The Monmouthshire Rebellion and the surname Lawrence

Bearers of the Surname Lawrence.
A John Lawrence was tried at Dorchester on 10th September 1685, and was hanged at Sherborne, Dorset on the 15th.  Another John Lawrence was tried at Wells, and transported in the Indeavour out of Bristol to Nevis or St Kitts for Sir William Stapleton’s plantation on October 20th. Stapleton was Governor of the Leeward Islands A third John Lawrence was tried at Wells and transported on the 25th to Jamaica to labour on the plantation of Sir Philip Howard, Governor of Jamaica. One John Lawrence escaped without being brought to trial.

These were a few men who carried the surname Lawrence in the Monmouth Rebellion. One parish register had no entries made during that period because the parson was among the rebels, showing that it was not simply villagers who rebelled – members of influential bodies such as the Church were also involved.

Lawrences and the Monmouthshire Rebellion.
When the Protestant King Charles II died in February 1685, the West Country counties of Devon, Cornwall, Somerset and Dorset, had formed a Protestant stronghold that replaced the Catholic pilgrimage of the previous century. The new King was Charles's brother, James Duke of York, a Roman Catholic. Charles II's Protestant son, James Scott Duke of Monmouth (right) was illegitimate. Monmouth was adamant that a Protestant uprising would support him as a claimant to the throne. 
James was born on April 9th 1649 the illegitimate son of Charles II, allegedly by Lucy Walter whom King Charles denied having married. James married Anne Scott, countess of Buccleuch, whose name he adopted. He was created Duke of Monmouth and Buccleuch in 1663, being appointed captain-general of the forces in 1678. 
Anthony Ashley Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury, whose home was at Wimborne St. Giles was determined to prevent the succession of the King's Roman Catholic brother, the Duke of York, and pressed Charles to divorce his barren wife and remarry, or else to legitimise the Duke of Monmouth. Charles exiled both Monmouth and James in 1679. His attempts to exclude the Duke of York from the succession were defeated in Parliament, and he then turned to conspiracy. Shaftesbury was tried for treason in 1682, but was acquitted. He fled to Holland and died there.

Monmouth soon returned, but in 1684 was again forced to take refuge in Europe after exposure of the Rye House Plot to murder both Charles and his brother James. The Duke of York, was proclaimed James II when Charles II died on February 1685. Four months later, Monmouth landed with about 80 men on the beach near the Cobb at Lyme Regis, Dorset. An undisciplined and ill-equipped rabble of brave but untrained West Country yokels and miners greeted him and encouraged a Protestant revolt with plans to capture Bristol and then to march on London. These rebels supported Monmouth and were soon joined by others from the countryside. Their numbers soon reached nearly 7,000 but the rebellion only lasted five weeks.   

Churchill (left), later to be created 1st duke of Marlborough, was the son of Winston Churchill, squire of Minterne Magna. Leading the King’s forces against the rebels, Churchill’s army included many Dorset men such as George Penne of Corscombe, later to become a Brigadier General. The Bishop of Winchester, Peter Mews, was a Cavalier from Purse Caudle who went to war at the age of 67.

At the notorious battle on Sedgemoor in Somerset on July 6th, ill-prepared and piteously equipped with pitchforks, the Protestant rebels were slaughtered in what can only be described as a “bloodbath”. Some were able to escape back to their villages or farms and were never apprehended; a large number of others, if not killed in battle, were captured and hanged or transported into virtual slavery.

George  Jeffreys, Baron Jeffreys of Wem  and Chief Justice of the Kingdom was sent to Dorchester on Assize  and conducted trials that were a travesty of justice. It was named afterwards the "Bloody Assizes,” nearly 200 being condemned to death and executed on the gallows. The King condoned all that Jeffreys served out. James II's pitiless treatment of Monmouth's followers shocked the country. This led to the removal of James from the throne.

Public hangings subsequently led to the gruesome burning of entrails in front of half conscious prisoners brought down from the scaffold. Corpses were quartered, boiled in salt and dipped in pitch for long-term exhibition in public. These horrendous sights at cross-roads and in market squares were designed to strike awe into the populace of the West Country and act as deterrents to other potential rebels. Man’s inhumanity to man was unequalled for centuries.

Monmouth fled from the battlefield in the company of Lord Grey hoping to get to the coast at Poole, and onto a ship to the continent. On reaching the Inn at Woodyates they decided to split up. Leaving their horses they proceeded across country singly and in disguise. Monmouth dressed in the clothes of a shepherd was soon discovered shivering in a ditch, under a hedge at Horton. He might have got away with it except for one small fact. In his pocket he was carrying the badge of the Order of the Garter. Bishop Mews pleaded with the King for clemency on grounds that Monmouth was misguided; but the Duke was taken to London and executed in the Tower. 

Accused of harbouring rebels, Alice Lisle was condemned to death by Jeffreys, who eagerly extorted money from many defendants. He soon found a profitable alternative in transportation, ostensibly, as directed by the Secretary of State. Those with interests in Jamaica, Barbados or the Leeward Islands were also interested in free labour, and entered bids for the rebels.  They were to take the prisoners from custody within 10 days and transport them to ‘some of his Majesties southern plantations’. The prisoners were to be kept as indentured servants for ten years. A total of 890 prisoners were handed over to the bidders, the Governor of Jamaica; a Barbados merchant; to Sir Jerome Nipho, the Queen’s Italian Secretary; to a subsequent Governor of Barbados; and to the Governor of the Leeward Islands.  Some prisoners died on the journey across the seas.

The bloodless overthrow of James II in 1688 led to a revision of policy, and free pardons were issued in February 1690.  The beneficiaries of the scheme, by which indentured servants were sent to the plantations, such as Governor Kendall of Barbados, were reluctant to let their prisoners go.  By 1691 half the Jamaican prisoners had been released, but not given any cash reward at the end of servitude.  They were unable to return home. A study has been made of the rebellion and a list of nearly 4000 names of rebels compiled from records of the Assizes conducted in the West Country in the Autumn of 1685.

For surviving rebels the only  record was the village of origin and the constable’s presentment.  Lack of additional information then implies either that the rebel was killed and buried in the common pit on Sedgemoor, or, more likely he was one of those who escaped homewards and stayed concealed until the proclamation of the Pardon. What can Achievements do for you?
It is worth considering that given the minimum number of survivors and the natural levels of procreation in each generation, by today there should be in the region of six and a half million descendants from those prisoners sent to the New World, and at least 28 million descendants of those who remained free in England.  Where are they? Are you one of them? What surnames do they have now? What fortunes have been gained, and what misfortunes have befallen those descended from these patriots? These are questions that Achievements could answer for you. Give Achievements the challenge and discover who your ancestors were.