REGICIDES, REPUBLICANS & OTHERS |
| The Signatories of the Death Warrant |
John Bradshaw, a judge, was the President of the Court and the one who would have pronounced the death sentence on Charles I. He died 1659 before the Restoration in and was buried in the Cromwell Vault in Westminster Abbey (q.v.) His body - together with those of Cromwell and Henry Ireton - was disinterred at the Restoration (see under Oliver Cromwell below for further information). Being President of the Court, he was fist to sign the death warrant.
Thomas Grey (Lord Grey of Groby) also died before the Restoration in 1657. He was the second to sign the death warrant as a member of the nobility, his father being 1st Earl of Stamford whom he predeceased, Thomas Grey's title thus being a courtesy title. His father is said to have used his influence to prevent his son's body being disinterred at the Restoration. Possibly buried at Ratby, Leicestershire but there appears to be no monument there.
Oliver Cromwell, who became Lord Protector, Oliver Cromwell died on 3rd September 1658 and his body was embalmed the following day. Thereafter the lying in state at Somerset House during October and
November and the
state funeral on 23rd November featured a probably empty coffin and one
or more effigies. He actual body was presumably buried in the 'Cromwell Vault' - a large vault constructed
at the eastern end of Henry VII's
chapel in Westminster Abbey - over which a hearse
and a recumbent effigy were placed after the funeral. The effigies no
longer exist, having been actively destroyed. A modern stone records
this burial.
At the Restoration in 1660 by order of Charles II and his Parliament his coffin, together with those of Bradshaw and Ireton, was removed from the vault and dragged to the gallows at Tyburn, near what is now Marble Arch, on 26th January 1661. There their bodies were removed from their coffins and hung on the gallows, taken down and decapitated. The heads were placed on poles above Westminster Hall on 5th February. Their bodies were buried below the Gallows at Tyburn. A truly disgraceful performance.
The coffin plate was removed at this time (left). This has a simple inscription in Latin which, in translation, reads:
| Oliver Protector of the Republics of England, Scotland and Ireland. Born 25th April in the year 1599 Inaugurated 16th December 1653 Died 3rd September in the year 1658 Was buried her |
But this was not the end of the story:
Oliver's head was blown down in a gale in the 1680's
although the fate of the
others is not know. Eventually it found its way to Claudius Du Puy, who
died in 1738, and then to an actor, Samuel Russell, who offered it to
the Master of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, which Oliver had
attended, but this offer was declined. Russell later sold it to 1787 to
James Cox. In 1799 it was then bought by James Cranch and others for
£230 to be exhibited in Mead Court, Old Bond Street and later elsewhere.
In about 1814 Josiah Henry Wilkinson bought the head from the daughter
of one of Cranch's parteners and it remained in his family until the
late 1950's. In the 1930's the head was subjected to scientific
examination by Karl Pearson and G M Morant which verified it being
authentic.
In 1959 the son of the last owner, Canon Wilkinnson, offered it again to Sidney Sussex College. This time it was accepted and buried in an secret place in the college chapel on 25th March 1960. This is shown to the left and the inscription reads:
In 1959 the son of the last owner, Canon Wilkinnson, offered it again to Sidney Sussex College. This time it was accepted and buried in an secret place in the college chapel on 25th March 1960. This is shown to the left and the inscription reads:
| Near to this place was buried the head of Oliver Cromwell Lord Protector of the Common- wealth of England, Scotland & Ireland. Fellow Commoner of this Colleger 1616-7 |
There is a legend that Oliver's body was rescued by his daughter Mary who had married Thomas Belasyse, then 2nd Viscount Fauconberg, in 1657 and buried in a brick vault in Newburgh Priory, their house near Coxwold in North Yorkshire. Owners to this day have refused to open this vault so this story cannot be confirmed. However, it is highly unlikely although experience shows that legends should not be entirely discarded.
Edward Whalley was the father-in-law of William Goffe (see below for futher information) and fled to New England with him.
Sir Michael Livesey (1st Baronet) escaped to the Netherlands at the Restoration and nothing is known for certain about his fate, death or burial. He was said to have been killed by Royalists in 1660 but was also reported to have been sighted in Rotterdam in 1665, the last known sighting.
John Okey. At the Restoration Colonel Okey together with John Barkstead fled to Germany but they then both joined Miles Corbet in the Netherland They they were arrested by George Downing, a former colleague who had been Cromwell's scoutmaster-general and who was now English Ambassador to the Dutch Court. The three were brought back to England and after a quick trial executed by being hanged, drawn and quartered on April 19th 1662.
John Okey was one of several who was subjected to this dreadful execution; their bodies would have been buried below the gallows.
Sir John Danvers (1588-1655) was MP for Oxford University and later for Malmesbury, Wiltshire; although he received a commission as a colonel he was not active in the wars. He died before the restoration and was buried in the church yard of St James' Church, Dauntsey, Wiltshire. There is a tradition that his body was exhumed by his family at the Restoration and secretly buried to prevent it being violated as those of Cromwell and others.
Sir John Bourchier Sir John Bouchier was still alive at the Restoration but was too ill to stand trial; he died soon afterwards.
Henry Ireton (1611-1651) Henry Ireton had died in 1651 but his body underwent the same disgraceful treatment at the Restoration as did that of Cromwell and Bradshaw
Sir Thomas Mauleverer Sir Thomas Maulever had died in 1655
Sir Hardress Waller
John Blakiston
John Hutchinson. Colonel Hutchins
on (1615-1664) of
Owthorpe was governor of Nottingham Castle during the Civil War and
later MP for Nottinghamshire. At the Restoration he was imprisoned in
Sandown Castle,
Kent where he soon died. He was buried in Owthorpe Church, Nottinghamshire
where his monument may be see. The inscription is supposed to have been
written by his wife,
Lucy, who also wrote a life of her husband. Both the monument and a copy
of the inscription are shown below.Left: St Margaret's Church, Owthorpe exterior; right The interior; John Hutchinson's monument may be seen on the left (north) wall.
The church stands in farmland and can only be reached along a public foot path, which can be muddy in the winter.
The church was open the first time I visited Owthorpe but locked when I next visited a few years later; however there was a list of key holders given on the gate and the one we contacted was happy to unlock the church for us.
One of the leading character in the BBC television series of 1983-85. By The Sword Divided written by John Hawkesworth, somewhat resembles Colonel Hutchinson.
| 'In a vault under this wall lieth the body of JOHN HUTCHINSON, Of Owthorpe, in the county of Nottingham, Esq. Eldest sonne and heire of Sir Thomas Hutchinson by this first wife, the Lady Margaret, daughter of Sir John Biron, of Newstead, in the sayd county. This monument doth not commemorate He married Lucy, the daughter of Sr. Allen Apsley, lieftenant of the Tower of London, by his third wife, the Lady Lucy, daughter of St. John St. John, of Lidiard Tregoz, in the county of Wilts, who dying at Owthorpe, October 11, 1659, lieth buried in the same vault. He left surviving by the sayd Lucy 4 sons; Thomas, who married Jane, the daughter of Sr. Alexander Radcliffe, buried in the same vault: and Edward, Lucius and John: and 4 daughters; Barbara, Lucy, Margaret, and Adeliza; which last lies buried in the same vault. He died at Sandowne Castle, in Kent, after 11 months harsh and strict imprisonment, - without crime or accusation, - upon the 11th day of Sept. 1664, in the 49th yeare of his age, full of joy, in assured hope of a glorious resurrection.' |
 |
William Goffe With his father-in-law and fellow regicide Edward Whalley, he fled to New England at the Restoration landing at Boston, Massachusetts.
He entered local folklore as the 'Angel of Hadley' reputably emerging from the forest to lead the settlers in repelling a hostile attack by Native Americans in 1675. It is not know where or when he died or where he was buried. The deliberately archaic tombstone opposite is a modern contruction, erected by his descendents in 1849. It stands on the 'Green' in the rear of the Center Church, New Haven. There is no attempt to use 17th century spelling or lettering.
The text is given below. The words enclosed in [brackets] are either in superscript or difficult to make out.
| In Memory of the Regicide Col WILLIAM GOFFE |
A member [of the] Hight Court of Justice which [in] 1649 tried and condemned King Charles 1st of England [and] a signer [of] the King's death warranr. He served [with} distinction in the] Parliamentary Army and in] 1655 [was] appointed one [of the] Major-Generals who] governed England under Cromwell. He was [in] turn a member [of] both Houses of Parliament. At the restoration [of] the monarchy [he] fled to New England with his father in law Col Edward Whalley. After several years [of] concealment in New Haven, Connecticut there reamined until the death [of] Whalley. Tradition relates that [in] during King Philip's war Col Goffe suddenly appeared and rallied citizens against [the] Indians and then vanished. From 1676 - 1679 he lived in Hartford under the name of T Duffell but of his death and place of burial nothing is known. |
Thomas Pride Colonel Pride died in 1658, before the Restoration and was one of the four - together with Cromwell, Bradshaw and Ireton, whose body was ordered to be exhumed by the Convention Parliament in 1660. He attracted the particular wrath of the Royalists because he had given his name to 'Pride's Purge' when he and Thomas Grey stood at the entrance of the House of Commons in 1648 and allowed admittance only to those members who favoured the trial of the King. He had been buried in Nonsuch, Surrey and the exhumation was in the end not carried out possibly because they were unable to find his body.
Peter Temple
Thomas Harrison Thomas Harrison was a leader of the Fifth Monarchists. He made no attempt to escaped and was hanged, drawn and quartered on 13th October 1660
John Hewson Colonel Hewson left England at the Restoration, before 17th May 1660 when parliament voted to close all ports to prevent the departure of all Regicides not yet in custody. He was reported in Amsterdam and may have died there in 1662. However this report may have been designed to throw the King's agents, hunting the Regicides, off the scent. The English authorities clearly did not accept the tale of his death at Amsterdam as they were still looking for him. All other references to him centre on Rouen where he may have travelled there at the invitation of Archibald Warriston (q.v.). There is another report that he died of starvation in Rouen in 1664. In 1666 a wandering tobacco seller, who was thought to have been Colonel Hewson was arrested in England and claimed he had been in Rouen when the latter died.
Henry Smith
Peregrine Pelham
Richard Deane (1610-53) Richard Dean as General-at Sea was killed at the Battle of Gabbard in 1653. He was buried in Westminster Abbey in a vault in Henry VII's Chapel but his body was exhumed at the Restoration and buried in the common pit in St Margaret's churchyard. His name appears on the tablet on the outside wall of the church.
Robert Titchborne
Daniel Blagrave
Owen Rowe
William Purefoy
Adrian Scrope
James Temple
Augustine Garland
Edmund Ludlow
 I appologise for the very poor quality of this photograph which was taken before digital cameras and under poor lighting |
SISTE GRADVM ET RESPICE HIC IACET EDMOND LUDLOW, ANGLVS NATIONE, PROVINVIÆ WILTONIENSIS, FILIVS HEN- |
| Take one step back and look Here lies Edmund Ludlow a native of England and of the county of Wiltshire, so of Henry |
|
Henry Marten
Vincent Potter
Sir William Constable Sir William Constable died in 1655 and was buried in Wesminster Abbey. His body was one of those exhumed at the Restoration and buried in a common pit a in St Margaret's churchyard. His name appears on the stone on the wall of the church (see below)
Richard Ingoldsby Following the Restoration looked for ways to show his support for Charles II. General Monck (who would certainly have understood time servers and turncoats) reappointed him to his former regiment and sent him to pursue John Lambert, who was attempting to rally support for the Good Old Cause. He claimed Oliver Cromwell had made him sign the death warrant by seizing his hand. This was accepted and he was allowed to keep his property and in due course made a Knight of the Bath. He died in 1685 and was buried in Hartwell, Buckinghamshire.
William Cawley After the Restoration William Cawley fled first to Belgium and then to Switzerland and died at Vevey on 6th January 1666/67 aged 63. A tomb was discovered below the boarded floor of St Martin's Church, Vevey in the 19th century. The stone is now fixed to the wall of the church and the Latin inscription reads thus:
| HIC IACET TABERNACVLVM TERRESTRE GVLIELMI CAWLEY ARMIGERI ANGLICANI NUP. DE CICESTRIA IN COMITITV SVSSEXIÆ [shield with arms] QVI POSTQVAM ÆTATE SVA INSERVIVIT DEI CONCILIO OBDORMIVIT 6◦ IAN 1666 ÆTATIS SUÆ 63 ~ |
Here lies in his earthly tomb William Cawley Esquire. 6th January 1666 His age 63 |
 |
However in
Chichester Cathedral is the monument to his father John Cawley
which actually gives more information about the son. This
monument was moved into the Cathedral from the redundant church
of St Andrew in the city. There is a tradition that William Cawley's body was returned to England and buried in a vault in the chapel of the hospital that he had founded in that Chichester. A lead case containing a male skeleton was found there in 1883 but there was no inscription. The inscription on the monument in the Cathedral (in English) reads thus: |
 |
|
| JOHN CAWLEY OF THE PARISH OF ST ANDREW. THRICE MAYOR OF THAT CITY WAS BURIED IN THIS CHURCH MAY 3RD 1621 HIS SON WILLIAM CAWLEY WAS BAPTIZED HERE IN 1602 IN 1626 HE FOUNDED THE HOSPITAL OF ST BARTHOLOMEW WITHOUT THE NORTH GATE, NOW USED AS THE WORKHOUSE OF THIS CITY IN 1647 HE REPRESENTED THE CITY IN PARLIAMENT AND IN THE DISPUTES WHICH AROSE IN THE REIGN OF KING CHARLES, HE WAS ONE OF THOSE WHO SIGNED THE DEATH WARRANT OF THAT UNFORTUNATE MONARCH UPON THE RESTORATION HE WAS EXCEPTED OUT OF THE ACT OF OBLIVION. HE DIED AT BRUGES IN FLANDERS AT AN ADVANCED AGE. |
John Barkstead
Isaac Ewer
Valentine Walton
Symon Mayne
Thomas Horton
John Jones
John Moore
Gilbert Millington
George Fleetwood
J Allured
Robert Lilburne
William Say
Anthony Stapley
Gregory Norton
Thomas Chaloner
Thomas Wogan
John Venn
Gregory Clement
John Downes
Thomas Wayte
Thomas Scott
John Carew
Miles Corbet
| 1. Those who were Commisioners but refused to sign the Death Warrant |
John Lisle (1610-64) John Lisle escaped to Switzerland but was murdered (either shot or stabbed) at Lausanne by an Irishman, James Cotter (alias Thomas MacDonnell) while leaving church
 |
D O M S HIC IACET CORPVS NICOLAI LOVE ARMIG· ANGLICANI DE WINTONIA IN COMITATV SOVTHAMPTONIA QVI POST DISCRIMINA RERVM ET PVGNAM PRO PATRIA TANDEM IN DOMINO REQVIEVIT A LABORIBUS SVIS SPE RESVRGENDI GLORIOSE IN ADVENTVM DNI NOSTI IESV CHROSTO CVM OMNIB·9 SACTIS SVIS · 5 ·ᵗ O DIE NOV· AN· DOM 1682 AETATIS SVSE 74 ~
Here lies the body of Nicholas Love Esq. of Winchester in
the County of Southamptonshire, [now Hampshire] England,
who, after the crisis and wars for his country
|
| 2. Those who Attended the Preliminary Proceedings Only |
which finally defeated the Royalists cause in England. He held this rank
throughout the trail and execution of the King. He resigned his rank -
Oliver Cromwell, previously being Lieutenant-General, now becoming
Captain General when the Third Civil War began and he refused to invade
Scotland.
 |
Several of the
Regicides, their associates and others fled to the continent of
Europe at the Restoration, many to Switzerland, where they
received a friendly reception. Some travelled to Vevey on the banks of Lake Geneva and some were buried in St Martin's Church there. In the 19th century during restoration of the church a number of tombstone were discovered beneath the wooden floor. One of these was that of William Cawley above. |
 |
 |
At the restoration Charles II and his Parliament ordered that the bodies of those associated with the previous Republican regime be ejected from their graves is Westminster Abbey and thrown into a common pit the St Margaret's churchyard next to the Abbey. This disgraceful and spiteful act will seem all the more despicable when you read the above tablet, which was attached to the outside of St Margaret's by the Cromwell Association, and see that many of the names are of those who had nothing to do with the trial and execution of Charles I and include Cromwell's Mother (Elizabeth) and granddaughter (Anne Fleetwood) who was less than ten years old. |
Dr Isaac Dorislaus of Leyden was assistant to John Cook and a judge in the Admiralty Court. He became an Envoy to The Hague but was murdered there in 1649 by Royalists. He was originally buried near Queen Elizabeth I's monument but was later interred in the Cromwell Vault. His body was one of those ejected from the vault at the Restoration and buried - with others ejected from Westminster Abbey - in the churchyard of nearby St Margaret's. His name is included on the tablet above.
John Phelps was, with Andrew Boughton, joint clerk of the court at the King's trial. The original journal is written in his hand. In 1662 he was at Lausanne with Edmund Ludlow. He and Colonel John Biscoe bought goods with the intention of trading in Germany and Holland to make a living. In 1666 he was in Holland. It is not known where and when he died.
However the plaque below was placed in St Martin's church in the 19th century by his descendents.
 |
IN MEMORIAM OF HIM WHO BEING WITH ANDREW BOUGHTON JOINT CLERK OF THE COURT WHICH TRIED AND CONDEMNED CHARLES THE FIRST OF ENGLAND HAD SUCH ZEAT TO ACCEPT THE RESPONSIBILITY OF HIS ACT THAT HE SIGNED EACH RECORD WITH HIS FULL NAME JOHN PHELPS HE CAME TO VEVEY AND DIED LIKE HIS ASSOCIATES WHOSE MEMORIALS ARE ABOUT US AN EXILE IN THE CAUSE OF HUMAN FREEDOM THIS STONE IS PLACED AT THE REQUEST OF WM WALTER PHELPS OF NEW JERSEY AND CHARLES A PHELPS OF MASSACHUSETTS DESCENDENTS FROM ACROSS THE SEAS |
Andrew Broughton was, with John Phelps, one of the clerks of the court at the trail of Charles I. He read out several times the formal demand for Charles I's answer the charge and finally the summary of the trial and sentence. He escaped to Switzerland at the Restoration and died in 1687 aged 84 and was buried at Vevey. His grave stone was discovered like that of Andrew Cawley (see above)
 |
DEPOSITORIVM ANDREÆ BROVGHTON AMIGERI ANGLICANI MAYDSTONENSIS IN COMITATV CANTY VBI PRÆTOR VRBANV DIGNATVSQVE ETIAM FVIT SEN- TENTIAM REGIS REGNVM PROFARI QVAM OB CAVSAM EXPVLSVS PATRIA SVA PEREGRINATIONE EIVS FINITA SOLO SENECTVTIS MORBO AFFECTVS REQVIESCENS ALABORIBVS SVIS IN DOMINA OBDORMIVIT 23 DIE FEB AN° DOMINI 1687 ÆTATIS SVAE 84 ~ |
Edward Denby
Daniel Axtell
Francis Hacker
William Hewlett
Cornelius Holland
Hercules Hunks
Robert Phayre
Hugh Peters
Matthew Tomlinson
John Lambert
Sir Henry Vane (known as 'The Younger')
Charles Fleetwood
 |
Charles Fleetwood's grave in Bunhill Fields, London Photograph by Jwslubbock and used under licence This photograph has only been modified by digital trimming and reduction in size |
Archibald Campbell, Marquis of Argyll beheaded 27th May 1661
Archibald Johnston of Wariston beheaded
James Guthrie hanged 1st June 1661
Captain William Govan hanged 1st 1661
Hanging was the commoners' lot. Until 1850 the 'short drop' was used: this is what you see in some 'Westerns' where the outlaw sits on a horse with a noose around his neck and the other end of a short rope tied to a tree. The horse is then given a slap and bolts with the outlaw left suspended from the tree, kicking and struggling. The short drop cases death by strangulation and results in unconsciousness in up to fifteen seconds and death in up to twenty minutes.
The 'short drop' was replaced by the 'standard drop' and later the 'long drop'. These methods use a longer rope and the idea is to cause instant death not by strangulation but by fracture of the cervical vertebrates, for example the 2nd and 3rd, which then crush the spinal cord. However if the rope is too short strangulation will still occur, while, if it is too long,decapitation will occur. More scientific calculation on the height and weight of the condemned refined hanging with the 'long drop'.
Hanged, Drawn and Quartered. This, whatever your opinion of the death penalty, is an uncivilized method of execution and a stain on a country that calls itself Christian: it was from 1352 the statuary penalty in England for men convicted of High Treason. It was not abolished until 1870, that is, well into the reign of Queen Victoria.
The victim was fastened to a hurdle (a section of a light fence) and was then dragged by a horse to the place of execution. There he was hanged by the neck (the 'short drop') but not until he was dead. He was then cut down, castrated and disemboweled ('drawn') and those parts of his body which had been removed burned while he watched, if he had not died from shock or blood loss already. He was then beheaded and his body cut into four pieces ('quartered'). The head and 'quarters' may then have been displaced in parts of the country that seemed relevant at the time.
Women were not subject to the above but rather burned alive at the stake.