Remembering … Br Frederick Peter Canisius Fewell (1902-1989)

Originally from Cardiff where he was by trade a cabinet maker, he followed his mother to Bournemouth and there became Master of Ceremonies at the Jesuit Church. It was there, ironically, that he first came in contact with the Dominicans. The great Provincial of the English Province, Fr. Bede Jarrett OP (pictured right), was invited by the Jesuits to come to the church and preach, and perhaps inspired by this man’s words the young Peter Fewell later applied to join the Order. He received the habit in 1926 at Woodchester and made his profession one year later.

When his formation was complete he was assigned to Blackfriars, Oxford where he busied himself with making furniture for the still relatively new priory. The two vestment presses found in the sacristy are his handiwork, as well as a number of other items that are dotted around the house. In 1930 he was moved to St. Dominic’s Priory in London (the priory Church is pictured left) where he was made Head Sacristan. During this time he organized a vast number of altar servers into a crack altar servers guild, and he carefully trained them in all the intricacies of the Dominican rite. Later he became Refectorian and then Porter at St. Dominic’s, the first point of contact between the priory and the outside world. For much of his life he had a great desire to join the missions and on one occasion was packed, toolkit and all, ready to leave for South Africa. At the last minute his superiors changed their minds and, much to his disappointment, he was refused permission to depart.

Br. Peter was a private but kind man, a rock of support for his bretheen during the difficult years of change following the Second Vatican Council. At the age of 82, with his health failing, he was moved back to Oxford so that he could be better cared for by his brothers. He died on the 20th August 1989 aged 86, 62 years after his profession.