George Patrick Dwyer was Roman Catholic Archbishop of Birmingham from 1965 to 1981.
Background
The son of John William Dwyer, a wholesale egg and potato merchant, and his wife Jemima, and also a cousin of Anthony Burgess, he was educated at Street Bede"s College, Manchester (1919-1926), then at the Venerable English College, Rome after being accepted by the Salford Diocese as a candidate for the priesthood.
Career
Dwyer proved an outstanding student, and was awarded doctorates in philosophy and theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University. He was ordained priest on 1 November 1932, and returned to England to study languages at Christ"s College, Cambridge. He also edited the Catholic Gazette for four years until his appointment as Superior of the Catholic Missionary Society in 1951.
He was consecrated bishop on 24 September 1957 following his appointment as Bishop of Leeds, before his appointment as Archbishop of Birmingham in October 1965.
However, Dwyer informed the Apostolic Delegate he felt that at sixty-seven his age was too great for him to be considered for the post. He was, however, elected president of the Bishops" Conference during the first three years of Basil Hume"s episcopate, becoming the first bishop to hold that position who was not also Archbishop of Westminster.
Dwyer is buried at Oscott College. His coat of arms is blazoned, "Argent on a saltire Gules a jousting spear Or" thus incorporating the names of Street Patrick and Street George.
His motto was Spe Gaudentes (Rejoicing in Hope).
Membership
Following postgraduate studies in Rome and Cambridge from 1932 to 1937, he returned to Street Bede"s as a member of the teaching staff before joining the Catholic Missionary Society as vice-superior in 1947.