A senior priest of the Catholic Diocese of Christchurch and administrator of Christchurch’s Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament took the trouble to compile a scrapbook over a decade. He was the Reverend Fr Tom Liddy.
The good priest clipped and pasted items in his scrapbook religiously from 1951 to 1961. The scrapbook remained half-hidden in the Archives of the Diocese, to be discovered 21 years after his death in 2002. Known as a humble and dedicated man, Fr Liddy reveals more of himself in his choice of articles to paste in the book. He was a deeply spiritual man with a love for the Catholic faith and for Christchurch’s cathedral. His scrapbook shows he had a yen for witty and anecdotal jokes too.
Some may doubt the scrapbook was Fr Liddy’s. However, the evidence is overwhelming that he is the “chief suspect” among the band of scrapbook clippers and pasters. He has signed his name, in ink and in his very own hand and style, at the top of the first page. It appears again at the end, amid other words he had written. His writing matches perfectly other archived documents written by him.
The scrapbook is a thick, long and wide volume, with a heavy and elaborately bound cover. Its origin was not as a scrapbook though. Oh no. Fr Liddy would never have wasted a shilling on a shop scrapbook. This one was an unused baptism register.
“Quaint” may be the word to describe the volume. Yet, no one who knew him would recall the selfless Fr Liddy, a product of Fairlie in South Canterbury, as quaint. A decade of clippings, on a range of themes, transferred to a book that was antique even before it was put to use – that is quaint.
Articles pasted in the book come from varied sources. Unfortunately, Fr Liddy did not include any headlines from newspaper and magazine cuttings. To provide more space, it seems, he just lopped them off.
Many items seem to have been clipped from a publication called The Bulletin. This seems to be an American magazine, as words such as “dollars, cents, cops, sidewalks” appear often. Such words were not generally used in New Zealand 70-odd years ago. The most identifiable article is a report on the 50th anniversary of the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament that ran in Christchurch’s morning newspaper, The Press.
The cathedral’s anniversary, in 1955, must have meant much to Fr Liddy. He dedicated several pages to it, including six photos giving exterior views of the cathedral, from varying angles. Two interior photos show the sanctuary and high altar, from the main aisle, while another shows the Chapel of Our Lady. In addition, are separate photo portraits of Bishops Grimes, Brodie and Joyce. Notably, Bishop Lyons is not shown. Well, he was Australian. (Only joking.)
Speaking of jokes, Fr Liddy must have liked them, judging by the endless columns of them. Some will make you giggle, others will make you groan. Here is a sample batch, a few funnies called “Schoolboy howlers”:
- “The dome of St Paul’s is supported by four peers, all of which are unfortunately cracked.”
- “Shakespeare lived at Windsor with his merry wives.”
- “Browning wrote principally heroic cutlets.”
- “The opposite of pessimist is bigamist.”
- “The Mediterranean and the Red Sea are connected by the Sewerage Canal.”
Serious articles tend towards exhortations about faith, charity, good works etc. These include prayers that might well have been his favourites. Leading on Page 1 is the New Zealand national anthem. Well, it does beseech God to bless our country, and the words were written by a Catholic poet in Dunedin. The serious content comprises a large part of the book. Other items include Cathedral Parish newsletters , quotations from notable people’s speeches, sermons, religious books, and articles from The Tablet (a Catholic weekly).
Some snippets are interesting. For instance, did you know composer Edward Elgar wrote the music for Cardinal John Henry Newman’s oratorio, “The Dream of Gerontius”, and both were converts to the Catholic faith?
A literary discussion on why beautiful churches should be built when many people are suffering from hunger and poor housing struck me as still highly topical in 2023. To paraphrase part of the discussion – God gave us body and soul. The soul worships God through adoration, the body joins in worship by external signs. Beautiful churches raise minds to inspire thoughts of God. Destroy churches and memories of God will fade and the poor will become forgotten.
Fr Liddy fills a last remaining gap in the book with a summary of Cathedral Parish “costs”, as in late 1956. These include: St Joseph’s School 178 pounds, Xavier College 8831 pounds, cathedral 565 pounds, presbytery 805 pounds, parish car 86 pounds, parish hall 25 pounds.
To finish, here is a little verse from the big scrapbook –
An optimist is a hopeful chap
Possessed with the delusion,
That the end of the speech is drawing nigh
When the Speaker says, “In conclusion”.
Did Fr Liddy believe this related to certain priests’ sermons? Hmmm.
Acknowledgements:
Michael Crean, Author
CDOC Archives 2023.16.1 Cathedral Bulletins