THE REBELLIONS.
The most striking event in Lancashire in the beginning of the
eighteenth century was the rebellion of 1715, which arose out of
the Highland feeling in favour of the elder Stuart line, and the
discontent of the lairds with the recent Parliamentary union. Those
who planned the insurrection were in hopes of obtaining the support
of the Roman Catholics in the North of England, who still owned the
Pope as the supreme head of their Church. In September, 1715, the
Earl of Mar raised the royal standard of "James VIII. and III." at
Braemar, and was shortly afterwards at Perth with an army of 12,000.
In the rising, of which this was the prelude, the Presbyterians in
Lancashire attached themselves to the Whig party, whilst the Roman
Catholics took the side of the Tories. A writer on this subject[217]
says: "That the Roman Catholics in Lancashire should have appeared in
arms during the movement of 1715 can excite no surprise whatever. They
were stimulated by a deep recollection of long bygone persecutions, to
which, as a cause, they referred their existing political and religious
grievances. This historical retrospect comprises in its earliest date
the persecutions and degradations which they underwent in the reign
of Elizabeth, and the sympathy which they subsequently met with from
the unfortunate Charles, who was the first to show concern for their
sufferings and civil disabilities."
The Roman Catholics who joined the Jacobite party in 1715 were strongly
opposed, not only to the Whigs, but also to the Presbyterians, as
they no doubt considered that to one or other of these factions they
owed much of the persecution of past years. In Lancashire there were
still many Roman Catholics, and it is not a matter of surprise that
they should be ready to welcome any attempt to restore the succession
of the Stuarts, in whose cause they had, during the Civil Wars, shed
their blood and sacrificed many of their ancestral estates, especially
as they were indignant at the attempts made by King William to meet
the wishes of the Nonconformists. But perhaps the greatest excitement
amongst the Tories was caused by King George's determination to
continue the Toleration Act. In Manchester the feeling was very strong,
and there, on June 13, 1715, a considerable mob assembled, which was
led by Thomas Syddal, a peruke-maker, and continued daily to meet
"with beat of drum" for several days, during which they ravaged many
of the houses of those favourable to the Government, and ended by
almost destroying the Presbyterian chapel in Acres Field (now Cross
Street), which was at that time the only Dissenting place of worship in
Manchester, and which in derision was called "St. Plungeons."
The Manchester mob having been joined by men from Warrington and the
surrounding towns, they marched into Yorkshire, demolishing several
meeting-houses which they passed on their way. Similar mobs were doing
the same thing in several other parts of England at or near this date.
Strong measures being taken by Parliament, by the end of July these
riots for the time were suppressed. Syddal and a man known as the
colonel of the mob at Manchester were captured; they were tried at
Lancaster in the August following, and were sentenced to imprisonment
and to stand in the pillory.
The breaking out of the rebellion in Scotland and the rising in
Northumberland were soon followed by a threatening attitude assumed by
the people of Manchester, which was the chief centre of High Church
Toryism; to foster this feeling and to obtain active assistance, Lord
Widdrington and other Catholics visited the town; they were not only
received with enthusiasm, but were promised at least 20,000 men, when
once the Scottish force had entered Lancashire. In the north of the
county there were a considerable number of adherents to the cause of
the Chevalier de St. George, amongst them being many members of some of
the oldest and most powerful families in the district.
On November 6, 1715,[218] the insurgents were at Kirkby Lonsdale, and
being told that the town of Lancaster had ceased to make preparations
for defence, they decided to march on to that place, outside of
which they arrived the day following, being met by Lord Widdrington
and others, who roused their drooping spirits with the intelligence
that the Lancashire gentlemen were willing to join them, and that
Manchester (as an instalment towards the 20,000 promised) had got
arms for 50 men besides other volunteers. The Lancaster people were,
it appears, waiting for some dragoons from Preston which did not
arrive, so that although Sir Henry Hoghton was prepared to defend the
town, he was powerless to do so; and on November 7 the Scottish army
entered Lancaster with swords drawn, drums beating, colours flying,
and bagpipes playing; at the head of the troops rode Lord Wintoun. At
the market cross the Pretender was proclaimed King. The next thing
they did was to release all the prisoners on the Crown side in the
castle, amongst whom were Thomas Syddal, the Manchester mob leader,
and his "colonel," both of whom joined the rebels. Besides these, John
Dalton[219] of Thurnham Hall, John Tyldesley of the Lodge, Richard
Butler of Rawcliffe, and a few others of the Roman Catholic gentry,
were added to their ranks. The only inhabitants of the town who
volunteered were a barber and a joiner. On November 8 service was held
in the church, when, the Vicar declining to pray for the Pretender, the
Rev. William Paul,[220] who was with the insurgents, read the prayer.
A writer, friendly to the rebels, narrates how the gentlemen of the
army, "trimed in their best cloathes," went to take "a dish of tea with
the ladyes" of Lancaster, who "apeared in their best riging" in honour
of the occasion.
On November 9 the forces set off for Preston. The day proved wet, and
as the ways were deep and heavy, one may easily realize that the march
was disagreeable and dispiriting, so much so that at Garstang the foot
were allowed to stay all night, with instructions to follow the horse
troops on to Preston the following day. Here, no doubt through the
influence of Thomas Tyldesley, Roger Moncaster, an attorney and Town
Clerk of the Corporation, joined the standard of the Chevalier; with
him also went some half dozen more from the same district.
At Preston on November 10 the Pretender was proclaimed at the
cross, and all authorities agree that here the army was joined by a
considerable number of gentlemen, with their tenants and servants;
but they were all Roman Catholics, the High Church party being still
conspicuous by their absence. Amongst the volunteers were Richard
Townley, Sir Francis Anderton of Lostock, Richard Chorley of Chorley,
Gabriel Hesketh of Whitehill (in Goosnargh), Ralph Standish of
Standish, John Leybourn of Nateby, and many other men of high position
in the county. The total strength of the rebel force has been estimated
at 4,000 men. What had the Government been doing all this time? News
then travelled slowly, and it appears that while the rebels were at
Lancaster General Carpenter was with his soldiers at Newcastle. He
afterwards set off towards Lancashire.
The insurgents knew of this, but they appeared to have been ignorant
of the movements of General Wills, the commandant of the Chester
garrison, who was sending out forces to Wigan. On November 8 Wills was
at Manchester, where he found it would require a regiment to prevent
a rising, and having provided against this emergency by sending to
Chester for the militia, he set off with his troops to Preston. On
November 10 Pitt's horse and Stanhope's dragoons reached Wigan, where
they were quickly followed by other regiments, who were arranged in
readiness to advance to Preston. The rebels in the interior were
having a fine time of it in "proud Preston," where they found the
"ladys so very beautifull and so richly atired" that they minded
"nothing but courting and feasting." Whilst General Wills was at Wigan
he appealed to Sir Henry Hoghton to raise some recruits, who, it
appears, considered that the most likely party to find them was the
Presbyterians; and with this in view he wrote to the Rev. James Woods,
pastor of Chowbent, in the following terms:
"The officers here design to march at break of day to Preston;
they have desired me to raise what men I can to meet us at Preston
to-morrow, so desire you to raise all the force you can--I mean lusty
young fellows, to draw up on Cuerden Green, to be there by ten
o'clock, to bring with them what arms they have fit for service, and
scythes put in streight polls, and such as have not to bring spades and
billhooks for pioneering with. Pray go immediately all amongst your
neighbours, and give this notice.
"I am your very faithful servant,
"W. HOGHTON."
"Wigan, November 11, 1715."
This James Woods was the son of the Rev. James Woods, who, as the
Nonconformist minister of Chowbent, was imprisoned in 1670. To the
appeal of Hoghton, Woods hastily responded, and in his efforts met with
ready assistance from two neighbouring pastors, John Walton of Horwich
and John Turner of Preston, and they and their volunteers are reported
to have done good service to the Hanoverian cause. So enthusiastic
was the pastor of Chowbent that he obtained the sobriquet of "General
Woods." It seems almost incredible that all this time the commanders
of the forces at Preston were unaware of the approaching enemy; yet if
they did know of it, they at all events very considerably underrated
the strength of General Wills's army.
On Saturday, November 12, at daybreak, the vanguard of General Wills's
forces arrived at Walton-le-Dale, where the river only separated them
from Preston.
On this being discovered, Lieutenant-Colonel Farquharson was sent with
a detachment of 100 men to defend the Ribble Bridge, but afterwards
it was deemed advisable to abandon this position in order that an
advantage might be given to the Scotch troops in forcing the invaders
to meet them in or near the town instead of near the open plain, where
their want of sufficient horse and artillery would, it was thought,
tell heavily against them; beside which, they would be able to fight
under cover of the barricades which they had hastily thrown up near
the centre of the town. Notwithstanding that the Government troops
got possession of the houses of Sir Henry Hoghton and Mr. Ayres, the
rebels held their position during the whole of the Saturday; but on the
following day General Carpenter's troops came up and encamped round the
town. The insurgents having discovered that Carpenter and Wills had now
made a simple cordon round Preston, and that every avenue of escape was
closed, made overtures for surrender. The reply of General Wills was:
"I will not treat with rebels! They have killed several of the King's
subjects, and they must expect the same fate. All that I can do for you
is, that if you lay down your arms and submit yourselves prisoners at
discretion, I will prevent the soldiers from cutting you to pieces, and
give you your lives until I have further orders; and I will allow you
but one hour to consider these terms."
To this proposal some of the English were inclined to submit, but the
Scotch troops would not listen to it; and there arose a strong division
amongst the insurgents, which led to something like a fight between the
two parties.
After some parley, however, on November 13 Preston was surrendered,
and the swords of the insurgent officers were given up, some in
the churchyard and others at the Mitre Inn. Afterwards the lords,
officers and the gentlemen volunteers were taken prisoners, and placed
under guards in the inns known as the Mitre, the White Bull, and the
Windmill; the Highlanders and other troops, having laid down their
arms, were marched into the church, and placed under a strong guard.
The total number thus taken prisoners is stated as 1,550, of which
over 1,000 were Scotch. During the whole engagement the number killed
probably did not reach 200. As far as Lancashire is concerned, this
closed the rebellion. Amongst the prisoners taken at Preston were the
Earl of Nithsdale, the Earl of Cornwall, the Earl of Winton, and the
Viscount of Kenmure, and over 200 other Scots noblemen and gentlemen;
of the English there were the Earl of Derwentwater, Lord Widdrington,
and over 70 gentlemen. After some little delay (awaiting instructions),
about 400 rebels were sent to Lancaster Castle, where they slept on
straw and were allowed for maintenance per man each day 2d. (for bread
and cheese 1d., and 1d. for small beer); other of the prisoners were
removed to Chester, Liverpool, and Wigan. Some of the officers of the
royal army were tried by court-martial at Preston for desertion, and
taking arms against the King; four of their number were convicted and
shot, viz., Major Nairn, Captain Philip Lockhart, Ensign Erskine,
and Captain John Shaftoe. Lord Charles Murray, though convicted,
was ultimately reprieved. Towards the end of the month some of the
prisoners at Wigan were sent off to London.
Nothing now remains to be told except to briefly state the fate of
some of the rebel prisoners. The Earl of Derwentwater and Lord Kenmure
were beheaded on Tower Hill, February 24, 1716; and of the prisoners
condemned in Lancashire, sixteen were hanged at Preston, five at Wigan,
five at Manchester, four at Garstang, four at Liverpool, and nine at
Lancaster. Amongst the Lancashire victims were: Richard Shuttleworth,
of Preston, gentleman; Roger Muncaster, Town Clerk of Garstang; Thomas
Goose, who tradition says was arrested at Garstang for calling out
as the rebel army passed, "Hev ye on, me lads, and you'll take the
crown with a distaff"; William Butler, of Myerscough, gentleman; John
Wadsworth, of Catterall, gentleman; Thomas Syddal, the Manchester
peruke-maker; William Harris, of Burnley; and Richard Butler, of
Rawcliffe.
The rebellion was followed by strong measures being taken against
Roman Catholics, as it gave another pretext for the seizing of their
estates by the Commissioners, more particularly the properties of
those who had died just before the events of 1715; and there is no
doubt but that many of their descendants were harshly and unjustly
dealt with. The oaths of supremacy and allegiance were now urged upon
both clergy and laity, and all Roman Catholics and Nonjurors were
compelled to register the value of their estates. The returns made by
the Commissioners showed that in Amounderness there were 73 estates,
worth per annum £2,260; in Lonsdale, 25, yielding £1,432; in Blackburn,
29, yielding £972; in Leyland, 54, yielding £1,463; in Salford, 17,
yielding £721; in West Derby, 122, yielding £5,901. From this return
it appears that the yearly value of the Nonjurors' estates (chiefly
Roman Catholics) in Derby and Amounderness was nearly twice as much as
all the rest of the county put together; and the numbers of estates in
these two hundreds, though not quite in the same proportion, was very
much greater than that in the other parts of Lancashire.
Shortly after the events just narrated, a strong controversy arose
in Lancashire and other parts of the kingdom as to what was spoken
of as the _Divine right of kings_, the Nonjurors maintaining that no
circumstances whatever could justify an insurrection against the King,
and therefore no one but a descendant of James II. could claim from
them an oath of allegiance. The holders of this doctrine were plentiful
in Lancashire, and in Manchester particularly, and there were many who
at once espoused the cause of Prince Charles Edward (the son of the
Pretender), when in August, 1745, he landed in the Hebrides on his
way, as he fondly hoped, to the throne. On November 16 following, the
Young Chevalier, with a small army, got possession of Carlisle, and was
proclaimed King of Great Britain.
Leaving Carlisle, the Young Pretender marched through Penrith to
Lancaster, where he arrived on November 24, at the head of about 5,000
men, chiefly Highlanders; from thence they passed on to Preston, which
was reached on November 27, and by a forced march they arrived at
Manchester the following day. Here for the first time during their
passage through Lancashire they obtained some substantial assistance,
by the addition to their forces of some 200 men, which were placed
under the command of Colonel Francis Townley, and were designated the
Manchester Regiment. The Jacobites of Manchester received the Prince
with public demonstrations of joy. From Manchester the insurgents went
to Derby, where they ascertained that they were in danger of being
hemmed in by two armies of the Government, and therefore they wisely at
once began to retreat, passing again through Manchester, Preston, and
Lancaster, and crossed the Scottish Border on the 20th, having marched
200 miles in fourteen days.
The arrival of the Duke of Cumberland and his forces in Lancashire soon
re-established public peace and confidence. The rebellion terminated at
the battle of Culloden, on April 16 following. The Prince ultimately
escaped to France. Amongst those taken as prisoners-of-war there were
several Lancashire men, who had mostly been part of the unfortunate
so-called Manchester Regiment, although, according to one account, it
was by no means composed solely of men from that town.
Francis Townley was a Roman Catholic, and a son of one of the Townleys
of Townley, but, owing to some family circumstance, he had for a time
before the rebellion been living in France. On coming to Manchester
he made friends with some of the leading Jacobites, amongst whom was
Dr. Byrom. He appears to have joined the Prince at Carlisle, and
accompanied him through England. In the rapid retreat which followed,
he went as far as Carlisle, and was there left with some 400 men, while
the Prince and the main body of Highlanders went over the Border. By
this time nearly two-thirds of the Manchester Regiment had deserted.
Thomas Syddal (the son of the Syddal executed after the 1715 rebellion)
(see p. 248), was also left in Carlisle, and acted as adjutant, for
which post, being like his father a peruke-maker by trade, he could
scarcely be qualified, neither could Captain George Fletcher, who
heretofore had managed his mother's drapery shop in Salford.
Another Manchester man was Thomas Cappoch (the son of a well-to-do
tailor), who joined the Pretender as chaplain, and during the
occupation of the capital of Cumberland by the rebels was appointed
as "Bishop of Carlisle."[221] There were also three sons of the
nonjuring Dr. Thomas Deacon. On the surrender of Carlisle, the officers
of the Manchester Regiment, twenty in number, and ninety-three
non-commissioned officers and privates, were all taken prisoners and
conveyed in waggons to London,[222] and placed in Newgate.
On the trial, which began July 16, 1746, all the prisoners were found
guilty, and nine were ordered to be executed, which sentence was duly
carried out on Kennington Common on July 20. The heads of Townley and
George Fletcher were placed on Temple Bar, but the heads of Syddal
and Thomas Deacon were sent to Manchester, and there fixed on spikes
on the top of the Exchange; and it is said that one of the first who
came to look at them was Dr. Deacon himself, who, taking off his hat,
expressed his satisfaction that his son had died a martyr. After this
no Jacobite passed the Exchange (so long as the heads remained there)
without reverently removing his hat.
Thomas Cappoch and eight others were hung, drawn and quartered at
Carlisle on October 18, 1746.
Many of the other Lancashire men, though convicted of high-treason,
were afterwards pardoned.
[Illustration]
[Footnote 217: S. Hibbert Ware, M.D. See _Chetham Society_, v. (old
series), from which many of the facts concerning this rebellion are
taken.]
[Footnote 218: Works consulted: Patten's "History of the Rebellion,"
Rae's "History of the Rebellion," "Lancashire Memorials of 1715"
(_Chetham Soc._, v.), "Manchester Collectanea" (_Chetham Soc._,
lxviii.), "History of Garstang," etc.]
[Footnote 219: His real name was Hoghton.]
[Footnote 220: A clergyman of the Church of England.]
[Footnote 221: "The Authentic History of the Life and Character of
Thomas Cappoch (the rebel Bishop of Carlisle), etc."; London, 1739.]
[Footnote 222: One of Dr. Deacon's sons died on the road.]
[Illustration]