John Speed (martyr)

John Speed (alias Spence) (executed at Durham, 4 February 1594) was an English Roman Catholic layman, condemned aiding and abetting Catholic priests in their ministry, in particular for assisting the priest John Boste, whom he escorted from one Catholic house to another. He is a Catholic martyr, beatified in 1929.

He turned down the inducements offered to bring him to conformity with the Church of England. With him was condemned Grace Claxton, wife of William Claxton, of the Waterhouse, in the parish of Brancepeth, Durham, at whose house Boste was taken and probably Speed also. She was, however, reprieved on being found to be pregnant.

References

Attribution

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Blessed John Speed". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. The entry cites:
  • Richard Challoner, Missionary Priests, I, no. 100, ad finem;
  • John Hungerford Pollen, English Martyrs 1584-1603 (London, 1908), 239.