CHARLES II AT MOSELEY

By 1651, when Charles II made his desperate attempt to regain his throne, which culminated in his defeat at the Battle of Worcester on September 3rd, Thomas Whitgreave was living at Moseley with his widowed mother but did not take any part in the battle as he was ill at the time. None of his sisters was living at home, but also in the house was Father John Huddleston, a Benedictine priest, and his three pupils - Francis Reynolds and Thomas Paylin, nephews of Thomas Whitgreave, and Sir John Preston, son of Sir John Preston of Preston of Thomas Morgan of Heyford Hall, Northants. John Huddleston had been chaplain to the boy's father.

Different accounts of the King's stay at Moseley vary slightly in detail, but according to "Mr. Whitgreave's Narrative" and Father Huddleston's "Original Account" the principal facts are as follows.

By early morning on Thursday, (i.e.the day after the battle) the King and a group of officers were at White Ladies Priory near Brewood, having been led there by Colonel Charles Gifford of Chillington. Most of the officers then continued north towards Newport, except Lord Willmot who decided to try to travel east towards the York-London road. The King stayed with William Pendrell, one of several brothers who lived near Boscobel on the Chillington estate near Brewood. Another brother, John, escorted Willmot as far as the house of Mr. Huntbach at Brinsford in Bushbury parish. After hiding their horses at a nearby cottage, John Pendrell set off to see if it was possible to move further east, but the various routes proved impassible and he was forced to return. On passing Northeycote Farm he spoke to the farmer's wife, Mrs. Underhill, (of another Catholic family), asking if she would help, but she refused, being afraid. At that moment Father Huddleston and his pupil Sir John Preston were passing the house, and as John Pendrell knew him he asked if he could help. As they walked towards Moseley Father Huddleston said that he would ask if Mr. Whitgreave would be prepared to shelter Lord Willmot. John Pendrell waited at the house while Father Huddleston fetched Thomas Whitgreave who was working in the fields. It was agreed that Lord Willmot should come to Moseley, and John was sent to Brinsford with instructions to bring him to a rendezvous late that night at the Moors, a small field near Moseley. Thomas Whitgreave waited there for several hours that night, but on returning home he found that Huntbach had brought Lord Willmot direct to the house along the public road rather than across the fields.

Next morning, Friday, Thomas decided to send a neighbour, Will Walker, to the home of Colonel Lane at Bentley Hall near Walsall, to ask if he would take Lord Willmot's horses. Will was told to bring the horses, and Colonel Lane sent a message to Thomas to meet him at midnight at a wooded hollow in Allport's Leasow near Moseley. Thomas took the Colonel back to the house, where he offered to take Lord Willmot with him to Bentley. He also informed him that his (Colonel Lane's) sister had a pass for herself and a servant to travel to the West of England, which could be of use in his escape. Lord Willmot thanked him but decided to stay at Moseley for the time being. The Colonel returned to Bentley.

On Friday afternoon John Pendrell had been sent to White Ladies to learn what had happened to the King, and was told that he had decided to move west across the Severn into Wales during the previous night. When John returned to Moseley with this news, Lord Willmot resolved to accept Colonel Lane's offer of his sister's pass and make good his escape via the West country. John Pendrell was therefore sent to Bentley to request that the horses should be brought back to Moseley that night. After his return to Moseley John was allowed to go home to Boscobel, and Lord Willmot departed to Bentley as planned.

On Sunday afternoon Thomas Whitgreave and Father Huddleston were in the Long Walk of the garden at Moseley when they saw John Pendrell. He was coming to tell them that the King had been unable to cross the Severn and had returned to White Ladies. This was bad news indeed, and Thomas and Father Huddleston decided that they must consult Lord Willmot at Bentley. After the Sunday service that evening they went with John Pendrell to Bentley, where Lord Willmot decided that they should suggest to the King that he should come to Moseley. John travelled yet again to White Ladies, and after midnight he and his brothers Humphrey, William, George, and Richard, and their brother in law Francis Yates, escorted the King, his hair cut short, dressed in labouring clothes, and mounted on a cart-horse, to meet Thomas Whitgreave and Father Huddleston at their rendezvous in the wooded pit in Allport's Leasow.

A story of the journey has been handed down of how the King complained about the stumbling of his less than royal charger on the rutted paths towards Moseley. Humphrey Pendrell responded, "Well he might, my Liege, with the weight of three kingdoms on his back." The King complimented this wit.

On arrival at the house, the King immediately went upstairs to greet Lord Willmot, who declared to the little group that "the person under that disguise was his master and theirs, and master of us all." They knelt and kissed the King's hand and were told that "he had received so signal remarks of their loyalty and affection to him that he should never be unmindful thereof."

The King went to his bedchamber, sat on the bed and ate a few biscuits and drank a glass of sack. His nose bled a little and Father Huddleston gave him a clean handkerchief. The King's shoes were slashed, his feet were sore and his stockings wet. Father Huddleston washed the King's feet, dried them and put on clean dry stockings and slippers. He also exchanged the rough shirt the King was wearing for a new one of his own, and supplied another for Lord Wilmot.

On Monday morning the Pendrells left and a bed was made for the King in the secret hiding place. He retired there and stayed for most of the day. Father Huddleston's three pupils were set at the three garret windows of the house as sentries to report to him if anyone approached the house, a task they performed so diligently that at no time did anyone arrive without warning.

In the meantime, Thomas' mother ensured that none of the servants went upstairs, taking food to the King herself. At dinner the King invited her to sit and eat with him, while Father Huddleston and Thomas served. The servants and the three boys were told that relatives of Father Huddleston were being entertained and sheltered after the battle, the real identity of the guests being known only to Thomas, his mother, and Father Huddleston.

On Monday afternoon Thomas rode into Wolverhampton to hear what news there was, and on his return was requested by Lord Willmot to send to Colonel Lane's for his horses. That night he left again for Bentley with orders for the Colonel to escort His Majesty from Moseley to Bentley on Tuesday night.

On Tuesday morning the King, together with Father Huddleston and Thomas, watched many Royalist Scottish soldiers, some wounded, pass the house and ask for food and dressings. The road was at that time the route from Wolverhampton to Cannock, and so to the northeast and Scotland. In the afternoon while the King was dozing on his bed, a neighbour ran to the house saying that soldiers were coming to search. The King heard the commotion and ran to his hiding place, while Thomas went outside the house to meet them. They accused him of being a Catholic and of fighting for the King at Worcester, but his neighbours testified that he had been ill at home and he was released. In the meantime one of the soldiers, Southall by name, came into the farmyard and asked the smith, Holbeard, if he could tell where the King was he should receive a thousand pounds. Neither Holbeard nor any of the other farm workers or servants knew of the King's presence and after a while the troops left, without entering the house. When Thomas was sure that they had left the village he returned indoors and brought the King from his hiding place.

That evening the King asked Father Huddleston to show him the oratory, saying that he knew he was a priest, and that if it pleased God to restore him to his Kingdom it would not be necessary to hide such places.

Before midnight, Thomas, after ensuring that all the servants were in bed, left the house with Francis Reynolds and went to the rendezvous with Colonel Lane. The boy stayed with the horses and the Colonel came to the orchard stile and waited for the King. Thomas brought his mother to take leave of the King and she brought him dried fruit and nuts, some of which he ate and some he took with him. They knelt and prayed to Almighty God to bless, prosper and preserve him. The King thanked Mrs. Whitgreave, Thomas and Father Huddleston and said that if it pleased God to restore him he would not forget them. Father Huddleston and Thomas escorted him to Colonel Lane and thence to the horses. They kneeled, kissed his hand, and offered prayers for his safety. Father Huddleston gave him his cloak to protect him from the cold and wet, and they took their leave.

Charles rode away to Bentley Hall and several weeks later reached the continent.

In February 1685 as the King lay dying at Westminster, the last act in the link with Moseley, thirty four years before took place. At the request of the King's mistress, Louise, Duchess of Portsmouth, James, the King's brother bade the Protestant bishops who surrounded the King's bed to withdraw. When they had gone a muffled figure entered by a back staircase. Father Huddleston administered the Last Sacrament and Charles was received into the Catholic Church before he died.

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