first book, Edward Short artfully portrays here the personal influences that
formed the character and mind of John Henry Newman. Where Newman and His Contemporaries successfully re-positioned the man among a constellation of his cultural and literary fellows, Newman and His Family charts out the shifting angles and dimensions of a tighter,
more powerful ring of influences around the Victorian sage: his father, mother, brothers, sisters, and nephew.
Again, Short's well-wrought chapters, with their characteristic grace, aplomb, and light-borne wit, bring a much-wanted
human richness to our understanding of a man we are only beginning to know." - Dwight
Lindley, Assistant Professor of English, Hillsdale College, USA,
"Newman and his Family is a psychological and spiritual
voyage around the great Cardinal in the often fraught context of his familial relationships, which will be fascinating
equally to Catholics, other faiths and unbelievers. Newman himself said that there was nothing more interesting
than the ten thousand little details and complications of daily life and family history. With the wisdom of empathy,
Edward Short's gift is to let us hear Newman speak in his own voice, so distant from our own times and yet still
so immediate. In this meticulously researched and lovingly written book, Newman has found his ideal biographer."
- Angela Thirlwell, Author of 'William
and Lucy: the other Rossettis' and 'Into
the Frame: the four loves of Ford Madox Brown',
"Newman and his Family is one of the
most remarkable books I have read in many years. For newcomers it presents Newman from within, as he really was.
For those already familiar with Newman's writings, Edward Short brings informed, refreshing, always original, and
sometimes provocative insight into the greatest English religious figure of his time and ours. Here is Newman as
understood by, and not understood by his family--and what a family! This often gripping book deserves to find a
wide readership. I suspect it will become a classic." - Dermot Fenlon, The Birmingham Oratory, UK,
"an important, fascinating, and well-researched exploration of the family context and influence on Newman's
life and thought." - Geoffrey
Rowell, The Church Times
"Short manages a fresh perspective on a much written subject. Analysing Newman's relations with his family
- none of whom followed him into Rome - he illuminates not only Newman's religious development but that of his
whole age... [This is] an elegant and erudite book, showing how Newman struggled in his thought to respond to his
relatives view whilst answering "the call of charity" to them. It will benefit any level of university
student or intelligent layperson who reads it." - Christopher Villiers, The Theological Review
"Short's book is excellent, at once both scholarly and moving. It gives deep and original insights into a
man and a family whose tragedies and tensions were emblematic of their age. This is a volume which does not simply
enrich our understanding of Newman; it also brings a human note to the larger religious and political dramas of
Victorian England and thus to the background of this, our present age. One can hardly wait for the third volume
to see what Short will make of the critics, especially the unfortunate Charles Kingsley, doomed to be forever remembered
as the immediate cause of Newman's finest literary hour." - Carl
R. Trueman, First Things
“According to Edward Short, ‘Few eminent Victorians can be understood without reference to their
families. … Similarly, no one can understand Newman’s warm, affectionate, playful, gregarious, generous nature
unless he knows something of the love he received from and gave back to his family, even though his evolving religious
convictions would, in many cases, alienate that love.’ The truth of these assertions is convincingly demonstrated
in this excellent book…Meticulously researched and elegantly written, Edward Short’s book is a volume worthy of
a man who in a long life (1801-1890) played with distinction many parts – priest, educator, theologian, philosopher,
apologist, preacher, novelist, poet, satirist, sage, friend and likely saint. Among Newman’s many admirable qualities,
Short draws attention to his intellectual rigour, his self-deprecatory honesty, his versatility in friendship,
his generosity as a correspondent, his acute sense of home, his undoubted Englishness, his profound simplicity
of heart, his singleness of mind and purpose, and “his admirable aplomb under duress.’ Edward Short wrote: ‘My
only object was to share with my readers how Newman’s relations with his family informed his understanding not
only of himself and his contemporaries but of his faith in God.’ I am sure that readers to whom I heartily recommend
this work will concur in my judgment that the author has achieved his stated aim admirably.” - Brother Brian Grenier, CFC, The Catholic Leader, Brisbane, Australia
Edward Short's Newman and his Family is "learned,
delightful and fascinating." First Things
Newman and his Family is "...a very fine book, much to be recommended
for all lovers of Newman." - Frances Phillips, Catholic Herald
Newman and his Family "is excellent, at once scholarly and
moving. It gives deep and original insights into a man and a family whose tragedies and tensions were emblematic
of their age. This is a volume which does not simply enrich our understanding of Newman; it brings a human note
to the larger religious and political dramas of Victorian England and thus to the background of our present age.
One can hardly wait for the third volume to see what Short will make of the critics, especially the unfortunate
Charles Kingsley, doomed to be forever remembered as the immediate cause of Newman’s finest literary hour."
- First Things
Version: 26th February 2014
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