Saint Margaret Ward | |
|---|---|
 Statue of St Margaret Ward inSt Etheldreda's Church, London. | |
| Martyr | |
| Born | in the 1550s Congleton,Cheshire,England |
| Died | (1588-08-30)30 August 1588 Tyburn, London, England |
| Venerated in | Roman Catholic Church Anglican Communion |
| Beatified | 15 December 1929 byPope Pius XI |
| Canonized | 25 October 1970 byPope Paul VI |
| Feast | 25 October (in England), 4 May |
| Attributes | basket, rope |
Margaret Ward (c. 1550–30 August 1588), called the "pearl of Tyburn",[1] was an Englishsaint andmartyr who was executed during the reign ofElizabeth I for assisting apriest to escape from prison. She wascanonised in 1970, as one of theForty Martyrs of England and Wales.
Margaret Ward was born inCongleton, Cheshire, in Northwest England, around 1550.[2][3] Not much is known about Ward's early life, except that, as theCatholic Encyclopedia states, "she was of a good family"[3] and was described as agentlewoman.[2] According tohagiographerAlban Butler, Ward was a victim of the renewed persecution in England at the time, during the reign ofElizabeth I.[2]
Ward worked as a housekeeper or companion in the home "of a lady of distinction"[3] named Whitall in London.[2][3] Ward decided to helpWilliam Watson, a priest and conspirator, later executed for treason, who was imprisoned in theBridewell prison. Butler stated that "her story is largely part of" Watson's.[2] Ward befriended thegaoler's wife, took food to Watson, and smuggled in rope to help Watson escape. She arranged for two Catholicwatermen to meet Watson on theThames below the prison walls; even though he broke his arm and leg during his escape, he was picked up by the watermen, "who rowed him to a safe hiding place".[2] Watson left the rope hanging from the prison wall and it was traced back to Ward. She was arrested, charged, and tried for "aiding a traitor to escape"[2] and was tortured by being hung by her wrists and beaten for eight days.[2][4]
According toRobert Southwell, a martyr and Jesuit priest, Ward "was flogged and hung up by the wrists, the tips of her toes only touching the ground, for so long a time that she was crippled and paralyzed, but these sufferings greatly strengthened the glorious martyr for her last struggle".[3]John Roche, who was either her servant or one of the watermen who helped Watson escape on the river and exchanged clothes with him, was arrested and tried with Ward.[2][3] They were offered release if they asked for the queen's pardon and agreed to "conform to the established Church",[2] but they refused and were hanged atTyburn on 30 August 1588.[2][3][4]
Ward and Roche were beatified in a large group in 1929 and Ward was canonised as one of theForty Martyrs of England and Wales byPope Paul VI in 1970.[2] Her feast day, for both theRoman Catholic Church and theEpiscopal Church, is August 30.[5][6]
Ward is depicted in panels in St Joseph's Church inSale and St Alban's Church inWallasey, in theDiocese of Shrewsbury, in theNorth West andWest Midlands of England. There was a wooden statue of her in St Lawrence's Church inBirkenhead, a school and church are named for her in Sale, and another church inHolmes Chapel also is named for her.St Margaret Ward Catholic Academy inTunstall, Staffordshire, is named after her as well.[7]
