Author Archives: John

The London Spy visits Whitefriars

What happened to the sanctuaries after the passing of the 1697 act against “pretended privileged places” is a difficult question. In at least one case, a sanctuary survived it:  Southwark Mint continued to harbour debtors until 1722. Perhaps this was because there were a number of places in London known as ‘The Mint’; the legislation didn’t specify which was to be stripped of its rights. Also, the 1697 act was specifically aimed at the rights of debtors, the most important and immediate cause of consternation, but possibly not the only freedom offered by these areas. Clandestine marriages, for example, appear to have been carried out in many of the sanctuaries named in the act long after its passing.

The extracts below, by Ned Ward, contrast two sanctuaries named in the 1697 act. Despite their proximity, Salisbury Court has a nocturnal crew of villains of all types, whilst Whitefriars is sparsely populated, a “neglected asylum, so very thin of people, the windows broke, and the houses untenanted.” The debtors have abandoned it, only publishers (of pornography) remain.

Ned Ward was a prolific writer, one of the first ‘grub street hacks’, and enjoyable to read even if, frankly, he’s not very good. His prose is purple, the similies over-abundant and strained, and the moral indignation – that every one is debauched – repeated ad nauseum. There doesn’t seem to be a woman in London who is not a prostitute. Yet there’s a scabarous wit, scatalogical humour (then as now a crowd pleaser), and some entertaining turns of language. The texts below is taken from his ‘London Spy’ series, published in the later years of William III, via the edition published – somewhat bowdlerized – by the Folio Society edition of 1955. The first extract is from page 120-1, the second pp. 123-4.

Ward on Salisbury Court:

Being now landed upon terra firma, we steer’d our course to Salisbury Court, where every two or three steps we met some old figure or another that look’d as if the devil had rob’d ’em of all their natural beauty, and infus’d his own infernal spirit into their corrupt carcases, for nothing could be read but devilism in every feature. Theft, whoredom, homicide, and blasphemy, peep’d out at the very windows of their sous. Lying, perjury, fraud, impudence and misery, were the only graces of their countenance.

One with slip shoes, without stockings, and a dirty smock (visible thro’ a crepe petticoat) was stepping from the alehouse to her lodgings with a parcel of pipes in one hand, and a gallon pot of guzzle in the other, yet her head was dres’d up as to much advantage as if the members of her body were sacrific’d to all wickedness to keep her ill-look’d face in a little finery. Another, I suppose taken from the oyster tub and put into whore’s allurements, made a more cleanly appearance but became her ornaments as a sow a hunting saddle. Every now and then a fellow would bolt out and whip nimbly cross the way, beaing equally fearful, as I imagine, of both constable and serjeant, and look’d as if the dread of the gallows had drawn its picture in his countenance.

Said I to my friend, ‘What can these people be, who are so stigmatis’d in their looks that they may be known as well from the rest of mankind as Jews from Christians? They seem to be so unlike God’s creatures, that I cannot but fancy them a colony of hell-cats planted here by the Devil as a mischief to mankind.’ ‘Why truly,’ says my friend, ‘they are such an abominable race of degenerate reprobates that they admit of no comparison on this side [of] Hell’s dominions. All this part, quite up to the square, is a corporation of whores, coiners, highwaymen, pickpockets, and house-breakers. Like bats and owls they skulk in obscure holes by daylight, but wander in the night in search of opportunities wherein to exercise their villainy.’

Ward on Whitefriars:

We soon departed hence, my friend conducting me to a place called White Friars, which he told me was formerly of great service to the honest traders of the City, who, if they could by cant, flattery and dissimulation, procure large credit amongst their zealous fraternity, would slip in here with their effects, take sanctuary against the laws, compound their debts for a small matter, and oftentimes get a better estate by breaking than they could propose to do by trading. But now a late Act of Parliament has taken away its privilege, and since knaves can neither go broken with safety nor advantage, it is observ’d there are not a quarter so many shopkeepers play at bo-peep with their creditors as when they were encourag’d to be rogues by such cheating conveniences.

We thus enter’d the debtors’ garrison, where till of late, says my friend, Old Nick broach’d all his wicked inventions, making this place the very theatre of sin, where his most choice villainies were daily represented. As we pass’d thro’ the gateway, I observ’d a stall of books, and the first that I glanced my eye upon happen’d to be dignified and distinguish’d by this venerable title: The Comforts of Whoring and the Vanity of Chastity, together with a Poem in Praise of the Pox. Bless me! thought I, sure this book was printed in Hell and writ by the Devil, for what diabolical scribbler on earth could be the author of such unparalleled impudence? I was so supris’d with the title that I was quite thoughtless of inspecting into the matter, but march’d on until we came into the main street of this neglected asylum, so very thin of people, the windows broke, and the houses untenanted, as if the plague (or some like judgement from Heaven) as well as executions on earth had made a great slaughter amongst the poor inhabitants.

We met but very few persons within these melancholy precincts, and those by the airiness of their dresses, the forwardness of their looks, and the affectedness of their carriage, seem’d to be some neighbouring lemans, who lay conveniently to be squeez’d by the young fumblers of the law; who are apt to spend more time upon Phyllis and Chloris than upon Coke and Littleton.

John Evelyn and Saint Martins In The Fields

A curious entry in John Evelyn’s diary, and the only one I’ve found concerning sanctuary:

[1687] 25th March. Good Friday. Dr Tenison preached at St. Martin’s on 1 Peter ii. 24. During the service, a man came into near the middle of the church, with his sword drawn, with several others in that posture; in this jealous time it put the congregation into great confusion; but it appeared to be one who fled for sanctuary, being pursued by bailiffs. [vol 3, p.219]

This is strange for a number of reasons. Firstly, it’s the only mention I’ve yet discovered of refuge being claimed in St Martins in the Fields; it’s not listed amongst the ‘pretended privileged places’ in the Act of 1697, and there doesn’t appear to be a community of debtors inhabiting the environs. Secondly, it takes place in a working church; the post-reformation sanctuaries based on religious right were on the site of dissolved monasteries, as with Whitefriars and Montague Close. Does this mean that sanctuary was believed to be found in any church? Thirdly, the claim is made on Good Friday; I’m surprised bailiffs were working on a holy day. Evelyn, alas, says no more of the incident.

For the sake of clarity, note that this is St Martins In The Fields, on the north eastern corner of Trafalgar Square, the current church dating from 1726, and not St Martins le Grand, a very important sanctuary in the heart of the City before the reformation. More on the latter to follow, but in the meantime, read McSheffrey’s excellent article Sanctuary and the Legal Topography of Pre-Reformation London (nb: link fixed 5/8/2015).

Luttrell on Winter

Continuing the search for documents about Captain Francis Winter, leader of the Alsatians in the riot against the Templars, here are extracts from Narcissus Luttrell’s A Brief Historical Relation of State Affairs from September 1678 to April 1714. This  is an important chronicle of parliamentary affairs over 36 years, covering a great range of  ‘high governance’, including military reports, diplomatic negotiations and parliamentary debates.

There’s also frequent tallying of criminal trials and executions, amongst which we find that of Winter. The first extract gives a rather different account of the riot, giving details of two deaths but not that of the deputy John Chandler for which Winter was tried. It notes that ‘divers of the Alsatians’ were taken prisoner at the time, but no one else appears to have been prosecuted. Winter himself absconded, and was only captured two years later. There is also mention of Winter proclaiming the usurped King James II, a serious charge, but not one that I have found in any other record.

The question of why the Queen briefly reprieved Winter is left hanging, but other entries explain why the Queen had responsibility: William III was away fighting on the continent. “The King is at Breda” says the entry for 13th April 1693. Luttrell notes that the Mayor and Aldermen of the City pressed for the death sentence to be carried out; the riot was a terrible affront to them, and their rank and weight surely damned any possibility of clemency.

Text in the public domain, taken from volumes 2 and 3 of Luttrell’s A Brief Historical Relation at archive.org. Spelling as was, in all its irregular glory.

1st July 1691: The benchers of the Inner Temple, having given orders for bricking up their little gate leading into Whitefryars, and their workmen being at work thereon, the Alsatians came and pull’d it down as they built it up: whereupon the sherifs were desired to keep the peace, and accordingly came, the 4th, with their officers; but the Alsatians fell upon them, and knockt several of them down, and shott many guns amongst them, wounded several, two of which are since dead; a Dutch soldier passing by was shott thro’ the neck, and a woman into the mouth; sir Francis Child himself, one of the sherifs, was knockt down, and part of his gold chain taken away. The fray lasted several hours, but at last the Alsatians were reduced by the help of a body of the kings guards; divers of the Alsatians were seized and sent to prison. (Vol. 2, pp.259-260.)

27th April 1693: The sessions is now, where capt. Winter who headed the mob about 2 years since in White Fryars against the sheriffs of London, where 2 or 3 persons were killed, was found guilty of murder, and 2 persons swore at that time he proclaimed king James. (Vol. 3, p.86.)

6th May 1693: The dead warrant is come downe for executing 10 of the criminalls on Monday and capt. Winter on Tuesday. (Vol. 3, p.94.)

9th May 1693: 8 malefactors were yesterday executed at Tyburn; but Middleton, Martin, and Winter were reprieved; on which the lord mayor and aldermen this day agreed on an addresse to the queen to have them executed. (Vol. 3, p.95.)

13th May 1693: The councill have ordered capt. Winter, Middleton, and Martin to be executed as soon as the date of their reprieves are out. (Vol. 3, .p97.)

18 May 1693: Capt. Winter was yesterday executed in Fleetstreet, opposite to White Fryars: he died very penitently; and after he was cut downe from the gibbet, he was put into a coffin, and interr’d this evening. (Vol. 3, pp.99-100.)

The Ordinary of Newgate’s account of Captain Francis Winter

The Ordinary of Newgate was the curious title of that prison’s chaplain. One of the perks of the post was the right to the publication of the biographies and last words of the condemned, and it is the account of Captain Francis Winter, leader of the Alsatians in the riot against the Templars, we present here.

From this account we find that Winter was a sailor born in Truro, Cornwall; charges that he was a ‘copper’, i.e. pretended, captain, as made by  Thornbury in Old and New London, are unfounded, for he was made a captain of a merchant vessel in the West Indies, then fought “with a great deal of Candor and Courage” in the third Anglo-Dutch war (1672-4). Presuming he was in his twenties then, he would be in his forties by the time he fought against the Sheriff of London. At some unspecified time after the war, he fell into debt – how so isn’t said – and he fled to Whitefriars.

“At the Head of about Fourscore” [80] “mutineers”, a sizable contingent, Winter led the resistance to the Sheriffs. Barrels were put out to obstruct the authorities and provide cover for the Alsatians. The cry was ‘One and all, they would kill them, rather than any Man should be taken out from them, by way of an Arrest.’ This is a determined and organized force. How it ended isn’t clear; Winter was arrested some time later, having ‘absconded’, although we don’t know where he went.

As noted in the previous post, several thousand attended his execution; afterwards his corpse was taken for burial “in the Sepulchre with his Brethren.” Does this mean that the cemetery of the old monastery was still used? One wonders how the funeral was conducted, with what ceremony and who presided over it. There’s reference to a reprieve made by the Queen, then “a Fresh Warrant from her Majesty”, which raises questions of what was going on behind closed doors, and why the Queen, rather than William III, issued the documents. There is still more of this case to investigate.

The text is taken from the transcription at the Old Bailey Online. I have checked it against the page images (1, 2) and made some corrections. Capitalization and spelling remain as in the original. The OBO terms of use read: “All material is made available free of charge for individual, non-commercial use only.”

For a pithy introduction to the Ordinary and his publications, see Old Bailey Online.

Citation: Old Bailey Proceedings (www.oldbaileyonline.org, 24 June 2010), Ordinary of Newgate’s Account, 19 May 1693 (OA16930517).

AN ACCOUNT OF THE Condemnation, Behaviour, Execution, and Last dying Words OF Captain Francis Winter,

Who was Condemned at the Sessions-House in the  Old-Baily, on Saturday the 29 April, For the Murther of one John Chandler, in  White Fryers in London, Etc. and Executed for the same at White-Fryars-Gate in Fleet street, on Wednesday the 17 May 1693.

19 May 1693.

SEveral Reports, of this Nature, have been oftentimes Manifested in Print; many, of which, have seemed to look somewhat obscure, till it hath been more particularly dissected, and laid open, in all its Agravating Circumstances. And indeed; till that be done, there are a sort of Men in the World, who are apt to asperse the Superior Powers, as if they were too Severe in the Execution of Justice; but, when their Eyes are enlightned by the due Weight of Reason, then perhaps they will be of another mind, unless they are Prejudiced beyond the bounds of Natural Reason, and Common Sence, therefore, it will not be inconvenient to give the Reader a Brief Account (by the way) of the Matter of Fact, in Relation to this Unfortunate Gentleman, Etc.

Some Persons (it is very likely) have not forgotten, that about the 4th of July last, was Twelve Month, there was a Mutinous, or Riotous Assembly Raised, and got together in White Fryars, in London, in opposition to the Gentlemen of the  Inner Temple, who stopt up a Passage that led out of the said Fryars into the  Temple walks, the Gentlemen finding the said Passage to be very incommodious to them, upon the hot Resistance of the White Fryars men, there was likely to be great Mischief done, to prevent, appease, and qualifie which, the then present Sheriffs of London, (being sent for) came with their Officers and Attendants, entered in at the Fryars Gate, endeavouring to make open Proclamation, that all Persons should Cease, and go Home in Peace to their Respective Abodes: But this was not Regarded by the Mutineers, for they were the more Incensed, and came with great Fury against the High Sheriffs, this Gentleman being at the Head of about Fourscore of them, as their Captain and Leader, with a Blunderbuss in his hand, which he was seen to Fire off several times, bidding defiance to the Sheriffs; and all those who were their Assistance, crying One and all, they would kill them, rather than any Man should be taken out from them, by way of an Arrest, but that was lookt upon to be but a false Suggestion, and a Cunning Plea of their own Forging they having no Regard to Authority, for they had placed several Casks on both sides of the Street, on purpose to Impede the Passage of the Sheriffs, and some of them lay secretly behind them, as it were on purpose, to lye in Wait to take an Advantage, Etc. Firing several times against the Sheriffs and their Men, the Captain being at the Head of them, as aforesaid. And Chandler, the poor Man, who was killed, being on the Sheriffs side, had the misfortune to be shot in the Calf of his Leg, with a Leaden Bullet, which wound killed him in two or three Days, he solemnly protesting upon his Death-Bed, that he knew Captain Winter very well, and that he was the Man that shot him for which Fact the Captain, for some considerable time, Absconded, but was lately Apprehended, and Committed to  Newgate for the same, and was this last Sessions tryed for it, and found Guilty of Murther, and on the 29 April he was Condemned, in Order to be Executed with the other Criminals, who suffer’d at  Tyburn, the 8th. Instant. But, by Vertue of Her Majestys Gracious Reprieve, he was Respited until this day, Etc. As for his Birth, he was Born at Truro in Cornwall, then sent Apprentice to a Captain of Ship, after this he was made a Captain of a Merchant Man to the West Indias himself, after that he Commanded a Ship in the last Dutch Wars, where (to say the Truth) he behaved himself with a great deal of Candor and Courage, afterwards he fell into decay, and had Contracted some Debts in the World, which occasioned him to fly for Refuge into White Fryers, where he had the Unhappiness to be Engaged in such an unworthy Design, and Violent Attempt, as aforesaid.

He had not much to offer in his Defence at his Tryal, only in the General, that altho’ he was there amongst the Multitude, yet there were others that Shot, and therefore the Man might fall by another hand as well as his, or to that Effect, Etc. After Condemnation he Behav’d himself in a Christian like manner, being much Concerned for his Souls Everlasting Welfare, desiring the Advice, Good Counsel, and Prayers, of all those Worthy Divines that came near him, acknowledging the Justice of God, in bringing him to Undergo so Severe a Punishment, for that he had been guilty of several Irregularities in the Course of his Life, and had not walked up to the strict Rules of the Christian Religion as he ought to have done, which he now Lamented, and was exceedingly troubled for, therefore he hoped that God would forgive him, being willing to submit to the Righteous Judgement of God Almighty. He gave himself to Reading, Prayer, Hearing God’s Word, and to all other Exercises of Religion, being willing to adhear to all Seasonable Advice, that might any ways advance his mind, and set his thoughts on Heavenly Things, Relying only upon the Merits of Christ, for his future Happiness; he carryed himself humbly, during his Imprisonment, both before and after Conviction, though Naturally of a stout, hardy and undaunted spirit, was no ways affrighted at the near approaches of Death, giving God the Praise for such a Respite of Time, in Order to prepare his soul for another World.

On Wednesday morning, the 17th. Instant as abovesaid, (by Vertue of a Fresh Warrant from her Majesty) he was put into a Coach at Newgate Stairs, and from thence Conveyed down  Old Baily, and over  Fleet-Bridge, to the Fryars Gate, in the way to which place, there were several Thousands of Spectators, who thronged to see him, when the Cart was settled under the Gibbet, and he put into it, (which was Erected there on purpose) he stood up, and spake as follows: I have no Publick Declaration to make here, my Thoughts being wholly taken up in the Concerns of my Eternal Welfare, for that is the Work that I am come here to do: Therefore I desire that I may not be interrupted. Then the Minister Prayed with him, and for him, and Recommended him to the Mercy of God, Etc.

After this, he Pray’d in these Words.

O Most Great and Glorious Lord God, do thou look down in Mercy upon me, a Poor Miserable Sinner, and shew thy blessed Face to me, now in this Hour of my Extremity, for what am I without thee, therefore O Lord! I beseech thee to Pardon my Sins, and Wash my Soul clean in the Blood of CHRIST JESUS, and deliver me O Lord from the guilt and defilement of Sin; Holy Father do thou Receive me into Mercy, for into thy Hands I Commend my Sprit: O Lord let it be Precious in thy Sight, and let it live with thee in Everlasting Glory: Now I come, sweet JESUS now I am coming to thee; Dear JESUS do thou plead my Cause with the Great GOD of Heaven and Earth, and send down thy Blessed Spirit to Assist and Help me in this Great Work I am now about; I am a Poor Worthless Creature, full of Sin and Misery; yet do thou Lord JESUS take pitty upon my Precious Soul: O Lord JESUS come quickly, for I am now coming to thee, therefore I Humbly beg thee O GOD to Receive my poor Soul into the Arms of thy Everlasting loving Kindness, Lord! Into thy Hands I Commend my Sprit, for thou hast Redeemed it O LORD GOD of Truth Amen.

Then the Cart drew away, and afterwards he was Carryed into White-Fryars, to be Inter’d in the Sepulchre with his Brethren, Etc.

Francis Winter’s Last Farewell

In 1691, the lawyers of The Temple, itself a liberty, sought to block up a gate connecting it to Whitefriars. The Alsatians, seeing this as an impediment to their movements in and out of their sanctuary, raised a mob, attacked the builders and demolished the newly-built wall. The Sheriffs of London arrived to restore order, and in the ensuing battle one of their officers, a John Chandlor, was shot in the leg with a blunderbuss. Two days later, having identified his assailant, he died of his injuries, and the leader of the Whitefriars men, Captain Francis Winter, was arrested for murder.

This riot, and Winter’s subsequent execution for his part in it, seems to have become quite renowned. It was an exceptional event for a number of reasons. Firstly, it was not the more common hue and cry against bailiffs seeking to seize a debtor, but a defence of rights of way and freedom of movement – the Alsatians had no wish for their sanctuary to be walled in. Secondly, it escalated from a dispute between two groups of citizens into armed resistance against the legal authorities of London, and so to the law outright. Given the political context of James II’s dethroning and William III’s settlement with parliament, this was not to be taken lightly. Thirdly, at Winter’s trial, the Judge had directed the jury to find him guilty, regardless of whether or not he had fired the fatal shot, on the grounds

“That where any Lawful Authority shall be opposed by any Riot, or Riotous Assembly, this implied Malice in Law, in the Persons so offending, and they were all equally guilty; and consequently, if the Prisoner did not shoot Chandlor, yet he was guilty of Murther, because he did abet, promote, stir up, and maintain such a Rebellious and Unlawful Assembly.” (Source: Old Bailey Online)

Thus it was more for insurrection than murder that Winter was found guilty, and he was hanged on the 17th May 1693, at Fryars Gate, the main entrance to the sanctuary.

There are a number of documents relating to this story, and the first I present is the ballad “Francis Winter’s last Farewel.” It is typical of the execution songs of the seventeenth century: a single sheet cheaply produced (the woodcut looks to be recycled), claiming to be the last words of the condemned, confessing to terrible deeds, solemnly making repentance and warning others not to follow in such evil ways. Verses 5 to 7 give the substance of the case: the narrator admits to heading an armed crew against the sheriff, and by extension “against the wholesome laws of this my native land.” But if he concedes to rebellion, he does not admit to murder: “whether I kill’d the man or no, I cannot justly say.”

The last verse mentions “the thousands that are standing by”, witnessing his death. The Ordinary of Newgate wrote “there were several Thousands of Spectators, who thronged to see him.” (Source: Old Bailey Online) Given that Winter was executed at the very entrance to Whitefriars, we can presume that all Alsatia turned out to pay their last respects.

Illustration from the handbill 'Francis Winter's Last Farewell'
Francis Winter's Last Farewell

Francis Winter’s last Farewel:
OR, THE
White-Fryers Captain’s Confession and Lamentation,
Just before his Execution at the Gate of White-Fryers, on the 17th
of this instant May, 1693. Tune of, Russel’s Farewel.

Behold these sorrows now this day,
you that are standers by,
All former joys are fled away,
now I am brought to die:
My heart is fill’d with fear and dread,
for here is no relief,
Since I a sinful life have led,
I nothing see but Grief.

I spent my days with roaring boys,
and little thought of death,
But where are all those fading joys,
now I must loose my breath:
Now they are clearly fleed from me,
and there is no relief,
Alas! alas! I nothing see,
but bitter clouds of Grief.

Alas! the follies of my youth
comes fresh into my mind;
Had I been guided by the truth,
then had I left behind
A better name then now I shall,
alas!  here’s no relief;
I by the hand of justice fall,
and nothing see but Grief.

Bold Francis Winter is my name,
who seem’d to bear the sway,
But now, alas! in open shame
I do appear this day:
My former joys have taken flight,
for here is no relief;
Grim Death appears this day in sight,
which fills my soul with Grief.

I must acknowledge this is true,
that when in arms we rose,
I was the captain of that crew
which did the sheriff oppose:
‘Tis said a man was slain by me,
therefore here’s no relief,
For I must executed be,
and nothing see but Grief.

Whether I kill’d the man or no,
I cannot justly say
But since in arms we acted so
we seem’d to disobey
The city’s lawful magistrate;
therefore here’s no relief.
And I must here submit to fate,
I nothing see but Grief.

It was against the wholesome laws
of this my native land,
To rise in arms, and be the cause
of that rebellious band,
Who broke through law and justice too,
of which I was the chief,
For which I bid the world adieu;
I nothing see but Grief.

Let my misfortunes teach the rest
obedience to the laws;
Let them not magistrates molest,
for that has been the cause
Of shedding blood, for which I die,
I being there the chief;
The very minute’s drawing night,
I nothing see but Grief.

I oftentimes have wish’d, in vain,
that I had not been there;
Nay, were it to be done again,
I shou’d that deed forbear,
And not myself with such inthral,
tho’ then I was the chief;
But what is past, I can’t recal,
I nothing see but Grief.

The thousands that are standing by,
alas! you little know
My inward grief and misery,
and what I undergo:
O let me have your prayers this day,
my sorrows here condole:
I now have nothing more to say,
but, Lord receive my soul.

Printed for J. Deacon, at the Sign of the Angel in Guiltspur-street.

Plain text in the public domain, taken from English Broadside Ballad Archive, University of California at Santa Barbara, and corrected against that in the Bagford Ballads (p.340) at archive.org. Image in the public domain, again taken from the Bagford Ballads at archive.org. The intro is CC-BY-SA.

The Great Pudding Robbery of 1718

An amusing little story, taken from Rendle and Norman’s The inns of old Southwark and their associations (1888), another of those charming antiquarian volumes so full of observation and detail. Covering areas transpontine, there’s some significant material on the sanctuaries that I shall return to. As a taster, here’s an account of Mr Austin’s gargantuan dessert, and it’s seizure by the inhabitants of Southwark Mint, implying for the latter a level of organization, and a desperate hunger.

[I]n May 1718, James Austin, ‘inventor of the Persian ink powder,’ desiring to give his customers a substantial proof of his gratitude, invited them to partake of an immense plum pudding weighing 1000 lbs., a baked pudding of a foot square, and the best piece of an ox roasted. The principal dish was put in the copper ‘at the Red Lion by the Mint,’ and had to boil fourteen days. From there it was brought to the Swan Tavern on Fish Street Hill, accompanied by a band playing, ‘What lumps of pudding my mother gave me.’ The drum matched the pudding, being 18 feet 2 inches long and 4 feet in diameter, drawn by ‘a device fixt on six asses.’ Finally, the monstrous pudding was to be divided in St. George’s Fields, but apparently the smell and the ‘enough for all’ size of it was too much for the Minters; the escort was routed, the pudding taken and devoured; the whole ceremony being thus brought to an end before Mr. Austin’s customers could have a chance.

Source: Rendle, W.,  and Norman, P., The inns of old Southwark and their associations (1888), p286-7. Online at Archive.org.

The Commons debates Whitefriars, 1697

The following account of the Commons debate on the 1697 act abolishing the sanctuaries is taken from William Cobbett’s Parliamentary History of England, vol 5., London 1809, column 1161. From where he got his source material I don’t know. This piece is certainly written after the passing of the act, as it ends with the Alsatians fleeing the sanctuary (quite possible, but that is for another post).

Despite the brevity, there’s several notable points. It specifically makes a link to ‘Romish superstition’, implying a Catholic element to the mores and morals of the sanctuary dwellers. This may be an example of protestant paranoia of those heady times, but religious dissent is part of the history of Montague Close.

It also makes it clear that Whitefriars was the most notorious of the sanctuaries; that its inhabitants were debtors, under civil, rather than criminal, law; and that they were organized and actively resisting the law – truly, they were outlaws.

After Sir J. Fenwick’s business was over, the parliament, to the great satisfaction of the people, took care to remedy a Public Grievance of long standing. Several places in and about the city of London, which in the times of the Romish superstition, were allowed as sanctuaries to criminals and debtors, had ever since the Reformation, pretended a privilege to protect the latter; and one of these, called White Fryers, was become a notorious receptacle of broken and desperate men, in the very heart of the metropolis, whither they resorted in great numbers, and, to the dishonour of the government, and great prejudice of the people, defended themselves with force and violence against the law and public authority. This intolerable mischief the parliament redressed by an ‘Act for the more effectual relief of creditors in cases of escapes, and for preventing abuses in prisons and pretended privileged places’; wherein such effectual provision was made to reduce those outlaws, that, immediately after the act was published, they abandoned their posts to better inhabitants.

An Account of the Southwark Mint

The text below is taken from the first volume of John Timbs’ The Romance of London, published in 1865. Timbs was an antiquarian, with a prodigious output of anecdotal compilations – over 150, according to the Encyclopaedia Britannica of 1911. These anthologies are still an entertaining read, full of remarkable events and persons, but are dated in tone and suspect in accuracy.

This extract on the Southwark Mint is notable for many things: for the description of the order with which the Minters left their sanctuary, betokening community and discipline, necessary for fending off the threats of bailiffs; the landmarks and geography; the literary links; and irregular marriages.

The Minters of Southwark.

A large portion of the parish of St George the Martyr is called the Mint, from a “mint of coinage” having been kept there by Henry VIII., upon the site of Suffolk Place, the magnificent seat of Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, nearly opposite the parish church. Part of the mansion was pulled down in 1557, and on the site were built many small cottages, to the increasing of the beggars in the Borough. Long before the close of the seventeenth century, the district called the Mint had become a harbour for lawless persons, who claimed there the privilege of exemption from all legal process, civil or criminal. It consisted of several streets and alleys; the chief entrance being from opposite St George’s Church by Mint Street, which had, to our time, a lofty wooden gate: there were other entrances, each with a gate; like Whitefriars, it had its Lombard Street. It thus became early an asylum for debtors, coiners, and vagabonds; and of “the traitors, felons, fugitives, outlaws, condemned persons, convict persons, felons, defamed, those put in exigent of outlawry, felons of themselves, and such as refused the law of the land,” who had, from the time of Edward VI., herded in St George’s parish. The Mint at length became such a pest that its privileges were abolished by law; but it was not effectually suppressed until the reign of George I., one of whose statutes relieved all those debtors under £50, who had taken sanctuary in the Mint from their creditors. The Act of 1695-6 had proved inefficient for the suppression of the nuisance, though it inflicted a penalty of £500 on anyone who should rescue a prisoner, and made the concealment of the rescuer a transportable offence. In 1705, a fraudulent bankrupt fled here from his creditors, when the Mint-men resisted a large body of constables, and a desperate conflict ensued at the gate before the rogue was taken. A child had been murdered within these precincts, when the coroner’s officer was seized by the Mint-men, thrown into “the Black Ditch” of liquid mud; and, though rescued by constables, he was not suffered to depart until he had taken an oath on a brick, in their cant terms, never to come into that place again.

At the clearance of the place, in 1723, the exodus was a strange scene: “Some thousands of the Minters went out of the land of bondage, alias the Mint, to be cleared at the quarter-sessions of Guildford, according to the late Act of Parliament. The road was covered with them, insomuch that they looked like one of the Jewish tribes going out of Egypt; the cavalcade consisting of caravans, carts, and waggons, besides numbers on horses, asses, and on foot. The drawer of the two fighting cocks was seen to lead an ass loaded with geneva, to support the spirits of the ladies upon the journey. ‘Tis said that several heathen bailiffs lay in ambuscade in ditches on the road to surprise some of them, if possible, on their march, if they should straggle from the main body; but they proceeded with so much order and discipline that they did not lose a man upon this expedition.”

The Mint was noted as the retreat of poor poets. When it was a privileged place, “poor Nahum Tate” was forced to seek shelter here from extreme poverty, where he died in 1716: he had been ejected from the laureateship, at the accession of George I., to make way for Rowe. Pope does not spare the needy poets:

No place is sacred, not the church is free,
E’en Sunday shines no Sabbath-day to me:
Then from the Mint walks forth the man of rhyme,
Happy to catch me just at dinner-time.

Johnson has truly said: “The great topic of his (Pope’s) ridicule is poverty; the crimes with which he reproaches his antagonists are their debts, their habitation in the Mint, and their want of a dinner.”

In Gay’s Beggars’ Opera, one of the characters (Trapes) says: “The Act for destroying the Mint was a severe cut upon our business. Till then, if a customer stept out of the way, we knew where to have her.” Mat o’ the Mint is one of Macheath’s gang. This was also one of the haunts of Jack Sheppard ; and Jonathan Wild kept his horses at the Duke’s Head, in Redcross Street, within the precincts of the Mint. Marriages were performed here, as in the Fleet, the Savoy, and in May Fair. In 1715, an Irishman, named Briand, was fined £2000 for marrying an orphan, about thirteen years of age, whom he decoyed into the Mint. The following curious certificate was produced at his trial: “Feb. 16, 1715. These are therefore to whom it may concern, that Isaac Briand and Watson Anne Astone were joined together in the holy state of matrimony (Nemine contradicente) the day and year above written, according to the rites and ceremonies of the Church of Great Britain. — Witness my hand, Jos. Smith, Cler.”

The Mint of the present century was mostly noted for its brokers’ shops, and its “lodgings for travellers;” and in one of the wretched tenements of its indigent and profligate population occurred the first case of Asiatic cholera in 1832. Few of the old houses remain.

From Timbs, Romances of London, volume 1, pp.349-352, available from Archive.org.

The Law against Wapping Mint

Another law, from 1724, the last made against the sanctuaries. Two years after the supression of Southwark Mint, similar measures were taken against those of its inhabitants that had crossed the Thames and claimed sanctuary at Wapping, where there once had been a Royal Mint. It was thus claiming exemption from rule by the City of London by appealing to secular rights rather than religious.

The Wapping Mint appears to be better documented than the other priviledged places; there are more cases relating to it in the Old Bailey Online database than the others, and there seems to be some pamphlet literature around it as well. These documents will appear here in due course.

Anno 11 George I cap. 22: An act to prevent violences and outrages being committed by any persons under pretence of sheltering themselves from debt, or any process of law, within the hamlet of Wapping-Stepney or elsewhere within the weekly bills of mortality.

Whereas it is notorious, that many evil-disposed and wicked persons have, in defiance of the known laws of the realm, and to the great dishonour thereof, unlawfully assembled and associated themselves in the hamlet of Wapping-Stepney, and places adjacent in the county of Middlesex, under pretence of sheltering themselves for debt, and have committed great violences and outrages upon many of his Majesty’s good subjects, and by force protected themselves and their wicked accomplices, against law and justice: and whereas it is absolutely necessary that provision should be made for effectually preventing such violences and outrages for the future, and for bringing all offenders in the premisses to more speedy and exemplary justice: may it please your most excellent Majesty, that it may be enacted; and be it enacted by the King’s most excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the lords spiritual and temporal and commons, in this present parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same,That if any number of persons, not less than three, shall, after the first day of June one thousand seven hundred and twenty five, within the said hamlet of Wapping-Stepney, or any other place within the limits of the weekly bills of mortality of the cities of London or Westminster, wherein persons shall unlawfully assemble and associate for the sheltering themselves from their debts, of which complaint shall have been made by a presentment of the grand jury at a general or quarter-sessions of the proper county, knowingly and wilfully obstruct and oppose any person or persons serving, or endeavouring or attempting to serve or execute any writ or any rule or order of any court of law or equity, or other legal process whatsoever, and shall, in making such obstruction or opposition, insult or abuse any person or persons serving or executing any such writ, rule, order or process, or for having so done, whereby any such person or persons shall receive any bodily hurt, every person so knowingly and wilfully offending in the premisses, being therefore lawfully convicted, shall be adjudged guilty of felony, and shall be transported for seven years to some or one of his Majesty’s colonies or plantations in America, by such ways, means and methods, and in such manner, and for such time, and under such pains and penalties, as felons in other cases are by law to be transported.

II. And be it enacted by the authority aforesaid, That after the said first day of June one thousand seven hundred and twenty five, upon any complaint or complaints at any time or times to be made to a judge of any court, out of which the writs or process herein after mentioned shall issue, of such obstruction and opposition within the said hamlet, or elsewhere within the said bills of mortality, wherein persons shall unlawfully assemble and associate for the sheltering themselves from their debts, of which complaint shall have been made by a presentment of the grand jury at a general or quarter sessions of the proper county, by any person or persons who hath or have or shall have any debt or debts, sum or sums of money due or owing to him, her or them from any person or persons now being, or which shall hereafter be sheltered or reside within the said hamlet of Wapping-Stepney, and places adjacent, or elsewhere within the said bills of mortality, wherein persons shall unlawfully assemble and associate for the sheltering themselves from their debts, of which complaint shall have been made by a presentment of the grand jury at a general or quarter sessions of the proper county, such creditor or creditors having any legal writ or process taken out for prosecuting, recovering or levying any such debt or debts, sum or sums of money, and making oath before such judge, that a debt or debts, exceeding fifty pounds, is or are justly due to him, her or them from the person or persons against whom such complaint shall be made, and that such creditor or creditors verily believe, that such person or persons do then reside, and is or are sheltered, within such place or places as shall in such oath be particularly mentioned, it shall and may be lawful to and for such judge, and he is hereby authorized and impowered, in all and every such case and cases (if he in his discretion shall find it to be requisite) to issue his order from time to time to the sheriff of the county of Middlesex, or to the sheriff of any other county into which the said bills of mortality do extend for the time being, thereby strictly enjoining and respectively requiring him or them, his or their respective deputy or deputies, officer or officers, under such penalty as by this act is prescribed for non-performance of his or their duty therein, to raise and take the posse comitatus and enter the said hamlet of Wapping-Stepney, and places adjacent, or anywhere else within the said weekly bills of mortality, as shall be mentioned in the said oath, and to arrest, and in case of resistance or refusal, to open or break open any door or doors in the day-time, to arrest such person or persons upon any mesne process or other process, extent or execution, and to seize the goods of any such person or persons upon on execution or extent; and if any such sheriff or sheriffs, or any his or their deputy or deputies, officer or officers, or any of them, shall wilfully neglect or refuse, upon such order, to use his or their best endeavours for the executing of such process, execution or extent, he or they so neglecting or refusing to execute such process, execution or extent, shall forfeit to the plantiff or plaintiffs the sum of two hundred pounds, to be recovered by action of debt or of the case, bill, plaint or information, in which no essoin, protection, wager of law, or more than one imparlance shall be allowed: and if any person or persons shall knowingly and wilfully resist or oppose any officer or officers of justice, or any such person or persons who shall be aiding or assisting to such officer or officers, int he execution of any writ, or of any legal process, execution or extent, within the said hamlet of Wapping-Stepney, and places adjacent, or elsewhere within the said bills of mortality, wherein persons shall unlawfully assemble and associate for the sheltering of themselves from their debts, of which complaint shall have been made by a presentment of the grand jury at a general or quarter sessions of the proper county, or shall make rescous of any prisoner taken upon such process, execution or extent within the place aforesaid, or shall there knowingly harbour or conceal any prisoner so taken, or any person or persons who rescued any such prisoner, or shall be in any ways contriving, or knowingly and willingly abetting, aiding or assisting in resisting any such officer or officers, or in rescuing any such prisoner or prisoners taken as aforesaid, all and every person or persons so offending, being thereof lawfully convicted upon any indictment or information to be brought or filed within six months after the offence committed, shall be adjudged guilty of felony, and shall be transported for seven years to some or one of his Majesty’s colonies or plantations in America, by such ways, means and methods, and in such manner, and for such time, and under such pains and penalties, as felons in other cases are by law to be transported.

III. And whereas divers persons, who have taken shelter within the said hamlet of Wapping-Stepney since the twenty ninth day of September one thousand seven hundred and twenty three, have rented houses and land to the yearly value of ten pounds per annum or upwards therein, but by reason of their poverty were never rated nor paid to the relief of the poor of the said parish, nor served any parochial offices there; be it therefore declared and enacted by the authority aforesaid, That no such person or persons so taking shelter, or their families, shall be judged to have gained any legal settlement in the said parish by virtue of having rented any houses or lands of such value, unless such person or persons have been rated and have paid to the relief of the poor of the said parish, or have served parochial offices there; any law or statute to the contrary in any wise notwithstanding.

Taken from Danby Pickering, The Statutes at Large, vol. XV, 1765. Hand transcribed by John Levin. This text is in the public domain and may be reproduced freely.

The Law against Southwark Mint

One of the most important questions about the 1697 law was whether it was successful in closing down the sanctuaries. This law from 1722 shows that at least in the case of The Mint in Southwark it was not. It’s a very convoluted, repetitive text, presumably to avoid leaving any loop-holes, leeway or hope to the residents of the sanctuary. I will write a longer analysis in due course – to spare the reader this tortuous text as much as anything else! – but here’s a few preliminary comments:

It starts by acknowledging the failure of the previous law, that “hath not proved effectual within the said place, commonly called Suffolk-place or the Mint” and that the area was “notorious” for the “dangerous riots and tumults [that] have been frequently occasioned, and great mischiefs done by many inhabitants in the said place …. unlawfully assembling themselves, and with force opposing the execution of legal process.”

It is directed against debtors, and can be set in process by creditors, “by any person or persons, who have or hath, or shall have any debt or debts, sum or sums of money, due or owing to him, her or them, from any person or persons now being, or which hereafter shall be or reside within the said place or places ….”

It extensively criminalises resistance to the King’s law, anyone who “shall be any ways contriving, or knowingly and willingly abetting, aiding or assisting, in resisting any such officer or officers, or in rescuing any such prisoner or prisoners taken as aforesaid, or shall presume to exercise any unlawful jurisdiction, or make or execute, or join in the making or executing any pretended rule, order or ordinance, for supporting any pretended privilege …. or any the limits, or pretended limits thereof, contrary to law, or for opposing or hindering the due execution of any legal process, or any lawful warrant, or any rule, order or decree of any court of law or equity ….”

It specifically mentions anonymity: “any person or persons whatsoever, wearing any vizard, mask, or disguised habit, or having his or their face or faces, or body or bodies disguised.” Here is a connection to the ‘Black Act’ (Anno 9 George I cap 28) against the organized poachers of Windsor and Richmond parks that E.P. Thompson wrote of in Whigs and Hunters. He wrote: “We have in the case of the ‘Mint’ some kind of metropolitan parallel of the forest matrix of Blacking, with debtors as foresters and baliffs as keepers”‘ and over three pages (pp.247-9) gives the only account of the organization of the Minters I have yet found. Again – and I apologise to the reader – this is something I will return to later.

Finally, it was a harsh law; offenders were to “be transported to some or one of his Majesty’s colonies or plantations in America, by such ways, means and methods, and in such manner, and for such time, and under such pains and penalties, as felons in other cases are by law to be transported.”

More anon, but for now, here’s the law:

Anno 9 George I cap 28: An act for more effectual execution of justice in a pretended privileged place in the parish of Saint George in the county of Surrey, commonly called the Mint; and for bringing to speedy and exemplary justice such offenders as are therein mentioned; and for giving relief to such persons as are proper objects of charity and compassion there.

Whereas it is notorious, that many evil-disposed and wicked persons have, in defiance of the known laws of the realm, and to the great dishonour thereof, unlawfully assembled and associated themselves in and about a certain place in the parish of Saint George in the county of Surrey commonly called or known by the name of Suffolk-place, or the Mint, and have assumed to themselves (by unlawful combinations and confederacies) pretended privileges, altogether scandalous and unwarrantable, and have committed great frauds and abuses upon many of his Majesty’s good subjects, and by force and violence protected themselves, and their wicked accomplices, against law and justice: and whereas it is evident, that an act made in the eighth and ninth years of the reign of his late majesty King William the Third, intituled, An act for the more effectual relief of creditors in cases of escapes, and for preventing abuses in prisons and pretended privileged places, hath not proved effectual within the said place, commonly called Suffolk-place or the Mint; and it is absolutely necessary, that further provision should be made for more effectually abolishing the pretended privileges aforesaid, and for bringing all offenders in the premisses to more speedy and exemplary justice: may it please your most excellent Majesty, that it may be enacted; and be it enacted by the King’s most excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the lords spiritual and temporal and commons, in this present parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, That if any person or person shall, after the tenth day of October one thousand seven hundred and twenty three, within the said place, commonly called Suffolk-place or the Mint, in the parish of Saint George in the county of Surrey, or within any the limits, or pretended limits thereof, knowingly and wilfully obstruct or oppose any person or persons, serving, or endeavouring to serve or execute any writ, or any rule or order of any court of law or equity, or other legal process whatsoever, or any escape-warrant or warrants of any justice or justices of the peace, or shall assault or abuse any person or persons serving or executing any such writ, rule, order, process or warrant, or for having so done, whereby any such person or persons shall receive any damage or bodily hurt, every person so knowingly and willingly offending in the premisses, being thereof lawfully convicted, shall be adjudged guilty of felony, and shall be transported to some or one of his Majesty’s colonies or plantations in America, by such ways, means and methods, and in such manner, and for such time, and under such pains and penalties, as felons in other cases are by law to be transported.

II. And be it enacted by the authority aforesaid, That after the tenth day of October one thousand seven hundred and twenty three, upon any complaint or complaints at any time or times to be made to any three or more justices of the peace of the county of Surrey, by any person or persons, who have or hath, or shall have any debt or debts, sum or sums of money, due or owing to him, her or them, from any person or persons now being, or which hereafter shall be or reside within the said place or places, commonly called Suffolk-place or the Mint, or within any the limits, or pretended limits thereof (such creditor having any legal writ or process taken out for prosecuting recovery, or levying any such debt or debts, sum or sums of money, and making oath before such justices of the peace, or any of them, that a debt or debts, exceeding fifty pounds at the least, is justly due to him, her or them, from the person or persons against whom such complaint shall be made, and that such creditor verily believes, that such person or persons doth then reside or remain within such a place as aforesaid) it shall and may be lawful to and for the said justices of the peace, or any three or more of them, and they are hereby authorized and empowered, in all and every such case and cases (if they in their discretions shall find it to be requisite) to issue their warrant or order, from time to time, to the sheriff of the county of Surrey, or to the bailiff of the liberty of the borough of Southwark, for the time being, thereby strictly enjoining and requiring him or them, his or their respective deputy or deputies, officer or officers (under such penalty, as by this act is prescribed for non-performance of his or their duty therein) to raise and take the posse comitatus, or such other power or force, as to the said justices, or any three or more of them, shall seem requisite, and enter the said pretended privileged place, called Suffolk-place, or the Mint, and the limits, or pretended limits thereof, and every or any part thereof, and to arrest, and in the case of reluctance or refusal, to open or break open any door or doors to arrest such person or persons, upon any mesne process or other process, extent or execution, and to seize the goods of any such person or persons, upon any execution or extent; and if any such sherrif or chief bailiff, or any his or their deputy or deputies, officer or officers, or any of them, shall neglect or refuse, upon such warrant or order, with such force, to use his or their best endeavours for the executing of such process, execution or extent, he or they so neglecting or refusing to execute such process, execution or extent, shall forfeit to the plantiff or plantiffs the sum of two hundred pounds, to be recovered by action of debt, or of the case, bill, plaint or information, in which no essoin, protection, wager of law, or more than one imparlance shall be allowed; and if any person or persons shall resist or oppose any officer or officers of justice, or any person or persons, who shall be aiding or assisting to such officer or officers in the execution of any writ, or any escape warrant, or any warrant or warrants of any justice or justices of the peace, or of any legal process, execution or extent, within the said place called Suffolk-place, or the Mint, or within any the limits, or pretended limits thereof, or shall make rescous of any prisoner taken upon any such write, process, execution or extent, within the place or limits aforesaid, or shall there knowingly harbour or conceal any prisoner so taken, or any person or persons, who rescued any such prisoner, or shall be any ways contriving, or knowingly and willingly abetting, aiding or assisting, in resisting any such officer or officers, or in rescuing any such prisoner or prisoners taken as aforesaid, or shall presume to exercise any unlawful jurisdiction, or make or execute, or join in the making or executing any pretended rule, order or ordinance, for supporting any pretended privilege within the said place called Suffolk-place, or the Mint, or any the limits, or pretended limits thereof, contrary to law, or for opposing or hindering the due execution of any legal process, or any lawful warrant, or any rule, order or decree of any court of law or equity, all and every person and persons so offending, being thereof lawfully convicted upon any indictment or information to be brought or filed within six months after the offence committed, shall be adjudged guilty of felony, and shall be transported to some or one of his Majesty’s colonies or plantations in America, by such ways, means and methods, and in such manner, and for such time, and under such pains and penalties, as felons in other cases are by law to be transported.

III. And for more effectually preventing for the future the great and enormous mischiefs and abuses, which have been riotously committed and done within the said place called Suffolk-place or the Mint, or within any the limits, or pretended limits thereof, by wicked persons in vizards, masks, or disguised habits, or having their faces or bodies disguised; be it enacted by the authority aforesaid, That if after the tenth day of October one thousand seven hundred and twenty three, any person or persons whatsoever, wearing any vizard, mask, or disguised habit, or having his or their face or faces, or body or bodies disguised, shall within the said place called Suffolk-place or the Mint, or within any the limits, or pretended limits thereof, join in, or aid or abet any riot or tumult there, or shall, in any vizard, mask, or other disguise whatsoever, knowingly and willingly there oppose the execution of any legal process, order or warrant, or assault or abuse any person or persons serving or executing any such process, order or warrant, or for having so done, all and every such person or persons, being lawfully convicted of any such offence, shall be adjudged guilty of felony, and shall forfeit and suffer as in cases of felony, without benefit of clergy; and all persons aiding, assisting or abetting, or knowingly harbouring or concealing any such disguised person or persons, being thereof convicted, shall be adjudged guilty of felony, and shall be transported to some or one of his Majesty’s colonies or plantations in America, by such ways, means and methods, and in such manner, and for such time, and under such pains and penalties, as felons in other cases are by law to be transported.

IV. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That from and after the tenth day of October one thousand seven hundred and twenty three,all and every person and persons who shall apprehend and take any person or persons, guilt of any of the offences before mentioned, and prosecute such person or persons until he or they be convicted, shall have and receive, for every such offender so convicted, the sum of forty pounds, to be paid by the sheriff of the county of Surrey, without any deduction or fee for the same, within one month after such conviction and demand thereof made, by tendering a certificate to the said sheriff, under the hand or hands of the judge or justices before whom such offender or offenders shall be convicted, certifying the conviction of such offender or offenders, and that he or they were taken by the person or persons claiming the said reward; and in case any dispute shall arise between the persons so apprehending any of the said offenders, touching their right and title to the said reward, that then the said judge or justices, so respectively certifying as aforesaid, shall in and by his and their said certificate, direct and appoint the said reward to and amongst the parties claiming the same, in such shares and proportions, as to the said judge or justices shall seem just and reasonable; and if it shall happen any such sheriff shall die or be removed after such conviction and demand made of the said reward (the same not being paid as aforesaid) that then the next succeeding sheriff of the said county of Surrey shall pay the same, within one month after demand, and certificate brought as aforesaid; and if default of payment of the said sum or sums of money shall happen to be made by any such sheriff, the sheriff making default shall forfeit to the person and persons, to whom such money shall be due as aforesaid, double the sum or sums of money such sherrif ought to have paid, to be recovered with double costs of suit by the person or persons aforesaid, or his or their executors or administrators, in any of his Majesty’s courts of record at Westminster, by action of debt, bill, plaint or information, wherein no essoin, privilege, protection or wager of law shall be allowed, nor more than one imparlance.

V. And be it further enacted, That in case any person or persons shall happen to be killed by any such offender or offenders, endeavouring to apprehend, or in making pursuit after him or them, that then the executors or administrators, or such person or persons, to whom the right of administration of the personal estate of each person so killed shall belong (upon certificate delivered under the hands and seals of the judge or justices of assize for the county where the fact was done, or the two next justices of the peace, of such person or persons being so killed, which certificate the said judge or justices, upon sufficient proof before him or them made, is and are hereby required immediately to give without fee or reward) shall receive the sum of forty pounds from the sheriff of the county where the said act was done and committed, and upon failure of payment thereof by the said sheriff, such sheriff shall forfeit double the said sum of forty pounds, to be recovered against him, with double costs of suit, in manner aforesaid.

VI. And it is hereby further enacted, That all sheriffs, their executors or administrators, upon producing such respective certificates, and the receipts for the money by them paid in pursuance of this act, shall be allowed, and are hereby impowered to deduct, upon their accounting with his Majesty, his heirs and successors, all monies (other than the forfeited sum and sums of money, and costs of suit) which they shall disburse as aforesaid, without any fee or reward whatsoever.

VII. Provided always, That if upon the account of any sheriff there shall not be sufficient in the hands of such sheriff to reimburse him such monies paid by him by virtue of this act, that then the sheriff having so paid the said monies, shall have the same repaid by the comissioners of his Majesty’s treasury or the lord high treasurer for the time being, out of the revenue of the crown, or by record of surplusage upon any other sheriff indebted to his Majesty, upon certificate from the clerk of the pipe to that effect.

VIII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That in case any such apprehender and prosecutor is guilty of any of the offences aforesaid, every such apprehender and prosecutor, not being in prison for any the said offences, and convicting two or more persons of any the offences aforesaid, shall not only have the aforesaid reward of forty pounds, but shall also have, and is hereby entitled to his Majesty’s most gracious pardon, for any of the said offences committed at any time or times before discovery is made of such other two or more persons so to be convicted as aforesaid.

IX. And whereas it is notorious, that dangerous riots and tumults have been frequently occasioned, and great mischiefs done by many inhabitants in the said place, commonly called Suffolk-place or the Mint, unlawfully assembling themselves, and with force opposing the execution of legal process, so that it hath been necessary, for suppressing such riots and tumults, and to enforce due execution of the law, to raise the posse comitatus, or some other extraordinary power: be it therefore enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the necessary charge of raising the posse comitatus, or such other power as aforesaid, for enforcing the due execution of this act, or the said former act, or for better effecting the purposes thereof, shall be paid by the said sherrif, and allowed in his accounts, or be repaid by the commissioners of his Majesty’s treasury, or the lord high treasurer for the time being, out of the revenue of the crown, or by record of surplusage upon any other sheriff in debt upon his account, upon certificate from the clerk of the pipe to that effect.

X. Provided always, That nothing in this act contained, shall be construed to extend to repeal or make void the said recited act of the eighth and ninth years of the reign of his said late majesty king William the third, or any other law in force, against pretended privileged places, or for suppressing riots or tumults, but that the same shall, to all intents and purposes, be in full force and effect, as if this act had never been made, except in such cases touching which other provision is made by this act.

XI. And forasmuch as there may be inhabiting or residing in the said place called Suffolk-place or the Mint, or within the limits thereof, some persons, who by misfortunes in trade, or other accidents or calamities, have been reduced to such necessities, as have obliged them to take shelter or protection there; and it may be reasonable and convenient to give some relief to such objects of charity and compassion, upon their faithful discovering upon oath, and delivering up, and assigning all their estates and effects whatsoever, for the benefit of their creditors, as is herein after directed; be it therefore enacted, &c.

Inhabitants of the Mint assigning over their effects, &c. are to be discharged from arrests, &c. Notice must be given thirty days before the sessions to the creditors of the party petitioning to be discharged. Clerk of the peace to give a duplicate of discharge, on pain of 5l. Inhabitants &c. perjuring themselves, deemed felons. Persons discharged are not to be imprisoned for debts due before the 11th of February 1722. General issue pleadable. Others than the persons discharged by this act are answerable as before. No discharge is good, if not obtained before 10 July 1724. Bankrupts not intitled to the benefit of this act. Discharges fraudulently obtained, void. Petitioner, &c. to leave with the justices a list of his creditors, &c. persons owing more than 50l. &c. not to be discharged. No shelterer to gain a settlement without paying to the poor, or serving an office. EXP>

Taken from Danby Pickering, The Statutes at Large, vol. XV, 1765. Hand transcribed by John Levin. This text is in the public domain and may be reproduced freely.