Venerable Waire

Who is Venerable Waire?

Venerable Waire was an English friar and Catholic martyr who was hanged, drawn, and quartered at St. Thomas Waterings in Camberwell, on 8 July, 1539.

A number of historians record the execution of four men at this time and place, but only John Stowe identifies a Friar Waire as being among their number. Only one of the four is clearly identified from multiple, that being John Griffith, also known as Ven. John Griffith Clarke, but it seems clear that two friars were executed alongside him. All were accused of supporting the papal legate Cardinal Reginald Pole, who had refused to endorse Henry VIII 's divorce from Catherine of Aragon.

It is possible that Friar Waire is to be identified with Thomas Wyre, one of the signatories to the surrender of the Franciscan friary of Dorchester, 30 September, 1538. However, it is uncertain to what order he belonged. If he was a Franciscan it is remarkable that his death is not recorded in the "Grey Friars' Chronicle", and that no mention is made of him in such English Franciscan martyrologists as Bouchier or Angelus a S. Francisco.