Christopher Layer (1683–1723) was an English Jacobite conspirator, 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 diplo ...

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 and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the Nor ...

squire, who sent him to

Norwich grammar school Norwich School (formally King Edward VI Grammar School, Norwich) is a selective English independent day school in the close of Norwich Cathedral, Norwich. Among the oldest schools in the United Kingdom, it has a traceable history to 1096 ...

, and later placed him with an attorney named Repingale at Aylsham, 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. 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 exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's I ...

, 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 the lord high chancellor of Great Britain, is the highest-ranking traditional minister among the Great Officers of State in Scotland and England in the United Kingdom, nominally outranking the prime minister. Th ...

in the event of a restoration of the

House of Stuart The House of Stuart, originally spelt Stewart, was a royal house of Scotland, England, Ireland and later Great Britain. The family name comes from the office of High Steward of Scotland, which had been held by the family progenitor Walter fi ...

. He went to Rome in the summer of 1721, and there unfolded to the

Old Pretender James Francis Edward Stuart (10 June 16881 January 1766), nicknamed the Old Pretender by Whigs, was the son of King James II and VII of England, Scotland and Ireland, and his second wife, Mary of Modena. He was Prince of Wales from ...

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 castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is sep ...

, the

Royal Mint The Royal Mint is the United Kingdom's oldest company and the official maker of British coins. Operating under the legal name The Royal Mint Limited, it is a limited company that is wholly owned by HM Treasury, His Majesty's Treasury and is un ...

, 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 English Government's banker, and still one of the bankers for the Government o ...

, 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 town in east London and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Havering. It is located northeast of Charing Cross and is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. Historically, Romfo ...

and

Leytonstone Leytonstone () is an area in east London, England, north-east of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Waltham Forest, a local authority district of Greater London. It adjoins Wanstead to the north-east, Forest Gate to the south-east, ...

, 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, South East 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 south-east of Canterbury and east of Maids ...

in custody. The case was carried to the court of king's bench 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 John Pratt may refer to: *John Pratt (judge) (1657–1725), Lord Chief Justice of England and interim Chancellor of the Exchequer *John Pratt (soldier) (1753–1824), United States Army officer *John Pratt, 1st Marquess Camden (1759–1840), Britis ...

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. Christopher Layer engraving

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

. 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 the county of Middlesex, one of two which were served by the parish of Marylebone. The parish, probably therefore also the manor, was bounded by Roman roads to the west (modern Edgware Road) and sout ...

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 The Nonjuring schism refers to a split in the established churches of England, Scotland and Ireland, following the deposition and exile of James II and VII in the 1688 Glorious Revolution. As a condition of office, clergy were required to swea ...

attorney named Pearce; who resold it to

Richard Rawlinson Richard Rawlinson FRS (3 January 1690 – 6 April 1755) was an English clergyman and antiquarian collector of books and manuscripts, which he bequeathed to the Bodleian Library, Oxford. Life Richard Rawlinson was a younger son of Sir Thomas ...

, 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