Bickerstaffe-Drew, Francis
Bickerstaffe-Drew, Francis
(pseudonym, John Ayscough) (1858 -1928 ) Writer, born Headingly, Leeds, England ; died Salisbury. He was educated at Pembroke College, Oxford; became a Catholic, 26 October 1878 ; and was ordained, 1884 . In 1891 he was appointed private chamberlain to Leo XIII; in 1903 , private chamberlain to Pius X; in 1904 , domestic prelate; in 1909 , Knight of the Holy Sepulcher and Count. He served as military chaplain at Plymouth, 1892 -1899 , at Malta, 1899 -1905 , and at Salisbury Plain, 1905 -1909 . During the World War he served with distinction. In 1918 he became assistant principal chaplain royal, and in 1919 , Commander of the British Empire. Under the name of John Ayscough he published several novels, including “Marotz,” “Dromina,” “San Celestino,” “Hurdcott,” “Jacqueline,” and “Abbotscourt”; short stories, among them those in a “Roman Tragedy” and “Prodigals and Sons”; and essays, notably “Saints and Places,” “Levia Pondera,” and “French Windows.”