William Gibson (martyr)

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For other persons named William Gibson, see William Gibson (disambiguation).

Blessed William Gibson (1548–29 November 1596) was martyred by Protestants at York for professing the Catholic faith. He was from Ripon, Yorkshire.

With him also suffered Venerables George Errington of Herst, Northumberland; William Knight of South Duffield; and William Abbot of Howden, Yorkshire.

William Gibson was the son of a George Gibson of Goldingstones, Fife, and the grandson of Lord Thomas Gibson, also of Goldingstones, Fife, a free baron under charter by King James IV of Scotland. Although he was from a wealthy family, he was accused of heresy and denounced to the authorities for being a Catholic. He was at once seized and committed to the custody of Colyer, a pursuivant, who treated him with indignity and severity.

He was sent in August, 1593, to York Castle, and joined shortly thereafter by fellow martyrs William Knight and George Errington, having also been arrested for participation in a rising.

A certain Protestant clergyman chanced to be among their fellow prisoners. To gain his freedom he had recourse to an act of treachery: feigning a desire to become a Catholic, he won the confidence of Gibson and his two companions, who explained the Faith to him.

With the connivance of the authorities, he was directed to one Henry Abbot, then at liberty, who endeavoured to procure a priest to reconcile him to the Church.

Thereupon Abbot was arrested and, together with Knight and his two comrades, accused of persuading the Protestant clergyman to embrace Catholicism — an act of treason under the penal laws. They were found guilty, then hanged, drawn, and quartered at York, on 29 November 1596.

The Blessed and Venerable William Gibson was one of the eighty-five martyrs of England and Wales beatified by Pope John Paul II on 22 November 1987.

This article incorporates text from the public-domain Catholic Encyclopedia of 1913.