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Manchester’s New Fleet Prison or House of Correction and Other Gaols for Obstinate Recusants

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 February 2015

David Lannon
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Extract

Few people today realise that Manchester was used in Elizabethan England as a place where obstinate recusants might be imprisoned both as a warning to others and in the hope that their conformity to the religious laws of the realm might be obtained. Three places were used to hold the captives. The first was the disused chapel on the only bridge that then existed between Manchester and Salford, the second was Radcliffe Hall or Pool Fold Lodge near the present day Cross Street Chapel, and the third was the House of Correction built between Hunt’s Bank and the sandstone bluff on which stood the former collegiate buildings, today the home of Chetham’s Library and world famous School of Music.

Type
Research Article
Information
British Catholic History , Volume 29 , Issue 4 , October 2009 , pp. 459 - 486
Copyright
Copyright © Catholic Record Society 2009

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References

Notes

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2 Usher, pp. 66.

3 Haigh, Christopher, Reformation and Resistance in Tudor Lancashire, pp. 211.

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11 Her family in Manchester became notable recusants and included in their descendants the Benedictine martyr Ambrose Barlow.

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13 Coward, pp. 166–167.

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18 DC, Letter to Henry Hastings, 10 June 1580.

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22 DC, Letter to Commission Members, 15 July 1580.

23 DC, Letter to Commission Members, 25 July 1580.

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25 DC, Letter to Chaderton, 26 July 1580.

26 DC, Walsingham to Chaderton, 31 July 1580.

27 DC, Council to High Commission, August 1580.

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29 DC, Walsingham to Chaderton, 12 November 1580.

30 DC, Privy Council to Chaderton, 16 December 1580.

31 DC, Privy Council to Chaderton, 28 May 1581.

32 DC, Privy Council to Chaderton, 18 May 1581.

33 DC, Privy Council to Chaderton, 4 July 1581.

34 DC, Privy Council to Chaderton, 13 January 1581.

35 DC, Privy Council to Chaderton and Derby, 31 January 1581.

36 DC, Privy Council to Chaderton, 4 July 1581.

37 DC, Wray to Chaderton, 13 July 1581.

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42 DC, Privy Council to Holland, the High Sheriff, 14 December 1581.

43 DC, Privy Council to Chaderton and Derby, 31 January 1581/2.

44 Manchester is in the Hundred of Salford. The New Fleet is on the Manchester side of the Irwell. Different writers sometimes call it ‘Salford’; sometimes ‘Manchester’; sometimes ‘the New Fleet’; sometimes ‘The House of Correction’. The confusion thus caused has spread across several centuries!

45 DC, Privy Council to Holland, the High Sheriff, 31 January 1581/2.

46 DC, Privy Council to Chaderton, 2 December 1582.

47 DC, Privy Council to Chaderton, 14 May 1583.

48 DC, Privy Council to Chaderton and Derby, 2 December 1583.

49 DC, Privy Council to Henry Stanley, 2 December 1583.

50 DC, Lord Strange to Chaderton, 16 December 1583.

51 DC, 11 January 1583/4.

52 DC, Privy Council to Chaderton and Derby, 19 January 1583/4.

53 DC, Walsingham to Chaderton and Derby, 17 January 1583/4.

54 DC, Privy Council to Chaderton and Derby, 22 February 1583/4.

55 DC, Sir Christopher Hatton to Chaderton, 23 June 1584.

56 DC, Privy Council to Chaderton and Derby, 22 March 1583/4.

57 DC, Walsingham to Chaderton, 2 May 1584.

58 DC, Privy Council to Chaderton and Derby, 5 July 1584. This is the last entry referring to recusants that Peck has transcribed.

59 Concertatio in an addenda between pp. 210–211; Foley, pp. 116–133; Myerscough, A Procession of Lancashire Martyrs, John S. Burns, Glasgow, 1958, pp. 53–66.

60 O’Dea, pp. 56–58.

61 Reilly, p. 114; SDA 1879, p. 43.

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63 Shaw, L. A., Arthur, , Manchester Old and New, Cassell, 1894, p. 7 Google Scholar. He notes the story that the hymn ‘Jerusalem my happy home’ was composed there, apparently by J. Bromehead.

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67 Swindells, T., Manchester Streets and Manchester Men, Cornish, Manchester, 1906–1908, 5 volumes, Vol. 1, pp. 78–80.Google Scholar

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70 Reilly, pp. 114–115.

71 DC, Hastings to Chaderton, 7 December 1581.

72 DC, Privy Council to Chaderton, Derby and all Justices, 30 June 1582.

73 DC, Privy Council to Chaderton, Derby and Trafford, 30 June 1582.

74 DC, Walsingham to Derby, 30 June 1582.

75 DC, Walsingham to Bromley, 4 September 1582.

76 DC, Privy Council to Chaderton and Derby, 3 December 1582.

77 DC, Privy Council to Chaderton, 9 December 1582.

78 DC, Privy Council to Chaderton and Derby, 22 February 1582/3.

79 DC, Privy Council to Chaderton and Derby, 6 July 1583.

80 DC, Privy Council to Chaderton and Derby, 6 July 1583.

81 DC, Privy Council to Chaderton and Derby, 22 December 1583.

82 DC, Privy Council to Chaderton and Derby, 22 March 1583/4.

83 Foley, p. 138.

84 De Lacy, M., Prison Reform in Lancashire 1700–1850, Chetham Society, Manchester, 1963, Third Series, Vol. 33 Google Scholar, passim.

85 Foley, p. 138.

86 Vaux, p. 77.

87 Bolton, p. 48; Reilly, p. 115.

88 CRS Vol. 5, pp. 23, 24, 25; Bolton, p. 48; Leatherbarrow, p. 74; SDA 1886, p. 42.

89 Foley, p. 138.

90 CRS Vol. 5, p. 70; SDA 1884, p. 42.

91 France, E. and Woodall, T. F., A New History of Didsbury, Morten, Didsbury, 1976, p. 25.Google Scholar

92 CRS Vol. 5, p. 71 indicates the son was bound over.

93 Reilly, p. 115; DC Privy Council to Chaderton, 13 December 1582. Baxter is not mentioned in Anstruther or in Bellenger and was presumably a Marian priest.

94 CRS Vol. 5, p. 70; Reilly, p. 115, Bamber J. E; Mancuniensis, p. 93.

95 Bolton, p. 40. McCoog Thomas M, English and Welsh Jesuits 1555–1650, CRS 1994, Vol. 74; 1995, Vol. 95, p. 124; SDA 1886, p. 43.

96 Leatherbarrow, p. 100.

97 CRS Vol. 5, pp. 23, 24, 25; Leatherbarrow, p. 74; Foley, p. 138.

98 CRS Vol. 5, p. 24, Leatherbarrow, p. 74.

99 History of the Chantries, Chetham Society, Manchester, 1862, First Series, 2 Vols, 59 and 60, Vol. 1, pp. 7, 20; CRS Vol. 5, pp. 23, 24; Leatherbarrow, pp. 48, 56, 57, 74 (named as Coppage) Wark, pp. 31, 174–175; Vaux, pp. 9, 10, 21, 75–79, 84, 90.

100 CRS Vol. 5, p. 25; Foley, p. 138 states she is a widow.

101 Wark, pp. 32–34, 49, 65, 69, 104, 116, 132, 134, 142; O’Reilly, p. 115.

102 Sir George Bromley, Lord Chancellor, for example, so wrote to Chaderton and Derby. In a second letter dated 1 July 1582 he expressed sorrow at her obstinacy, wished her to be dealt with gently and wanted preachers to be appointed to confer with her. He had himself written to her asking her to conform to the Queen’s laws. Sir Christopher Hatton in January 1582/3 pleaded that she ‘may have further liberty’ and that her court appearance be delayed until Michaelmas.

103 Wark, p. 34. The Solicitor General, Sir Thomas Egerton, was the natural son of her husband. Filial affection and duty seem to have led him to enlist the help of prominent men in thus seeking mercy while he discreetly remained in the background.

104 CRS Vol. 5, pp. 23, 24, 25; Leatherbarrow, pp. 74, 89; Reilly, p. 115.

105 Walsham, Alexandra, Church Papists, Boydell, 1993, p. 73.Google Scholar

106 Historically there has been some confusion as to his place of execution. Some sources stated it was at Manchester, possibly at Knott Mill, but the accepted view today is that it was at Lancaster.

107 Foley, p. 138.

108 Bolton, p. 48, Vaux, p. 77.

109 Vaux, p. 77; Wark, p. 175.

110 CRS Vol. 5, pp. 23, 24; Bolton, p. 50, Leatherbarrow, p. 74; Wark, p. 175.

111 CRS Vol. 5, p. 25.

112 CRS Vol. 5, p. 25; Leatherbarrow, p. 74; He is not mentioned in Anstruther or in Bellenger and was presumably a Marian priest. Foley, p. 137, lists a Christopher Hankes.

113 CRS Vol. 5, pp. 23, 24; Bolton, p. 40; Leatherbarrow, p. 74; Wark, pp. 31–32, 59, 152.

114 Foley, p. 137.

115 CRS Vol. 5, pp. 23, 24–25; Bolton, p.40; Leatherbarrow, p. 74 (named as ‘Hugh’), 101; Wark, pp. 31, 58, 153.

116 Foley, p. 138.

117 Foley, p. 137.

118 Foley, p. 138.

119 Foley, p. 138.

120 TLCAS Vol. 3, 1885, p. 94.

121 CRS Vol. 5, p. 25; Camm, , Lives of the English Martyrs, Burns Oates, 1905, Vol. 2, p. 523.Google Scholar

122 Foley, p. 137.

123 Bolton, p. 49; Leatherbarrow, p. 75; SDA 1886, p. 43; Laybourne’s fine was to be handed over to Worsley to pay the prison’s expenses; Reilly, p. 115. The Privy Council thanked Chaderton and Derby for their efforts in examining the prisoner. How much he was to be punished was being determined by the Queen’s Council. Privy Council to Chaderton and Derby, 18 January 1582/3.

124 Reilly, p. 117 states that Campion affirmed that Laybourne suffered at Manchester and, according to tradition, the place of execution was at Knott Mill; SDA 1879, p. 42; CRS Douai Diaries, p. 353.

125 Foley, p. 138.

126 Bolton, p. 50; Anstruther, p. 214, SDA 1886, p. 42; Foley, 2, p. 138. Vaux, p. 77 claims a John Loew who was a former Protestant minister afterwards executed at Tyburn.

127 CRS Vol. 5, p. 24; Leatherbarrow, p. 74; Foley, p. 138 states she is a wife.

128 Information from Charles Molineux of Virginia, U.S.A., based on family research.

129 Wark, pp. 2–4, 49, 57, 59, 176.

130 CRS Vol. 5, pp. 23, 24; Bolton, p. 49; Leatherbarrow, p. 74.

131 Foley, p. 138.

132 CRS Vol. 5, pp. 23, 24; Leatherbarrow, p. 74. He is not mentioned in Anstruther or in Bellenger and was presumably a Marian priest.

133 Foley, p. 138.

134 SDA 1879, p. 43.

135 O’Dea, p. 38; Concertatio, p. 411. He is not mentioned in any recent listing of Jesuits, nor is he listed in either Anstruther or Bellenger.

136 CRS Vol. 5, p. 24; Bolton, p. 50; Leatherbarrow, pp. 74, 80–83; Reilly, p. 115. As Sheriff in 1562 he had only made one arrest for recusancy, although the High Commission in York had sent him three specific instructions. Haigh, p. 213.

137 DC, Privy Council to Chaderton, 22 June 1581.

138 DC, Privy Council to Chaderton and Derby, 31 January 1581/2.

139 DC, Privy Council to Derby, 25 February 1581/2.

140 DC, Privy Council to Chaderton and Derby, 5 November 1582.

141 DC, Privy Council to Chaderton and Derby, 7 February 1582/3.

142 DC, Burghley to Chaderton, 20 November 1583.

143 DC, Privy Council to Chaderton and Derby, 23 February 1583/4.

144 DC, Walsingham to Chaderton, 2 April 1584.

145 DC, Privy Council to Chaderton, 24 May 1584.

146 DC, Privy Council to Chaderton and Derby, 13 July 1584.

147 Leatherbarrow, p. 90–92.

148 Bolton, p. 50.

149 CRS Vol. 5, p. 25; Leatherbarrow, pp. 74, 80. 83–84; Reilly, p. 115.

150 DC, Privy Council to Chaderton and Derby, 22 February 1582/3.

151 Bolton, pp. 30–31.

152 DC, Privy Council to Chaderton and Derby, 22 March 1583/4.

153 Vaux, p. 77; Foley, p. 137.

154 Vaux, p. 77.

155 CRS Vol. 5, pp. 23, 24; Leatherbarrow, p. 74; Foley, p. 137. He is not mentioned in Anstruther or in Bellenger and was presumably a Marian priest.

156 CRS Vol. 5, pp. 23, 24; Leatherbarrow, p. 74; Foley, p. 138. He is not mentioned in Anstruther or in Bellenger and was presumably a Marian priest.

157 CRS Vol. 5, pp. 23, 24, 25; Bolton, p. 49; Leatherbarrow, p. 74; Wark, pp. 31–32, 172.

158 George, Saintsbury, Manchester, Longmans Green, London, 1887, p. 37.Google Scholar