John Clavell

John Clavell (1601 – 1643) was a "highwayman, author, and quack doctor" [Donald S. Lawless and J. H. P. Pafford. "John Clavell, 1603–42. Highwayman, Author, and Quack Doctor," "Notes and Queries" 4 (1957), p. 9.] in England and Ireland in the first half of the seventeenth century.

Clavell matriculated at Brasenose College, Oxford in 1619, but left without taking a degree. He apparently started his criminal career at school, since in April 1621 he was pardoned for stealing silver plate from the College. By 1624 he was in serious debt, and became a high robber; his first venture was on Gad's Hill near Rochester in Kent, a famous location for that type of crime. (Shakespeare shows Falstaff and Prince Hal robbing travellers on Gad's Hill in "Henry IV, Part 1", Act I scene ii.) He was captured, imprisoned, and sentenced to death in 1626. While incarcerated — "from my lonely chamber in the King's Bench" — Clavell composed a long autobiographical poem in rhymed couplets that expressed his remorse for his crimes. Titled "A Recantation of an Ill Led Life, or a Discovery of the Highway Law", the poem was a popular success when published in 1628; its third edition was printed in 1634. After two years in prison, Clavell was pardoned and released.

His play "The Soddered Citizen" was acted by the King's Men at the Blackfriars Theatre in 1630. That play was lost for three centuries, known only by its title and wrongly attributed to Shackerley Marmion. A surviving manuscript was then discovered, edited by W. W. Greg and J. H. P. Pafford, attributed to Clavell and published by the Malone Society in 1936.

In his later years, Clavell practiced as both a lawyer and a doctor in Ireland, despite his lack of actual qualifications for either profession. Long a neglected figure, Clavell has received some recent critical attention for the insight he offers into the underside of early 17th-century society. [John H. P. Pafford, "John Clavell 1601–1643. Highwayman, Author, Lawyer, Doctor," Oxford, Leopard's Head Press, 1993.]

Clavell's commonplace book, dating from the 1633–36 period, is preserved in the WIltshire and Swindon Archives. The book contains drafts of personal letters (primarily to an uncle, about Clavell's reformation and his journeys to Ireland), plus poetry and recipes for medicines.

External links

* [http://www.outlawsandhighwaymen.com/clavell.htm Excerpts from "A Recantation of an Ill Led Life."]

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