John Lowe (1553–1586) was an English Catholic priest and martyr.

Life John Lowe was born the youngest son of Simon Lowe and Margaret Lacy of London in 1553. His father was probably the Simon Low, a merchant-tailor and citizen of London. The family were parishioners of the parish of St Magnus the Martyr.The History of Parliament: The House of Commons 1509–1558, Bindoff, S.T. (ed), 1982

John was for some time a Protestant minister. After his conversion to Catholicism, he studied at Douai.A Menology of England and Wales Stanton, Richard, ..480, Burns & Oates, London, 1892 He was a servant at Anchin Abbey for 1578–1579. He entered the English College, Rome, arriving on 19 November 1581, and was ordained a deacon there on 19 August 1582, but there is no record of where and when he was ordained a priest. Leaving Rome in September 1583, he was recorded as leaving Rheims for the mission in England on 20 December 1583. Records show that his absence abroad had been noted by the English government."15th and 16th centuries", St Magnus the Martyr

By this time his father had died, and his mother Margaret was living on London Bridge. Walking with her nearby one evening in May 1586, he talked too unguardedly about his aspirations to martyrdom and was overheard and denounced to the authorities. He used to frequent the house of a Mr Tremayne in Clerkenwell, and while there he was subsequently arrested.Lives of the English Martyrs, (Edwin Hubert Burton, John Hungerford Pollen. eds.) Longmans, Green, 1914, p. 226 He was taken to the Clink prison on the 11 May. On 8 October 1586 he was executed by hanging, drawing and quartering at Tyburn, was executed along with two fellow priests, John Adams and Robert Dibdale."Beati Giovanni Adams, Roberto Dibdale e Giovanni Lowe", Santi e Beati, 18 September 2000

All three priests were beatified (the last stage prior to canonisation) by Pope John Paul II on 22 November 1987.

See also Catholic Church in the United Kingdom Douai Martyrs

References

Sources The most reliable compact source is Godfrey Anstruther, Seminary Priests, St Edmund's College, Ware, vol. 1, 1968, pp. 214–215.