Hugh Cook Faringdon

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Hugh Cook Faringdon (unknown to 15 November 1539), also known as Hugh Faringdon or Hugh Cook of Faringdon where he was presumably born. He was appointed Abbot of Reading Abbey in 1520, on the death of Abbot Thomas Worcester.

At first his relationship with King Henry VIII seems to have been supportive. He sat in Parliament from 1523 to 1539 and, in 1530, he signed, with other members of the House of Lords, a letter to the Pope pointing out the evils likely to result from delaying the divorce desired by the King; and, again in 1536, he signed the Articles of Faith which virtually acknowledged the supremacy of the crown over the church. When the commissioners arrived to take the surrender of Reading Abbey, they reported favourably of the Abbot's willingness to conform, but the surrender of the Abbey does not survive, and it is not therefore known whether Faringdon signed it.

In 1539, Faringdon was indicted of high treason accused of having assisted the Northern rebels with money. He was tracked down at Bere Court, his manor at Pangbourne, and taken back to Reading where he was executed outside the Abbey Gateway on 15 November.

He was beatified in 1895.

Blessed Hugh Faringdon Catholic School, a specialist performing arts college in Reading, is named after him.

[edit] External links

• Catholic Encyclopedia: Blessed Hugh Faringdon
• Royal Berkshire History: Hugh Cook of Faringdon, Abbot of Reading