Simon Lowe, alias Fyfield (alive by 1522, died 1578), was a rich

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

merchant tailor in the

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

, and also a landowner in several counties, briefly one of the members of the

House of Commons of England The House of Commons of England was the lower house of the Parliament of England (which Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542, incorporated Wales) from its development in the 14th century to the union of England and Scotland in 1707, when it was re ...

representing two boroughs in other parts of England. Lowe owned property on

London Bridge The name "London Bridge" refers to several historic crossings that have spanned the River Thames between the City of London and Southwark in central London since Roman Britain, Roman times. The current crossing, which opened to traffic in 197 ...

from 1536 and lived there in 1576. He was Warden of the

Merchant Taylors' Company The Worshipful Company of Merchant Taylors is one of the 111 livery companies of the City of London. The Company, originally known as the ''Guild and Fraternity of St John the Baptist in the City of London'', was founded prior to 1300, first in ...

for the year 1549-50, and was a

Member Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries in ...

(MP) of the

Parliament of England The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England from the 13th century until 1707 when it was replaced by the Parliament of Great Britain. Parliament evolved from the Great Council of England, great council of Lords Spi ...

for

Stafford Stafford () is a market town and the county town of Staffordshire, England. It is located about south of Stoke-on-Trent, north of Wolverhampton, and northwest of Birmingham. The town had a population of 71,673 at the 2021–2022 United Kingd ...

in October 1553 and New Shoreham in November 1554. He was Master of the Merchant Taylors' Company during the reign of Queen Mary and one of the jurors who acquitted

Sir Nicholas Throckmorton Sir Nicholas Throckmorton (or Throgmorton; c. 1515/151612 February 1571) was an English diplomat and politician, who was an ambassador to France and later Scotland, and played a key role in the relationship between Elizabeth I of England ...

in 1554: the court had been openly hostile to Throckmorton, and as a result of the unexpected verdict it fined and imprisoned the jury. He was a mourner at the funeral of

Maurice Griffith Maurice Griffith (or Griffin; c. 1507 – 20 November 1558) was a Welshman who became Bishop of Rochester. Biography Little is known of his birth but it is thought to have been in the Caernarfon area around 1507. He was a friar at Blackfriars, ...

, Bishop of Rochester and Rector of

St Magnus-the-Martyr St Magnus the Martyr, London Bridge, is a Church of England church (building), church and parish within the City of London. The church, which is located in Thames Street (London), Lower Thames Street near Monument to the Great Fire of London, Th ...

, when Griffith was interred in the church on 30 November 1558 with much solemnity. With

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 ...

and Sir William Garrard he was an executor of

's willThomas F. Mayer and Courtney B. Walters (2008) ''The Correspondence of Reginald Pole, IV: a Biographical Companion. The British Isles'', p.231 and, in consequence of this, played a part as an initial trustee in the founding of

Friars School, Bangor is a school in Bangor, Gwynedd, and the second oldest extant school in Wales. History 1557 Establishment The school was founded by Geoffrey Glyn who had been brought up in Anglesey and had followed a career in law in London. A friary had be ...

. Lowe was included in a return of

recusants 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 ...

in the Diocese of Rochester in 1577, but was still buried at St Magnus-the-Martyr on 6 February 1578. Stow refers to his monument in the church.

Family

Simon Lowe had married Margaret Lacy, a daughter of Christopher Lacy (died 1518) of Brearley, Yorkshire, by 1550. * Timothy Lowe, eldest son (died 1617), was educated at

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church (, the temple or house, ''wikt:aedes, ædes'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by Henry V ...

, and was knighted at the Coronation of King James on 23 July 1603. *

Alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denotin ...

Sir Thomas Lowe, second son (1550–1623), was Master of the

Haberdashers' Company The Worshipful Company of Haberdashers, one of the Great Twelve City Livery Companies, is an ancient guild, merchant guild of City of London, London associated with the silk and velvet trades. History and functions The Haberdashers' Company ...

on several occasions, Sheriff of London in 1595/96,

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the Mayors in England, mayor of the City of London, England, and the Leader of the council, leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded Order of precedence, precedence over a ...

in 1604/05, and a Member of Parliament for London. * Blessed John Lowe, youngest son (1553–1586), having originally been a Protestant minister, converted to Roman Catholicism, studied for the priesthood at Douay and Rome and returned to London as a missionary priest. His absence had already been noted; a list of 1581 of "such persons of the Diocese of London as have any children ... beyond the seas" records "John Low son to Margaret Low of the Bridge, absent without licence four years". Having gained 500 converts to the Church of Rome between 1583 and 1586, he was arrested while walking with his mother near London Bridge, committed to

the Clink The Clink was a prison in Southwark, England, which operated from the 12th century until 1780. The prison served the Liberty of the Clink, a local manor area owned by the Bishop of Winchester rather than by the reigning monarch. As the Libe ...

, and executed 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 8 October 1586.Anstruther, G., ''The Seminary Priests: a dictionary of the secular clergy of England and Wales, 1558-1850'', Vol. 1, pp. 214-5. See also ''The Penal Laws: understanding the era of the eighty-five martyrs'', article by Patrick Barry in ''L'Osservatore Romano'' (Weekly Edition in English), 30 November 1987, p. 8, available a
Penal Laws
/ref> He was beatified in 1987 as one of the

eighty-five martyrs of England and Wales The Eighty-five Martyrs of England and Wales, also known as George Haydock and Eighty-four Companion Martyrs, are a group of men who were executed on charges of treason and related offences in the Kingdom of England between 1584 and 1679. Of the e ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lowe, Simon Year of birth missing 1578 deaths 16th-century English merchants English MPs 1553 (Mary I) English MPs 1554–1555