Sir William Parkyns or Perkins (1649?–1696) was an English lawyer and
Jacobite conspirator, executed for
high treason.
Life
The son of William Parkyns, a London merchant, he was born in London about 1649. He was admitted to the
Inner Temple in 1671, 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 ...
in 1675. He was knighted at
Whitehall Palace on 10 June 1681.
Parkyns acquired a good practice, and, inheriting wealth from his father, became prominent in the London as an adherent of the court party, an "abhorrer" at the time of the
Exclusion Bill, and, after the
Glorious Revolution
The Glorious Revolution; gd, Rèabhlaid Ghlòrmhor; cy, Chwyldro Gogoneddus , also known as the ''Glorieuze Overtocht'' or ''Glorious Crossing'' in the Netherlands, is the sequence of events leading to the deposition of King James II and ...
, as an inveterate Jacobite. In fact, in order to retain his office as one of the six clerks in the
Court of Chancery, he had taken the oath of allegiance to William III.
After the death of
Queen Mary in 1695 Parkyns associated with
Sir George Barclay
Sir George Barclay (c. 1636–1710) was a Scottish army officer who headed a Jacobite assassination plot against King William II of Scotland in 1696. The plotters intended to ambush the king at Turnham Green
Turnham Green is a public park on ...
,
Robert Charnock
Robert Charnock (or Chernock) (''c''. 1663 – 18 March 1696) was an English academic and Jacobite conspirator.
Life
Charnock belonged to a Warwickshire family, and was educated at Adams' Grammar School and Magdalen College, Oxford, becoming a ...
, Captain
George Porter,
"Scum" Goodman, and others, in their
plan to kidnap or to assassinate William. Their scheme was communicated to
James II James II may refer to:
* James II of Avesnes (died c. 1205), knight of the Fourth Crusade
* James II of Majorca (died 1311), Lord of Montpellier
* James II of Aragon (1267–1327), King of Sicily
* James II, Count of La Marche (1370–1438), King C ...
early in 1695, but no sanction to proceed in the matter was forthcoming from him. The plot was suspended on William's departure for
Flanders in May. It was resumed on Barclay's landing in England in January 1696 with a commission from James. Barclay persuaded Parkyns that it was meant to cover an attack on the king's person.
Parkyns was too
gouty to take a very active share, but he provided horses, saddles, and weapons for accomplices to the number of forty, and was promised a high post in the Jacobite army. On the discovery of the plot by
Thomas Prendergast
Thomas Prendergast (180614 November 1886) was a British administrator in the service of the East India Company, and the inventor of the "mastery system" of learning foreign languages.
Biography
Prendergast was the son of Sir Jeffery Prendergast ...
, active search was made for Parkyns. Nothing was found in his house in
Covent Garden
Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist si ...
, but at his country seat in Warwickshire were revealed arms and accouterments sufficient to equip a troop of cavalry. On 10 March he himself was arrested in the Temple 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 ...
.
The trial of Parkyns took place on 24 March. The new act for regulating the procedure in cases of high treason came into force on 25 March, and he pleaded hard that he ought to be tried under its provisions. But the counsel for the crown stood on their rights, and his request was denied. He defended himself, but the testimony of Captain George Porter, who had turned king's evidence, was explicit; he was found guilty and condemned to death. Efforts were made to induce Parkyns to confess what he knew, and a deputation of nine Members of Parliament visited him in Newgate. He confessed his complicity in the plot, but he would not name the five persons whom he was to send to assist in the assassination; he stated that he had seen James's commission, but refused to give the names of those whom he had nominated to commissions in his regiment. He gave some additional particulars to
Simon Patrick
Simon Patrick (8 September 1626 – 31 May 1707) was an English theologian and bishop.
Life
He was born at Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, eldest son of
Henry Patrick, a wealthy merchant, on 8 September 1626, and attended Boston Gramma ...
, the
Bishop of Ely
The Bishop of Ely is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Ely in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese roughly covers the county of Cambridgeshire (with the exception of the Soke of Peterborough), together with a section of nort ...
, to whom he also confessed the irregularities of his life.
Parkyns was executed on
Tower Hill, along with
Sir John Friend
Sir John Friend or Freind (died 1696), was an English conspirator.
Life
Friend was the eldest son of John Friend, a brewer, who resided in the precinct of St. Katharine's, near the Tower of London. He followed his father's business. He built the ...
, on 13 April 1696. His head was exposed on
Temple Bar.
Aftermath
Three
Non-Juror priests,
Jeremy Collier, Shadrach Cook and
William Snatt
William Snatt (1645 – 1721) was an English nonjuring clergyman, who came to prominence after a failed Jacobite plot.
Life
Born at Lewes, he was the son of Edward Snatt, minister and usher of the Southover free school there; in 1629 John Evelyn ...
accompanied Parkyns and Friend to Tower Hill and immediately prior to the execution declared the two absolved of their sins. In doing so, they effectively declared the conspirators to be correct in their actions, whilst also performing a rite not recognised by the
Church of England. This was condemned by both archbishops and ten bishops of the Church in a tract titled ''A Declaration concerning the Irregular and Scandalous Proceedings.'' Collier went into hiding and was outlawed, Cook and Snatt were tried, found guilty but released.
In his tract ''Defence of the Absolution'' published shortly after, Collier claimed Parkyns sent for him repeatedly in Newgate, asking for absolution by the church the day before his execution but he was refused admission to the prison. This was the reason why he went to Tyburn and given the absolution there; he also denied Sir William had admitted his guilt. No further action was taken against him.
Family
By his wife Susanna, daughter and coheir of Thomas Blackwell of
Bushey,
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...
, whom he married at
St. Mildred's, Bread Street, on 26 June 1673, Parkyns left a daughter. His nephew, Captain
Matthew Smith, was another Jacobite intriguer.
References
*
;Attribution
{{DEFAULTSORT:Parkyns, William
1640s births
1696 deaths
English lawyers
English Jacobites