Edward Osbaldeston
English martyr
Who they were
Edward Osbaldeston, born about 1560, came from the Osbaldeston family of Osbaldeston Hall near Blackburn in Lancashire. He studied at the English College of Douai, then at Reims, was ordained priest there on 21 September 1585, and was sent on the English mission in 1589.
Betrayed by an apostate priest, he was arrested at an inn at Tollerton in Yorkshire on 30 September 1594, the feast of St. Jerome, on which he had said his first Mass. Condemned at York for high treason for being a priest, he was hanged, drawn and quartered there on 16 November 1594. A letter he wrote to his fellow prisoners shows his humility and quiet trust in God.
The miracles
As a martyr he was raised to the altars without a miracle.
Why that counted as sanctity
An English priest executed at York in 1594 for his priesthood.
The cause
The cause continues. No postulation address is published here yet. Favours received through this person’s intercession, and offers of help, are best sent to the religious order or congregation they belonged to, or to the diocese where the cause was opened; either will pass them to the postulation.
- Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), via New Advent - Ven. Edward Osbaldeston
- Roman Martyrology, 16 November (Italian Bishops' Conference, Santo del giorno)
- Wikidata Q5344699 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Edward Osbaldeston (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 22 September 2026. Corrections welcome.