Bartholomew was a monk and hermit. Born at Whitby of Scandinavian parents and called Tostig until he changed his name to William to avoid the ridicule it caused.
The first change in his life resulted in his refusing marriage, going to Norway and becoming a priest. He returned to England and spent three years in parochial ministry in the late 1140s, he became a monk at Durham and took the name Bartholomew. He went as a hermit to the island of Inner Fame, made famous by Guthbert. There he remained, except for short intervals, for his remaining forty-two years.
His more endearing traits included continual cheerfulness, love of fishing, his fondness for his pet bird, and his generosity to his many visitors. He passed his days in prayer and work, striding over the island, singing psalms in his splendid voice, reading and writing, milking his cow, and tending his crops. Eventually he was stricken by a painful illness with an internal abscess.
Not long before his death he carved, for himself, a stone sarcophagus, possibly identical with the one still there.
His feast day is the 24th June.
Written and contributed by Phillip Lloyd.
