Regular readers may remember I’ve
mentioned the fate of Lancashire Catholics several times before (irregular
readers may like to use the ‘Search’ facility… ), but the story of Father John
Gerard is one of the most remarkable stories you are ever likely to read.
John
was born at Bryn, in Lancashire, on October 4th 1564 and spent his
boyhood at Etwall, Derbyshire, one of four country estates owned by his father,
Sir Thomas Gerard. A couple of miles over the border, in Staffordshire, is
Tutbury Castle (which, incidentally, is the property of the Duchy of
Lancaster), where, several times during 1569, Mary Queen of Scots was
imprisoned. In 1571, Sir Thomas and two associates, Sir Thomas Stanley and
Francis Rolston, were committed to the Tower of London on charges of plotting
to free Mary from Tutbury, with the aim of restoring a Catholic monarch to the
English throne.
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| Mary, Queen of Scots |
John and his elder brother Tom were taken from their mother and
placed in the care of a Protestant family until, three years later, Sir Thomas
was released and the family were reunited at Etwall. John was a large, strong
boy and spent much of his youth hunting with hawks, riding and at other field
sports, much to his mother’s concern (although the knowledge he learned then
would serve him well in later life). The boys were sent to the English Catholic
School at Douai, France (Catholics were prohibited from attending English
universities), and then later to Clermont.
Sir Thomas Gerard grew increasingly
bitter at the fines and confiscations he was forced to endure, and as his
estates shrank he increasingly mismanaged what was left. In a bid to provide
for his family, he signed over ownership of his estates to his sons but to his
dismay John decided to use his inheritance to pay for ordination into the priesthood.
Catholics were not allowed to travel abroad without a permit and John, a member
of such a well-known Catholic family, decided it was pointless to even apply,
so he and five Catholic companions surreptitiously departed for France in a
small wooden boat. Adverse winds in the Channel thwarted their efforts and
after five days they were forced into Dover harbour.
All five were immediately
arrested and sent under guard to London. John’s family connections gained his
release into the custody of a staunch Protestant uncle, who hoped to curb his
impetuous nephew’s spirit but John was having none of it. He flatly refused to
attend Protestant services, mocked his aunt’s entreaties and almost killed the
local minister by fright when he dressed as a ghostly monk and haunted the
churchyard at twilight. When the exasperated uncle threatened to horsewhip him,
the strapping lad just laughed in his face, so at the end of his patience he
returned his recalcitrant charge to the authorities, which sentenced him to the
Marshalsea prison.
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| Marshalsea Prison |
In prison, he was in the next cell to Father William Thomson
and, by removing a large stone in the wall, he crawled through and the two then
set about converting the other prisoners, organising masses and smuggling in
religious books. When the prison authorities uncovered the goings-on they tried
to take action but the situation had reached a level that the Bishop of London
complained that the Marshalsea had become “a college of caitiffs.’ In 1585,
John was persuaded by Anthony Babington to accept an offer of surety, and on a
bond of £200 and the requirement to present himself at the prison every three
months, he was released. One day, on his way to the Marshalsea he was passing
Tyburn when he saw the condemned Father Thomson on his way to his martyrdom –
Thomson made the sign of the cross to his friend from the back of the cart and
the devastated John went to Babington, who was rumoured to be involved in a
plot to overthrow Queen Elizabeth. Babington, it is rumoured, told John, “Your
head will be more useful to the Faith while it remains on your neck,” a
grim portent, as he was himself hanged, drawn and quartered the following year
for his part in the eponymous Babington Plot.
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| Anthony Babington |
Gerard followed the advice,
skipped his bond and slipped out of the country for Rome, where he was ordained
into the priesthood in 1587, entering the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) in
August the following year. In November 1588, just three months after the
Spanish Armada, John and Father Edward Oldcorne were put ashore at Bacton,
Norfolk, whereupon they separated and made their way to London. John disguised
himself as visiting country squire, and by using the ruse of searching for a
lost hawk in order to ask the locals for directions, he travelled the country
roads and back-ways without arousing suspicion.
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| Father Henry Garnet S.J. |
After making contact with
Father Henry Garnet, England’s head Jesuit, he returned to Norfolk, where he
used the name of Mr Thomson (in memory of his martyred friend) to move in
society. He joked and sported and played cards (although he would not allow
obscene or blasphemous words in his presence), playing the part of the country
gentleman and soon became immensely popular in the area. He began to travel,
returning home to Etwall at one stage, and said Mass where and when he could,
avoiding the pursuivants (priest hunters) by hiding in priest holes, the secret
spaces built into the fabric of houses where priests could conceal themselves.
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| Priest Hole |
He carried the altar furniture with him, to spare the families he visited the
risk of being found with such belongings in their homes, and would turn over
any mattress on which he had slept, so that a casual searcher would not feel
the warmth of a body having been there. On one occasion he spent four days and
nights hiding beneath a fire grate as pursuivants repeatedly searched a house,
who had been tipped off by a servant that there was a priest in the house – he
survived by eating biscuits and quince jelly. This treacherous servant, John
Frank, repeatedly reported Gerard’s whereabouts to the pursuivants and it
became simply a matter of time before he was taken. On the night of April 23 1594 Frank came to Gerard’s lodgings on the pretence of
delivering a letter and after making sure that the priest was there, he left.
Just after midnight a body of armed men surrounded the house and, there being
no way to escape, John Gerard and Nicholas Owen, another Jesuit priest, were
taken prisoner.
And that is where things start to get really interesting ...
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