Short answers, pulled from the story.
John Lingard entered the world on the 5th of February 1771 in St Thomas Street, central Winchester. His parents were recusant Catholics who had migrated from Claxby in Lincolnshire to London before settling in Hampshire.
The first three volumes of The History of England appeared in 1819 with Volume I intended as a textbook for schools. Most earnings from this project funded the education of future priests.
Lingard made extensive use of Vatican archives during his research travels to Rome in 1825. He was the first British historian to utilize French, Italian, Spanish and English dispatches alongside document collections and state papers.
An anonymously published translation of the Four Gospels appeared in 1836 with the title page reading simply that the work was by a Catholic. Lingard departed from usual practice by using early Greek manuscripts rather than the Latin Vulgate as the principal basis for translation.
Pope Pius VII honored John Lingard with a triple doctorate in theology canon law and civil law in 1821. A few years later Leo XII conferred upon him a gold medal generally reserved for cardinals and princes.