Blessed Sebastian Newdigate

Sebastian Newdigate, O.Cart (7 September 1500 – 19 June 1535) was the seventh child of John Newdigate, Sergeant-at-law. He spent his early life at court, and later became a Carthusian monk. He was executed for treason on 19 June 1535 for his refusal to accept Henry VIII's assumption of supremacy over the Church in England. His death was considered a martyrdom, and he was beatified by the Catholic Church. Sebastian Newdigate, born 7 September 1500 at Harefield, Middlesex, was the seventh of the fourteen children of John Newdigate (d. 15 August 1528), esquire, Sergeant-at-law in 1510 and King's Serjeant in 1520, and Amphyllis Neville (d. 1544), daughter and heiress of John Neville of Rolleston, Nottinghamshire, "a kinsman of the Earls of Westmorland". The births of Sebastian Newdigate and his brothers and sisters are listed in the Newdigate Cartulary: Newdigate was educated at court, and may have studied at Cambridge. He became a member of Henry VIII's Privy Chamber, and is said to have enjoyed the King's favour. According to Bainbridge, Newdigate married Katherine Hampden, widow of Henry Ferrers, and daughter of Sir John Hampden of Great Hampden, by whom he had two daughters, Amphyllis and Elizabeth. Crisp also states that Newdigate married, and by an unnamed wife who died in 1524 had an only daughter, Amphyllis, who married Thomas Breme after 3 September 1545. However Hendriks and Doreau question whether Newdigate ever married, and Richardson states that Newdigate's alleged wife, Katherine Hampden, widow of Henry Ferrers, and daughter and heiress of Sir John Hampden, married a different member of the Newdigate family, Thomas Newdigate, gentleman, of Wivelsfield, Sussex, the son of Walter Newdigate. It is said that Newdigate entered the London Charterhouse, a Carthusian priory, after his wife's death in 1524, However it is unlikely that Newdigate's admission as a postulant could have occurred prior to 24 October 1526, when the King granted him a wardship.