17th C engraving ofJohn Gennings.
Edmund Gennings was born in Lichfield in 1566. He converted to the Catholic faith while a page to Richard Sherwood. Together with Sherwood he went to Rheims to study for the priesthood, and was ordained for the English Mission in 1590.
He ministered first in the north of England but then moved to London to find his brother John, then only 14 years old. He found John and discovered he had become a Puritan.
In on 28 November 1591 Edmund was arrested while celebrating Mass for a congregation of c10 people in a Catholic house in Holborn, London. Arrested also were Fr Polydore Pladsden, Swithin Wells (owner of the house) and his wife, and three other members of the congregation. All these were tried and found guilty in a single trial.
Gennings, Wells and Plasden were executed outside Well’s house on 10th December 1591. They were canonised by Pope Paul VI in 1970. The three congregants, Brian Lacy, John Mason and Sydney Hodgson, were executed the same day at Tyburn in London, and were beatified in 1591. Mrs Wells was not executed but died in prison eleven years later.
Gennings, Wells and Plasden were hung, drawn and quartered. Gennings was still alive as the disembowelling began, even as his heart was cut our the martyr was heard to call on the saints for prayer.
John Gennings was present at his brother’s martyrdom, and was converted to Catholic faith by what he saw and heard. In 1598 he went to Rome, where he was ordained in 1600. In 1616 John became a Franciscan and was the first Provincial of the revived English Franciscans.
Saint Edmund's memorial is kept on the 10th December.
Lord God,
your holy martyr, Edmund,
remained faithful to you to the point of death.
Help us to follow his example
and always remain true to your name.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.
He ministered first in the north of England but then moved to London to find his brother John, then only 14 years old. He found John and discovered he had become a Puritan.
In on 28 November 1591 Edmund was arrested while celebrating Mass for a congregation of c10 people in a Catholic house in Holborn, London. Arrested also were Fr Polydore Pladsden, Swithin Wells (owner of the house) and his wife, and three other members of the congregation. All these were tried and found guilty in a single trial.
Gennings, Wells and Plasden were executed outside Well’s house on 10th December 1591. They were canonised by Pope Paul VI in 1970. The three congregants, Brian Lacy, John Mason and Sydney Hodgson, were executed the same day at Tyburn in London, and were beatified in 1591. Mrs Wells was not executed but died in prison eleven years later.
Gennings, Wells and Plasden were hung, drawn and quartered. Gennings was still alive as the disembowelling began, even as his heart was cut our the martyr was heard to call on the saints for prayer.
John Gennings was present at his brother’s martyrdom, and was converted to Catholic faith by what he saw and heard. In 1598 he went to Rome, where he was ordained in 1600. In 1616 John became a Franciscan and was the first Provincial of the revived English Franciscans.
Saint Edmund's memorial is kept on the 10th December.
Lord God,
your holy martyr, Edmund,
remained faithful to you to the point of death.
Help us to follow his example
and always remain true to your name.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.
- The small city centre of Lichfield contains a wealth of places of interest to visit: Lichfield Cathedral, once more home to a shrine to St Chad - and a short walk away St Chad's well; Erasmus Darwin house - home to the grandfather of the now more-famous Charles Darwin; and on Market Square, adjacent to the plaque commemorating Edmund Gennings, the Samuel Johnson Birthplace Museum. Also worth a visit is the chapel of the Hospital of St John Baptist without the Barrs, built just beyond the ancient city gates the current buildings date from Tudor times. And in Beacon Park - close to the Cathedral - stands a statue commemorating Commander Edward Smith, Captain of the Titanic.
- To learn more of the life of John Gennings, click here.
