![George Marsh (martyr) monument Deane](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/06/George_Marsh_%28martyr%29_monument_Deane.jpg)
George Marsh (1515-24 April 1555) was an English
Protestant
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...
martyr
A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...
who died in
Boughton, Chester, on 24 April 1555 as a result of the
Marian Persecutions
Protestants were executed in England under heresy laws during the reigns of Henry VIII (1509–1547) and Mary I (1553–1558). Radical Christians also were executed, though in much smaller numbers, during the reigns of Edward VI (1547–155 ...
carried out against
Protestant Reformers and other
dissenter
A dissenter (from the Latin ''dissentire'', "to disagree") is one who dissents (disagrees) in matters of opinion, belief, etc.
Usage in Christianity
Dissent from the Anglican church
In the social and religious history of England and Wales, and ...
s during the reign of
Mary I of England. His death is recorded in ''
Foxe's Book of Martyrs
The ''Actes and Monuments'' (full title: ''Actes and Monuments of these Latter and Perillous Days, Touching Matters of the Church''), popularly known as Foxe's Book of Martyrs, is a work of Protestant history and martyrology by Protestant Engli ...
''.
Life
George Marsh was born and lived most of his life in the parish of
Deane, near
Bolton
Bolton (, locally ) is a large town in Greater Manchester in North West England, formerly a part of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton has been a production centre for textiles since Flemish weavers settled in the area in the 14th ...
,
Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly.
The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...
. He was a farmer and married at the age of twenty-five. After his wife's death he left his children in the care of his parents and entered
Cambridge University
The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ...
, where he associated with advocates of the reformed faith and in particular
Lawrence Saunders. Marsh, from Catholic Lancashire, probably became a Protestant while at Cambridge.
Nicholas Ridley, the
Bishop of London
A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution.
In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...
ordained him
deacon
A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Chur ...
in 1552 and the following year he became the
curate at
Church Langton in
Leicestershire and the church of
All Hallows Bread Street in London where Lawrence Saunders was the incumbent. He was said to be a tall man who had a clever way with words and a popular preacher. He was for a time employed by the
king
King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king.
*In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...
, but fell out of favour during the reign of
Queen Mary I
Mary I (18 February 1516 – 17 November 1558), also known as Mary Tudor, and as "Bloody Mary" by her Protestant opponents, was Queen of England and Ireland from July 1553 and Queen of Spain from January 1556 until her death in 1558. Sh ...
. After Saunders was arrested in 1554 George Marsh went north and continued preaching the Protestant faith in the parishes of Deane,
Eccles and elsewhere in Lancashire.
![Georgemarsh Footprint2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a1/Georgemarsh_Footprint2.jpg)
A warrant was issued for Marsh's arrest for
heresy
Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, in particular the accepted beliefs of a church or religious organization. The term is usually used in reference to violations of important religi ...
by
Edward Stanley, 3rd Earl of Derby
Edward Stanley, 3rd Earl of Derby KG (c. 10 May 1509 – 24 October 1572) was an English nobleman and politician. He reigned over the Isle of Mann until his death, and then was succeeded by his son.
Early life
At the age of thirteen, Edw ...
. Justice Barton of
Smithills Hall in Bolton sent servants to arrest him at his mother's house, but Marsh gave himself up at the hall. After being "examined" at Smithills, according to local tradition, Marsh stamped his foot so hard to re-affirm his faith that a footprint was left in the stone floor. While being questioned at
Lathom House by the Earl of Derby it was thought that he could be made to conform and he was held in reasonable comfort. Marsh, however resisted the efforts to make him submit and when he refused recant was taken to
Lancaster Gaol where he was brought for trial at the
Quarter Sessions
The courts of quarter sessions or quarter sessions were local courts traditionally held at four set times each year in the Kingdom of England from 1388 (extending also to Wales following the Laws in Wales Act 1535). They were also established in ...
. For nearly a year, Marsh remained in Lancaster Gaol where he read from the Bible and prayed with townsfolk gathered outside his window until
George Cotes, the Catholic Bishop of Chester intervened. Sympathisers offered support and priests tried to convert him. When statutes against heresy were enacted by parliament Marsh was taken to the gaol at
Northgate, Chester
The Northgate is in Chester, Cheshire, England, where it carries the city walls footpath over Northgate Street (). It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building.
History
The present Nort ...
. He stood trial under Bishop Cotes in the Lady Chapel of
Chester Cathedral
Chester Cathedral is a Church of England cathedral and the mother church of the Diocese of Chester. It is located in the city of Chester, Cheshire, England. The cathedral, formerly the abbey church of a Benedictine monastery dedicated to Saint ...
. Marsh refused to convert to
Roman Catholicism, despite being given one last chance to recant while being tied to the stake at which he was about to be burned. His imprisonment is documented in Foxe's ''
Actes and Monuments''. Marsh's follower and brother-in-law Geoffrey Hurst, a
Shakerley
Shakerley is a suburb of Tyldesley in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, Greater Manchester, England.
It was anciently a hamlet in the northwest of the township of Tyldesley cum Shakerley, in the ancient parish of
Leigh.
The boundary between ...
nail maker, was also imprisoned at Lancaster but was saved from execution by Queen Mary's death.
Death
George Marsh was executed in April 1555 on the north side of the road in
Boughton, about a mile from Chester city centre. He was sentenced to be
burned to death at the stake at the traditional execution ground. After his death his ashes were collected by his friends and buried in the nearby Saint Giles' Cemetery.
![Georgemarshgrave](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8f/Georgemarshgrave.jpg)
There is no grave marker in the cemetery, just a brief footnote on an inscription:
Memorials
There are two memorials to George Marsh at
St Mary's Church in Deane. The base of a memorial cross in the churchyard is said to have been the base of an ancient
Saxon cross from which early Christian preachers taught. It originally stood half a mile to the west of the church on New York Road. Inscriptions on its base record his martyrdom and the erection of the memorial in 1893. A window was dedicated to him in 1897 depicting Faith, Charity and Hope.
George Marsh has two memorials in Chester, one is in
St John the Baptist's Church and the other is a granite
obelisk
An obelisk (; from grc, ὀβελίσκος ; diminutive of ''obelos'', " spit, nail, pointed pillar") is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape or pyramidion at the top. Originally constructed by An ...
erected in 1888 by the side of a road in Boughton, which has the following inscription:
Legacy and influence
In the library at Smithills Hall are some of George Marsh's personal letters and journals and a 17th-century edition of
John Foxe's ''Book of Martyrs'' which documents his trial.
Protestants in Chester gather outside
Chester Town Hall
Chester Town Hall is in Northgate Street in the centre of the city of Chester, Cheshire, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building.
History
In 1698 an exchange was built ...
around 24 April to commemorate the life and death of Marsh.
References
External links
*
Petrosomatoglyph
A petrosomatoglyph is a supposed image of parts of a human or animal body in rock. They occur all over the world, often functioning as an important form of symbolism, used in religious and secular ceremonies, such as the crowning of kings. Some a ...
Christian Heritage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marsh, George
1515 births
1555 deaths
People executed under Mary I of England
16th-century Protestant martyrs
People from Bolton
History of Bolton
Executed British people
People executed by the Kingdom of England by burning
People executed for heresy
People from Deane
Protestant martyrs of England
16th-century English clergy