John Payne

John Payne (1532–1582) was an English Catholic priest and martyr, one of the Catholic Forty Martyrs of England and Wales.

Background John Payne was born at Peterborough in 1532. He was probably a mature man when he went to the English College at Douai in 1574, served there as bursar, and was ordained priest by the Archbishop of Cambrai on 7 April 1576.

Ministry Shortly afterwards, on 24 April 1576, he left for the English mission in the company of another priest, Cuthbert Mayne. While Mayne headed for his native South West England, Payne resided for the most part with Anne, widow of Sir William Petre, and daughter of Sir William Browne, sometime Lord Mayor of the City of London, at Ingatestone, Essex, in whose house was a "priest hole", but also in London. The missioner passed as a steward of Lady Petre. The executioner, Simon Bull, was meanwhile rebuked for dithering over the quartering in case Payne revive and suffer further.

Beatification and canonisation John Payne was one of the group of prominent Catholic martyrs of the persecution who were later designated as the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales. He was beatified "equipollently" by Pope Leo XIII, by means of a decree of 29 December 1886 and was canonised along with the other Martyrs of England and Wales by Pope Paul VI on 25 October 1970.

Schools and churches A Roman Catholic secondary school in Chelmsford (towards Broomfield) is now named after him. The name of the school is St John Payne Catholic School.

The Roman Catholic church of St John Payne is found on Colchester's Greenstead estate. Founded in 1972, the Parish of Greenstead, Ardleigh and Mistley serves the community on the Essex-Suffolk border, with St John Payne being the Parish Church.