List of regicides of Charles I

Regicides of Charles I are considered to be the fifty-nine Commissioners (Judges) who sat in judgement at the trial of King Charles I of England and signed his death warrant in 1649, along with other officials who participated in his trial or execution, and Hugh Peters an influential republican preacher. The tribunal was composed of three hereditary peers, four aldermen of the City of London, twenty-two baronets and knights, three generals, thirty-four colonels, the twelve judges of the High Court (who all declined to serve), three sergeants-at-law and representative members of various principalities and the House of Commons.^[1] At the English Restoration in 1660, six Commissioners and four others were found guilty of regicide and executed; one was hanged and nine were hanged, drawn and quartered. In 1662 three more regicides were hanged, drawn and quartered. Some others were pardoned, while a further nineteen served life imprisonment and three already dead at the time of the restoration had their bodies desecrated.^[2]

Contents 1 Commissioners 2 Commissioners who did not sign 3 Associates 4 Others 5 See also 6 References 7 Further reading 8 Footnotes

Commissioners

In the order in which they signed the death warrant, the Commissioners were:

	Name	At the Restoration in 1660	Notes
1.	John Bradshaw, President of the Court	Dead	Posthumous execution; disinterred and hanged, drawn, and quartered
2.	Lord Grey of Groby	Dead	Died in 1657.
3.	Oliver Cromwell	Dead	Posthumous execution; disinterred and hanged, drawn, and quartered
4.	Edward Whalley	Alive	Fled to North America to avoid trial.
5.	Sir Michael Livesey	Alive	Fled to the Netherlands.
6.	John Okey	Alive	Fled to Germany, but was arrested by the English ambassador to the Netherlands Sir George Downing. He was tried found guilty and hanged, drawn and quartered in 1662.
7.	Sir John Danvers	Dead	Died in 1655.
8.	Sir John Bourchier	Alive	Too ill to be tried and died soon after the Restoration anyway.
9.	Henry Ireton	Dead	Posthumous execution; disinterred and hanged, drawn, and quartered
10.	Sir Thomas Mauleverer	Dead	Died 1655.
11.	Sir Hardress Waller	Alive	Fled to France; later returned and was found guilty. Sentenced to death, but the sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. Died 1666 in prison on Jersey.
12.	John Blakiston	Dead	Died 1649.
13.	John Hutchinson	Alive	Imprisoned in Sandown Castle, Kent where he died on September 11, 1664
14.	William Goffe	Alive	Fled to America.
15.	Thomas Pride	Dead	Posthumous execution ordered but not carried out.
16.	Peter Temple	Alive	Brought to trial, sentenced to death but sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. He died in the Tower of London in 1663.
17.	Thomas Harrison	Alive	First to be found guilty. Was hanged, drawn, and quartered at Charing Cross on Saturday the 13 October 1660. He was a leader of the Fifth Monarchists who still posed a threat to the restoration.
18.	John Hewson	Alive	Fled to Amsterdam.
19.	Henry Smith	Alive	Brought to trial, sentenced to death but sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. He was held in the Tower of London until 1664 and was transported to Mont Orgueil castle in Jersey.
20.	Sir Peregrine Pelham	Dead	Died in 1650.
21.	Richard Deane	Dead	Disinterred.
22.	Robert Tichborne	Alive	Brought to trial, sentenced to death but was reprieved. He spent the rest of life imprisoned in the Tower of London
23.	Humphrey Edwards	Dead	Died in 1658.
24.	Daniel Blagrave	Alive	Fled to Aachen, in what is now Germany.
25.	Owen Rowe	Alive	Brought to trial, sentenced to life imprisonment in the Tower of London where he died in December 1661.
26.	William Purefoy	Dead	Died in 1659.
27.	Adrian Scroope	Alive	Tried, found guilty: hanged, drawn, and quartered at Charing Cross on Wednesday 17 October 1660.
28.	James Temple	Alive	Brought to trial, sentenced to life imprisonment on Jersey.
29.	Augustine Garland	Alive	Brought to trial, his death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment.
30.	Edmund Ludlow	Alive	Surrendered to the Speaker of the House of Commons, and then escaped to the Canton of Bern.
31.	Henry Marten	Alive	Tried, found guilty of regicide, and sentenced to life imprisonment in Chepstow Castle.
32.	Vincent Potter	Alive	Brought to trial, he received the death sentence but died before its execution.
33.	Sir William Constable	Dead	Died in 1655 — however his body was exhumed from Westminster Abbey and reburied in a communal burial pit after the Restoration.
34.	Richard Ingoldsby	Alive	Pardoned.
35.	William Cawley	Alive	Escaped to Switzerland.
36.	John Barkstead	Alive	Arrested by the English ambassador to the Netherlands Sir George Downing, extradited and executed in 1662
37.	Isaac Ewer	Dead	Died in 1650 or 1651.
38.	John Dixwell	Alive	Believed dead in England; fled to America.
39.	Valentine Walton	Alive	Escaped to Germany after being condemned as a Regicide.
40.	Simon Mayne	Alive	Tried and sentenced to death, he died in the Tower of London in 1661 before his appeal could be heard.
41.	Thomas Horton	Dead	Family estates confiscated.
42.	John Jones Maesygarnedd	Alive	Tried, found guilty: hanged, drawn, and quartered at Charing Cross on Wednesday 17 October 1660.
43.	John Moore	Dead	In 1649, fought in Ireland against the Marquess of Ormonde and became Governor of Dublin, dying of a fever there in 1650.
44.	Gilbert Millington	Alive	After Charles's death, remained member of Rump Parliament until Cromwell dissolved it. After the Restoration was himself arraigned and confessed to being "guilty in every way." Tried and sentenced to death, but sentence commuted to life imprisonment. Spent final years in Jersey and died in 1666.
45.	George Fleetwood	Alive	Brought to trial and sentenced to imprisonment in the Tower of London. He may have been transported to Tangier.
46.	John Alured	Dead	Died in 1651.
47.	Robert Lilburne	Alive	Tried 16 October, 1660, sentenced to death. Later this was commuted to life imprisonment. Died in prison in August, 1665.
48.	William Say	Alive	Escaped to Switzerland.
49.	Anthony Stapley	Dead	Died in 1655.
50.	Sir Gregory Norton	Dead	Died 1652
51.	Thomas Challoner (or Chaloner)	Alive	Excluded from pardon and escaped to the Continent. In 1661, he died at Middelburg in the Netherlands.
52.	Thomas Wogan	Alive	Held at York Castle until 1664 when he escaped to the Netherlands
53.	John Venn	Dead	Died in 1650.
54.	Gregory Clement	Alive	Went into hiding, captured, tried, found guilty; and hanged, drawn, and quartered at Charing Cross on 17 October 1660.
55.	John Downes	Alive	Tried, found guilty of regicide, and sentenced to life imprisonment.
56.	Thomas Waite	Alive	Tried, found guilty of regicide, and sentenced to life imprisonment.
57.	Thomas Scot	Alive	Fled to Brussels, returned to England, was tried, found guilty; and hanged, drawn, and quartered at Charing Cross on Wednesday 17 October 1660. Died unrepentant.
58.	John Carew	Alive	Joined Fifth Monarchists. Tried, found guilty; and hanged, drawn, and quartered at Charing Cross on Monday 15 October 1660.
59.	Miles Corbet	Alive	Fled to the Netherlands; arrested by the English ambassador to the Netherlands Sir George Downing; extradited; tried; found guilty; and was hanged, drawn and quartered on April 19, 1662.

Commissioners who did not sign

Name	At the Restoration in 1660	Notes
James Challoner (or Chaloner)	Alive	Brother of Thomas Challoner. He died in July 1660 from an illness bought after being imprisoned the previous year for supporting General Monck.[3]
John Cruso	Alive	Sentenced to death but died soon after in confinement in Pendennis Castle, Cornwall. – Also author of Military Instructions for the Cavallrie [4]
John Dove	Alive	He took no part in the trial other than he was present when the sentence was agreed. At the restoration he was contrite and after making an abject submission to Parliament he was allowed to depart unpunished.[5]
John Fry	Dead	He was debarred from sitting on the High Court for heterodoxy on 26 January 1649, one day before the sentence was pronounced. His name was one of 20 dead regicides who were excepted from the Indemnity and Oblivion Act on 9 June 1660.[6]
Thomas Hammond	Dead	Attended 14 sessions. He was excepted from the Indemnity and Oblivion Act, allowing the state to confiscated the property that had belonged to him.[7]
James Harrington, 3rd Baronet	Alive	Escaped and died in exile on the European mainland in 1680. Due to an oversight in the Indemnity and Oblivion Act although he lost his title, the baronetcy passed to the next in line on his death.
Edmond Harvey	Alive	Attended the king's trial and sat on the committee to prepare the final charge, but did not sign the death warrant. After the restoration he was held in the Tower of London after being attainted for High Treason[8][9] He was tried on 16 October 1660, and sentenced to life imprisonment. He died in Pendennis Castle, Cornwall, in June 1673.[10]
William Heveningham	Alive	Found guilty of treason but successfully petitioned for mercy and was thereafter imprisoned in Windsor Castle until his death in 1678
Francis Lassells	Alive
John Lisle	Alive	Escaped to Lausanne in Switzerland but was shot by Irish Royalist Thomas Macdonnel in August 1664.
Thomas Lister	Alive	He petitioned Parliament successfully that he was not present when the king was tried and sentenced, and although he was excluded from the Indemnity and Oblivion Act, he was merely banned for life from holding any office.[11]
Nicholas Love	Alive	Escaped to Hamburg.
Henry Mildmay	Alive	Tried, stripped of his Knighthood and sentenced to life imprisonment. He died before he was due to be transported to Tangier in 1664.
William Mounson, 1st Viscount Monson	Alive	Tried, stripped of his titles & property and imprisoned for life in the Fleet prison where he died in 1673.
Isaac Penington	Alive	Sentenced to life imprisonment and died in the Tower of London in 1661
Sir Gilbert Pickering	Alive	He only attended two sittings at the trial and he did not sign Charles's death warrant, so he was able to use the influence of his brother-in-law Earl of Sandwich, to secure his pardon, although he was banned for life from holding any office.[12]
Robert Wallop	Alive	Sentenced to life imprisonment and died in the Tower of London in 1667

Associates

Name	Office	At the Restoration in 1660	Notes
Daniel Axtell	Officer of the Guard	Alive	Tried, found guilty of participating in the regicide; hanged, drawn, and quartered at Tyburn on Thursday 19 October 1660.
Andrew Broughton	Clerk of the Court	Alive	Escaped to Switzerland in 1663. [13]
John Cook	Solicitor-General	Alive	Tried, found guilty of regicide; hanged, drawn, and quartered at Charing Cross on Tuesday 16 October 1660.
Edward Dendy	Serjeant-at-Arms	Alive	Escaped to Switzerland in 1663 [13]
Dr Isaac Dorislaus	Assistant to the Solicitor-General	Dead	A distinguished scholar from the Netherlands, he was murdered in the Hague in 1649 by royalist refugees.
Francis Hacker	Officer of the Guard	Alive	Tried, found guilty of signing the execution order; hanged at Tyburn on Thursday 19 October 1660. [14]
William Hewlett	Captain in the Guard	Alive	Found guilty of regicide at the same trial as Daniel Axtel, but not executed with him.
Cornelius Holland		Alive	Escaped to Lausanne, Switzerland at Restoration.
Hercules Huncks	Officer of the Guard	Alive	Refused to sign the order to the executioners, which Hacker did instead. He testified against Axtel and Hacker, and was Pardoned.
Robert Phayre	Officer of the Guard	Alive	Refused to sign the order to the executioners. Not tried and released in 1662
Hugh Peters	Preacher	Alive	Tried, found guilty of inciting regicide; hanged, drawn, and quartered at Charing Cross on Tuesday 16 October 1660.
John Phelps	Clerk of the Court	Alive
Matthew Thomlinson	Officer of the Guard	Alive	Pardoned for showing courtesy to the King and for testifying against Axtell and Hacker

Others

• Marquess of Argyll Found not guilty of regicide, but guilty of collaboration with Cromwell's government and beheaded 27 May, 1661.
• John Lambert was not in London for the trial of Charles I. At the restoration he was found guilty of high treason and remained in custody in Guernsey for the rest of his life.
• Sir Henry Vane the Younger He served on the Council of State during the Interregnum even though he refused to take the oath which expressed approbation (approval) of the king's execution. At the restoration after much debate in Parliament, he was exempted from the Indemnity and Oblivion Act. In 1662 he was tried for high treason, found guilty, and beheaded on Tower Hill on 14 June 1662

See also

• Regicide
• Indemnity and Oblivion Act passed by the Cavalier Parliament
• Posthumous execution

References

• House of Lords Record Office: The Death Warrant of King Charles I
• Proclamation for apprehending the late King's Judges (4 June 1660)
• The Trial of King Charles I - Defining moment for our constitutional liberties by the Hon Justice Michael Kirby AC CMG, to the Anglo-Australasian Lawyers' association, on January 22 1999.
• Complete list of the regicides of Charles I (www.British-civil-wars.co.uk)

Further reading

• How many Regicides?
• Regicides Oxford Dictionary of National Biography

Footnotes