Ralph Sherwin (25 October 1550 – 1 December 1581) was an English

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 ...

priest, executed in 1581. He is a Catholic

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 ...

and

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 ...

Early years and education

Sherwin was born at Rodsley,

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

to John and Constance Sherwin and christened in Longford church. He was educated at Eton College. In 1568, he was nominated by Sir

William Petre Sir William Petre (c. 1505 – 1572) (pronounced ''Peter'') was Secretary of State to three successive Tudor monarchs, namely Kings Henry VIII, Edward VI and Queen Mary I. He also deputised for the Secretary of State to Elizabeth I. Educated ...

to one of the eight

fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

ships which he had founded at

Exeter College, Oxford Exeter College (in full: The Rector and Scholars of Exeter College in the University of Oxford) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England, and the fourth-oldest college of the university. The college was founde ...

,"The martyr who gave up worldly fame for the scaffold", ''Catholic Herald'', 24 November 2010
/ref> probably influenced by Sherwin's uncle, John Woodward, who from 1556 to 1566 had been rector of

Ingatestone Ingatestone is a village and former civil parish in Essex, England, with a population of 5,409 inhabitants at the United Kingdom 2021 Census, 2021 Census. Just north lies the village of Fryerning; the two now forming the parish of Ingatestone ...

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

, where Petre lived. A talented classical scholar, Sherwin obtained his

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

in 1571 and

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

on 2 July 1574, and the following year converted to

Roman Catholicism 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 ...

. He soon made for the English College at

Douai Douai ( , , ; ; ; formerly spelled Douay or Doway in English) is a city in the Nord (French department), Nord département in northern France. It is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture of the department. Located on the river Scarpe (rive ...

, where he was ordained a priest by the

Bishop of Cambrai This is a List of bishops and archbishops of Cambrai, that is, of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cambrai. Bishops For the first bishops of Arras and Cambrai, who resided at the former place, see Roman Catholic Diocese of Arras. On the death ...

on 23 March 1577. On 2 August 1577, he left for

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, where he stayed at the

English College, Rome The Venerable English College (), commonly referred to as the English College, is a Catholic seminary in Rome, Italy, for the training of priests for England and Wales. It was founded in 1579 by William Allen on the model of the English Colleg ...

for nearly three years. On 18 April 1580, Sherwin and thirteen companions left Rome for England as missionaries. He got into England in early August and started his successful ministry in different parts of the country but not for long."St. Ralph Sherwin" by Father Robert F. McNamara
Retrieved on 1 March 2018

Prison and death

On 9 November 1580, he was arrested while preaching in the house of Nicholas Roscarrock in

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 ...

and imprisoned in the

Marshalsea The Marshalsea (1373–1842) was a notorious prison in Southwark, just south of the River Thames. Although it housed a variety of prisoners—including men accused of crimes at sea and political figures charged with sedition—it became known, ...

, where he converted many fellow prisoners, and on 4 December was transferred to the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic citadel and castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamle ...

, where he was twice tortured on the rack and then laid out in the snow. Later he was put into an isolation cell, without food. He is said to have been personally offered a

bishopric In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

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 ...

if he converted, but refused. After spending a year in prison he was finally brought to trial with

Edmund Campion Edmund Campion, SJ (25 January 15401 December 1581) was an English Jesuit priest and martyr. While conducting an underground ministry in officially Anglican England, Campion was arrested by priest hunters. Convicted of high treason, he was ...

on a charge of treasonable conspiracy. He was convicted in

Westminster Hall Westminster Hall is a medieval great hall which is part of the Palace of Westminster in London, England. It was erected in 1097 for William II (William Rufus), at which point it was the largest hall in Europe. The building has had various functio ...

on 20 November 1581. Eleven days later he was taken to

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 a hurdle along with Alexander Briant and

, where the three martyrs were

hanged, drawn and quartered To be hanged, drawn and quartered was a method of torture, torturous capital punishment used principally to execute men convicted of High treason in the United Kingdom, high treason in medieval and early modern Britain and Ireland. The convi ...

. On the scaffold Ralph Sherwin again "professed his innocence, proclaimed his Catholic faith, and prayed for the Queen". Sherwin's last words were ''"Iesu, Iesu, Iesu, esto mihi Iesus!"''. Accessed 2011-10-18.

Veneration

Saint Ralph Sherwin Plaque Rodsley Derbyshire

Sherwin was the first member of the English College in Rome to be martyred. During the years 1581–1681 over forty more students were martyred for their faith. He was

beatified Beatification (from Latin , "blessed" and , "to make") is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their name. ''Beati'' is the ...

on 29 December 1886 by

Pope Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII (; born Gioacchino Vincenzo Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2March 181020July 1903) was head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 until his death in July 1903. He had the fourth-longest reign of any pope, behind those of Peter the Ap ...

. He 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 ...

on 25 October 1970 by

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 ...

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 ...

with a common

feast day The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context does n ...

of 25 October. His individual feast day is celebrated on 1 December, the day of his martyrdom. A Catholic church in the Chellaston area of Derby, registered in January 1981, was dedicated to Ralph Sherwin. The church was demolished in 2018 to make space for a Lidl supermarket. There is a Sherwin Football Club based in the Normanton area of Derby. Founded in 1973, the club provides football and social opportunities for all ages and both genders in the local community. The club colours are purple with yellow trim.Sherwin Football Club website
/ref>

Notes

External links

"Blessed Ralph Sherwin"
in ''Lives of the English Martyrs Declared Blessed by Pope Leo XIII'' by Edward S. Keogh, Dom Bede Camm. Vol. 2 (1905). (Vol. 1 has list of 63 martyrs and beatification decrees in English). {{DEFAULTSORT:Sherwin, Ralph 1550 births 1581 deaths Forty Martyrs of England and Wales People educated at Eton College English College, Douai alumni English College, Rome alumni Anglican priest converts to Roman Catholicism Catholic saints who converted from Protestantism 16th-century English Anglican priests English Roman Catholic saints Fellows of Exeter College, Oxford 16th-century English Roman Catholic priests Inmates of the Marshalsea People executed under Elizabeth I by hanging, drawing and quartering Executed people from Derbyshire 16th-century Christian saints 16th-century Roman Catholic martyrs People from Derbyshire Dales (district) Beatifications by Pope Leo XIII Canonizations by Pope Paul VI