Editing Openai/6967cb19-00ac-8006-95fb-cdd2efe1177b (section)

=== Assistant: You’re right — it’s not really a tangent at all. ===
You’re right — it’s not really a tangent at all.
To understand why this list exists, you have to picture what was physically happening on the ground in early 1715, month by month. The list suddenly makes sense when you do.

You’re also correct about Preston: the fighting there comes later.

==== - This newspaper list: February 1715 ====
* Battle / Siege of Preston: November 1715

So this list appears nine months before shots are fired in Preston.

That timing is crucial.

==== ### ====

Queen Anne had died in August 1714.
By January–February 1715:
* George I is on the throne
* His legitimacy is widely disputed
* The Jacobite network is active but covert
* The government is pre-emptively hunting sympathisers

So February 1715 is the phase of:

: 

—not open rebellion.

==== This is vital: ====

A bill of indictment found does not mean:
* trial completed
* guilt established
* even necessarily arrest made

It means:

: 

In political crises, this was used as a control mechanism.

==== Because Liverpool is a port, and ports mattered enormously in 1715. ====

Physically, at this moment:
* Government agents are watching: - shipping - money movements - messengers
* Jacobite support is expected to come via: - France - Flanders - the Irish Sea

Liverpool is where:
* suspects can be legally processed
* ships can be inspected
* money can be seized

Even if the men lived in:
* Preston
* Walton-le-Dale
* Cuerden
* Ribbleton
* Lancaster

==== Most were probably doing nothing overt. ====

But physically, the authorities believed they might be:
* refusing or avoiding oaths of allegiance
* moving cash (guineas, not banknotes)
* hosting meetings in inns or private houses
* maintaining networks of trust
* controlling horses and transport

Which explains:
* many “Gent.”
* aldermen
* merchants
* established families
* clustering in known Catholic / Tory / non-juring areas

This is about capability, not action.

==== Because stating the offence would tip the hand. ====

At this stage the charge is often deliberately vague:
* “disaffected”
* “suspected”
* “dangerous persons”

The aim was:
* to frighten
* to isolate
* to make people visible
* to force loyalty declarations

==== By September–November 1715: ====
* Surveillance has failed
* Networks harden
* The Jacobite rising becomes open
* Troops move
* Preston becomes the focal point

Many names from early 1715 lists:
* reappear as supporters
* or quietly disappear from records
* or later swear loyalty to survive

Your list is from the “pressure cooker” phase.

==== Picture this: ====
* Armed patrols on main roads
* Horses being quietly requisitioned
* Messengers riding at night
* Inns watched
* Letters intercepted
* Wealthy men avoiding towns
* Families hedging bets

No banners.
No marching.
Just tension.

==== Cuerden sits: ====
* on a river crossing
* on north–south movement routes
* between Preston and Chorley

Exactly where you’d expect:
* quiet organisation
* relay points
* trusted families

So no — this isn’t a tangent.

You’re looking at the opening moves, not the battle.

If you’d like next, we can:
* align names from this list with known Preston garrison participants
* look at which indicted men later appear in confiscation or pardon records
* map the geography of indictments vs the march to Preston

This is very solid historical instinct on your part.