Michael Alford was an English Jesuit missionary. He left two major works, Britannia Illustrata, Annales Ecclesiastici et Civiles Britannorum also known as Annales Ecclesiae Britannicae.

Michael Alford was born in London in 1587. He became a Jesuit missionary and was assigned duties in Europe while still a student at Seville

Seville

Seville is the artistic, historic, cultural, and financial capital of southern Spain. It is the capital of the autonomous community of Andalusia and of the province of Seville. It is situated on the plain of the River Guadalquivir, with an average elevation of above sea level...

 and Leuven. Subsequently he was assigned to be a minister to British sailors in Naples

Naples

Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...

, and later as rector

Rector

The word rector has a number of different meanings; it is widely used to refer to an academic, religious or political administrator...

 at the Jesuit college in Ghent

Ghent

Ghent is a city and a municipality located in the Flemish region of Belgium. It is the capital and biggest city of the East Flanders province. The city started as a settlement at the confluence of the Rivers Scheldt and Lys and in the Middle Ages became one of the largest and richest cities of...

.

Late in 1628 or perhaps the subsequent year, he was sent to the English mission. Upon landing at Dover

Dover

Dover is a town and major ferry port in the home county of Kent, in South East England. It faces France across the narrowest part of the English Channel, and lies south-east of Canterbury; east of Kent's administrative capital Maidstone; and north-east along the coastline from Dungeness and Hastings...

 he was mistakenly arrested on suspicion of being Father Richard Smith

Father Richard Smith

Richard Smith , , was the second Bishop over England, Wales and Scotland after Catholicism was banned in England in 1559. He followed Father William Bishop who died in 1624.-Early life:Richard Smith was born in Lincolnshire, England...

, Bishop of Chalcedon, for whose apprehension the government had offered a reward. His captors conveyed him to London, "but as his person in no respect corresponded with the description of the bishop, he was restored to liberty".

The county of Leicester

Leicester

Leicester is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England, and the county town of Leicestershire. The city lies on the River Soar and at the edge of the National Forest...

 became the chief district of Father Alford's missionary work. In 1636 he was appointed rector of the "Residence" of St Anne, comprising the county of Leicester. He resided at Holt, where he employed his leisure in composing his learned works.

In order to put the finishing stroke to his Annales Ecclesiae Britannicae he obtained leave to retire to the College of St. Omer in the spring of 1652, and while there he was attacked by a fever, from which he died on 11 August in the same year (DNB).

External links

• The Catholic Encyclopedia: "Michael Alford"