POLDING, JOHN BEDE. – Archbishop of Sydney, born on 18 November 1794 in Liverpool, died on 16 March 1877 in Sydney. Having been orphaned, he was adopted by his uncle J. Bede Brewer, president-general of the English Benedictines. He entered the Benedictine Order on 15 July 1810 and took his vows the following year; he was ordained a priest on 4 March 1819 and lived in the monastery of Acton until 1834.
In 1833 he was offered the bishopric of Madras, but P., citing reasons of health, declined. Consecrated titular bishop of Gerocesarea on 27 June 1834, he accepted the apostolic vicariate of New South Wales and Tasmania and went to Australia. Having arrived in Sydney, he immediately undertook a zealous pastoral activity, which produced positive results for the flourishing of the Catholic faith in those distant regions. Returning temporarily to England in 1841, he also went to Rome and proposed the establishment of the Catholic hierarchy in Australia. Indeed, in 1842 the apostolic vicariate of New Holland was divided into three dioceses (Sydney, Hobart and Adelaide), and on 9 April of the same year Gregory XVI promoted P. to archbishop of Sydney and primate of Australia. Having arrived in Sydney in 1843 as archbishop, he was received with hostility by public opinion, which, at the instigation of the Anglican Church, viewed the establishment of the Catholic hierarchy in the country with displeasure. He governed the archbishopric of Sydney for more than thirty years: in Sydney itself he founded St. John’s University College, and at Lyndhurst that of St. Mary. He did not participate in the First Vatican Council in 1870 because, having fallen ill during the journey, he was forced to return to his residence. Among his writings, the following should be noted: Libellus precum ad usum sodalitatis S. Gregorii Magni sub patrocinio B. M. Virginis; Instructions and devotions for the afflicted and sick; Regula SS. P. N. Benedicti cum declarationibus ad usum monachorum S. Mariae Sydneyensis.