Francis Walsingham (baptised 7 February 1577 – 1 July 1647) was an English Jesuit priest, who assumed the name John Fennell.
Doubts were raised in Walsingham's mind as to the validity of his orders and of his belief, by reading the Manual of Robert Parsons, and in October 1606 he entered the English College, Rome.
He was ordained priest on 12 April 1608, and early next year, having entered the Society of Jesus, he visited England.
Down to the time of Alban Butler it was frequently commended to those showing an inclination to Roman Catholicism, and was often reprinted and abridged.
In the controversial parts, and especially in the attack on the "falsities" of Matthew Sutcliffe, Walsingham perhaps worked with Parsons.