The Chronicles of Crime or The New Newgate Calendar. v. 1/2: being a series of memoirs and anecdotes of notorious characters who have outraged the laws of Great Britain from the earliest period to 1841.Pelham, Camden
History
The Chronicles of Crime or The New Newgate Calendar. v. 1/2: being a series of memoirs and anecdotes of notorious characters who have outraged the laws of Great Britain from the earliest period to 1841.
Pelham, Camden
Crime -- Great Britain; Criminals -- Great Britain; Newgate (Prison : London, England)
the family of the house was disturbed. Mr. Layer managed, nevertheless,
to gain the street in the confusion which prevailed; but being instantly
pursued by officers, he was traced to have taken a boat at the Horse
Ferry, Westminster, from thence to St. George's Fields; and he was at
length overtaken at Newington Butts. On the following day he was
committed to Newgate; and a Grand Jury of the county of Essex having
found a true bill against him for high treason, his trial came on before
Chief Justice Pratt, and the other judges of the Court of King's Bench,
in the month of January 1723, when, after an inquiry, which lasted
sixteen hours, he was found guilty, and sentenced to death in the
customary manner.
As he had some important affairs to settle, from the nature of his
profession, the court did not order his execution till more than two
months after he had been condemned; and the king repeatedly reprieved
him, to prevent his clients being sufferers by his affairs being left in
a state of confusion.
After conviction, Mr. Layer was committed to the Tower; and at length
the sheriffs of London and Middlesex received a warrant to execute the
sentence of the law. He was carried to Tyburn on a sledge, on the 15th
March 1723, to be hanged, being dressed in a suit of black, full
trimmed, and wearing a tie-wig. At the place of execution he was
assisted in his devotions by a nonjuring clergyman; and when these were
ended, he spoke to the surrounding multitude, declaring that he deemed
King James (so he called the Pretender) his lawful sovereign. He said
that King George was a usurper, and that damnation would be the fate of
those who supported his government. He insisted that the nation would
never be in a state of peace till the Pretender was restored, and
therefore advised the people to take up arms in his behalf. He professed
himself willing to die for the cause, and expressed great hopes that
Providence would eventually support the right heir to the throne. His
body having been suspended during the accustomed time, it was quartered,
and the head was afterwards exposed on Temple Bar. Among others
concerned in this strange scheme was Lord Grey, an ancient nobleman of
the Roman Catholic religion, who died a prisoner in the Tower, before
the necessary legal proceedings against him could take place.
PHILIP ROACH,
EXECUTED FOR PIRACY AND MURDER.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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