James Radclyffe, 3rd Earl Of Derwentwater
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James Radclyffe, 3rd Earl of Derwentwater (26 June 1689 – 24 February 1716) was an English peer who participated in the
Jacobite rising of 1715 The Jacobite rising of 1715 ( ; or 'the Fifteen') was the attempt by James Francis Edward Stuart, James Edward Stuart (the Old Pretender) to regain the thrones of Kingdom of England, England, Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland and Kingdom of Scotland ...
and was executed for
treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state (polity), state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to Coup d'état, overthrow its government, spy ...
.


Life

Radclyffe was the son of Edward Radclyffe, 2nd Earl of Derwentwater and Lady Mary Tudor, the natural daughter of Charles II by Moll Davis. He was brought up at the exiled court of St Germain as a companion to the young prince,
James Francis Edward Stuart James Francis Edward Stuart (10 June 16881 January 1766), nicknamed the Old Pretender by Whigs (British political party), Whigs or the King over the Water by Jacobitism, Jacobites, was the House of Stuart claimant to the thrones of Ki ...
(the 'Old Pretender' after his father James II died), and remained there at the wish of Queen Mary of Modena, until his father's death in 1705. He succeeded to the family titles and estates in
Northumberland Northumberland ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England, on the Anglo-Scottish border, border with Scotland. It is bordered by the North Sea to the east, Tyne and Wear and County Durham to the south, Cumb ...
on the death of his father in 1705. After that, he travelled on the continent, sailed from Holland for London in November 1709, and then set out to visit his Cumberland estates for the first time early in 1710. He spent the next two years at Dilston Hall, Northumberland, the mansion built by his grandfather on the site of the ancestral home from 1521; the estates were sequestrated after the
Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...
due to the recusancy of his grandfather the first Earl. He regained those and began the construction of a grand mansion to replace the old Hall, a task that was never completed. He joined the conspiracy of 1715; he was suspected by the government, and on the eve of the insurrection the secretary of state, Lord Stanhope, signed a warrant for his arrest. A messenger was sent to Durham to secure him, but Radclyffe went into hiding. He heard that Thomas Forster had raised the standard of the Pretender, and Radclyffe joined him at Greenrigg near Edinburgh on 6 October 1715, at the head of a company of gentlemen and armed servants from Dilston Hall. His following, at most 70, was under the immediate command of his brother, Charles Radclyffe. Their plan was to march through Lancashire to
Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...
, where they looked for support, and the expedition was left mainly in the hands of Colonel Henry Oxburgh, who had served under the Duke of Marlborough in Flanders. When the rebels occupied Preston, Derwentwater encouraged the men to throw up trenches. The Jacobite army was defeated at the Battle of Preston. Radclyffe acquiesced in Forster's decision to capitulate to the inferior force of General Charles Wills. He was escorted with the other prisoners to London by General Henry Lumley, and lodged in the Devereux tower of the
Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic citadel and castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamle ...
, along with the Earls of Nithsdale and of Carnwath, and Lords Widdrington, Kenmure, and Nairne. He was examined before the Privy Council on 10 January 1716, and impeached with the other lords on 19 January. Derwentwater pleaded guilty, urging in extenuation his inexperience, and his advice to those who were about him to throw themselves upon the royal clemency. He was attainted and condemned to death. Efforts were made to procure his pardon. Petitions were brought before both Houses of Parliament, and an address was carried from the upper house to the throne on 22 February, praying that His Majesty
George I of Great Britain George I (George Louis; ; 28 May 1660 – 11 June 1727) was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland, Ireland from 1 August 1714 and ruler of the Electorate of Hanover within the Holy Roman Empire from 23 January 1698 until his death in 1727. ...
would reprieve 'such of the condemned lords as might appear to him deserving of clemency.' Widdrington, Carnwath, and Nairn were reprieved. The countess, accompanied by her sister, their maternal aunt, Anne Brudenell, Duchess of Richmond, the Duchess of Cleveland, and other ladies, was introduced by the Duke of Richmond into the king's bedchamber, where the countess, in French, asked for his majesty's mercy. The king, however, prompted by
Robert Walpole Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford (; 26 August 1676 – 18 March 1745), known between 1725 and 1742 as Sir Robert Walpole, was a British Whigs (British political party), Whig statesman who is generally regarded as the ''de facto'' first Prim ...
(who declared that he had been offered £60,000 to save Derwentwater, but that he was determined to make an example), was obdurate. Derwentwater was beheaded on Tower Hill on 24 February 1716. On the scaffold, he expressed regret at having pleaded guilty, and declared his devotion to his
Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
religion and to James III. Lord Kenmure suffered at the same time. The Earl of Nithsdale escaped from the Tower the day before. Charles Radclyffe escaped to France but was captured in 1745 on his return to support the 1745 uprising and was executed in 1746. Nairne was still in the Tower of London in 1717, so was able to benefit from the Indemnity Act 1717 and was released. On the day of his execution, the Northern Lights were said to be unusually bright, and became known as Lord Derwentwater's Lights. His heart was taken to a convent in Paris where the prioress Anne Throckmorton witnessed it being enclosed within the chapel's walls. Derwentwater was stripped of his honours and titles (but his successors continued to use the titles), and his estates were confiscated. In 1748 Dilston Castle and the rest of the Derwentwater estates were granted by Act of Parliament (22 Geo. 2. c. 56) to the Greenwich Hospital.


Family

Radclyffe married Anna Maria Webb (d. 19 August 1723) on 10 July 1712. She was the eldest daughter of Sir John Webb, 3rd baronet, of Odstock, Wiltshire, by Barbara, daughter and coheiress of John Belasyse, 1st Baron Belasyse. Their only son John Radclyffe, titular 4th Earl of Derwentwater (1713–1731) succeeded. John is generally accepted to have died at the age of 19 after a cutting for the stone. In the mid-19th century, a woman claiming to be his great-granddaughter and referring to herself as the Countess of Derwentwater made claim upon the Derwentwater estates, but was eventually discredited. She claimed that John had not died in 1731 but had fled to Germany to avoid an attempt on his life by the Hanoverian government. They also had a daughter, Lady Mary Radclyffe (1714–31 January 1760), who married Robert James Petre, 8th Baron Petre; they had three daughters and one son Robert Petre, 9th Baron Petre. Lady Derwentwater and her children fled to
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in 1721, and she died there of
smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by Variola virus (often called Smallpox virus), which belongs to the genus '' Orthopoxvirus''. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (W ...
in 1723.


Legacy

Radclyffe's death is recounted in two English traditional ballads: * "Lord Derwentwater", collected by
Francis James Child Francis James Child (February 1, 1825 – September 11, 1896) was an American scholar, educator, and folklorist, best known today for his collection of English and Scottish ballads now known as the Child Ballads. Child was Boylston professor ...
and published as Child Ballad 208 in ''English and Scottish Popular Ballads'' (1882-98). * "Lord Allenwater", collected by Ralph Vaughan Williams in 1904 from the singing of Emily Stears. Radclyffe figures prominently in the historical novels ''Dorothy Forster'' by Walter Besant and ''Devil Water'' by Anya Seton. In October 2022, a bedsheet embroidered with human hair, by Radclyffe's wife, in his memory, was displayed at the Museum of London, which acquired it in 1934. The museum stated that the hair "could have come from her own head or that of the earl, or she could have intertwined a combination of the two".


Notes


External links


Snakes of The Derwent Valley
(Mysterious Britain & Ireland) {{DEFAULTSORT:Derwentwater, James Radclyffe, 3rd Earl of 1689 births 1716 deaths History of Northumberland English Jacobites People of the Jacobite rising of 1715 Executions at the Tower of London English politicians convicted of crimes Earls of Derwentwater