GEORGE II AND THE 'FIFTEEN'


Warrant signed by George Prince of Wales (the future George II), as Prince Guardian of the Realm ("George P.C.R"), authorising £167-8s be paid to the Commissary-General, Colonel Solomon Rapin, for the pay of several officers "to take Care of the Rebell Prisoners at Chester Leverpool & Lancaster, from the First of July 1716. to the 31st of August following", directed to the Paymaster General, Henry, Earl of Lincoln, and counter-signed by the Secretary-at-War, William Pulteney; with John Mulcaster's account inserted, listing officers and civilians, including the master surgeon, and cooks at Lancaster, Preston and Chester with sums entered against each; contemporary docket (indicated as settled on 15 December), 3 pages in two bifolia, paper guard, light dust-staining, especially to blank verso, a few minor tears at edges, etc., but overall in good and attractive condition, folio, Hampton Court, 29 September 1716
|'THE REBELL PRISONERS AT CHESTER LEVERPOOL & LANCASTER' – the Hanoverian Prince of Wales authorises payment for the care of those who had risen against his father. Many of these prisoners would have been among the 1,500 who surrendered at the Battle of Preston the previous November; those who were not executed or transported being distributed between the gaols of Lancaster, Chester and Liverpool, where many of the trials were held, thanks to their reputation for being staunchly pro-Hanoverian and Whig. The bulk of prisoners were to be released by the Act of Indemnity of July 1717.Prince George served as Guardian of the Realm during his father's absence in Hanover from July 1716 to January 1717. But relations between the two deteriorated so rapidly – not least because of the popularity that the Prince garnered during his father's absence – that although the King visited Hanover on a further four occasions, the Prince was never again appointed Guardian. Documents signed by him in this capacity are as a consequence uncommon.