The Trial of William Stapley - Pamphlet - 1678

Antique & vintage paperwork relating to the silver trade
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dognose
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The Trial of William Stapley - Pamphlet - 1678

Post by dognose »

The Trial of William Stapley - Pamphlet - 1678

A pamphlet issued in 1678 following the trial of the goldsmith William Stapley on a charge of High Treason.

Such pamphlets reporting the details of the more sensational trials were rushed off the presses to be sold in the streets to the eagerly awaiting public. Very few survive today.

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I'll add some further details regarding William Stapley in a follow up post.

Trev.
dognose
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Re: The Trial of William Stapley - Pamphlet - 1678

Post by dognose »

The Trial of William Stayley

In 1678 England was in the grip of mass hysteria following the publication of a pamphlet proclaiming a Catholic conspiracy to overthrow the monarchy. The conspiracy became known as “The Popish Plot”. It was claimed that Charles II would be murdered and his openly Catholic brother, the Duke of York (the future James II), would be placed upon the throne and England reconverted to the Roman Catholic faith. The plan left no doubt that it would lead to the deaths of thousands of Protestants.

The author of this fabricated conspiracy was a failed cleric by the name of Titus Oates (1649-1705). Oates had fallen from grace on a number of occasions and was seeking to make himself a hero in the eyes of the King and the public by exposing this imaginary threat. Unfortunately however his lies resulted in the deaths of at least thirty-five people before the truth eventually came out and Oates’ selfish motive revealed.

Oates presented his evidence to Sir Edmundsbury Godfrey a confirmed protestant and anti-Papist; he was a Justice of the Peace and had the trust of the Royal Court, who in turn presented it to the King. Within days a witch-hunt had started with the round up of many suspects. Things went from bad to worse for the Roman Catholic community when Godfrey was found strangled to death, his body dumped in a ditch and his own sword ran through his heart.

Two of the suspects that were arrested and thrown into Newgate Prison (the current site of the Old Bailey) were the goldsmiths Miles Prance and William Stayley who were both Roman Catholics. Prance had been heard complaining that these were hard times for goldsmiths and that if the Catholic faith returned to England the consequent change of religious materials and ornamentation would provide much welcome work for the goldsmiths. Following his arrest, Prance continually admitted, then retracted, various crimes including being an accomplice in the murder of Godfrey, but considering these admissions were made under duress, or even torture, not much credence can be given to them.

It was during the above interrogations that Stayley was alleged to have been falsely given away by Prance. Prance escaped to the continent and he is thought to have worked for some years before dying there. His flight may well have been aided by friends in the Royal Court; he was known to have supplied pieces to the King’s Consort, so was probably well connected. But not so Stayley, he was tried on a trumped up charge of threatening to kill the King. The trial was held on Thursday 21st November 1678 before the notorious Sir William Scroggs, the Lord Chief Justice of England. Scroggs was characteristically violent and brutal to any suspects in his court, he was particularly cruel and aggressive to those he sentenced to death.

Stayley was found guilty with Scroggs’ words “You shall return to the prison, from thence shall be drawn to the place of execution, where you shall hang by the neck, cut down alive, your quarters shall be severed and disposed of as the King shall think fit, and your bowels burnt, and so the Lord have mercy on your soul”.

The execution was duly carried out and under normal circumstances the bodies of those found guilty of High Treason were displayed, but the family and friends of Stayley successfully petitioned King Charles that Stayley had shown penitence for his deeds and the King allowed the body to be handed over to his family for burial. On 29th November 1678, Stayley’s coffin was taken from his father’s house to St. Paul’s Church, Covent Garden. Mass was said and the occasion turned into a celebration of martyrdom with large crowds in attendance. Charles was infuriated and ordered that the coffin be dug up and Stayley’s head displayed on Traitors’ Gate on London Bridge and his quartered body affixed to the gates of the City of London. The display of Stayley’s head was the last time a severed head was affixed to Traitors’ Gate.

It is interesting to note at the end of Stayley’s trial, he was asked “What Goods, Chattels, Lands or Tenements?” he replied “None”. Either he had feared the worse and disposed of his property (he was also known as a banker) or Prance was correct that this was indeed a hard time for the goldsmiths.

Sir Ambrose Heal, in his book “The London Goldsmiths 1200-1800”, has both Stayley and Prance working in Covent Garden with the latter in Princess Street. Interestingly he shows the dates as 1679-1689 for Prance which is possibly an error.

Jacksons has an ‘MP’ under a crown mark on page 134, it is unidentified but this is very possibly the mark of Miles Prance as he received Royal patronage.
As for the mark of William Stayley, there are three possibilities in Jacksons on pages 132-134.

I could not find a picture of Stayley but The National Portrait Gallery at London has an engraving of him being drawn to Tyburn (the current site of Marble Arch), there are pictures of Prance on the internet.

Trev.
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