Saint John Boste was one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales. In the year 1544, he was born in England's Westmoreland county of Dufton. He studied at Queen's College in Oxford, England, from 1569 to 1572, following which he continued there as a fellow. In 1576, he converted to Catholicism in Brome, Suffolk, England. He left Oxford after this and began studying in Rheims, France, in 1580.

He was ordained on March 4th, 1581. After that, he left for England in April 1581 to serve as a missionary in the northern counties, frequently dressing as a servant in Lord Montacute's livery. Blessed John Speed supported him in carrying out his mission. He was the target of a ferocious manhunt, and on July 5, 1593, he was betrayed, brought into custody, and sent to London.

He was sent to the Tower of London, where he was tortured on a rack and left permanently disabled. In July 1594, he was then transported to Durham, where he was put on trial for treason for serving as a priest. He was hanged, drawn, and quartered on July 24, 1594.

St. John was venerated on 8 December 1929 by Pope Pius XI (by decree of martyrdom), beatified by Pope Pius XI on December 15, 1929, and canonized by Pope Paul VI on October 25, 1970, as a martyr of Durham.

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