FORGOTTEN FAME No. 3
Edward Oldcorne 1560—1606 Robert Middleton 1570—1601
Robert Middleton was the son of a York tiler, and may have been related to St. Margaret Clitherow, another York martyr. He was the same age as Guy Fawkes, so would have attended the School in the Horsefair with him. Although at one time he was a protestant, "Conscience and reading books" brought his conversion to the Catholic faith. After leaving School he worked for a London merchant, and may have helped to smuggle priests into England. On 14th April 1597 he entered the English College in Rome, returning to England as a disguised priest in 1598. He was quickly arrested near Ripon, but managed to escape, although he was later detained in Lancashire. Another priest, Father Thurstan Hunt made a valiant rescue attempt, but was himself arrested. Both priests were closely examined by the Privy Council in London before being returned to Lancaster for execution. Whilst in the cells their patience, cheerfulness and holiness impressed even their jailers, and their fine example converted five of their fellow prisoners. Just before his execution Robert's sister was able to smuggle in to him the news that he had been accepted in the Jesuit Order. In March 1601 both priests were hanged, drawn and quartered. On 22nd November 1987 with other English martyrs Robert was beatified.
Edward Oldcorne was the son of a prosperous York builder who had accepted the reformed faith, but his mother remained firmly Roman Catholic, was imprisoned several times for her faith, and eventually died in York Castle. Edward is described as being well educated, sturdy in faith, affectionate, self-effacing and zealous. His personal saintliness was noteworthy. In 1582 he entered the English College in Rome and was admitted to the Jesuit Order in 1588. After his return to England his ministry was centred in Worcestershire where, despite suffering from cancer, he worked constantly to minister to the Catholics of the region. He became one of the most hunted priests in England, and had many narrow escapes from government agents. Finally, after being hidden in a priest hole for eight days, starvation drove him out and he was arrested with Father Henry Garnet. Every effort was made to implicate the two priests in the Gunpowder Plot, but they denied all knowledge of it. Edward remained constant, despite suffering appalling tortures for five hours a day on five consecutive days. Having failed to force any confession out of him he was condemned, not as a plotter, but as "A priest and Jesuit, well known to have gained many souls to the Catholic faith". He was executed in Worcester on 7th April 1606 and declared Venerable in 1886.
OLD PETERITE SECTION M. F. H. Hjort (The Grove 1974-79) has returned to York, after spending four years with the Roux brothers. Last June, he opened a restaurant at 7 Scarcroft Road, York, which he has called Melton's. As one might expect, his food may be described as Anglo-French. We wish him well in his new venture — will he invent a special Old Peterite menu?!
LATEST NEWS OF SOME OPs A. D. M. Barrell (Temple House 1974-79) has recently graduated from the University of St. Andrew's with a Ph.D. His thesis was on the Papacy's relations with Scotland and Northern England in the fourteenth century. He has already been published in some journals and hopes to expand the material into a book. We congratulate him on his academic success — and hope that he will let us have a copy of his book for the new School library!
Tom Kitchingman (The Rise 1986-1991) is going to spend a year on a cattle station in Queensland, Australia. He has been trying hard to raise £2,000 to contribute towards the cost of his venture, sponsored partly by Project Trust. This is an organisation which sponsors School leavers for practical projects abroad.
Dr. Tom Boulton (The Manor 1940-1943) was awarded the O.B.E. in the 1991 New Year Honours List. R. D. Harding (The Rise 1960-1966) has been awarded sabbatical leave for the Easter Term 1992 by the Governors of Repton School. Based near Lake Geneva, he will be researching into glacial activity in the Swiss Alps and hopes to witness some of the Winter Olympics while visiting the French Alps. He has also recently been elected a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.
Jamie Rigby (Queen's House 1986-1991) is going to Thailand, also with Project Trust. He has been trying to raise the same amount of money as Tom. He will be teaching English at Prince Royal School, Chiang Mai. 86
