John Venn (1586 – 28 June 1650) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

from 1641 to 1650. He was one of the

regicide Regicide is the purposeful killing of a monarch or sovereign of a polity and is often associated with the usurpation of power. A regicide can also be the person responsible for the killing. The word comes from the Latin roots of ''regis'' ...

s of King

Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...

. Venn was born in Lydeard St Lawrence,

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lor ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

, in 1586 and was an apprentice in the Merchant Taylors' Company before becoming a wool and silk merchant. He was one of the founders of the Massachusetts Bay Company. Venn was an active member of the Honourable Artillery Company and stood against

Marmaduke Roydon Sir Marmaduke Roydon (also Rawdon and Rawden, with Royden a contemporary spelling) (1583 – 28 April 1646) was an English merchant-adventurer and colonial planter, known also as a Royalist army officer. Life The son of Ralph Roydon or Rawdon o ...

for election as captain-leader of the company in 1631; both were disappointed by the impositon of a candidate favoured by the Crown. In September 1640, as one of the leaders of the

Puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become more Protestant. ...

militants, he sent a petition to King Charles demanding religious reform. Together with Isaac Penington, he demanded the prosecution of the

Earl of Strafford Earl of Strafford is a title that has been created three times in English and British history. The first creation was in the Peerage of England in January 1640 for Thomas Wentworth, the close advisor of King Charles I. He had already succe ...

. In 1641, Venn was elected

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

for

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London f ...

in the

Long Parliament The Long Parliament was an English Parliament which lasted from 1640 until 1660. It followed the fiasco of the Short Parliament, which had convened for only three weeks during the spring of 1640 after an 11-year parliamentary absence. In Septe ...

. In 1642, he fought in the army of the Earl of Essex, and following the

battle of Edgehill The Battle of Edgehill (or Edge Hill) was a pitched battle of the First English Civil War. It was fought near Edge Hill and Kineton in southern Warwickshire on Sunday, 23 October 1642. All attempts at constitutional compromise between ...

was appointed governor of

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, a position he retained until 1645. When the pro-Royalist Presbyterian mobs of

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

seized

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...

, he did not join the pro-Army Independent MPs in seeking asylum with the Army. He would be one of the few to change sides over the next year and a half and come to support the army against King Charles. In January 1649, as a commissioner of the

High Court of Justice The High Court of Justice in London, known properly as His Majesty's High Court of Justice in England, together with the Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, are the Senior Courts of England and Wales. Its name is abbreviated as EWHC ( Engl ...

at the trial of King Charles, he was 53rd of the 59 signatories on the death warrant of the King. He died in 1650 before the Restoration in 1660 when many of his fellow signatories were imprisoned or executed.

References

External links

Biography of John Venn
British Civil Wars site * Th

clarify the confusing timeline of the various Venns. {{DEFAULTSORT:Venn, John 1586 births 1650 deaths Honourable Artillery Company officers People from Taunton Deane (district) Members of the Parliament of England for the City of London London Trained Bands officers Regicides of Charles I English MPs 1640–1648 English MPs 1648–1653