User:Vartanza/Pontifex (British family)

The Pontifex family is an English Roman Catholic family which has produced various eminent 19th century and 20th century men of military and theological vocations.

Septimus Edmund Charles Pontifex, of Audley, Parkstone, Dorset (b. 1 October 1856, Bath, England - d. 30 October 1936, aged 80) was an Anglican cleric who joined the Roman Catholic Church in 1904. Septimus Pontifex married, secondly, as a widower, to Helena Allen (b. 6 August 1860 – d. 16 October 1955, Bath, England, aged 95) on 21 November 1882; they had five sons, four of whom attended Clifton College and three of whom became Benedictine monks at Downside Abbey.

a) Captain Dudley Allen Pontifex, Scottish Rifles was reported as "killed in action July 31st [1917] … at Pilkin Ridge, Ypres, Belgium, aged 26” during World War I.

b) Rev. Eric Edmund Dunstan Pontifex (b. 14 January 1889 – d. 28 May 1974, aged 84), was Monk of Downside. He was educated at Clifton College, 1898 - 1907 and earned his M.A. from New College, Oxford University.

c) John Wendall Pontifex, Cmdr. Royal Navy (b. 2 August 1892 – d. 25 November 1977, Cloudes Place, Poole, Dorset, England, aged 85); attended Clifton College, 1900 - 1905. He married Monica Matthews (b. 4 May 1895, Cardiff, Glamorgan, Wales - d. 8 November 1970, Poole, Dorset, England, aged 75). One of his sons is Brigadier John Moore Pontifex. John Wendall Pontifex married, secondly, to Frances Barbara Bart, on 15 October 1974. He died three years later.

d) Very Rev. Mervyn Charles Percival Pontifex (b. 11 May 1894 – d. 26 December 1974, Poole, Dorset, aged 80) was a Monk of Downside Abbey, 1st Abbot of Ealing. Educated at Clifton College, 1902 - 1907 and at Downside Abbey. His obituary appeared in The Times on 28 December 1974. His requiem mass was held at Ealing Abbey five days later, on 2 January 1975.

e) Roy Mark Pontifex (b. 10 April 1896 – d. October 1981, aged 85), also known as Charles Roy Pontifex. Monk of Downside, he was educated at Clifton College, 1904 - 1909, M.A. Christ College, University of Cambridge. He authored Religious Assent and The Existence of God.

First marriage
While still an Anglican, Septimus Pontifex married, in 1880, to Louisa Ellen Bond (b. 1855 – d. 21 November 1882, aged 27); they had a daughter, Constance Maud Pontifex (dates of birth and death unknown).

Links

 * Pontifex family information