John Dove (−1664/65) was a

parliamentary A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democracy, democratic government, governance of a sovereign state, state (or subordinate entity) where the Executive (government), executive derives its democratic legitimacy ...

politician during the

English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...

and

Interregnum An interregnum (plural interregna or interregnums) is a period of discontinuity or "gap" in a government, organization, or social order. Archetypally, it was the period of time between the reign of one monarch and the next (coming from Latin '' ...

. He has sometimes been numbered amongst the

regicides 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'' ...

; however, although he sat as a

Commissioner A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to in ...

in the

trial In law, a trial is a coming together of Party (law), parties to a :wikt:dispute, dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence (law), evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to Adjudication, adjudicate claims or d ...

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 ...

at the

Painted Chamber The Painted Chamber was part of the medieval Palace of Westminster. It was gutted by fire in 1834, and has been described as "perhaps the greatest artistic treasure lost in the fire". The room was re-roofed and re-furnished to be used tempora ...

of the

Palace of Westminster The Palace of Westminster serves as the meeting place for both the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Informally known as the Houses of Parli ...

on the 12th, 13th, 19th, and 26 January (the last being the day that the sentence was agreed), Dove took no other part in the trial of Charles, did not sign the death warrant, and he was not punished at the

Restoration Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to: * Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage ** Audio restoration ** Film restoration ** Image restoration ** Textile restoration * Restoration ecology ...

.Noble
pp. 182–183
at books.google.comGoodwin, ODNB Little is known about Dove's background, although his father, Henry, had been

Mayor of Salisbury The following were mayors of Salisbury, Wiltshire, England: 15th–16th centuries *1387: John Hethe, MP for Salisbury, 1388 *1388,1391: John Moner, MP for Salisbury, 1397 *1395–1397: Richard Spencer, 4 times MP for Salisbury, 1395–1411 ...

, Wiltshire in 1616. John was also a landowner and active in local politics, serving as Mayor of Salisbury in 1635. He and his brother Francis (

in 1645 and 1650) were zealous parliamentarians, serving on a number of county committees from 1644, and he was elected to 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 Septem ...

for Salisbury in 1645 in the place of an ejected Royalist. He was made a colonel of the Wiltshire

militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

in 1650 and was commended in August 1651 by the

Council of State A Council of State is a governmental body in a country, or a subdivision of a country, with a function that varies by jurisdiction. It may be the formal name for the cabinet or it may refer to a non-executive advisory body associated with a head o ...

for his zeal. Dove's influence within the county and at Westminster enabled him to acquire a considerable fortune, with which he was able to purchase sequestered royalist and episcopal estates at Fountell in Hampshire,

Blewbury Blewbury is a village and civil parish at the foot of the Berkshire Downs section of the North Wessex Downs about south of Didcot, south of Oxford and west of London. It was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred it ...

in Berkshire, and

Winterbourne Earls Winterbourne Earls is a village in Wiltshire, England. The village is in the Bourne valley on the A338 road, about northeast of Salisbury. The village adjoins Winterbourne Dauntsey. It is part of the civil parish of Winterbourne, formed in ...

in Wiltshire. In 1655, whilst serving as

Sheriff of Wiltshire This is a list of the Sheriffs and (after 1 April 1974) High Sheriffs of Wiltshire. Until the 14th century, the shrievalty was held '' ex officio'' by the castellans of Old Sarum Castle. On 1 April 1974, under the provisions of the Local Go ...

, he was captured at Salisbury during the

Penruddock uprising The Penruddock Uprising was a Royalist revolt launched on 11 March 1655, intending to restore Charles II to the throne of England. It was led by John Penruddock, a Wiltshire landowner who fought for Charles I in the First English Civil War; ...

, narrowly escaping being hanged thanks to the intervention of some of the rebels. This clemency did not prevent Dove from having John Lucas, one of his saviours, executed. Another rebel, Hugh Grove, who was executed at

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

, accused Dove of having given false witness against him. Grove's estate at Chisenbury Priory, near

Enford Enford is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, in the northeast of Salisbury Plain. The village lies southeast of Devizes and north of Salisbury. The parish includes nine small settlements along both banks of the headwaters of the ...

, had been sequestered in 1650 and granted to Dove. On 29 March 1655, Dove wrote to Secretary Thurloe that he had heard there was to be a commission of

oyer and terminer In English law, oyer and terminer (; a partial translation of the Anglo-French ''oyer et terminer'', which literally means "to hear and to determine") was one of the commissions by which a judge of assize sat. Apart from its Law French name, the ...

for the trial of "rebels" (Royalists captured during and after the Penruddock uprising) in the west of England. He promised that there should be no

juror A jury is a sworn body of people (jurors) convened to hear evidence and render an impartiality, impartial verdict (a Question of fact, finding of fact on a question) officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a sentence (law), penalty o ...

chosen for either jury who could not be depended upon to be well disposed to the government of the day and recommended Thurloe to proceed capitally against the "chief actors that were commissionated, as they said, by Charles Stuart". Dove was removed from the Salisbury corporation under its new charter of 1656, but was restored in 1659, when he also resumed his seat in the

Rump Parliament The Rump Parliament was the English Parliament after Colonel Thomas Pride commanded soldiers to purge the Long Parliament, on 6 December 1648, of those members hostile to the Grandees' intention to try King Charles I for high treason. "Rump" n ...

. At the Restoration he made an abject submission and escaped punishment. He continued to act as an alderman in Salisbury until 1662, when he was removed by the

Corporation Act The Corporation Act of 1661 was an Act of the Parliament of England (13 Cha. II. St. 2 c. 1). It belonged to the general category of test acts, designed for the express purpose of restricting public offices in England to members of the Church of ...

. He retired to his estate at

Ivychurch Ivychurch is a village and civil parish in the Folkestone and Hythe district of Kent, England. The village is located on the Romney Marsh, three miles (4.8 km) north-west of New Romney. The parish council consists of five members.< ...

, near

Alderbury Alderbury is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, in the south of the county around southeast of Salisbury. The parish includes the village of Whaddon, which is adjacent to Alderbury, and the hamlet of Shute End. The River Avon fo ...

, where he died some time before March 1665.His will was written in October 1664 and proved in March 1665 (Goodwin, cites TNA, PROB 11/316, sig. 24).

Notes

References

* Cassan, Stephen H. (1827).
The Lives of the Bishops of Winchester
', 2 Vols., at www.archive.org. *Gordon Goodwin, "Dove, John (d. 1664/5)", rev. Andrew Warmington,

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 200
accessed 16 Oct 2009
Cites: **Benson and H. Hatcher, ''Old and New Sarum or Salisbury'', 2 vols. (1843) ** R. C. Hoare, ''The history of modern Wiltshire, 2/1: Hundreds of Everley, Ambresbury, and Underditch'' (1826) ** CSP dom., 1650–51; 1655 ** D. Brunton and D. H. Pennington, ''Members of the Long Parliament'', (1954) ** C. H. Firth and R. S. Rait, eds., ''Acts and ordinances of the interregnum, 1642–1660'', 3 vols. (1911) ** J. Easton, ''A chronology of remarkable events relative to the city of New Sarum'', 5th edn (1824) ** Thurloe, ''State papers'' ** Will TNA, PROB 11/316, sig. 24 ** VCH Wiltshire, vol. 5 * Noble, Mark. 'The Life of JOHN DOVE, Esq.' in ''The lives of the English regicides: and other commissioners of the pretended High court of justice, appointed to sit in judgment upon their sovereign, King Charles the First'' (1798) * Pugh, R.B. & Crittall Elizabeth (editors 1957)
Parliamentary History of Wiltshire, 1629–60
''Victoria County History of Wiltshire'', volume 5, at www.british-history.ac.uk, accessed 18 Oct 2009 {{DEFAULTSORT:Dove, John 1665 deaths English MPs 1640–1648 Regicides of Charles I People from Wiltshire High Sheriffs of Wiltshire Year of birth unknown Mayors of Salisbury English MPs 1648–1653