John Vere

Captain John Vere (or Weir) was a highly active government spy from at least 1725 (NA SP 35/55/47). In December 1745 he was captured by the Jacobite army (NA SP 36/80/1/81), but survived to act as a witness against many Jacobite prisoners, as well as to ask for mercy at least in the case of Allan Cameron of Callart (SP 36/89/2/54). Although Prisoners of the '45 (vol. 1, p. 232) refers to Vere as an "English spy," Vere appears to have some connection to Ireland; his son Roger wrote to the Duke of Newcastle from Carrickfergus when Vere was captured and presumed killed. Although it would offer a rather convoluted history, he may be the same as the Lieutenant John Vere of the Irish Dragoons, who sold his commission and was seeking other employment ("having served since 1708") in 1743 (SP 41/15/57).