Edward Hawarden


Edward Hawarden was an English Roman Catholic theologian and controversialist.

Life

Hawarden was born in Lancashire, England. His family were recusants who maintained domestic chapels in their residences in Appleton and Widnes. Edward, after a course at the English College, Douai, remained there as a classical tutor, and after his ordination, as professor of philosophy.
In 1688, having taken the bachelor's degree at the University of Douai, he spent two months as tutor of divinity at Magdalen College, Oxford, which James II of England purposed making a seat of Catholic education. The impending revolution against James forced Hawarden to return to Douai, where he soon proceeded D.D. and was installed in the chair of divinity. One of his students was the historian Hugh Tootell.
In 1702 he was persuaded to take part in the concurrence for one of the royal chair of divinity in the university, but the influence of a hostile minority secured the installation of another candidate by mandatory letters from the court. Shortly afterwards complaints were lodged at Rome that the Douai professors, Dr. Hawarden in particular, were propagating the errors of Jansenism. Hawarden was dismissed from the university, but a subsequent official investigation completely exonerated all.
In 1707 Hawarden left Douai to take charge of the mission of Gilligate, Durham, and later Aldcliffe Hall, near Lancaster. Brief entries in the Tyldesley Diary give an idea of his daily life until the seizure of Aldcliffe Hall in 1717, after which he moved to London, probably on his appointment as Controversy-writer.
Dr. Hawarden received the thanks of the University of Oxford for his defence of the Blessed Trinity in the famous conference with Dr. Samuel Clarke. He died, aged 73, in London.

Works

Among his works are:
a collective edition of his works was published at Dublin in 1808.