Edward Wightman was married September 2, 1593 to Frances Darbye of Hinckley, and they settled in Burton-Upon-Trent in the adjoining shire, Stafford. He was a minister of the Six-Principle Baptist Church, which later became the faith of the first church founded in Rhode Island and the first Baptist church organized in America, the old First Baptist Church of Providence, 1638, of which Roger Williams and Stukely Westcott, our ancestors, were two of the founders.
 

    Like most thinking men of his generation, Edward was interested in matters pertaining to religious belief. Puritan sentiment was strong in his locality, and in the neighboring counties of Warwich and Leicester. His concept of the scripture was that everyone should be able to interpret the WORD OF GOD according to his own belief. As a member of the Separatists, this group of ejected clergymen dedicated themselves to separate from the establishment, break off from public churches, and assemble as they had the opportunity in private houses or elsewhere to worship God in a manner that might not offend their consciences. Frequent meetings were held for discussion and instruction. Edward often appeared at these meetings, taking part in the discussions. He was opposed, as well as many others, to certain doctrines and practices of the Established Church. Some of his beliefs were those which characterized the Baptists, who organized for the first time in England under that name in 1611 in London. Edward, however, in many vital Christian doctrines, went even further than the Puritan leaders of his locality. His beliefs were so extreme for that time in England that the other leaders could not entirely support his positions. It is said "that they were for treating him tenderly, hoping to reduce his errors by argument."
 

    Being a non-conformist of the radical wing, the Separatists, he was destined to be persecuted. All of his troubles began just eight years into the reign of James I in the year 1611. James I, King of England, was known as a "playboy" by his contemporaries, and was known to "spend two days a week fighting cocks. Day after day he chased game on horseback from dawn till evening. The fatigue of the chase was always relieved by the pleasures of the table, in which he frequently ate and drank too much. His reply to all who resented his way of life was that he did not intend to make himself a slave; that his health was the health and welfare of them all, required exercise and relaxation, and that he would rather go back to Scotland than consent to be shut up in a closet or chained to the affairs of state."
 

    Although James I spent very little time governing England, he could hardly overlook a direct challenge to his monarchy when Edward Wightman presented a manuscript to him when he passed through Royston in March 1611.
 

    King James, finding that Wightman was from the Diocese of Coventry and Litchfield, sent him to Westminster to Richard Neale with command to commit him to the gatehouse and to take examinations of his several opinions which did not conform to the Established Church. Neale, William Laud, and others held conferences from April to the middle of October with Wightman, who became very obstinate and "every day more blasphemous". King James then ordered his removal to Litchfield for trial in the Consistory Court there. This trial lasted from November 19th to December 5th by Bishop Neale, assisted by his chaplain, William Laud. (Laud was later beheaded in the Tower for treason.)
 

    Finally, sentence was pronounced on 14th December 1611 by Neale in the Cathedral. He commenced with "a sermon and confutation of Wightman's blasphemies against the Trinity". "They actually threw the book at him", to use the modern vernacular. The account of charges brought against him because of his faith included eleven distinct heresies, several of which were unheard of opinions. His contemporaries said that if Edward really held all the opinions that he was accused of, he must have either been an idiot or a madman, and ought to have had the prayers of his persecutors rather than to have been put to a cruel death.
 

    He was excommunicated and publicly denounced following the sermon in the cathedral at Litchfield. He was condemned to burn at the stake the following spring, on the 9th of March 1612, by a warrant issued by King James I.
 

    Crowds always gathered to see these public executions. Ninety-five percent of the people had no deep convictions one way or another about religion. The five percent who got into trouble were the zealous Protestants and Catholics, depending upon the form of religion that was currently being practiced by the Established Church.
 

    While the flames started to burn his flesh, Edward shouted out unintelligible words that seemed to infer that he had changed his mind and was ready to accept the religion of the Established Church. The crowd rushed forward and assisted the sheriff in releasing him from the stake. Later, however, as he refused to made a formal retraction in writing and continued to preach his heresies, he was again tied to the stake and his body reduced to ashes on April 11th, 1612.
* (see YESTERDAY'S NEWS WRITTEN TODAY)
 

    "It is said he died so cheerfully, and yet so cruelly, that the popular feeling created was so great the authorities feared to deliver another who had been condemned to the same fate." To his last breath, "he died blaspheming". He was the last of the religious martyrs in England to be burned at the stake.
 

    Edward Wightman was not the only one to suffer because of his martyrdom. His wife and five children were also victims who suffered a lifetime of horrifying memories. Very little is known about their subsequent history. It seems probable that the family left Burton-on-Trent and may very likely have gone to London. It is said that they were members of Helwys church in London, which was founded in 1611.
 

    Both of his sons, John (who had been 13 years old at the time of Edward's death) and Samuel (who had been less than a year old), and at least part of their families, later came to Rhode Island.

    Edward Wightman married Frances Darbye on the 2nd of September 1593, in the Burton-on-Trent Church.

        The following baptisms of their children appear as they were
    registered by the recorder: