Theme: Tough women
Lady Alice (Beconsaw) Lisle If your husband fled to Switzerland where he was assassinated for his involvement in killing the king of England, you’d have to be one tough lady, wouldn't you say? And as a regicide’s widow, her life then got even tougher.
I’m talking here about Alice (or Alicia) Beconsaw, the wife of Lord John Lisle, regicide, who I wrote about last week. They are my 9 times Great Grandparents. Born in Ellingham near Ringwood, Hampshire in England, and likely at her family's estate of Moyles Court, she was the elder daughter of Sir White Beconsaw (this name has many spelling variations) and Edith Bond. Alice was baptised 24 Sep 1617 in Ellingham and grew up at Moyles Court.
In 1636 at the age of 19 , she married John Lisle at the Anglican parish church in Ellingham, Hampshire. At this time her parents assigned her the inheritance of Moyles Court property. John received life tenancy. He was a lawyer and a politician who sided with the anti-royalists during the civil war and joined Cromwell’s team during the ensuing creation of the Commonwealth. As their family grew, their religious affiliations also shifted, and they became nonconformists. In 1643 their daughter Margaret Lisle was baptized at Mr Lisle’s Chamber in the Puritan Temple Church in Hampshire.
I’m talking here about Alice (or Alicia) Beconsaw, the wife of Lord John Lisle, regicide, who I wrote about last week. They are my 9 times Great Grandparents. Born in Ellingham near Ringwood, Hampshire in England, and likely at her family's estate of Moyles Court, she was the elder daughter of Sir White Beconsaw (this name has many spelling variations) and Edith Bond. Alice was baptised 24 Sep 1617 in Ellingham and grew up at Moyles Court.
In 1636 at the age of 19 , she married John Lisle at the Anglican parish church in Ellingham, Hampshire. At this time her parents assigned her the inheritance of Moyles Court property. John received life tenancy. He was a lawyer and a politician who sided with the anti-royalists during the civil war and joined Cromwell’s team during the ensuing creation of the Commonwealth. As their family grew, their religious affiliations also shifted, and they became nonconformists. In 1643 their daughter Margaret Lisle was baptized at Mr Lisle’s Chamber in the Puritan Temple Church in Hampshire.
It has been reported that their eldest son was named Beconsaw who died as a school boy in 1653, and a younger son William died in 1654. Their oldest daughter was Alice who married for the second time in 1663. By about 1660 after the King Charles II had been restored to the throne, John was forced to flee to Switzerland in fear of his life. Alice was left behind in England, pregnant with their youngest daughter Anne. About this time, all of John’s holdings were seized by the crown, with the majority going to James, the king’s brother and to John Lisle’s younger brother William who remained a royalist. Thank goodness Moyles Court belonged to Alice, but her fortunes had definitely declined. She still had seven unmarried children to raise; they were named John, Bridget, Tryphena, Margaret, Mary, Mabella and Anne. Along with sons Beconsaw and William who died young, she had at least 11 children.
In 1664 when Alice was 47, her husband was assassinated in Switzerland, shot in the back by an Irish royalist. She was left an outcast from family as well as society, and ridiculed for her religion. According to the excellent and well researched book titled "The Regicide's Widow": "Moyles Court became one of the many refuges of these Nonconformist nomads [displaced ministers], and Alice Lisle undoubtedly risked prosecution for those she sheltered." There was a reported gathering of 200 Presbyterians there in 1669. Two of the displaced ministers became her sons-in-law: Bridget married Leonard Hoar, and Margaret married Rev Robert Whitaker (my ancestors). Other dissenting ministers obviously had her acquaintance and sympathy, and perhaps her friendship.
In 1664 when Alice was 47, her husband was assassinated in Switzerland, shot in the back by an Irish royalist. She was left an outcast from family as well as society, and ridiculed for her religion. According to the excellent and well researched book titled "The Regicide's Widow": "Moyles Court became one of the many refuges of these Nonconformist nomads [displaced ministers], and Alice Lisle undoubtedly risked prosecution for those she sheltered." There was a reported gathering of 200 Presbyterians there in 1669. Two of the displaced ministers became her sons-in-law: Bridget married Leonard Hoar, and Margaret married Rev Robert Whitaker (my ancestors). Other dissenting ministers obviously had her acquaintance and sympathy, and perhaps her friendship.
So how did Alice end up sheltering the rebel John Hicks and get convicted of treason? Alice knew of Hicks as a nonconformist minister, most recently from Portsmouth. Through a succession of restrictive laws and political maneuvering, the religious bigotry in England increased through the 1670s and 80s. The mood and whim of those in power seemed to oscillate between leniency and oppressive persecution. I'm sure that Hicks wasn't the only minister who was relentlessly targeted, tracked and fined for preaching to gatherings of nonconformists. But the timing and location was such that on 24 Jun 1685, Hicks was on hand to join rebel forces of the crown contender James Scott, Duke of Monmouth. He probably hoped that he would receive better treatment and liberties under a different monarch. The next day Hicks committed the treasonable offense of trying to persuade Monmouth's English prisoners of war to change their allegiance.
Their cause was short lived, for the rebel forces were quickly defeated by James II's troops, with many rebels fleeing. After a concentrated manhunt, Monmouth and his chiefs were captured and beheaded, although some of his rebels remained at large. This is when Hicks and his companions Nelthorp and Dunne sought shelter at Moyles Court. Their arrival was betrayed by their guide, and Alice was arrested as well as the fugitives and jailed at Salisbury pending trial.
Their cause was short lived, for the rebel forces were quickly defeated by James II's troops, with many rebels fleeing. After a concentrated manhunt, Monmouth and his chiefs were captured and beheaded, although some of his rebels remained at large. This is when Hicks and his companions Nelthorp and Dunne sought shelter at Moyles Court. Their arrival was betrayed by their guide, and Alice was arrested as well as the fugitives and jailed at Salisbury pending trial.
Grave of Alice (Beconshawe) Lisle in Ellingham, Hampshire Alice was accused of treason. Her 6 hour trial at Winchester Castle 27 Aug 1685 under the presiding “Hanging Judge” Jeffreys was considered a grave injustice. Not only did the judge prosecute from the bench and enforce unfair procedural changes, but he also bullied the jury into declaring a guilty verdict in spite of their doubts. Although she probably was guilty of knowingly sheltering fugitives, this was not properly proven in court, so she was unjustly sentenced. She was the first of many casualties of Judge Jeffrey's "Bloody Assizes".
The usual punishment for treason at the time was to be burned at the stake, but on 2 September 1685 she was instead beheaded on a platform in the street outside what is now the Eclipse Tavern in The Square off Market Lane in Winchester. She was 67 years old. As it turns out, hers was the last beheading to take place in England.
Four years later in 1689, her daughters appealed for a reversal of her charges, and a repeal was granted by act of parliament - much too late for her life to be spared. There is now a wall plaque in The Square off Market Lane, commemorating her execution. Her actual burial was in the St Mary and All Saints Churchyard in Ellingham, Hampshire.
On a lighter note, her fame continues into modern times. The Alice Lisle Pub, a country pub with Alice’s name on it, is located in The New Forest National Park. Their website claims that "The pub is notoriously (and somewhat gruesomely) named after the last woman to be publicly beheaded in England". Do you think she'd be pleased? The location is appropriate because Ellingham and Ringwood are located on the park's western border.
So, after all this talk of intrigue and beheadings, does anyone care for a pint?
The usual punishment for treason at the time was to be burned at the stake, but on 2 September 1685 she was instead beheaded on a platform in the street outside what is now the Eclipse Tavern in The Square off Market Lane in Winchester. She was 67 years old. As it turns out, hers was the last beheading to take place in England.
Four years later in 1689, her daughters appealed for a reversal of her charges, and a repeal was granted by act of parliament - much too late for her life to be spared. There is now a wall plaque in The Square off Market Lane, commemorating her execution. Her actual burial was in the St Mary and All Saints Churchyard in Ellingham, Hampshire.
On a lighter note, her fame continues into modern times. The Alice Lisle Pub, a country pub with Alice’s name on it, is located in The New Forest National Park. Their website claims that "The pub is notoriously (and somewhat gruesomely) named after the last woman to be publicly beheaded in England". Do you think she'd be pleased? The location is appropriate because Ellingham and Ringwood are located on the park's western border.
So, after all this talk of intrigue and beheadings, does anyone care for a pint?
Sources and further reading:
"The Regicide's Widow - Lady Alice Lisle and the Bloody Assize", a book by Antony Whitaker, OBE, published 2006 by Sutton Publishing Limited. ISBN 0-7509-4434-X - see description on amazon.com
Alice Lisle - wikipedia
Moyles Court & Lady Alice Lisle - Mysterious Britain & Ireland site
Reformation History - wikipedia (Lisles not mentioned)
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