Elizabeth Cellier Elizabeth Cellier Elizabeth Cellier (commonly known as Mrs. Cellier and dubbed the "Popish Midwife"), flourished 1668–1688, London, England, was a notable Catholic midwife in seventeenth-century England. She stood trial for treason in 1679 for her alleged part in the "Meal-Tub Plot" against the future James II but was acquitted. She later became a pamphleteer and made attempts to advance the field of midwifery. Elizabeth Cellier was a noted London midwife, who came into prominence through the pretended "Meal-Tub Plot" of 1680. Nothing seems known of her life until her marriage with Peter Cellier, a Frenchman, and her conversion from Anglicanism.
Paris in the 17th century of each quarter were responsible for keeping lists of the residents of every house in their neighborhoods, and also keeping track of strangers. They recorded the name of a traveler coming into the quarter, whether he stayed in a hotel, a cabaret with rooms, or a private home. During the second half of the 17th century, most of the independent institutions of the Parisian bourgeois had their powers taken away and transferred to the King. In March 1667 the King created the position of Lieutenant General of the police, with his office at the Chatelet, and gave the position to