Sir Edmondbury Godfrey was the magistrate who received the depositions of Titus Oates with regard to the alleged Popish plot, on September the 28th, 1678. He was soon after found dead, pierced with his own sword, though evidently not by his own hand. His death was imputed to the resentment of the Papists, and the excitement aroused was the actual cause of the Popish Plot agitation. Research Edmondbury Godfrey
George Jeffreys (Baron Jeffreys, also known as Judge Jeffreys) was an English lawyer. He was born in 1648 at Acton, Denbighshire and died in 1689. Educated at St Paul's and Westminster schools and at Trinity College, Cambridge he was called to the bar in 1668 and in 1678 became recorder of the city of London, whence he was the leading figure in the persecution of the figures involved in the 'Popish Plot', the trials of the 'Rye House' plotters and of Titus Oates. In 1683 he became chief justice of the king's bench and in 1685 was made a baron. Following the revolution of 1688 he was captured while trying to flee the country and imprisoned in the Tower of London. Research George Jeffreys
Titus Oates was an English conspirator. He was born in 1649 at Oakham and died in 1705. He was the principal informer in the so-called Popish plot in England. Taking advantage of the public's hostility toward Roman Catholics, in 1678 Oates gave the authorities details of a fictitious plot by Catholics to murder the Protestant monarch Charles II and to replace him with his Catholic brother, James, duke of York. As a result of the testimony of Oates and his followers, about 35 people lost their lives from 1678 and 1681. Oates himself for a time received a large pension and lived in Whitehall Palace. Charles died in 1685 and was succeeded by the duke of York as King James II. Oates was then brought to trial, found guilty of perjury, and sentenced to life imprisonment. After James was deposed by the Glorious Revolution in 1688, Oates was freed by the new king, William III. Research Titus Oates
William Howard (ViscountStafford) was an English nobleman. He was born in 1614 and died in 1680. He was the fifth son of Thomas Howard, earl of Arundel and was created ViscountStafford in 1640. William Howard was one of the five Roman Catholic peers denounced by Titus Oates. He was arrested and tried for high treason in 1680. Convicted after false evidence was presented to the court against him by Titus Oates, William Howard was executed by beheading on Tower Hill on December the 29th 1680. Research William Howard
Newgate was a former jail in the city of London. It was built during the reign of Henry I, and in 1241 rebuilt with the sum of 20,000 marks extracted from the wealthy Jews of London. The original building was destroyed in the great fire in 1666, but the prison was rebuilt in 1770. The interior was also ruined by fire in the Lord Gordon riots in 1780, when 300 prisoners were let loose on the populace - a scene described by Charles Dickens in Barnaby Rudge. Many noted prisoners were confined within the walls of Newgate - among them George Wither, Daniel Defoe, Jack Sheppard, Titus Oates and William Penn. After 1877 Newgate ceased to be used as a place of incarceration and after 1868 executions took place inside its walls until it was finally demolished in 1904 to make room for the Middlesex sessions-house. Research Newgate
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Abbreviations
Research Edmondbury Godfrey
