Andrew Bromwich

Dugdale's intelligence, charm and superior social standing were a marked contrast to the unsavoury earlier informers like Titus Oates and William Bedloe, and as a result even King Charles II, who had previously been a complete sceptic on the subject, "began to think there was somewhat in the Plot".

[3] In fact unlike earlier victims of the Plot, Bromwich and Atkins were charged only with acting as Catholic priests in England, but even so, they were liable to the death penalty under the Jesuits, etc.

They were tried before the Lord Chief Justice, Sir William Scroggs, who was a convinced believer in the Plot, and, though tolerant enough of the Catholic laity, violently prejudiced against the priesthood.

The jury was treated to a tirade by Scroggs on the evils of the Catholic priesthood: "It is to these sorts of men we owe all the troubles we are in, the threat to the King's life, the subversion of our government, and the loss of our religion.

Bromwich produced proof that he had taken the oaths, which unofficially entitled him to a reprieve, while Scroggs accepted that Atkins' age and frail health made him a suitable case for clemency.

Atkins died in prison in 1681; Bromwich must have been released at the latest in February 1685 when James II announced that all persecution of his Catholic subjects should immediately cease.