Miles Gerard (born about 1550 at
Wigan; executed at
Rochester
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United Kingdom
*Rochester, Kent
** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area
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** HM Prison ...
13 (30?) April, 1590) was an English
Roman Catholic priest. He is a Catholic martyr,
beatified in 1929.
Life
Descended perhaps from the Gerards of
Ince, he was, about 1576, tutor to the children of Squire Edward Tyldesley, at Morleys Hall, near
Astley,
Lancashire. In 1579 he went to the seminaries of
Douai and
Reims
Reims ( , , ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne.
Founded by ...
, where he was ordained 7 April 1583, and then stayed on as professor until 31 August 1589 (O.S.), when he started for England with five companions.
At
Dunkirk
Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.[Dover
Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...]
harbour, where they were examined and arrested on suspicion (24 November, N.S.). A contemporary newsletter says that they were wrecked, and escaped the sea only to fall into the hands of persecutors on shore, but this is not consistent with the official records. These show that the prisoners at first gave feigned names and ambiguous answers, but soon thought it better to confess all.
After torture in London prisons under the notorious
Richard Topcliffe, they were condemned as traitors. They were taken to Rochester, where they were
hanged and quartered, says Father John Curry, writing shortly afterwards.
References
http://www.otley.co.uk/rcchurch/dickinson.htm
;Attribution
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gerard, Miles
1550 births
1590 deaths
English beatified people
16th-century venerated Christians
16th-century English Roman Catholic priests
People from Wigan
One Hundred and Seven Martyrs of England and Wales