Memoirs of Sir John Reresby: The Complete Text and a Selection from His Letters

The "Memoirs" of Sir John Reresby are a source for the social and political history of England in the late 17th century. As justice of the peace, Governor of York and Member of Parliament for that city and the borough of Aldborough, he was a crucial point of contact between central and local government at a time of strain between the two. He tried to serve both the Crown and the established Church, but like others found this difficult enough in Charles II's reign and impossible in James II's, when he became caught up in the Glorious Revolution in the north of England. This edition comprises new material, largely from the Mexborough archives in Leeds, which contain Reresby's own correspondence. The editors have also used an earlier draft of the "Memoirs" covering the years of the Exclusion crisis.