Edward Oldcorne
English martyr
Feast: 7 April (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
Who they were
Edward Oldcorne, son of a Protestant father and Catholic mother, trained as a doctor but chose the priesthood; ordained in Rome in 1587, he became a Jesuit and returned to England in 1588 with Fr John Gerard, working chiefly around Worcester.
Arrested with Fr Henry Garnet, he could not be linked to the Gunpowder Plot and was executed for his priesthood alone at Red Hill, Worcester, on 7 April 1606, with his servant Ralph Ashby. His letter from prison overflows with zeal and charity.
The miracles
As a martyr he was raised to the altars without a miracle.
Why that counted as sanctity
A Jesuit who died for nothing but being a priest.
Connected on this site
- Ralph Ashley Blessed“Ralph Ashley, once a cook at Douai College, became a Jesuit lay brother and served Fr Edward Oldcorne from 1598.” — this site's research
- Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), via New Advent - Edward Oldcorne
- Wikidata Q5344685 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Edward Oldcorne (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.