Joseph Gillow

Joseph Gillow (5 October 1850, Preston – 17 March 1921, Westholme, Hale) was an English Roman Catholic antiquary and bio-bibliographer, "the Plutarch of the English Catholics". [Thomas Bridgett, in "The Catholics who's who and yearbook", 1908. Quoted in "ODNB".]

Born to an English Roman Catholic family, Joseph Gillow was educated at St Cuthbert's College, Ushaw. In1878 he married Ella McKenna, a brewer's daughter, securing him a private income allowing him to pursue his antiquarian interests.J. F. X. Bevan, [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/41282 ‘Gillow, Joseph (1850–1921)’] , "Oxford Dictionary of National Biography", Oxford University Press, 2004, accessed 1 Aug 2008] He published various researches into the history of Catholicism in Lancashire, but his greatest achievement was the "Biographical and Bibliographical Dictionary of the English Catholics" (5 vols, 1885-1902). Unfortunately, to fit his material into the five volumes allotted him by his publishers, Gillow needed to abbreviate the later volumes. No index was available until 1986. [Bevan, J. F. X., "Index and finding list to the bibliographical dictionary", 1986]

Gillow was appointed honorary recorder of the Catholic Record Society at its foundation in 1904, and was a frequent contributor to their transactions. [ [http://www.catholic-history.org.uk/crs/records.htm "Catholic Records" Volume List 1-76] ]

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*worldcat id|lccn-n86-144472