Fr Gervase Knowles will be remembered by his community above all for two ideals which lie at the heart of our monastic life: he was the ever-present monk in his stall in the choir and he was always the best of calefactory men. To these two we can add a third quality: self-effacing to a fault, unhurried and unfussy, he radiated calm over all and interest in the activities of others. On matters of fundamental value - the Catholic Faith, the Mass, courtesy and good behaviour - he was unshakeable; in matters of less moment he was more neutral, a smiling chuckle, head half-bowed followed by a raising of the head, a sigh, and a little laughter - this indicated a tolerant acquiesence if not always agreement. But in all matters he was stable, obedient, prayerful and considerate, an influence for good community living and much loved and appreciated. When at last a peculiar leukaemia afflicted him, causing frequent visits to hospital for blood transfusions, we all detected his discomfort at the failure of his body to retain its strength, but he never complained, came to terms, as ever, with God's will for him, resumed his place in choir and calefactory when he could and emerged dependent and serene. He died in his sleep on 25 February 1992, in his 82nd year and the 46th year in the Benedictine habit.
John (Jack) Knowles was born on 5 November 1910 at Wednesbury, youngest of five sons born to Sarah (née Caldwell) and Tom Knowles. His father Tom died when Jack was a young boy, leaving mother to bring up five sons on her own. Tom was her second husband, her first husband, by whom she had a daughter, had died young. Sarah therefore saw two husbands to the grave while still a young woman and must have been a remarkable person to have coped both with the reality of sadness and death and then the upbringing of six children.
Jack was thus firmly set in the Lancashire Catholic tradition, a combination of Knowles and Caldwell, Birkenhead and Warrington. Little can be gleaned now about the Knowles family, talented, self-effacing, dedicated. All five brothers came to Ampleforth, where Catholicism and rugby became major influences. Tom Knowles, next to Jack in age, captained Birkenhead Park, and played for England against the All Blacks; Cyril, middle of the five brothers, played for the Army. Those were the days when a school highlight of the year was the rugby fixture against Sedbergh. It was rare for Ampleforth to win, for Sedbergh in those days vied with Loretto for pre-eminence in supplying Scottish Internationals. The fact of being the underdog, much in the same way as being heir to the Lancashire Catholic forbears, brought out in Jack a fierce but quietly spoken loyalty and nothing gave him greater pleasure in later years than watching the school turn the tables on the old enemy.
His mother had the greatest influence upon Jack and more is known of her family. Sarah was one of eight children. One of her sisters became a Sister of Charity. Jack's maternal great grandfather had had eleven children, two of whom became Benedictine monks and a third became Superior of a convent in Chester. And going back one more generation, Jarvis Caldwell had among his six sons, one Gervase, who was killed while serving in the East Indies. By taking the name of Gervase in religion Jack Knowles linked himself with his past, a past serenely and severely Catholic, religious and priestly, and he was part of a family which was devotedly loyal to Ampleforth: a nephew being a monk of Ampleforth, Fr Ignatius, before joining the Leeds Diocese; a first cousin once removed Fr Justin Caldwell joining him on the Gilling staff; two other Caldwells and three Crastons educated at the College.
Jack was at Ampleforth 1923-27 and then studied Dentistry at Liverpool University 1927-32. For several years after that he was part of the Liverpool Dental Hospital team in the General Anaesthetics Department. In 1940 he joined the Royal Army Dental Corps, serving essentially in India and Burma. Of the inner reality of his secular career we know little beyond the basic routine. He did not talk much about those years and need not put our imagination to the test. What is clear is that a burgeoning sense of vocation led him to seek the priestly life after his war service. I say 'priestly' rather than 'monastic' because Jack first sounded out a friend with a view to joining the Liverpool Archdiocese. But he was advised that the Archbishop did not favour mature applicants and so he was advised to seek the priestly life as an Ampleforth monk. He was not the first and will not be the last monk of Ampleforth to have sought the priesthood first and ended up as a monk first, exercising the full extent of his priesthood as an adjunct to his monastic vows. Indeed he chuckled away with that lightness of touch which was always his when he recounted that it was almost 40 years into his priestly life before he performed a Baptism.
Snippets of information can add to the picture of character. The young Jack, correct and strict in his catholicism, quietly methodical in his professional life, determined and tough on the rugby field, was not lacking in debonair flair. As a young man he enjoyed parties, good clothes, fast cars and on one occasion he was advised by his mother to find himself a flat in Warrington if he could not return home at a reasonable hour. And his mother, no doubt formidable and wise, as well as shrewd, cautious, sceptical, kept all Jack's best suits for what she expected to be his return to civilian life. She had perhaps also been the instigator of his liking of quality suits, herself having a Northerner's respect for good crombie cloth.
Jack (Br Gervase) received the habit in 1946 with, among others, Benedict Webb and Timothy Horner. He was ordained in 1953 and sent at once by Abbot Herbert Byrne to Gilling where he had 13 happy years. In 1966 Abbot Basil Hume brought him back to the monastery where he spent the next 26 years of his life. He was Secretary to Fr Abbot 1966-68, Monastery Guestmaster 1966-79, Infirmarian 1979-86, and the most meticulous Assistant Secretary to the Trustees in charge of our Deeds and Securities from 1966 until his death. From 1979-90 he was also Chaplain to St Martin's School, Nawton, and for a period of some ten years before that he was Chaplain to the School Infirmary.
At Gilling Fr Gervase was in charge of what was then the top year - 10-11 year olds - and he taught Maths and Geography as well as Religious Instruction. His patience, painstaking and gentle approach, allied to firmness of purpose made him an excellent teacher but he was much more than this. His 'Housemaster's room' was a happy place. He formed a radio club for the building of crystal sets; one day a transistor radio appeared, more exciting then than a video now, more perhaps like the introduction of BSkyB. More to the point Gilling boys were allowed transistor radios some ten years before such was permitted the other side of the valley. With Fr Bede Burge, Fr Gervase developed an early hi-fi system, placing speakers in the top of old drainpipes and chimney-pots, and putting them in the dormitories so that the boys had music at bed-time. It was not, of course, pop music; rather a light classical, forerunner perhaps of Classic FM, due on our wavebands as this is read.
Above all, Fr Gervase was a sportsman in the traditional meaning of that word, and a follower of all things Lancashire. So he could accommodate professional rugby league into his mental universe because of Warrington, Widnes and Wigan. He loved his cricket, too, following the fortunes of Lancashire first, then England, a reader of scores and a watcher on TV rather than involved in the atmosphere of the match. For 'atmosphere' he turned to fishing. It is not possible to evoke on paper what fishing meant to him for it is a solitary idyll. What one writer experiences watching the whole of a cricket match, another experiences by the water's edge in a day's fishing: there is beauty, repose, challenge, skill, patience and excitement. Perhaps this was why Fr Gervase rarely watched 1st XI cricket, in which he was always interested: his activity was at the lakes, fishing and looking after the lakeside. And there was another reason: he teamed up with his great friend Fr Anthony Ainscough. They were inseparable, of a similar era, background and interest, happy in each other's company, similarly quizzical, sharing values, traditions and customs which they did not like to see changed. At one level of his being Fr Gervase never quite recovered his sense of fun after Fr Anthony died.
It was however rugby which brought Fr Gervase's undoubted passion to the surface. A long conversation could develop out of any reference to rugby: five nations championship matches were looked forward to, never missed, always commented upon; and no-one was more fiercely loyal or clinically correct in watching and evaluating the Ampleforth XV. One incident may suffice to show Fr Gervase's usually suppressed but powerfully present physical force when it came to rugby. He was still coaching the under-14s at the age of 60. One day, when this writer, his assistant coach, was running with the ball to show the backs how to pass, he received a thundering tackle from the bespectacled Fr Gervase, whose blood was up at the failure of his forwards to tackle. That at least had not been a gentle touch.
When he returned to the Abbey from Gilling in 1966 he was briefly Abbot Basil's first secretary, the ideal monk to take on a most sensitive post at a time when it was apparent to all that an Abbot needs at least basic secretarial assistance. Discreet and unassuming, he was a trusted man. As Guestmaster he lived out St Benedict's strict guidelines on the reception of guests 'never lacking in a monastery'. He was a good conversationalist, drawing out others, occasionally telling a good yarn, and found comfort and pleasure in his pipe, an agreeable accompaniment to a conversation which might last beyond the bounds of duty. Thirteen years is a long time for such an onerous role. If he ever thought that his brethren took him for granted, he never said so or showed it and no doubt there was many a time when he may have noticed an opportunity to help him pass by. His last important work was as Infirmarian and here again he was available, helpful, comforting. All these jobs lie at the heart of the monastery; all were in good hands when Fr Gervase held them.
Finally two images of the man: he had many friends from his time at Gilling and also his work in the upper school, both parents, and boys themselves. Many a boy learnt the art of fishing at his hands and Fr Gervase never forgot those boys, following their development with special interest. To one old boy, living locally when not at university, he would write regularly, telling him what was going on at the lakes and inviting him to an afternoon's fishing. It was not an isolated case. Secondly, he took it upon himself, along with a couple of others of his generation, to clear the monastic refectory after supper every night in order to enable the staff to get off work earlier than otherwise might be the case. He did this right up to the day he finally took to his bed for the last time. It was a simple daily act but said much about his charity and devotedness.
DOM JOHN GERVASE KNOWLES 25 February 1992
1910 5 Nov Born at Wednesbury
1923-7 Educ Ampleforth (HC Physics, Chem:)
1927-32 Liverpool University, BDS Dentistry. Assistant to a number of
dental surgeons, staff of Liverpool Dental Hospital (Gen:
Anaesthetics Dept)
1940 12 Aug Lieutenant Royal Army Dental Corps 1941 Captain 1942-5
India & Burma
1946 19 Sep Habit at Ampleforth Abbot Byrne
1947 22 Sep Simple Vows
1948 10 Aug Tonsure
12 Sep Minor Orders
14 Sep Minor Orders
1950 22 Sep Solemn Vows
1951 22 Jul Subdeacon Bishop Brunner
1952 20 Jul Deacon " "
1953 19 Jul Priest " "
1953-66 Assistant at Gilling Castle
1966-8 Secretary to Abbot
1966-92 In charge, strong room & Deeds
1966-74 Monastery Guestmaster
1979-86 Infirmarian
1992 25 Feb Died