Sydney Hodgson

A lawman and martyr; date and place of birth unknown; d. at Tyburn, 10 Dec., 1591. He was a convert to the Church. In 1591, while Father Edmund Jennings was saying Mass at the house of Mr. Swithin Wells in London, the pursuivant Topcliffe and his assistants broke into the house just at the moment of consecration. On this account alone, their entrance into the room was obstructed by some of the male members of the congregation, including Sydney Hodgson, until the conclusion of the Mass; these gentlemen then surrendered themselves. Hodgson and the others were brought to trial on 4 Dec., the charge against him being merely that of receiving and relieving priests, and of being reconciled to the Church of Rome. He was offered his life if he would give some sort of a promise of occasional conformity to the Established Church, but as he preferred to die for his religion, he was condemned and executed.