Events in
Local History

The.
Stratford Martyrs.

1556

Bloody Mary.

On 27th June 1556, eleven men and two women were put to death by burning at the stake on a single fire for their 'protestant beliefs' on the orders of Queen Mary Tudor - 'Bloody' Mary. The site of the incident was Stratford Green, then a large 'village green' which extended from the site of St John's to where Water Lane library in Stratford now stands.

In 1879 a memorial to the 'martyrs' was erected to their memory in St. John's churchyard, Stratford. Those executed were: Henry Adlington, Thomas Bowyer, Lyon Cawch, John Derifall, Agnes George, William Hallywell, Edmond Hurst, Ralph Jackson, Lawrence Parnam, Elizabeth Pepper, John Routh, George Searle and Henry Wye. Many of their names are used today for names of streets in the Beckton area.

© Lal Cook.

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