Monsignor Capel

A carte-de-visite portrait of Monsignor Thomas John Capel (1836-1911).

Born in Ireland on 28 October 1836, he entered the priesthood and became famous for his conversions to Catholicism, earning him the soubriquet 'The Apostle to the Genteel.' He received many high profile Anglicans into the Roman Catholic Church, most notably the Marquess of Bute. However, various scandals involving drunkenness, sexual immorality and financial mismanagement caused him to be sent to the United States, where further reports of his inappropriate behaviour with women led to his suspension from the priesthood in 1886. He died at Sacramento in California in 1911.

Photographed by the London Stereoscopic and Photographic Company.