John Gerard (Jesuit)

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John Gerard (1564–1637) was a Jesuit priest who secretly helped Catholics in England during Elizabeth I’s time. He was born at Bryn Hall in Lancashire, the second son of Sir Thomas Gerard. His father was briefly imprisoned in 1569 for plotting to rescue Mary, Queen of Scots. Gerard was educated by Catholic tutors and went abroad for training, studying at Douai (which moved to Rheims), Exeter College, Oxford, and Clermont College in Paris.

After returning to England without the proper travel permit, he was arrested and spent time in Marshalsea and later the Clink. In 1585 he went to Rome for a new Jesuit mission to England. In 1588, after the defeat of the Spanish Armada, Gerard and Edward Oldcorne returned to England to support the Catholic underground. He stayed in places like Grimston, Norfolk, and later Lawshall and the Wiseman household, building a network of Catholic families and helping hide priests.

Gerard was captured in London on 23 April 1594 with Nicholas Owen. He was tortured in the Salt Tower but refused to betray others. He escaped from the Tower on 4 October 1597 by climbing down a rope and fled with help from friends in the underground. He continued ministering in England for eight more years, then moved to continental Europe to train Jesuits for the English mission. He was later blamed, rightly or wrongly, for involvement in the Gunpowder Plot and spent time hiding in priest holes.

Back in Europe, he wrote his autobiography in Latin for his Jesuit superiors. An English translation appeared in 1951 as The Autobiography of a Hunted Priest by John Gerard, with a later edition in 2012. Gerard died in 1637 at the English College in Rome.