Three Baronets and a Highwayman of Stanton

Sir John Parsons of Boveny and Langley, Buckinghamshire, married Elizabeth Kidderminster, sole heiress of Sir John Kidderminster also of Buckinghamshire. This marriage produced 2 boys and 3 girls. William Parsons was the second but eldest surviving son of Sir John and Lady Elizabeth Parsons. William married Elizabeth Parsons, heiress of Sir Lawrence Parsons. He was created baronet on 9^th April 1661 by King Charles II for his loyalty during the Civil Wars. Sir William and Lady Elizabeth Parsons had two sons and two daughters. John,  born in 1657, matriculated to Christ Church College, Oxford, in June 1674 and was admitted to the Inner Temple in 1676, later becoming the second baronet.

The first baronet (Sir William) had faired badly financially during the Civil Wars and his house in Langley was in poor condition. At his death in 1662 he stipulated in his will that it should be sold off and the house was purchased by Henry Seymour in 1669. The second baronet, Sir John Parsons, married Catherine Clifton in 1686. She was the daughter of baronet Sir Clifford Clifton of Clifton, Nottinghamshire. Catherine was the sister and co-heiress of Sir William Clifton of Clifton. Part of  Catherine’s inheritance included the manor of Stanton on the Wolds into which the couple duly moved.

The old red-brick manor on Browns Lane was still in existence until fairly recently, (it was demolished between 1948 and 1949), just to the west of Glebe Farm and the Rectory near All Saints Church. After the Bryan family moved out into their newly built ‘Manor Farm House’ just yards further along Browns Lane, the old Manor House was raised almost to ground level and the Pine Workshops now occupy the site. In 1669 the Manor House had a moat with a drawbridge and occupied a 4 acre site. Sir John is commemorated on a slate slab in All Saints Church, near the window, with the following inscription “Here lieth Interr’d y^e body of S^r John Parsons Knight & Bar^t Who departed this life January y^e 17^th Anno Dom 1704 in y^e 48 year of his age.”.

Sir John Parsons and Lady Catherine had two children, a daughter and a son, William, the third baronet, who was baptised in 1686 at St Mary's’, Nottingham, succeeded to the baronetcy in 1704. Sir William erected a good town house on Short Hill, Nottingham believed to be one of three such, close to St Mary’s old Vicarage. Sir William married twice. His first wife was Frances Dutton, daughter of Henry Dutton and sister of Mary, Duchess of Northumberland. Frances died in 1735 The second marriage was to Isabella Dutton (nee Holte) of Castleton, Lancs. Isabella, the second wife, died in 1746. The first marriage produced 3 children, a daughter Grace and two sons, John and William. John  became a Fellow of Merton College, Oxford and later became Rector of Arnold where his ageing father resided with him until his death when he was buried there. William, who was born in Red Lion Square, Holborn in London in 1717, was to become quite a legend.

 The story of Williams’ misadventures begin very early in childhood. His first school was ‘Pepperharrow’ near Godalming in Surrey where he spent 3 to 4 years under the guidance of his teacher the Rev.Mr Gruchy. At age of 14 he joined his brother John at Eton. Their aunt the Duchess of Northumberland gave both boys a gold five guinea piece with strict instructions not to spend them. William spent his and then before a visit by his aunt picked the pocket of his brother who had gone to bed. His aunt did not believe that John had lost his and asked Dr Bland, the Master of Eton to check in the town for such a large denomination of coin was very rare. The transaction was remembered and the description was that of William. He was “whipt till the skin flea’d off his back and rubbed with pickle”, however he failed to learn his lesson. He was then caught in the act of stealing volumes of Pope’s ‘Homer’s Iliads’ from Mr Pote, bookseller and was dismissed from the college in his ninth year there with the comment  a not very scholarly “fine gentleman”.

His next offence was the stealing of a pair of gold buckles at Buxton which he sold in Nottingham. His father arranged for him to go to sea in 1735 on a man-of-war as a midshipman onboard His Majesty’s Sloop ‘Drake’ under Captain Fox bound for Jamaica. The ‘Drake’ did not sail immediately and William jumped ship and went to Bishop’s Waltham some 10 miles from Portsmouth and was about to marry a doctor’s daughter for her money when he was caught by his uncle, Captain Dutton of Epsom, and was put back onboard. The ‘Drake’ finally sailed, via Madeira, in the company of HMS Kinsale onboard which the Governor of Jamaica was travelling. He escaped from the ‘Drake’ and took passage home on the ‘Sheerness’ under Captain Myles Stapleton. His uncle then put him onboard the ‘HMS Romney’ as midshipman under Captain Medley bound for Newfoundland where he had to stay until the ship returned to England. He was disliked by the crew as he was renown for using false dice and marked cards. In the meanwhile, his aunt the Duchess of Northumberland had disinherited him for stealing £70 from her and for stealing a small miniature mounted in gold that had hung from her watch. She left a considerable sum of money (£25,000) to his sister Grace .

William’s father then arranged for him to be a writer for the Royal African Company of England and he was posted off to James Fort in the River Gambia on board the ‘Happy Deliverance’. Apparently during the following six months he had various disputes with Governor Aufeur. He ran away and on being chased by the Governor threatened him with a pistol. He managed to get home where he stayed with his uncle in Epsom, however he was turned out penniless after getting one of the maids pregnant and had to live on a penny halfpenny a day for some time. He then stayed at his father’s house in London living on advances of money by various people on the grounds of a legacy his father’s sister had left to his brother.

In 1740 aged 23 he met and married, after a 4 month courtship, Mary Frampton a rich heiress (£12,000) and daughter of the late John Frampton of the Exchequer and paid off his debts. His family hoped the marriage would settle him and the couple had two children, Mark and William. Through some influence he was given a commission as ensign in Colonel Cholmondeley’s 34^th Regiment of Foot in January 1741 and moved into a house in Poland Street, London. In March 1744 he was appointed lieutenant and the family moved to Panton Street. He saw service in Flanders but an extravagant lifestyle and heavy gambling losses forced him to leave his wife as her money had run out. He took lodgings under an alias ‘Captain Brown’ and he had two more children by the daughter of the man he lodged with. He then spent some time abroad as England was at war with France but in June 1745 he took ship aboard a privateer, the ‘Dursley Galley’ as a captain of marines and captured a French privateer which was taken to Cork where he became ill. He was sent ashore and left behind.  He embezzled £50 and took sail home in a French prize the ‘Louis Erasmus’ and landing at Plymouth he borrowed a £100, bought a horse and rode to London. He lived by trickery including a con trick of a false ‘marriage’ to get  gold and diamond rings from a jeweller. He was then taken into custody as a disaffected person and was detained in the hands of the Messenger for 18 months which gave him a period of free living, free from his creditors.

He spent a brief period in Holland. On his return he forged a note in the name of Mr William Knight and passed it to a Mrs Collins of Greenwich as a true one, directing to be paid at Messrs Honeywoods and Fullers, Bankers in Lombard Street. He was apprehended and committed to Wood Street Compter in August 1748 where he stayed until March 1749 when he was transferred to Maidstone in Kent for trial at the Lent Assizes at Rochester. Here he was tried and condemned to death for forgery. Through the intervention of his brother-in-law, a Mr Lambert, he obtained a reprieve from the death penalty but was sentenced to transportation for 7 years. He spent his last few months in Maidstone Gaol before being taken to Gravesend where he was put onboard the ‘Thames’ with 173 other convicts. The ‘Thames’ sailed for Maryland, America, late in August 1749 under the command of Captain  James Dobbin. This particular captain involved in the lucrative transportation of convicts had already made four successful voyages to America in the ‘Savannah’ (Oct 1744), the ‘Plain Dealer’ (Jan 1746), the ‘George William’ (Jan 1747) and  the ‘St George’ (Jan 1748). A 100 leagues off Lands End the ship was badly damaged in a severe gale that broke the main mast, sprung the fore top mast and mizzen mast and ripped the decking and  was forced to return to Plymouth for repairs. William apparently was very upset when the captain refused him a place at his table. Fifty of his fellow convicts perished on the voyage.

The ship arrived at the Patuxent River near the present Annapolis, Maryland on the 30^th November 1749. He remained a common slave for some 7 weeks but a friend of the Parsons family persuaded Governor Fairfax to give him a horse. William in return stole the horse, escaped the settlement and turned highway man. He raised enough booty to take a ship on the Potomac River back to Whitehaven, England where he arrived in July 1750 and promptly swindled a Whitehaven merchant of £75. He planned to live in retirement near Hyde Park Corner in London but as his money ran out he took to the road once more as a highwayman.  He lived by holding up travellers after dark on the road between Turnham Green and Hounslow Heath on the way to London. In August 1750 he robbed two gentlemen in a post-chaise at 11 o’clock at night on Hounslow Heath of 5 guineas 8 shillings and a watch. On another night he followed a chaise all the way to the Rose and Crown at Hounslow but was recognised by one of the occupants,  a Mr Fuller, the very man who had convicted him at Rochester. Mr Day the innkeeper recognised him from a description of the wanted highwayman. A Constable was sent for and a powder horn and some lead balls were found in his pocket. He was arrested and committed to the infamous Newgate Gaol. He stood trial at the Old Bailey and was sentenced to hang  for returning from transportation.

There were eight "hanging days" a year and these were known as "Tyburn fair days", perhaps the forerunner of a modern public holiday. Executions were performed in front of huge crowds. The felons were loaded onto carts along with three or four coffins. The carts were drawn along the crowded streets from Newgate to the hanging tree at Tyburn (approximately where Marble Arch stands now), via Holborn, through St Giles and along Oxford Street accompanied by the sound of muffled mourning bells from St Sepulchre's Church and further along from St Gile's Church. The procession usually stopped at the Bowl Inn at St Giles and again at the Mason's Arms and more beer and gin was proffered along the route. The 3 mile journey could last for 3 hours with the windows all along the route packed with spectators, whilst others stood in hired carts alongside the route. The death sentence was carried out at Tyburn on the 11^th February 1751. As the 'sharp drop' wasn't to be introduced until late in the next century, the noose was placed around the neck and the cart was pulled away causing a long and painful death from strangulation during which the victim "danced" for up to 45 minutes. His associates apparently tried to bring him round by slitting his neck open.

William described his life and adventures to a scribe during his last few days at Newgate Gaol and these were printed shortly after as two small booklets.

William the highwayman left two sons, Mark and William. At the death of the 3^rd Baronet in 1760 William had already predeceased him and Mark became the fourth and last Baronet. Sir Mark  lived a quite life at Epsom in Surrey and the line of baronetcy was extinguished in 1812. Ownership of the Stanton Manor House and its associated farm lands passed from Sir Mark Parsons by will to  Multon Lambard, eldest son of Grace and Thomas Lambard, who was a cousin of  Sir Mark Parsons, as Sir Mark never married and had no issue. Multon Lambard put the Stanton estates on the market in 1825 and they were purchased by the Reverend Thomas Randolph.

The coat of arms of the Parsons is described as ‘Arg. a chevron between 3 holly leaves erect vert.’ ( a  shield with a silver background with 3 green vertical holly leaves between a green chevron).

References

G.E.Cokoyne editor 1903 “The complete baronetage 1649-1664” vol.3  William Pollard & Co.Ltd., Exeter

Coldham P.W. 1987  “The complete book of emigrants in bondage 1614-1775” Baltimore

Griffiths A. 1883 “The Chronicles of Newgate” Dorset Press reprint of 1987, New York

Hitchcock, Tim and Robert Shoemaker. 2006 "Tales from the hanging court", Hodder Arnold

Parsons W. “A genuine, Impartial and Authentick Account of the Life of William Parsons Esq. executed at Tyburn Monday 11^th February 1751 for returning from Transportation.” Printed for T Parker, Jewin Street and C Corbett, Fleet Street, London.1751: (Local History Library, Angel Row, Nottingham, 4 small bound octavo pamphlets, “Notts Biography & Sherwood Forest”)

Parsons W. “Memoirs of the life and adventures of William Parsons Esq.” Printed for F Stamper at Pope’s Head, Pope’s Head Alley, Cornhill, London.1751: (Local History Library, Angel Row, Nottingham, 4 small bound octavo pamphlets, “Notts Biography & Sherwood Forest”)