Henry Jones of Oxfordshire

Last updated

Henry Jones of Asthall Manor (died 1673), Oxfordshire was an officer in the New Model Army during the Interregnum. He transferred to the new small Royalist army of Charles II, serving as a Life Guard until he was dismissed after becoming a Roman Catholic. With King Charles's blessing he raised an English regiment of horse (cavalry) known as English Regiment of Light Horse in France for the French Army of Louis XIV. He was killed in action at the siege of Maastricht.

Contents

Early life

Henry Jones was the son of Rice Jones (died probably by 1644) and his wife Jane daughter of Giles Bray of Harrington. [lower-alpha 1] [lower-alpha 2] [lower-alpha 3]

Early military career

Jones [lower-alpha 4] was a captain in, or possibly was major of, John Humphrey's regiment of foot in Barbados and Jamaica in 1655 and 1656. He was lucky to survive service in the West Indies. [5]

Battle of the Dunes

Jones and another officer, Colonel Drummond, accompanied Lord Fauconberg (a son-in-law of the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell). Jones volunteered to join Sir William Lockhart's Brigade which fought alongside the French army at the siege of Dunkirk and at the Battle of the Dunes on 4 June 1658. [lower-alpha 5]

At the Battle of the Dunes Jones was attached to Lockhart's New Model Army regiment. The regiment was under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Roger Fenwick when it attacked veteran Spanish soldiers ensconced on top of 150 feet (46 m) dune (sand-hill). The sides of the dune were so steep that attacking English had to scramble up on hands and knees. The English, after two volleys and push of pike, drove the Spanish from the crest of the dune and then pursued them down the far side. They were then in turn attacked by Anglo-Spanish cavalry who were unable to break the English formation and were themselves then driven off by French cavalry. By then all the regimental officers were either dead, or wounded. [lower-alpha 6] Jones himself had been, shot through the shoulder and wounded in two other places, but this did not deter him from seizing a loose French cavalry horse and joining the French cavalry in the counter-attack on the Anglo-Spanish cavalry. However, Jones pursued the enemy too far and was captured. [11]

Jones had displayed such valour in this action that on his release from a short captivity (he was part of a prisoner exchange), he was dubbed a knight bachelor by Oliver Cromwell on 17 July 1658 (this honour, like all Protectorate honours, passed into oblivion at the Restoration in May 1660), and was promoted to the lieutenant-colonelcy of John Hewson's infantry regiment. [5]

Hampton Court, July 17.—His Highness [Oliver Cromwell] hath been pleased ... to confer the honor of Knighthood upon Henry Jones, Esq. a gentleman that hath given more then ordinary proofs of high courage in several services; particularly in the late battle near Dunkirk, where, as a volunteer, he performed service on foot, along with that gallant Gentleman Lieutenant-Colonel Roger Fenwick (who sustaining the first fury of the enemy, received his death's-wound, and lies asleep in the bed of honor) in which action the said volunteer was also wounded; and afterwards mounting himself he struck in with the French horse, and among them did farther service against the enemy; whereby he stands a noble example to the young gentry of England.

—  Mercurius Politicus , July 15–22. [12]

Restoration

At the Restoration, he found his way into a lieutenant's commission in Lord Hawley's troop in the Royal Horse Guards, probably through the patronage and influence of George Monck and Sir William Lockhart. By 1665 he had risen to captain. [5]

Recusancy

In September 1667 Parliament passed an act that forbade Roman Catholics from being officers in the English Army and on the 26th of that month all Roman Catholics officers were dismissed. Charles II, who recognised that many of the dismissed officers, or their fathers. had been devoted to the Royalist cause during the English Civil War and Interregnum, and was not ungrateful for the loyalty they had shown, so he did his best to make arrangements the affected officers to enter the regiment of Sir George Hamilton in the French army. [13] Jones who must have converted to Roman Catholicism some time before the act of Parliament, [14] was one of those who left England for Service abroad. He may have initially gone to Spain, but then became the lieutenant of Sir George Hamilton's Troop of English Gens d'Armes in the French army. However, he retained his troop in the Royal Horse Guards whilst in France. [5] [13]

Regiment of Light Horse, and death

In 1671 Jones obtained permission to expand the Gens d'Armes into a full-sized light cavalry regiment under his own command. The regiment known as Sir Henry Jones's Regiment of Light Horse or the English Regiment of Light Horse in France was about 500 strong. Jones was its first colonel and Ferdinando Lyttelton its first lieutenant-colonel. [15] [16] Jones tried to recruit men from his own troop in the Royal Horse Guards; much to his annoyance, there were few volunteers. Jones was killed by a bullet through the throat whilst he was attending the Duke of Monmouth at the siege of Maastricht in 1673. [5]

Family

Jones married Frances, daughter Henry Belasyse (1604–1647). They had a daughter and sole heir: Frances (born March 1667), [3] who married Richard, Viscount Lumley. [17]

Notes

  1. ↑ "In 1612 Lenthall sold the manor to Rice Jones (d. 1615) and his son Rice, a minor. The younger Rice presumably came into possession in 1627 on achieving his majority and died probably by 1644. His son Henry was lord in 1654, when he made a conveyance probably in trust. He died in 1673 leaving a daughter, Frances, a minor, who in 1685 married Richard Lumley, Lord Lumley and from 1690 earl of Scarbrough. In 1687 they granted the manor apparently in trust, and in 1687–1688 sold several parcels including Stonelands and probably the manor house and some land. In 1688 they sold the manor, including land and quitrents, to Sir Edmund Fettiplace of Swinbrook, followed by more land in 1689". [1]
  2. ↑ "Jane Jones of Asthall, widow of Rice Jones the younger, was subsequently required to pay for ten months towards the maintenance of Gaunt House's new garrison". [2]
  3. ↑ "Rice Jones of Asthall; living 1634; mar. Jane da. of Giles Bray of Harrington in Com. Glouc. and had issue III. Sr. HENRY JONES of Asthall knt. will pr. 1673 (P.C.C.) had issue Frances bp. 26 Mar. 1666-7 1 Vis. Ox. p. 292". [3]
  4. ↑ "Sir Henry Jones, lord of Asthall Manor by 1654, fought for Oliver Cromwell in the late 1650s and was later a leading commander in Charles II's army, dying at the siege of Maastricht in 1673". [4]
  5. ↑ Colonel Drummond was a Scottish officer who served in the English Army—some sources state Drummond was Major General. At the Battle of the Dunes, according to Edmund Ludlow's account it was Drummond on seeing the Lockhart's regiment having pursued the Spanish too far, rode up to the French horse, "and by reproaching them with treachery and negligence, procured a party of horse" to relieve the hard pressed English, and upon whose arrival "the English took fresh courage, renewed their attack, and killed a great number of the enemy". In this engagement Drummond had one horse shot from under him, and after remounting with difficulty, was pushed off by a pike, but he survived battle unharmed. [6] [7] His report to General George Monck is one of the primary sources of information about the battle and the gallant actions of Jones. [8] Drummond was mortally wounded just over a week later when on 13 June 1658 (O.S.) as he led a storming party that captured an outlying "work" that command much of Dunkirk. He was "shot in the belly" and at first it was hoped that the wound was not fatal, but the expectation was that he would die; he did so on 28 June (O.S.). [9]
  6. ↑ The performance of the Regiment won the red coated English Army renown throughout Europe. [10]
  1. ↑ Colvin et al. 2006, pp. 48–55.
  2. ↑ Colvin et al. 2006, pp. 37–48.
  3. 1 2 Bysshe & Squibb 1993, p. 93.
  4. ↑ Colvin et al. 2006, pp. 37–48 cites Childs 1990, pp. 278–9; idem., The Army of Charles II (1976), 248.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Royal Historical Society 1882, p. 279.
  6. ↑ Ludlow 1894, pp. 4–5.
  7. ↑ Thurloe 1742, p. 156 quotes a document with no author written at Mardike 4/14 1658.
  8. ↑ Colonel Drummond 1899.
  9. ↑ Thurloe 1742, pp. 172, 193, 216.
  10. ↑ Davis 1999, p. 225; "The English are generally cried upon for their unparalleled courage" (Lord Fauconberg in a letter to Henry Cromwell dated 8 June 1658 Thurloe 1742, p.  158.
  11. ↑ Firth 1909, p. 195–198.
  12. ↑ Stace 1810, p. 174.
  13. 1 2 White-Spunner 2006, pp. 54–57.
  14. ↑ "A few recusants were reported in the 17th century, including the lord of Asthall manor Sir Henry Jones, who converted to Catholicism c. 1667" ( Colvin et al. 2006a , pp. 65–72).
  15. ↑ Childs 2013, p. 34.
  16. ↑ The English Brigade.
  17. ↑ Rt. Hon. Richard Lord Viscount Lumley and Frances his wife (daughter and sole heir of Sir Henry Jones late of Easthall als. Asthall, co. Oxon.)(British National Archives

Related Research Articles

Battle of the Dunes (1658) Battle in the Franco-Spanish War (1658)

The Battle of the Dunes, also known as the Battle of Dunkirk, was a major battle fought on 14 June 1658. It was a victory of the French army and their Commonwealth of England allies, under Turenne, one of the great generals of his age, over the Spanish army and their English Royalist and French Fronde rebels, led by John of Austria the Younger and Louis II de Condé. The battle was part of the Franco-Spanish War and the concurrent Anglo-Spanish War, and was fought near Dunkirk a fortified port city on the coast of the English Channel in what was then the Southern Netherlands that belonged to Habsburg Spain. The French army had laid siege to Dunkirk and the Spanish army was attempting to raise the siege.

New Model Army English Civil War army (1645–60)

The New Model Army was a standing army formed in 1645 by the Parliamentarians during the First English Civil War, then disbanded after the Stuart Restoration in 1660. It differed from other armies employed in the 1638 to 1651 Wars of the Three Kingdoms in that members were liable for service anywhere in the country, rather than being limited to a single area or garrison. To establish a professional officer corps, the army's leaders were prohibited from having seats in either the House of Lords or House of Commons. This was to encourage their separation from the political or religious factions among the Parliamentarians.

Edward Sexby

Colonel Edward Sexby was an English Puritan soldier and Leveller in the army of Oliver Cromwell. Later he turned against Cromwell and plotted his assassination.

Colonel Sir Richard Ingoldsby was an English officer in the New Model Army during the English Civil War and a politician who sat in the House of Commons variously between 1647 and 1685. As a Commissioner (Judge) at the trial of King Charles I, he signed the king's death warrant but was one of the few regicides to be pardoned.

Henry Wilmot, 1st Earl of Rochester

Lieutenant-General Henry Wilmot, 1st Earl of Rochester, known as The Lord Wilmot between 1643 and 1644 and as The Viscount Wilmot between 1644 and 1652, was an English Cavalier who fought for the Royalist cause during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms.

William Lockhart of Lee

Sir William Lockhart of Lee (1621–1675), was a Scottish soldier and diplomat who fought for the Covenanters during the 1638 to 1651 Wars of the Three Kingdoms. Following Royalist defeat in the 1642 to 1647 First English Civil War, Lockhart took part in negotiations between Charles I and Scottish Engagers, who agreed to restore him to the English throne.

Carabiniers (6th Dragoon Guards) Military unit

The Carabiniers was a cavalry regiment of the British Army. It was formed in 1685 as the Lord Lumley's Regiment of Horse. It was renamed as His Majesty's 1st Regiment of Carabiniers in 1740, the 3rd Regiment of Horse (Carabiniers) in 1756 and the 6th Regiment of Dragoon Guards in 1788. After two centuries of service, including the First World War, the regiment was amalgamated with the 3rd Dragoon Guards to form the 3rd/6th Dragoon Guards in 1922.

James Livingston, 1st Earl of Newburgh was a Scottish peer who sat in the House of Commons of England from 1661 to 1670. He supported the Royalist cause in the English Civil War.

The English Army existed while England was an independent state and was at war with other states, but it was not until the Interregnum and the New Model Army that England acquired a peacetime professional standing army. At the Restoration of the monarchy, Charles II kept a small standing army, formed from elements of the Royalist army in exile and elements of the New Model Army, from which the most senior regular regiments of today's British Army can trace their antecedence. Likewise, Royal Marines can trace their origins back to the formation of the English Army's "Duke of York and Albany's maritime regiment of Foot" at the grounds of the Honourable Artillery Company on 28 October 1664.

Murrough OBrien, 1st Earl of Inchiquin

Murrough MacDermod O'Brien, 6th Baron Inchiquin, 1st Baron O'Brien of Burren, 1st Earl of Inchiquin, was an Irish nobleman and army officer. He was known as Murchadh na dTóiteán in reference to extensive burnings of the Irish who would not convert to Anglicanism.

John Reynolds (1625–1657) was a soldier in the English Civil War and during the Commonwealth. Reynolds may have been a member of the Middle Temple. He joined the parliamentary army, and in 1648 he commanded a regiment of horse. He took part in the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland. He was a member of the Westminster-based Protectorate Parliament for Galway and Mayo in 1654 and Waterford and Tipperary in 1656. He was knighted in 1655. In 1657 he commanded the English force which cooperated with the French in Flanders in the Anglo-Spanish War and was lost at sea when returning to England.

Matthew Thomlinson (1617–1681) was an English soldier who fought for Parliament in the English Civil War. He was a regicide of Charles I. Tomlinson was a colonel of horse (cavalry) in the New Model Army and was one of the officers presenting the remonstrance to parliament in 1647. He took charge of Charles I in 1648, until Charles's execution, but refused to be his judge. He followed Oliver Cromwell to Scotland in 1650.

Thomas Cooper was a colonel in the Parliamentary Army who fought in the English Civil War and aided in the Cromwellian occupation of Ireland. He was appointed to the Cromwell's Upper House, and died in 1659.

Colonel Nathaniel Rich sided with Parliament in the English Civil War. He was a colonel in Oliver Cromwell's New Model Army.

Ralph Knight

Sir Ralph Knight was an English soldier and politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1660. He served in the Parliamentary army in the English Civil War. He sold 'the Barrels' Manor House in Ullenhal Worcestershire to his cousin to join Cromwell. The Manor had been in the family since the early 1500s.

Siege of Dunkirk (1658)

The Siege of Dunkirk in 1658 was a military operation by the allied forces of France and Commonwealth England intended to take the fortified port city of Dunkirk, Spain's greatest privateer base, from the Spanish and their confederates: the English royalists and French Fronduers. Dunkirk was a strategic port on the southern coast of the English Channel in the Spanish Netherlands that had often been a point of contention previously and had changed hands a number of times. Privateers operating out of Dunkirk and other ports had cost England some 1,500 to 2,000 merchant ships in the past year. The French and their English Commonwealth allies were commanded by Marshal of France Turenne. The siege would last a month and featured numerous sorties by the garrison and a determined relief attempt by the Spanish army under the command of Don Juan of Austria and his confederate English royalists under Duke of York and rebels of the French Fronde under the Great Condé that resulted in the battle of the Dunes.

Sir George Rawdon, 1st Baronet

Sir George Rawdon, 1st Baronet (1604–1684), of Moira, County Down which he founded, was an English army officer and politician.

Sir Anthony Morgan (1621–1668) was an English Royalist politician and soldier. In the English Civil War he was first a Royalist captain and then in 1646 changed sides and joined the Parliamentary army. He was a captain in Ireton's horse (cavalry) in Ireland in 1649 and had risen to the rank of major by 1662. He was a Member of Parliament for the Irish constituency of Wicklow and Kildare in the parliaments of 1654 to 1658, and represented the Irish constituency of Meath and Louth in 1659. The Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell knighted him in 1656 and after the Restoration, he was also knighted by King Charles II in 1660. He was a commissioner of the English auxiliaries in France and an original member of the Royal Society in 1663.

During the Protectorate period (1653–1659) of the Commonwealth of England, the Lord Protector reserved the power previously held by the monarch to confer knighthoods, baronetcies and peerages.

Roger Fenwick (1632–1658) was an English lieutenant-colonel in the New Model Army who was mortally wounded while leading his regiment at the Battle of the Dunes (1658).

References

Attribution
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.