Description:Sir John was the Lord Privy Seal during the Jacobite Uprisings of the 1740s. His prominent political position and his loyalty to the King against the Jacobites earned him the title of Earl Gower in 1746.
Many of Sir John’s papers from this time relate to Jacobite plots to restore the Stuart King James II to the English Throne, usurping Mary II and her husband William of Orange. Sir John’s papers include petitions against seditious pamphlets and copies of letters seized from Jacobite conspirators.
Scandal and Sedition: Sir John and Illegal Pamphlets
One such document is an unsigned petition informing Sir John about ‘a printed pamphlet’ by a man identified as Nicholas Street. The author describes the pamphlets as ‘scandalous & seditious likely containing many expressions…reflecting upon her Majestie and Her Government upon the Nobility, Gentry, Clergy & Universitys of this Kingdom’. The document demonstrates the concern amongst authorities about the spreading of seditious ideas during a time of potential rebellion. The author of the petition states further that Nicholas Street is ‘malitiously insinuating that the Protestant Succession in the house of Hanover is in danger under Her Majesties administration’, aiming to ‘alienate the affections of Her Majesties good subjects & create jelousys & Divisions amongst them’.
To find out more about Sir John and the Jacobite uprisings, click on the images on the left.