CatholicSaints.Info

Blessed William Ward

Also known as

William Webster

26 July
29 October as one of the Martyrs of Douai

Profile

Raised Protestant. Teacher. Travelled to Spain with a Catholic friend, and there joined the Church. Back home, he converted his mother. Repeatedly imprisoned for professing his faith. At 40 he went to Belgium to study for the priesthood. Ordained. Took the name Father William Ward. Travelled to Scotland where he was immediately thrown into prison for three years. He worked the next 30 years in and around London, secretly ministering to the Catholic population and the poor in general. Frequently jailed or banished. Eventually betrayed by a priest-hunter and thrown into Newgate Prison. Martyred, uttering the words: “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, receive my soul!”