Correspondence with James the Pretender (High Treason) Act 1701

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The Correspondence with James the Pretender (High Treason) Act 1701 (13 & 14 Will. III, c. 3) was an Act of Parliament of the Parliament of England passed in 1701. The long title of the Act is "An Act for the Attainder of the pretended Prince of Wales of High Treason". ^[1] After the death of the exiled James II of England in September 1701, his son, James Francis Edward Stuart (the Old Pretender), declared himself to be King James III of England and Ireland and VIII of Scotland, in order to assert the Jacobite claim to the English and Scottish thrones. The Act was a response to this "manifest violation", expressing the "utmost Resentment of so great an Indignity" to William III of England. It enacted that the "pretended Prince of Wales" was convicted and attainted of high treason and that he was "to suffer Pains of Death and incurr all Forfeitures as a Traitor". It further enacted that if any English subject was to knowingly hold any correspondence with James Stuart, or with any person in his employ, or to knowingly spend or transmit any sum of money for the use of James, then on conviction they would be deemed guilty of high treason. If these offences were committed outside the realm, then they could be brought to trial in any English county.

[edit] References

• The Law & Working of the Constitution: Documents 1660-1914, ed. W. C. Costin & J. Steven Watson. A&C Black, 1952. Vol. I (1660-1783), p.96-7

1. ^ 'William III, 1701: An Act for the Attainder of the pretended Prince of Wales of High Treason [Chapter III. Rot. Parl. 13 & 14 Gul. III. n.3.]', Statutes of the Realm: volume 7: 1695-1701 (1820), p. 739. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=47001. Date accessed: 16 February 2007.