MAYNE TROTT

One of the principal witnesses at the trials of both Fr Philip Evans and Fr David Lewis was a disreputable character named Mayne Trott, of Llanvihangel Crucorny.

Born around 1629, Mayne Trott had been successively Court Dwarf to the Kings of Spain and of England. After the Restoration of the Monarchy, Trott was in the service of King Charles II of England but, because of his unsavoury conduct, he was banished from Court. Trott himself denied this and maintained that he had left Court of his own free will and was still welcome to go there whenever he pleased.

Mayne Trott had converted to Catholicism upon his marriage to a wealthy relative of Fr David Lewis. He soon went through her fortune and after her death he reverted to Protestantism. Having been banished from Court, he had to depend on the charity of others and thus he became a useful tool of the zealous anti-Catholic and priest hunter, John Arnold, and was now a tenant and servant of Arnold’s. Of course, because of his married life as a Catholic, Mayne Trott was able to supply his master with information as to the affairs of the Catholics in South East Wales.

At the trial of St David Lewis, Judge Atkins asked; “Mr Trott, what have you to say of the prisoner? Did you ever hear him read Mass? Was he reputed commonly a Jesuit, or Popish priest?” Trott replied; “Yes, my lord, he was commonly reputed so, and I have heard him often read Mass and I saw him marry Mr Gunter’s daughter to Mr Body.” Fr Lewis, who had trained as a Lawyer, was conducting his own defence and he pointed out to Judge Atkins and the court that, because of Trott’s straitened circumstances, “it is rather poverty and hope of gain, than anything else, that brings him here to accuse me.” To this Judge Atkins replied “Paupertas ad turpia rogat” (poverty leads to dishonesty).

In November 1679, three months after the execution of St David Lewis, there was a Pope-burning in Abergavenny. Instigated by John Arnold and his minions, the spectacle was led by Mayne Trott, armed with a blunderbuss. Shortly after this, 50 year old Mayne Trott dropped dead in a London street.

ABERGAVENNY’S POPE-BURNING

At one time, Pope-burning processions were popular in this country. (Unfortunately, some still take place on Guy Fawkes Night.) The Green Ribbon Club met in the King’s Head Tavern at Chancery Lane End, London. This was the secret headquarters of Shaftsbury’s subversive and venomous anti-Catholic party. The exact date of its founding is not certain but it was well established by 1678 and it was here that the Pope-Burning processions were organised by the club. The processions, which included mock Cardinals, Jesuits, etc, finished with the lighting of a huge bonfire in front of the club windows and, to inculcate in the masses the deeply anti-popish ideological teaching of the state, the burning of the Pope’s effigy. This proved a most effective tool for inflaming their religious hatred and fears.

John Arnold possessed a loathsome effigy of the Pope, and he referred to this as “his baby” or “his doll”. In 1678, he had invited Fr David Lewis to view it but the captive priest had declined the offer.

In November 1679, there was a Pope-Burning procession in Abergavenny, no doubt organised by John Arnold and his anti-Catholic cohorts. The Master of Ceremonies, armed with a firearm, was that repugnant little creature, Mayne Trott. Two robust sow gelders led the procession with a figure of the Pope, “richly adorned with relics, pictures, beads and bells and other superstitious emblems”. There is little doubt that this was the “doll” which Arnold had invited Fr Lewis to see. Since maximum frenzy was the objective, there were also signs and placards reminding the onlookers of the Gunpowder Plot and the murder of Sir Edmund Berry Godfrey. Pope-burning processions always began with a man ringing a bell and bellowing “Remember Justice Godfrey.”

Ironically, the festivities did not prove popular with the good people of Abergavenny. However, its unpopularity was not due to any charitable or conciliatory feelings towards their Catholic neighbours. No, it was unpopular because it interfered with the town’s annual fair!

(A painting of Abergavenny on the outside of buildings in Abergavenny Town Centre)

THE FAMILY OF ST DAVID LEWIS

St David Lewis, SJ, was born in Abergavenny in 1616. His family was prominent and, although not too much is known about most of them, it is possible to piece together a picture of just who some of them were and the part they played in the life and times of the area, particularly Abergavenny.
DAVID HENRY LEWIS, (Alias Charles Baker) was born in Abergavenny in 1616, one of nine children. David was the only one of the nine to be brought up in the Protestant religion.
Father, MORGAN LEWIS, a kinsman of the Morgans of Skenfrith, one of whom was the mother of St John Kemble. Morgan Lewis was the headmaster of King Henry VIII Grammar School in the town. He was a Protestant and he brought up his son, David, in that religion. About 1636, Morgan Lewis was reconciled to the Catholic Church. He died of fever in 1638.
Mother, MARGARET PRITCHARD, a devout Catholic who brought up her other eight children, four sons and four daughters, as Catholics. By 1638, only David, who, as a young man, had converted to Catholicism, and two of Margaret’s daughters remained Catholic. Margaret died of a fever in 1638.
Brother, RICHARD LEWIS, father of the Saint’s Jesuit nephew and namesake, Fr David Lewis S J.
Sister, MARY, wife of Thomas Gunter Senior and mother of Thomas Gunter Junior who kept Frs Philip Evans and David Lewis at his house in Cross Street. (It is believed that under James II, the Franciscans opened a mission in Abergavenny, financed by Thomas Gunter’s daughter.)
Uncle, FR JOHN PRITCHARD, S J, (alias Lewis) the Saint’s mother’s brother, was only six years older than David and he numbered him among his closest friends.
Aunt, LADY FRANCES MORGAN of Llantarnam Abbey
Grandfather, HENRY PRITCHARD, Gentleman, was the father of Margaret Lewis.
Grandmother, MARGARET BAKER, granddaughter of Lewis Wallis, Vicar of Abergavenny, was fined for recusancy in 1608. She was the mother of Margaret Lewis and the niece of Dr David Lewis.
Great Grandfather, WILLIAM BAKER, Steward to Lord Abergavenny, was the grandfather of David Lewis's mother.

Great Grandmother, MAUD LEWIS, daughter of Lewis Wallis, Vicar of Abergavenny

Great Great Grandfather, LEWIS WALLIS, Vicar of Abergavenny

Great Great Grandmother, LUCY, daughter of Llewelyn Thomas Lloyd of Bedwellty

Great Uncle, DAVID BAKER, who became famous as the great Benedictine mystic and writer, DOM AUGUSTINE BAKER. On his last visit to Abergavenny in 1620, he stayed with his sister, Margaret Pritchard, and it is more than probable that he would have seen her young grandson, the son of Margaret and Morgan Lewis, the future priest and martyr, St David Lewis.

Great Uncle, RICHARD BAKER, (possibly a lawyer), was the eldest son of William Baker, brother of Dom Augustine Baker and of David's grandmother, Margaret Pritchard.

Great Great Uncle, DR DAVID LEWIS, was the eldest son of Lewis Wallis, and brother of Maud Baker, great grandmother of St David Lewis. Dr David Lewis was the first Principal of Jesus College, Oxford.

Nephew, FR DAVID LEWIS, S J, son of Richard Lewis, was born in Monmouth and educated at St Omer. He entered the English College in Rome in 1690. In 1707 he was professed as a member of the Society of Jesus. He lived and worked in Rome where he died in 1741.
Nephew, THOMAS GUNTER JUNIOR, an attorney and Justice of the Peace, was the son of Mary, daughter of Morgan Lewis of Abergavenny. He had a secret Catholic chapel in his house on Cross Street, Abergavenny.
Relative, ST JOHN KEMBLE, possibly a cousin as Morgan Lewis was a relative of John Kemble’s mother.
Relative, NATHANIEL PRITCHARD, a wealthy haberdasher and hat seller and a prominent citizen of Abergavenny. He was fined for recusancy in 1624 and, under the Commonwealth, his estate was confiscated for recusancy.

As in most, if not all, families, a bad apple or two finds its way onto the family tree. The family of the last Welsh Martyr, St David Lewis, also sprouted at least one piece of rotten fruit - MAYNE TROTT. Fortunately, it was only a tenuous link! It is said that Mayne Trott had married a relative of David Lewis and, after her death, he went to London. He found a position at Court but he was eventually dismissed for bad conduct.