Daily entries from the 17th century London diary
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Wikipedia
| John Okey | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born | c. 1606 London, England |
| Died | c. April 19, 1662 |
| Burial | Tower of London |
John Okey (1606–1662) was an English soldier, member of Parliament, and one of the regicides of King Charles I.
[edit] Early life and military career
John Okey was born in 1606 as the sixth child to William Okey and his wife, Margaret Whetherly, of St Giles-in-the-Fields in London. Okey was baptized in St Giles-in-the-Fields on August 24, 1606. Okey came from a prominent family which had property in London as well as a coat of arms.
On January 21, 1630, John Okey married Susanna Pearson. Okey became a proprietor of a ships' chandler's business by 1640. Okey's first wife, Susanna, died and he later remarried to Mary Blackwell in 1658[1].
Before the start of the Civil War, Okey served as a brewery stoker. When the Civil War started, Okey enlisted in the Earl of Essex's Parliamentary army. Okey then became one of several "humble" men who advanced to positions of higher rank and position when the Civil War began. Okey first began as a quartermaster and then advanced in rank becoming a captain of horse. He rose yet further by becoming a major in Arthur Hesilrige's regiment. When the New Model Army was formed in 1645, John Okey was appointed colonel of a dragoon regiment. Later the same year, Okey saved John Butler's cavalry regiment when they were extremely close to being defeated by Prince Rupert's cavalry. In 1645, Okey fought at Burroughbridge and at Bath in Somerset. Okey was captured by the royalist garrison at the siege of Bristol, but was soon released after the city surrendered.
An upsurge of political activism began after the victory in the first civil war. Okey's regiment was not noticeably radical. Increased political activism did, however, give rise to agitation in June 1647. In December of 1647, a loyal address was presented to the commander of the New Model Army, Thomas Fairfax, by many of the troops. Okey’s regiment later served in the second civil war in South Wales in 1648. The same year, Okey also brought his regiment to fight in the battle of St. Fagans as well as at the siege of Pembroke Castle [1].
[edit] Involvement in the Trial and Execution of Charles I
In 1648, Okey was appointed a commissioner to the High Court of Justice after the king was declared as having “traitorously and maliciously levyed war against the present parliament and the people therein represented” and set to stand trial. Okey was one of 135 men who were selected and appointed by “An Act of the Commons Assembled in Parliament” [2]. Okey, along with about 80 others (all of whom were at risk of being labelled as regicides), was actively involved in the case and was present for most of the court’s sittings. Moreover, Okey was included among those who signed the king’s death warrant, and was also charged with upholding the validity of the actions surrounding the execution of Charles I [1].
[edit] Religious Radicalism
John Okey was considered a religious radical, and practised as both a Baptist and a Congregationalist. This outlook affected his military career, and he wrote following his own involvement in the battle of Naseby that the parliamentarians:
"...should magnifie the name of our God that did remember a poore handfull of dispised men, whom they had thought to have swallowed up before them."
In February of 1652, after Okey’s return to England following a military excursion in Scotland, Okey filed a petition to parliament regarding a number of religious reforms as a means of spreading the Gospel and reforming what he considered to be a flawed parochial ministry. There is also some evidence to suggest that Okey was involved in the creation of John Bunyan’s Baptist church in Bedford in 1653.
Following his prosecution as a regicide, Okey was quoted as stating that his actions and strong commitment to Congregationalism was “for righteousness and for justice and for the advancement of a godly magistracy and a godly ministry” [1].
[edit] Petition of the Three Colonels
In 1654, Okey signed the petition of the three colonels along with colonels Thomas Saunders, and Matthew Alured which criticised Oliver Cromwell and the Protectorate. It was unsuccessful and although only Alured was imprisoned, all three were cashiered from the New Model Army.[3][4][5]
[edit] Arrest and Execution
Following the English Interregnum, with the Restoration of the throne to King Charles II in 1660, the restored king avenged his father’s death by targeting those men who had signed the warrant for his unlawful execution. With this claim, these men were branded as regicides of King Charles I, and were sentenced to death. When the Restoration took place, many of the chief supporters of the former regime fled the country in attempt to escape royal retribution. Okey, with Sir John Barkstead, retreated to Germany. In 1661, however, while in the Netherlands, Okey was arrested along with Barkstead and Miles Corbet by Sir George Downing, an English ambassador. Okey was then dispatched back to England where he was tried and found guilty of regicide, a specific form of murder that was deemed to be treason. Okey was executed on April 19, 1662 in a punishment which involved his being hanged, drawn and quartered.
[edit] Burial
It is recorded that as Okey had confessed his own culpability in death of King Charles I that, once executed, King Charles II had agreed to returning Okey’s body to his wife, Mary Okey, for burial. This did not occur, however, as the new government learned that a sizeable number of people planned to attend Okey’s funeral, and that this assembly might afford those opposed to the Restoration to some sort of anti-government display. Consequently, Okey’s body was interred within the precincts of the Tower of London with a minimum of burial observances.
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d Christopher Durston, ‘Okey, John (bap. 1606, d. 1662)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, Jan 2008 accessed 22 Oct 2008
- ^ Howard Nenner, ‘Regicides (act. 1649)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 accessed 22 Oct 2008
- ^ Dictionary of National Biography (1885–1900) Nathaniel Rich
- ^ Austin Woolrych. Britain in Revolution: 1625-1660, Oxford University Press, 2004 ISBN 0199272689, 9780199272686. p 609
- ^ Barbara TaftThe Humble Petition of Several Colonels of the Army: Causes, Character, and Results of Military Opposition to Cromwell's Protectorate The Huntington Library Quarterly, Vol. 42, No. 1 (Winter, 1978), pp. 15-41
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Annotations
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John Okey was a chandler and drayman who joined the New Model Army, rising to the rank of Colonel. He was one of the 59 signers of the Death Warrant of Charles I.
Ironically, he opposed the elevation of Cromwell to the position of Lord Protector. A short bio at: http://www.british-civil-wars.co.uk/biog/index_no.htm#okey
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from L&M Companion
Republican and regicide. A parliamentary colonel, he opposed the Protectorate both of Oliver and of Richard Cromwell. After taking part in Lambert’s attempted rising in the spring of 1660, he fled to Germany. In 1662 he was arrested at Delft and executed at Tyburn. -
here is his appointmentarmy appointments
john okey colonel of horse
Isaack okey lieutnent of troop
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=24801&strquery=downing#s6
john colonel and cqaptain Isaac be lt http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?
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here is his commission papers
Army Commissions. note date :
The House being informed, That divers Officers of the Army were at the Door, to receive their Commissions;
They were called in: And, being come up to the Clerk’s Table, in usual manner; Mr. Speaker acquainted them with the great Trust reposed in them by the Parliament; and that the Parliament and Commonwealth expected Faithfulness from them, accordingly: And thereupon Mr. Speaker delivered,
To Colonel Okey, his Commission to be Colonel of a Regiment of HorseFrom: British History Online
Source: House of Commons Journal Volume 7: 20 January 1660. Journal of the House of Commons: volume 7, (1802).