Nicholas Byfield

[1] He was a native of Warwickshire, son by his first wife of Richard Byfield, who became vicar of Stratford-on-Avon in January 1597.

[2] Nicholas entered Exeter College, Oxford, in the Lent term 1596, and was four years at university, but did not graduate.

Taking orders, he intended to exercise his ministry in Ireland; but on his way there he preached at Chester, and was prevailed upon to remain as one of the city preachers, without cure.

The following day a surgeon removed from his body a stone which weighed 35 ounces; William Gouge was present at the autopsy.

[2] In 1611, he got into a controversy on the sabbath question; a Chester boy, John Brerewood, was one of his catechists, and had been trained by Byfield in strict Sabbatarian habits.

When John went to London to serve as an apprentice, he refused to do his master's errands on Sundays, such as fetching wine and feeding a horse, and obeyed only under compulsion.

His uncle, Edward Brerewood, gave him contrary advice, taking the ground that the fourth commandment was laid only upon masters.