Joseph Curr

Who was Joseph Curr?

Father Joseph Curr was a Roman Catholic priest and author who was called a "martyr of charity" for his work in Leeds in the typhus epidemic of 1847.

He was born in Sheffield in the last quarter of the eighteenth century and died in Leeds, on 29 June 1847.

He was educated at Crook Hall, County Durham, and later went to the seminary at Ushaw College. After being ordained he was based in Manchester, serving the Catholic missions in Rook Street and Granby Row. During that time he debated with the Protestant Bible Association.

He then wet to La Trappe in France, later returning to Ushaw, and after that going to Callaly in Northumberland. He also served parishes in Blackburn, Whitby and Sheffield. Leeds was suffering a shortage of Catholic priests. Curr volunteered to serve there, where he died from Typhus.

His principal works are:

The Instructor's Assistant

Visits to the Blessed Sacrament and to the Blessed Virgin"

Spiritual Retreat