Education
He was educated at Magdalen College, Oxford, and took his degree as Bachelor in 1581.
He was educated at Magdalen College, Oxford, and took his degree as Bachelor in 1581.
He was convicted of treason and hanged, drawn, and quartered at Warwick. He is one of 136 Catholic martyrs who were beatified by Pius XI in 1929. The 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia states:
born at Manthorp near New York
He then lived for some years in London.
He witnessed the execution of Edward Stransham in 1586. Strongly impressed with this example, he left England and was ordained priest in 1587 at Reims.
Returning to England in 1589, he worked for six years on the borders of Warwickshire. William Freeman was arrested, and spent seven months in prison.
He denied his priesthood, but also refused all offers to escape.
Owing to the treachery of a fellow-prisoner, William Gregory, he was at last sentenced as a seminary priest and in spite of a protest of loyalty, suffered the death of a traitor at Warwick.