ready to contribute my best aid and assistance in that work, since it is likely to conduce to his Majesty’s service, and peace and quiet of all his good subjects, and to conclude this agreement, I have sent you inclosed certain propositions which by way of articles should be drawn and signed and sealed by you, and as many more as you shall engage in that work, which I shall expect from you before I march.[ii]
Newcastle’s terms were:
First, that I have all your consents and promises that the army
be paid whilst they are in that county.
That an assessment be laid upon the country to enable you for
that undertaking, and that if money be not gotten in time, that I
may have free billet for the soldiers, for which billet you are to
engage yourself to the quarters, and that the officers be paid according
to his Majesty’s present establishment, out of that assessment.
That there be some of the gentry of that county appointed as a
committee, enabled by the rest of the gentry to agree and conclude
of such further propositions as may happen to be necessary for this
service, and not here mentioned, and to march along with the army,
whose counsel and assistance from time to time I am resolved to
use.
That I have assurance that all manner of provisions fit for an
army be prepared and brought to the army the first day it enters.
That since this army was levied a purpose to guard her Majesty’s
person, that it shall not be held a breach of any engagement betwixt
us if I retire with such numbers as I shall think fit for that service.[iii]
Newcastle’s reply was welcomed and he was urged,
…make all possible speed to march hither, or to send some
force before, lest a little delay make ail our endeavours fruitless…[iv]
but authorities in York delayed sending formal agreement to most of his terms for some time, neglecting to include agreement to provide pay for the officers, which concerned Newcastle in his reply of 30 October 1642,
…for you know the soldier is encouraged with nothing but money, or hopes of it,
and truly last night when I was going to bed, there came colonels and lieutenant-colonels, and said they heard you had left it out, and for their parts that they must think that if you were so cautious not to grant it in paper before we came in, they doubted very much of it in money when they were there, and that the workman was worthy of his hire, and such like discontented words ; so the truth is, rather than not come cheerfully to serve you, I will not come at all…[v]
“…I have now Resolved to assist His Majesties distressed Subjects in the County of York with competent Forces; and yet to leave this Town, and the two other Counties under my Charge, so strongly guarded, that their former securitie shall be no ways discontinued or intercepted…[vi]
Five hundred copies were printed in York and sent for distribution to reassure people in the counties of Durham and Northumberland that Newcastle was not deserting them. He was leaving the area militarily secure. His forces had not been responsible for any misdemeanours towards the population and were free from accusations of plundering and pillaging by the enemy. The people of Yorkshire would receive the same respectful treatment in pursuit of bringing the parliamentarians to justice. He would carry out any actions with the full consultation of an advisory committee and justified the inclusion of recusants in the military who had an obligation to defend the kingdom.[vii]
The people of the City of York were faced with a worsening situation, with raids from Cawood and threats from Sir Hugh Cholmley’s small force at Stamford Bridge to the north east.[viii] Despite this and news of the inconclusive first main engagement at the Battle of Edgehill (23 October 1642), the City of York’s governors delayed their response to Cavendish’s terms and conditions, giving the Parliamentarians time to gather themselves.[ix]
[i] Firth, op cit, Appendix. 333, A New Discovery of Hidden Secrets, In several letters, propositions, articles, and other writings concerning the Earl of Newcastle, Captain John Hotham, and many other malignant gentry of the northern counties. All lately found in Pomfret Castle ; the original whereof remain now in York, where they may be seen of any who desire it. With a declaration of the committee of Yorkshire and some observationsthere- upon to undeceive their deluded and oppressed country- men. London, 1645. (Dated November 3d, by Thomason, E. 267 (2). British Museum, King’s Pamphlets.)
[vi]A declaration made by the Earle of New-Castle, Governour of the Town and Covnty of New-Castle: and Generall of all his Majesties forces raised in the Northerne parts of this kingdom, for the defence of the same. For his resolution of marching into Yorkeshire. As also, a just vindication of himselfe from that unjust aspersion layd upon him, for entertaining some Popish recusants in his forces, Printed at York, by Stephen Bulkley, 1642, at http://yorsearch.york.ac.uk/44YORK:44YORK_ALMA_DS21200996150001381
[vii] Declaration Answer to Six Groundless Aspersions cast upon him by the Lord Fairfax. York Minster Library, Civil War Tract Roll. 43.
Following the King’s move south to Nottingham from York, military activity in the North increased. On 24 August, the King issued Commissions of Array for the raising of troops.[i]
On Friday 26 August,
Sir William Savile, brought 24. light Horse to York, which he hath provided for his Majesties servie at his owne charge and hath made Sir Thomas Dalison Captaine of them, and sent to Nottingham the next day. This morning the Lord Falkland, the Seretary of State, accompanied with many Gentlemen and Cavaliers left this City and is gone to his Majesty.[ii]
A considerable number of soldiers from the North had joined the King in the Midlands, leaving those in royalist York, in particular, feeling vulnerable to the threats posed by the parliamentarian Fairfaxes to the west and the Hothams and Sir Hugh Cholmley from the east. On Monday 29 August,
…my Lord of Cumberland caused the percullis at every gate in Yorke to be let downe, and to bee made ready if occasion required, and the Keyes of the gates are ever night brought to the Lord Major, who causes a guard of the Trained-band to keepe watch there.
The City of York is in great feare of being surprized by Sir John Hotham, for reports came hither from about Hull, that 700.men are landed there, which were sent from the Parliament, yet the third part of the City stand well affectd to the Parliament.
Wednesday the last of August, A Letter came from Beverly to the Lord Maior of Yorke, to looke to himselfe, and the City, for Sir John Hotham did intend to march with his forces out of Hull towards it…[iii]
After the meeting on Heworth Moor, the division of allegiances in Yorkshire led to the signing of a local peace treaty, known as the Treaty of Neutrality. It was signed by Lord Fairfax for Parliament and Harry Bellasis for the Royalists, on 29 September 1642, but was abandoned after a few days and both sides took up arms.
[i] The last true Newes from Yorke, Nottingham, Coventry and Warwicke, op cit; A remonstrance of all the proceedings, passages, or occurrences at Nottingham, Yorke, and New-Castle, op cit.
Having left York with a small force of horse and foot, the King finally arrived in Nottingham. There, on 22 August 1642, he raised his Royal Standard, effectively declaring war on his Parliament, although military hostilities had been going on for some weeks
A number of northern royalists were present at the raising of the standard. That one of these was Sir William Pennyman of Marske with his troop of horse, is suggested by evidence given at the king’s trial in 1649.
Accounts used against the king in the case that he had,
“…traitorously and maliciously levied war against the present parliament and the people therein represented. Particularly, upon or about…Upon or about August 24…at the county of the town of Nottingham where, and when he set up his standard of war…”,
included the testimony of
“John Bennet of Harewood, in the county of York, glover, sworn and examined, says that he being a soldier under the king’s command, the first day that the king’s standard was set up at Nottingham, which was about the middle of summer last was six years, he did work at Nottingham, and that he did see the king within the Castle of Nottingham, within two or three days after the standard was so set up, and that the standard did fly the same day that the king was in the castle, as aforesaid, and this deponent did near that the king was at Nottingham the same day that the standard was first set up, and before…. And this deponent further says that he did take up arms under the king’s command for fear of being plundered, Sir William Pennyman giving out that it were a good deed to fire the said town because they would not go forth in the king’s service, and that this deponent’s father did there upon command him to take up arms, and that divers others (as they did confess) did then also take up arms for the king for fear of being plundered.And this deponent further says that he, and the regiment of which he then was, had their colours then given them. And Sir William Pennyman, being the colonel of the said regiment, was present with his regiment at that time“
Pennyman died in August 1643 whilst Governor of Oxford and was therefore unable to answer the charges.
See: Kesselring, K.J.(ed) The Trial of Charles I (Ontario: Broadview Press 2016), pp.52-53, Part 1: Trying the King, which includes accounts from: Nalson, John 1684 A True Copy of the journal of the High Court of Justice for the Tryal of K. Charles I, as it was Read in the House of Commons, and Attested under the hand of Phelps, Clerk to that Infamous Court. London 1684;
On 1 August 1642, news reached Parliament of John Meldrum’s successful raid on the Royalist forces at Anlaby that led to the withdrawal of the King’s forces from Hull.
Iron caltrop from the Civil War period, found at Goodrich Castle English Heritage
On 2 August 1642
…the Committee met for the Defence of the Kingdom, where Report being made that one Hogdsdon, his Majesties Black Smith, for the Tower, had made certain short Iron spikes (for use probably much in the same way as caltrops, above) to be stuck in the ground to offend horse; whereof a good number he had sent to Yorke: Order issued for his bringing to the Committee to be examined thereupon, for the ceizure of such as could be found, which was presently put in execution…Thursday morning ( 4 August)…Hogsdon the Smith forenamed being examined, and making it appear that those spikes for service against horse, was bespoken to send for Ireland, hee was discharged.
On Thursday 4 August 1642 Parliament issued its A Declaration to Justify Parliament’s Proceedings and Resolutions to Take Up Arms.
We have too just a cause to believe and know, considering those continued Designs upon us, and the composition of the King’s Army, and of his Counsel at this time, that these things are desired to be made use of to our Destruction, and the Destruction of that which we are bound by our Protestation to defend, and woe to us if we do not at least do our utmost endeavor in it, for the discharge of our Duties, and the saving of our souls, and leave the Success to God Almighty.
…This being the true cause for which we raise and Army, under the command of the Earl of Essex, which whom in this Quarrel we will live and die.
After the withdrawal of his army from Hull, the King made another call to join him in York, on Thursday 4 August 1642. There he addressed a large gathering of gentlemen, telling them,
…there is an unquiet spirit abroad, which every day throws in new accident to disturb, and confound the public Peace. How i was driven from London, when i chose this place for my safety, is so notorious that all men know it, who know any thing & with what strange violence, and indignities I have been pursued, since I came hither, needs no other evidence, then Sir Thomas Hothams behaviour at Hull…
…And to give you the fullest testimony of my affection to you, & to the peace of this County, & to she you that no provocation shall provoke me to make this place the state of the War…
…Gentlemen, I desire you to consider what course is to be taken for your own security from the excursions from Hull, and the violence which threatens you from thence: I will assist you any way you propose. Next, I desire you, out of the public Provision, or your private Store, to furnish me with such a number of Armes (Musquets and Coslets) as you may conveniently spare, which I doe promise to see fully repaid to you: These Armes I desire may be speedily delivered to the custody of my Lord Major of Yorke, for my use, principally from those parts, which by reason of their distance from Hull are least subject to the fear of violence from thence…
For the Completing my Sonnes Regiment for the guard of my Person, under the command of my Lord of Cumberland, I referred it wholly to your Selves, who have expressed such forwardness in it..
On Monday 8 August 1642, Parliament received reports about the meeting, hearing that,
the Countrey petitioned his Majestie that they might not be disarmed, but that they might keep their Armes for the defence of that Countie: Which Petition, though it were not very acceptable to His Majestie, yet he was pleased to grant the same.
The King also informed the meeting of his Council of War of 27 various lords and colonels, including the following,
Lord Duke of Richmond; Lord Marquesse Hartford; Earle of Linsey; Henry Clifford, 5th Earle of Cumberland (5 August appointed Lord Lieutenant of Yorkshire); Earle of Bath; Earle of Southampton; Earle of Dorset; Earle of Bristoll; Earle of Carnarvon; Earle of Newport; Lord Savile; Lord Viscount Falkland; Lord viscount Grandesson; Lord Willoughby of Ersby; Lord Seaymor; Master Secretary Nicholas; Sir John Culpepper; Master Comptroller; Colonell Henry Wentworth; Colonell Wilmott; Colonell William Vavasor; Colonell Fielding; Colonell Lunsford; Sir William Vuedall; Sir Jacob Ashley; Sir Thomas Glemham (active commander of Yorkshire forces); Sir Nicholas Byron
Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex, by Wenceslas Hollar University of Toronto
On Tuesday 9 August 1642, Parliament learned that the King in York had declared,
...the Earl of Essex and all that serve under his command, or adhere to him, were proclaimed Traitors, if they layed not down their Arms within sixe dayes:
…Then the Earl of Essex stood up, and declared that although his Majestie had proclaimed him traitor, yet his heart was as true and upright as any Subjects in England; And as the Lords and Commons had declared that they would aid and assist him as Generall of the Armie, so he would use his best skill and endeavour to perform the trust they reposed in him, even to the losse of his dearest bloud.
On 9 August 1642, Parliament issued, A Declaration of the Lords and Commons Assembled in Parliament, justifying its raising of all power, and Force, as well Trained Bands as others, in severall Counties of this Kingdom, and condemning as illegal the traitors and supporters of the King and the Commission of Array.
On Friday 12 August 1642,
A Letter was read in the House which came from the Earl of Warwick, intimating that he met with two ships comming from Holland, the one of them as he was informed, was laden with Armour and Ammunition, which being but a small Ship, he could not take it, and the other he drove into Hull, which had in it three hundred thousand pound, which was sent from the Queen to his Majestie, and intended to land at Newcastle.
Bronze guns, 1640, by English gun founder John Browne, Kent. National Maritime Museum (Facebook ‘Big Cannon Project’, 8 May 2020)
On Tuesday 16 August 1642,
There was information by Letters from Yorke, that His Majesty hath Tenne new field peeces of a great bignesse, newly cast, and drawne out of the mould by one Master Lanyon, that there is Fifty Wane-loade of Armes brought to his Majestie from aboard two Pinnaces landed neare Scarborow, which makes the Caveleeres not a little proud, hoping they shall ere long, perswade His Majestie to raise his maine forces, & come against London, that so they may Riffle the great Treasure in Guild-hall, wch. they confidently perswade themselves they shall bee masters of.
These guns were probably part of the consignment brought over by Prince Rupert about this time.
On Tuesday 16 August 1642, the King left York and travelled to Nottingham via Lincoln; Newark; Southwell; Nottingham (19 August); Coventry (20 August); and Leicester Abbey, taking the bulk of the Yorkshire horse with him, followed by Yorkshire regiments of foot, both over-estimated at 4000 plus and 5000 respectively, and more likely only about 800 horse and 2-3000 foot. They probably included:
King’s Lifeguard of Horse, formed in York 20 May 1642, 2 troops, 300 men
Marquis of Newcastle’s Troop of Horse, part of Prince of Wales’s Horse commanded by Sir Thomas Byron
Sir William Pennyman’s Troop of Horse, to become part of Prince Rupert’s Regiment of Horse
The King was joined at Leicester Abbey, on Sunday 21 August 1642, by his nephews Princes Rupert of the Palatinate and his brother Maurice, who had landed a few days before, around 16 August, at Tynemouth. Rupert, recently made commander of the Royalist horse, and his group set off immediately on horseback south, about 160, miles to Nottingham to join the King. Riding through the night, Rupert’s horse fell on top of him and he dislocated shoulder,
Hence they rode post for Nottingham, Daniel O’Neale, Somerset, Fox, and others being of their company. It was evening when they landed, but Rupert was not a man to wait upon the morning, and immediately calling for horses, he set forth. It was in the month of August, but as his evil destiny would have it, there came on a sharp frost, and his horse slipping in the dark, the Prince was thrown with violence and dislocated his shoulder. There happened to be a ” bone-setter” living within half a mile of where he fell, and the limb was set, but it was three days (one source claims three hours) before Prince Rupert was able to resume his journey.( The ” bone-setter” refused to take more than half the fee the Prince offered him.) When he reached Nottingham he found that the King had gone to Coventry; so, mounting again, he followed him. Before he had gone far, however, he learned that the King was at Leicester Abbey, where the Prince joined him, and received charge of the royal cavalry (formerly under Henry Wilmot), consisting of eight hundred horse !
Speed’s Plan of the fortified city of Coventry, about 1610
On Monday 22 August, Parliament received news that, before settling in Nottingham, the King had travelled to Coventry where he threatened the town,
…received Letters of very ill newes from Coventry, that His Majesty in a warlike manner with 1500 Horse came thither on Satturday morning last, and demanded the Town, which they very willingly condescended unto, with all dutifull obedience to His Majesty, but desired His Majestie would be pleased to discharge his extraordinary Guard of Cavaleers, for that they would be a very great affrightment to the Inhabitants: which His Majesty refusing, the Inhabitants taking into consideration the great outrage & spoyl that have been committed by the Cavaleers in other places where they have been, and fearing they would exercise the like cruelty against them, as their bold carriage and threatening language at their first appearance with His Majesty did much foretell. For their own security, and to preserve the peace of the Citie, they shut the Gates against His Majesty and his Company, until such time as their feares should be secured by his Majesties discharging the Cavaleers.
But his Majesty being impatient of delay, and much incensed thereunto by the rash counsel of the Cavaleers, layd strong siege against the Towne and fell to Battery, and so still continues, and had battered down divers houses and had slaine many men, before the messenger that brought the newes to the Parliament came from thence, which was on Satturday in the afternoon (ie.20 August).
The Earle of Essex declared to both Houses, at a conference concerning these Letters, that he was credibly informed that Master Hampdens Regiment and Master Goodwyns being upon their march towards Warwickshire as was ordered by the Houses, having notice of the businesse at Coventry, on Sunday morning last marched down thither, and also the Earle of Bedfords Troops in Somersetshire. All which Forces as is conceived, are now before Coventry in opposition with his Majesties Forces. Both Houses also ordering, that the Deputy Lieuetenants should raise the Militia of the Countrey to relieve Coventry, and preserve the peace of the County, and suppresse the Cavaleers, or any other force coming against them.
…Also information was given, that the King is come to Nottingham, and intends to be in Warwickshire either this night or Monday, and that the Lord Brook, Collonel Hampden, collonel Hollis, Collonel Fines, and Collonel Goodwyne, were marching towards Warwick, with about sixe thousand horse and foot.
On the same day that Parliament received this news, the King raised his standard at Nottingham, effectively declaring war on his Parliament.
King Charles I. His Majesties Speech to the Gentlemen of Yorkshire, 4 August 1642. Printed at York and re-printed at London, by A. Norton, 1642. Accessed from http://digital.library.umsystem.edu/
To the Kings most excellent Majesty. The humble petition of many thousands faithfull and peaceably affected subjects of the county of Yorke, who are here now assembled. Published London, printed by R.O. and G. Dexter, and are to be sold by Benjamin Allen 1642. University of York, http://yorsearch.york.ac.uk/44YORK:44YORK_ALMA_DS21218207240001381
Warburton, Eliot 1849 Memoirs of Prince Rupert and the Cavaliers. London
Spencer, Charles 2008 (1st edn.2007) Prince Rupert: The Last Cavalier. London, Orion Books Ltd.
Kitson, Frank 1994 Prince Rupert: Portrait of a Soldier. London, Constable & Company Limited
Carpenter, Stanley D.M. (2004-05-31). Military Leadership in the British Civil Wars, 1642-1651: ‘The Genius of this Age’ (Cass Military Studies) (pp. 67-69). Taylor and Francis. Kindle Edition.
Wood, Alfred C. 1971 (1937) Nottinghamshire in the Civil War. Wakefield, S.R.Publishers Ltd.
If you will have my opinion, I believe Hull is but the pretext to draw forces together…
(Sir Thomas Gower the elder, 22 July 1642)
The month started with Parliament’s detailed Declaration of both Houses of Parliament, concerning the Commission of Array (1 July 1642), swiftly followed by the King’s counter, A Proclamation against the forcible seizing, or removing, any the Magazine or Ammunition of any County; and concerning the Execution of the Militia within this Kingdom (4 July 1642). Within a few days, the King was taking actual military measures against the heavily fortified port and arsenal of Hull, held by Parliament’s Sir John Hotham.
Hull’s northern defences between the North & Beverley Gates, from Hollar’s plan, 1640
Although the vast bulk of Hull’s arsenal had been removed to London for safe keeping, the town still presented a potentially invaluable landing place for the proposed return of Queen Henrietta Maria and arms supplies from Amsterdam. However, the King still had the issue of control of the Royal Navy, the dismissal of the Earl of Northumberland and his replacement by Parliament with the Earl of Warwick as High Admiral. On 2 July 1642 the bulk of the Royal Navy declared for Parliament.
Parliament informed Warwick,
…intelligence hath beene given to the House, of great store of Armes and Ammunition, to be transported to Newcastle, for his Maiesties defence, likewise diverse pieces of Ordnance, and many other thing belonging to warre, likewise many Captaines are ready to be transported over to serve the King, who have taken an Oath amongst themselves that if they be set upon the way, they will fight it out to the last man.
Warwick reported to Parliament that he had allocated ships to the North Sea to intercept Royalist munition ships.For the Royalists the hazard of shipping arms to the North from the continent became a reality when, in early July, the Royalist 4th rate, 300 ton warship Providence with a cargo of gunpowder was chased by the Parliamentary Mayflower off Hull but slipped away up a narrow creek, managed to unload much of her cargo, including two demi cannon, 200 pairs of pistols and carbines, and 10,000 pieces of money, before being captured and losing about 300 precious barrels of gunpowder.
On Thursday 7 July 1642, Royalists in Scarborough made a modest muster of about 30 townsmen. On the same day, the King’s embryonic army, of about 1,000 horse and 3,000 foot, was drawn up and trenches dug, before Hull, starting what was to become the first of two sieges of the town,
This day it is reported, that the King made towards Hull with all his Forces upon Tuesday last, and swore he would either take the towne, or leave his bones under the walls: But Sir John Hotham drawing up the Sluce, his Majesty retreated…
In the meantime, Hotham opened the sluices in the dikes holding back the Humber on 6 July 1642. As a result, the two miles of lowlands around the town were flooded. The people of nearby Holderness complained to the King about Hotham and his actions,
We your Majesty’s Loyal and Oppressed Subjects, having for the Space of four Months (with much patience and prejudice) endured great and insupportable Loss by Sir John Hotham ‘s taking into Hull (a distinct County from us) part of the Trained-Bands of Yorkshire, contrary to Law, your Sacred Majesty’s Right, and express Command, by detaining our Arms, destroying our Trade and Markets, with many more Pressures upon us than we are willing to repeat. Howbeit, this last Attempt of cutting our Banks, drowning part, and endangering the rest of the Level of Holderness, is a Presumption higher than was ever yet attempted by any Subject to our Knowledges; as if Sir John Hotham at once intended to destroy our Free-holds and Proprieties, and for no other Cause, as we conceive, but for serving your Majesty according to our Allegiance, and the known Laws of the Land.
Our most humble Prayer therefore is, That your Majesty will vouchsafe speedily to take the Premisses into your gracious and tender Consideration for securing our Fears.
And your Majesty’s Petitioners, as in Duty bound, shall ever pray for your happy and glorious Reign over us.
The King reassured the petitioners that he and his army would do all they could to remove Hotham.
One of those impacted by the King’s actions was later a witness at the King’s trial in 1649. He related,
William Cuthbert of Patrington in Holderness, gentleman, aged 42 years or thereabouts, sworn and examined, says that he, living at Hull Bridge near Beverley, in July 1642, did then hear that forces were raised, about 3000 foot for the king’s guard under Sir Robert Strickland. And this deponent further says that about 2 July 1642, he saw a troop of horse come to Beverley, being the Lord’s Day, about four or five o’clock in the afternoon, called the Prince’s Troop, Mr James Nelthorp being then major of the said town. And this deponent further says that he did see that afternoon the said troop march from Beverley unto Holderness, where they received ammunition brought up by the River of Humber unto them.
And this deponent further says that the same night, being Sunday, there came about 300 foot soldiers (said to be Sir Robert Strickland’s regiment) under the command of Lieutenant Col. Duncombe and called the King’s Guard, unto this deponent’s house, called Hull Bridge, near Beverley, about midnight, and broke open, entered, and possessed themselves of the said house. And that the Earl of Newport, the Earl of Carnarvon, and divers others came that night thither to the said forces. And that the same night (as this deponent was then informed) Sir Thomas Gower, then High Sheriff of the said county, came thither, and left there a warrant for staying all provisions from going to Hull to Sir John Hotham; which warrant was then delivered to this deponent, being constable, by Lieut. Col. Duncombe.
And this deponent further says that he was by the said forces put out of his house, and did with his family go to Beverley; and that after that, (viz) the Thursday following, to this deponent’s best remembrance, he did see the king come to Beverley, to the Lady Gee’s house there, where he, this deponent, did often see the king, with Prince Charles and the Duke of York. And the trained bands were then raised in Holderness, who were raised (as was generally reported) by the king’s command.
And this deponent further says that the night after the said forces had possessed themselves of this deponent’s house, Col. Legard’s house was plundered by them, being upon a Monday; which entry of this deponent’s house was the first act of hostility that was committed in those parts. This deponent further says that after the said Sir Robert Strickland’s said company was gone from Hull Bridge, having continued there about ten days, there then came to the said house Col.Wivel, with about 700 foot soldiers, when then took up his quarters at Hull Bridge.
And this deponent further says that the warrant he now produces to this Court is the same original warrant aforesaid spoken of. And this deponent further says that the general’s name of the said forces that were there, and raised as aforesaid, was the Earl of Lindsey; and that this deponent was brought before the said general, in the name of the King’s Lord General, for holding intelligence with Sir John Hotham, then governor of Hull; and because it was then informed to the general, that he this deponent had provisions of corn to send over unto Ireland, which this deponent was forbidden by the said general to send unto Ireland or any place else, without his or the king’s direction or warrant first had in that behalf.
The aforesaid warrant mentioned in the deposition of William Cuthbert is as follows: It is His Majesty’s command that you do not suffer any victuals or provision of what sort soever to be carried into the town of Hull without His Majesty’s special license first obtained; and of this you are not to fail at your peril.
Dated at Beverley, 3 July 1642. Thomas Gower, to all head constables and constables in the East Riding of the County of York, and to all other His Majesty’s loyal subjects.
On 12 July 1642, Parliament made a declaration,
…concerning the miserable Distractions and Grievances this Kingdom now lieth under, by means of Jesuitical and wicked Counsellors now about his Majesty.
Upon Monday morning, being the 4th of July, His Majesty came to Beverly with an Army of a considerable number of Horse and Foot, some Regiments of the Trained-bands being likewise commanded to be raised. Among the Soldiers in this Army, there are divers Papists, and other Persons of desperate Fortune and Condition, ready to execute any Violence, Rapine and Oppression.
Some Troops of Horse are sent into Lincolnshire, to the great Terror of the Well-affected People, who are thereby forced, either to forsake their Dwellings, or to keep them with Armed Men.
They begin already to take away Mens Horses by Force, and to commit other Acts of Hostility, and have uncivilly used a Gentleman sent from the Parliament with a Letter to His Majesty.
Provisions are restrained from coming to Hull, and His Majestly is shortly expected to come thither with his Army, notwithstanding the Place is in the custody of the Parliament, as hath been often declared to His Majesty by both Houses, and kept by them for His Majesty’s Service, and the Peace of the Kingdom; whereof, as soon as they may be secured, they intend to leave the Town in the state it was.
Parliament voted to raise an army, appointed the Earl of Essex as Captain General in commander and drew up a petition to the King to prevent a civil war. In response to the latter, the King asked that Parliament hand over Hull to him.
In York, on 15 July 1642, the King’s mint was established, with coining starting by January 1643. That day was also the last meeting in Bedale of the North Riding of Yorkshire Quarter Sessions until the following 18 March 1643,
…Forasmuch as the North Riding hath bene sore troubled with several armies of soldiers…
The King had issued a warrant that all who had agreed to provide horses for his guard should meet at York on 17 July 1642. Three days later, it was reported that Lincolnshire had agreed to raise 400 horse and horsemen for the King, following his visit to Lincoln on 15 July.
Hull’s defences were bolstered by Parliament’s control of the sea and its dispatch of the warships Unicorn and Rainbow to Hull, along with experienced Scottish professional soldier, Sir John Meldrum and 1,500 men. Meldrum made several raids on the Royalists, including one on 12 July when he captured some Royalist officers.
Philip Monckton, “eldest captain” of Sir Thomas Metham’s Yorkshire Trained Band Regiment of Foot claimed,
“I had the fortune to command the party that gave first fire in that war.”
The Royalist forces, also included the Earl of Newcastle’s Troop of Horse, consisting of,
fifty great horses all of a darke Bay, handsomely set out with ash-colour’d ribbins, each man gentilely accoutred and armed.
However, the Royalists went,
…coldlie to the service against Hull…
and never attempted an assault on the town, probably because of the lack of siege artillery.
Sir John Meldrum (c.1590-1645) National Portrait Gallery
On 27 July, Meldrum, with 50 horse and about 200 foot sallied out of Hull and took the Royalists at Anlaby by surprise. Robert Strickland’s regiment billeted in the village lost twelve men wounded or captured and part of the village, including ammunition, was set on fire.
…so frighted the regiment so abominably, that the next day at noon the highways were filled with runaways…
Such that, of the 300 men in the three companies could only muster about 15 men after the attack and caused a general panic in the Royalist army.
Towards the end of July 1642, a large shipment from the Queen in Amsterdam arrived in the North East at Tynemouth. It included: 4 siege guns; 10 field pieces; 2 mortars; 4 petards; round and case shot for the cannon; 100 barrels of gunpowder; 200 firelock muskets; 3,000 matchlock muskets; 1,000 carbines; 2,000 pairs of pistols; 1,000 pikes; 3,000 saddles.
References
Besley, Edward 1984 The York Mint of Charles I. Brit Numis J 54. Vol 54, pp. 210-241.
Edwards, Peter 2000, Dealing in Death: The Arms Trade and the British Civil Wars. Stroud, Sutton Publishing.
Evans, David & Sitch, Bryan 1990 Beverley Gate: The Birthplace of the English Civil War. Hull, Hull City Council & Beverley, Hutton Press Ltd.
‘House of Lords Journal Volume 5: 9 July 1642’, in Journal of the House of Lords: Volume 5, 1642-1643 (London, 1767-1830), pp. 194-197. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/lords-jrnl/vol5/pp194-197 [accessed 10 August 2022].
Kesselring, K.J.(ed) 2016 The Trial of Charles I. Ontario: Broadview Press
‘Message from the House of Commons to Robert Earle of Warwicke, admiral of His Majesties Navie Royall’ (London, 1642) Bodl., Wing/2834:09,
North Riding of Yorkshire Quarter Sessions Record Minute Book 18 March 1643, North Yorkshire Record Office.
Reckitt, Basil 1951 Charles I and Hull, London.
Roy, Ian 1964 Royalist Ordnance Papers, 1642-46, Vol. 1. Oxfordshire Record Society.
Rushworth, John, ‘Historical Collections: Of the King’s Commission of Array’, in Historical Collections of Private Passages of State: Volume 4, 1640-42 (London, 1721), pp. 655-688. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/rushworth-papers/vol4/pp655-688 [accessed 13 July 2022]
Rushworth, John, ‘Historical Collections: Passages at York, 1642’, in Historical Collections of Private Passages of State: Volume 4, 1640-42 (London, 1721), pp. 613-654. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/rushworth-papers/vol4/pp613-654 [accessed 13 July 2022].
Rushworth and John, ‘Historical Collections: July 1642’, in Historical Collections of Private Passages of State: Volume 4, 1640-42 (London, 1721), pp. 751-760. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/rushworth-papers/vol4/pp751-760 [accessed 13 July 2022].
White, Michelle 2006 Henrietta Maria and the English Civil Wars. London, Routledge
Queen Henrietta Maria arriving in Holland, 1 March 1642
…that there is a great storme rising in the North; That the Queene hath lately pawned or proffered to pawne a very rich coller of Pearle, and that there is 20. Brasse Peeces of Ordinance, and some other Peeces with 100. Barrels of Pouder provided there to be sent to his Majestie.(Mr.Web, merchant returning from Amsterdam, to Parliament, 11 June 1642)
The month of June continued with declaration and counter-declarations over the conflicting royal Commissions of Array and parliamentarian Militia Ordinance for control of the trained bands. On 3 June, Lincoln’s declaration to Parliament that it was engaged in preparing the militia was countered by the King’s letter to the Sheriff of Lincolnshire that none should train without his consent. On 7 June, Parliament was informed that captains sent by the King from York to Chester were offering money to potential recruits to join his army.
The proximity of the King in York and his seemingly warlike intentions and designs on its arsenal, meant that Hull continued to be one of the main concerns of Parliament. Sir John Hotham requested further protection of Hull, in the form of extra shipping and reinforcements for the garrison. Parliament ordered that the trained bands should be raised if there was any sign of military uprising.
Plan of Hull by Wenceslas Hollar, about 1640
On 1 June, Parliament’s confirmed its decision of 24 May, that,
…six Canoneres, and one able enginere should be sent to Hull; likewise thirty horse for scouts, and Sir John Meldron to be assistant there in military matters.
Sir John Hotham’s request for money on 4 June led to Parliament granting £2000. Hotham was allowed by Parliament to hold on to what arms were needed for his garrison, the rest to be shipped to London. Hotham was included in the Members of Parliament that the King was not prepared to pardon for their treason.
Parliament’s Nineteen Propositions of 1 June 1642 sought to give it greater control of the appointment of the King’s ministers and foreign policy, and the command of the militia. It also included a demanded for the discharge of the recently-raised King’s guard. They were completely rejected by the King on 4 June and reported to Parliament on Friday 18 June 1642.
On Monday 6 June 1642, Parliament received reports on the public meeting of nobility and gentry that the King had called on 27 May 1642, and had taken place on Friday 3 June 1642 on Heworth Moor, York. It had been attended by an estimated 40,000 to 70,000 people. The King was accompanied by his son, Prince Charles, one hundred and fifty horsemen in complete armour, and a guard of eight hundred infantry. He explained the situation in which he saw the nation and thanked those attending for their loyalty. Sir Thomas Fairfax was almost ridden down by the King when he attempted to present him with a petition at this gathering asking him to take notice of his Parliament and to stop the raising of troops.
By 9 June 1642, Parliament reiterated its concern that,
… the King, seduced by wicked counsel, intends to make war against his Parliament; and in pursuance thereof, under pretence of a guard for his person, has actually begun to levy forces both of horse and foot, and sent out summons throughout Yorkshire and other counties for calling together greater numbers; and some ill-affected persons have been employed in other parts to raise troops under colour of the King’s service, making large offers of reward and preferment to such as will come in…
To counter this,
…The Lords and Commons do declare that it shall be lawful for anyone to contribute money, plate, arms, horses, and any other supplies, to those persons whom the Houses shall appoint for the preservation of the public peace, and for the defence of the King and both Houses of Parliament from violence, and to uphold the power and privileges of Parliament.
On 14 June 1642, the King justified his actions in the raising of forces for his defence, in a letter to the Lord Mayor, Aldermen and Sheriffs of London. At the same time, he condemned appeals for the raising of horse, arms and a guard for Parliament.
On Wednesday, 15 June 1642, it was reported that Lords of the King’s Council in York, many of them Yorkshire peers joined by those who had deserted Parliament in London, declared support for the King. A group of them, along with Members of the Commons, agreed to pay for the upkeep of a mounted guard for the King, for ten weeks, to a total of about 400 horse valued at £18,000.
The Commons ordered that Members who had joined the King in York should return to London or face a £100 fine and that all money, arms and ammunition found going to the King in York should be halted.
On Thursday, 16 June 1642, the Commons received more letters further confirming the former Intelligence that it had received in letters of 11 and 12 June from Mr.Web, a merchant who had returned from Amsterdam. This concerned the sale of jewels by the Queen in Amsterdam to raise funds for the King’s cause, but more alarmingly, a massive supply of munitions, some of which it was feared had already been shipped to the North.
A List of the Ammunition as followeth: Four Pieces of Battery of 18 pound Bullet; One Piece carrying 12 pound Bullet; One Piece carrying 8 pound Bullet; One Demi-Cannon; Two Culverins carrying 8 pound Bullet; Six to ten Field-pieces carrying 6 pound Bullet; Two Mortar-pieces; For Granadoes sixteen; Four Petards; An hundred Barrels of Powder; Round Shot and Case proportioned to the several Pieces; Carriages; Two thousand Pistols ready furnished; Harness for Draught-horses; A thousand Carbines; Three thousand Saddles; Bullets, Ladders, Spunges; three thousand musquets; one thousand pikes; Two hundred Fire-locks; The Mortar-pieces are a Foot and an half Diameter at the Mouth, Mettle and all, shooting Granadoes of 11 or 12 Inches.
The following day, 17 June, it was reported from York that,
…The guard, which the King for the present has, consists of 1,000 foot and 200 horse. There is no likelihood of levying a war on the Parliament…
On 22 June 1642, the Lords who had joined the King in York supported the King’s stance,
…clearing the King from any desire or intentions to levy war upon his Parliament, …and against the late or any other order or ordinance of the militia that has not his Majesty’s assent…The lieutenants appointed by the new ordinance have had but cold entertainment in most counties where they have come to exercise and muster the militia, and in many wholly unregarded…At London, nevertheless, and notwithstanding his Majesty’s so many professions, the preparations for war are spurred on incessantly, and with all vehemency, under the malicious pretence that the King intends force against his Parliament…
William Cavendish, Earl of Newcastle, at Bolsover Castle
On 10 June 1642 the King appointed William Cavendish, Earl of Newcastle, commander/Lieutenant General, in the four northern counties of Northumberland, Durham, Cumberland and Westmoreland and governor of the town of Newcastle upon Tyne.
Although his main estates were in the Midlands, Newcastle had much influence in the north through his holdings in Northumberland. Despite some resistance to his recruiting in Tynedale and Redesdale by the tenants of pro-Parliamentarian Lords Grey and Northumberland, Parliamentarian opposition to Newcastle’s efforts was largely non-existent and barely challenged by Parliament’s chosen Lord Lieutenant Sir Henry Vane of Raby Castle. Later in August, just before he left York for Nottingham, the King widened Newcastle’s commission.
Newcastle’s prime duties were to take control of the town and port of Newcastle in order to secure the safe receipt of arms, ammunition and money being sent by the Queen and to raise an army to protect her when she arrived from Holland (expected 28 Sep).
On 14 June, as Newcastle passed through County Durham on his journey north, he ordered the mustering of the 100 horse and 500 foot of· the county’s trained bands in Newcastle the following Saturday. Initially, this caused a “great mutiny”, as the Durham militia exercised their ‘right’ not to be expected to serve outside their county. Despite this, Newcastle entered Newcastle with about 500 soldiers.
Mouth of the River Tyne, from Ralph Gardner’s ‘The River of Tyne’ from ‘England’s Grievance Disc’d, 1655, (North. Shields Library) (detail)
By the 30 June, the Commons received information that Newcastle had garrisoned Tynemouth Castle and had started to further defend the mouth of the River Tyne by constructing a new fort at South Shields. In response, Parliament decided to send two warships to lie off the river mouth, ordered the Durham trained bands not to join the Newcastle garrison and, early in July, announced that it would send an army into the North.
That summer Newcastle got to work on raising a Royalist northern army, including 120 horse and a foot regiment of his own. Many of his units were small with high ratios of officers to men, including many Catholics who had been excluded from serving in the trained bands.
Parliament’s Lord Lieutenant in Durham by the terms of the Militia Bill, Sir Henry Vane of Raby Castle, was ineffective in any opposition to royalist developments in the North.
The King attempted to strengthen the Earl of Newcastle’s position further north and to secure a safe port for the return of Queen Henrietta Maria. On 20 June 1642, he ordered Sir John Heydon, Lieutenant of the Ordnance,
…to send by sea hither or to Newcastle, in as much as it will not be safe to do so by land, such cannon, arms, powder, shot, and munition as you can get out of our stores, ships, or otherwise, in such secret and close manner that the same may not be intercepted by those who wish not well to our safety and person.
At the end of the month, Thursday 30 June, Parliament received news that it was the Queen’s intention to arrive in Newcastle from Holland with munitions and commanders for her husband’s cause.
Barratt, John 2017 ‘A Rabble of Gentility’: The Royalist Northern Horse, 1644-45. ‘Century of the Soldier 1618-1721’, no.21. Solihul, Helion & Company Limited.
Lewis, Samuel 1831 A topographical dictionary of England: comprising the several counties, cities, boroughs, corporate and market towns, parishes, chapelries, and townships, and the islands of Guernsey, Jersey, and Man, with historical and statistical descriptions; illustrated by maps of the different …
Newman, P.R 1978 The Royalist Army in Northern England 1642-45. 2 Vols. Submitted for the Degree of D. Phil at the University of York, Department of History, February 1978, Vol.1
Phillips, C. B. 1997. The Royalist North: Cumberland and Westmorland gentry, 1642-1660. In The English Civil Wars: Local Aspects, p.240; (see Sir James Turner, Memoirs, ed. J.Thomson, Edinburth 1829.
Roy, I 1963-4 The Royalist Ordnance Papers, Oxfordshire Record Society, part 1.
Rushworth, John, Historical Collections: Of the King’s Commission of Array, in Historical Collections of Private Passages of State: Volume 4, 1640-42 (London, 1721), pp. 655-688. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/rushworth-papers/vol4/pp655-688 [accessed 13 July 2022];
Warwick, Sir Philip 1702 Memoirs of the Reign of King Charles. London.
Hardwick Hall is best known for its 16th century architecture and collections, but it also has a number of items from the Civil War period, including portraits and arms and armour, especially relating to the Royalist Cavendish family and their associates.
Hardwick Hall (Barry Skeates/Creative Commons)
The paintings include a small group of portraits of Royalist Colonel-General Lord Charles Cavendish (1620-1643), brother of the 3rd Earl of Devonshire and cousin of the Royalist commander of the Trent-North area, William Cavendish, Earl (later Marquis & Duke) of Newcastle.(1) These show him in earlier civilian costume and later military equipment, around the time of his death at the Battle of Gainsborough, in July 1643. Originally he was buried at Newark. His body was moved to the Cavendish vault in All Saints Church, Derby on the day of his mother’s burial there, on 18th February 1674.
Lord Charles Cavendish (1620 – 1643) circa 1641 – 1643 (NT 1129150)
Other Royalist commanders include James Stanley, Lord Strange, 7th Earl of Derby (1607-1651), Colonel John Russell (1620-1687) and the great political and social philosopher and writer Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679), who had been a tutor to the Devonshires and died at Hardwick Hall in 1679.
James Stanley, Lord Strange, 7th Earl of Derby (1607-1651) (NT 1129129)
Colonel John Russell (1620-1687) (NT 1129132)
Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679) (NT 1129173)
Although Hardwick Hall was largely untouched by military activity during the Civil Wars, the active involvement of the Devonshire and Cavendish families on the side of the King might suggest that some of the collections of arms and armour were used by some of the units raised.
Seven iron musket barrels, English, c1650. (NT 1127014, Robert Thrift/NT)
Of particular importance is a collection of muskets, described by Brian Goodwin,
English military firearms from the early 17th century are exceedingly rare, as so very few have survived. The ten muskets at Hardwick are therefore of great importance as four probably date to around 1620. Each musket has the distinctive “fish-tail” butt associated with this period and two have had their mechanisms modernised, probably at the time of the Civil War. The remaining six muskets, together with some detached components, date to the English Civil Wars period of the 1640s. Their association with, and reason for being at Hardwick remains a mystery. (2)
Flintlock Musket, c.1630 (NT 1127055)
There is also a collection of about twenty leather pistol holsters, most of probably 18th century date, but perhaps some earlier ones of the 17th century, as used by harquebusiers, or cavalrymen.(3)
Trophy of arms including Civil War helmet & breastplate (NT 1127017)
NT 1127024.2;
Hardwick’s main hall has a number of displays of trophies of arms, formed mainly around ceremonial pole arms (halberds, spontoons, etc) and later swords. These are complemented, mainly around the main entrance, by rows of harquebusier armour of the Civil War period, consisting of breastplates, backplates and helmets.(4)
NT 1127024.4
Pikeman’s Breastplate (NT NT 1127024.19)
Pikeman’s tassets (NT 1127039.1 & 2)
Entrance Hall
NT Collections: NT 1129219; NT 1129110; NT 1129150: NT 1129148
Brian Godwin, “Early English Firearms at Hardwick Hall”, 16th Park Lane Arms Fair catalogue, London 1999. Brian Godwin, Hardwick Hall – Part 1: Snaphances”, Journal of the Arms & Armour Society, London, Vol.XVII, No.6, September 2003. Brian Godwin, “The English Flintlock: Its Origins and Development”, 20th Park Lane Arms Fair catalogue, London 2003. Brian Godwin, “The English Snaphance Lock”, London Park Lane Arms Fair catalogue, Spring 2006. Brian Godwin, “English Firearms from the late 1500s to the English Civil Wars”, Royal Armouries Journal (Vol.10, No.1, Spring 2013, pp.51–70).
NT 1127012 and others.
NT 1127017; NT 1127024.2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25. NB. NT 1127024.19 appears to be a pikeman’s breastplate and there are associated tassets NT 1127039.1 & 2
Following the King’s removal from London to York and his thwarted attempt to seize the magazine at Hull, the next few months saw an intensification in the battle between King and Parliament – York and London – to take control of the military.
Sir Francis Wortley (1591-1652) (Royal Armouries Museum, Leeds, Acc.no.WYL.I.52)
Sir Francis Wortley declared for the King
Sir Francis Wortley (1591-1652), of Wortley Hall, Yorkshire, had not always been a staunch supporter of the King. During the Bishops’ Wars (1639-40) he had protested at the King’s billeting of troops, but had joined the King with a volunteer force of 100 gentlemen after the Scottish defeat of the King’s English army at Newburn Ford in August 1640.
On 22 April 1642, he had urged the King to seize the arsenal at Hull and arm his supporters. Following Sir John Hotham’s refusal to admit the King to Hull, at a large public meeting at York, on 3 May 1642, he is said to have drawn his sword and waved it above his head crying, ‘for the king, for the king!’, becoming ‘one of the first gentlemen that engaged a party for the king in Yorkshire’.
Wortley himself denied the whole story, but some parliamentarians saw this incident as marking the beginning of the royalist army. Wortley’s sister was disgusted by his behaviour, and described him in a letter as a ‘foolish man … full of vanity’, who deserved ‘great punishment’.
By the 12 May 1642, he appears to have raised 200 gentlemen to form a Royal Lifeguard of Horse. Later in the Civil War, Wortley led elements of the royalist northern army into the Midlands.
Parliament’s Militia Ordinance v. Royal Commissions of Array
On 5 May 1642, Parliament responded to the King’s refusal to approve of attempts to place control of the militia in Parliament’s powers, presented to the King at York on 26 March 1642. The King countered Parliament’s published declaration and supporters of the King in Yorkshire started to gather their troops.
On 8 May 1642, the King sent away a House of Commons delegation of four Yorkshire Members of Parliament – Lord Fairfax, Sir Hugh Cholmley, Sir Henry Cholmley, and Sir Philip Stapleton – who reported back to Parliament their concern that the King felt the need to raise a royal guard. Parliament was mobilising its own supporters and on 10 May 1642 Sir Philip Skippon reviewed the six London City trained band regiments on Finsbury Field. The following day, 11 May 1642, Sir Henry Slingsby, along with others, was issued with a Commission of Array for Yorkshire, for “the severall Regiments of foot of ye Trainbands for Yorkshire to assemble”. by the King.
In 1638, in the lead-up to the Bishops’ Wars, The Yorkshire Trained Bands were the largest in the country, consisting of 12,241 men armed with 6,720 firearms (denoting musketeers) and 5,521 corslets (body armour, signifying pikemen). They also mustered a modest cavalry force of 365 cuirassiers (heavy cavalry) and 35 dragoons. Following their review by Sir Jacob Astley in preparation for the First Bishops’ War, there were instructions to increase the regiments of foot from 1000 to 1500 men each. The Yorkshire Trained Band Regiments of Foot and Troops of Horse consisted of units that formed the bases of the personal regiments of their colonels at the start of the Civil Wars. Some of the colonels aligned their units,
Royalist
Sir William Savill’s Yorkshire Trained Band Regiment of Foot)
Sir William Pennyman’s Yorkshire Trained Band Regiment of Foot)
Sir Robert Strickland’s Yorkshire Trained Band Regiment of Foot
Sir Henry Slingsby’s (Colonel Henry Waite’s) Yorkshire Trained Band Regiment of Foot
Parliamentarian
Sr John Hothams Regiment (East Riding of Yorkshire Trained Band
Lord Fairfax’s Regiment (West Riding of Yorkshire Trained Band)
Sir Hugh (later Colonel Henry) Cholmley’s Regiment of Yorkshire Trained Bands
Sir Henry Slingsby (1602 – 1658) NT 996318, Lacock Abbey
Sir Henry Slingsby wrote,
“…a little before my coming from London, ye King being at York gave commissions for ye several Regiments of foot of ye Trainbands for Yorkshire, & to myself one amongst ye rest dated ye 11th of May 1642. I had not been yet at my own house, not abiding to come where I should find a miss of my dear wife, & where every room will call her to my memory & renew my grief. I therefore staid at Alne at my Sister Bethells house until I had better digest’d my grief; & there it was yt I had my commission sent unto me to command ye Regiment of ye trainbands of ye City of Yor: and in ye Citty I receiv’d an order a little after from ye King to take 20 of a company to do ye duty of a soulgier, & to be guard to ye King’s person during ye time of his Abode at York: but I perceiv’d a great backwardness in ym; & upon Summons few or none appear’d, so this was pass’d over & no more done; for ye King went to Beverly to be near Sr. John Hotham & his Son, who refus’d him entrance with ye train he came with all. (23 April) Therefore ye King gathers together part of ye trainbands; & my Ld Linsey chiefly in command, make show show to block up ye town of Hull, & cast up some works, burns down ye mills, guards ye river, makes cannon Burketts & Blinds; but without affecting much he returns to York”.
Parliament’s Militia Ordinance v. Royal Commissions of Array
Parliament’s Militia Ordinance (passed 15 March 1642) was a direct challenge to the King’s traditional right, in the absence of a standing army, to raise and control the military through the Commissions of Array. Parliament appointed its own county Lord Lieutenants and Deputy Lord Lieutenants, who were responsible for the local trained band units, against the King’s appointees, leading to direct conflict between the two factions.
The King made attempts to counter Parliament’s actions. He summoned Serjeant Major-General Philip Skippon, Parliament’s appointee to the command of the London City Trained Band Regiments, to attend him in York, but Skippon ignored this and Parliament declared the King’s action illegal in statements on 17 May 1642.
The King’s Warlike Intentions
Parliament’s Declaration, or Remonstrance, and its deliberations on the King’s response to it, 19-20 May 1642 concluded,
That the King, seduced by wicked Counsel, intends to make War against the Parliament, who in all their Consultations and Actions, have proposed no other End unto themselves, but the Care of his Kingdoms, and the Performance of all Duty and Loyalty to his Person.
Resolved, &c. 2. That whensoever the King maketh War upon the Parliament, it is a Breach of the Trust reposed in him by his People, contrary to his Oath, and tending to the Dissolution of this Government.
Resolved, &c. 3. That whosoever shall serve or assist him in such Wars, are Traitors by the Fundamental Laws of this Kingdom; and have been so adjudged by two Acts of Parliament, and ought to suffer as Traitors.
The King in York provoked further opposition from Parliament following the formation of a royal lifeguard of about 200 horsemen, on 20 May 1642, followed by a regiment of foot that was reported to be 1,000 strong by the end of June.
Despite Parliament’s objections to the formation of the King’s guard, Colonel Sir Robert Strickland’s Yorkshire Trained Band Regiment of Foot was called into York to provide a further guard for the King. On May 16th Lord Howard of Escrick, then in York, was writing to Lord Keeper Littleton at London of some uncertainty as to whether the regiment would appear or not. By the 23rd the regiment was in York, and Howard wrote:
‘Strickland’s regiment being met together, their officers have drawn them hither to this city, and billeted here, where, by Course, divers are called to attend at the Court, as a Guard for His Majesty’s Person: We do not hear that there is any Colonel, or Lieutenant Colonel; but one Captain Duncombe, who was Serjeant Major… is the active man, that both raised them and commands in chief’.
A few months later, in July 1642, the regiment took part in the siege of Hull. By 1644 it was considered to be one of the oldest regiments in the Royalist army.
The King was joined in York by loyal Lords and supporters. On 27 May 1642 Parliament again declared that the King had been, “seduced by evil councillors”, and was intent on making war. The King declared that any obedience given to Parliament’s Militia Ordinance was treasonous.
References
Newman, P.R. 1978 The Royalist Army in Northern England 1642-45, vol.1 & 2
Smith, Geoffrey Ridsdill 1968 Without Touch of Dishonour The Life & death of Sir Henry Slingsby 1602-1658. Kineton, Roundwood Press.
Rushworth, John, ‘Historical Collections: May 1642’, in Historical Collections of Private Passages of State: Volume 4, 1640-42 (London, 1721), pp. 688-722. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/rushworth-papers/vol4/pp688-722 [accessed 13 July 2022].
Spence, Richard T. 1991 Skipton Castle in the Great Civil War 1642-1645. Skipton, Skipton Castle
Hopper, Andrew 2007 Black Tom: Sir Thomas Fairfax and the English Revolution. Manchester, MUP
Fissel, Mark Charles 1994 The Bishops’ Wars, Charles I’s campaigns against Scotland 1638-1640. Cambridge University Press.
Parsons, Daniel 1836 The Diary of Sir Henry Slingsby, of Scriven, Bart. London, Longman
Just published: “Sir William Pennyman (1607-1643) of Marske and his Regiments of Foot & Horse”, originally submitted as an entry into the Pike and Shot Society Bill Braham Memorial Essay Writing Competition and now, thanks to Stephen Ede-Borrett and the team at the P&S Society, featured in the latest edition of ‘Arquebusier’, pp.2-16.
The article outlines: the Pennyman family background; activity during the Bishops’ Wars (1639-40); the raising of the King’s standard at Nottingham, the involvement in the early engagements of the Civil War at Powick Bridge and Edgehill and establishment as part of the Oxford garrison; the Battle of Marlborough, taking of Cirencester, an attempt on Aylesbury and the relief of Reading; William Pennyman’s term as Governor of Oxford until August 1643; the later actions under his cousin, Sir James Pennyman and Richard Page, including Newbury II in October 1644 and Leicester and finally Naseby the following year.
In early March 1642, King Charles I left behind his opponents mainly located in the south and travelled to York where he established his court, started to gather and coordinate his supporters against Parliament and create a safe place for the return of Queen Henrietta Maria from Europe.
En route for York, the king had rejected Parliament’s Militia Bill. Traditionally, control of the navy and trained bands had been the preserve of the monarch. Suspicious of the king’s aptitude in appointing good military leaders after the debacle of the Bishops’ Wars (1639-40) and his motives over the creation of an army to deal with the rebellion in Ireland, Parliament overturned the king’s authority in the appointment of the county lord lieutenants to raise the county militia. On 5 March 1642, its Militia Ordinance gave it the powers to dismiss the king’s appointees and install their own lord lieutenants. Parliament also appointed its own admiral in control of the navy. These attempts to take power and control of the armed forces away from the King created further divisions that would lead to the outbreak of war in August.
Plan of Hull in 1640 by Wenceslas Hollar
The King’s other main reason for moving to the North was to secure the important stronghold and arsenal of Kingston upon Hull. The fortified town held a substantial amount of arms, armour and munitions that had been built up to supply the English army during the Bishops’ Wars. There had been attempts earlier in the year to take control of the town, with Parliament’s Governor Sir John Hotham, assisted by his son, John, moving the local militia into the town.
Sir John Hotham
On 22 April 1642, the King sent his younger son, The Duke of York, along with the Elector Palatine, Charles I’s nephew, and a small retinue of horsemen, to Hull in an attempt to start to win over the city. The governor, John Hotham allowed them in a wined and dined them. On the same day, Parliament declared,
“…that no forces bee admitted into Hull, without consent of the Lords, and Commons, was sent up to the Lords for their assent, to which they willingly agreed: and an order was drawne up to bee sent to the Governour, there to informe him concerning the said Vote, with Instructions for the further fortifying of the Towne and Castle”.
‘Charles I Demanding Entrance at the Beverley Gate, Hull, 23 April 1642‘ by George Arnald, about 1819 Ferens Art Gallery, Hull
The following day, 23 April, the King arrived with a small party of horsemen, but Sir John Hotham refused him entry. The King declared Hotham a traitor and turned back to Beverley, returning to York on Sunday 24 April, furious and humiliated. He sent news to the Queen in Holland via Sir Lewis Dyve, warning her about the Hull incident and refused to talk to Parliamentarian commissioners with regard to this event
A few days later, on 26 April, Parliament sent four ships to Hull to take away a substantial quantity of munitions, including:
49 pieces brass ordnance; 40 (gun) carriages with shod wheels; 7,238 muskets; 3,729 swords; 1,658 pikes; 300 pairs of pistols; 1,967 other pistols; 900 barrels of gunpowder; 755 carbines with firelocks; 1,540 carbines with snaphance; 105 grenadoes; 31 barrels of musket bullets; 1,170 great canon shot; 1,498 of other shot.
The shipment arrived in London on 30 May 1642. Later in July 1642, Charles demanded the surrender of Hull and unsuccessfully lay siege to it
Imaginative reconstruction of Hull’s Beverley Gate.(drawing after R.Hearne 1990)
Commemorative plaque on the site of Hull’s Beverley Gate
Both approaches to Hull had been made from the direction of the town of Beverley and Hotham had refused entry to the King at the Beverley Gate. This gate was built as part of the brick town wall defences constructed in the early fourteenth century and survived up until the mid-1770s. The defences of the gate were upgraded early in the Civil War and extended with outer earthworks. In 1990 excavations revealed the surviving northern half of the gate, which has been consolidated and interpreted.
Exterior of the North Gate, Beverley, of similar early 14th century date and brick construction to Hull’s Beverley Gate.
Further reading
Reckitt, Basil N. 1952 Charles the First and Hull 1639-1645. London, A.Brown & Sons, Ltd, pp.26-34
Wedgwood, C V. 1958 The King’s War 1641-1647. London, Fontana, p.83
Binns, Jack 2008 Sir Hugh Cholmley of Whitby 1600-1657. Pickering, Blackthorn Press. 2008, p.81
Evans, David & Sitch, Bryan 1990 Beverley Gate: The Birthplace of the English Civil War. Hull, Hull City Council with Hutton Press Ltd, Beverley.
Of Things Trent-North 