Stransham, Edward, Bl.
STRANSHAM, EDWARD, BL.
Priest martyr; sometimes given as Transham; alias Barber; b. c. 1554, Oxford, England; hanged, drawn, and quartered at Tyburn (London), Jan. 21, 1586. After receiving his B.A. from St. John's College, Oxford, Edward studied for the priesthood at Douai (1577) and Rheims (1578–80) with a brief interruption due to illness. Six months after his ordination in Soissons, France (December 1580), he was sent to the English mission with Bl. Nicholas woodfen. Two years later he returned to Rheims accompanied by 12 converts from Oxford. There his tuberculosis worsened. He spent about 18 months recuperating in Paris before returning to London, where he was arrested in Bishopgate Street Without while saying Mass (July 17, 1585). He was tried and condemned for being an illegal priest. He was beatified by Pius XI on Dec. 15, 1929.
Feast of the English Martyrs: May 4 (England).
See Also: england, scotland, and wales, martyrs of.
Bibliography: r. challoner, Memoirs of Missionary Priests, ed. j. h. pollen (rev. ed. London 1924; repr. Farnborough 1969). j. h. pollen, Acts of English Martyrs (London 1891).
[k. i. rabenstein]