Ralph Crockett (b. at Barton, near

Farndon, Cheshire Farndon is a village and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It is on the banks of the River Dee, south of Chester, which here forms the England–Wales border. Th ...

1522; executed at

Chichester Chichester () is a cathedral city and civil parish in West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publishing Date:2009. It is the only ...

, 1 October 1588) was an English

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

priest. He is a Catholic martyr,

beatified Beatification (from Latin ''beatus'', "blessed" and ''facere'', "to make”) is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their n ...

in 1929.

Life

Educated at

Christ's College, Cambridge Christ's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college includes the Master, the Fellows of the College, and about 450 undergraduate and 170 graduate students. The college was founded by William Byngham in 1437 as ...

, Crockett became a schoolmaster in Norfolk for a year before going to

Gloucester Hall, Oxford Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east of the ...

. After a year, he went to

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line ...

, where he was a schoolmaster for five years. In 1581, persecutions increased after the death of

Edmund Campion Edmund Campion, SJ (25 January 15401 December 1581) was an English Jesuit priest and martyr. While conducting an underground ministry in officially Anglican England, Campion was arrested by priest hunters. Convicted of high treason, he was ...

, so he withdrew to Cheshire for about two years.Hogan, Francis P., "Venerable Ralph Crockett", ''Lives of the English Martyrs'', vol.1, (Edwin Burton and J.H. Pollen, eds.), Longmans, Green and Co., 1914, p. 473
/ref> In 1584, he left for France, and began studies at the English College then located at Rheims. He was ordained at Rheims in 1585, and continued his studies for a year, but his health being compromised, he asked to return to England. He and three other priests, Thomas Bramston, George Potter, and

Edward James Edward Frank Willis James (16 August 1907 – 2 December 1984) was a British poet known for his patronage of the surrealist art movement. Early life and marriage James was born on 16 August 1907, the only son of William James (who had inherite ...

, left from Dieppe, but the ship ran ashore 19 April 1586 at

Littlehampton Littlehampton is a town, seaside resort, and pleasure harbour, and the most populous civil parish in the Arun District of West Sussex, England. It lies on the English Channel on the eastern bank of the mouth of the River Arun. It is south sout ...

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

, a place as carefully watched as any in the kingdom.

Martyrdom

After the failure of the

Spanish Armada The Spanish Armada (a.k.a. the Enterprise of England, es, Grande y Felicísima Armada, links=no, lit=Great and Most Fortunate Navy) was a Spanish fleet that sailed from Lisbon in late May 1588, commanded by the Duke of Medina Sidonia, an aris ...

, the English Government took severe measures against some of the Catholic priests in its custody. Crockett and James with two others, John Oven and Francis Edwardes, were selected for trial, which took place at

on 30 September 1588. Crockett, James and Edwardes were condemned to death, under 27 Eliz. c. 2, for being priests and coming into the realm; but Oven on taking the

Oath of Supremacy The Oath of Supremacy required any person taking public or church office in England to swear allegiance to the monarch as Supreme Governor of the Church of England. Failure to do so was to be treated as treasonable. The Oath of Supremacy was ori ...

was respited. Crockett ascended the scaffold and blessed the crowd in Latin which brought shouts of anger upon him, however he changed into praying in English whereupon the crowd cheered. James and Crockett faced their deaths without fear and were executed after absolving each other.

Legacy and beatification

Crockett's father Adam, in his later years entered the Catholic Church on the Continent and his descendants remained

recusant Recusancy (from la, recusare, translation=to refuse) was the state of those who remained loyal to the Catholic Church and refused to attend Church of England services after the English Reformation. The 1558 Recusancy Acts passed in the reign ...

and continued to practise their Catholic faith in the face of continued persecution. In 1929 Crockett was

Pope Pius XI Pope Pius XI ( it, Pio XI), born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti (; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939), was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 to his death in February 1939. He was the first sovereign of Vatican City fro ...

. His feast day is 1 October. He is depicted in stained glass by

Margaret Agnes Rope Margaret Agnes Rope (20 June 18826 December 1953) was a British stained glass artist in the Arts and Crafts movement tradition active in the first four decades of the 20th century. Her work is notable for the intensity and skill of the paintin ...

in the "English Mission Window" of Shrewsbury Cathedral and the "English Martyrs Window" of the Church of the Holy Name in Oxton, Wirral.

References

;Attribution * {{DEFAULTSORT:Crockett, Ralph 1588 deaths English beatified people Alumni of Christ's College, Cambridge 16th-century venerated Christians Year of birth unknown People from Cheshire 16th-century English Roman Catholic priests One Hundred and Seven Martyrs of England and Wales

Life

Martyrdom

Legacy and beatification

See also

References