John Heigham was an English Roman Catholic printer, writer, and translator. He went into exile in Douai

Douai

-Main sights:Douai's ornate Gothic style belfry was begun in 1380, on the site of an earlier tower. The 80 m high structure includes an impressive carillon, consisting of 62 bells spanning 5 octaves. The originals, some dating from 1391 were removed in 1917 during World War I by the occupying...

 and Saint-Omer

Saint-Omer

Saint-Omer , a commune and sub-prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais department west-northwest of Lille on the railway to Calais. The town is named after Saint Audomar, who brought Christianity to the area....

, where he married and brought up a family. A son John, who took holy orders, left Rome for the English mission in 1649.

Works

His works are now thought to include at least one book published under the name of Matthew Kellison

Matthew Kellison

Matthew Kellison was an English Roman Catholic theologian and controversialist, and a reforming president of the English College, Douai.-Life:...

, The Gagge of the Reformed Gospell, from 1623. This was intended as a divisive work aimed at English Protestants, setting the decrees of the Synod of Dort

Synod of Dort

The Synod of Dort was a National Synod held in Dordrecht in 1618-1619, by the Dutch Reformed Church, to settle a divisive controversy initiated by the rise of Arminianism. The first meeting was on November 13, 1618, and the final meeting, the 154th, was on May 9, 1619...

 against texts from the King James Bible.

Other works were:

• ‘A Devout Exposition of the Holie Masse. With an Ample Declaration of all the Rites and Ceremonies belonging to the same,’ Douay, 1614; St. Omer, 1622; and again London, 1876, edited by Austin Joseph Rowley.
• ‘A Mirrour to Confesse well for such persons as doe frequent this Sacrament. Abridged out of sundrie confessionals by a certain devout Religious man,’ Douay, 1618 and 1624.
• ‘A Method of Meditation,’ translated from the French of Father Ignatius Balsom, St. Omer, 1618.
• ‘The Psalter of Jesus, contayninge very devoute and godlie petitions,’ Douay, 1618. This is a revised edition of Richard Whytford's ‘Psalter.’ It was reprinted, Douay, 1624, with ‘A Mirrour to Confesse well’ and the four following works, in all six parts, each having a distinct title-page.
• ‘Certaine very pious and godly considerations proper to be exercised whilst the … Sacrifice of the Masse is celebrated,’ Douay, 1624.
• ‘Divers Devout considerations for the more worthy receaving of the … Sacrament,’ Douay, 1624.
• ‘Certaine advertisements teaching men how to lead a Christian life,’ Douay, 1624, translated from the Italian of Charles Borromeo
  Charles Borromeo
  Charles Borromeo was the cardinal archbishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of Milan from 1564 to 1584. He was a leading figure during the Counter-Reformation and was responsible for significant reforms in the Catholic Church, including the founding of seminaries for the education of priests...
  
  .
• ‘A briefe and profitable exercise of the seaven principall effusions of the … blood of … Jesus Christ,’ a translation from the French, Douay, 1624.
• ‘Meditations on the Mysteries of our holie Faith, with the Practise of Mental Prayer touching the same,’ from the Spanish of Luis de la Puente, St. Omer, 1619; reprinted, in a revised and corrected form, London, 1852. This translation is distinct from that of Richard Gibbons
  Richard Gibbons
  Richard Gibbons was an English Jesuit scholar.-Life:After making his early studies in England, and completing a two years' course in philosophy at the Catholic University of Leuven and in the German College at Rome, he entered the Society of Jesus, on 1 September 1572, and continued his studies...
  
   in 1610.
• ‘The True Christian Catholique; or the Maner How to Live Christianly,’ St. Omer, 1622. From the French of the Jesuit Philippe Doultreman (d'Outreman) (1585–1652).
• ‘Villegas's Lives of the Saints translated, whereunto are added the Lives of sundry other Saints of the Universal Church, set forth by J. Heigham,’ St. Omer, 1630. The Flos Sanctorum of Alfonso Villegas went to a number of editions in English translation by Edward and William Kinsman, this one being edited by Heigham.
• ‘Via Vere Tuta; or the Truly Safe Way. Discovering the Danger, Crookedness, and Uncertaintie of M. John Preston and Sir Humfrey Lindes Unsafe Way,’ St. Omer, 1631 and 1639. In answer to Sir Humphrey Lynde's ‘Via Tuta.’