James Fenn was a 16th-century English Catholic priest who was executed for his religious convictions. Born around 1540 in Somerset, he was a scholar at Oxford but lost his degree after refusing to swear the Oath of Supremacy to Queen Elizabeth I. After living as a widower and a tutor, he was ordained in 1580. His refusal to acknowledge the monarch as the head of the Church led to his arrest and eventual death at Tyburn in 1584.