Quick Facts
Biography
Abbé Guy-Toussaint-Julien Carron (1760–1821) was a French Roman Catholic priest who founded a number of social and educational institutions, especially while in exile in England, and was a prolific author of pious tracts.
Life
Born in Rennes, he soon employed himself in founding a variety of social institutions including a textile factory to employ the deprived inhabitants of his native town in 1789 and an institution for young women trying to escape a life of prostitution. However, in 1790, following the French Revolution, he became a non-juror, refusing to swear to the Civil Constitution of the Clergy, and was imprisoned.
In 1792, he was deported to Jersey where he founded schools, libraries and pharmacies for fellow French Catholics who had fled the Revolution. He resettled in Somers Town, London and established many educational and social institutions to support his community, winning the personal thanks of Louis XVIII.
On the Bourbon Restoration in 1814, Carron returned to France and became head of the Institut de Marie-Thérèse, a charity founded for children whose families had lost their fortunes during the Revolution.
He published many pious and religious works which were very popular in their time.