Aug 152009
Also known as
- John Neele
- John Neale
Profile
Waterman, and servant of Saint Margaret Ward. He helped Father Richard Watson, a condemned priest, escape by meeting him outside the prison with a boat, then changing clothes with him to lead pursuers off his trail. Condemned to death for aiding a priest, he was offered freedom if he asked the Queen‘s pardon and promised to go to church; he answered that he had done nothing to offend her Majesty, and it was against his conscience to attend a Protestant church. One of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales
Born
- hanged 1588 at Tyburn, London, England
- he was forbidden from speaking from the scaffold for fear he would inspire others
- 8 December 1929 by Pope Pius XI (decree of martyrdom)
- if you have information relevant to the canonization of Blessed James, contact
Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales
39 Eccleston Square
London SW1V 1BX, UNITED KINGDOM
- man wearing Elizabethan working man’s dress and carrying an oar or small boat
Additional Information
- Book of Saints, by the Monks of Ramsgate
- Hagiography Circle
- Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints
MLA Citation