A Reincarnated Monmouth Rebel

A Reincarnated Monmouth Rebel?

The Curiosities of Genealogy!

Amongst my genealogical travels I came across a curious entry in The Greenwood Tree (Vol. 10, Edition 1. 1985). It refers to an earlier article published in the summer of 1984 asking “We are affected by the mystery which lies behind the question, "Who fired the fatal shot?" The Rebels marched in silence from Bridgwater. A surprise night attack could well have succeeded. Was there a "mole" within, planted there to give such a warning?”. The article reads:

“L. D. REDFARN writes from 15 Warwick Road, Thorpe Bay, Essex SS1 3BN on the subject of Sedgemoor, 1685:

“The article in the Summer Edition of the Greenwood Tree “Sedgmoor 1685, Who fired the fatal shot?”, has brought to my mind a book I read some years ago. It was called 'Born Twice” and there was an American edition called “Second time Round”. It was written by a Mr. E. W. Ryall, who was born in Shoebury (part of Southend-On-Sea), and who, after the war, became an Estate Agent in Benfleet, not far away. He was known by a fellow member of the Essex F. H. S. [Family History Society], who does not know if he is still alive, but says he was quite an ordinary sort of chap.

“The gist of the story is that Mr. Ryall believes he had an earlier life when he was a John Fletcher living in either Middlezoy or Weston Zoyland (I am not sure which it was). He gives intimate details of his then private life: and, because of his knowledge of the paths over the moors and marshes, was asked to lead the Monmouth rebellion and through doing so, it has he who was killed by the first shot.

“I am now in my 84th year and do not travel so much now, but in the past have spent many holidays in Somersetshire, part of the time in search of family history. The last I was there at the Taunton Records Office I tried to find John Fletcher's marriage, as told in the Story. I searched several churches, knowing that the service was usually in the village of the bride. There was, however one church of which there were no records. This story may also interest Mr. Wigfield of Ilminster, mentioned in the Journal as publishing the records of the Monmouth Rebels.”

[Editors Footnote] We must look out for more of the same kind, Personally, we are still waiting for a message from Harry HOUDINI, died 1926.

 

The Greenwood Tree - Published by the Somerset and Dorset Family History Society.  Vol 10. 1 1985.

 

Having read the above account, I decided to try to track down more on E. W. Ryall and found this wonderful article in 'They Came Back', written by Charles Raymond Dillon.

Edward W. Ryall

“Edward Ryall believed he was born for the second time in 1902, 217 years after he had been born as John Fletcher in 1645. He said that he lived as John Fletcher in the countryside of the Polden Hills in Somerset, England. John claimed to have been a yeoman farmer who participated in the Monmouth Rebellion and the Battle of Sedgemoor.

Edward had memories of John Fletcher who had sadly ended a love affair with Melanie Pouletts of Hinton, St. George who came from one of the best families in Somerset. He had hid the Rev. Joseph Alleine, the non-conformist martyr who was hunted down repeatedly by the authorities. Edward also remembered having rescued Susannah Fuller from a bully named Adrian Toombes. These memories were verified.

Research revealed that John Fletcher had a near-fatal accident in a mill at Moorlinch and died prematurely and violently in 1685. He was killed by a cavalryman in the army of James II. Fletcher had volunteered to take part in the abortive insurrection against the king by the Duke of Monmouth.

All these events are described in detail in Ryall's book, “Born Twice”. He said, “I have been in possession of memories of a previous life which until 1970 I had not wished to disclose for dislike of ridicule.”

A small portion of Edward Ryall's memories were published by the “Daily Press” in May 1970. Dr. Ian Stephenson, who was thene Professor at the School of Medicine at the University of Virginia, afterwards corresponded with Ryall and visited him over a period of more than three years. He wrote the introduction to the book “Born Twice”.

One lovely summer evening when Edward was eight years old as he stood in a quiet country garden with his father, he looked up at a dark night sky and saw a shooting stare, His father identified it as Haley's comet, Edward remarked that he had seen it before and was sternly reprimanded.

In February 1945 during World War II after the retreat of the Germans from certain parts of Italy, Ryall was in charge of a mine-laying party at Marina de Pisa. Despite his four years of experience he became careless about looking for mines and booby traps while stringing copper wires overhead on the trees. Suddenly something happened. He said:

“I halted in my tracks by what seemed to be an actual physical force holding me back and a voice, in the accent and idiom of West Country speech, spoke into my ear. The soft, sweet tones of my dear wife of long ago, unmistakable and moving, distinctly bade me, 'Take heed, dear John! (Fletcher?) O not again, dear heart, not again!'

“My heart seemed literally to bound within me. I stood rooted on the spot, in a cold sweat. When I was able to pull myself together, I looked very carefully at the ground ahead, and there, only three or four paces ahead on my line of march were stakes of a line of picket mines, with the trip wires concealed by layers of leaves. But a few feet more, and I should have been hurled into an even more sudden and violent end than that which I met in the seventeenth century”.

You can read the article here. 

Whether you believe in reincarnation or not, this certainly makes an interesting read.  I'm keeping an open mind!

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