**GRANT, Thomas.** – Bishop, b. at Ligny-les-Aires (diocese of Arras, France) on 25 Nov. 1816, d. at Rome on 19 June 1870. He attended St. Cuthbert’s College (Ushaw), near Durham, and the English College in Rome, of which he became rector in 1844. He served as secretary to Cardinal Acton.
On behalf of the English bishops, he worked with the Holy See for the restoration of the Catholic hierarchy in the country and translated into Italian, for the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda Fide, the English documents relating to the matter. He also assisted Monsignor Palma in drafting the historical preface to the decree of 1850, which in fact reconstituted the Catholic ecclesiastical hierarchy in England. Pius IX appointed him first Bishop of Southwark; he was consecrated by Cardinal Fransoni in Rome on 6 July 1851. Modest and unassuming, Grant was held in high regard by the British government, which several times availed itself of his good offices to resolve conflicts between civil and canon law. In November 1869 he returned to Rome to take part in the Vatican Council. He was named a council minister and a member of the Congregation for the Oriental Rites and for Apostolic Missions.
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