George Blackwell

Father George Blackwell (c. 1545 – 12 January, 1613) was Roman Catholic Archpriest of England from 1597 to 1608.

Blackwell was captured near Clerkenwell on 24 June 1607. He was initially at the Gate-House in Westminster, and then at The Clink in Southwark. Over the following ten days he was questioned several times as to whether or not he had been aware of the Gunpowder Plot, and about his opinion of the oath. At the end of that period he was tendered the oath, which he took.

In 1601 a government spy described Blackwell as "about 50 years of age, his head brownish, his beard more black, cut after the fashion of a spade, of stature indifferent, and somewhat thick, decently attired"

After the death of Cardinal Allen in 1594, the leadership of the clandestine Catholic Mission in England was thrown into disarray. On 7 March 1598, Pope Clement VIII appointed Blackwell archpriest over the secular clergy in England. Six assistants were named for him and another six were left to his discretion. As Archpriest, he lodged at the town house of Anthony-Maria Browne, 2nd Viscount Montagu, when in London. His instructions enjoined him to work in close consultation with the head of the Jesuit mission in England.

Father George Blackwell returned to England as a missionary in November 1576. He was imprisoned in 1578 for his work as a priest. After being released from prison, he lived and worked from the house of Mrs. Meany in Westminster, England in secret.

He resigned or was ejected from Trinity College in 1571, probably for his religious beliefs, and in 1574 left England for the English College, Douai. He was ordained priest in 1575, and graduated BST from the University of Douai the same year.

Blackwell was born in Middlesex, England about 1545, perhaps the son of the pewterer Thomas Blackwell. He was admitted as a scholar to Trinity College, Oxford on 27 May 1562. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in 1563, and became a probationer of the college in 1565, a fellow in 1566, and graduated MA in 1567. He then removed to Gloucester Hall, a house much suspected of Catholic tendencies.