STONE, John (?1599-aft. 1660), of Friday Street, London, and Westminster

Stone’s family background is obscure and there is confusion between several John Stones who were active in London at the same time. The most frequent identification of him, as a Merchant Taylor who fined off being alderman in 1651, seems unlikely as he would have been in his late 70s when undertaking a large number of challenging administrative offices later in that decade.33Aylmer, State’s Servants, 241, 407. Described by a contemporary as ‘sometimes a haberdasher in Friday Street’, he may have been the John Stone who was the son of a Staffordshire pewterer apprenticed to the Haberdashers’ Company in 1615 and obtained his freedom in 1623.34Mystery of Good Old Cause (1660), 50 (E.1923.2); GL, MS 15857/1, ff. 58, 194; MS 15860/4, unfol. If this is the case, Stone’s ancestors had settled in Staffordshire in the fifteenth century, and two centuries later the family was among the most important in Walsall, dominating local trade and metal production.35E.J. Homeshaw, Corp. of Walsall (Walsall, 1960), 32-33. Another possibility, based on his later connection with Cirencester, is that Stone was related to the local clergyman of that name who was in turn connected with the Stones of Lechlade, and thus a cousin of Edward Stephens* and John Stephens*.36Vis. Glos. 1623 (Harl. Soc. xxi), 259; Cirencester par. regs; Vis. Glos. 1682-3, ed. Fenwick and Metcalfe (Exeter, 1884), 174, 176. He may also have been the John Stone who negotiated the farm of wine prizage with the Bristol Merchant Venturers on behalf of Sir William Waller*.37Soc. of Merchant Venturers, Merchants’ Hall Bk. of Procs. 1639-70, pp. 112, 124, 129, 148, 177. Yet there is no doubt that Stone’s main sphere of activity was London. In the mid-1640s he served in the trained bands under Robert Tichborne*, and by 1647 he had risen to the rank of captain in the yellow regiment under Colonel Ralph Richardson.38Mystery of the Good Old Cause, 50; L.C. Nagel, ‘Militia of London, 1641-9’ (London Univ. PhD thesis, 1982), 319. One opponent of the new militia commanders could not resist a play on words, saying that this particular stone was ‘as fit to command a company as to build [St] Paul’s, and so not very wise’; and adding that ‘these fellows think the office of a captain is nothing but only to walk before a company to Westminster’.39Paire of Spectacles for the Citie, 12; A Case for City Spectacles (1648), 9 (E.422.7).

It was only at the very end of the 1640s that Stone’s career comes into sharper focus. He was elected to the common council for the ward of Farringdon Within in December 1648 in the first City election to exclude the ‘malignants’ who favoured a personal treaty with the king.40Farnell, ‘Politics of London’, 234. ‘A zealous common councilman’, on 13 January 1649 he supported Tichborne in drawing up a narrative justifying the common council’s decision to sit after the lord mayor and aldermen had withdrawn and calling on Parliament to prosecute the ‘contrivers of and actors in the late wars against Parliament’.41CLRO, Jor. 40, f. 313; Farnell, ‘Politics of London’, 235, 366, 392, 405. Stone sat on 19 common council committees during 1649, but these were administrative rather than political in nature, including measures to relieve the poor.42Farnell, ‘Politics of London’, 234, 366, 392. In April he was appointed as an assessment commissioner for London, and in the same month he became a trustee for the abolition of dean and chapter lands – he was made a trustee for the sale of the same in the following July.43A. and O. In view of his later connection with the town, he may have been the John Stone to whom proceeds from the sale of church lands was paid for the maintenance of a minister at Cirencester in Gloucestershire, and he probably purchased the dean and chapter manor of Salcombe in Devon in January 1650.44Shaw, Hist. Eng. Church ii. 531, 555, 565; Eg. 1048, f. 120. In March of that year Stone was appointed to the third high court of justice to prosecute those who had betrayed the commonwealth.45A. and O. Something of Stone’s religious views at this time can be gleaned from his membership of the corporation for propagating the gospel in New England (from July 1649) and his willingness to sign the proposals for a religious settlement submitted by John Owen*, Sidrach Simpson and other Independent City divines to the Rump in 1651-2.46A. and O.; Woolrych, Commonwealth to Protectorate, 127; T. Liu, Discord in Zion (Cambridge, 1977), 109. A few years later he was appointed as executor of Simpson’s will.47PROB11/249/434.

In July 1653 Stone was called to the Nominated Assembly as one of the London representatives, possibly because of his experience in financial affairs and his interest in religion: he was later listed as one of those Members who favoured ‘godly learned ministry’ and the universities.48Lui, Discord in Zion, 168. During the session he was generally referred to as ‘Captain Stone’, although his interests seem to have been almost entirely financial in nature. On 14 July he was appointed to the important committee to arrange for business to be conducted by committees.49CJ vii. 285a. On 19 July he was named to the first committee on tithes.50CJ vii. 286a. The following day he was appointed to two of the ten standing committees: for inspecting the treasuries (where he became one of the most active members), and for trade and corporations.51CJ vii. 287a. On 2 August, Stone and Praise God Barbon* were sent to receive a petition from the City apprentices supporting the imprisoned John Lilburne.52Burton’s Diary i. p. v; CJ vii. 294a. In the next few weeks he seems to have concentrated on financial matters. On 13 August he was appointed to a committee to receive propositions for raising money; on 23 August he reported from the committee for inspecting the public treasuries about the state of the excise; and he was appointed to committees to draft bills on collecting the excise arrears on 29 August and to bring in a new bill on fee farm rents on 3 September.53CJ vii. 300a, 307a, 309b, 314a. On 5 September he again reported from the committee for inspecting the treasuries.54CJ vii.314a. On 13 September Stone acted alongside Colonel Philip Jones as teller for the majority in favour of re-reading a bill authorising the compounding commissioners to dispose of two-thirds of the estates of recusants, and on 20 September he was added to the commissioners of inspections to advance the sale of forests.55CJ vii. 317b, 322a. After making two further reports on the excise bill on 1 and 4 October, Stone recommended that the tax should continue at least until the end of the year.56CJ vii. 327a, 329a. He was appointed to peruse the votes in the elections to the new council of state in November, and in the subsequent contest Stone himself was elected with 55 votes.57CJ vii. 343b, 344a-b. Stone was not especially diligent in his attendance at council meetings over the next few weeks, but he took the oath on 3 November and was named to the committee of Irish and Scottish affairs chaired by Oliver Cromwell* on 8 November.58CSP Dom. 1653-4, pp. xxxvi-xxxvii, 230, 237. On 19 November he and Tichborne were instructed to take a message from the council to the lieutenant of the Tower concerning the security of artillery positions in and around London.59CSP Dom. 1653-4, p. 260. Stone continued to sit in Parliament during November. At the end of the month he took part in the four day debate on excise rates, and on 25 November he made a report and joined Robert Bennett as teller in the minority about the duty on alum.60CJ vii. 356b, 357b. Shortly before the dissolution, on 3 December, Stone was appointed an admiralty commissioner.61CJ vii. 362a; A. and O.

The closure of the Nominated Assembly on 10 December brought Stone’s brief stint as a councillor of state to an end, but he continued to serve the new protectorate. It was later said that during this period ‘he thrived so well that he hath purchased many hundred per annum [in land], and a good sum in his purse lying by him on all occasions’.62Mystery of the Good Old Cause, 50. This prosperity was the result of his administrative skills. As early as 20 December 1653 he was ordered by the protectoral council to draft a bill continuing the excise, and eight days later he was given care of debts owed on the security of the excise.63CSP Dom. 1653-4, pp. 299, 315. In the same month he became a commissioner for preservation (i.e. improvement) of the customs and also an excise commissioner.64CSP Dom. 1653-4, pp. 316, 425; 1654, pp. 342, 455; 1655, p. 51. In January 1654 he was appointed auditor of the accounts of the prize goods commissioners, in February the revenue committee was ordered to advise with him, and in March he became a commissioner for appeals on excise arrears, with a salary of £300 a year.65CSP Dom. 1653-4, pp. 368, 425; 1654, p. 343; A. and O. In April he was made a commissioner for prohibiting the planting of tobacco, and in June he was again appointed to the commission for a high court of justice.66A. and O. In July Stone was acting as receiver-general of the London assessments and in September he became teller of the receipt in the exchequer – positions said to be worth £500 and £400 a year respectively.67CSP Dom. 1654, pp. 252, 367; Mystery of the Good Old Cause, 50; Add. 32471, f. 11v.

Stone was elected for Cirencester in the first protectorate Parliament apparently with popular support and without any obvious governmental interference, although his connection with the town cannot be stablished with any certainty.68C219/44, pt. 1. He may have enjoyed the backing of the Stephens family. His committee appointments suggest that his principal role in this Parliament was as an administrator, although on 14 September he was sent to ask his friend Sidrach Simpson to preach to the House and he subsequently returned their thanks to him.69CJ vii. 367b, 376a. Stone was named to committees to bring in a bill following the debate on the government on 21 September and to draft the recognition of the protector to be taken by all MPs on 25 September.70CJ vii. 369a, 370a. After a conference between Parliament and the lord protector, on 5 October Stone was added to the committee for reducing the land and sea forces and named to a committee to limit the jurisdiction of the court of chancery.71CJ vii. 373a, 374a. On 10 October he was appointed to a committee to consider the ordinances passed by the Nominated Assembly the previous year.72CJ vii. 375b. Stone seems to have played no part in the debates on the Government Bill that ensued, but when financial problems were considered on 18 January 1655, he was named to a committee on how the debts charged on the excise could be paid.73CJ vii. 419a. After the closure of this Parliament, Stone was again involved in financial affairs, working with the protectoral council. In February he was re-appointed a commissioner for improvement of the customs; in June he was sent to Gloucestershire and neighbouring counties to impose the ban on growing tobacco; and throughout this period he remained active as a commissioner for appeals against excise arrears.74CSP Dom. 1655, pp. 51, 201, 330. In September he wrote to Ireland on behalf of the nephew of Henry Ogle*, who was looking for a position in the army there.75Henry Cromwell Corresp., 59. In October he became one of the agents for wine licences, and was working with the council to reclaim money owing from the sale of prize goods.76CSP Dom. 1655, pp. 372, 385; 1655-6, p. 36. He was a member of the new trade committee set up on 1 November and a few days later he was appointed a commissioner to audit the accounts of all money received by treasurers and receivers since 1642.77CSP Dom. 1655-6, pp. 1, 14. In March 1656 he was among those members of London companies petitioning for the restoration of their lands in the Londonderry plantation (as promised by Parliament in 1641).78CSP Ire. 1647-60, p. 595. As well as his commercial and financial links with the regime, there are indications that Stone was supporting the protectorate politically. In March he was appointed as one of the commissioners for securing the peace of the commonwealth, working under the deputy major-general for London, John Barkstead*, and in the autumn he was also appointed as a commissioner for the security of the protector in England and Wales.79CSP Dom. 1655-6, p. 238; A. and O.

In 1656 Stone was re-elected for Cirencester but, because of confusion with William Stone, MP for Salisbury, his involvement in the session is difficult to ascertain. Despite a contemporary claim that he was ‘sick all the Parliament’, he was almost certainly the ‘Captain Stone’ listed as a member of 12 committees.80Burton’s Diary i. 284. It is also possible that, as William Stone was given ten days leave on 4 October, our MP may also be the ‘Mr Stone’ appointed to the committee to consider the statutes on the wages of labourers and servants on 7 October; and it is likely that he was the ‘Mr Stone’ added to the committee on the bill for Gloucester on 22 November.81CJ vii. 434a, 435a, 457a. In the debate on how the House should proceed against the Quaker, James Naylor, on 5 December, Stone joined Philip Skippon* in proposing that Naylor should be brought to the bar and his evidence heard before he was condemned.82Burton’s Diary i. 36. This intervention may have been motivated by a concern for correct procedure rather than a desire to extend toleration to Quakers. Stone was absent at the call of the House in late December, but was excused because of illness.83Burton’s Diary i. 284. He had apparently returned to the chamber by March 1657, when he was appointed to several committees on the new constitution. After the vote in favour of liberty of conscience on 19 March he was named to the committee to consider a clause in the Humble Petition and Advice protecting the rights of Protestant ministers.84CJ vii. 507b. On 25 March he voted in favour of asking Cromwell to accept the title of king, on 3 April he was added to the committee to attend the protector, and on 9 April he was appointed to a similar committee, to hear the protector’s objections to the proposed constitution.85Narrative of the Late Parliament (1657), 22 (E.935.5); CJ vii. 519b, 521b. In response to Cromwell’s further criticism of the Humble Petition, on 27 May Stone was named to the committee to supervise the drafting of the Additional Petition and Advice.86CJ vii. 540b. During the kingship debates, Stone was appointed to a wide range of committees dealing with such matters as the purchase of impropriations to fund ministers (31 Mar.), a petition from the City of London (1 Apr.), the debts of the 5th earl of Pembroke (30 Apr.) and a bill to prevent unrestricted building in the London suburbs (9 May).87CJ vii. 515b, 516b, 528b, 532a. His interest in the excise is also apparent, as on 22 June he joined the financier, Martin Noell, as a teller in the minority against reducing the tax on wine.88CJ vii. 568b. On the final day of the session, 26 June, Stone was appointed to the commission for improving the customs and excise revenue.89A. and O. When Parliament reassembled for its second sitting in 20 January 1658, Stone was one of the commissioners for administering the oath to all MPs, but he apparently did not take part in other business.90CJ vii. 578a-b. He continued to work for the protectorate in the months following, reporting to the council on cases concerning customs, excise and other revenue matters from March to July 1658.91CSP Dom. 1657-8, pp. 337, 350, 359-60; 1658-9, p. 95.

Stone was re-elected for Cirencester in Richard Cromwell’s* Parliament. At the beginning of the session he was a commissioner for administering the oath on 27 January 1659 and the next day he was named to the committee for elections.92CJ vii. 593a-b, 594b. He was appointed to the committee to consider a petition from John Lilburne’s wife on 5 February.93CJ vii. 600a. Three weeks later he moved, with Colonel John Clerke II and Thomas Burton, that a petition against the irregular election of the Newcastle MP, Thomas Lilburne* should be read.94Burton’s Diary iii. 501. Stone spoke twice in the debates on the excise on 12 March. He supported Clerke’s warning that the collection of arrears should be left to the excise commissioners because ‘it is not your vote to order them forthwith to pay will do it. The commissioners have proceeded so far and have given orders to sequester their estates’. When the Commons debated the arrears built up by the excise farmers in London, Middlesex and Surrey, which restricted the money available for immediate release to the army, Stone followed Clerke in urging for immediate action, and the excise commissioners, and Stone in particular, were subsequently instructed to enforce the order.95Burton’s Diary iv. 140; CJ vii. 613b. On 26 March he was appointed to a committee to suggest ways to satisfy the state’s debts to Richard Browne II*, and on 31 March he was chosen as one of those to consider a petition from Durham requesting the same privileges as other counties in parliamentary elections.96CJ vii. 621a, 622b. Despite his collaboration with Clerke, Stone’s attitude towards the army was equivocal. On 7 April he was appointed to a committee on the pension arrears of injured soldiers at the Ely House and Savoy hospitals; but on 12 April he was named to the committee to draw up impeachment articles against Major-general William Boteler*.97CJ vii. 627b, 637a. Generally, Stone seems to have confined himself to financial affairs during the final weeks of the Parliament. In a debate on the state’s financial problems on 9 April, he reported that the debts were ‘growing every day’, and two days later he presented the House with a list of the excise farmers’ arrears.98Burton’s Diary iv. 383, 394; CJ vii. 634b. When the excise farmers were examined, on 13 April, Stone reported that Martin Noell was more than £12,000 in arrears, although he conceded ‘he had a hard bargain’ to fulfil.99Burton’s Diary iv. 417. On the same day Stone was appointed to the committee to draft the House’s declaration on the excise.100CJ vii. 639a.

Stone retained his financial offices under the restored Rump, at least until the officers’ coup of October 1659.101CJ vii. 711b. He may have been the John Stone who signed a representation of the ‘congregated churches’ of London to George Monck* in December, urging him to unite with the English army for fear of aiding and abetting the Stuarts.102Clarke Pprs. iv. 184-6. In February 1660 Stone replaced Adam Baynes* on the commission for excise appeals, and in the same month he had a series of meetings with Samuel Pepys on private financial matters.103CJ vii. 850b; Pepys’s Diary i. 40, 44-5. In March he was confirmed as a commissioner for appeals on the excise and was included in the militia commissions in Middlesex and Westminster.104A. and O. His fate at the Restoration is uncertain, but he was not penalised for his earlier activities. He was appointed to the Middlesex sewers commission for the last time in August 1660, but thereafter his career is difficult to trace with any certainty.105C181/7, p. 28. He may have been the ‘Captain John Stone’ involved in farming the Irish revenue in the late 1660s and early 1670s; and it is interesting that this appointment, and that of his old associate, John Clerke II, was initially opposed by Charles II.106CTB iii. 157, 276, 297; iv. 858; v. 534-5; Bodl. Carte 52, f. 538. This Captain Stone went on to be appointed commissioner of wine licences in Ireland in April 1671, and from June 1673 until November 1678 advised the 1st earl of Orrery (Roger Boyle*) on his private finances.107CSP Dom. 1671, p. 211; Bodl. Carte 38, f. 585; Cal. Orrery Pprs., ed. E. MacLysaght (Dublin, 1941), 118, 184-6, 188, 207.