William Snatt (1645 – 1721) was an English nonjuring clergyman, who came to prominence after a failed Jacobite plot.

Life

Born at

Lewes Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. It is the police and judicial centre for all of Sussex and is home to Sussex Police, East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service, Lewes Crown Court and HMP Lewes. The civil parish is the centre of ...

, he was the son of Edward Snatt, minister and usher of the Southover free school there; in 1629

John Evelyn John Evelyn (31 October 162027 February 1706) was an English writer, landowner, gardener, courtier and minor government official, who is now best known as a diarist. He was a founding Fellow of the Royal Society. John Evelyn's diary, or memo ...

the diarist was a pupil. William Snatt matriculated from

Magdalen College, Oxford Magdalen College (, ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by William of Waynflete. Today, it is the fourth wealthiest college, with a financial endowment of £332.1 million as of 2019 and one of the s ...

, on 14 December 1660, and graduated B.A. in 1664. He was collated to the rectory of

Denton, East Sussex Denton is a small village in the civil parish of Newhaven, East Sussex, Newhaven, in the Lewes District, Lewes district, in the county of East Sussex, England. It adjoins the villages of South Heighton and Mount Pleasant, East Sussex, Mount Pleas ...

, in 1672, obtained a prebend in

Chichester Cathedral Chichester Cathedral, formally known as the Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity, is the seat of the Anglican Bishop of Chichester. It is located in Chichester, in West Sussex, England. It was founded as a cathedral in 1075, when the seat of the ...

in 1675, and the rectory of Cliffe St. Thomas, Sussex, in the same year. He subsequently became vicar of Seaford in 1679, and of

Cuckfield Cuckfield ( ) is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Mid Sussex District, Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, England, on the southern slopes of the Weald. It lies south of London, north of Brighton, and east northeas ...

and Bishopstone in 1681. A devout and consistent high churchman, Snatt resigned all his preferments rather than take the oaths to William III and

Mary II Mary II (30 April 166228 December 1694) was Queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland, co-reigning with her husband, William III & II, from 1689 until her death in 1694. Mary was the eldest daughter of James, Duke of York, and his first wife ...

. He went to London, where he found friends in Hilkiah Bedford and

Jeremy Collier Jeremy Collier (; 23 September 1650 – 26 April 1726) was an English theatre critic, non-juror bishop and theologian. Life Born Jeremiah Collier, in Stow cum Quy, Cambridgeshire, Collier was educated at Caius College, University of Cambrid ...

. Like other nonjurors, he incurred the suspicion of

popery The words Popery (adjective Popish) and Papism (adjective Papist, also used to refer to an individual) are mainly historical pejorative words in the English language for Roman Catholicism, once frequently used by Protestants and Eastern Orthodox ...

. This hostile feeling was confirmed in April 1696, when, in company with Collier and Shadrach Cook, Snatt attended

Sir William Parkyns Sir William Parkyns or Perkins (1649?–1696) was an English lawyer and Jacobitism, 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 ...

and

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 the scaffold. These men had been found guilty 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 ...

in conspiring to assassinate William III. Snatt and Collier, however, joined in pronouncing

absolution Absolution is a traditional theological term for the forgiveness imparted by ordained Christian priests and experienced by Christian penitents. It is a universal feature of the historic churches of Christendom, although the theology and the pra ...

, performing the ceremony with the

imposition of hands The laying on of hands is a religious practice. In Judaism '' semikhah'' ( he, סמיכה, "leaning f the hands) accompanies the conferring of a blessing or authority. In Christian churches, this practice is used as both a symbolic and formal m ...

. The nonjurors subsequently printed the confession of the criminals, in which the title "Church of England" was appropriated to themselves. This provoked a remonstrance from the two archbishops and ten bishops, and on 7 April the

grand jury A grand jury is a jury—a group of citizens—empowered by law to conduct legal proceedings, investigate potential criminal conduct, and determine whether criminal charges should be brought. A grand jury may subpoena physical evidence or a pe ...

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

presented Snatt, Collier, and Cook for perpetrating a great affront to the government and a scandal to the church of England. Collier absconded, and issued pamphlets in his defence; but Snatt and Cook were 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 ...

. They were tried before the King's Bench, defended by

Sir Bartholomew Shower ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as ...

. They were found guilty of serious

misdemeanour A misdemeanor (American English, spelled misdemeanour elsewhere) is any "lesser" criminal act in some common law legal systems. Misdemeanors are generally punished less severely than more serious felonies, but theoretically more so than adm ...

on 2 July. Snatt and Cook were released on bail in the following August. Snatt continued to live in London, where he died in reduced circumstances on 30 November 1721.

References

* * ;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Snatt, William 1645 births 1721 deaths English nonjuror clergy