William Southerne (executed at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 30 April 1618) was an English Roman Catholic priest. He is a Catholic martyr, beatified in 1987.

Blessed

William Southerne
Portrait in the Royal English College in Valladolid
Priest and Martyr
Bornc. 1569
Ketton, near Darlington, County Durham, England
Died30 April 1618 (aged 48 - 49)
Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England
Venerated inRoman Catholic Church
Beatified22 November 1987 by Pope John Paul II
Feast30 April, 22 November, 29 October

Life

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An alumnus and priest of the English College at Douai and the Royal English College, Valladolid, he was born at Ketton, near Darlington, County Durham, and ministered in Northumberland. He was sentenced to death for being a Catholic priest and refusing to take the oath of allegiance and was stripped, hung, drawn and quartered.

Some later accounts, such as Challoner's Missionary Priests (1741-2), give the place of execution as Newcastle-under-Lyme but they appear to confuse Blessed William Southerne with another priest of a similar name who ministered at Baswich, near Stafford, which then belonged to a branch of the Fowler family.

References

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Attribution
  •   This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domainHerbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Ven. William Southerne". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.