Col. Thomas Horton, "Regicide"

• born about 1600 in Gumley, Leicestershire, England.
• died of Thypus Fever in October, 1649 in Ireland during Cromwell's Irish Campaign.
• second son of William Horton and his wife Isabell of Gumley in Leicestershire.
• name of wife is not known
• one child only: Thomas Horton, known as "Thomas Horton, of Milton & Rehoboth"

Please be aware that there were two Thomas Hortons (close in age) in Massachusetts close to the same time period. One was Thomas Horton,son of Thomas Horton the Regicide, who this page is about. The other is Thomas Horton of Salem, brother of Barnabas Horton. A lot of researches have mixed the two Hortons together and also the children of each Thomas. I number the male line using their birth year.

From Wikipedia

http://our-royal-titled-noble-and-commoner-ancestors.com/p2948.htm#...

member of Cromwell's army. died in Ireland. Son Thomas emigrated to America. d. 1715 in Rehoboth, Massachusetts.

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~hortonfamilyhistory/THOMAS...

Colonel Thomas Horton was a commissioner of the high court of justice in 1648 and as a army officer he had to sit as a judge at the King's trial and sign the death warrant. He was the 40th signer of the death warrant.

http://www.werelate.org/wiki/Person:Thomas_Horton_%2840%29

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Horton_%28soldier%29

Thomas Horton (1603, Gumley, Leicestershire – October 1649, Ireland) was an English soldier in the parliamentary army during the English Civil War.

Thomas Horton was the son of William Horton and Isabell Freeman.[1] Though of humble background, Horton was taken under the wing of the powerful Sir Arthur Haselrig, and had become a captain-lieutenant by 1643. Becoming a major in the New Model Army, Horton led troops which played a decisive part in several important engagements, most notably the Battle of Naseby in 1645 and Battle of St Fagans in 1648.

As a reward for the valiant service he rendered to the cause, Horton was granted the confiscated lands of a deposed royalist.

Horton was a commissioner of the High Court of Justice in 1649, and thus was among those who signed the warrant for the execution of King Charles I of England. Later that year, he died of natural causes while serving with Cromwell in Ireland.

His heirs were deprived of their estate at the Restoration in the 1660s.

Please be aware that there were two Thomas Hortons (close in age) in Massachusetts close to the same time period. One was Thomas Horton,son of Thomas Horton the Regicide, who this page is about. The other is Thomas Horton of Salem, brother of Barnabas Horton. A lot of researches have mixed the two Hortons together and also the children of each Thomas. I number the male line using their birth year.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Horton_(soldier)

THOMAS HORTON was born about 1600 in Gumley, Leicestershire, England. He died of Thypus Fever in October, 1649 in Ireland during Cromwell's Irish Campaign. Thomas was the second son of William Horton and his wife Isabell of Gumley in Leicestershire.

Thomas was once thought to have been the servant or falconer to Sir Arthur Haselrig (Only a person who flies a falcon at wild quarry is entitled to call themselves a Falconer. The art of Falconry was most popular among the upper classes of Europe) He is now known to have been a client of Haselrig, and a minor landowner in Leicestershire in his own right. Also as a reward for the valiant services he rendered to the cause, Col. Horton was granted the confiscated lands of a deposed royalist in Cardiff,Wales.

Sir Arthur Haselrig had a manor located nine miles northeast of Gumley, Leicestershire, England. Sir Arthur, whose considerable career in national politics has been noticed by several historians, delighted in the country pastimes of hawking and falconry. Oliver Cromwell, a long-time friend of Sir Arthur, also loved hawking and this circumstance combined with the common religious and political views which both men held, brought them together, Sir Arthur, Oliver Cromwell and joined by Thomas Horton.

Thomas Horton's life was unquestionably shaped by these two who were his contemporaries, Cromwell (to whose cause Thomas devoted his life, was born in 1599)and Sir Arthur Haselrig,who was born in 1601. Ironically, a third individual whose life affected Thomas Horton to a high degree, was also born in 1600: Charles I who became King of England in 1625. Since Thomas played an important role in the momentous events of his time, much more is known of his life than of any of his Leicestershire family.

Thomas Horton was born in the final years of the reign of Elizabeth I. The succession to the throne of James I in 1603 marked the beginning of a course that would eventually lead to the complex series of struggles known as the English Civil War (1642-1649).

Thomas Horton was bought up on the same religious views that Cromwell and Sir Arthur shared. Brought together, then, in the country pastime of hawking, the three of them shared common views, and in time, a camaraderie developed which lasted until their deaths.

Both Sir Arthur and Cromwell were devout Puritans, they joined with a group of wealthy Puritans under the leadership of John Winthrop Jr. with the intention of establishing a settlement on 1,500 acres at the mouth of the Connecticut River in the Colonies. It is thought that Thomas Horton shared their same beliefs and that he traveled to the Colonies sometime after 1630 to help prepare the way. The last record of Thomas in England was this one made in 1630: A2A Catalogue Reference DG21,Creators: Haselrig Hamily of Noseley, Leicestershire, file - copy of Fine, reference DG21/54, date: Hilary 5 Charles I (1630): this file showed that Thomas Horton leased an estate from Sir Arthur Haselrig in Leicestershire.

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Thomas Horton (1603, Gumley, Leicestershire – October 1649, Ireland) was an English soldier in the parliamentary army during the English Civil War.

Thomas Horton was the son of William Horton and Isabell Freeman. Though of humble background, Horton was taken under the wing of the powerful Sir Arthur Haselrig, and had become a captain-lieutenant by 1643. Becoming a major in the New Model Army, Horton led troops which played a decisive part in several important engagements, most notably the Battle of Naseby in 1645 and Battle of St Fagans in 1648.

As a reward for the valiant service he rendered to the cause, Horton was granted the confiscated lands of a deposed royalist.

Horton was a commissioner of the High Court of Justice in 1649, and thus was among those who signed the warrant for the execution of King Charles I of England. Later that year, he died of natural causes while serving with Cromwell in Ireland.

Colonel Thomas Horton was a commissioner of the high court of justice in 1648 and as a army officer he had to sit as a judge at the King's trial and sign the death warrant. He was the 40th signer of the death warrant.

His heirs were deprived of their estate at the Restoration in the 1660s.

THE POSSIBLE ENGLISH ANCESTRY OF THOMAS HORTON OF MILTON

XIV.l THOMAS HORTON

                     born before 3 July 1649 was called "my only Sonne Thomas Horton" under the age of twenty-one, in the will of Col. Thomas Horton written at Cardiff, Wales, on that date. He may be that child called "their son" whom Thomas Horton and wife baptised at Alveston, Warwickshire, on 13 Feb. 1641.

Col. Thomas Horton can be placed in the Alveston vicinity by a combination of three established facts: Sir Arthur Haselrig, employer of Thomas Horton (XIII.5) raised a troop of horse and led them in the battle at Edgehill; Col. Thomas Horton owned a horse colled "Haselrigg" which was chief among his soldierly possessions being first mentioned in his supplemental will; the conflict at Edgehill near Kineton, only ten miles southeast of Alveston, was fought on 23 Oct. 1642. There are three other probable facts which support this likelihood: Thomas Horton (XIII.5) had relatives who lived at nearby Tredington, Warwickshire, as late as 1620 with whom he might have sojourned in early travels from Leicestershire; Thomas (XIII.5) may have received his 1643 appointment as Colonel solely on the basis of battle experience at Edgehill; the Thomas Horton and wife who baptized that son at Alveston seem not to have had any other children of record there.

The language and implication of the will of Col. Thomas Horton indicate that the only son Thomas was without sisters or surviving mother, for no provisions were made for them. The solitary position of the only son Thomas is further evidenced in a personal letter written on 25 Oct. 1649 by Col. Thomas Horton’s military comrade and friend Oliver Cromwell: "Colonel Horton is lately dead of the country disease leaving a son behind him."

The will of Col. Thomas Horton was proved at Cardiff on 16 Jan. 1650/1. The only son Thomas who was named as executor was not then of age and was called by Parliament "the young son" in their action of 25 March 1651. In that action, the sum of £900 was given to the "trustees" of young Thomas "in full satisfaction and discharge of all arrears due to Colonel Horton deceased, and all demands in respect to his services".

If baptized at Alveston in 1641, young Thomas would have been ten years old when his father's military remunerations were awarded him on 25 March 1651. In a very rare action, the father Thomas had named no less than five guardians: Col. J. Philip Jones, John St. Loe, Walter Cradock, John Horton and James Horton. The significance of this action has been carefully studied for clues, which would help to establish the identity of this only son Thomas Horton and what became of him.

As will be suggested, each of the five guardians was chosen for his individual ability to provide a unique service for the fatherless boy. That they were not all in Cardiff nor likely to be, is clear from the Testator's stipulation that he gave "Them or any three of Them, power to order and manage his estate to his sole benefitt and best advantage until he shall attain the full age of one and twenty years." The first three guardians named were probably in Wales if not in Cardiff, while the last two, Thomas's brothers were evidently not.

Sometime before 1653, the first-named guardian, Col. J. Philip Jones had been instrumental in his army comrade's estate settlement, for he personally purchased the properties, which had been awarded by parliament to Col. Horton and his brigade. According to Jones’s biographer, Jones was then the Cromwellian governor of Cardiff Castle and a shrewd businessman. He purchased "Wrinston with three adjoining manors" in Glamorganshire. (Col. Jones’s father David Johnes (sic) owned the freehold of Penywaun in Glamorganshire; the Jones family, being landed and responsible in business matters, provided long years of essential support to the Puritan cause.) With this purchase, Philip Jones who was surely privy to the ambitions which Thomas Horton held for his son, exchanged the responsibilities of land ownership for the young Thomas for the advantage of movable assets which could be readily available when he became of age. Col. Jones, "a most trusted councillor of Oliver Cromwell", was undoubtedly also the friend whom Col. Horton most trusted to advise his young son in business matters. It is inconceivable that Col. Jones would have acted contrary to the expressed wishes of Col. Horton concerning the Glamorganshire land; had he considered it, the Welshman John St. Loe and the minister Walter Cradock could have out-voted him. Col. Jones was living and in a position of influence when the son Thomas became of age which was, I believe, in 1662.

John St. Loe was the second guardian and with his wife Margaret, also a witness. Young Thomas was clearly present in Cardiff since there is no mention in the will of moving him from one place to another, and I conclude that he was under the care of John and Margaret St. Loe on 3 July 1649. Goodwin tells us that Col. Horton "had long been in failing health"; perhaps he had been wounded in battle and had received medical care in the St. Loe home. Like Col. Jones, John and Margaret St. Loe were doubtless Welsh and evidently members of a Baptist congregation to which Col. Horton also belonged. Perhaps they were the ones to provide care far young Thomas while he needed it.

Sir Walter Cradock, the third guardian, is elsewhere in the will called a "Minister of the Ghospel" and in the second will, "Mr. Cradock". Not necessarily present in Cardiff, he was somewhere in Wales according to the second will. He was surely included by the concerned testator to ensure the spiritual education of young Thomas. (**The following is the final page of this document….there was a several pages missing from the original document)

Horton--Robert Badcock. That family name is seen in Wales, where William Badcocke of Iliston was baptized and joined the Baptist congregation of Rev. John Myles in 1652, as shown by the Iliston Book records. This was the nonconformist group, which migrated, to New England with their pastor about 1662. Robert, George and David Badcock were all early settlers of Milton. In time to come, Thomas Horton of Milton's sons, Solomon and David married Susanna and Mary Badcock, daughters of Enoch (George 1) Badcock of Milton. The two families may have had earlier Welsh associations; members of both families later migrated to Rehoboth. It is possible Robert Badcock had a part in the arrangements to receive and establish young Thomas Horton at Milton.

Two years after Thomas’s arrival, a James Houghton participated in a Milton church meeting on 17 July 1664. Milton historian Robbins says that "probably every church member or freeman in Milton" that is, seventeen men, solemnly agreed to construct a meeting-house on the eight acres of land which Robert Vose gave to the town for that purpose. The coincidence of James Houghton's name suggests that he is the James Horton of Gumley guardian of his nephew Thomas, who with the Restoration preferred another spelling of his name. It is possible that he emigrated earlier with the Hooker or Higginson groups and settled on the wilderness fringes of the Dorchester, later Milton settlement. If he was the Leicestershire man, he would have been about 62 years of age in 1664. The possibility is enhanced by the absence of any records of this James in England. (However, the claim is also made that James Houghton was the son of Ralph and Jane (Stowe) Haughton of Lancaster and Milton, and grandson of Ralph Haughton. Ralph Haughton emigrated from Lancashire to Charlestown about 1645 and by 1653 was a founder of Lancaster, Massachusetts, with twenty-four others. Teele, who gives this information, does note that Ralph "fought under Cromwell against Charles I, though he had been previously knighted by the king for service to his person." It would seem that the Haughton/Houghton family of Lancaster and Milton shared common political views with Thomas Horton of Milton, but no relationship has been found, and attempts to connect James Houghton with Thomas Horton of Milton cannot be sustained.) Therefore, the fifth named guardian of the 3 July 1649 will remains the subject of further search.

Whatever reason drew young Thomas to Milton, he settled and remained there until 1704, when he removed to Rehoboth, where he died in March 1715/6.

Source: http://family_lineage.tripod.com/possible_english_ancestry_of_tho.htm

• Reference: MyHeritage Family Trees - SmartCopy: May 9 2017, 21:57:16 UTC
• Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Jul 15 2024, 20:47:57 UTC