Jerome Bellamy (died 1586), of

Uxenden Hall Uxenden Hall or Uxendon Hall was an English manor house near Harrow-on-the-Hill. In the sixteenth century it was inhabited by the Bellamy family. History The hall's name was first recorded in 1257 as ''Woxindon'', meaning "Wixan's Hill", and is ...

, near

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, was a member of an old

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

recusant Recusancy (from ) was the state of those who remained loyal to the Catholic Church and refused to attend Church of England services after the English Reformation. The 1558 Recusancy Acts passed in the reign of Elizabeth I, and temporarily repea ...

family noted for its hospitality to missionaries and fellow recusants.

Life

Jerome Bellamy was a younger son of William and Katherine Bellamy. He was a warm sympathizer with

Mary, Queen of Scots Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was List of Scottish monarchs, Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567. The only surviving legit ...

. In the latter years of the sixteenth century the

Babington plot The Babington Plot was a plan in 1586 to assassinate Queen Elizabeth I, a Protestantism, Protestant, and put Mary, Queen of Scots, her Catholic Church, Catholic cousin, on the English throne. It led to Mary's execution, a result of a letter s ...

to free Mary and

assassinate Assassination is the willful killing, by a sudden, secret, or planned attack, of a personespecially if prominent or important. It may be prompted by political, ideological, religious, financial, or military motives. Assassinations are orde ...

her cousin

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was exposed, and Babington, with two of his fellow-conspirators, Barnewell and Donne, sought refuge in Bellamy's house,

. At first they took refuge in a hay barn, where Bellamy had food brought to them. He later admitted them to his house and was later arrested with them and accused of complicity in the plot. His widowed mother and a brother were also arrested; his brother committed suicide by hanging himself in the Tower.Cass, Frederick Charles. ''Monken Hadley'', London and Middlesex Archaeological Society, J. B. Nichols and sons, 1880, pp. 134–135
/ref> Babington and his confederates, including Bellamy were indicted, tried, convicted on 15 September 1586, and sentenced to be hanged, drawn, and quartered. All told fourteen people were found guilty. Bellamy was taken to Tyburn on 21 September, however, the barbarity of the executions the previous day caused the Queen to forbid its repetition, and he and those with him were allowed to hang until they were dead.

References

* English Roman Catholics Executed people from London History of Catholicism in England People executed under Elizabeth I 1586 deaths 16th-century Roman Catholics Year of birth unknown People from Harrow on the Hill {{RC-bio-stub