The Audacious Crimes of Colonel Blood

by Robert Hutchinson

  Chancery Court Records

  C 241/147/39 – Action for recovery of a debt of £200 brought by the creditor, Henry de Tildeslegh of Ditton in [Widnes], Lancashire, against Thomas, son of John de Holcroft of Lancashire; 17 February 1367.

  Exchequer Records

  E 134/1652/Mich2 – Depositions in the dispute over the estates, debtors and last will of Edward Calveley esquire, died November 1636.

  E 134/12Chas2/Mich6 – Robert King v John Benbow and Mary Hoi-croft, relict of John Holcroft, over a conveyance made by Christopher Trentham of his estate in Cheshire to John Holcroft and others; 1660.

  E 134/13Chas2/East21 – John Calveley v Thomas Holcroft, Margaret Holcroft, widow, John Kerford, Charles Holcroft, Thomas Broome, John Shaw, Thomas Busworth,John Barton; manors of Holcroft, Cad-awshed, Barton-upon-Irwell and Pursfurlong and lands in Culcheth, Riseley, Atherton and Wigshaw, Lancashire; 1661.

  E 134/13Chas2/Trin6 – John Calveley v Thomas Holcroft, Margaret Holcroft, widow, Charles Holcroft, Thomas Broome, John Shaw, Thomas Unworth, John Kerford John Barton; manors of Holcroft, Cadawshed, Barton-upon-Irwell and Pursfurlong and lands in Culcheth, Riseley, Atherton and Wigshaw, Lancashire; 1661.

  Postal archives

  POST 23/1 – Letter to mayor of Hull announcing that regular posts would be carried along five principal roads in England and Wales, viz. to Dover, Edinburgh, Holyhead, Plymouth and Bristol; London 28 January 1636.

  Privy Council Records

  PC 2/68 – Proceedings of Privy Council 21 April 1679–29 May 1680.

  f.471 – Removal of Sir William Waller from the Commission of the Peace.

  State Paper series

  9/32/313 – Sir Joseph Williamson’s ‘address book’.

  29/97/20, f.32 – Sir Roger Langley, high sheriff of Yorkshire, to Bennet; York, 23 April 1664.

  29/97/41, f.54 – Sir Roger Langley, high sheriff of Yorkshire, to Bennet, suggesting the services of William Leving as a spy; 3 April 1664.

  29/97/75, f.130 – Leving to Arlington; Tower of London, 30 April 1664.

  29/98/132, f.244 – Sir Roger Langley, high sheriff of Yorkshire, to Bennet; May 1664.

  29/102/48, f.57 – Names of thirteen persons in London in disguise with their aliases.

  29/102/49, f.59 – Orders for the repair of the Tower of London; Whitehall, 12 September 1664.

  29/103/21, f.13 – Bennet’s certificate of employment for William Leving and request that he should ‘not be molested or restrained’; 5 October 1664.

  29/115/44, f.124 – Interrogation of William Ashenshaw, a prisoner in the White Lion prison.

  29/121/131, f.175 – List of thirty-one disaffected persons in London; 22 May 1665.

  29/121/132, f.176 – List of seventeen seditious persons suspected to be in London; 22 May 1665.

  29/140/93, f.136 – Discharge of three conventiclers [?with assistance of Colonel Blood] – dated December 1665 in CSP Domestic but almost certainly after 1671.

  29/147/111, f.147 – ‘Notes from the person sent by my lord of Orrery’.

  29/155/17, f.24 – Gilbert Thomas, marshal of the Gatehouse prison to Arlington; 2 May 1666.

  29/168/148, f.154 – Captain John Grice to Williamson; Blood has departed for Ireland with others to ‘do mischief; 24 August 1666.

  29/168/151, f.158 – Instructions from Williamson to intercept all letters coming from Ireland addressed to John Knipe [of] Aldersgate Street [London] or going to Ireland, addressed to Daniel Egerton, of Cock [Cook] Street, Whitehall; ?24 August 1666.

  29/168/211, f.154 – Captain John Grice to Williamson about Blood’s involvement in a new Irish conspiracy; 26 August 1666.

  29/173/131, f.205 – Request for permit from Arlington, endorsed ‘Blood’s Memorial’ dated August 1665 in CSP Domestic but after 1671.

  29/173/132, f.206 – Memorandum [by Williamson] reporting that ‘nothing [had been] found’ to justify that the Great Fire of London had been caused ‘other than by the Hand of God, a great wind and a dry season’; London, 1666.

  29/196/6, f.6 – Sir Philip Musgrave to Williamson reporting that Blood ‘was among the Scottish rebels’ and had been in Westmoreland ‘at a rigid Anabaptist’s [house]’; 1 April ?1667.

  29/201/39, f.46 – Jonathan Mascall to Williamson, reporting that William Leving was held as a prisoner; York, 18 May 1667.

  29/201/93, f.108 – Warrant to apprehend William Freer for ‘dangerous and seditious practices’; ‘given at court at Whitehall’; partially undated [?May] 1667.

  29/209/44, f.54 – William Leving to Arlington; Newgate prison, London, 11 July 1667.

  29/209/88, f.103 – William Leving to Williamson; Newgate prison, London, 13 July 1667.

  29/210/141, f.162 – Petition of Captain John Grice to Arlington, seeking an allowance and a pass for Ireland; 25 July 1667.

  29/210/151, f.173 – William Leving to Arlington, providing his account of the rescue of Mason; 25 July 1667.

  29/211/17, f.18 – Jonathan Mascall to Williamson, giving another account of Mason’s rescue; York, 27 July 1667.

  29/211/60, f.61 – Corporal William Darcy to Sir Charles Wheeler, Old Palace Yard, Westminster; York, 24 July 1667.

  29/212/6, f.6 – John Betson, government spy, to Arlington; 1 August 1667.

  29/212/70, f.74 – William Leving to Robert Benson, clerk of assizes, with note attached reporting that Leving was dead and had been poisoned; 5 August 1667.

  29/218/18, f.27 – Freer to Williams, wrongly reporting the death of Blood; York Castle, 28 September 1667.

  29/281/74, f.100 – Robert Pitt to Prince Rupert; 23 December 1670.

  29/281/77, f.103 – Postscript to a torn letter to an unknown addressee reporting that ‘Allen or Ayliff, mentioned in the [London] Gazette . . . had been at sea in the Portland frigate’; 25 December 1670.

  29/281/15, f.17 – [Henry Muddiman] to Mr. Worth, collector at Falmouth; Whitehall, 8 December, 1670.

  29/281/24, f.28 – Thomas Peachy supplying information about Henry Davis, one of the Queen’s troop of guards (in Williamson’s handwriting); London, 13 December, 1670.

  29/281/75, f.101 – Robert Benson to Williamson; Wrenthorp, near Wakefield, Yorkshire, 24 December 1670.

  29/281/99, f.132 – Thomas Peachey to Williamson, retracting his suspicions about Henry Davis; ‘The Mews’ ?London, 30 December 1670.

  29/287/911, f.120 — Examination of Richard Wilkinson before Lord Arlington; [undated] 1670.

  29/289/187, f.366 – Account of attempted theft of Crown Jewels in a newsletter to Mr Kirke in Cambridge; London, 9 May 1671.

  29/289/283, f.284 – Claim by Thomas Drayton and Henry Partridge of Lambeth, Surrey, for the £100 reward for information leading to the identification of the attackers of the Duke of Ormond; ? April 1671.

  29/290/11, f.15 – Blood to the king; Tower of London, 19 May 1671. [A forgery – not in Blood’s hand.]

  29/293/12, f.15 – Blood to Williamson, describing a visit by a stranger who may be trying to ensnare him; London, 18 September 1671.

  29/293/28, f.31 – Notes by Williamson on information on conspiracies supplied by Blood; 21 September 1671.

  29/294/14, f.20 – Notes in Williamson’s hand on methods of defeating conspiracies; London, 9 November 1671.

  29/294/15, f.21 – Williamson’s notes on Blood’s work amongst the Presbyterians; London, 11 November 1671.

  29/294/36, f.43 – Williamson’s aide-memoire on conspiracies; London, 16 November 1671.

  29/294/124, f.152 – Richard Wilkinson, government informer, to Williamson; 1 December 1671.

  29/294/139, f.169 – Williamson’s notes claiming that Blood ‘has left himself notably to fantasies’, has received money to pay debts and his ‘head is turned with wine and treats’; London, 4 December 1671.

  29/294/216, f.274 – Sir John Robinson, lieutenant of the Tower of London, to Williamson, describing his meetings with Blood; Tower, 23 December 1671.

  29/294/235, f.295 – Williamson’s notes of thre
ats to Blood; London, 27 December 1671.

  29/333/82, f.126 – Richard Wilkinson, government informer, to Colonel John Russell about his poor treatment in prison; Appleby, 10 February 1673.

  29/333/181, f.249 – Note in Colonel Blood’s handwriting that pamphlets from Holland were due to be delivered, most going to the Spanish ambassador; [February] 1673.

  29/366/25, f.11 – Williamson’s notes: Blood’s pension as a spy; 12 September 1675.

  29/397/7, f.7 – Notes by Williamson about information supplied by Blood of a Fifth Monarchists’ plot to attack the Tower of London and kill Charles II and his brother at Newmarket or London and set up Richard Cromwell as nominal ruler; London, 2 October 1677.

  29/414/23, f.40 – Blood to James, Duke of York with a plea for his assistance in gaining freedom; 15 July 1680.

  29/414/26, f.46 – Blood to Sir Leoline Jenkins with a request for £600 from the Lords of the Treasury in lieu of his salary and ‘an immediate supply’ for thirty or forty guineas ‘for I am quite destitute’; London, 18 July 1680.

  29/417/207, f.443 – Charles Blood to the Duke of York warning of ‘most dangerous conspiracies’ against him; undated, ?1681.

  29/417/207.1, f.445 – Charles Blood’s information about a plot to stage an insurrection against the king; undated, ? 1683.

  29/450/712, f.46 – Letter to Lord Conway assuring him that there was no plot involved in starting the Great Fire of London; [8 September] 1666.

  44/34/86, f.87 – Warrant to the keeper of the Gatehouse prison to receive John Buxton for ‘dangerous practices and combinations with Thomas Blood and his son’ and to keep him a close prisoner; London, 15 May 1671.

  44/34/110, f.111 – Pardon to Thomas Blood ‘the Father of all Treasons’ of ‘all Treasons, misprisons of treason, murders . . . felonies, assaults, batteries and other offences w[ha]soever at any time since 29 day of May 1660, com[m]itted by himself alone, or together w[it]h any other p[er]sons . . .’ recorded in Arlington papers, dated 1 August 1671.

  44/34/115, f.116 – Grant of pardon to Thomas Blood junior in the same form as his father’s pardon; London, 31 August 1671.

  45/12/246 – Proclamation offering reward for the capture of the rescuers of Captain John Mason; 8 August 1667.

  46/95/72 – Warrants from P[aul] Hobson (major in Sir Arthur Hesilrige’s Regiment of Foot) to Alderman Thomas Ledgard, military treasurer to Sir Arthur Hesilrige, governor of Newcastle, for payments to Cornet John Grice for money for the soldiers to buy oats for their horses; receipted, 11 May 1649.

  46/95/78 – Warrants from Sir Arthur Hesilrige to Alderman Ledgard for payments to Cornet John Grice for intelligence; receipted, 22 June 1649.

  84/180/62 – Intercepted letter: Ludlow ‘heard that several persons sent out of England to destroy friends wheresoever they may be met with’.

  84/188/125 – Blood reports on passage of Dutch warships on River Texel; March 1672.

  State Papers series, Ireland

  63/313/120, f.243 – Ormond and Irish Council to Bennet concerning the prisoner Henry Porter, alleged executioner of Charles I; Dublin Castle, 29 April 1663.

  63/313/164, f.335 – Colonel Edward Vernon to Bennet; 21 May 1663.

  63/313/166 f.340 – Colonel Edward Vernon to Williamson; 21 May 1663.

  63/313/168, f.346 – Earl of Orrery to the king; Newtown, 23 May 1663.

  63/313/169, f.349 – Colonel Edward Vernon to Bennet; 23 May 1663.

  63/313/170, f.351 – Ormond and Council to Bennet; Dublin Castle, 23 May 1663.

  63/313/172, f.354 – Lord Aungier to Bennet; 23 May 1663.

  63/313/173, f.355 – Ormond to Bennet; Dublin Castle, 23 May 1663.

  63/313/176, f.361 – Sir George Lane to Bennet; Dublin Castle, 25 May 1663.

  63/313/174, f.357 – Ormond to Bennet; Dublin Castle, 24 May 1663.

  63/313/180, f.366 – Ormond to the king; Dublin, 30 May 1663.

  63/313/186, f.376 – Colonel Edward Vernon to Bennet; Dublin, 30 May 1663.

  63/313/187, f.378 – Deposition of James Tanner taken before the lord lieutenant; Dublin, 31 May 1663.

  63/313/193, f.395 – Sir Nicholas Armorer to Williamson; Dublin, 3 June 1663.

  63/313/198, f.403 – Colonel Edward Vernon to Williamson; Dublin, 5 June 1663.

  63/313201, f.408 – Ormond to Bennet; Dublin, 6 June 1663.

  63/313/207, f.419 – Ormond to Bennet; Dublin Castle, 10 June 1663.

  63/313/209, f.422 – Ormond to Bennet; Dublin Castle, 10 June 1663.

  63/313/209, f.425 – Sir George Lane to James Tanner with reply and note to Robert Littlebury in London; 6–10 June 1663.

  63/313/211, f.430 – Sir Thomas Clarges to Bennet; Dublin, 11 June 1663.

  63/313/215, f.435 – Sir George Lane to Bennet; Dublin Castle, 13 June 1663.

  63/313/217, f.439 – Ormond to Bennet; Dublin Castle, 13 June, 1663.

  63/313/220, f.449 – Thomas Bate to Robert Littlebury at the sign of the Unicorn, Little Britain, London; Dublin, 13 June 1663.

  63/313/221, f.451 – Sir Gilbert Talbot seeks the grant of Blood’s estates in Ireland from Williamson; 13 June 1663.

  63/313/224, f.456, [–] ‘from my chamber in the “Round World”’ to Sir Jordan Crosland ‘at his house in Holborn [London] between the Griffin and the Bowl’; 14 June 1663.

  63/313/225, f.458 – Colonel Edward Vernon to Bennet; Dublin, 14 June 1663.

  63/313/226, f.460 – Instructions for the search for arms in Co. Dublin, signatures torn off; Dublin, after 16 June 1663.

  63/313/230, f.465 – Account of all His Majesty’s military stores and weaponry in Ireland, as at August 1662 and July 1663; 18 June 1663.

  63/313/234, f.474 – Robert Leigh to Williamson; Dublin, 20 June 1663.

  63/313/243, f.491 – Sir George Lane to Bennet; Dublin Castle, 25 June 1663.

  63/313/245, f.495 – Ormond to Bennet; Dublin, 25 June 1663.

  63/314/2, f.3 – Colonel Edward Vernon to Williamson; 1 July 1663.

  63/314/6, f.42 – Draft of a letter from Ormond to the king; Dublin, 14 July 1663.

  63/314/11, f.32 – Sir George Lane to Secretary Bennet; Dublin Castle, 11 July 1663.

  63/314/17, f.44 – Colonel Edward Vernon to Williamson; Dublin, 14 July 1663.

  63/314/18, f.46 – Ormond to Bennet; Council Chamber, Dublin, 15 July 1663.

  63/315/21, f.42 – Ormond to Bennet; Dublin Castle, 16 November 1663.

  63/315/22, f.44 – Earl of Orrery to [Bennet]; Newtown, 17 November 1663.

  63/315/15, f.49 – Sir George Lane’s account of the recapture of William Lackey on 15 November, 1663; Dublin Castle, 18 November 1663.

  63/320/34, f.72 – Earl of Orrery to the king; Charleville, 7 February 1666.

  63/320/45, f.1 – Copy of a letter from Earl of Orrery to Ormond; Charleville, 12 February 1666.

  f.2 Dame Dorcas Lane to her husband, Sir George Lane, 8 February 1666.

  63/321/164, f.10 – Earl of Orrery to Arlington; Charleville, 22 September 1666.

  63/320/129, f.2 – The king to Ormond, with instructions to grant Captain Toby Barnes a lease of the town and lands of Sarney, Braystown and Foylestown in the barony of Dunboyne, Co. Meath and 500 acres of ‘unprofitable mountain’ in Glenmalure, Co Wicklow, formerly belonging to Thomas Blood, lately attainted of high treason; Whitehall, 11 April 1666.

  War Office Papers

  WO 94/58/24 – Correspondence relating to the memorial to Talbot Edwards, 1936.

  Works Departments Records

  WORK 14/2/1 – Papers on the adaptation of Wakefield Tower as a new Jewel House and provision of glass cases to display the Regalia; 1 January 1852 to 31 December 1869.

  WORK 31/22 – Plans of Jewel House in Tower of London, 15 August 1702 and plan of first storey showing dining room, parlour, kitchen and staircase, dated 1668, both bearing the stamp ‘I.G.F.’ for Inspector General of Fortifications.

  WORK 31/68 – Plan and section of Jewel Tower; early eighteenth century.

 
; Wills and Probate Records

  PROB 11/364/248 – Will of Thomas Blood; Westminster, 22 August 1680.

  PROB 4/5301 – Engrossed inventories, exhibited from 1660, of Thomas Blood of St Margaret, Westminster; 7 May 1681.

  PROB 4/5476 – Inventory of the goods and chattels of William Blood, of Mary, signed by his sister Elizabeth Everard, November 1688.

  PROB 11/360/467, f.304 – Edmund Blood, purser of Jersey, 3 April 1678.

  PROB 11/504/89 – Brig. Holcroft Blood, Brussels, 26 July 1708.

  PUBLISHED

  Akerman, John (ed.), Moneys received and paid for Secret Services of Charles II and James IIfrom 30 March 1679 to 25 December 1688 (London [CS] 1851).

  Anon., A List of Officers Claiming to the Sixty Thousand Pounds Granted by his Sacred Majesty for the Relief of the Truly Loyal and Indigent Party (London, 1663).

  ‘Aubrey’s Brief Lives’ – Brief Lives, chiefly of contemporaries set down by John Aubrey between the years 1669 and 1696, ed. Andrew Clark (2 vols., Oxford, 1898).

  Baxter, Richard, Reliquiæ Baxterianæ: or, Mr. Richard Baxter’s narrative of the most memorable passages of his life and times. Faithfully publish d from his own original manuscript, by Matthew Sylvester (London, 1696).

  Brown, Thomas (ed.), Miscellanea Aulica, or a collection of State Treaties, Never before published (London, 1702).

  ‘Burnet’s History’ – Burnet’s History of My Own Time, ed. Osmund Airy (new edn., 2 vols., Oxford, 1897–1900).

  Bury, John, A True Narrative of the late Design of the Papists to charge their horrid plot upon the Protestants, by endeavouring to corrupt Captain Bury and Alderman Brooks of Dublin, and to take off the evidence of Mr. Oats and Mr. Bedlow, &c. as appears by the depositions [of Bury and Brooks] (London, 1679).

  Cellier, Elizabeth, Malice Defeated: or a Brief relation of the accusation and deliverance of Elizabeth Cellier, wherein her proceedings . . . are particulary related, and the mystery of the meal-tub fully discovered. Together with an abstract of her arraignment and tryal, written by herself (London, 1680).

  Chappell, William (ed.), Roxburghe Ballads, Hertford (Ballad Society vol. 6), 1890–1.

  ‘Counter-plots’ – A just narrative of the hellish new counter-plots of the Papists to cast the odium of their horrid treasons upon the Presbyterians and under that notion, to involve many hundreds of the most considerable Protestant nobility and gentry in a general ruin. With an account of their particular intrigues, carried on to ensnare Mr Blood and several other considerable persons with the happy discoveries thereof (London, 1679).