Reflections: Treason and treachery in the New Forest

During the war of the three kingdoms, or English Civil War, between 1639 and 1653, John Lisle was a staunch parliamentarian and MP for Winchester. In January 1649 he was a legal advisor to Lord-President Bradshaw during the trial of King Charles I. Although he was not a signatory on the death warrant, he was very much involved in the regicide. John Lisle was one of the commissioners who helped to create the new republican constitution during the period of the Commonwealth. He had a reputation as a legal reformer but was also known for “acquisitiveness and sharp practice”. Oliver Cromwell appointed him to the Upper House which gave him the title of ‘lord’ and Alice became a ‘lady’.

When Charles II was invited to become king of England, Scotland and Ireland in 1660, John and Alice Lisle went into exile, settling in Lausanne in Switzerland. In August 1664 John was murdered there while leaving a church service. Alice returned to England to live quietly at Moyles Court, which she had inherited from her father.

When Charles II died in February 1685, he was succeeded by his younger brother James, who had converted to Catholicism. The illegitimate son of King Charles II, James Scott, Duke of Monmouth was in exile in the Netherlands having been involved in an earlier plot to seize power. Monmouth raised a small army and sailed to England in May 1685 to overthrow his uncle.

The Monmouth Rebellion

Landing in Lyme Regis, Monmouth was met with some popular support from non-conformists, agricultural labourers and former members of the local militias who had deserted the King. Monmouth’s army grew to nearly 6,000 men, largely armed with farm implements such as scythes and pitchforks. Opposing them was a professional, standing army, loyal to James II and commanded by the 2nd Earl of Faversham and John Churchill.

After a series of skirmishes, the Duke of Monmouth’s men were defeated at the battle of Sedgemoor on the 6th of July 1685. The untrained and poorly equipped irregular force was no match for the regular army. Monmouth fled to the New Forest and was captured near Ringwood. Parliament had passed an Act of Attainder on the 13th of June declaring Monmouth to be a traitor, and sentencing him to death. This meant there was no need to put the rebel leader on trial. Monmouth was beheaded for treason on 15th July 1685 at Tower Hill in London.

Many of Monmouth’s supporters were then put on trial at what became known as the ‘Bloody Assizes’ overseen by “hanging” Judge George Jeffreys, who was the Lord Chancellor for James II and had a reputation for severity and bias.

Alice Lisle’s actions

Alice, aged 71, had been staying in London during Monmouth’s landing in Lyme Regis and did not return to her home at Moyles Court until after his defeat. She was asked to give shelter to a non-conformist priest and Monmouth supporter named John Hicks whom Alice had known. One account suggests she believed he was wanted by the authorities for his unauthorised preaching but did not know that he had been part of Monmouth’s army. Hicks arrived on the 27th July 1685 with a Richard Nelthorp who had fought for Monmouth at Sedgemoor. They were guided to Moyles Court by a Wiltshire man named James Dunne. The three men were given food, drink and beds to sleep in. The following morning a Colonel Penruddock arrived with a troop of soldiers. Penruddock’s father, John, had been a Royalist who had been tried and sentenced to death by Alice’s late husband John Lisle in 1655. The colonel and his men surrounded Moyles Court and were eventually admitted into the house. A search of the premises located Hicks, Nelthorp and Dunne who were arrested as suspected traitors. Alice was also arrested and charged with harbouring traitors. She was brought to Winchester and put on trial at the assizes held in the Great Hall.

The trial

In volume XI of the series ‘A Complete Collection of State Trials and Proceedings for High Treasons and other Crimes and Misdemeanours’ published in 1811 by TB Howell, there is an 87-page account of the trial of Alice. Howell draws heavily on early accounts of her trial and highlights some inconsistences with what was reported. Nevertheless, using this account historians can gain some idea of what took place at the Winchester trial on 27th August 1685.

Alice pleaded not guilty to the charge of high treason by harbouring in her home a traitor, namely John Hicks. She asked, because of her age and poor hearing, if she could be allowed to sit during the trial and to have someone beside her who could help her to understand what was being said. A Matthew Browne was appointed by the court to carry out this duty.

The prosecution informed the court that Hicks had served in the Duke of Monmouth’s force and had tried to “persuade and exhort” loyal prisoners to change sides and join the rebellion. The court was further advised that after the rebel’s defeat, Hicks had managed to make his way to Warminster, from where he sent a messenger to Alice asking if she would “receive and harbour him and his friend”.

Three witnesses, Mr Pope, Mr Fitzherbert, and Mr Taylor, were then sworn in. They stated that they had the misfortune to have been captured by the Duke of Monmouth’s soldiers and held prisoner in the stables of Sir Thomas Bridges estate in Keinsham [sic]. While in custody John Hicks told them that the new king, formerly the Duke of Monmouth, was “a good king and a protestant” and that the prisoners were serving a Popish prince. They stated that they knew Hicks was a member of the Duke of Monmouth’s army, although they had not seen him bearing arms. The three men later identified Hicks as being one of the rebels arrested by Colonel Penruddick.

The next witness to be called was James Dunne, the man who carried the messages between Hicks and Alice. The legal counsel for the king, Mr Pollexfen introduced Dunne to the court and said to Judge Jeffreys that Dunne was “a very unwilling witness” and “we do humbly desire your lordship would please examine him a little more strictly”. Judge Jeffreys then gave a stern warning to Dunne saying that he would punish “every variation from the truth that you are guilty of”.

Reluctantly, Dunne told the court that he had been asked by Hicks to take a message to Alice at Moyles Court. He stated that he lost his way on Salisbury Plain and a man named John Barter guided him onwards to Alice’s home. On arrival at Moyles Court he met Alice and presented the letter to her from Hicks asking for shelter. She agreed to do this and gave instruction for them to arrive in the late evening.

When John Barter was examined under oath, he said he was paid by Dunne to guide him and was also asked to bring Dunne and two other men back to Moyles Court at a later date. Alice had spoken to him in the kitchen at Moyles Court. Barter stated that Alice had been conversing with Dunne and “she was laughing with him and looking at me”. On the ride homeward Barter asked Dunne why she had laughed at him. He said that Alice had asked if Barter knew “anything of the concern”. When Dunne had replied “no” she had then laughed. Barter was worried about what this meant and decided to speak to Colonel Penruddock, who was a local justice of the peace. He told the colonel where he had been and that he was asked to guide the three men from Salisbury Plain to Moyles Court in a few days’ time. It was arranged that Penruddock and his men would arrest the group at the meeting place. If the colonel missed them, they could be found at Moyles Court.

Colonel Penruddock was sworn in and corroborated Barter’s testimony. He said that on the morning of 28th July he and his men had surrounded Moyles Court. He was directed by the estate bailiff to the malthouse where he located Hicks and Dunne who had attempted to hide. He questioned Alice who said she knew nothing about these men or how they came to be in her building. The colonel asked her if she had any other rebels hidden, and Alice replied “no”. A further search of the house found Nelthorp hiding in a hole beside the chimney.

In her defence, Alice said she knew of Hicks coming to her house but had not known that Nelthorp would be present. She thought that Hicks was wanted for preaching in private meetings and had not known he was in Monmouth’s army. She explained that when she told Penruddock that Nelthorp was not in her house she was confused, distressed and fearful of what the soldiers were doing as they searched her home. She stated that she was loyal to the King, and her son, who lived at Dibden Manor, had fought against the Duke of Monmouth.

In his summing up, Judge Jeffreys told the jury that if any person was in rebellion against the king, he or she was a traitor. If another person not involved in the insurrection harboured that traitor they were as guilty of treachery as those that bore arms against the King. He then reminded the jury that Alice’s late husband was a regicide. The foreman of the jury enquired how it could be treason as Hicks had not yet been convicted. Judge Jeffreys assured them that it was. Howell, in his 1818 dated account, quotes seven sources who stated that the jury found her not guilty three times. On each occasion Judge Jeffreys sent them out to reconsider and made unspecified threats to them. On the fourth occasion they found her guilty.

Judge Jeffreys sentenced Alice to be dragged on a hurdle to a place of execution in Winchester and burnt to death. The Bishop of Winchester and other senior clergy appealed to the King for clemency. James II upheld the conviction but substituted beheading instead of being burnt. He ordered that her head and body be returned to her family for burial.

Execution and aftermath

On 2nd September 1685, Alice Lisle, who had been held at the Eclipse Inn in Winchester, was brought out onto a scaffold in the market place near the cathedral and beheaded. She is buried at Ellingham Church, near Ringwood.

In 1688 James II was forced to flee the country and abdicate. He was succeeded by William and Mary of Orange, who granted Alice a posthumous pardon, for what was perceived to be a miscarriage of justice.

• Nick Saunders is a local history and chairman of the Milton Heritage Society. He can be contacted via nick@miltonheritagesociety.co.uk or 01425 618549.