Aaron Smith (died 1701) was an English lawyer, involved in the

Popish Plot The Popish Plot was a fictitious conspiracy invented by Titus Oates that between 1678 and 1681 gripped the kingdoms of England and Scotland in anti-Catholic hysteria. Oates alleged that there was an extensive Catholic conspiracy to assassinat ...

and

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 r ...

Life

Smith, a man of obscure background, had a career as

solicitor A solicitor is a lawyer who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and enabled to p ...

and was mentioned as a

seditious Sedition is overt conduct, such as speech or organization, that tends toward rebellion against the established order. Sedition often includes subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent toward, or insurrection against, establis ...

person in a proclamation of 1 June 1677. A frequenter of the Rose Tavern, he associated with

Titus Oates Titus Oates (15 September 1649 – 12/13 July 1705) was an English priest who fabricated the "Popish Plot", a supposed Catholic conspiracy to kill King Charles II. Early life Titus Oates was born at Oakham in Rutland. His father was the Baptis ...

and

Hugh Speke Hugh Speke (1656 – c. 1724) was an English writer and agitator. Life He was a son of George and Mary Speke of Whitelackington, Somerset. His father was a member of the Green Ribbon Club, the Whig organization founded in 1675, and was a suppor ...

. He also got to know Sir John Trenchard, and sought the acquaintance of the pro-Dutch intriguers in the pay of

William, Prince of Orange William, Prince of Orange (Willem Nicolaas Alexander Frederik Karel Hendrik; 4 September 1840 – 11 June 1879), was heir apparent to the Dutch throne as the eldest son of William III of the Netherlands, King William III from 17 March 1849 until ...

. He was a

Green Ribbon Club The Green Ribbon Club was one of the earliest of the loosely combined associations which met from time to time in London taverns or coffeehouses for political purposes in the 17th century. The green ribbon was the badge of the Levellers in the Eng ...

member, listed by

Thomas Dangerfield Thomas Dangerfield (c. 165022 June 1685) was an English conspirator, who became one of the principal informers in the Popish Plot. His violent death at the hands of the barrister Robert Francis was clearly a homicide, although whether th ...

. On 30 January 1682 he appeared at the bar of the

King's Bench The King's Bench (), or, during the reign of a female monarch, the Queen's Bench ('), refers to several contemporary and historical courts in some Commonwealth jurisdictions. * Court of King's Bench (England), a historic court of common law in t ...

on a charge of providing

Stephen College Stephen College (also Colledge) was baptised as Stephen Golledge in Hertfordshire (1637–1681) was an English joiner, activist Protestant, and supporter of the perjury underlying the fabricated Popish Plot. He was tried and executed for high treas ...

with seditious papers for the purposes of his defence. He was tried for this offence the following July, and found guilty of delivering libellous papers to College and using disloyal words. He managed to escape into hiding before the sentence was pronounced, and spent the year in active plotting. He had by this time obtained the confidence of the leaders of the disaffected "country party", and the council, consisting of Monmouth, Russell, Essex, Sidney, and Hampden, despatched him in January 1683 to confer with their friends in Scotland. When the government got wind of the Rye House plot, they arrested Smith in Axe Yard on 4 July and committed him to the Tower. He was thought to be deeply implicated in the plot, but little could be proved against him. On 27 October he was sentenced for his previous offence to a fine, two hours in the

pillory The pillory is a device made of a wooden or metal framework erected on a post, with holes for securing the head and hands, used during the medieval and renaissance periods for punishment by public humiliation and often further physical abuse. ...

, and to remain in prison pending security for good behaviour. Mentioned in Nathan Wade's list of the members of the "King's Head Club" in October 1685, he was released from the

King's Bench Prison The King's Bench Prison was a prison in Southwark, south London, England, from the Middle Ages until it closed in 1880. It took its name from the King's Bench court of law in which cases of defamation, bankruptcy and other misdemeanours were he ...

in March 1688. After the

Glorious Revolution The Glorious Revolution, also known as the Revolution of 1688, was the deposition of James II and VII, James II and VII in November 1688. He was replaced by his daughter Mary II, Mary II and her Dutch husband, William III of Orange ...

Smith brought forward claims to reward. On 9 April 1689 King William made him solicitor to the treasury, and then public prosecutor. Most of his charges were thrown out by the grand juries, while he was at odds with the attorney-general, Sir George Treby. In November 1692 he was summoned before the House of Lords to explain the procedure which had been followed upon the arrest of Lords Marlborough and Huntingdon. When Trenchard became secretary of state (northern department) in 1693, Smith's activity against suspects and

Jacobites A Jacobite is a follower of someone named Jacob or James, from the Latin ''Jācōbus''. Jacobite or Jacobitism may refer to: Religion * Arminianism, the theology of Jacobus Arminius * Jacobites, followers of Saint Jacob Baradaeus (died 578). Ch ...

was redoubled. On slight preliminary evidence, he travelled to

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

with two informers, Taafe and Lunt. Some compromising letters and some arms behind a false fireplace were discovered, and five Lancashire gentlemen were arrested; but Ferguson and other pamphleteers alluded to the plot as a ridiculous sham; Taafe changed sides at the last moment, and at the trial at Manchester in October 1694 the prisoners were acquitted. Smith was charged with fabricating the depositions of the witnesses for the prosecution, and (by his own side) with having mismanaged the affair. Smith was widely suspected of

corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense that is undertaken by a person or an organization that is entrusted in a position of authority to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's gain. Corruption may involve activities ...

in his public office and in February 1696 he was questioned by the House of Commons over his accounts. Failing to deliver his accounts to the commissioners appointed to examine them by 18 February, he was ordered to be taken into custody, and on 25 July 1696, he was dismissed from his employment. Four months later he attended at the bar of the house and pleaded illness. He was given an extension until 16 January 1697, but he failed to put in an appearance. He spent his last years in obscurity.

References

Notes

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Aaron Year of birth missing 1701 deaths English solicitors Members of the Green Ribbon Club People associated with the Popish Plot People of the Rye House Plot 17th-century English lawyers