STAPLEY, Anthony II (1630-72), of Lewes, Suss., and Long Acre, Westminster.

Anthony Stapley was the younger son of one of Sussex’s most prominent ‘godly’ gentlemen of the 1620s and 1630s. In June 1646 he was admitted with his elder brother John Stapley* to the puritan college of Emmanuel, Cambridge, before progressing to Gray’s Inn in May 1647.19Al. Cant.; GI Admiss. Departing from the political views of their father, in June 1648 Anthony Stapley junior and his brother signed the Sussex petition, which called for a settlement with the king on lenient terms.20PA, Parchment Coll. Box 11. For reasons that do not appear, Anthony migrated to the Inner Temple in April 1649, but he was not called to the bar.21I. Temple database. At some date between April 1650 and May 1654 he married the youngest daughter of Sir Henry Holcroft† (d. May or June 1650), an active member of the Essex county committee and a Presbyterian elder, and spent at least part of the next few years living with his mother-in-law Dame Lettice Holcroft at Long Acre in Westminster.22PROB11/212/826 (Sir Henry Holcroft); Suss. Manors i. 54; HP Commons 1604-1629; TSP vii. 85-7. Among his brothers-in-law was Francis Holcroft, who from the mid-1650s became a notable Congregationalist minister in Cambridgeshire.23‘Francis Holcroft’, Oxford DNB.

Stapley did not receive any local appointments until shortly before his father’s death. Nominated in August 1654 to the commission for scandalous ministers in Sussex, he was not named to the commission of the peace until two years later.24A. and O. There is little indication of Stapley’s activity during the early 1650s beyond the tending of his estate. In 1650 he and his brother acquired Netherfield manor from the royalist Heneage Finch†, 3rd earl of Winchilsea, and in 1654 he sold portions of the property which his father had settled on him, including the manors of Boreham and Rockland.25Suss. Manors, i. 54; ii. 316; C54/3575/2.

During the government of the major-generals, Stapley evidently convinced William Goffe* of his loyalty to the protector, and in early November 1655 Goffe asked Secretary John Thurloe* to ensure he was added to the commission of the peace.26TSP iv. 151, 190. He joined the bench in April 1656, and began attending the sessions in July.27E. Suss. RO, QO/EW3, f. 18v. The support of Goffe, together with the standing of his own family in the county, probably ensured that Stapley was unopposed when he stood for Lewes in the 1656 election.28C219/45I; Mercurius Politicus no. 324 (21-28 Aug. 1656), 7206 (E.497.12); no. 326 (4–11 Sep. 1656), 7235 (E.497.18). It is impossible, however, to distinguish Stapley’s parliamentary career from that of his elder brother, John Stapley*, who sat as knight of the shire. During the first session of the Parliament (17 Sep. 1656–26 June 1657) ‘Mr Stapley’ was appointed to seven committees, on issues ranging from shipwrecks to building work in London and dealing with Catholics.29CJ vii. 430a, 444a, 446b, 463b, 474b, 488a, 501a, 531b. In most cases this was more probably John: Anthony Stapley was away from the House at the end of December 1656, when the Commons refused to excuse his absence.30Burton’s Diary, i. 287. On 12 May 1657 one of the brothers acted as teller, alongside Edward Montagu II*, against the establishment of a grand committee to consider the assessment bill. They were defeated by John Disbrowe* and Cornelius Holland*. Since both Montagu and Disbrowe were leading Cromwellian courtiers, this reveals little of Stapley’s attitude to the protectorate.31CJ vii. 533b.

Among other public appointments that year, in October Anthony Stapley was nominated as a commissioner for the public faith.32Mercurius Politicus no. 387 (22-29 Oct. 1657), 62-3. But he may already have joined his brother in a royalist plot, centring on Presbyterians and promoted by John Mordaunt and some of the court in exile precisely because the perceived moderation of those involved was thought likely to attract other conspirators ‘who would not follow the cavaliers’.33TSP vii. 65-9, 88-90; CCSP iii. 281, 312. By December he had been promised a captaincy in the regiment of horse to be raised by his brother.34CCSP iii. 374, 388; TSP vii. 65-9, 85-7. Anthony Stapley was clearly zealous to effect some sort of reform, and was reported to have commented that there were ‘many grievances and oppressions that must be removed’.35TSP vii. 103.

Stapley, or his brother, returned to Westminster for the brief second session of the Parliament (20 Jan.-4 Feb. 1658); doubtless in order to evade suspicion. He was named to only one committee, concerning absenteeism amongst the heads of university colleges.36CJ vii. 581a. As soon as Parliament was dissolved, both Stapley brothers met with fellow plotters at the Half Moon Tavern near the New Exchange in London and at the house of Lady Alford (widow of John Alford*) in Offington. During March Anthony met John Mordaunt several times at Stapley’s rooms in Long Acre, and at Berkshire House, where Mordaunt was staying, although he apparently had little information to pass on from John Stapley in Sussex. Likewise, his attempts to enlist support had only limited success. Encounters with Henry Goring of Burton, Henry Goring of Highden and Edward Blaker* were unproductive, as was encouragement of John Pelham*, or William Dyke, another member of the Sussex gentry with whom he held meetings, both at Clifford’s Inn and at Dyke’s house in Sussex.37TSP vii. 77-80, 85-8, 92-3.

At the beginning of April the fears of some royalists that the plotters were willing but inept were realised when John Stapley was arrested, thanks to information from spies, clergy loyal to the government and Francis Corker, an agent of Thurloe’s who had infiltrated Stapley’s circle.38Colln. of Original Letters and Pprs. ed. T. Carte (1739), ii. 118-24, 130; CCSP iv. 23-5, 73; TSP i. 708-10, 711, 712, 717-19; vii. 48, 85-8. John Stapley buckled under interrogation, leading to the questioning of other plotters.39Clarendon, Hist. vi. 58-9; CSP Ven. 1657-9, p. 188; TSP vii. 25, 65-9. Anthony Stapley gave evidence on 20 April.40TSP vii. 74-5, 77-3, 88-90, 92-4, 96-9, 109-10. Such testimony doubtless saved both from severe punishment, and on 24 April one newswriter commented that ‘Mr Stapley, a member of the late Parliament, hath a pardon for life and estate (upon his ingenuous confession of the whole business)’.41TSP vii. 99-100; CCSP iv. 45; Worcester Coll Oxf. Clarke MS CLXXXI, Box 1, unfol.

Both Stapley brothers gave evidence at the trial of the clerical conspirator John Hewitt (1 June), and helped secure his conviction (2 June) and the execution which followed six days later.42The Tryals of Sir Henry Slingsby and John Hewet (1658), 9-20 (E.753.5); Publick Intelligencer no. 128 (31 May-7 June 1658), sigs. Zzz2v-Aaaa2 (E.753.2); HMC 5th Rep. 152; The True Speech of Doctor John Hewytt (1658, E.948.2); Mercurius Politicus no. 418 (27 May-3 June 1658), 565-74 (E.753.1); no. 419 (3-10 June 1658), 577, 582-6 (E.753.3); no. 420 (10-17 June 1658), 589-94, 600-602 (E.753.6). At his trial Mordaunt admitted meeting both Anthony and John Stapley, but denied any knowledge of a plot, and was eventually released.43TSP vii. 102-3. Once proceedings were over, Anthony, like his brother, retreated to Sussex. He appears to have been involved with the work of the commission of the peace in some capacity in July 1659, and he paid his militia money that August.44E. Suss. RO, QR/E124; SP28/335/82.

In April 1660 Stapley signed the Humble Address from the leading gentry of the county welcoming Charles II’s return to England.45SP29/1, f. 89. Despite his services to the king’s cause, Stapley played no part in the Parliaments of the Restoration, and appears not to have been returned to the county bench, although he was made a gentleman pensioner in September 1660, and held the post until 7 December 1669.46Badminton, Fm H2/4/1, ff. 22, 23v; E407/1/50-51.

In 1661 Stapley sold Netherfield Manor to John Ashburnham*, and in April 1665 sold lands in Herstmonceux and Wartling for £2770.47Suss. Manors, ii. 316; E. Suss. RO, SAS/H/84. He died in 1674, leaving neither heir nor will, and administration of his estate was granted to his brother, John Stapley.48PROB6/49, f. 120.