John Houghton, OCart (c. 1486 – 4 May 1535) was a Catholic priest of the Carthusian order and the first martyr to die as a result of the Act of Supremacy by King Henry VIII of England. He was also the first of the Carthusians to die as a martyr.

John Houghton was an English Catholic priest and one of the first Carthusians to become a martyr under King Henry VIII's reign. Born around 1487 in Essex, England, he joined the Carthusians at a young age, driven by his calling to serve God and the Church.

Protomartyr of the English Reformation. A native of Essex, he served as a parish priest after graduating from Cambridge. He then became a Carthusian and the prior of the Carthusian Charterhouse of London. As an opponent of King Henry Viii’s Acts of Succession and Supremacy, he was arrested with other Carthusians but was released temporarily.

May 4, 2017 · As the historian and Benedictine monk Dom David Knowles describes St. John Houghton, who was canonized as one of the 40 Martyrs of England and Wales by Pope Paul VI in 1970, he was a great...

On 4 May 1535 the authorities sent to their death at Tyburn, Middlesex three leading English Carthusians, Doms John Houghton, prior of the London house, Robert Lawrence and Augustine Webster, respectively priors of Beauvale and Axholme, along with a Bridgettine monk, Richard Reynolds of Syon Abbey and a secular priest John Haile.

With them died a secular priest, Blessed John Hale, LL.B., Fellow of King's Hall, Cambridge, and Vicar of Isleworth, Middlesex, since 13 August, 1521. He took this living in exchange for the Rectory of Cranford, Middlesex, which he had held since 11 September, 1505.

St. John Houghton was the first of England’s martyrs to be killed under King Henry’s revolt from the Catholic faith. John was born in 1486 and educated at Cambridge. He joined the Carthusian order of monks in 1515, and in 1531 was elected to lead the community’s monastery in London.

John Houghton, OCart (c. 1486 – 4 May 1535) was a Catholic priest of the Carthusian order and the first martyr to die as a result of the Act of Supremacy by King Henry VIII of England. He was also the first of the Carthusians to die as a martyr.

John Houghton, BLESSED, protomartyr of the persecution under Henry VIII, b. in Essex, 1487; d. at Tyburn, May 4, 1535. He was educated at Cambridge, graduating LL.B. about 1497, and later LL.D. and D.D.; he was ordained priest in 1501 and entered the Carthusian novitiate at the London Charterhouse in 1505, where he was professed in 1516.

6 days ago · As the historian and Benedictine monk Dom David Knowles describes St. John Houghton, who was canonized as one of the 40 Martyrs of England and Wales by Pope Paul VI in 1970, he was a great exemplar for his order and for all the martyrs who would follow him.