Individual Details
Edward Massey
(Dec 1612 - )
The will of Edward Massey has an oval seal of a shield without ornament showing the arms of Massey of Puddington, the same as described on the vellum 'heraldic achievement' purportedly brought to American by our Massey emigrant, Richard Massey.
Change Date: 7 NOV 2002
Edward became owner of the family estate of Puddington. In 1663 at the Visitation of Chester, he gave the family information. He maintained a priest in his home, as many Catholics of the time did, as open services were no longer available to them. He lived under the Commonwealth of Oliver Cromwell, and would have been continually harassed. Edward's will reveals that the goods remaining to the family were dwindling under persecutions and fines. By the time of Edward's death, value besides real estate had dwindled to #457. He only had two sons, William and Richard. William never married, and remained an ardent Catholic, drawing further fire from the authorities. Richard to all evidence left the country probably by 1684, after reaching his majority and receiving his modest inheritance in 1682. My cousin Robert on a visit to England examined records of Burton-in-Wirral, and confirmed the findings of the Massey book that no evidence of young Richard remained in the area, though there is plenty of information on his brother William and his sisters. This is an account of the unfortunate priest of the family: ST. John PLESSINGTON was the young son of Robert Plessington of Dimples Hall, near Garstang in the county of Lancashire, and of Alice daughter of Laurence Rawstone of Newhall in the county of Cheshire. His father suffered much for his loyalty to the Catholic Faith during the civil wars. John was sent to a private school directed by the Jesuit priests in Scarisbrick Hall, and adopted the alias of Scarisbrick upon entering the Royal College of St. Alban at VALLADOLID on the 18th of November 1660. In the same City, in the Church of María Magdalena, he received his Minor orders and the Diaconate. In Segovia, on the 25th of March 1662, he was ordained a priest, and later returned to England. He made his missionary work mainly in Holywell and around Chester, being housed with the Massey family in Puddington Hall. There, during the agitation resulting from the discovery of the "Oates Conspiracy" against Parliament, he was accused in Chester of being a priest. Incarcerated for nine weeks, he was then drawn, hung, stripped and quartered near Chester on the 19th of July 1679. According to a local tradition, his dismembered body was sent to Puddington Hall, to be exhibited in the four corners of the house, but the people of the locality would not permit it. Therefore, they laid them in an oak table in the entrance of the house. Finally, they were buried in the cemetery of Burton. He was solemnly canonised by the Pope Paul VI on the 25th of October 1970.
Change Date: 7 NOV 2002
Edward became owner of the family estate of Puddington. In 1663 at the Visitation of Chester, he gave the family information. He maintained a priest in his home, as many Catholics of the time did, as open services were no longer available to them. He lived under the Commonwealth of Oliver Cromwell, and would have been continually harassed. Edward's will reveals that the goods remaining to the family were dwindling under persecutions and fines. By the time of Edward's death, value besides real estate had dwindled to #457. He only had two sons, William and Richard. William never married, and remained an ardent Catholic, drawing further fire from the authorities. Richard to all evidence left the country probably by 1684, after reaching his majority and receiving his modest inheritance in 1682. My cousin Robert on a visit to England examined records of Burton-in-Wirral, and confirmed the findings of the Massey book that no evidence of young Richard remained in the area, though there is plenty of information on his brother William and his sisters. This is an account of the unfortunate priest of the family: ST. John PLESSINGTON was the young son of Robert Plessington of Dimples Hall, near Garstang in the county of Lancashire, and of Alice daughter of Laurence Rawstone of Newhall in the county of Cheshire. His father suffered much for his loyalty to the Catholic Faith during the civil wars. John was sent to a private school directed by the Jesuit priests in Scarisbrick Hall, and adopted the alias of Scarisbrick upon entering the Royal College of St. Alban at VALLADOLID on the 18th of November 1660. In the same City, in the Church of María Magdalena, he received his Minor orders and the Diaconate. In Segovia, on the 25th of March 1662, he was ordained a priest, and later returned to England. He made his missionary work mainly in Holywell and around Chester, being housed with the Massey family in Puddington Hall. There, during the agitation resulting from the discovery of the "Oates Conspiracy" against Parliament, he was accused in Chester of being a priest. Incarcerated for nine weeks, he was then drawn, hung, stripped and quartered near Chester on the 19th of July 1679. According to a local tradition, his dismembered body was sent to Puddington Hall, to be exhibited in the four corners of the house, but the people of the locality would not permit it. Therefore, they laid them in an oak table in the entrance of the house. Finally, they were buried in the cemetery of Burton. He was solemnly canonised by the Pope Paul VI on the 25th of October 1970.
Events
| Birth | Dec 1612 | Burton-in-Wirral, Cheshire, England | |||
| Marriage | Est 1650 | Burton-in-Wirral, Cheshire, England - Alice Brathwayt |
Families
| Spouse | Alice Brathwayt (1623 - ) |
| Child | Richard Massey (1661 - 1740) |
| Father | William Massey (1580 - 1649) |
| Mother | Catherine Herbert (1587 - ) |
| Sibling | William Massey (1609 - ) |
| Sibling | John Massey (1611 - ) |
| Sibling | Richard Massey (1613 - ) |
| Sibling | George Massey (1615 - ) |
| Sibling | Charles Massey ( - ) |
| Sibling | Herbert Massey (1619 - ) |
| Sibling | Mary Massey (1621 - ) |
| Sibling | Katherine Massey (1623 - ) |
| Sibling | Elizabeth Massey (1625 - ) |
| Sibling | Anne Massey (1627 - ) |