The Radclyffes were Catholics, with long-standing links to the Stuarts; his grandfather
Sir Francis Radclyffe (1625–1697) was created Earl of Derwentwater by
Charles II upon his son, Edward Radclyffe, marrying Lady Mary Tudor. His grandmother, Catherine Fenwick, came from another long-established Northumberland family; her brother
Sir John Fenwick was executed in 1697 for conspiracy to assassinate
William III. His elder brother James was educated at the exile court in
Saint-Germain-en-Laye, where he was companion to
James Francis Edward Stuart. Allowed to return to England in 1709, he and Charles joined the 1715 Rising, with a troop of 70 servants and friends. Captured at
Preston, they were both found guilty of
treason and condemned to death. Witnesses at the trial claimed Charles was in command, but despite efforts to save him, James was executed at
Tower Hill in February 1716 and his title died with him. In December 1716, Charles escaped from
Newgate Prison with 13 other prisoners when a door was left open, and made his way to France. He spent many years in
Rome, the location of the Stuart court post-1718, including a period as private secretary to
Prince Charles. His nephew John, de jure 4th Earl Derwentwater, died in 1731, leaving a legacy to "my kinsman, Mr Thompson", which may refer to an alias used by Charles, who now styled himself 5th Earl Derwentwater. He visited London and Essex in 1733 and 1739, reputedly with the knowledge of the government. Like many Jacobites, he was a
Freemason, who reportedly served as Grandmaster of the
Grande Loge de France in 1738. He is also listed as an officer in the Order of the Fleur de Lys, one of several organisations claiming to inherit the legacy of the
Knights Templar; the Order still exists, although the more fantastic assertions have since been disproved. In November 1745, during the
Jacobite Rising, Charles and his son James boarded a French ship taking arms and supplies from
Dunkirk to the Scottish port of
Montrose. It was intercepted in the
North Sea by
HMS Sheerness and the two were taken to the
Tower of London. Charles had been commissioned into
Dillon's Regiment, part of the
Franco-Irish Brigade, a common technique used in hopes of being treated as a
prisoner of war if captured, rather than a rebel.
Francis Towneley, colonel of the
Manchester Regiment, also employed this defence but the authorities carefully scrutinised such claims and rejected the vast majority.
Lord Chancellor Hardwicke used the 1716 warrant to execute Charles in December 1746; although technically not a
peer, he was beheaded, rather than being
hanged, drawn and quartered, the normal fate for those outside the peerage found guilty of
treason. If he had not escaped in 1716, Charles would in all probability have been pardoned, but the government was particularly harsh on families and individuals seen as habitual or repeat offenders. In a letter to his wife Charlotte the night before his execution, Charles refers to "Fanny, that other mother of my dear children." This is generally taken to refer to Lady Frances Clifford, Charlotte's sister-in-law from her first marriage, who may have assisted in bringing up Radclyffe's own children. He was buried in the church of
St Giles in the Fields, Camden. James was released and pardoned under the 1747 Act of Indemnity; in 1749, he married Barbara Kempe, another Catholic, whose family owned Slindon House near
Slindon, West Sussex. He unsuccessfully petitioned for the return of the
Derwentwater estates, which reverted to the government after the death of John Radclyffe in 1731 and the income assigned to the
Greenwich Hospital. He succeeded his mother as Earl of Newburgh in 1755. ==References==