ANOTHER GUNTER

Because of their relationship to and support of St David Lewis, the Gunters of Abergavenny feature prominently on this Blog Site. William Gunter was born in Raglan and I cannot say for certain if he was an ancestor of our Abergavenny Gunters. However, William Gunter is another Gunter who, like Thomas Gunter and his family, was willing to face hardship and even death for his Catholic Faith.

The home of Thomas Gunter, Abergavenny

On 29th September 1568 Cardinal William Allen set up the English Collage at Douai, France.  The college would eventually number 158 martyrs among its students.  The first was Cuthbert Mayne in 1577 and the last was Thomas Thwing in 1680.

Cardinal William Allen

William Gunter chose to travel to the English College to study for the priesthood. He was ordained in March 1587.  Within months of his ordination William was back in England working among the beleaguered Catholics.  

Life for Catholics in Elizabethan England was difficult, to say the least, but the failed invasion of the Spanish Armada in 1588 made the situation far worse.  The authorities were determined to show any foolhardy Catholic the awful fate that would befall them should they attempt a plot or uprising.  To this end, new gallows were hastily erected in different locations around London. Many Catholics were arrested and imprisoned by the authorities.  Fr Gunter was among them.  The priest admitted that he had reconciled others to the Catholic Faith and declared that he would continue to do so if he could.  Thus Fr Gunter sealed his own fate and he was condemned to death without a trial by jury. 

The Tyburn Tree

On 28th August 1588, 21 priests were martyred.  Queen Elizabeth I had shown a modicum of mercy. Fr Gunter would not suffer the sentence of being hanged, drawn and quartered.  He would just be hanged!  It is said that on hearing this, the priest replied that it was fitting because he was not worthy to suffer as much as his brethren.  He was taken to Shoreditch where the sentence was carried out.

The sacrifice of William Gunter was recognised in 1986 when, on 10th November, Pope John Paul II issued a decree of martyrdom declaring Fr Gunter Venerable.  The next step to canonisation came on 22nd November 1987 when Pope John Paul II declared Fr William Gunter Blessed.

There you have it.  Another brave and faithful Gunter and another Welsh Martyr.  Blessed William Gunter, ora pro nobis. 

THE MOVE TO USK

In January 1679, the new High Sheriff, James Herbert of Coldbrook, decided to move the County Gaol from Monmouth, where Fr David Lewis was imprisoned, to Usk. On 13th January, Fr Lewis was taken to Usk by the Head Gaoler and the Under Sheriff. It was a terrible day for travel, snowing heavily and bitterly cold. The group stopped at an inn in Raglan to warm and refresh themselves. While there, Fr Lewis received some news which must have caused him great sadness. Fr Lewis wrote; “Whilst I was in Raglan, a messenger came to the door of the inn, desiring to speak with me on urgent business. A very good friend of mine, one Mr Ignatius alias Walter Price, lay dying about half a mile away. He had undergone much hardship from hunger and cold and lay dying. He desired to see me. But I was quite unable to perform the friendly duty, as I was under the actual custody of the officers. So I only sent him my true and best wishes for his soul’s happy passage out of this turbulent world to an eternity of rest.” Fr Price, S J, died the next day.

Usk Gaol, or Old Bridewell, was situated on Bridge Street. This site, 28 Bridge Street, was opened in the mid 1600s and served until Usk Prison was built about 1842.

When Fr Lewis was imprisoned at Usk, the gaol was crowded with Catholics. Among them was Jane Harris who had sheltered a priest and been betrayed by her butcher. Fr David Lewis would have known most of them and it must have been a comfort to them to have among them a well loved priest.

Fr Lewis was tried at the Spring Assizes in Monmouth on 28th March 1679. He was found guilty of being a Catholic priest and of saying Mass. This was considered High Treason and he was sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered. In April he was summoned to London, along with Fr John Kemble, for interrogation about the fictional Popish Plot. No evidence could be found against him and he was sent back to Usk Gaol to await his execution.

On 27th August 1679, Fr David Lewis was taken from Usk Gaol and drawn on a hurdle to a place known as the Coniger where the sentence was to be carried out. The actual site of his martyrdom is believed to be where Porth-Y-Carn House stands today. After the execution, Fr David Lewis S J, who was known in the area by his alias, Mr Charles Baker, was buried in the churchyard of St Mary’s Priory Church. Every year on the Sunday nearest to 27th August, a pilgrimage takes place to the martyred priest’s grave.