The greatest ever escape from the Tower of London happened in 1716. Guy Fawkes was not the only person to fail with his insurrection. Another person set to suffer this fate is the Jacobean, William Maxwell, better known as Lord Nithsdale.
His crime is to have supported and played a significant role in the Catholic led, Jacobit rebellion of 1715 that supports the Old Pretender’s attempt to seize the throne back from its Protestant King for himself. The Jacobite forces initially have some successes but at the Battle of Preston in Lancashire they are soundly beaten. In the subsequent aftermath Lord Nithsdale is arrested on the 14th November of 1716 and moved to the Tower of London.
His crime is to have supported and played a significant role in the Catholic led, Jacobit rebellion of 1715 that supports the Old Pretender’s attempt to seize the throne back from its Protestant King for himself. The Jacobite forces initially have some successes but at the Battle of Preston in Lancashire they are soundly beaten. In the subsequent aftermath Lord Nithsdale is arrested on the 14th November of 1716 and moved to the Tower of London.
His future prospects look bleak. Rather forlornly he pleads guilty at his trial and begs the King for a pardon on the basis that he felt pressurized into joining the rebellion against his will. The King is in no mood for granting mercy and so in January 1717 he sentences him to death for high treason on 24 February. Such is the King’s displeasure that Lord Nithsdale is ordered to suffer the indignity and horror of being hung, drawn and quartered.
In most instances this would be the end of the story as the prisoner reluctantly accepts that there is little they can do to change their fate. However what makes this story different is the dogged resolve of his wife, Winifred, the Countess of Nithsdale. She simply can not accept life without her husband and is prepared to go to any length to help him.
As soon as she hears the news about her husband she races from York to London. When her carriage gets stuck in snow she simply switches to horseback for the rest of the journey. Finally she arrives in London and immediately visits various Lords to encourage them to petition the King. It is all for waste though as the King disdainfully ignores the petition for Nithsdale and refuses to see her.
Undeterred Winifred and her servant Lady Nairne ride to St. James Palace. She is absolutely determined to meet the King and plead with him to save her husband. When she finally does meet him she throws herself at the feet of King George I, grasping the skirt of his coat and begs for her husband's life. It is at this point that his blue riband servants belatedly intervene. One grabs her by the waist whilst the other releases her grip on his coast. The King is not best pleased by this act. As far as he is concerned Lord Nithsdale has directly challenged his life and regal status so he feels no sympathy for him.
The situation is now dire and yet the indefatigable Winifred refuses to give up. In desperation she comes up with an all together more dangerous plan. On the evening of 23 February Lady Nithsdale visits her husband before his intended execution alongside her faithful friend, Mrs Morgan, her landlady, Mrs Mills and her maid Cecila Evans.
This is no ordinary visit for Winifred has concocted an elaborate plan to make use of visitor regulations to help her husband. The rules for visiting Lord Nithsdale’s cell are that only two visitors at a time are allowed to enter it. However Winifred thinks up a way around this by making herself and her friends go back and forth into and out of the cell on the pretext that each will share some last intimate moments alone with the broken man. The aim is to confuse the guards as to who is inside and outside. She also takes the further precaution of plying the guards with money, drink and urging restraint on their part by stating that the petition has been passed in the Lord’s favour in the Houses of Parliament.
Once inside the jail Winifred pulls out a spare cloak and puts some make up (powder and rouge) on her husband so as to disguise him as one of the visitors. Lord Nithsdale quickly puts on a dress identical to that worn by Mrs. Mills. Lady Nithsdale then calls out to her friend, loud enough for the guards to hear, to bring her maid, whom she requires to carry a last minute plea for mercy to the King. Mrs. Mills is then brought into the cell, suitably distraught and with her face buried in her handkerchief. Lord Nithsdale then dons her hood (same colour of Mrs Mills hair) and is led out by his wife, also clutching the handkerchief to his eyes. This is a crucial component of the disguise as otherwise the guards will notice that one of the women has a long beard!
Winifred then returns to the cell and pretends to be in a deeply emotional and intimate conversation with her husband. After a suitable period of time has elapsed for her husband to leave she leaves the cell and buys some time for herself by telling the guards that her husband is praying and should not be disturbed. This is a clever ruse as it allows the escape to go unnoticed for a longer period of time than otherwise.
Finally just to complete the clever escape and appear suitably distraught when they leave they give a tearful goodbye to the empty cell walls and are escorted sobbing from the Tower. Later the couple reunite in a small cottage just opposite the guardhouse. Here they enjoy a bottle of wine and a loaf of bread before Lord Nithsdale heads on to the Venetian embassy. He lays in wait here for a few days and then (dressed in Venetian livery) as a servant of the Venetian Ambassador he travels to Dover and from there to France.
When the king hears of his escape next morning, he observes that “it was the best thing a man in his condition could have done”. He is not so objective though in his comments about Lady Nithsdale. He complains that she has “given him more trouble and anxiety than any woman in Europe".
Lady Nithsdale though is not finished with all her business. She is worried that her son’s legacy will be extinguished since she believes that as a punishment the Lord’s land might be confiscated. So at still greater risk to herself she decides to travel on horseback to Traquir in Scotland where the estate papers are kept before returning to London. As justification she writes “as I had once exposed my life for the safety of the father, I could not do less than hazard it once more for the fortune of the son". From London she then travels to Rome to meet up with her husband once again. Here she stays for another thirty three years until the end of her life.