5th Earl of Derwentwater (1693 - 1746)
The connection of the Radcliffe family and the Stuarts was close from an early time. Their titles had been bestowed by King James II and made them amongst the most feared Jacobite families in England. Charles Radcliffe, along with his brothers Francis and James, were sent to the Stuart court at St Germain at the request of Queen Mary, widow of James II, to be companions and fellow pupils of Prince James Francis Edward.
Charles and his elder brother James were involved in the uprising of 1715 and both surrendered at Preston. Charles was tried on 18th May 1716 and found guilty and sentenced to death. This sentence was deferred until July and he latterly obtained a further stay of execution because of the change in public mood. The success of the ’15 had been limited and the defeat so definite the public mood seemed not to demand public retribution. Eventually, with several other Jacobites he escaped Newgate prison in December and fled to the continent, living in Urbino. He was appointed the Chevalier's agent in Paris and was presumably an important and ever present member of the Stuarts inner circle and court.
Charles participation in the ’45 seems never to have been in doubt and indeed he was involved in the organisation from the continent. He, along with his son James, were captured before their part could be played. In 1745 they were travelling aboard the French privateer ship, Esperance, enroute to Scotland with arms for the Jacobite army. On this voyage they were captured by the British ship Sheerness and sent directly to the Tower of London where he was retried and condemned to death for his involvement and escape of the ’15 and his obvious support and involvement in the ’45.
