Edward Wightman

     Edward Wightman was born on 20 December 1566 at Burton on Trent, Lichfield, Staffordshire, England. He was the son of John Wightman and Ann Moreton. Edward Wightman married Frances Darbye on 2 September 1593 at Burton on Trent, Lichfield, Staffordshire, England.¹ Edward Wightman died on 11 April 1612 at Manchuet Place, Lichfield, Staffordshire, England, at age 45.
     After his marriage to Frances Darbye of Hinckley, they settled in Burton-Upon-Trent in Staffordshire. He became the minister of the Six-Principle Baptist Church, which later became the faith of the first Baptist church organized in America, the old First Baptist church of Providence, 1638. Being a non-conformist and part of what was known as the Separatists, he was persecuted and twice burned for these religious views, on 9 March 1612 and 11 April 1612. On this last date in April, King James I had issued the order that he be burned to death in Manchuet Place, Litchfield in Staffordshire. He was the last of the religious martyrs in England to be so destroyed. Both of his sons came to Rhode Island [Wescott History and Genealogy, p. 378].
"There is a large monument in the marketplace of the town of Lichfield, Staffordshire, England , commemorating the spot of his martyrdom, and the plaque reads:
EDWARD WIGHTMAN of BURTON-ON-TRENT
was burnt at the stake in this Market Place
For heresy 11th April 1612,
Being the last person in England so to die.¹