Richardson, Laurence, Bl.
RICHARDSON, LAURENCE, BL.
Priest and martyr; vere Johnson; b. Great Crosby, Lancashire, England; d. hanged, drawn, and quartered at Tyburn (London), May 30, 1582. Laurence, the son of Richard Johnson, was a fellow at Brasenose College, Oxford (c. 1569–72) before beginning his seminary studies at Douai. He was ordained at Cateau-Cambresis (March 23, 1577), then left for the mission field in Lancashire (July 27, 1577). En route to France he was arrested in London and held in Newgate Prison until his indictment on Nov. 16, 1581. Thereafter he was committed to the Queen's Bench Prison and condemned (Nov. 17, 1581) on the trumped up charge of conspiring against the Crown in Rome and Rheims. Following his sentencing, he was held in the Tower of London where he had no bedding for two months. He was beatified by Pope Leo XIII.
Feast of the English Martyrs: May 4 (England).
See Also: england, scotland, and wales, martyrs of.
Bibliography: b. camm, ed., Lives of the English Martyrs, (New York 1905), II, 500–35. r. challoner, Memoirs of Missionary Priests, ed. j. h. pollen (rev. ed. London 1924; repr. Farnborough 1969), I, nos. 12, 13, 14. j. h. pollen, Acts of English Martyrs (London 1891).
[k. i. rabenstein]