Reverend Dr. John Hewett (or Huett; September 1614 – ''buried'' 8 June 1658) was

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intellige ...

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 ...

and later executed for

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state (polity), state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to Coup d'état, overthrow its government, spy ...

as a

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 ...

. The son of clothworker Thomas Hewett, he was born in Eccles,

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, and educated in nearby

Bolton-le-Moors Bolton le Moors (also known as Bolton le Moors St Peter) was a large civil parish and ecclesiastical parish in hundred of Salford in the historic county of Lancashire, England. It was administered from St Peter's Church, Bolton in the township ...

. He matriculated sizar at

Pembroke College, Cambridge Pembroke College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college is the third-oldest college of the university and has over 700 students and fellows. It is one of the university's larger colleges, with buildings from ...

in 1633, and in 1643 he was awarded a degree of

D.D. A Doctor of Divinity (DD or DDiv; ) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity (i.e., Christian theology and ministry or other theologies. The term is more common in the English-speaking world than elsewhere. In the United Kin ...

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

, where he served as a chaplain to Charles I. He then became chaplain to

Montagu Bertie, 2nd Earl of Lindsey Montagu Bertie, 2nd Earl of Lindsey, KG, PC (1608 – 25 July 1666), was an English soldier, courtier, and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1624 and 1626. He was created Baron Willoughby de Eresby by writ of acceleration in ...

, at

Havering The London Borough of Havering () in East London, England, forms part of Outer London. It has a population of 259,552 inhabitants; the principal town is Romford, while other communities include Hornchurch, Upminster, Collier Row and Rainham, Lo ...

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

, before moving to London, where he preached to larger congregations. He was openly loyal to the exiled Prince Charles (the future King Charles II), and was involved in the secret preparations for his return. In April 1658 a fellow sympathiser,

John Stapley Sir John Stapley, 1st Baronet of Patcham (1628–1701) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1654 and 1679. He was a Royalist who plotted with members of the Sealed Knot to overthrow the Protector Oliv ...

, confessed to

Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English statesman, politician and soldier, widely regarded as one of the most important figures in British history. He came to prominence during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, initially a ...

that, thanks to Hewett, he had been offered funds to raise an army to support the return of Prince Charles. Hewett was arrested, along with Lord Mordaunt and Sir Henry Slingsby, and brought to trial, refusing to enter a plea of guilty or not guilty and claiming the right to

trial by jury A jury trial, or trial by jury, is a legal proceeding in which a jury makes a decision or findings of fact. It is distinguished from a bench trial, in which a judge or panel of judges makes all decisions. Jury trials are increasingly used ...

. The court, however, sentenced Hewett and Slingsby to be beheaded for treason (Mordaunt having been narrowly acquitted on a technicality) and three other less well-born conspirators to be

hanged, drawn and quartered To be hanged, drawn and quartered was a method of torture, torturous capital punishment used principally to execute men convicted of High treason in the United Kingdom, high treason in medieval and early modern Britain and Ireland. The convi ...

. The

beheading Decapitation is the total separation of the head from the body. Such an injury is invariably fatal to humans and all vertebrate animals, since it deprives the brain of oxygenated blood by way of severing through the jugular vein and common ...

s were carried out on

Tower Hill Tower Hill is the area surrounding the Tower of London in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is infamous for the public execution of high status prisoners from the late 14th to the mid 18th century. The execution site on the higher gro ...

. These events were depicted in a drama of 1660 called ''Cromwell's Conspiracie'', in which Hewet's ghost haunts Cromwell's deathbed.D.B.J. Randall, ''Winter Fruit: English Drama, 1642-1660'' (University Press of kentucky, Lexington 1995)
at p. 110
(Google). Hewett married twice: firstly Elizabeth, daughter of Robert Skinner of London, with whom he had three children; and secondly Mary, daughter of

Robert Bertie, 1st Earl of Lindsey Robert Bertie, 1st Earl of Lindsey, 16 December 1582 – 24 October 1642, was an English peer, naval officer, soldier and courtier. Personal details Robert Bertie was the son of Peregrine Bertie, 13th Baron Willoughby de Eresby (b. 12 October ...

, with whom he had two daughters who died young. His eldest son John became a merchant in Barbados.

References

-------------------- * Portrait and text a
Historical Portraits Image Library (Philip Mould)
* J.P. Earwaker, ''Notes of the Life of Dr. John Hewytt, A Lancashire Worthy'' (Reprinted from "Local Gleanings" in the ''Manchester Courier''), (Thomas Sowler and Sons, Manchester 1877
(Google)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hewett, John 1614 births 1658 deaths Anglican chaplains Cavaliers Executions at the Tower of London People executed under the Interregnum (England) by decapitation People executed under the Interregnum (England) for treason against England People from Eccles, Greater Manchester Executed people from Lancashire 17th-century English Anglican priests