Papers relating to the Atterbury Plot (SP 35/35-39 and SP 35/71-72)

Papers (3 boxes; 7 volumes) gathered for the use of a House of Commons Committee investigating the Atterbury Plot. Includes correspondence, examinations, depositions, memorandums, details of the plot, lists naming potential supporters and other papers dating from 1719-1723. Separated into papers relating to: Francis Atterbury, Bishop of Rochester (former reference: D), the Duke of Norfolk (H), Dennis Kelly (F), Captain Halstead (AA), John Semple (G), an intended insurrection (BB), Christopher Layer (B).

Former references are noted in the Description field at item level. They would have been assigned the code for the House of Commons Committee hearing, and then organised by this code when they were published.

Much of the correspondence in this subseries consists of copies taken by a 'secret department' of the Post Office involved in obtaining intelligence for the government. Some correspondence was written in cipher and decoded by decipherers. Because of the secretive nature of the correspondence much is written in coded or guarded language with frequent use of codenames.

These papers were used as evidence that resulted in the execution of Christopher Layer for High Treason and the passing of bills of pains and penalties against Francis Atterbury, John Plunkett and George Kelly in 1723. They show the results of the governments anti Jacobite intelligence system.

The papers are arranged by suspect or subject as per the original order used by the House of Commons Committee and published in their report.

Papers relating to Scotland, former reference I: see SP 54/13/98-111. Earlier papers dating back to 1714 from the Bishop of Rochester have been incorporated into the chronological run of SP 35.

Not in SP 35/35-39 but published in the report of the Committee are papers relating to: Foreign Correspondence (A), John Plunkett (C), George Kelly (E), Scotland (I) and Ireland (K). The papers were probably separated at the State Paper Office.

• Secretaries of State, 1782-1782
• State Paper Office, 1610-1854

Secretaries of State:

The position of Secretary of State evolved from the reign of Henry VIII (1509-1547) until separated into the Home and Foreign Offices in 1782.

The State Paper Office:

Collection of state papers evolved slowly and informally. In 1610, a Grant of the Office of Keeper of the Papers of the State was given to Levinus Monk and Thomas Wilson whose role was to obtain and preserve papers concerning domestic and foreign affairs from the officials that created them. The State Paper Office was amalgamated with the Public Record Office in 1854 and the public records preserved there were transferred to the new repository in 1861.

Eighteenth century:

Among the duties of the Secretaries of State was to procure intelligence for the government. During this period, Jacobites were the chief objects of suspicion. Spies and warrants to intercept letters at a ‘secret department’ of the Post Office were a major part of the intelligence network. Another of the domestic duties of the Secretaries of State was to gather documents from government departments that were required by the House of Commons. The papers in SP 35/35-39 are the result of such an order to provide evidence for a Committee appointed to investigate the Atterbury Plot. The plot was largely orchestrated by English Jacobites who planned for the constitutional restoration of the Catholic Stuarts brought about through a general rising. Aiming to take advantage of public discontent with the government after the bursting of the South Sea Bubble in August 1720, the plan involved Jacobite support from France and Spain and volunteers from within the British military. It was named after Francis Atterbury, Bishop of Rochester [1663-1752] who was James Edward Stuart’s appointed representative in England at the time. The plot was foiled by the preventative arrest of leading conspirators. The papers in SP 35/35-39 were organised by suspect and presented as evidence to a Committee appointed by Order of the House of Commons in 1723 to report on the conspiracy after which the papers were transmitted to the House of Lords for further examination.