Nicholas Postgate
Nicholas Postgate (1596 or 1597 – 7 August 1679) was an English Catholic priest who was executed for treason on the Knavesmire in York on 6 August 1679 as part of the anti-Catholic persecution that was sweeping England at that time. He is one of the 85 English Catholic Martyrs of England and Wales beatified by Pope John Paul II in November 1987. Early life and priesthood Postgate was born at Kirkdale House, Egton, Yorkshire, England. He entered Douay College, in France, 11 July 1621. He took the college oath on 12 March 1623, received minor orders, 23 December 1624, the subdiaconate, 18 December 1627, the diaconate, 18 March 1628, and the priesthood two days later. He was sent to the mission on 29 June 1630, and worked in England for the Catholic religion, finally settling back to Ugthorpe, not far from his birthplace, in the 1660s. His parish, which was known by the extinct name of Blackamoor, extended between Guisborough, Pickering and Scarborough. Thomas Ward, who later wrote about him, knew him well. He was exceptionally conscientious in performing his pastoral duties: the historian J.P. Kenyon remarks that "for nearly half a century he tramped the high moors of