Edmund Robinson was appointed as the curate at Holmfirth Chapel in 1673. He had previously married a local yeoman’s daughter who had come into an inheritance. He was soon to abuse his position in the church by conducting false marriages and subsequently went on to develop a reputation for dealing with counterfeit coins, before finally being apprehended for counterfeiting itself.
The motivation for writing this book came from background reading for a potential local archaeological investigation. It was a matter of personal interest since Robinson’s residence lay overlooking the village where I live.
I have tried to explore the wider contextual background by briefly addressing issues such as coinage in the 17th century, the law on counterfeiting, and the religious political and economic circumstances at the time, operating to some extent nationally but particularly within his own curacy.
The book is essentially concerned with an intriguing individual, who was at various times a rogue clergyman, gentleman, parish constable, potential highwayman, fraudster and counterfeiter, land and property owner, and moneylender.
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