William Pike (died 22 December 1591) 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 ...

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 beatified in 1987. Several sources state that William was born in

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

. In 'A History of Dorset' () A. Lindsay Clegg, former

Town Clerk A clerk (pronounced "clark" /klɑːk/ in British and Australian English) is a senior official of many municipal governments in the English-speaking world. In some communities, including most in the United States, the position is elected, but in ma ...

Bournemouth Bournemouth ( ) is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. At the 2021 census, the built-up area had a population of 196,455, making it the largest ...

, claims that Pike lived at

Moordown Moordown is a suburb of Bournemouth, situated in the northern part of the borough. It was incorporated into the Bournemouth Borough Council, borough of Bournemouth in 1901, having previously been part of the Christchurch Rural District. Antiqui ...

, now within modern

, then part of the Liberty of Westover. Pike, or Pyk was a common name in Westover since the 14th century, according to the Christchurch Cartulary (). Pike is also said to have lived at

West Moors West Moors is a village in Dorset, England, on the northern fringe of the Poole-Bournemouth conurbation, just outside the larger settlements of Ferndown and Verwood. The parish of West Moors had an estimated population of 7,400 in 2004, incre ...

West Parley West Parley is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in south-east Dorset, England, situated on the River Stour, Dorset, River Stour between Bournemouth and Ferndown and off of the B3073 road. The parish of West Parley covers an a ...

, where he worked as a carpenter. He was executed by being hung, drawn and quartered on 22 December 1591 for denying the Royal Supremacy. He is thought to have been converted to Catholicism by

Thomas Pilchard Thomas Pilchard (Pilcher) (born at Battle, Sussex, 1557; executed at Dorchester, 21 March 1587) was an English Roman Catholic priest. He is a Catholic martyr, beatified in 1987 as one of the Eighty-five martyrs of England and Wales, with whom ...

. Rachel Lloyd suggests that the Pikes were a Bristol family, and that William (who lived in the Village of Moors on the Hampshire border) was the brother of Martha Pike. Martha's husband Henry Falkner had converted priest John Chapman to Catholicism, in 1579. Henry mentioned his brother-in-law William Pike in his will.Dorset Elizabethans At Home and Abroad, by Rachel Lloyd, 1967, pub John Murray, Albemarle Street, London, p.114.

References

1591 deaths People from Bournemouth English beatified people Converts to Roman Catholicism People executed under Elizabeth I by hanging, drawing and quartering Executed people from Dorset 16th-century Roman Catholic martyrs Eighty-five martyrs of England and Wales 16th-century venerated Christians Year of birth unknown English carpenters {{RC-bio-stub