The Colchester Martyrs were 16th-century English Protestant martyrs. They were executed for heresy in Colchester, Essex, during the reigns of Henry VIII and Mary I. Their story is recorded in Foxe's Book of Martyrs.
1545 or 1546 "[O]ne Henry" and his servant were burned at the stake.Foxe's Book of Martyrs: 207. John Athy, John Heywood, Kerby, and Roger Clarke
29 March 1555 John Lawrence, a priest and former Blackfriar at Sudbury, Suffolk was burned at the stake.Foxe's Book of Martyrs: 275. William Pygot, Stephen Knight, and John Laurence. Exclassics.com; retrieved 17 May 2013.
14 June 1555 Nicholas Chamberlain (or Chamberlaine), a weaver from Coggeshall, Essex was burned at the stake.Thomas Bryce, "The Regester" in Edward Farr, ed., Select Poetry of the Reign of Queen Elizabeth (1845).Foxe's Book of Martyrs: 291. Thomas Osmond, William Bamford, Thomas Osborne and others.Exclassics.com; retrieved 17 May 2013.
28 April 1556 Christopher Lister, a husbandman from Dagenham, Essex, John Mace, an apothecary from Colchester, Essex, John Spencer, a weaver from Colchester, Essex, Simon Joyne, a sawyer, Richard Nicol, a weaver from Colchester, Essex and John Hamond, a tanner from Colchester, Essex were burned at the stake.Foxe's Book of Martyrs 338. Christopher Lyster, John Mace, John Spencer, Simon Joyne, Richard Nichols and John Hamond. Exclassics.com; retrieved 22 May 2013.
2 August 1557 William Bongeor, Thomas Benhote, William Purchase, Agnes Silverside, Helen Ewring, Elizabeth Folk, William Munt, John Johnson, Alice Munt and Rose Allen were taken to Colchester Castle and burned at the stake.The Ex-Classics Web Site - THE ACTS AND MONUMENTS OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH by JOHN FOXE: 362. TEN COLCHESTER MARTYRS, exclassics.com; accessed 31 July 2015.
17 September 1557 Agnes Bongeor, wife of Richard Bongeor, John Kurde, and Margaret (Widow) Thurston were burned at the stake
26 May 1558 William Harris, Richard Day and Christian George (female) were burned at the stake.Foxe's Book of Martyrs: 378. Three Colchester Martyrs. Exclassics.com; retrieved 30 May 2013.
Those who died in prison James Gore died on 7 December 1555 in Colchester prisonFoxe's Book of Martyrs: 325. John Webbe, George Roper, Gregory Parke, William Wiseman, and James Gore. Exclassics.com. Retrieved on 2013-05-19. and John Thurston, who had been taken at Much Bentley, Essex, died in May 1557 in Colchester Castle.Foxe's Book of Martyrs: 362. Ten Colchester Martyrs, Exclassics.com; retrieved 29 May 2013.
Monuments A monument to these victims of the Marian persecutions is in St Peter's Church on North Hill;St Peter's Colchester: Memorials - part 1 another is in the Colchester Town Hall.Virtual Tour of Colchester's Town Hall , camulos.com; accessed 31 July 2015.
See also List of Protestant martyrs of the English Reformation
References