John Fenwick Collection of Radcliffiana Finding Aid : Special Collections and University Archives, UMass Amherst Libraries

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The title Earl of Derwentwater was created under King James II in 1688 for Francis Radcliffe of Northumberland, and for sixty years thereafter, members of the Radcliffe family stood among the most prominent Jacobites in the north of England. One of Francis' grandson, James, the third Earl of Derwentwater, became embroiled in the Rebellion of 1715 and was beheaded in the London Tower for high treason, and another son, Charles, the so-called 4th Earl, was beheaded for his part in the Rebellion of 1745.

Assembled by John Fenwick, who may have been a distant relative of the Radcliffes, this collection of Radcliffiana includes a mixture of original documents, 19th century transcriptions of originals, published works, and prints, all pertaining to the Jacobite Earls of Derwentwater. Set into paper frames and bound into more or less elaborate leather volumes, the documents cover the period from the English Civil War through the fallout after the execution of the 3rd Earl. They are focused primarily on the personal fates of the Earls, their Northumberland estates, and the genealogy of the Radcliffe family.

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Background on Radcliffe family

The title Earl of Derwentwater was created in 1688 for Sir Francis Radclyffe from Dilston Castle, Northumberland. The Radcliffe family, Catholic and ardent Royalists, had been prominent among the northern nobility, but the shifting political fortunes of the seventeenth century had exacted a toll: the family fell under suspicion of involvement in the Gunpowder Plot early in the century and had their estates confiscated during the Commonwealth for Francis's recusancy.

In 1687, when Francis arranged for his son and successor, Edward, to marry Mary Tudor, the illegitimate daughter of King Charles II, the connections to the Stuart dynasty were cemented. When James (1689-1716) became the third Earl of Derwentwater upon Edward's death in 1705, the Radcliffes could be counted among the most powerful Jacobite families in the north. The instability surrounding the royal succession, however, would not be kind to the Radcliffes.

Raised in the Stuart court in exile in France, and a companion to the pretender to the throne, James Francis Edward Stuart, James Radcliffe returned to Northumberland in November 1709 to take possession of his family estates. He married Anna Maria Webb in July 1712. On the eve of the insurrection of 1715, James, an open supporter of the Jacobite cause, learned that a warrant for his arrest had been issued and escaped by hiding among his tenants until he was able to join the army assembled under Charles Forster. His career under arms would be brief. At Preston, with Charles Wills' Parliamentary army besieging them, Derwentwater was said to be have been energetic in organizing resistance, but when Forster elected to capitulate, he followed suit. Marched to London and imprisoned in the Tower, James became one of five Lords tried and convicted of high treason, and despite efforts by influential friends to have him spared, he was beheaded on Feb. 24, 1716.

Although the title was formally vacated upon James' attainder and execution, his brother Charles, also captured at Preston, assumed the title of fourth Earl of Derwentwater. Imprisoned at Newgate, Charles broke out with thirteen other prisoners in December 1716 and took refuge with the Stuart family in France. Nearly thirty years later in November 1745, with another Jacobite rebellion at hand, he was captured aboard a French ship of war, hauled to London, and convicted of high treason like his brother. He too was beheaded.

Scope of collection

Assembled by John Fenwick, who may have been a distant relative of the Assembled by John Fenwick, who may have been a distant relative of the Radcliffes, this collection of Radcliffiana includes a mixture of original documents, 19th century transcriptions of originals, published works, and prints, all pertaining to the Jacobite Earls of Derwentwater. Set into paper frames and bound into more or less elaborate leather volumes, the documents cover the period from the English Civil War through the fallout after the execution of the 3rd Earl. They are focused primarily on the personal fates of the Earls, their Northumberland estates, and the genealogy of the Radcliffe family.

Many of the documents relate to the loss and attempted regain of Radcliffe family estates after James' execution and there are a number of published works regarding the execution of the 3rd Earl of Derwentwater. The oldest original document, a lease from Robert Radclyff to William Wilfon, dates from November 1600, with a handful of other documents dating from the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. Most of the transcripts were apparently made in the second quarter of the nineteenth century.

Among other highlights are a large hand-drawn eighteenth-century map of Northumberland centered on the confluence of the North and South Tyne Rivers and several prints of the Earls, of Dilston Hall (including an original watercolor), and of other parts of the Radcliffe estates.

Identifications of the documents in the inventory below are drawn verbatim from a typed list of unknown origin that accompanied the volumes.