Charles Rupert Anthony Drostan Forbes was born at Marlborough on 1 May 1921, the younger son and youngest child of Colonel and Lady Helen Forbes of Rothiemay. His mother's father was the third Earl of Craven. From his very early years he showed great interest in the stage and cinema. In holiday times he would write and produce 'Playlets', acting in them with his next elder sister Rose, and this remained one of his chief interests: it was perhaps inherited, for his great-great-grandmother was Louisa Brunton, an actress famous in the early nineteenth century. After Gilling and the Junior House he entered St Bede's. He soon caught the eye of Fr Stephen and Fr John in the Theatre, and played in The Truth about Blayds as Marion Blayds-Conway in 1935, in Twelfth Night as Olivia in 1937, as Jimmy Ludgrove in The Fourth Wall in 1938, and in Arms and the Man in 1939 as Captain Bluntschli. At home he made friends with the proprietor of the local cinema in Huntly, and spent hours in the box, learning to operate the projectors. He subsequently took over as projectionist at the Wednesday cinema at Ampleforth. Another interest was Highland dancing. He was trained professionally with his three sisters at Banff and appeared with them in local public competitions with some success. He was one of the early members of the Higland Reel Society in the school, and when on the staff became President and did most of the teaching himself. Undistinguished at games, he became a House Monitor in his last year. He entered the Novitiate in 1939 and pursued the usual course of studies. At St Benet's he read Modern History, taking as his special subject Military History, another inherited preference, as on his father's side the previous five generations had been soldiers: his father was at Ladysmith, and in France in the First War, and his grandfather was a veteran of the Indian Mutiny. He was ordained priest in 1949 and taught at Ampleforth and then at Gilling until he was sent out to work on the parishes in 1953.
In many ways he was by nature ideally suited to be a good parish priest. He was a straightforward organiser who detested confusion and liked to know where he was, and liked other people to know as well. His duties as an MC at monastic functions showed the gentle, unobtrusive firmness that was typical. He was naturally resistant to change, but was willing to be persuaded in the end because he was always ready to listen. He had a phenomenal memory for names and faces: people whom he had not seen for years would be delighted by instant recognition. He really got to know people and kept up with them, and because he saw the good in them he loved them. This applied particularly to the disadvantaged, the aged, the sick, the poor: he spent every Christmas afternoon with the aged at the Little Sisters of the Poor in Preston, and the extent of his help for the down-and-outs who knocked on the presbytery door will never be known.
Grace builds on nature and in Fr Charles' case that grace was rich indeed. His spirituality too was simple, straightforward and deep, no gimmicks and no short cuts, but a deep and thorough-going love of our Lord, our Lady and of his fellow men. The meticulous attention to detail that went into his annual pilgrimage to Lourdes was typical of him, as was his ardent devotion to our Lady when he got there, and his constant devotion to any sick pilgrims. He eschewed any modem notions about the meaning of monasticism and held devotedly to the traditional values of obedience and service to his community, his parish and his Diocese: rarely if ever did he miss the monthly Day of Recollection organised by the Diocesan clergy, and he was a member of a number of Diocesan commissions, besides being on the national committee of the SVP, and provincial Chaplain to the Knights of St Columba - a body with strongly traditional spirituality. The result was someone to whom people could relate, a living example of one who sanctified and multiplied his talents in the service of his Lord. We rejoice in the greeting that awaited him, 'Well done, thou good and faithful servant: enter into the joy of thy Lord.'
DOM CHARLES (DROSTAN) FORBES 2 Aug 1983 1921 1 May born Marlborough edc Ampleforth 1939 27 Sept Habit at Ampleforth Abbot Byrne 1940 28 Sept Simple Vows " " 1941 5 Feb Tonsure " " 1941 11 Feb Minor Orders " " 1941 12 Feb " " " " 1943 28 Sept Solemn Vows " " 1946 21 Jul Subdeacon Bishop McCormack 1948 18 Jul Deacon Bishop Brunner 1949 17 Jul Priest " " 1942-5 Oxford St. Benet's Hall History 1950-53 Gilling Castle Staff 1953-54 Lent to Diocese of Paisley 1954 Sept Workington - Assistant 1962 Bamber Bridge - Assistant 1968 Oct Lostock Hall - PP 1983 2 Aug died suddenly at Lostock Hall 1983 5 Aug buried at Lostock Hall