Henry Cornish (died 1685) was a London

alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many Jurisdiction, jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council membe ...

, executed in the reign of

James II of England James VII and II (14 October 1633 16 September 1701) was King of England and King of Ireland as James II, and King of Scotland as James VII from the death of his elder brother, Charles II, on 6 February 1685. He was deposed in the Gloriou ...

Life

He was a well-to-do merchant of London, and alderman of the ward of

St Michael Bassishaw St Michael Bassishaw, or Basinshaw, was a parish church in Basinghall Street in the City of London, standing on land now occupied by the Barbican Centre complex. Recorded since the 12th century, the church was destroyed in the Great Fire of 16 ...

; in the ''London Directory'' for 1677 he is described as a

factor Factor, a Latin word meaning "who/which acts", may refer to: Commerce * Factor (agent), a person who acts for, notably a mercantile and colonial agent * Factor (Scotland), a person or firm managing a Scottish estate * Factors of production, suc ...

residing in 'Cateaton Street, near Blackwelhall Gate.' He was a presbyterian in religion, and in politics was a strong whig. On 24 June 1680 he was chosen

sheriff of London Two sheriffs are elected annually for the City of London by the Liverymen of the City livery company, livery companies. Today's sheriffs have only nominal duties, but the historical officeholders had important judicial responsibilities. They have ...

in conjunction with

Slingsby Bethel Slingsby Bethel (1617–1697) was a Member of Parliament with republican sympathies, during the period of the English Civil War. Early life Slingsby Bethel was the third son of Sir Walter Bethel of Alne, North Yorkshire, who married Mary, the s ...

. It was afterwards discovered that Cornish and his colleague had not taken the oath according to the

Corporation Act The Corporation Act of 1661 was an Act of the Parliament of England (13 Cha. II. St. 2 c. 1). It belonged to the general category of test acts, designed for the express purpose of restricting public offices in England to members of the Church of ...

, and the election was declared void. A second election was fixed for 17 July, when Cornish and Bethel took the oath under the Corporation Act, and claimed the appointment. Charles II decided to force on the city two sheriffs of his own choosing, named Box and Nicolson. The latter demanded a poll, which lasted until 22 July, and on the 29th Cornish and Bethel were declared elected. Cornish headed the poll with 2,400 votes.' On 14 May 1681 Cornish, with other members of the corporation, went to Windsor to present a petition to the king for the summoning of parliament, but Charles declined to receive the deputation. Cornish appeared as a witness for the defence at the trial of

Edward Fitzharris Edward Fitzharris (1648? – 1681) was an Anglo-Irish conspirator. His prosecution following the waning of public belief in the Popish Plot hoax became a struggle for jurisdiction involving the courts and the two Houses of Parliament. He was e ...

, a Catholic informer (9 June 1681); this may have been due to a misconception. On 18 January 1682 he was one of the five aldermen on the committee of defence against the

quo warranto In law, especially English and American common law, ''quo warranto'' (Medieval Latin for "by what warrant?") is a prerogative writ requiring the person to whom it is directed to show what authority they have for exercising some right, power, or ...

writ brought against the charter of the city of London. On 3 July 1682 proceedings were taken against him by the court for rioting and abetting riots in the city on the occasion of the election of sheriffs in the preceding June, when the lord mayor, a friend of the court, had been roughly handled. On 8 May 1683, Cornish was convicted, and on 26 May was fined. In October 1682 the city whigs desired to choose Cornish as lord mayor; three candidates were nominated for the office, but by the wholesale rejection of votes, Cornish was defeated. He polled only forty-five votes below the successful candidate, although he stood at the bottom of the poll. John Rumsey, arrested on suspicion of complicity in the alleged

Rye House plot The Rye House Plot of 1683 was a plan to assassinate King Charles II of England and his brother (and heir to the throne) James, Duke of York. The royal party went from Westminster to Newmarket to see horse races and were expected to make the ...

in 1683, was aware of Cornish's unpopularity with the authorities, and offered to produce evidence implicating the alderman in the conspiracy. The offer was not accepted, because no other testimony against Cornish was forthcoming. But Cornish was narrowly watched by the agents of the court, and since he proved himself no more conciliatory to James II than to his brother, it was deemed advisable in 1685 to remove him. Goodenough, an attorney whom Cornish had antagonised by declining to make him his deputy-sheriff in 1680, arranged with Rumsey to corroborate the false testimony with regard to the Rye House plot, and to add evidence proving an attachment for the

Duke of Monmouth Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ranked ...

. In the middle of October 1685 Cornish was arrested suddenly, and committed to

Newgate Prison Newgate Prison was a prison at the corner of Newgate Street and Old Bailey Street just inside the City of London, England, originally at the site of Newgate, a gate in the Roman London Wall. Built in the 12th century and demolished in 1904, t ...

on a vague charge of

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 diplo ...

. The trial took place at the

Old Bailey The Central Criminal Court of England and Wales, commonly referred to as the Old Bailey after the street on which it stands, is a criminal court building in central London, one of several that house the Crown Court of England and Wales. The s ...

on Monday, 19 October; Rumsey and Goodenough gave evidence, and Cornish was convicted and condemned to death. Benjamin Calamy attended him in prison. Four days later he was executed in

Cheapside Cheapside is a street in the City of London, the historic and modern financial centre of London, which forms part of the A40 London to Fishguard road. It links St. Martin's Le Grand with Poultry. Near its eastern end at Bank junction, where ...

, at the corner of King Street, within sight of his own house. The indignation which he displayed in his speech from the scaffold led enemies to state that he died drunk, but

William Penn William Penn ( – ) was an English writer and religious thinker belonging to the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, a North American colony of England. He was an early advocate of democracy a ...

, who witnessed the execution, declared that Cornish showed the resentment of an outraged man. After his body had been cut down and quartered it was buried in the church of St Lawrence by the Guildhall. On 30 January 1689 an act of parliament was passed reversing the attainder of Cornish. An account of Cornish's trial appeared in 1685; his last speech in the press-yard of Newgate was issued, together with the last words of

Richard Rumbold Richard Rumbold (1622–1685) was a Parliamentarian soldier and political radical, exiled for his role in the 1683 Rye House Plot and later executed for taking part in the 1685 Argyll's Rising. During the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, he joined t ...

. ''Remarks on the Tryal of Henry Cornish'', an attack on the judicial procedure at the trial, was written by

Sir John Hawles Sir John Hawles (1645–1716), of Lincoln's Inn, was an English lawyer and Whig politician who sat in the English and British House of Commons between 1689 and 1710. Early life Hawles was born in the Close at Salisbury, the second son of Tho ...

, solicitor-general under William III.

References

* * Old Bailey Proceedings Online
www.oldbaileyonline.org
version 8.0, 14 December 2019), Ordinary of Newgate's Account, October 1685 (OA16851023). * Old Bailey Proceedings Online
www.oldbaileyonline.org
version 8.0, 14 December 2019), October 1689 (o16891009-1). {{DEFAULTSORT:Cornish, Henry Year of birth missing 1685 deaths English merchants Sheriffs of the City of London People associated with the Popish Plot People of the Rye House Plot Executed English people 17th-century executions by England People executed by Stuart England by hanging, drawing and quartering English politicians convicted of crimes