Leonard MACHELL was a recusant Roman Catholic. He was confirmed by Bishop Lyburn in 16871.
Leonard was listed as a Recusant in 1696 and refused to take the Oathes of Allegiance to the Crown in 1715, 1717, 1720 and 1722.
Following the Jacobite rebellion of 1715, everyone, including women, over the age of 18 was compelled to swear an Oath of Allegiance following the passing of the Oaths Act. A further oath of supremacy was added which caused severe problems for Roman Catholics who were being forced to reject the Pope as their religious leader. After the discovery of another Jacobite conspiracy known as the Atterbury Plot an Act was passed in 1722 requiring ?every Person and Persons? to swear loyalty oaths to King George I by 25 December 1723. These oaths of allegiance, supremacy and abjuration represented the last nationwide swearing of loyalty to the Crown.
Catholics refusing to take the oaths of loyalty were required to register their names and estates at quarter sessions or face the seizure of their property. Leonard was fined in Quarter Sessions in 1720.
When he died, in October 1731, he was living in Hutton. His wife Alice had also been buried in Hutton in 1722/23.
The only evidence I have seen for Leonard being the father of John MACHELL is Bridget MACHELL's Machell Family Tree. Unfortunately that does not contain a reference to a verifiable fact like a will or baptismal record. John did name his ninth child (4th son) Leonard though.
