There was nothing exceptional about Francis Barton, the third son of a good Lancashire Catholic family. He inherited the traditions of his home and county. A good student and a well above average games player, he made untroubled progress through the School and caused no surprise when he decided to enter the Community: he made a like progress through Novitiate, Oxford where he took a good degree in History, and then Theology and so to his Ordination to the Priesthood. During the years after he left Oxford and was starting in a small way his teaching career, he showed himself to be well in the Ampleforth tradition of the time, throwing himself into any work given to him - teaching, games, O.T.C. or just 'anything that had to be done'. Ampleforth was his life and, believing in all it stood for wholeheartedly, he was unsparing in his efforts to support his ideal. He was popular with the boys in the Upper School and loved his life in Monastery and School alike, seeing them as mutually complementary. But soon after Ordination he was to receive the first of two major upsets in his life: for he was sent to look after boys of 8-11 years at Gilling. Had he stayed in the Upper School he would undoubtedly have held a series of positions of increasing importance and responsibility but now he was to come on the staff of a school at which he had not been as a boy, and to deal with an age group virtually unknown to him. There are many who would find this assignment temperamentally difficult, or even impossible: in his case we shall never know his real reaction because he would see this order simply through obedience to his Abbot as the will of God for him and he accepted it as such without hesitation. He had the good fortune to understudy that remarkable man Father Maurus Powell, already in his seventies yet still very active and full of the wisdom of experience. And after seven years he succeeded him as Head Master, a position he was to hold for seventeen years. He had a great friend on the Staff at Gilling, Father Bede Burge, and the two shared the duties, satisfaction and the problems of Preparatory School life thenceforward, apart from the interval when Father Bede was in Saint Louis, until the latter's death shortly after his return to Gilling.
Many people looked for some major reforms at Gilling after Father Maurus's death; he had been a link with the old Preparatory School at Ampleforth where for many years he had assisted Father Basil Mawson. Now was the opportunity for some progress from the old system. But Father Hilary, true to his Lancashire upbringing, saw that the school was good and highly thought of and he displayed the caution which is suspicious of change and so his policy was to maintain things as they were, to exploit success. And when we look back at those years of his leadership who shall say that he was wrong? Gilling produced a stream of boys who came through the Junior House to the Upper School and their record of work, scholarship and games was a very good one indeed. Masters who taught them in later years and especially those who had to do with their character formation would say that although the entry from Gilling was far less selective than that from other Preparatory Schools the boys who had come under Father Hilary's care held their own on very favourable terms and were at no disadvantage whatever in having been introduced to the Ampleforth way of life at an earlier age, rather to the contrary. He was utterly devoted to his work among these small boys although it is probably true to say that he understood them far better than they did him. He coordinated his Staff by his thoughtful consideration of them and he was appreciated by the Parents whose advice he constantly sought and whom, in reverse, he constantly helped in dealing with the problems of their sons. He was most successful in giving the boys a manly piety which was helpful to them in later years and which was based on his own simple, direct and very real spirituality.
The years slipped by and in 1957 there was an epidemic of Asian flu which struck the school badly. Most of the boys were in bed and many of the Staff as well. At one point Father Hilary seemed to be almost the only active member of Staff and he carried on, by sheer sense of duty and determination perhaps, until others were up and about. Then he collapsed and it would seem that this was the start, in a still very active man, of that lung trouble which was slowly to increase and ultimately cause his death.
His condition gradually deteriorated and in an emergency he agreed in 1965 to the decision to retire from his position, but as Father Maurus had done before him, to remain at Gilling where his interests lay and where it would be easier to make life less difficult for him.
Mercifully, at this time, Father William Price was free to take over the responsibility from him, having just returned from a break in Saint Louis after retiring from the Headmastership of the College. And so he came to relieve Father Hilary until some more permanent appointment could be made. This proved to be a great joy for Father Hilary as the two men had been great friends and indeed it was a very good thing for Gilling as the companionship and trust coupled with their different experiences made things much easier for the one whose health was deteriorating rapidly. But as so often happens, it was the fitter man who was the first to go and Father William's death in January 1971 was a shattering blow which determined Father Hilary to leave Gilling where he had now been for 24 years and to move to Cardiff, where the Ampleforth Parish of Saint Mary's might give him Community life and some useful sedentary occupation in a climate which would be kinder than that of North Yorkshire. Although he was hesitant, as indeed were many others including his doctors, it was a very fortunate decision for all concerned. His health improved considerably and for the second time in his life a complete break into the unknown produced unexpected happiness. He found an unsuspected richness in outlet for his own good qualities: he was appreciated and affectionately revered by his brethren and the house staff and also by the parishioners with whom he came into contact. In a quiet and limited way he did immense good which gave him also great happiness so that he could with truth say that he did not ever remember such peace in his life before. He was still able to visit Ampleforth and go to Lourdes on the Annual Pilgrimage and he was a source of inspiration at both places as well as at Cardiff.
The improvement in his health which lasted for a year was, however, superficial, and his second year at Cardiff was more troubled than the first. He developed an infection in September 1973 and the struggle to overcome it placed too great a strain on his heart: he was in hospital for virtually the last four months of his life, bearing his suffering with exemplary but not unexpected courage and uncomplaining cheerfulness. Father Abbot paid him a visit in January 1974 and Father Hilary virtually asked his permission to die. Although the end was not expected so soon, that night his heart gave out and he died peacefully in his sleep early in the morning of 30th January, a month before his sixtieth birthday.
What he did in his life is of far less consequence than what he was, an extraordinarily good monk. In fact, everything that he did was coloured by his monastic obedience and his faithfulness to the vows which he had so willingly and generously made as a young man. His family and friends and his brethren are proud of him and his many Old Boys must be grateful to him and inspired by him - may he rest in peace and continue to help us who remain.
JAMES HILARY BARTON 30 January 1974
1914 1 Mar Born at Preston
Educ Ampleforth
1932 19 Sep Habit
1933 21 Sep Temporary Vows
1936 21 Sep Solemn
1935-38 Studied at Oxford - 2nd in History
1939 Jun Tonsure & Minor Orders
23 Jul Subdeacon
1940 21 Jul Deacon
1941 21 Jul Priest
Sep Assistant at Gilling
1948 Headmaster
1965 Jul Retired (ill)
1974 30 Jan Died at Cardiff
4 Feb Buried at Ampleforth