Robert Ferguson (c. 1637–1714) was a Scottish presbyterian minister, conspirator and political pamphleteer, known as "the Plotter".

Ancestry

He was the eldest son of William Ferguson (d. 1699) of Badifurrow, Aberdeenshire,

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

and Janet Black. His father disinherited him so the lands of Badifurrow passed to Ferguson's younger brother William, who pre-deceased William senior, so the lands were inherited by James Ferguson who immediately sold the estate and purchased Pitfour. Buchan (2008): p. 8 Ferguson & Fergusson (1895): p. 245 Davidson (1878): p. 374 Another younger brother was Major General James Ferguson. Davidson (1878): p. 376

Life

After receiving a good education, probably at the

University of Aberdeen , mottoeng = The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom , established = , type = Public research universityAncient university , endowment = £58.4 million (2021) , budget ...

, became a

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

(Church of Scotland) minister. According to Bishop Burnet he was cast out by the Presbyterians, but whether this be so or not, he soon made his way to England and became

vicar A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pre ...

of Godmersham,

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, from which living he was expelled by the Act of Uniformity 1662. Some years later, having gained a reputation as a theological controversialist and become a person of importance among the Nonconformists, he attracted the notice of

Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury Anthony Ashley Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury PC FRS (22 July 1621 – 21 January 1683; known as Anthony Ashley Cooper from 1621 to 1630, as Sir Anthony Ashley Cooper, 2nd Baronet from 1630 to 1661, and as The Lord Ashley from 1661 to 1 ...

and the party which favoured the

exclusion Exclusion may refer to: Legal or regulatory * Exclusion zone, a geographic area in which some sanctioning authority prohibits specific activities * Exclusion Crisis and Exclusion Bill, a 17th-century attempt to ensure a Protestant succession in En ...

of the Duke of York from the throne, and he began to write political pamphlets just at the time when the feeling against the Roman Catholics was at its height. In 1680 he wrote "A Letter to a Person of Honour concerning the 'Black Box,'" in which he supported the claim of the

Duke of Monmouth Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ranke ...

to the crown against that of the Duke of York here was said to be a black box that contained a marriage contract between Charles II and Lucy WalterMacaulay, ''History of England'', Chapter 2 Returning to the subject after Charles II had solemnly denied the existence of a marriage between himself and

Lucy Walter Lucy Walter (c. 1630 – 1658), also known as Lucy Barlow, was a Welsh noblewoman, the first mistress of King Charles II of England and mother of James, Duke of Monmouth. During the Exclusion Crisis, a Protestant faction wanted to make her son h ...

. He took an active part in the controversy over the

Exclusion Bill The Exclusion Crisis ran from 1679 until 1681 in the reign of King Charles II of England, Scotland and Ireland. Three Exclusion bills sought to exclude the King's brother and heir presumptive, James, Duke of York, from the thrones of England, Sco ...

, and claimed to be the author of the whole of the pamphlet "No Protestant Plot" (1681), parts of which are usually ascribed to Shaftesbury. Ferguson was deeply implicated in the

Rye House Plot The Rye House Plot of 1683 was a plan to assassinate King Charles II of England and his brother (and heir to the throne) James, Duke of York. The royal party went from Westminster to Newmarket to see horse races and were expected to make the ...

, although he asserted that he had frustrated both this and a subsequent attempt to assassinate the king, and he fled to the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

with Shaftesbury in 1682, returning to England early in 1683. For his share in another plot against Charles II he was declared an outlaw, after which he entered into communication with Archibald Campbell, 9th Earl of Argyll, Monmouth and other malcontents. Ferguson then took a leading part in organizing the rising of 1685. Having overcome Monmouth's reluctance to take part in this movement, he accompanied the duke to the west of England and drew up the manifesto against James II, escaping to the Netherlands after the

Battle of Sedgemoor The Battle of Sedgemoor was the last and decisive engagement between the Kingdom of England and rebels led by the Duke of Monmouth during the Monmouth rebellion, fought on 6 July 1685, and took place at Westonzoyland near Bridgwater in Somerse ...

. He landed in England with

William III of Orange William III (William Henry; ; 4 November 16508 March 1702), also widely known as William of Orange, was the sovereign Prince of Orange from birth, Stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel in the Dutch Republic from ...

in 1688, and aided William's cause with his pen, but William and his advisers did not regard him as a person of importance, although his services were rewarded with a sinecure appointment in the

Excise file:Lincoln Beer Stamp 1871.JPG, upright=1.2, 1871 U.S. Revenue stamp for 1/6 barrel of beer. Brewers would receive the stamp sheets, cut them into individual stamps, cancel them, and paste them over the Bunghole, bung of the beer barrel so when ...

. Chagrined at this treatment, Ferguson was soon in correspondence with the exiled Jacobites. He shared in all the plots against the life of William, and after his removal from the Excise in 1692 wrote violent pamphlets against the government. Although he was several times arrested on suspicion, he was never brought to trial. He died in great poverty, leaving behind him a great and deserved reputation for treachery. It has been thought by Macaulay and others that Ferguson led the

English government There has not been a government of England since 1707 when the Kingdom of England ceased to exist as a sovereign state, as it merged with the Kingdom of Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain.spy in their interests, and that his frequent escapes from justice were due to official connivance. In a proclamation issued for his arrest in 1683 he is described as "a tall lean man, dark brown hair, a great Roman nose, thin-jawed, heat in his face, speaks in the

Scottish accent Scottish English ( gd, Beurla Albannach) is the set of varieties of the English language spoken in Scotland. The transregional, standardised variety is called Scottish Standard English or Standard Scottish English (SSE). Scottish Standard ...

, a sharp piercing eye, stoops a little in the shoulders."

Works

Besides numerous pamphlets, Ferguson wrote: ''History of the Revolution'' (1706); ''Qualifications requisite in a Minister of State'' (1710); and part of the ''History of all the Mobs, Tumults and Insurrections in Great Britain'' (London, 1715).

References

Footnotes

Bibliography