A French Spy In 18th Century Folkestone?
On the morning of 4th January 1781, two gentlemen, a Mr. Charles Jellous, a King’s Messenger, and a Mr. Prothero, accompanied by a constable, paid a visit to the residence of one Mr. Richard Otley in Bond Street, London, arriving between 10 and 11 a.m. Their business was not however with Mr. Otley but with a Frenchman named Francis Henry de la Motte, who lodged at that address.
If you are wondering dear reader what all this has to do with Folkestone, please bear with me.
The man they sought was not at home so they waited for his return. However the wait was long for it was not until sometime between 7 and 8p.m. the following day that de la Motte put in an appearance. His servant immediately made some remark and de la Motte turned to leave but was restrained by Mr. Prothero whilst Mr Jellous searched the man’s pockets. The search yielded a number of papers which were found to contain amongst other things a number of lists giving details of British warships at Spithead and Portsmouth Harbour along with their state of readiness and when they were scheduled to leave and their destinations. The content of some of the documents led to the arrest on the same day of a German born gentleman Henry Lutterloh at Wickham, a village near Portsmouth. Monsieur de la Motte was taken to the Tower of London.
How did the discovery of the French spy come about? Well that is where Folkestone comes into the story. Early in 1780 one Stephen (sometimes called Stewart) Ratcliffe who resided in Folkestone and was owner of a boat (a cutter) was engaged by Monsieur Isaac Roger, a Frenchman, to deliver documents to a person in Boulogne at £20 per trip, a rather large sum for 1780. Ratcliffe who had recently married probably needed the money and subsequently made a few trips, but whether he became suspicious or had pangs of conscience he decided that he would bring it to someone’s attention. For some reason we shall never know he went to Sandwich and mentioned the matter to a Mr. Joseph Stewart a local merchant. It was agreed that they should be taken to London and brought to the attention of the office of Lord Hillsborough, a Secretary of State. On 4th July Stewart took a package to Sir Stanyer Porton one of Lord Hillsborough’s staff, arriving at the gentleman’s residence at 6 a.m. It was decided that the package should be opened and although it was addressed to Mr. Smith, negociant, at Boulogne it was found to contain a letter addressed to the French Marine Minister. The correspondence contained information on East India Company affairs including the ships ready to sail, the details of the troops and lots more plus information about Admiral Rodney and the strength of his fleet at Barbados. A further package was taken on 16th July to the Admiralty and was returned by a messenger to Stewart’s home in Canterbury and thence to Sandwich. On a further occasion – 2nd August- Ratcliffe went to London in person and in a scene straight out of a spy novel took a carriage to Westminster Bridge and on alighting stepped into a Chaise in which Stewart was waiting. Another package was handed to Stewart and taken to Sir Stanyar and as previously it was opened, the contents copied and then returned them to Ratcliffe. Various attempts were made to identify the writer of these missives but to no avail. Then it was decided to find out who Monsieur Roger was acting on behalf of and it was arranged that Ratcliffe should affect a quarrel with Roger about his payments, and insisted on meeting the person who provided the money. To that end he travelled to London to see Roger who agreed to introduce the principal. They went to Roger’s residence, where his host left him and returned later with Monsieur de la Motte. Ratcliffe was informed that whereas the first three or four despatches had been delivered speedily, the most recent ones had taken some time and ‘the same news, by other channels, had got to France before them’. He said that Ratcliffe would not be given any money then but if further despatches were speedily delivered he would receive the agreed £20 per trip and in the following January he would receive a ‘present’ of 100 guineas. Undoubtedly it was as a result of the interview between de la Motte and Ratcliffe that the aforementioned persons visited the house in Bond Street and arrested the Frenchman.
Who was this man Ratcliffe? On 13th January 1780, he married by licence one Eliz’ Fearn, daughter of William and Ann (nee Bateman) with one John Ladd as Bondsman. On the licence issued on 12th January 1780 he is described as a mariner aged 27 and Ann’s age is given as 24. Even here there is a mystery for it is a fact that Eliz’ was 27 and not 24 as stated on the licence – she was born in 1753. Stephen’s parentage is unknown, as is his place of birth, however there were people named Ratcliffe in Folkestone at the time of his supposed birth i.e. 1753. Following the Court Case he seems to have disappeared from Folkestone for when a survey was made of the town in 1782 he was not listed amongst the owners or occupiers of properties in the town. It may be that he was not at home; perhaps he had gone to sea. However the survey was very exhaustive and the name of the owner would have been confirmed and ‘at sea’ entered on the sheet. Furthermore, in 1803, when another survey was made in preparation for a possible French invasion, he is not listed amongst the owners of seagoing vessels of all types. It is possible that he may have acted as an ‘agent provocateur’ in the case. I have established however that he may have died sometime prior to 1794 as the records show that an Elizabeth Ratcliffe widow was married at Dover in that year. She is of the right age to be our Elizabeth Ratcliffe.
© 2009 Eamonn Rooney
