Colonel John Hutchinson and the Civil War in Nottingham

As a child, I was fascinated by stories of the English Civil War, a fascination helped along, no doubt by the fact that I grew up in Nottingham, a city with many sites associated with the war - Standard Hill, The Old Salutation Inn,  St Nicholas` Church, and with a number of place names commemorating that history - Parliament Street, Parliament Terrace etc.

Doing a bit of reading on the subject, I found pretty much straight away that one local story concerning the siege(s) of Nottingham Castle is not in fact true ! Many people believe that the steeple of St Nicholas` Church was shortened to allow Royalist artillery in the area behind the church to fire on the Castle, which was held by John Hutchinson`s Parliamentary forces. In fact, this is what normal people call `rubbish` ! The steeple of the church was used by Royalist snipers armed with muskets to fire into the Castle grounds, but no artillery was involved and in fact the church was demolished shortly afterwards (circa 1643) on Hutchinson`s orders to prevent a recurrence - the current church on the same site dates from 1682.

So who was this Hutchinson I hear you ask ? By happy chance I`m in a position to answer. 

 Born in Nottingham in 1615, John was the son of Sir Thomas Hutchinson MP , so unsurprisingly he grew up steeped in Parliamentary tradition, though in fact his mother was related to the Byrons, a family united in the Royalist cause.

University educated, John was something of a dilettante until meeting his future wife, Lucy, a  serious and studious girl who was to become his biographer. Perhaps appropriately, young Lucy was born in the Tower of London, where her father was a high-ranking official ! Eventually, John and Lucy set up house together in the Hutchinson family home in  Owthorpe, Notts.

Both had Puritan views and were critical of the rule of Charles I. When hostilities broke out between Royalists and Parliamentarians, Royalist forces attempted to seize Nottinghamshire`s supply of ammunition and gunpowder . Hutchinson demanded that they stop, but was ignored. Adapting his methods on the spot, he went away, but returned with a group of around 300 local people to back him up and announced that he and his new found allies were "prepared to lose their blood" if it came to a fight. The Royalists threatened that he had made himself "a marked man", but did so whilst beating a hasty retreat !  

When Royalists occupied the Newark area, Hutchinson took himself to Nottingham and repeated this tactic, rallying 700 local people to form a Defence Committee. One of his recruits was Henry Ireton of Attenborough, later to become Oliver Cromwell`s son-in-law.

Hutchinson was made Governor of Nottingham Castle in 1643 and is held to have conducted a vigorous defence, though some question why he prepared the castle for a siege instead of defending the whole town.

In 1646 he became MP for Nottingham and was later one of the men who signed the King`s death warrant.

Originally a radical, who regarded the King as a man who had declared war on the people, Hutchinson opposed Cromwell`s assumption of power in 1653 and refused to serve under him. Throughout  the 1650s Hutchinson and Lucy opted for a quiet life in Nottinghamshire, enjoying the countryside and  involving themselves in the education of their children. John served as a Magistrate during this time. However , the restoration of the monarchy was to bring an end to this idyllic existence, as the Royalists sought revenge on the `regicides` who authorised the execution of Charles I.

 Fearing that he would choose not to defend himself, Lucy wrote a letter to the authorities purporting to be from her husband, stating the reasons for his actions. Astonishingly, her improvised defence, taken together with other factors, proved persuasive and he was reprieved from a possible death sentence. There are various accounts of some of the various strategems behind this episode, an overview can be found in our man`s Wikipedia page.

It was to prove only a temporary respite, as John was falsely accused of participation in "a Northern plot" (revealing choice of words !) against Charles II. Imprisoned initially in  the Tower of London, the birthplace of  his wife, he was then transferred to Sandown Castle in Kent. Lucy rented rooms nearby and set off to Nottinghamshire to fetch the children. On her return, she learnt that her husband had died "of a fever" in her absence, a diagnosis she never accepted.  He was buried beneath the north wall of Owthorpe church, where I understand a Hutchinson Memorial can be seen today, complete with an inscription thought to be Lucy`s work.

What kind of man was Hutchinson ? He is said to have been an "untypical" Roundhead - reserved, polite and fashion-conscious, with long curly hair. It is recorded that he played a musical instrument, the viol, and enjoyed falconry.

As Governor of the Castle, he "ran a tight ship", with penalties for soldiers who behaved badly, which was unusual for the time. He allowed local people to live within the protection of the castle walls in return for their help with building defences. Lucy often acted as nurse during hosilities.

He treated his enemies well, possibly because he knew that some of his friends and family fought in the Royalist cause, and even on occasion invited prisoners to share an evening meal with him.

There was one occasion when his reputation for courteous and gentlemanly behaviour took a slight dent, when Royalist soldiers disguised as civilians entered Nottingham carrying concealed weapons. Forewarned, Hutchinson arranged for his troops to intercept them, which they did without difficulty. Some of the would-be attackers were believed to have drowned in the Trent during fighting on the bridge while a number were taken prisoner. 

For some reason, the incident enraged Hutchinson, who stated variously that he would have been happy if his men had thrown their captives into the Trent, that the prisoners should be executed as spies since they were in disguise and that they should be tortured to obtain details of the plot (though it is unclear what information he hoped to obtain).  In the event, none of the above actually took place. One of the prisoners was recognised as a former Parliamentarian soldier who had defected and he alone was executed. The others were exchanged for Roundhead prisoners held by the Royalists.  

After the war, Hutchinson had the castle demolished, much to Cromwell`s annoyance, stating he never wanted to see it used again in such a struggle.

He seems to have been troubled over the matter of King Charles` death warrant, possibly due to Cromwell`s heavy-handed efforts to get the verdict he wanted. According to Lucy, her husband prayed for guidance and eventually found "confirmation in his conscience that it was his duty to act as he did". In the event, he was the thirteenth person to sign the warrant. He is said to have later expressed remorse over this, but it is unclear if this is an accurate representation of his feelings on the subject.

Although he refused to serve under Oliver Cromwell, he did agree to act as Sheriff of Nottingham under the rule of Oliver`s son, Richard.

Was Hutchinson a good man ? I believe he was, also that he was a remarkable man who deserves to be remembered and is entitled to our respect.

 I don`t suppose this little article is much in the scheme of things, but if it introduces a few people to the life and times of Colonel John Hutchinson, I shall be happy with that. Most of the information above comes from Ian Brown`s A Guide to the Civil War in Nottingham (Nottinghamshire County Council) - any mistakes and misconceptions are my own, I`m sure ! 

There are a number of books about on the Civil War in Notts - here are a few that may be of interest, though I can`t claim to have read them all myself ;

1) Unknown (Royal Commission for Historical Monuments) - Newark on Trent ; The Civil War Siegeworks - HMSO, 1964

2) Lucy Hutchinson (author), James Sutherland (editor) - Memoirs of the Life of Colonel Hutchinson - OUP, 1973

3) A C Wood - Nottinghamshire in the Civil War - OUP, 1937

4) Tim Warner - Newark : Civil War and Siegeworks - Notts County Council

5) Unknown (Notts Archive Office)  - Discovering the Civil War in Nottinghamshire (Notts County Council)

6) Ian Brown* (author) , Gillian Elias (illustrator) - A Guide to the Civil War in Nottinghamshire (Notts County Council)

A copy of this last item is available from Hoonaloon Books (our item number 3697) , as are   ;

7)  Unknown - The Civil War 1642 - 1651 : A Pitkin Guide - Pitkin Pictorials 1993 (our item number 3698).

8)  Young - An Illustrated history of the Great Civil War 1642-1648 - Spurbooks (our item 1883)

9) Plowden - The Women All on Fire  - Sutton (item 2552)

* A number of booklets by Ian Brown can be found in our listings, including Nottinghamshire Industrial heritage (2505) and Samuel Butler of Langar (2219).

Truthful Bill`s Rambling Notes : William Edward Hopkin of Nottinghamshire

One of the perks of my job is the opportunity it gives for encountering interesting characters from the past.

One such case is W E Hopkin (1862 - 1951), author of a posthumously published poetry volume, Glades and Lovers.

An unsigned paragraph at the start of the volume introduces the author as a Nottinghamshire Magistrate and County Councillor, noting that "throughout the Midlands he was famous as an independent social reformer, writer, broadcaster, wit, poet and naturalist. His social and intellectual gifts provided him with a wide circle of friends among peers, tramps, renowned literary figures and, above all, the colliers and farmers among whom he lived at Eastwood."

A quick trip to www.estwic.co.uk produced the information that our lad was the son of an Eastwood shopkeeper and at various times a Town Councillor, County Councillor. Alderman, School Governor and JP. For many years he wrote regular columns in the Eastwood and Kimberley Advertiser under the heading `Rambling Notes` and `Rhymes of Truthful Bill`.

William and his wife, Sallie, were close to D H Lawrence and many of the books in the Lawrence Collection at Eastwood Library were previously William`s property, and can be identified as such given his habit of adding a caricature of himself to each one - rather skilfully done, it must be said.

I understand he was the subject of a booklet ; `W E Hopkin` by Noel Kader which was sold by his descendants on a mail order basis. One hopes a few have survived.

I understand that Hopkin was the model for two Lawrence characters, Willie Houghton in `Touch and Go` and Lewis Goddard in `Mr Noon`.


The article from Eastwic was by Alan Rowley, drawing on two publications of the Eastwood Historical Society ; `Around Old Eastwood` and `Eastwood - More Recollections` and one from Nottinghamshire County Council, `Eastwood ; A Pictorial View 1889 - 1989`.

An article by Leslie Williamson, `Eastwood and W E Hopkin` with a footnote from John Lucas can be found at http://www.pennilesspress.co.uk/ . 

N S Thompson at Beeston International Poetry Festival

Acclaimed poet and literary critic N S Thompson makes a rare Midlands appearance during October, as part of the Beeston International Poetry Festival ( 16 - 28 October 2010 ).

Thompson is among a number of writers published by Smokestack Books to appear at The Flying Goose Cafe, Chilwell Road, Beeston between 7.00 - 9.00 on Tuesday 19 October 2010. The others are Andy Croft, Deborah Tyler-Bennett and Mike Wilson.

Further information from  Smokestack Books via their website or from John Lucas via the Shoestring Press website.

Around and About / Gravestones / Hand-Carved 18th Century Gravestone, Marlpool Cemetery

John Lennon once sang "Life is what happens to you / While you`re busy making other plans". I`m guessing the reason that`s one of his best-known quotes is because so many of us can identify with it !

Anyhow, when I posted `Around and About / Gravestones / A Local Hero` on 29 November 2009, I fondly imagined our camera would be my constant companion and I`d be happily posting images of the countryside, old buildings etc on a regular basis. In real life, no such thing has happened of course.

Knowing I`d be passing through Marlpool cemetery again today, I remembered my camera and came back with one or two interesting (I hope) images.

This is an 18th century gravestone of a type sometimes seen in Derbyshire. As you can probably tell, the carving is crude - really, it`s just `chiselling` and no stonemason today would turn out anything of this quality except as a joke.

The workman was only semi-literate, and his spacing is terrible. The stone appears to mark the passing of Isaac and Mary Farweworth, though I suspect that is not an accurate rendering of their name. Isaac died in 1712, and the date of his death seems to be represented as "1712 : S : Y5". The date for Mary`s death seems to have been left incomplete. The last two lines (not all visible in my picture) are "The mother of ... children" - the number seemingly worn away and unreadable now.

It would be very easy to poke fun at the dreadful spacing, spelling errors and non-existent punctuation, but I`ll not be doing so. Anyone who`s spent a bit of time walking in the Peaks has probably come across hand-carved milestones of a similar vintage with place-names mis-spelt or rendered in local dialect by negligibly-educated local men, and as I say, this gravestone is of a type sometimes found in Derbyshire. Old softy that I am, I like to feel it`s a bit of local culture that`s survived and should be preserved. Part of me feels that they have a sort of primitive quality that`s quite fitting when marking a death, though I couldn`t really explain why I feel that way.

An interesting question arises why such an old stone should be in the Marlpool cemetery, which I would have thought was not that old. I can`t say I`ve noticed others of a similar vintage there. If I find out, I`ll post some details.

Pat O`Callaghan - Meet Me at the Lamp-Post - Self-Published - 1997

In the aftermath of World War Two, many in Derbyshire worked in industries essential to the nation`s economic recovery - coal, iron and steel. As these industries expanded, comments Pat O`Callaghan, "local towns and villages grew...these settlements had a unique character, shaped or carved by the harsh life and work in the foundries and pits."

In his book, Mr O`Callaghan, a retired teacher, recalls his own childhood in "just such a village", Swanwick.

His book is number 3469 in our listings, and full details can be found using the `Buy Books` links provided.

Any questions, just ask.

Mike Higginbottom, John Severn - Country Houses of Nottinghamshire - The Cromwell Press - Newark, Nottinghamshire - 1987

Written by Mike Higginbottom and illustrated by John Severn, Country Houses of Nottinghamshire is number 3471 in our listings.

For a full description, price etc, please use the `Buy Books` links provided.

Any questions, just ask.

Book Review : Black-Out in Gretley by J B Priestley

"We don`t face this war all the time. In fact, most of the time we really dodge the stupendous terrifying reality of it...but now and again, when you`re tired and dispirited, the whole weight of it suddenly comes down on us. Then it`s as if you woke up to find yourself walking at the bottom of the sea. I had one of the worst of those moments on my way to the hotel in Gretley that night. The fact of the war came down on me like a falling tower...It was a vision of Evil triumphant. It was the idea of Hell let loose...All Gretley was on the edge of it...Here, behind the dark curtain of the black-out, was deeper evil within evil. But where ?"


Priestley`s central character and narrator Humphrey Neyland is in the Midlands on a mission, one that is partly personal, partly professional. More by chance than by judgement he has been drawn into the world of counter-espionage when his two closest friends, both German Jews, were murdered by Nazis. By the time he arrives at the small industrial town of Gretley, he is an experienced operative who one suspects has avenged the death of his friends over and over again.  Although he claims to derive little satisfaction from "creeping about in blacked-out alleyways baiting traps", it is clear to everyone but himself the work has become second nature to him. There is more than a hint that he is on a personal quest for redemption after the death of his wife and son in a traffic accident for which he holds himself responsible. This closeness to tragedy, coupled with the nature of his work,  has by his own admission soured his disposition , "so anybody who must have Blue Birds Over the White Cliffs of Dover had better turn elsewhere",  but he remains oddly likeable.

He is world-weary, but sharply dispassionate ;


"I`d never seen this man before. He was a tall, straight, clean-shaven man, possibly about fifty, with stiff grey hair, and he was wearing dark clothes. For a moment, while he stood there glaring at me, he was one kind of man, and then as soon as I spoke he turned himself into another kind of man. It was as if one character had been sponged out, to be replaced by this other one, smaller, humbler, far less dangerous. It was superbly done, but just not quick enough."


The way in which Priestley describes this encounter is interesting. He never tells the reader directly that the man is dangerous, but air of menace is underlined more emphatically when the character is described as  adopting  a humbler and "far less dangerous" demeanour.  The last sentence, of course, tips the reader off that Neyland is confident he is more than a match for the man.


Later that same evening, Neyland listens as a Nazi sympathiser expounds her views. "It was just when she showed you what she was really thinking and feeling that she became theatrical and artificial" he reflects. "They are all alike, these dupes of the Fuhrer, somewhere at the back of their minds there`s always a grand opera going on, with Adolf and themselves in the leading roles."


You may have noticed that there`s a hint of Chandler creeping in here and there, and it works quite well simply because Priestley remains himself whilst incorporating elements of a new influence.


A very sombre note is struck when an exhausted Neyland accompanies the Police to inspect a corpse ;


"There were piles of old junk and rubbish about. It seemed just the end of everything down there. We weren`t far from being a lot of old junk and rubbish ourselves. There didn`t seem any particular reason why the black weight of the night shouldn`t press still harder and flatten us all out. "

The corpse is that of a young woman our hero has met repeatedly in the early part of the book. As the scene develops, he becomes convinced they are looking at a murder. Unexpectedly,he gives voice to an outburst that slaps you in the face like a wet mackerel coming after the numbed-with-shock tone of the rest of the scene ;


I looked down at the wretched thing they had fished out of the canal. I remembered the impudent nose, the ripe smiling mouth, the oddly-coloured bright eyes. "And if my guess is right, she`s as much a war casualty as any lad torn apart by machine gun fire. And she`s also just another casualty in another and worse battle, ordinary human nature versus a social system that`s diseased in every part of it..."


"I didn`t know you felt like that" said Dr Bauernstein, softly and wonderingly.


"You don`t know what I feel."


Reading the analogy with a "lad torn apart by machine gun" fire, one is forcibly reminded that Priestley was said to be haunted by his memories of World War One for the rest of his life. Apparently he never claimed the medals he was entitled to, though he made light of the matter whenever the question was raised.


Perhaps because the lean-and-mean Neyland is pretty obviously not the avuncular-but-high-minded Priestley, he gets away with putting some of his own thoughts into the characters mouth without it really sounding too forced or artificial. Thankfully, the book never becomes a fully-fledged propaganda exercise, though certainly it is moralistic.


The plot has it`s dafter aspects, though then again, it`s no worse than, say, The 39 Steps in that respect.


The only other obvious weakness is that some scenes involving Neyland and a couple of the female characters seem stilted and really quite unrealistic, but that doesn`t really detract from the book as a whole.


Not a `typical` Priestley offering ( is there such a thing as a "typical Priestley offering" ?), but well worth reading.