Oaten Hill Martyrs

[1] Robert Wilcox was born in Chester, England in 1558 and entered the seminary at Rheims when he was twenty-five years old and was ordained on 20 April 1585.

[2] He was sent to England with other priests seeking to expand the Catholic faith and deal with the country's expanding Protestantism under Queen Elizabeth I. Wilcox arrived in England on 7 June 1586 but was arrested almost immediately at Lydd in Kent, near to where he entered the country.

Gerard Edwards, a Catholic priest, was born at Ludlow, Shropshire, and studied at Jesus College, Oxford, but left without obtaining a degree, as he was unable to take the Oath of Supremacy.

He was captured in Sittingbourne, Kent, just a few weeks later, however, and was imprisoned at the Newgate and the Marshalsea prisons in London following questioning by order of the Privy Council on 22 April 1587.

Word had already reached the continent concerning the government's plans to exile or execute the priests then held in prison.

A Dr. Darbishire in Paris directed Buxton to delay his departure for the time being, and in obedience complied.

But having learned that Darbishire's counsel was not a directive of Father Persons in England, Buxton crossed to Kent in early September 1587.

He obtained a post as tutor at the home of the Countess of Northumberland, and was arrested there for giving aid to a Catholic priest.