Margaret Ward (c. 1550–30 August 1588), called the "pearl of Tyburn", was an English

saint In Christianity, Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of sanctification in Christianity, holiness, imitation of God, likeness, or closeness to God in Christianity, God. However, the use of the ...

and

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', 'witness' Word stem, stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an external party. In ...

who was executed during the reign of

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudo ...

for assisting a

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

to escape from prison. She was

canonised Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christian communion declaring a person worthy of public veneration and entering their name in the canon catalogue of sai ...

in 1970, as one of the

Forty Martyrs of England and Wales The Forty Martyrs of England and Wales or Cuthbert Mayne and Thirty-Nine Companion Martyrs are a group of Catholic Church, Catholic, lay and religious, men and women, executed between 1535 and 1679 for treason and related offences under variou ...

Life

Margaret Ward was born in Congleton, Cheshire, in Northwest England, around 1550. Not much is known about Ward's early life, except that, as the ''

Catholic Encyclopedia ''The'' ''Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church'', also referred to as the ''Old Catholic Encyclopedia'' and the ''Original Catholic Encyclopedi ...

'' states, "she was of a good family" and was described as a

gentlewoman A gentlewoman (from the Latin ''gentilis'', belonging to a ''gens'', and English 'woman') in the original and strict sense is a woman of good family, analogous to the Latin ''generosus'' and ''generosa''. The closely related English word "gentr ...

. According to

hagiographer A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an wiktionary:adulatory, adulatory and idealized biography of a preacher, priest, founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religi ...

Alban Butler Alban Butler (13 October 171015 May 1773) was an English Roman Catholic priest and hagiography, hagiographer. Born in Northamptonshire, he studied at the English College, in Douai, Douay, France where he later taught philosophy and theology. He s ...

, Ward was a victim of the renewed persecution in England at the time, during the reign of

. Ward worked as a housekeeper or companion in the home "of a lady of distinction" named Whitall in London. Ward decided to help

William Watson William, Willie, Bill or Billy Watson may refer to: Arts * William Watson (songwriter) (1794–1840), English concert hall singer and songwriter * William Watson (poet) (1858–1935), English poet * William J. Watson (author) (1865-1948), Scott ...

, a priest and conspirator, later executed for treason, who was imprisoned in the Bridewell prison. Butler stated that "her story is largely part of" Watson's. Ward befriended the gaoler's wife, took food to Watson, and smuggled in rope to help Watson escape. She arranged for two Catholic

watermen A waterman is a river worker who transfers passengers across and along city centre rivers and estuaries in the United Kingdom and its colonies. Most notable are those on the River Thames and River Medway in England, but other rivers such as the ...

to meet Watson on the

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after th ...

below the prison walls; even though he broke his arm and leg during his escape, he was picked up by the watermen, "who rowed him to a safe hiding place". Watson left the rope hanging from the prison wall and it was traced back to Ward. She was arrested, charged, and tried for "aiding a traitor to escape" and was tortured by being hung by her wrists and beaten for eight days. According to Robert Southwell, a martyr and Jesuit priest, Ward "was flogged and hung up by the wrists, the tips of her toes only touching the ground, for so long a time that she was crippled and paralyzed, but these sufferings greatly strengthened the glorious martyr for her last struggle". John Roche, who was either her servant or one of the watermen who helped Watson escape on the river and exchanged clothes with him, was arrested and tried with Ward. They were offered release if they asked for the queen's pardon and agreed to "conform to the established Church", but they refused and were hanged at

Tyburn Tyburn was a Manorialism, manor (estate) in London, Middlesex, England, one of two which were served by the parish of Marylebone. Tyburn took its name from the Tyburn Brook, a tributary of the River Westbourne. The name Tyburn, from Teo Bourne ...

on 30 August 1588.

Veneration

Ward and Roche were beatified in a large group in 1929 and Ward was canonised as one of the

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI (born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding John XXII ...

in 1970. Her feast day, for both the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

and the Episcopal Church, is August 30. Ward is depicted in panels in St Joseph's Church in Sale and St Alban's Church in

Wallasey Wallasey () is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. It is at the mouth of the River Mersey, on the north-eastern corner of the Wirral Peninsula. It lies within the Historic counties of England, historic county bou ...

, in the

Diocese of Shrewsbury The Diocese of Shrewsbury () is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in the Province of Birmingham which encompasses the pre-1974 counties of Shropshire and Cheshire in the North West and West Midlands of England. The diocese includ ...

, in the

North West The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A ''compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each ...

and West Midlands of England. There was a wooden statue of her in St Lawrence's Church in

Birkenhead Birkenhead () is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the west bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liverpool. It lies within the Historic counties of England, historic co ...

, a school and church are named for her in Sale, and another church in

Holmes Chapel Holmes Chapel is a village and civil parish in Cheshire, England, north of Crewe and south of Manchester; Swettenham Meadows Nature Reserve lies east of the village and Goostrey lies to the north. The population of the village was 6,700 a ...

also is named for her.

St Margaret Ward Catholic Academy St Margaret Ward Catholic Academy is a mixed secondary school and sixth form located in the Tunstall area of Stoke-on-Trent in the English county of Staffordshire. The school is named after Saint Margaret Ward, a Roman Catholic martyr who was ...

Tunstall, Staffordshire Tunstall is one of the six towns that, along with Burslem, Longton, Staffordshire, Longton, Fenton, Staffordshire, Fenton, Hanley, Staffordshire, Hanley and Stoke-upon-Trent, amalgamated to form the City of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, Engl ...

, is named after her as well.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ward, Margaret 1550s births 1588 deaths People from Congleton Canonizations by Pope Paul VI English Roman Catholic saints Forty Martyrs of England and Wales People executed under Elizabeth I Executed people from Cheshire Executed English women 16th-century Christian saints 16th-century Roman Catholic martyrs 16th-century English women People executed by the Kingdom of England by hanging Christian female saints of the Early Modern era Anglican saints