The hidden papers of the Jacobite Rebellion
From Standish Wiki
| 1755
| 1757 | 1763
|
| ||
There is a sequel to the story of William Standish and his Jacobite conspiracy. Some sixty years later, in 1757, a coppice wall was being rebuilt on the Standish estate near the Hall and the workmen came upon some documents in a hollow place in the wall. The writing was in cipher and could not be read. Fortunately they were not destroyed and the contents remained unknown until, some time in the 1920s, the late Rev. T. C. Porteus managed to work out the key to the cipher. How damning would have been these documents if they had fallen into the hands of the Crown Prosecutors in 1694. Amongst them was a Declaration of Loyalty to King James, which included an assurance that nothing would be wanting when the time came for the King to require their services. The signatures included those of Richard Widderington, Will Standish, Stephen Tempest, H. Smithson, and Charles Towneley. Another paper, in cipher, revealed a reply from James II approving the arrangements made. There were also military commissions signed by King James and given at the court of St. Germains.
Among the other papers, some in cipher, some not, many supported evidence given at Manchester concerning the plotters. The carrier had said that he carried boxes from London to Standish which had distinctive markings on them, and one of the papers described boxes sent to Standish Hall with the letters G. G. on them, while the following week three more boxes had been sent with the same markings but addressed to the grocer. It would have gone very hard with William Standish and his friends had the papers come to light when the Hall was searched all those years before. [1]
- ↑ Eleanor Johnson, The Standish Family 1189-1920 (Published by the Standish Local History Group, 1972)
