Christopher Layer (12 November 1683 – 17 May 1723) was an English lawyer. As a Jacobite conspirator, he was executed for

high treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its d ...

in 1723 for his part in what became known as the Atterbury Plot.

Early life

Born on 12 November 1683, he was the son of John Layer, a laceman, of Durham Yard, The Strand, London and Anne his wife. He was brought up by his uncle, Christopher Layer, a fox-hunting

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

squire, who sent him to

Norwich grammar school Norwich School (formally King Edward VI Grammar School, Norwich) is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private selective day school in the cathedral close, close of Norwich Cathedral, Norwich. Among the List of the oldest schools in the ...

, and later placed him with an attorney named Repingale at

Aylsham Aylsham ( or ) is a historic market town and civil parish on the River Bure in north Norfolk, England, nearly north of Norwich. The river rises near Melton Constable, upstream from Aylsham and continues to Great Yarmouth and the North Sea ...

, Norfolk. Christopher Layer

Layer's uncle, finding himself in difficulties, offered to make over to his nephew the remains of his estate, in exchange for cash and an annuity. Layer made the deal but refused to pay any part of the annuity. Soon after this he quarrelled with his master, went up to London, and qualified himself under Hadley Doyley, an attorney of

Furnival's Inn Furnival's Inn was an Inn of Chancery which formerly stood on the site of the present Holborn Bars building (the former Prudential Assurance Company building) in Holborn, London, England. History Furnival's Inn was founded about 1383 when W ...

. Returning to Norfolk, he obtained business, but then entered the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court entitled to Call to the bar, call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple (with whi ...

, and was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

Jacobite plotter

Layer was an agent and legal advisor to the "notorious Jacobite" Lord North and Grey,Ian Higgins, ''Swift's Politics: A Study in Disaffection'' (1994), p. 146 and was reputed to be unscrupulous. His Jacobitism led him to hope to be made

Lord Chancellor The Lord Chancellor, formally titled Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom. The lord chancellor is the minister of justice for England and Wales and the highest-ra ...

in the event of a restoration of the

House of Stuart The House of Stuart, originally spelled Stewart, also known as the Stuart dynasty, was a dynasty, royal house of Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland, Kingdom of England, England, Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland and later Kingdom of Great Britain, Great ...

. He went to Rome in the summer of 1721, and there unfolded to the Old Pretender the details of a plot. He proposed to enlist broken soldiers, seize the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic citadel and castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamle ...

, the

Royal Mint The Royal Mint is the United Kingdom's official maker of British coins. It is currently located in Llantrisant, Wales, where it moved in 1968. Operating under the legal name The Royal Mint Limited, it is a limited company that is wholly ow ...

, the

Bank of England The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the Kingdom of England, English Government's banker and debt manager, and still one ...

, and other public buildings; also to secure the royal family, and murder the commander-in-chief and ministers. Layer boasted of having a large and influential following. He did meet some confederates regularly at an inn in Stratford-le-Bow. He tried to entice soldiers at

Romford Romford is a large List of places in London, town in east London, east London, England, located northeast of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Havering, the town is one of the major Metropolitan centres of London, metropolitan centr ...

and Leytonstone, and succeeded in enlisting a handful of malcontents. Layer used the house of one of his many mistresses; and compromising papers were left in the care of a brothel-keeper, Elizabeth Mason.

Arrest and trial

In the end Layer was betrayed by two female friends and placed under arrest; he managed to escape, but was retaken after a chase the same evening and closely confined in the

. His clerks were placed under the surveillance of messengers, and his wife, Elizabeth Elwin of Aylesham, was brought to town from

Dover Dover ( ) is a town and major ferry port in Kent, southeast England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies southeast of Canterbury and east of Maidstone. ...

in custody. The case was carried to the

court of king's bench The Court of King's Bench, formally known as The Court of the King Before the King Himself, was a court of common law in the English legal system. Created in the late 12th to early 13th century from the '' curia regis'', the King's Bench initi ...

on 31 October 1722. Layer stumbled to the bar heavily fettered, and was compelled to stand, although ill. The trial was opened on 21 November. The lord chief justice John Pratt ordered Layer's chains to be taken off. Among papers found in Elizabeth Mason's possession was one entitled the ''Scheme'', sworn to be in Layer's writing: it gave instructions for the proposed insurrection. Proof was given that the Pretender and Layer were close, James and his wife having consented to stand by proxies ( Lord North and Grey and the Duchess of Ormonde) godfather and godmother to Layer's daughter, at a ceremony privately performed at a china shop in Chelsea. Layer and his counsel argued in his defence; but, after a trial of eighteen hours, the jury unanimously found a verdict of guilty. Sentence was not pronounced until the 27th. Layer, again in irons, pleaded in arrest of judgment, but was condemned to be hanged, drawn, and quartered. He was respited from time to time in the hope of disclosures, which he resolutely declined to make. Time was also granted him to arrange his law business. He was executed at

Tyburn Tyburn was a Manorialism, manor (estate) in London, Middlesex, England, one of two which were served by the parish of Marylebone. Tyburn took its name from the Tyburn Brook, a tributary of the River Westbourne. The name Tyburn, from Teo Bourne ...

on 17 May 1723. There is an anecdote that Layer's head fell from the top of Temple Bar, where it had been placed, and was bought by a nonjuring attorney named Pearce; who resold it to

Richard Rawlinson Richard Rawlinson Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (3 January 1690 – 6 April 1755) was an England, English clergyman and antiquarian collector of books and manuscripts, which he bequeathed to the Bodleian Library, University of Oxford, Oxford. ...

, the Jacobite antiquary. Rawlinson is further said to have kept the skull in his study and was buried with it in his right hand.

Early life

Jacobite plotter

Arrest and trial

References

Further reading