Background
Edward Osbaldeston was born about 1560 at Osbaldeston Hall near Blackburn, Lancashire. He was the son of Thomas Osbaldeston, and nephew of Edward Osbaldeston, of Osbaldeston Hall.
Edward Osbaldeston was born about 1560 at Osbaldeston Hall near Blackburn, Lancashire. He was the son of Thomas Osbaldeston, and nephew of Edward Osbaldeston, of Osbaldeston Hall.
Не was hanged, drawn and quartered at York, 16 November 1594. He went to the English College of Douai, then at Reims, where he was ordained deacon in December, 1583, and priest 21 September 1585. He was sent on the English mission 27 April 1589, and was apprehended at night through the instrumentality of an apostate priest named Thomas Clark at an inn at Tollerton, Yorkshire, upon Saint Jerome"s day, 30 September 1594.
He had said his first Mass on the feast day of Saint Jerome, and in consequence had a great devotion to that saint.
Bishop Challoner prints the greater part of a letter addressed by the martyr to his fellow-prisoners in York Castle, the full text of which is still extant, and which reveals the great humility and serene trust in God with which he anticipated his death. Edward Osbaldeston was among the eighty-five martyrs of England and Wales beatified by Pope John Paul II on 22 November 1987.