Abbot Bede Turner died on November 24th in the seventy-ninth year of his life, the fifty-sixth of uninterrupted residence here, the thirteenth of his retirement after a breakdown in health, a retirement, however, which he occupied with the same unflagging industry which filled his active years.
He was born at Lower Simpson Fold Farm, Wheelton, near Chorley, on October 4th, 1869. Our records tell that he entered the School in 1884 and went to the Novitiate at Belmont in 1888. Memory begins its record later, when he was a young master with whom it was dangerous to trifle.
The least observant boy could not but be impressed by his piety, his punctilious exactness and his objective judgment - and by the somehow unexpected range of his tastes: he took a full share in the athletic part of life, and was one of the too few promoters of serious interests out-of-school.
In 1902 he was appointed Procurator and began that long partnership with successive Head Masters, Fr Austin for one year, Fr Edmund for twenty-one, Fr Paul for over ten, during which the fortunes of Ampleforth ceased to flag, and then, but only after ten or twelve years of seeming frustration, recovered. Alike during the lean years and under the stresses of rapid expansion Fr Bede pursued his equable ordered life, facing crisis and disappointment with unruffled calm, planning with an odd combination of daring and caution, supervising the most diverse operations with an often disconcerting wealth of technical knowledge; always unhurried under whatever pressure, and that too although he was profoundly distrustful of labour-saving devices and clung to oldfashioned methods. Of his various occupations it is likely that building gave him most interest and pleasure. Both Fr Edmund and our present Head Master provided him with ample satisfaction of that kind. It should be on record in The Journal that the Infirmary, as it originally was, in the garden behind the Old Monastery was designed by him. It is not unrepresentative of its creator: strong, simple, well-ordered, admirably suited to its primary use and surprisingly adaptable in changing circumstances.
Before he was Procurator he had served the little congregation in Ampleforth for a short time. For over twenty years from 1902 he attended the smaller flock at Brandsby. In 1916 he was appointed Subprior, and three years later claustral Prior.
More remarkable than the smooth efficiency of his work was his unfailing regularity in monastic observance. With the best excuse for absence or lateness he was always punctually present. And his presence was not only of the body: with many preoccupations to supply distraction he had an astonishing habit of alert attentiveness. Nothing escaped his seemingly downcast eyes: rarely did a slip in rubrics or ceremonies elude instant detection: a journey or a visit to any place seemed to imprint a detailed and enduring map upon his memory, so that years later he would cross-examine and often confound a more recent but less observant traveller.
In 1935 a serious illness required his release from administrative responsibility, and for the last years of his life he was, as already mentioned, in busy retirement. Now at last he had time for the studies he loved; petrology, the life and writings of Saint Bede, the topographical history of our neighbourhood, the records of Lancashire Catholics. The pages of The Journal contain some of the fruits of his researches; and he left an historical essay on The Red-Letter Men of Brindle almost ready for publication. He instructed the novices in rubrics and ceremonies, and, all unconsciously, in much else of even greater value. To the whole community he was a ready source of knowledge and counsel and fun and an admired example of goodness. To the older Old Boys and friends of Ampleforth he was a loved relic of their youthful years and an ever-interested sharer in their current interests.
Such marks of honour as were available were gratefully given to him. In 1923 he was nominated Cathedral Prior of Durham; and in 1933 General Chapter conferred on him the ancient Abbacy of Westminster. His long life of staunch fidelity ended suddenly: on the day of his death he had walked to Ampleforth village and back. Three hours after his return he died. May God have mercy on his soul.
JAMES BEDE TURNER 24 November 1947
[Tit Ab Westminster]
1869 4 Oct Born Chorley Lancs
1884- Educ Ampleforth
1888 3 Sep Habit at Belmont
1889 9 Sep Simple Profession Prior Raynal
1891 17 May Minor Orders Belmont Bishop Hedley
1893 16 Jan Solemn Vows Ampleforth Prior A Burge
30 Apr Subdeacon
1895 31 Mar Deacon
1896 22 Mar Priest Ampleforth Bishop Lacy
Served Ampleforth Village
1902- Served Brandsby
24 Jul Procurator
1916 Aug Sub Prior
1919 Nov to 10 Nov 1935 Prior
1923 23 May Nominated Cathedral Prior of Durham
1933 Resigned
18 Jul to 21 Jul Titular Abbot of Westminster at Gen Chapter
1935 5 Sep Taken ill & go to Purey Cust Nursing Home for operation
Ceased to be Claustral Prior
1936 Sep Ceased to be Procurator
Living at Ampleforth
1947 24 Nov Died suddenly at Ampleforth