Author: Brenda Potter

Orders of the Day, Volume 35, Issue 2, Apr/May 2003

Reigate is a quiet market town south of London. In the 16th century its Priory was the home of Elizabeth I’s Lord Admiral, Howard of Effingham. In 1641 it was the home of Elizabeth, the Admiral's granddaughter, who had married John Mordaunt, Earl of Peterborough.

At the outbreak of the Civil War the Earl raised a troop at his own expense and joined Essex's army. The Countess meanwhile removed her sons Henry and John from Eton and sent them to the Continent for safety. By the beginning of 1642 Henry, the elder, was back in England with his father’s troop, but within months he had deserted and joined the King. When towards the end of the year the Earl died, his widow tried to disinherit her elder son in favour of 18 year old John. In this she was thwarted by the intervention of the King himself.

For the next few years the main fighting of the war bypassed Reigate. It was not until 1647 that there is mention of soldiers in the town. In that year Reigate was visited by one of the periodic outbreaks of the plague which took no account of status, whether soldier or civilian. In August, 20 soldiers of Sir Thomas Fairfax’s army were buried in the churchyard and in November a further 28 troopers of Captain Dury's Company shared the same fate.

By the next spring relationships between the Army and the civilian population had deteriorated and in February 1648 a serious incident took place. According to the Parish Register "William Priest and Nicholas Marden where killed by some soldiers in Captain Winthrop's Troope in Coll. Harrison's Regiment in Sir Thos. Fairfax Armie, who being quartered in the Town fell out with the Countrymen and these two murdered by them and many more dangerously wounded". This took place on a Tuesday which was market day, which was probably the reason why Marden and Priest were in Reigate. Captain Winthrop was Stephen, son of John Winthrop, one-time Governor of Massachusetts who emigrated from Suffolk to the New World only to return with his sons to fight for Parliament in 1642. Col. Harrison was Thomas Harrison, the Regicide.

Further trouble arose on 8th May 1648 when a group of Surrey inhabitants met at Dorking, three miles from Reigate, to draw up a petition to Parliament, which among other things called for the restoration of the King. When they tried to deliver their demands to Parliament a riot ensued. Several men were killed and many others injured. Feelings were running high in the south of England and on 23rd May a rising broke out in Kent which culminated in a decisive defeat for the Royalists at the battle of Maidstone. Remnants of these Kentish troops escaped across the river to Colchester, hotly pursued by Fairfax who laid siege to the castle.

Whilst Fairfax's attention was held by Colchester, the Earl of Holland put in motion events which were intended to precipitate a popular rising in Surrey. He sent a letter to the Aldermen of the City of London announcing his intention “ … to release and preserve his Majesty's person, to bring him to his Parliament, to settle Peace in the Kingdom and to preserve the known laws” and invited the City “to joyn with them herein, at least not to be active against them”. He then appeared at Kingston together with the Duke of Buckingham, his brother Lord Francis Villiers, the Earl of Peterborough and his brother John Mordaunt, a one-time Quartermaster from the Army of Parliament, and Col. Dalbier, a Dutch or German mercenary. He also brought with him 500-600 fighting men, both horse and foot. On 6th July they marched from Kingston to Reigate via Dorking, intending to garrison the castle. The Royalists entered Reigate demanding arms and horses from the townspeople, and when one man refused to hand over his pistols, they shot him. Popular support was not forthcoming.

Meanwhile the Derby House Committee had ordered Captain Pretty to go to Kingston. He arrived shortly after Holland had left but took 17 stragglers prisoner, returning with them to Windsor. The Committee also asked Fairfax to release a regiment of horse from the siege of Colchester. Instead of this a message was sent to Sir Michael Livesey and Major Gibbons, who were near Sevenoaks, to go immediately to Reigate. At the same time Major Lewis Audeley, a Surrey man, was at Hounslow with three troops of Livesey's horse. He was also ordered to follow Holland, having been told that there was to be a rendezvous of Royalists on Banstead Downs. When he arrived on the Downs there was no sign of the Royalists so he marched on a parallel course just to the north of Holland’s line towards Reigate. He went past the town as far as Red Hill where he wheeled round with his back to Livesey's approaching troops. Here he found that Holland had placed sentries, but after a sharp exchange beat off the Royalists who retreated to Reigate.

Instead of following them, the outnumbered Audeley rested his troops at Red Hill for the night and sent word for Livesey to join him. On receiving news of his enemies’ approach Holland had decided to retreat to Dorking. When Major Gibbons arrived with his own troop and two of Col. Rich’s, he found neither friend nor foe, having missed Audeley in the dark. When daylight came Gibbons and Audeley joined forces and after a hasty conference decided to wait for reinforcements.

The Royalist commanders, being informed that Audeley had not entered the town, marched back to Reigate that morning intent on re-occupying it, but finding both Gibbons and Audeley in possession they turned tail for Kingston. About two hours after this the main Parliamentarian force made up of five troops of horse and three of foot from Livesey's Regiment, two troops of Rich’s and Major Gibbon's own troop marched into town with Sir Michael Livesey at their head. Leaving a garrison of 20 men under a Mr Fenneck (a local Surrey man) in the castle they pursued the retreating Royalists towards Kingston, harrying them as they went. At last the Royalists turned to face them but Livesey was reluctant to engage until all his troops had caught up. By way of prelude each side sent out some single men, who according to Audeley "played valiantly".

At last a Cornet of Col. Rich’s troop attacked the Royalists with a force of 50 horse, followed by Gibbons and the rest of the division. After what Audeley called "a gallant defence" the Royalists were routed. Lord Francis Villiers had his horse killed under him and fought on foot with his back to a tree, holding four or five Parliamentarians at bay, refusing all offers of quarter. Eventually a trooper got behind him and knocked off his helmet and he was killed by a blow to the head.

The Royalist horse formed a rear guard to allow their foot to draw off into Kingston. Livesey took a number of prisoners and horse, but not knowing the exact size of the enemies’ forces decided to camp for the night to the south of the town. In the morning when he entered Kingston he found that the Royalists had disappeared, leaving behind 100 horses and a large number of their carriages. The leaders of the rising with a few remaining horse fled north. They were intercepted at St Neots on 10th July by Scrope's regiment, sent from Colchester. Holland was taken and Dalbier killed, whilst Buckingham and Peterborough both fled abroad (at this point there is no mention of John Mordaunt). Holland was executed after a state trial.

So ended the last serious rising for the King in Surrey.