In 1643, near the start of the

English Civil War The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...

, Parliament set up two committees: the Sequestration Committee, which confiscated the estates of the

Royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of gove ...

s who fought against

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

, and the Committee for Compounding with Delinquents, which allowed Royalists whose estates had been sequestrated to compound for their estates – pay a fine and recover their estates – on the condition that they must pledge not to take up arms against Parliament again. The size of the fine they had to pay depended on the worth of the estate and how great their support for the Royalist cause had been. To administer the process of sequestration, a sequestration committee was established in each county. If a local committee sequestrated an estate they usually let it to a tenant and the income was used "to the best advantage of the State". If a "

delinquent Delinquent may refer to: * Delinquent (royalist) In 1643, near the start of the English Civil War, Parliament set up two committees: the Sequestration Committee, which confiscated the estates of the Royalists who fought against Parliament, and ...

" wished to recover his estate he had to apply to the Committee for Compounding with Delinquents based in London, as the national Sequestration Committee was absorbed by the Committee for Compounding in 1644. After the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660, most of the sequestrated land was returned to the pre-war owners.

Background

In 1643, the "Parliamentary Committee for the Sequestration of Delinquents' Estates" was formed to confiscate the estates of Royalists who fought against the victorious Parliamentarians in the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

. This was followed by the establishment of the Committee for Compounding for the Estates of Royalists and Delinquents, at

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in the

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, which first met on 8 November 1643. In January 1646, the committee announced favourable terms for those who compounded prior to 1 May. This allowed those whose estates had been confiscated to regain them on payment of a fine, with the amount based on the value of their lands and level of support. Many took advantage of this.

Assessment of sum

The delinquent paid a fine proportional to the value of his estate, frequently three times net annual income.

Valuation of estate

The delinquent submitted to the Committee for Compounding with Delinquents a signed declaration of his revenue and assets, which ended with wording such as: ''This is a true particular of the estate he doth desire to compound with this Honourable Committee for, wherein he doth submit himself to the fine to be imposed'' (partial transcript of declaration to the Committee for Compounding with Delinquents of Francis Choke of Avington, Berkshire, dated 1646).

Payment

Payment of the sum compounded was made generally at

in London.As in case of Col John Giffard of Brightley .

Notes

References

Citations

Sources

* * * * * * * * * *

. "Sequestration Committee, 1643–1650" (Covering dates 1643–1653) * Committee for Compounding with Delinquents: Books and Paper
SP 23
The National Archives, "Committee for Compounding with Delinquents, 1643–1656 and Committee for Scottish Affairs, 1643–1656" (Covering dates 1643–1664)
Search for: creator:"Great Britain. Committee for Compounding with Delinquents (1643–1660)
,

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* — The papers record the particulars of the estates and personal property sworn on oath to belong to delinquents as part of the compounding process. Records held under ''SP 28'' also contain material concerning the County Committees for Compounding with Delinquents. * * {{Cite book , title=Yorkshire Royalist Composition Papers Or the Proceedings of the Committee for Compounding with Delinquents during the Commonwealth , editor-last=Clay , editor-first=John William , edition=several volumes , year=2013

External links

Phillimore, W.P.W., (ed.) ''Index nominum'' (index of names) to the Royalist Composition Papers, first and second series, volumes 1 and 2, London, 1889; archive.org
1643 establishments in England English Civil War The National Archives (United Kingdom) Parliament of England