22:
232:, and sentenced to death, despite his insistence that he never meant to kill Dangerfield. Several witnesses testified that on the contrary he had deliberately stabbed at Dangerfield's eye, and there was also some evidence that he had said that "he would save the hangman the trouble of killing Dangerfield". Nonetheless the verdict of murder came as a surprise to the public, the general view being that the death "could scarce be even called
530:
159:, who knew his record of crime thoroughly, began instructing juries to disregard the evidence of "so notorious a villain.... I shall shake all such fellows before I am done". When Dangerfield protested publicly that he had sincerely repented of his former crimes, Scroggs, who did not tolerate interruptions in his Court, roared: "What, do you with all the mischief that
194:, as no-one had actually been convicted on his evidence). Dangerfield went into hiding in 1684 as soon as he heard about the threatened trial, but when James succeeded as King in February 1685 the new Government made a determined search for him and found him. He was tried and speedily convicted. On 20 June 1685 he received his sentence, which was to stand in the
225:, Robert Francis, who made a jeering remark, on the lines of "How do you, after your little race?" Dangerfield in return spat on him and called him a son of a whore, whereupon Francis struck Dangerfield in the eye with his cane: the cane apparently entered the brain, and Dangerfield died shortly afterwards from the blow.
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wrote that he was sure that
Francis had had no intention of killing Dangerfield, "for he had a sword by his side, which was a more likely thing to kill him than that little cane, indeed the smallest that ever I saw". King
249:, on the basis of his previously blameless life, but, despite his low opinion of Dangerfield, he said that it would be wrong to let his murderer go unpunished, and Francis was duly executed on 24 July 1685.
287:
as a result. James, with more magnanimity than he usually showed to political opponents, reduced both fines, and later restored
Williams to royal favour and appointed him Solicitor General.
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He began his career of crime by robbing his father of both horses and money, and, after a rambling life, which brought him to
Scotland, France, Spain and Portugal, took to coining
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in a contemptuous epitaph wrote that
Dangerfield deserved no pity: "he had been a highway thief, a cheat, a little rogue.. but there is an end of him".
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but acquitted in 1680: with the general waning of hysteria, men as disreputable as
Dangerfield were no longer considered to be credible witnesses.
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299:(1680), a comic, self-consciously literary novel that presents Dangerfield as a clever and resourceful rogue. It is reprinted in Spiro Peterson's
268:
129:
74:, for which offence and numerous others he was many times imprisoned: it was said later that to describe his career one need simply list every
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110:, from the place where the incriminating documents were hidden at his suggestion, and found by the King's officers by his information.
170:, made other charges against prominent Roman Catholics, and attempted to defend his character by publishing, among other pamphlets,
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plot against the throne, and this having been proved a lie, he pretended to have discovered a
Catholic plot against
47:, although whether the killing was murder or manslaughter was a matter of considerable public debate at the time.
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For a time
Dangerfield was used as a secondary witness in the Popish Plot trials to supplement the evidence of
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On his way back from the first whipping on 22 June
Dangerfield, who rather surprisingly was travelling by
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known to
English law. Lord Chief Justice Scroggs later referred to him with contempt as "that fellow from
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A Complete
Collection of State Trials and Proceedings for High Treason and Other Crimes and Misdemeanors
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480:"Proceedings against Sir William Williams, bart. for the publication of Dangerfield's Narrative".
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and befriended him when he posed as a Catholic. She was, with her patroness Lady Powis, tried for
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The Counterfeit Lady Unveiled and Other Criminal Fiction of Seventeenth-Century England
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43:. His violent death at the hands of the barrister Robert Francis was clearly a
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led, once public opinion had turned against the informers, to his trial for
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of the House of Commons had authorised the publication of Dangerfield's
554:. Vol. 7 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 804.
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This article incorporates text from a publication now in the
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The pillorying and the whipping of Thomas Dangerfield, June 1685
190:(Kenyon notes that he could not as the law stood be tried for
117:, in whose house the meal tub was found, was a well-known
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Don Tomazo, or The Juvenile Rambles of Thomas Dangerfield
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hath in you, dare to brave it in a court of justice?"
32:(c. 1650 – 22 June 1685) was an
39:, who became one of the principal informers in the
295:He is the subject, and perhaps the author, of
166:Dangerfield, when examined at the bar of the
98:and others by concocting information about a
94:False to everyone, he first tried to involve
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245:was solicited strongly to grant Francis a
449:Vol. 2 Oxford University Press 2018 p.288
198:on two consecutive days, be whipped from
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305:Anthology of Seventeenth-Century Fiction
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130:Elizabeth Herbert, Marchioness of Powis
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228:Francis was tried and convicted for
55:Dangerfield was born about 1650 at
447:The Oxford History of Life-writing
67:, and never returned to his home.
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500:Bloody Jeffreys-the Hanging Judge
279:in 1680, was heavily fined for a
178:Death; the fate of Robert Francis
96:James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth
82:gaol", and he also spent time in
579:People from Waltham Abbey, Essex
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584:17th-century English criminals
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303:(1961) and in Paul Salzman's
283:on James II and another on
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599:People murdered in England
217:, got into an argument at
502:1989 André Deutsch p. 188
488:(410, column 1369). 1812.
412:London 1811 Vol. XI p.505
259:The Narrative - aftermath
106:. This was known as the
551:Encyclopædia Britannica
182:The publication of his
172:Dangerfield's Narrative
594:English murder victims
589:English counterfeiters
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517:Kenyon, John Philipps
155:, that Chief Justice
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265:Sir William Williams
546:Dangerfield, Thomas
498:Milne-Tyte, Robert
16:English conspirator
30:Thomas Dangerfield
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384:, pp. 227–8.
285:Lord Peterborough
269:Solicitor General
253:Sir John Bramston
115:Elizabeth Cellier
72:counterfeit money
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574:1685 deaths
397:Kenyon 2000
382:Kenyon 2000
370:Kenyon 2000
358:Kenyon 2000
346:Kenyon 2000
145:Titus Oates
90:Popish Plot
41:Popish Plot
37:conspirator
563:Categories
510:References
291:In fiction
104:Charles II
80:Chelmsford
519:(2000) .
277:Narrative
271:, who as
223:barrister
184:Narrative
153:informers
51:Biography
408:Howelll
307:(1991).
267:, later
263:In 1684
243:James II
45:homicide
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273:Speaker
221:with a
204:Newgate
200:Aldgate
196:pillory
192:perjury
126:almoner
122:midwife
34:English
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230:murder
208:Tyburn
65:London
461:p.506
436:p.506
424:p.506
311:Notes
281:libel
215:coach
188:libel
61:Essex
236:".
161:Hell
147:and
124:and
113:Mrs
548:".
202:to
128:to
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389:^
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59:,
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