Challoner

Challoner, Richard, Roman Catholic prelate, was born in 1691 at Lewes, Sussex. Though his father was a dissenter, he became a Roman Catholic and professor at the English College, Douay. In 1730 he came to London as a missionary, and in 1741 was raised to the episcopal dignity at Hammersmith, with the title Bishop of Debra. At the time of the "No Popery" riots of 1780 he had to secrete himself, being at that time Vicar-Apostolic of the London district. He wrote numerous controversial works, the best known among which, the Catholic Christian Instructor, was a reply to Conyers Middleton's Letters from Rome. His Garden of the Soul is still one of the most popular devotional books amongst Catholics, and his Douay version of the Scriptures is still used by them. He died in 1781 in London.