John Lilburne

John Lilburne (1614 – 29 August 1657), also known as Freeborn John, was an English political Leveller before, during and after English Civil Wars 1642-1650. He coined the term "freeborn rights", defining them as rights with which every human being is born, as opposed to rights bestowed by government or human law.^[1] In his early life he was a Puritan, though towards the end of his life he became a Quaker. His works have been cited in opinions by the United States Supreme Court.^[2]

Early life[link]

John Lilburne was the son of Richard Lilburne, a landowner of estates at Thickley Punchardon and elsewhere in County Durham.^[3] He was probably born in Sunderland^[4] but the exact date of his birth is unknown; there is some dispute as to whether he was born in 1613, 1614, or 1615. His father Richard Lilburne was the last man in England to insist that he should be allowed to settle a legal dispute with a trial by combat^[5] John's elder brother Robert Lilburne also later became active in the Parliamentary cause, but seems not to have shared John's Leveller beliefs. By his own account Lilburne received the first ten years' of his education in Newcastle, almost certainly at the Royal Free Grammar School.^[6] He also had some schooling in Bishop Auckland.^[7]

In the 1630s he was apprenticed to John Hewson,^[8] who introduced him to the Puritan physician John Bastwick, an active pamphleteer against Episcopacy who was persecuted by Archbishop William Laud. Lilbune's connection with Bastwick, whose "Litany" he had a hand in printing, obliged him to flee to Holland.^[7]

Unlicensed publishing[link]

On his return from Holland, Lilburne was arrested (11 December 1637) for printing and circulating unlicensed books,^[7] more especially William Prynne's "News from Ipswich", that were not licensed by The Stationers' Company (known after 1937 as the Worshipful Company of Stationers and Newspaper Makers). At that time all printing presses were licensed as well as the publications that were produced on those presses.

"Freeborn John"[link]

Lilburne was arrested upon information by an informer acting for The Stationers' Company and brought before the Court of Star Chamber. Instead of being charged with an offence he was asked how he pleaded. In his examinations he refused to take the oath known as the 'ex-officio' oath (on the ground that he was not bound to incriminate himself), and thus called in question the court's usual procedure.^[9] As he persisted in his contumacy, he was sentenced (13 February 1638) to be fined £500, whipped, pilloried, and imprisoned till he obeyed.^[10]

On 18 April 1638 Lilburne was flogged with a three-thonged whip on his bare back, as he was dragged by his hands tied to the rear of an ox cart from Fleet Prison to the pillory at Westminster. He was then forced to stoop in the pillory where he still managed to campaign against his censors, while distributing more unlicensed literature to the crowds.^[7] He was then gagged. Finally he was thrown in prison. He was taken back to the court and again imprisoned. During his imprisonment in Fleet he was cruelly treated.^[11] While in prison he however managed to write and to get printed in 1638 an account of his own punishment styled The Work of the Beast and in 1639 an apology for separation from the church of England, entitled Come out of her, my people.^[7]

On his release, Lilburne married Elizabeth Dewell (a London merchant's daughter) in September 1641. Lilburne’s agitation continued: the same year he led a group of armed citizens against a group of Royalist officers, forcing them to retreat.

That was the first in a long series of trials that lasted throughout his life for what John Lilburne called his "freeborn rights". As a result of these trials a growing number of supporters began to call him "Freeborn John" and they even struck a medal in his honour to that effect. It is this trial that has been cited by constitutional jurists and scholars in the United States of America as being one of the historical foundations of the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution. It is also cited within the 1966 majority opinion of Miranda v. Arizona by the U.S. Supreme Court.

English Civil War[link]

In the First English Civil War he enlisted as a captain in Lord Brooke's regiment of foot in the Parliamentary army commanded by the Earl of Essex and fought at the Battle of Edgehill. He was a member of the Parliament's garrison at Brentford against Prince Rupert during the Battle of Brentford that took place on 12 November 1642 as the Royalists advanced on London and, after trying to escape by jumping in the Thames, was taken as a prisoner to Oxford. As the first prominent Roundhead captured in the war, the Royalists intended to try Lilburne for high treason. But when Parliament threatened to execute Royalist prisoners in reprisal (see the Declaration of Lex Talionis), Lilburne was exchanged for a Royalist officer.

He then joined the Eastern Association under the command of the Earl of Manchester as a volunteer at the siege of Lincoln, and on 7 October 1643 he was commissioned as a major in Colonel King's regiment of foot. On 16 May 1644 he was transferred to Manchester's own dragoons with the rank of lieutenant-colonel.^[12] He became friends with Oliver Cromwell, who was second in command, supporting him in his disputes with Manchester. He fought with distinction at the Battle of Marston Moor in 1644. Shortly afterwards he asked permission to attack the Royalist stronghold at Tickhill Castle, because he had heard it was willing to surrender. Manchester refused, dismissing him as a madman. Taking that as a yes, he went and took the Castle without a shot being fired.

In April 1645, Lilburne resigned from the Army, because he refused to sign the Presbyterian Solemn League and Covenant, on the grounds that the covenant deprived those who might swear it of freedom of religion, namely members of the parliamentary army. Lilburne argued that he had been fighting for this Liberty among others. This was practically a treaty between England and Scotland for the preservation of the reformed religion in Scotland, the reformation of religion in England and Ireland "according to the word of God and the example of the best reformed churches," and the extirpation of popery and prelacy. The Scots, he maintained, were free to believe as they saw fit but not to bind anyone to the same faith if they did not share it.

The historian C.H. Firth opined that Lilburne had gained a great reputation for courage and seems to have been a good officer, but his military career was unlucky. He spent about six months in prison at Oxford, was plundered of all he had at Rupert's relief of Newark (22 March 1644), was shot through the arm at the taking of Walton Hall, near Wakefield (3 June 1644), and received very little pay. His arrears when he left the service amounted to £880.^[13] He also succeeded in quarrelling, first with Colonel King and then with the Earl of Manchester, both of whom he regarded as lukewarm, incapable, and treacherous. He did his best to get King cashiered, and was one of the authors of the charge of high treason against him, which was presented to the House of Commons by some of the committee of Lincoln in August 1644.^[14] The dispute with Manchester was due to Lilburne's summoning and capturing Tickhill Castle against Manchester's orders, and Lilburne was one of Cromwell's witnesses in his charge against Manchester.^[15]

Quarrels with William Prynne[link]

Besides the feuds he had with officers in the Army, Lilburne soon engaged in a quarrel with two of his former fellow sufferers. On 7 January 1645 he addressed a letter to William Prynne, attacking the intolerance of the Presbyterians, and claiming freedom of conscience and freedom of speech for the independents,^[16] Prynne, bitterly incensed, procured a vote of the Commons summoning Lilburne before the committee for examinations (17 January 1645). When he appeared (17 May 1645) the committee discharged him with a caution.^[17] A second time (18 June 1645) Prynne caused Lilburne to be brought before the same committee, on a charge of publishing unlicensed pamphlets, but he was again dismissed unpunished. Prynne vented his malice in a couple of pamphlets: A Fresh Discovery of prodigious Wandering: Stars and Firebrands, and The Liar Confounded, to which Lilburne replied in Innocency and Truth Justified (1645). Dr. John Bastwick took a minor part in the same controversy.^[12]

Agitation[link]

John Lilburne then began in earnest his campaign of agitation for freeborn rights, the rights that all Englishmen are born with, which are different from privileges bestowed by a monarch or a government. He also advocated extended suffrage, equality before the law, and religious tolerance. His enemies branded him as a Leveller but Lilburne responded that he was a "Leveller so-called." To him it was a pejorative label which he did not like. He called his supporters "Agitators." It was feared that "Levellers" wanted to level property rights, but Lilburne wanted to level human basic rights which he called "freeborn rights"

At the same time that John Lilburne began his campaign, another group led by Gerrard Winstanley styling themselves True Levellers (and became known as Diggers), advocated equality in property as well as political rights.

Putney Debates[link]

Lilburne was imprisoned from July to October 1645 for denouncing Members of Parliament who lived in comfort while the common soldiers fought and died for the Parliamentary cause. It was while he was incarcerated that he wrote his tract, England's Birthright Justified.

In July 1646, he was imprisoned in the Tower of London for denouncing his former commander the Earl of Manchester as a traitor and Royalist sympathiser. It was the campaign to free him from prison which spawned the political party called the Levellers. Lilburne called them "Levellers so-called" because he viewed himself as an agitator for freeborn rights.

The Levellers had a strong following in the New Model Army with whom his work was influential. When the Army held the Putney Debates^[18] between 28 October and 11 November 1647, the debate centred upon a pamphlet influenced by the writings of John Lilburne called An Agreement of the People for a firm and present peace upon grounds of common right.^[19] The events of 1647, where rank and file soldiers organised themselves, under the leadership of the Agitators have been compared to the organisation of Soldiers Soviets during the Russian Revolution of 1917.

Written constitution[link]

Lilburne was instrumental in the writing of two more editions of this famous document. The second was An Agreement of the People of England, and the places therewith incorporated, for a secure and present peace, upon grounds of common right, freedom and safety,^[20] was presented to Parliament on 11 September 1648 after amassing signatories including about a third of all Londoners.

Following the defeat of the Royalists and the abolition of the monarchy and House of Lords, England became a commonwealth in 1649 with the regicide of Charles I. It was while he was in the Tower of London that John Lilburne, William Walwyn, Thomas Prince and Richard Overton wrote the third edition of An Agreement of the Free People of England. Tendered as a Peace-Offering to this distressed Nation.^[21] They hoped that this document would be signed like a referendum so that it would become a written constitution for the Commonwealth of England. The late United States Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black, who often cited the works of John Lilburne in his opinions, wrote in an article for Encyclopædia Britannica that he believed John Lilburne's constitutional work of 1649 was the basis for the basic rights contained in the US Constitution and Bill of Rights.

On trial for high treason[link]

When Hugh Peters visited John Lilburne in the Tower on 25 May 1649, Lilburne told him that he would rather have had seven years under the late king's rule than one under the present regime, and that in his opinion if the current regime remained as tyrannical as it was, then people would be prepared to fight for "Prince Charles".^[22] Three months later in Outcry of the Apprentices to the Soldiers Lilburne stated that apprentices and soldiers fought to maintain the fundamental constitution of the Commonwealth and rights of the people in their Parliaments by regulating the Crown not against the person of the King.^[23]

There had been rumours after the Broadway meeting of January 1648, that Levellers were conspiring with Royalists to overthrow the new republic.^[24] During the Oxford mutiny this was confirmed when Parliament acquired a letter from a Royalist prisoner in the Tower of London to Lord Cottington, and advisor in exile with Charles II in France, which suggested that the Royalists should finance the Levellers, as a method by which Charles could be restored to the throne. Armed with this evidence parliament published a long declaration against the Levellers and passed a motion to try Lilburne for High Treason, using a court similar to that which had tried Charles I. Like the trial of the King sentence would be passed by appointed commissioners, (forty for Lilburn's trial), but unlike the King (who had no peers) a jury of 12 would decide on Lilburn's guilt or innocence.^[25] The trial took place in the London Guildhall.^[26] It started on 24 of October 1649, and lasted two days. When the jury found him not guilty, the public shouted their approval so loudly and for so long that it was another half an hour before the proceedings could be formally closed.^[27]

Lilburn was not released immediately and was held for a further two weeks before pressure from the populaces and some friends in Parliament finally secured his release.^[28] Although some members of parliament were irked at Lilburne's release, Parliament had succeed in suppressing open Levellers dissent. The Levellers gave up all attempts to rouse the country and army to open rebellion, and started to conspire ineffectually in secret.^[28]

1649–1651[link]

So far as politics was concerned, Lilburne for the next two years remained quiet. He was elected on 21 December 1649 a common councilman for the city of London, but on the 26th his election was declared void by Parliament, although he had taken the required oath to be faithful to the commonwealth.^[29] No disposition, however, was shown to persecute him. On 22 December 1648 he had obtained an ordinance granting him £3,000, in compensation for his sufferings, from the Star Chamber, the money being made payable from the forfeited estates of various Royalists in the county of Durham. As this source had proved insufficient, Lilburne, by the aid of Marten and Cromwell, obtained another ordinance (30 July 1650), charging the remainder of the sum on confiscated chapter-lands, and thus became owner of some of the lands of the Durham chapter.^[30]

Now that his own grievance was redressed, he undertook to redress those of other people. Ever since 1644, when he found himself prevented by the monopoly of the merchant adventurers from embarking in the cloth trade, Lilburne had advocated the release of trade from the restrictions of chartered companies and monopolists.^[31] He now took up the case of the soap-makers, and wrote petitions for them demanding the abolition of the excise on soap, and apparently became a soap manufacturer himself.^[32] The tenants of the manor of Epworth hold themselves wronged by enclosures which had taken place under the schemes fur draining Hatfield Chase and the Isle of Axholme. Lilburne took up their cause, assisted by his friend, John Wildman, and headed a riot (19 October 1650), by means of which the commoners sought to obtain possession of the disputed lands. His zeal was not entirely disinterested, as he was to have two thousand acres for himself and Wildman if the claimants succeeded.^[33] John Morris, alias Poyntz, complained of being swindled out of some properties by potent enemies, with the assistance of John Browne, late clerk to the House of Lords. Lilburne, who had exerted himself on behalf of Morris as far back as 1648, now actively took up his cause again,^[34]

Much more serious in its consequences was Lilburne's adoption of the quarrel of his uncle, George Lilburne, with Sir Arthur Hesilrige. In 1649, Lilburne had published a violent attack on Hesilrige, whom be accused of obstructing the payment of the money granted him by the parliamentary ordinance of 28 December 1648.^[35] George Lilburne's quarrel with Hesilrige was caused by a dispute about the possession of certain collieries in Durham—also originally the property of Royalist delinquents— from which he had been ejected by Hesilrige in 1649. In 1651 the committee for compounding delinquents' estates had confirmed Hesilrige's decision. John Lilburne intervened with a violent attack on Hesilrige and the committee, terming them "unjust and unworthy men, fit to be spewed out of all human society, and deserving worse than to be hanged".^[36] He next joined with Josiah Primat—the person from whom George Lilburne asserted that he had bought the collieries—and presented to parliament, on 23 December 1651, a petition repeating; and specifying the charges against Hesilrige. Parliament thereupon appointed a committee of fifty members to examine witnesses and documents; who reported on 16 Jan. 1652, that the petition was "false, malicious, and scandalous".^[37] Lilburne was sentenced to pay a fine of £3,000, to the state, and damages of £2,000, to Hesilrige, and £500. apiece to four members of the Committee for Compounding with Delinquents.

In addition John Lilburne was sentenced to be banished for life, and an Act of Parliament for that purpose was passed on 30 January 1652.^[38]

Exile in the Netherlands[link]

Lilburne spent his exile in the Netherlands at Bruges and elsewhere, where he published a vindication of himself, and an attack on the government.^[39] In his hostility to the army leaders Lilburne had often contrasted the present governors unfavourably with Charles I. Now he frequented the society of cavaliers of note, such Lords Hopton, Colepeper, and Percy. If he were furnished with ten thousand pounds, he undertook to overthrow Cromwell, the Parliament, and the Council of State, within six months. "I know not," he was heard to say, "why I should not vye with Cromwell, since I had once as great a power as he had, and greater too, and am as good a gentleman". But with the exception of the Duke of Buckingham, none of the royalists placed any confidence in him.^[40]

Return, trial and imprisonment[link]

The news of the expulsion of the Rump in April 1653 excited Lilbume's hopes of returning to England. Counting on Cromwell's placid disposition, he boldly applied to him for a pass to return to England, and, when it was not granted, came over without one on 14 June. The government at once arrested him, and lodged him in Newgate, whence he continued to importune Cromwell for his protection, and to promise to live quietly if he might stay in England.^[41] His trial began at the Old Bailey on 13 July, and concluded with his acquittal on 20 August. As usual Lilburne contested every step with the greatest pertinacity. "He performed the great feat which no one else ever achieved, of extorting from the court a copy of his indictment, in order that be might put it before counsel, and be instructed as to the objections he might take against it".^[42] Throughout the trial popular sympathy was on his side. Petitions on his behalf were presented to parliament, so strongly worded that the petitioners were committed to prison. Crowds flocked to see him tried; threats of a rescue were freely uttered; and tickets were circulated with the legend:

And what, shall then honest John Lilburne die?

Three-score thousand will know the reason why.^[43]

The government filled London with troops, but in spite of their officers, the soldiers shouted and sounded their trumpets when they heard that Lilburne was acquitted.^[44] Such was his popularity that two medals were struck in celebration of his acquittal.^[45] The government, however, declined to leave Lilburne at large. The jurymen were summoned before the Council of State, and the Council of State was ordered to secure Lilburne. On 28 August he was transferred from Newgate Prison to the Tower of London, and the Lieutenant of the Tower was instructed by parliament to refuse obedience to any writ of Habeas Corpus.^[46] On 16 March 1654, the Council ordered that he should be removed to Mount Orgueil Castle, Jersey.^[47] Colonel Robert Gibbon, the governor, complained that he gave more trouble than ten cavaliers.^[48]

The Protector offered Lilburne his liberty if he declined to act against the government, but he answered that he would own no way for his liberty but the way of the law.^[49] Lilburne's health suffered from his confinement, and in 1654 his death was reported and described.^[50] His wife and father petitioned for his release, and in October 1655 he was brought back to England and lodged in Dover Castle.^[51]

Quakerism and death[link]

In 1656, he was allowed to leave the Dover Castle during the daytime to visit his wife and children, who had settled in Dover. It was here that Lilburne met Luke Howard, a Quaker whose serenity impressed him and began the process of his own conversion. Lilburne declared himself a convert to the tenets of the Quakers, and announced his conversion in a letter to his wife.^[52] General Fleetwood showed a copy of this letter to the Protector, who was at first inclined to regard it merely as a politic device to escape imprisonment. When Cromwell was convinced that Lilburne really intended to live peaceably, he released him on parole from prison, and seems to have continued till his death the pension of 40s. a week allowed him for his maintenance during his imprisonment.^[53] Later he was permitted to stay away from prison for several days at a time and took to visiting Quaker congregations in Kent.^[52]

In the summer of 1657, whilst visiting his wife, who was expecting their tenth child,^[54] Lilburne died at Eltham 29 August 1657, and was buried at Moorfields, "in the new churchyard adjoining to Bedlam".^[55]

On 21 January 1659 Elizabeth Lilburne petitioned Richard Cromwell for the discharge of the fine imposed on her husband by the act of 30 Jan. 1652, and her request was granted. Parliament on a similar petition recommended the repealing of the act, and the recommendation was carried by the restored Long parliament, 15 Aug. 1659.^[56]

Family[link]

Lilburne married Elizabeth, daughter of Henry Dewell. During his imprisonment in 1649 he lost two sons, but a daughter and other children survived him.^[57]

Importance[link]

Charles Harding Firth writing in the Dictionary of National Biography considered Lilburne's political importance easy to explain: In a revolution where others argued about the respective rights of King and Parliament, he spoke always of the rights of the people. His dauntless courage and his powers of speech made him the idol of the people. With Coke's "Institutes" in his hand he was willing to tackle any tribunal. He was ready to assail any abuse at any cost to himself, but his passionate egotism made him a dangerous champion, and he continually sacrificed public causes to personal resentments. It would be unjust to deny that he had a real sympathy with sufferers from oppression or misfortune; even when he was himself an exile he could interest himself in the distresses of English prisoners of war, and exert the remains of his influence to get them relieved.^[58] In his controversies he was credulous, careless about the truth of his charges, and insatiably vindictive. He attacked in turn all constituted authorities—lords, commons, council of state, and council of officers—and quarrelsome though he was, it is fair to note that he never fell out with his closer comrades, Walwyn and Overton (^[59]). A life of Lilburne published in 1657 supplies this epitaph:

Is John departed, and is Lilburne gone!

Farewell to Lilburne, and farewell to John...

But lay John here, lay Lilburne here about,

For if they ever meet they will fall out.^[60]

Images[link]

There are the following contemporary portraits of Lilburne:^[61]

1. an oval, by G. Glover, prefixed to 'The Christian Man's Trial.' 1641.
2. the same portrait republished in 1646, with prison bars across the face to represent Lilburne's imprisonment.
3. a full length representing Lilburne' pleading at the bar with Coke's 'Institutes' in his hand; prefixed to 'The Trial of Lieut.-col. John Lilburne, by Theodorus Varax,' 1649.

Bibliography[link]

A bibliographical list of Lilburne's pamphlets compiled by Edward Peacock is printed in Notes and Queries for 1898. Most of them contain autobiographical matter.^[61]

Fictional portrayal[link]

Lilburne was portrayed by Tom Goodman-Hill in the 2008 television drama The Devil's Whore. In this fictional work, Lilburne is shown to have died in prison while being visited by his wife, Elizabeth.

Re-enactments[link]

Lt-Colonel John Lilburne has a regiment in his honour in The Sealed Knot (reenactment) society. Although he never had his own regiment, Lilburne's is a thriving regiment that boasts one of the best event turnouts in the whole society. Lilburne's is based mainly in Yorkshire and Lancashire, England. Many of the regimental members are located in places like Leeds, Huddersfiled, Preston and Lancaster.

The Regiment consists of a Pike Block, Musket Block and Artillery as well as Civilians and puts on numerous public displays each year both as a Regiment and as part of the wider Society.

The Regiments colour scheme is: Purple coats with grey breeches for the earlier battles (representing Captain Lilburne's company in Lord Brooke's Regiment) and Red coats with Sea Green Facings with grey breeches for mid/late civil war(New Model Army) re-enactments.

Lilburne's Regiment also use Facsimile copies of original medals, struck in honour of his acquittal for treason, as awards for long service and outstnding contribution to the Regiment.

John Lilburne Award[link]

The Citizens In Charge Foundation, led by Paul Jacob, honors a person or organization every month who stands up for initiative & referendum rights in the US. The first award was given in November 2008 to Eric Ehst of the Clean Elections Institute, for his role in defeating Arizona's Proposition 105, which could have imposed a super-majority.^[62]

February 2011 - Tracy and Linda Strickland

Attorneys Tracy and Linda Strickland of Boulder City, Nevada, were honored with the February 2011 John Lilburne Award. The Stricklands are representing a group of Boulder City citizens who, in pursuing several local initiative measures, have been repeatedly sued by the city.^[63]

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Gardiner, Samuel Rawson (2000). History of England from the Accession of James I to the Outbreak of the Civil War: 1603-1642. Adegi Graphics LLC. ISBN 1-4021-8410-7. 
• Gibb, Mildred Ann (1947). John Lilburne, the Leveller, a Christian democrat (reprint ed.). L. Drummond. p. 327. 
• Gregg, Pauline (2001). Free Born John - Biography of John Lilburne. Phoenix Press. ISBN 1-84212-200-2. 
• Guizot, François, M. (1854). Translator Sir Andrew Richard Scoble. ed. History of Oliver Cromwell and the English commonwealth: from the execution of Charles the First to the death of Cromwell. 1 (2 ed.). R. Bentley. 
• Howell, Thomas Bayly; Cobbett, William (1816). ""The Trial of Mr. John Lilburn, at the Sessions of the Peace held for the City of London, at Justice-Hall in the Old Bailey, for returning into England, being banished by Act of Parliament". A Complete Collection of State Trials and Proceedings for High Treason and Other Crimes and Misdemeanors from the Earliest Period to the Year 1783, with Notes and Other Illustrations. Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown & Green, .. 
• Charles II. A.d. 1653- [Written (the chief part) by the said John Lilburne.]"
• Richards, Peter (2007). John Lilburne (1615-1657): English Libertarian (Libertarian Heritage No. 25). ISBN 978-1-85637-748-5. 
• Sharp, Andrew (October 2004). "Lilburne, John (1615?–1657)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. DOI:10.1093/ref:odnb/16654. 
• Willis-Bund, John William (2008) [1905]. The Civil War In Worcestershire, 1642-1646: And the Scotch Invasion Of 1651. Birmingham: READ BOOKS. ISBN 978-1-4437-7438-3. 

Attribution

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Firth, Charles Harding (1893). "Lilburne, John". In Sidney Lee. Dictionary of National Biography. 33. London: Smith, Elder & Co. pp. 243–250.  This source list the following general sources:
  • The earliest life of Liburne is The Self-Afflicter lively Described, 8vo, 1657;
  • The best is that contained in Biographia Britannica, 1760, v. 2337-61.
  • Other lives are contained in Wood's Athenæ Oxon. and Guizot's Portraits Politiques des Hommes des differents Partis, 1651.
  • Godwin, in his History of the Commonwealth, 1824, traces Lilburne's career with great care.
  • Other authorities are cited in the text.

Further reading[link]

Wikisource has original text related to this article: Transcript of Lilburne's trial for high treason, October 1649.

• Foxley, Rachel (2004), "John Lilburne and the citizenship of 'free-born Englishmen'", The Historical Journal (Cambridge University Press) 47: 849–874, http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract;jsessionid=863EB24E32D3609B8B1DB2D2EB04D18B.tomcat1?fromPage=online&aid=265013#fn1 
• Hill, Christopher (1991). The World Turned Upside Down - Radical Ideas During the English Revolution. Penguin. 
• Hill, Christopher (1993). The English Bible and the Seventeenth Century Revolution. Penguin. 
• Manning, Brian (1996). Aristocats, Plebians and Revolutiuon in England 1640-1660. Pluto Press. 
• Hammer, Rev. "Rev Hammer's concept album about the life of Freeborn John". http://www.revhammer.com/freeborn_john.htm. Retrieved 5 August 2010. 

External links[link]

• Lt. Col. John Lilburne's Regiment of Foote

Sir Jimmy Savile OBE, KCSG
Savile in 2006
Born	James Wilson Vincent Savile (1926-10-31)31 October 1926 Leeds, England
Died	29 October 2011(2011-10-29) (aged 84) Roundhay, Leeds, England
Nationality	British
Occupation	DJ, actor, columnist, television and radio personality
Years active	1958–2011
Television	Jim'll Fix It, Top of the Pops
Religion	Roman Catholic

Sir James Wilson Vincent Savile OBE KCSG (31 October 1926 – 29 October 2011) was an English disc jockey, television presenter and media personality, best known for his BBC television show Jim'll Fix It, and for being the first and last presenter of the long-running BBC music chart show Top of the Pops. He was also known for his fundraising and support of various charities, particularly Stoke Mandeville Hospital. He was widely described as a philanthropist and was honoured for his efforts.^[1][2]

Early life[link]

Savile was born in Leeds, the youngest of seven children (Mary, Marjory, Vincent, John, Joan, Christina and James) born to Agnes Monica (née Kelly) and Vincent Joseph Marie Savile, a bookmaker's clerk and insurance agent.^[3] Savile almost died of pneumonia at the age of five months.

He was a Bevin Boy, conscripted during World War II to work as a coal miner at South Kirkby Colliery, West Yorkshire, England. He suffered serious spinal injuries in a mine explosion and spent a long period in recuperation.^[4] Having started playing records in dance halls in the early 1940s, Savile claimed to be the first ever disc jockey. According to his autobiography, he was the first person to use two turntables and a microphone, at the Grand Records Ball at the Guardbridge Hotel in 1947.^[5] Savile is acknowledged as one of the pioneers of twin turntables for continuous play of music,^[6] though his claim has been disputed. (Twin turntables had been illustrated in the BBC Handbook in 1929 and were advertised for sale in Gramophone magazine in 1931.^[7])

He became a semi-professional sportsman, competing in the 1951 Tour of Britain cycle race^[8] and working as a professional wrestler.^[9] He said:

If you look at the athletics of it, I've done over 300 professional bike races, 212 marathons and 107 pro fights. [He proudly announces that he lost all of his first 35 fights.] No wrestler wanted to go back home and say a long-haired disc jockey had put him down. So from start to finish I got a good hiding. I've broken every bone in my body. I loved it.^[10]

Savile later lived in Salford, and worked as manager of the Plaza Ballroom in Oxford Road, Manchester, in the mid-fifties. He lived in Great Clowes Street in Higher Broughton, Salford, and was often seen sitting on his front door steps. He also managed the Mecca Locarno ballroom in Leeds around the late 1950s and early 1960s.^[11] Mecca also owned the Palais, a dance hall in Ilford, Essex, and Savile did a stint as manager there between 1955 and 1956. His Monday evening records-only dance sessions (admission one shilling) were a huge favourite with local teens.^[12]

Radio[link]

Savile started his radio career working as a Radio Luxembourg DJ from 1958 to 1967. He ran the Teen and Twenty Disc Club (TTDC),^[13] membership for life, on Radio Luxembourg. For a small fee listeners received a certificate and a small bracelet with a disc on it, inscribed with the show's name. He stated on the BBC television series Inside Out that the title Teen and Twenty Disc Club had been rejected by the BBC in favour of Top of the Pops as too long; also that he introduced dancing to records, so that he was the originator of the discothèque.

In 1968 he joined BBC Radio 1, where he initially presented Savile's Travels and the discussion show Speakeasy. His best-remembered contribution to Radio 1, however, is the Sunday lunchtime show Jimmy Savile's Old Record Club, where entire top tens from years gone by were played. This was the first show to feature old charts. It began in 1973 as The Double Top Ten Show and ended in 1987 as The Triple Top Ten Show, at which point he left Radio 1 after 19 years, although he could be heard presenting The Vintage Chart Show on BBC World Service between March 1987 and October 1989, playing top tens from the years 1957 to 1987.

From March 1989 to August 1997 he was heard on various stations around the UK (mostly taking the Gold format, such as the West Midlands' Xtra AM and the original Classic Gold network in Yorkshire) where he revived his Radio 1 shows.

In 1994, satirist Chris Morris gave a fake obituary on BBC Radio 1 (as a joke), saying that Savile had collapsed and died, which allegedly drew threats of legal action from Savile and forced an apology from Morris.

On 25 December 2005, and 1 January 2007, Savile presented shows on the Real Radio network. The Christmas 2005 show counted down the festive Top 10s of 10, 20 and 30 years previously, while the New Year 2007 show (also taken by Century Radio following its acquisition by GMG) featured Savile recounting anecdotes from his past and playing associated records, mostly from the 1960s although some were from the 1970s.

Television[link]

In 1960 he presented Tyne Tees Television's music programme Young at Heart. Although the show was broadcast in black and white, Savile dyed his hair a different colour every week.^[14]

On New Year's Day, 1964, he presented the first edition of the BBC music chart television programme Top of the Pops from a television studio – a converted church (now demolished) – in Dickenson Road Rusholme, Manchester. On 30 July 2006 he also co-hosted the final edition, ending the show with the words "It's number one, it's still Top of the Pops", before being shown turning off the studio lights after the closing credits. When interviewed by the BBC on 20 November 2008 and asked about the revival of Top of The Pops for a Christmas comeback, he commented that he would welcome a "cameo role" in the programme.^[15]

During the early 1960s he co-hosted (with Pete Murray) New Musical Express Poll Winners' Concert, annually held at Empire Pool, Wembley, with acts such as The Beatles, Cliff Richard and The Shadows, Joe Brown and the Bruvvers, The Who, and many others. These were filmed and recorded and later broadcast on television. On 31 December 1969, Savile hosted the BBC/ZDF co-production Pop Go The Sixties, shown across Western Europe, celebrating the hits of the 1960s.

Savile is also remembered for a series of Public Information Films promoting road safety, notably "Clunk Click Every Trip" which was promoted the use of the car seatbelts, the clunk representing the sound of the door and the click the sound of the seatbelt fastening. This led to Savile's hosting his own Saturday night chat/variety show on BBC1 from 1973 entitled Clunk, Click, which in 1974 featured the UK heats for the Eurovision Song Contest featuring Olivia Newton-John. He also fronted a long-running series of advertisements in the early 1980s for British Rail's InterCity 125, in which he declared "This is the age of the train". After two series, Clunk, Click was replaced by Jim'll Fix It which he presented from 1975 to 1994.

He was interviewed by Dr. Anthony Clare for the radio series In the Psychiatrist's Chair, where Savile appeared to be "a man without feelings."^[16] In 1995 he was interviewed at length by Andrew Neil for the TV series Is This Your Life? (made by Open Media for Channel 4).^[17] In April 2000, he was the subject of an in depth documentary by Louis Theroux, in the When Louis Met… documentary series. "When Louis Met...Jimmy" was voted one of the top fifty documentaries of all time in a survey by Britain's Channel Four.^[18]

Savile visited the Celebrity Big Brother house on 14 and 15 January 2006. During these visits he "fixed it" for some of the housemates to have their wishes granted; for example, Pete Burns received a message from his significant other and friend while Dennis Rodman was able to trade Savile's offering for a supply of cigarettes for other housemates.

In 2007 Savile returned to television with Jim'll Fix It Strikes Again, in which he showed some of the most popular 'fixits' ever, recreating them with the same people, as well as making new dreams come true.^[19]

Personal life[link]

Savile was famous for his yodel^[20] and his catchphrases included "how's about that, then?", "now then, now then, now then", "goodness gracious", "as it 'appens" and "guys and gals". Savile was frequently spoofed for his distinctive appearance, which almost always consisted of a track suit or shell suit, along with gold jewellery. A range of licensed fancy dress costumes were released with his consent in 2009. Savile was also very well known as a heavy cigar smoker, and often smoked them for the public eye.^[21] In July 2005 he was named as one of the Radio Times "Top 40 most eccentric TV presenters of all time".

He was a member of the Institute of Advanced Motorists^[22] and drove a Rolls-Royce.^[23] He was also a member of Mensa.^[24] He was chieftain of the Lochaber Highland Games for many years, and owned a house in Glen Coe. His appearance on the final edition of Top of the Pops in 2006 was pre-recorded as it clashed with the games.^[25] While still alive he arranged for a bench, in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, to be dedicated to his memory, with the words 'Jimmy Savile – but not just yet!' added as an inscription.^[26][27]

A bachelor, Savile lived with his mother (whom he referred to as "The Duchess") and kept her bedroom and wardrobe exactly as it was when she died. Every year he had her clothes dry cleaned. Savile's personal relationships were rarely the subject of media report or comment during his lifetime. He claimed in his autobiography that he had had many intimate relations with members of the opposite sex, describing his first introduction to women in detail and then adding: ".. there have been trains and, with apologies to the hit parade, boats and planes (I am a member of the 40,000 ft club) and bushes and fields, corridors, doorways, floors, chairs, slag heaps, desks and probably everything except the celebrated chandelier and ironing board."^[28] Savile claimed that the key to his success on Jim'll Fix It had been that he disliked children, although he later admitted to saying this to deflect scrutiny of his personal life. He did not own a computer, explaining that he did not want anybody to think that he was downloading child pornography.^[29]

In November 2007 Savile was robbed by a fan who made off with his glasses whilst in a Leeds hotel. According to Savile, he was walking down a corridor of the Queens Hotel at around midnight after attending a function at the hotel when he became aware of a woman walking beside him. He assumed the woman was going to hug him but she instead reached for his glasses before sprinting off down the corridor. He later said "I thought it was marvellous, it was just like old times!". Savile promised his 'assailant' a box of chocolates for giving him a "1960s thrill in 2007".^[30]

Charitable works[link]

Aside from his TV and radio work, Savile carried out a considerable amount of charity work and is estimated to have raised some £40 million for charity.^[31]

One of the causes for which he raised money was the Stoke Mandeville Hospital where he worked for many years as a volunteer porter. He raised money for the Spinal Unit, NSIC (National Spinal Injuries Centre). Savile also raised money for St Francis Ward – a ward for children and teens with spinal cord Injuries.

Savile also worked as a volunteer at Leeds General Infirmary and at Broadmoor Hospital. In 1988 he was appointed chairman of a task force set up to advise on governing Broadmoor. Savile had his own room at both Stoke Mandeville and Broadmoor.^[32]

From 1974 - 1988 he was the honorary president of Phab (Physically Handicapped in the Able Bodied community).^[33]

He also sponsored medical students at the University of Leeds to perform undergraduate research in the Leeds University Research Enterprise scholarship scheme (known as LURE), donating over £60,000 every year.^[34] In 2010 the scheme was extended with a commitment of £500,000 over the following five years.^[35] Following Savile's death in October 2011 it was confirmed that a bequest had been made to allow continued support for the LURE programme.^[36]

Savile was also well known for running marathons (many of them again for Phab, including their annual half marathon around Hyde Park). He completed the London Marathon in 2005, at the age of 79.

Honours[link]

• In 1971 he was awarded the OBE,^[37] which he always subsequently appended to his signature.
• Awarded honorary Commando Green Beret by the Royal Marines in the 1970s for being one of only three civilians to date to complete the Royal Marine Commando speed march, 30 miles across Dartmoor carrying 30 lb of kit.^[38] The other civilians were former Blue Peter presenter Gethin Jones and film maker Chris Terrill.
• In 1990 he was knighted for his services in the Queen's Birthday Honours List.^[39] The same year he was honoured with a Papal knighthood making him a Knight Commander of Saint Gregory the Great (KCSG).^[40]
• He held an honorary doctorate of law (LLD) from the University of Leeds.^[41]
• He was an honorary fellow of the Royal College of Radiologists (FRCR).^[42]
• He was a Knight of Malta.^[42]
• He was a Freeman of the Borough of Scarborough^[43]

Death[link]

Savile's coffin on display in the Queen's Hotel, Leeds, 8 November 2011

Police and paramedics were called to Savile's home at Roundhay, Leeds,^[44] at 12:10 pm on 29 October 2011, where they found his body.^[45] He was two days short of his 85th birthday. He had recently been treated in hospital for pneumonia, and police said that they were not treating his death as suspicious.^[44] His closed satin gold coffin was displayed at the Queens Hotel in Leeds^[46][47] together with the last cigar he smoked and his two This Is Your Life books.^[48] About 4,000 people visited to pay tribute.^[49] His funeral took place at Leeds Cathedral on 9 November 2011,^[50] and he was buried on 10 November at 12:30 pm at Woodlands Cemetery in the seaside town of Scarborough.^[51][52] As his will had specified, his coffin was inclined at 45 degrees to fulfil his wish to "see the sea".^[52][53] The coffin was later encased in concrete "as a security measure".^[54]

Works[link]

Books

• Jimmy Savile, As it happens, ISBN 0-214-20056-6, Barrie & Jenkins 1974 (autobiography)
• Jimmy Savile, Love is an Uphill Thing, ISBN 0-340-19925-3, Coronet 1976 (softback edition of As it Happens)
• Jimmy Savile, God'll Fix It, ISBN 0-264-66457-4, Mowbray, Oxford 1979

Recordings

• 1962, "Ahab the Arab" with Brian Poole and the Tremeloes. Decca, F11493 (single)^[55][56]

References[link]

External links[link]

• BBC News Obituary
• Jimmy Savile at the Internet Movie Database
• Jimmy Savile Biography and Radio 1 audio clips at Radio Rewind
• BBC article about the "Clunk Click Every Trip" safety belt advert
• Jimmy Savile at Find a Grave