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Thomas Maxfield was born in 1585, probably in Stafford Gaol, where his parents were imprisoned for recusancy. He was educated at Stafford Grammar School, and at the English College, Douai, where he was eventually ordained in 1614. He returned to England two years later. Immediately on arrival, he (perhaps unwisely) went to visit a priest friend imprisoned in the Gatehouse at Westminster, where he celebrated his first Mass in England. This made him a marked man, and three months later, Maxfield was captured and placed in the same prison.

After eight months in prison, he took the chance of a broken window to escape, letting himself down the outside wall on a rope, but was recaptured as soon as he hit the ground. He confessed his priesthood and denied being a traitor, but was condemned to a traitor’s death. Maxfield was executed on 1 July 1616, less than a year after his arrival in England.

Working in London between November 1615 and his capture in June 1616, Maxfield came into contact with the influential Spanish Ambassador, Count Gondomar, whose embassy was the principal centre of Catholic worship in the city. Many Catholics took up residence in the vicinity of the embassy, for protection.

Gondomar appealed directly to James I for Maxfield’s life, but without success. Despite the armed guards, many members of ambassadorial families, especially the Spanish, accompanied Maxfield on horseback, as he was dragged to Tyburn for execution. When the procession reached Tyburn, a remarkable sight greeted them. Local Catholics had, overnight, adorned the gallows with garlands of flowers and branches, and had strewn the ground underneath with sweet herbs, transforming the place of execution into an altar of sacrifice, decorated to celebrate his triumphal entry to heaven.

The magistrate forbade anyone to remove anything from the scene, aware that the Catholics, wanted to salvage and honour relics of those they regarded as martyrs. In a further attempt to eradicate his remains from memory. Maxfield was thrown into a burial pit beneath thirteen criminals hung on the same day. The Catholics of London were not easily put off, and under cover of darkness, sympathisers returned to the site, and dug for hours, finally tracing the remains of Thomas Maxfield, which they removed.

The Spanish embassy chaplain was among them, and he took responsibility for the bones, which were smuggled to Spain and preserved by the family of Count Gondomar. Thomas Maxfield was beatified by Pius XI in 1929. The parishioners of Holy Trinity, Newcastle under Lyme venerate Blessed Thomas Maxfield as their local martyr; a statue of him is in in the church, and a relic of him preserved there.

Almighty and merciful God,
who brought your Martyr blessed Thomas
to overcome the torments of his passion,
grant that we, who celebrate the day of his triumph,
may remain invincible under your protection
against the snares of the enemy.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

• Two interesting articles about the relics of Blessed Thomas. 1, 2.

Photographs (c) Allen Morris, 2026

Relic of Blessed Thomas, Church of Holy Trinity, Newcastle under Lyme.

Spanish print commemorating the martyrdom of Thomas Maxfield, c. 1621: London, (c) Archives of the Archdiocese of Westminster

Statue of Blessed Thomas, Church of Holy Trinity, Newcastle under Lyme.

Church of Holy Trinity, Newcastle under Lyme.