Lambton, Joseph, Bl.
LAMBTON, JOSEPH, BL.
Priest, martyr; b. 1569 at Malton, Yorkshire, England; d. July 24, 1592 (?), at Newcastle-on-Tyne. This second son of Thomas Lambton and his wife Katharine Birkhead of West Brandon, Durham, studied at the English College in Rheims (1584–89) and in Rome (1589–92). Ordained at age 23 in 1592, he was sent to the English Mission and was arrested upon landing at Newcastle with Bl. Edward waterson. As was usual for the execution of a popish priest, he was hung, but cut down alive before the final phase of the sentence: drawing and quartering. The reprieved felon who acted as his hangman refused to complete the sentence, which was at last carried out by a Frenchman practicing as a surgeon at Kenton. Lambton was beatified by Pope John Paul II on Nov. 22, 1987 with George Haydock and Companions.
Feast: July 27; May 4 (Feast of the English Martyrs in England).
See Also: england, scotland, and wales, martyrs of.
Bibliography: Catholic Record Society's Publications (London, 1905–), V, 212, 228, 231, 293. r. challoner, Memoirs of Missionary Priests, ed. j. h. pollen (rev. ed. London 1924). j. h. pollen, Acts of English Martyrs (London 1891).
[k. i. rabenstein]