Venerable Waire was an English friar and Catholic martyr who was hanged, drawn, and quartered at St. Thomas Waterings in

Camberwell Camberwell () is a district of South London, England, in the London Borough of Southwark, southeast of Charing Cross. Camberwell was first a village associated with the church of St Giles and a common of which Goose Green is a remnant. This e ...

(a brook at the second milestone on the Old Kent Road), on 8 July 1539. A number of historians record the execution of four men at this time and place, but only John Stowe identifies a Friar Waire as being among their number. Only one of the four is clearly identified, that being John Griffith, also known as Venerable John Griffith Clarke, Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII, Volume 14 Part 1, January-July 1539 - no. 989
/ref> but it seems clear that two friars were executed alongside him. All were accused of supporting the papal legate

Cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

Reginald Pole, who had refused to endorse

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

's divorce from

Catherine of Aragon Catherine of Aragon (also spelt as Katherine, ; 16 December 1485 – 7 January 1536) was Queen of England as the first wife of King Henry VIII from their marriage on 11 June 1509 until their annulment on 23 May 1533. She was previously ...

and was actively trying to incite the Catholic powers of Europe to invade England. It is possible that Friar Waire is to be identified with Thomas Wyre, one of the signatories to the surrender of the Franciscan friary of Dorchester, 30 September 1538. However, it is uncertain to what order he belonged. If he was a Franciscan it is remarkable that his death is not recorded in the "Grey Friars' Chronicle", and that no mention is made of him in such English Franciscan martyrologists as Thomas Bourchier or Angelus a S. Francisco.

References

People executed by Tudor England by hanging, drawing and quartering Executed English people 1539 deaths People executed under Henry VIII Year of birth unknown 16th-century Roman Catholic martyrs Venerable martyrs of England and Wales {{England-reli-bio-stub