Anthony Turner (martyr)

Blessed Anthony Turner (1628–1679) was an English Jesuit and victim of the fabricated Popish Plot, falsely executed for conspiracy to murder Charles II. He was beatified in 1929.

He was born in Leicestershire, the son of a clergyman, Toby Turner, who was Rector of Little Dalby. He went to Uppingham School in Rutland, then studied at Peterhouse, Cambridge, where according to tradition he converted to Roman Catholicism. He went to the English College, Rome and then to the Jesuit College, St Omer. He was ordained in 1659. In 1661 he was sent to the Jesuits' Worcestershire mission and remained there for the rest of his career; in due course he was appointed Jesuit Superior for the District.

On the outbreak of the Popish Plot the Government showed exceptional interest in apprehending Turner: why he was considered to be of such importance is unclear, but he must have been thought worth catching, as he was hunted down in three counties. Turner, like many of the accused priests, fled to London, no doubt with the intention of escaping from England by taking refuge in the embassy of one of the Catholic powers; but while arrangements were being made through the embassies to smuggle him out of the country he voluntarily gave himself up to the authorities in February 1679. His motives for giving himself up are unclear: Jesuits, though they were schooled to endure martyrdom where necessary, were not expected to actively seek it, nor does his spirited defence at his trial suggest that he had any such wish. It is most likely, as J. P. Kenyon suggests, that his physical and mental suffering had caused him to suffer a short-lived nervous breakdown.

...
Wikipedia