Retribution: William Draper and the Aftermath of the Second Civil War

Shortly after the end of the Second Civil War, Crayford’s Lord of the Manor, William Draper was appointed to the Commissioners for Assessments in the County of Kent in 1649.  This position adjudicated fines for those thought to have assisted the Royalist cause during the war.  As Crayford was a Royalist town, this pitched Draper directly against his own people.

Misery and Famine in Crayford after the Failed Rebellion of 1648

The failure of the Kentish rebellion in 1648 came at a time when many local people were finding it hard to put bread on the table.  Famine was widespread.  Court records show how some people like John Barefoote of Crayford tried to profit from this misery. Engrossing was profiteering when food was in short supply.  It also hints at the divisions between people at this miserable time:

Information of Richard Hollamore against John Barefoote of Crayford, husbandman, for engrossing 2,000 bushels of apples ( £ 200 ) and 1,000 bushels of pears              ( £ 100) at Crayford between 7 Mar. 1647 and 7 Mar. 1648.            Calendar of Assize Records 1648 p 535

Imposing Fines on the Royalist Rebels of the Second Civil War

In May 1648, Parliament announced that William Draper, Crayford’s Lord of the Manor, would be added to the commissioners who would adjudicate fines for those who had taken up arms on behalf of the King:

That this house doth nominate and approve of Mr William Draper of  Crayford to be added to the Commissioners for Assessments in the County of Kent.                                                                                          Journals of the House of Commons May 2nd 1649

It’s likely that William Draper would have played a role in determining the fines that were handed out to the surviving Kentish rebels, who had taken part in the rebellion that had sparked the Second Civil War in Kent in June, 1648.  We know that Crayford rector Edward May was involved in the rebellion and afterwards had his parish taken from him and was ordered to keep ten miles away from the town.  Other Crayford men fined for their part in the rebellion included parish clerk Thomas Andrews, Richard Wiles and William Willcocks for plundering homes in Bexleyheath and Thomas Laurence for procuring horses and guns for the Royalists.

Puritan Draper Cracks Down on Crayford’s Tippling Houses

After the Royalist defeat in 1648 and the subsequent execution of King Charles I, on 30 January 1649, William Draper felt secure enough to tighten his grip on Crayford.  He used the West Kent Assizes to crack down, on what were known as Crayford’s ‘Tippling Houses’.  These were unlicensed public houses. Records of the West Kent Petty Sessions in 1649 record that:

121 Indictment of Oliver Blann of Crayford, victualler, for keeping a common tippling house at Crayford on 1 March 1649 and other occasions (Endorsed) TRUE BILL (m142)

 122 INDICTMENT of John FINCH  of Crayford, victualler, for keeping a common tippling house at Crayford on 1 March 1649 and other occasions (Endorsed) TRUE BILL (m143)

The Martin’s Rob St Paulinus Church

William Draper was not the only prominent figure in Crayford left to face the aftermath of the Second Civil War. Thomas Thorowgood, as one of the rector’s ‘intruded’ by Parliament, was certainly someone who had to face the heat of local anger at the failed rebellion.  Hints from Thorowgood’s own diary suggest that local people blamed Thorowgood for informing on the Crayford 1648 rebels. (ie former rector Edward May). In a parish that had been used to the ‘High Church Anglican’ regimes of Dr Thomas Vane and Edward May, Thorowgood’s Puritanism would not have been popular.  He had some strange ideas that baffled Crayfordians.  (One strange belief was set down in a book that he wrote claiming that the American Indians were descended from the ancient Israelites!).  Thorowgood was forced out as rector of Crayford in 1649.  This was after just a year after the Royalist rebellion.  He could not continue in his role in a town that thought he had betrayed a local hero and former rector in Edward May and left his family destitute and unable to come within ten miles of the town.

It is interesting to speculate about what forced him to leave.  Records from West Kent Assizes may give a clue.  They report on thefts from St Paulinus church in 1649.   Did John and Mary Martin help to force him out of Crayford by stealing the pulpit cloth and a cushion?  By 1650 a new rector would arrive from Yorkshire, David Clarkson. Once again this was a man who ‘intruded’ on Crayford by parliament (Probably by Cromwell himself). This tough Yorkshireman was not so easy to intimidate.

Indictment of John Martin and Mary Martin (crossed out) his wife of Crayford, for burglary.  On 10 Oct 1649, they burgled the parish church of Crayford and stole a velvet pulpit cloth (£10) and velvet cushion for the pulpit, (endorsed) William Smith, Thomas King. True Bill for Martin; ignoramus for his wife.  At large

Draper Faced Rebellion Close to Home

The majority of Crayford people had supported the Kent rebellion in 1648, so Draper must have been increasingly isolated.  In 1650, two of his estate workers, John Eustace and Richard Dummowle were tried at Maidstone for embezzlement, but the juries in both cases freed the men.

333 Indictment of John Eustace of Crayford, labourer for embezzlement. On 27 Apr 1650 at Crayford he embezzled a fowling piece (32), 6 bushels of wheat (£2), 2 bushels of Barley (8s), a bushel of malt (4s), a bushel of wheat (5s), 100 bavins (fasces )bound twigs and 3 planks (10s) belonging to William Draper esq his master Cf. no.334 (endorsed) William Draper, Henry Luson, William Fowler, William Lethell, John Barler. Ignoramus  (m. 76)

333 Indictment of Richard Dunmowle of Crayford, labourer for grand larceny. On 27 Apr 1650 at Crayford, he stole 2 bushels of Barley (8s), a bushel of malt (4s), a bushel of wheat (5s), 100 bavins (7s)bound twigs and 3 planks (10s) and 3 bars (9s) from William Draper Cf. no.333 (endorsed) William Draper, Henry Lewson, William Fowler, William Lethell, John Barler. Ignoramus   (m.77)

Draper Elected Sheriff of Kent but Dies Before Taking Up His Post

The same year, 1650, when William Draper took his own men to court for embezzlement and stealing from his estate, he was honoured by Kent’s Parliamentarian Committee by being elected as Sheriff of Kent.  After all of the stress since the Second Civil War, it appeared Crayford’s Lord of the Manor would bask in the glory of this prestigious role.   Sadly, it was an honour that he was destined never to enjoy, as he died before he could take up the post.  His death is recorded in the St Paulinus Church records.  Draper had lived through a tumultuous period when the town that he ruled over and been divided by politics and religion.  His grand memorial beside the altar at St Paulinus reminds us of his significant role in those troubled years.