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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 16 September 2015
The world of the late seventeenth century was a very different one from that of a hundred years earlier. Religious tensions seemed to have fallen into the background. A new London was rising out of the fire of 1666 around the slowly growing walls of Wren's Cathedral, the foundation stone of which was laid in 1675; this was the age of Dryden, Pepys, and Isaac Newton. For the most part Catholics and Protestants got on together as neighbours, not asking too many questions. The penal laws, though still on the Statute Book, were disregarded. Yet for all its seeming modernity, there was a darker side to late seventeenth century English society. The world of the restored Stuart monarchy reflected a society lacking confidence, subject to scares and alarms. Popular fears of a restoration of Catholicism, a mood of discontent in the country, and political intrigue in Court and Parliament all contributed to what Lingard describes as ‘one of the most extraordinary occurrences in our domestic history’:1 the hysteria generated by a plot purported to have been uncovered by Titus Oates, information of which was given to Charles II by his laboratory assistant during his usual early morning walk one summer day in 1678.
1 Lingard, John, History of England, vol. 8 (1830), pp. 47–48.Google Scholar For a rather more nuanced account see Aveling, J. C. H., The Handle and the Axe, Blond & Briggs, London, 1976, pp. 204–21.Google Scholar
2 Lingard, John, History of England, vol. 8 (1830), p. 218.Google Scholar
3 Cited in Lingard, History of England, vol. 8 (1830), p. 59.Google Scholar
4 John Kenyon accepts the fact that Godfrey was murdered but acknowledges that ‘the mystery of Godfrey's death has never been solved, and it is now highly unlikely that it ever will be’ (Kenyon, John, The Popish Plot, Penguin Books, Harmondsworth, 1974, p. 89);Google Scholar the question is discussed more fully in an appendix (pp. 302–9).
5 The mood of hysteria is well caught in Kenyon's, John study, The Popish Plot, Penguin Books, Harmondsworth, 1974.Google Scholar
6 See Aveling, p. 216.
7 A note in Plessington's breviary, preserved in the Archives of the Archbishop of Liverpool, suggests 1636.
8 See Pedigree in Fishwick, Henry, ‘The History of the Parish of Garstang’, Chetham Society, vol. 105, part 2, 1879, p. 232.Google Scholar
9 See Anstruther, Godfrey, The Seminary Priests, vol. 2, Great Wakering, 1975, p. 347.Google Scholar
10 See Henson, Edwin, The Registers of Valladolid 1589–1862, C.R.S, vol. 30 (London, 1930);Google Scholar Williams, Michael, St Alban's College, Valladolid (Hurst, London & New York, 1986).Google Scholar Francisco de Liano wasrector when Plessington arrived, but seems to have left the Society of Jesus in October 1662, beingreplaced as rector by Ignacio de Loyola (ACSA, Lib 7 Recibo, f. 36, Henson p. xxx). Fr John Bacon (see Henson, pp. xxx, 123 & note) and Fr William Chaloner (Henson, pp. xxx, 165 & note), both alumni of the College who had gone on to enter the Society of Jesus, were appointed consulters and confessors to the College in 1660, the latter acting as bursar, although Fr Bacon was absent from the College from October 1660 to sometime before March 1662 when his name once again appears in the account books.
11 ACSA, Lib 3 Gastos, f. 37. All six students were ordained. Four entered the Society of Jesus (Charles Kenyes, Thomas Addison, Thomas Wilkinson, Daniel Armstrong, the latter not entering the Society until 1675 after having served for some years on the English mission. Plessington himself and George Standish (Anstruther, p. 209) remained seculars).
12 Thomas Addison and George Standish, ordained deacon in April 1661 at Salamanca and priest in June 1661 at Avila (ACSA, Lib 3 Gastos, f. 51; Lib 10 Misas, f. 108).
13 Thomas Wilkinson (1638–81), alias Molyneux, entered the Society of Jesus on finishing his course at the College in 1667. After completing his novitiate he returned to the College from 1669 until 1677 when he went to the Jesuit mission at Longhorsley. Like Plessington he was arrested during the aftermath of the Oates Plot and died in January 1681 while imprisoned in Morpeth Gaol. See Anon, ‘Fr Thomas Wilkinson, SJ: A Morpeth Confessor—or Martyr?’, Northern Catholic History, 33 (1992), pp. 9–19 Google Scholar (the articles by Connolly, W. D., OSB, on which this article is based are from the St Aidan's Parish Magazine (Ashington), vol. 2, No. 6 (Jan-March 1927),Google Scholar vol. 2, No. 7 (July 1927) and can be found in ACSA).
14 Francisco de Liano to Juan Merino, March 3rd 1662, ACSA, Series II, L3, 48; Valladolid Diocesan Archives, Ordination Book, 1662, 59 f.
15 Francisco de Liano to Francisco de Zarate y Ferran, March 24th 1662, ACSA Series II, L3, 49; Ordination Book, Segovia Cathedral, cited Henson, p. 169.
16 ACSA, Lib 3 Gastos, f. 52.
17 Anstruther, p. 179, citing Old Brotherhood Minute Book 1667–1693, p. 93. The reference records thesignatories at a meeting held in Lancashire during November 1669 noting that Plessington had now goneinto another district. Perhaps at the time of the meeting he was just visiting home.
18 Hook, J., ed., Registers of Holywell 1693–1829, C.R.S. 1903, vol. 3, p. 105 Google Scholar notes that Plessington served Holywell for some time between 1665 and 1679, but that he was priest at Puddington Hall by the time ofhis martyrdom.
19 David, Christopher, St Winefride's Well: a History and Guide, 1990.Google Scholar
20 For the background to the Massey family see Onslow, S. F. O.S.C., ‘Mistress Catherine Massey’, NWCH, 6 (1979) pp. 11–15;Google Scholar Prodger, P. G., The Masseys of Puddingion Hall, Cheshire, 1580–1637, unpublished M.A. dissertation, Lancaster (1985);Google Scholar Prodger, P. G., ‘Sir William Massey's Recusancy’, NWCH, 16 (1989), pp. 7–9.Google Scholar
21 THSLC, vol. 64, p. 50. See also Prodger, Philip, ‘Sir William Massey's Recusancy’, NWCH, 16 (1989), pp. 7–9.Google Scholar The reference is followed immediately by a second reference to a schoolmaster, Edward Steel, who might have been the schoolmaster with the Masseys at this time.
22 See Beazley, F. C., ‘Notes on the Parish of Burton in Wirral’, THSLC, vol. 64, 1908, p. 64.Google Scholar The Visitation Report includes Plessington in a list of recusants at Puddington and accuses Massey, Edward of ‘keeping the abovesaid Mr John Plaseington in house to teach children’ (THSLC, vol. 64, (1908), p. 59).Google Scholar
23 William Massey was born on May 15th 1658; his mother Alice was buried on May 23rd 1665 and her husband, Edward Massey, was buried on January 11th 1674.
24 Webb, William, ‘Itinerary’ in Ormerod, G., The History of Cheshire, 3 vols., Cheshire, 1882, vol. 2, p. 361.Google Scholar
25 Irvine, Ferguson, ‘Notes on the Old Halls of Wirral’, THSLC, vol. 53 (1902), p. 111.Google Scholar
26 CRO, QSF 82 f. 112. The slips for the making of the list can be found in MF/57/34–42. MF/57/43 is a draft of QSF 82 f. 112 with the addition of parishes of residence. See also Sturman, Mary Winefride, Catholicism in Chester, Chester, 1975, p. 14.Google Scholar
27 CRO, Mayor's Letters, M 114/500, November 23rd 1678. MF 97/8, dated 1678, records Ralph Wilton's legally witnessed denial of the rumour that he is or was at any time a Popish priest or Jesuit, or had been admitted into Holy Orders.
28 CRO, Mayor's Letters, ML/4/495, October 19th 1678.
29 CRO, Mayor's Letters, ML/4/496, November 9th 1678. The Mayor's File for this period contains various passes allowing Catholic soldiers who had served with the Duke of Monmouth in France to return to Ireland, for example that for Cornelius Mahoney, MF/57/19.
30 CRO, Mayor's Letters, ML/4/497, November 9th 1678; ML/4/498, November 19th 1678; ML/4/499, no date. Parliament was demanding that all commissions unlawfully awarded to Catholic Offices were to be recalled. As Kenyon shows, this was all rather more significant that it might seem. Secretary Williamson had been accused of issuing commissions to Catholic army officers and these men had been excused the Test Act and the usual oaths. Talbot's apprehension provided the evidence needed to prove this. Williamson was sent to the Tower only to be released on the King's explicit injunction (see Kenyon, The Popish Plot, p. 117–18).
31 CRO, Mayor's Letters, MIL/4/499.
32 CRO, Mayor's Letters, MIJ4/502, December 7th 1678; ML/4/503, December 11th 1678.
33 Foley, Records S.J., vol. v, pp. 936–40; vol. vii, p. 232. Humphrey Evans was born in Carnarvonshire in 1597 or 1599, studied at Oxford before being received into the Church in Paris 1618. He trained for the priesthood in the English College, Rome, and was ordained priest there on April 1st 1623. He left for England two years later and, entering the Jesuits, completed his novitiate in Clerkenwell, to spend a long ministry mainly in Wales, spending his last years in Poole Hall. Geoffrey Holt records that Thomas Harvey was also at Poole Hall c. 1678–80 (The English Jesuits 1650–1829, CRS 1984, p. 113).
34 Foley, Records S.J., vol. 2, pp. 181–89; Coulton, Barbara, ‘“Casting Anchor in the Harbour of Religion”: the Peregrination of Humfrey Leech (1571–1629)’, Recusant History vol. 28, 1 (May 2006), pp. 55–74.Google Scholar Leech was born just outside Shrewsbury and studied at Brasenose College, Oxford. He returned to Shrewsbury as Vicar of St Alkmund's before retuning to Oxford as minor canon of Christ Church. He became a Catholic and travelled to Rome in 1608, being ordained priest in 1612 and left for the English mission in 1618 the same year joining the Society of Jesus. A record of the christening of Sir Rowland Stanley's children was entered in the Baptismal Register at Eastham (see, Stanley, P. E., The House of Stanley, Pentland Press, Bishop Auckland, 1998, p. 80).Google Scholar
35 Quarter Sessions Records, 1559–1760, Record Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, vol. 94 (1940), p. 182.Google Scholar
36 Sir James Bradshaw, sheriff of Cheshire, applied for a Treasury warrant to pay the sum of £20–00 to Thomas Dutton for apprehending Plessington, John (Calendar of Treasury Books, HMSO, vol. 6, p. 472,Google Scholar TNA, T 53/2, p. 39, Anstruther, vol. 3, p. 170). For the date of the raid see Palatinate of Chester Plea Roll (TNA, CHES 29, 492, membrane 17 dorse).
37 TNA, Gaol Files, CHES 24/141/1.
38 Dodd, Church History, Brussels [vere London], 1742, vol. 3, p. 292.
39 Palatinate of Chester Plea Roll (TNA, CHES 29, 492, membrane 17 dorse); Palatinate Court of Great Sessions, TNA, CHES 21/5, f. 186.
40 Warner, John, The History of the English Persecution of Catholics and the Presbyterian Plot, CRS vols. 47 (1953)Google Scholar and 48 (1954), ed. T. A. Birrel with a translation by John Bligh, pp. 137–138. Warner's account suggests additional detail not present in Plessington's speech from the scaffold (see note 44 below). Elsewhere he refers to having access to an account of a life of John Plessington by Parker, William (alias Culcheth) which seems no longer to be in existence (see CRS vol. 48, pp. 137, 522).Google Scholar
41 Warner gives his name as Moseley (p. 137); Plessington's speech from the scaffold (see note 44 below), followed by Dodd, and Challoner, gives Massey.
42 Committee Book of Proceedings on Examinations (May 21st 1679-Jan 8th 1681), House of Lords, Parliamentary Archives, HL/PO/CO/6/3, f. 8 (Anstruther, vol. 3, p. 171).
43 Dodd, Church History, vol. 3, p. 292.
44 For the complexities of the division between those English Catholics prepared to accept an oath of allegiance and those vociferously opposed see Bossy, John, The English Catholic Community, 1570–1850, Darton Longman & Todd, 1975, pp. 60–74.Google Scholar John Warner acted as Jesuit Provincial in the difficult times after the martyrdom of Thomas Whitbread in 1679 but he was forbidden to travel to England by the Jesuit Father General. He was a major Catholic pamphleteer, pointing out the inconsistencies in Oates's claims, and publishing a sustained attack on the plot itself. Warner was also a leading figure amongst those opposed to the oath of allegiance and his manuscript History of the English Persecution of Catholics and the Presbyterian Plot, probably completed by 1687, was a work of propaganda reflecting these two concerns. That he could record Plessington's change of mind in prison would add strength to his case against other secular clergy who were still prepared to accept the oath. No corroborating evidence exists to support his account of the clandestine visit of the priest. Although we might be hesitant in giving full weight to Warner's narrative, we should not dismiss it out of hand. His account of Plessington's trial suggests he could well have had a local source, now lost (see above).
45 Plessington's speech is represented by an early printed version published soon after his death (see Clancy, English Catholic Books 1641–1700, Scolar Press, 1996, no. 785 (Wing P2567)), a copy of which can be found at St Werburgh's, Chester (illustrated in Sturman, Catholicism in Chester, pp. 12–13). This differs slightly from later versions in Dodd, Church History, vol. 3, p. 368, and Richard Challoner, Memoirs of Missionary Priests, ed. John Hungerford Pollen, Burns Oates & Washbourne, 1924, pp. 542–43. The omission of a line in the early printed version through homoioteleuton suggests that the text of Dodd, who claims to have seen a manuscript copy of the speech, is the more correct.
46 Dodd, Church History, vol. 3, p. 369.
47 See above, note 42. Kenyon points out that ‘at most provincial executions [in the aftermath of the Popish Plot] the priest was merely hanged, not hanged, drawn and quartered as the law required, and they were almost invariably buried with some solemnity in the local churchyard’ (Kenyon, p. 206).
48 It was in this same grave that the missioner, Ralph Piatt, requested to be buried when he died in 1837.
49 Extracts from the Rules of the Secular Clergy Fund (Copy), Archives of the Archbishop of Liverpool, Goss Transcripts, G 10 (Anstruther, vol. 3, p. 171).
50 Paul VI, Allocution on the Canonisation of the Forty Martyrs, May 18th 1970.