The progress of the conspiracy was now slow and spasmodic, and was seriously checked in May, 1694, by the arrest and committal to the Tower of Walter Crosby, on whom were found papers containing many details of the proposed insurrection; but more fatal even than this was that Lunt turned traitor, and on June 15, 1694, made a full confession of all he knew to one of the Secretaries of State. This, then, is the Lancashire Plot as given by the Court advocates, who, if they erred at all, would certainly not do so in favour of the conspirators. As far as Lancashire is concerned, the whole matter was at an end, except that the following gentlemen were all tried at Manchester in 1694, viz.: Caryl, Lord Molyneux, Sir William Gerard, Sir Rowland Stanley, Sir Thomas Clifton, William Dicconson, Esq., Philip Langton, Esq., Bartholomew Walmsley, Esq., and Mr. William Blundell.[166]
It is but fair to add that the various accounts published regarding this so–called Lancashire Plot contain many variations and inconsistencies, and it is no easy matter to decide which of these various writers is correct; a full account of the trials is now, however, in print, to which the curious reader is referred.[167] The result of these trials was that the prisoners were acquitted, the witnesses not being considered worthy of credit; but subsequently the House of Commons, by a vote of 133 to 37, resolved that there were grounds for the prosecution of the gentlemen at Manchester, as it appeared that there was a dangerous plot carried on against the King and his Government; this resolution was also confirmed by the House of Lords.
The Lancashire gentlemen at the next assizes prosecuted Lunt and two others, who were the chief witnesses against them, and they were all three convicted of perjury.
During the reigns of James I. and Charles II. several towns applied for and got fresh powers by royal charter; this was the case with Preston and Liverpool and several smaller towns—amongst the latter were Kirkham and Garstang. At a very early period a market was held at Garstang, but it was not incorporated until 1680, when Charles II. granted a charter whereby the inhabitants were declared to be a “body corporate by the name of the Bailiff and burgesses of the Borough of Garstang.” From 1680 to the present time the Bailiff has regularly been elected.
The birth of many new trades in Lancashire dates from the seventeenth century, although many of the national industries were followed here at a much earlier period. We now find numerous references to various trades on the tokens, which were somewhat extensively issued in Lancashire in consequence of the great scarcity of small change shortly after the execution of Charles I. Some of these local tokens were of superior workmanship, and of material calculated to stand the wear to which they were subjected. They represented pennies, half–pennies and farthings.
About 150 varieties of these Lancashire tokens were issued before the close of the seventeenth century,[168] some of which indicate the trade followed by the issuer, and thus furnish some clue to the spread of certain industries within the county. A study of them gives the following results:
SEVENTEENTH–CENTURY TOKENS.
Amongst the unclassified several tokens bore religious emblems, such as “the bleeding heart” and the “dove and olive branch”; and the “eagle and child” was a favourite design. Crests or family arms were also often used, but in these cases there is nothing to indicate the occupation of the person who issued the token.