How many One-Name Studies can claim a real saint as part of their number? There are the Saint, St. John and St. Paul One-Name Studies, but they are not what I mean. It’s 30th November, St Andrew’s Day, the patron saint of Scotland. But St Andrew is not whereof we speak either. 

On this day in 1577, in Launceston, Cornwall a man named Cuthbert Mayne was hanged to within an inch of his life and then disemboweled, beheaded and quartered, each piece of him then being displayed in a different part of the county as a warning to others.

He died for his beliefs, the first seminary priest ever to be martyred for his faith in England.  Beatified in 1898, he was created a saint in 1970 by Pope Paul VI.

How did all of this come about?  The son of a poor shepherd, Cuthbert Mayne grew up in Shirwell, in the North-western corner of Devon.  His uncle was a Rector in the established church, then going through enormous upheaval with the transition of monarchs from Mary Tudor to her sister Elizabeth I, and the consequent massive switch in the national practice of religion from catholic to protestant.  Elizabeth was excommunicated by the pope in 1567 after which it became very dangerous to be a catholic in England.  But South-Western England had many “hold-outs” for the old ways, for many years. 

The Rector sponsored young Cuthbert to go to Barnstaple Grammar School, after which he became a priest in a local church at the age of seventeen!  He then went to Oxford and gained a degree and a “living” as the chaplain of St John’s College.  In those troubled times, that had necessitated him to sign an oath of loyalty to the Queen as head of the church.  However, his conscience troubled him and within three years he found himself at a seminary in Douai, France, where he was ordained again in a different faith.

In March 1576 he returned to Cornwall and lived with a wealthy local catholic family, ostensibly as their steward but in practice their priest.  He and his patron were arrested by the local Sheriff and imprisoned for five months and at the local Assizes he was condemned to die, his crime being refusing to recant his faith and recognize Elizabeth as the head of the church.

Actually, this is just a summary, taken from a chapter of a book, Soldiers, Saints and Scallywags, authored by Guild member David Gore about some of the people in his One-Name Study into the Mayne name. He writes much better than me and I do recommend that you read the original here:  David Gore eBook.  By the way, while reading that chapter I happened to notice reference to three other study names too: Body, Carey and Edgecombe, and I suspect there are references to others in the extensive Index Nominorum.  David tells us that he has been a member of the Guild for almost thirty years and has received much good advice from other members along the way, most notably from our Front Desk and DNA Advisor.  Do you have a Mayne man or woman in your study?  If so, you can click here to send David a note or on the other names above to contact the respective study owners.

With two English schools named after him, it seems both ironic and fitting that Cuthbert’s name should have lived on longer than his persecutors.  Every time I read a story such as this I give thanks that I grew up in more enlightened times and in a more enlightened place.

This is the third in an occasional series.  If you are a Guild member reading this, does your study have a special day for remembering your name, like 5th November or Trafalgar Day?  Would you like us to publicize your study on that day?  If so, send us an email by clicking this link.

“They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;
“Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
“At the going down of the sun and in the morning
“We will remember them.”  (Laurence Binyon, “For the Fallen”)

In a corner of Wiltshire, England close by to Stonehenge and the busy A303 trunk road, stands the Ancestor statue who, in aid of the 2015 British Legion Poppy Appeal is sprouting poppies. This annual event in Britain is marked on 11th November– known as Armistice or Remembrance Day, specifically to remember the country’s war dead, though parades are primarily held on the nearest Sunday.

In the United States, November 11 is named Veterans Day and is a federal holiday.  In cemeteries across the USA, many graves will be marked by small Stars and Stripes, each marking the final resting places of a veteran who served his or her country.  Veterans Day commemorates all who served, with Memorial Day in May specifically for those who died. 

France and Belgium mark the day as a National holiday and it is also recognised in Australia, Canada and Barbados.  Other countries have important days to remember their dead, notably ANZAC Day in April in Australia and New Zealand.

Armistice Day/Remembrance Day/Veterans Day  commemorates the cessation of hostilities on the Western Front of World War I, which took effect  at the “eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month” of 1918.

Ninety seven years on, the Guild is considering its own commemoration – a Guild Military Service Index (GMSI).  We are thinking of a database of anyone who served in a military capacity, whether they come from your One-Name Study or from your own family history research.  We make no distinction whether the person was serving in a formal national fighting force of an actual country or, for instance, a patriot fighting for the rebellious colonies in the Revolutionary War (or, the War of Independence, depending upon your perspective).  We are thinking about building a substantial database within three years, i.e., the centenary of the end of the Great War.

So, what do you think?  Is this a project worth undertaking?  Would we have your support?  Would you contribute?  We will publish this post in all of our social media outlets and monitor members’ responses.

Finally, let me just remind you of our website devoted to stories about World War 1: http://ww1.guild-dev.org/.  The site is open to any member to add a story about someone from their study who was affected in some way by the war.