George Bouchier or Bourchier (died 1643) was a wealthy merchant of

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

who supported the

royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of governme ...

cause during the

English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...

. Bourchier entered into a plot with

Robert Yeamans Robert Yeamans or Yeomans (died 1643) was an English merchant of Bristol who in early 1643 plotted with other Royalists to aid in the capture of Bristol by the Royalists. The plot was discovered by the parliamentary governor Nathaniel Fiennes and ...

, who had been one of the sheriffs of Bristol, and several others, to deliver that city, on 7 March 1643,All dates are in the Julian calendar with the start of year adjusted to 1 January (see

Old Style and New Style dates Old Style (O.S.) and New Style (N.S.) indicate dating systems before and after a calendar change, respectively. Usually, this is the change from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar as enacted in various European countries between 158 ...

). to

Prince Rupert Prince Rupert of the Rhine, Duke of Cumberland, (17 December 1619 (O.S.) / 27 December (N.S.) – 29 November 1682 (O.S.)) was an English army officer, admiral, scientist and colonial governor. He first came to prominence as a Royalist cavalr ...

, for the service of King

Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...

; but the scheme being discovered and frustrated, he was, with Yeamans, after eleven weeks' imprisonment, brought to trial before a council of war. They were both found guilty and

hanged, drawn and quartered To be hanged, drawn and quartered became a statutory penalty for men convicted of high treason in the Kingdom of England from 1352 under Edward III of England, King Edward III (1327–1377), although similar rituals are recorded during the rei ...

in Wine Street, Bristol, on 30 May 1643. In his speech to the populace at the place of execution Bouchier exhorted all those who had set their hands to the plough (meaning the defence of the royal cause) not to be terrified by his and his fellow-prisoner's sufferings into withdrawing their exertions in the king's service. There is a small portrait of Bouchier in the preface to William Winstanley's ''Loyall Martyrology'', 1665.

Notes

References

* * * ;Attribution * The following are referenced in the DNB article: **Clarendon's ''Hist. of the Rebellion'' (1843), 389; **Lloyd's ''Memoires'' (1677), 565; **Winstanley's ''Loyall Martyrology'', 5; **Granger's ''Biog. Hist. of England'' (1824), iii. 110; **'Barrett's ''Hist. of Bristol'', 227, 228.

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