HAYDOCK, GEORGE, BL.

Priest, martyr; b. ca. 1556 at Cottam Hall, Preston, Lancashire, England; hanged, drawn, and quartered Feb. 12, 1584 at Tyburn (London). He was the youngest son of devout Catholics: Evan Haydock and Helen Westby of Mowbreck Hall, Lancashire. About 1574 or 1575, he followed his father and brother to Douai, then continued his studies at the English Colleges in Rome and Rheims. After his ordination at Rheims, Dec. 21, 1581, he returned to England. In February 1582 he was arrested in London and spent 15 months in the Tower, where he was able to administer the Sacraments to his fellow prisoners even through he was suffering from a recurrence of malaria. He was indicted with BB. Wm. dean, James Fenn, Thomas Hemerford, John Munden, John Nutter (all beatified 1929), and two other priests on Feb. 5, 1583, on charges of conspiracy against the queen at Rheims. They were found guilty on Feb. 7 and sentenced to death. The other four were shackled to "the pit" in the Tower, but Haydock, still weak from malaria, was sent back to his quarters lest he cheat the executioner by dying in prison. He said Mass early on Wednesday Feb. 12, before being drawn in hurdles to Tyburn and disemboweled while alive. An eyewitness account of the execution, which is included in Pollen's Unpublished Documents relating to the English Martyrs (London, Catholic Record Society, 1908, v. 5), describes Haydock as "a man of complexion fayre, of countenance milde, and in professing of his faith passing stoute." He was especially known for his devotion to the successor of Peter and to St. dorothy. He was beatified by Pope John Paul II on Nov. 22, 1987 with 84 companions.

Feast of the English Martyrs: May 4 (England).

See Also: england, scotland, and wales, martyrs of.

Bibliography: Catholic Record Society publications (London, 1905–), II, V, passim, III, 12-15; IV, 74. r. challoner, Memoirs of Missionary Priests, ed. j. h. pollen (rev. ed. London 1924). h. foley, Records of the English Province of the Society of Jesus, 7 v. (London 1877–82) 74, 103. j. h. pollen, Acts of English Martyrs (London 1891) 252, 253, 304.

[k. i. rabenstein]