- Stephen Rowsham
Stephen Rowsham (Rousham, Rouse) was an English
Catholic priest, executed on3 April 1587 [ [http://newsaints.faithweb.com/martyrs/England04.htm Great Britain (4) ] ] . He is a Catholic martyr, and wasbeatified byPope John Paul in 1987 [ [http://www.presbytery.co.uk/parish_history.htm Parish History ] ] .Life
A native of
Oxfordshire , born c. 1555 [http://www.cliftondiocese.com/beatified-martyrs-of-the-clifton-diocese Clifton Diocese | Beatified Martyrs of the Clifton Diocese ] ] , he enteredOriel College, Oxford , in 1572. He tookAnglican orders, and was minister at the University Church about 1578.Becoming convinced of the truth of the Catholic religion he went to the
English College, Douai andReims (23 April, 1581), where he was ordained priest, and sent on the English mission (30 April, 1582). Being recognized almost immediately on his landing, he was apprehended and sent to theTower of London , 19 May, 1582, and remained a prisoner for more than three years, during half of which time (14 August, 1582, until 12 February, 1584) he was confined to the dungeon known as the "Little Ease". On the latter date he was transferred to theMarshalsea , from which prison he was carried into exile in the autumn of 1585.He arrived at Reims, 8 October, but set out from England again, 7 February, 1586. The field of his labours, which were continued for about a year, was in the west of England. He was taken at the house of the Widow Strange in Gloucester. His trial and martyrdom were at Gloucester in March, 1586-87.
References
*"Douay Diaries"
*"Req. Univ. Oxon."
*Edward Rishton , "Diarium Turri-Lundin"
*John Hungerford Pollen, "Acts of the English Martyrs" (London, 1891)
*"Prison Lists" (Catholic Record Society )Notes
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