John Kemble (martyr) - Arrest and Execution

Arrest and Execution

Father Kemble was staying at his brother's home, Pembridge Castle, near Welsh Newton, when he was arrested. He was warned about the impending arrest but declined to leave his flock, saying, "According to the course of nature, I have but a few years to live. It will be an advantage to suffer for my religion and, therefore, I will not abscond."

He was arrested by a Captain John Scudamore of Kentchurch. It is a comment on the tortuous values of the age that Scudamore's own wife and children were parishioners of Father Kemble.

Father Kemble, now 80, was taken on the arduous journey to London to be interviewed about the plot. He was found to have had no connection with the alleged plot but he was found guilty of the treasonous crime of being a Catholic priest. He was sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered.

He was returned to Hereford for the sentence to be carried out. Before he was led out to his execution Father Kemble insisted on saying his prayers and finishing his drink, and the assembled party joined the elderly priest in a final smoke and a drink. To this day the sayings, "Kemble pipe", and "Kemble cup", meaning a parting pipe or cup, are used in Herefordshire.

Before his death Father Kemble addressed the assembled crowd, pointing out that no association with the "plot" had been charged to him. The old priest went on to say, "…the failure of the authorities in London to connect me to the plot makes it evident that I die only for profession the Catholic religion, which was the religion that first made this Kingdom Christian."

Kemble was allowed to die on the gallows before being drawn and quartered, thus he was spared the agony suffered by many of other Catholic martyrs of England, Scotland and Wales.

One of Kemble's hands is still preserved at St. Francis Xavier church in Hereford city centre. His body rests in the (Church of England) churchyard of St Mary's, Welsh Newton, and local Catholics make an annual pilgrimage to his grave.