William Eyre (leveller)
William Eyre (
Early life
Eyre's origins are unknown, but Paul Hardacre writing in the
First Civil War
In 1642 Eyre was a sergeant in
Marriage and property in Ireland, 1647
In 1647 Eyre married Mary, née Leycester, who had outlived two previous husbands, Calcott Chambre (or Culvert Chambers) and of Job Ward. Chambre's father had bought the half-barony of
Corkbush Field rendezvous, 1647
On 17 November 1647, although his regiment was not part of the New Model Army, Eyre attended the
Second English Civil War
Broadway meeting, 1648
In January 1648 Eyre attended the Broadway meeting where 80 officers of five regiments to discuss their men's grievances foremost of which is back pay. It is possible that the officers discussed plans for a mutiny and to pre-empt this, or for other reasons, in February Eyre's regiment was disband.[2][5]
Henry Marten's Regiment in Berkshire, 1648
After the disbanding of his regiment, Eyre moved to Berkshire and aided
Over the next few months the regiment was active in supporting the New Model Army and with his Presbetryan enemies purged by Pride the members of the Rump Parliament commissioned Marten's regiment into the New Model Army.[6]
Commonwealth
Henry Marten had made some political moves that protected him against charges ordering the billeting of men without authorisation, however Eyre failed to persuade Fairfax, the Lord General of the New Model Army, that he had Cromwell's permission to do the same. In February 1649 after Fairfax turned down Eyre offer to take his three troops of horse to Ireland, he ordered the disbanding of the troops and Eyre's decommissioning.[2]
Burford mutiny, 1649
In May 1649 Eyre, who was now a civilian, took part in the Leveller-influenced Burford mutiny. He joined with the Salisbury mutineers and was captured at an inn in Burford on the night that Cromwell captured the Banbury mutineers at Burford Church. Eyre justified his actions in front of Fairfax and Cromwell by saying "if ... but ten men appeared for [the cause] , I would make eleven"[7] Three days later Eyre was taken to Oxford and placed in its prison.[2]
Imprisonment in Oxford and Warwick, and residency in Ireland
In July 1649, the
Protectorate
By 1654 Eyre had left Ireland for London and was conspiring with his old Leveller companions against
Restoration
Nine years in prison
Eyre was briefly at liberty during the period of the restored Commonwealth of 1659. But was rearrested in May 1660 as a threat to the restored monarchy of Charles II. While being held in Dublin Castle he was accused of trying to foment a mutiny among the Irish foot guards, and while there was not enough evidence to try him for treason, the new regimen decided that he was too dangerous to release and was held in various prisons for the next nine years.[2]
Appeals for recovery of his Irish estates
Eyre was released in December 1669, and with his daughter travelled to London to present his claim to the Shillelagh and
Bibliography
- The serious representation of Col. Wiliam Eyre prisoner in the castle at Oxford. (1649)
- A particular deduction of the case of William Eyre Esq. : concerning his right to the half barony of Shelelah and Castle of Carnow ... : humbly presented to the King's Most Excellent Majesty ... (1675?)
- The case of William Eyres, esq. concerning his estate in Ireland (1675?)
Notes
- ^ Sources also call him as William Eyres and William Ayres
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Hardacre 2004
- ^ Hardacre 2004 cites Eyre, Serious Representation, 1–2)
- ^ Creasey 1825, p. 43
- ^ Willis-Bund 2008, pp. 199–201
- ^ a b Barber 1998, pp. 138,140
- ^ Hardacre 2004 citing Eyre's in Serious Representation
- ^ Hardacre 2004, cites: Thurloe, 3.35
- ^ Thorpe 1839, p. 149
- ^ Calendar of State Papers, domestic series, of the reign of Charles II, 1660-1685
References
- Barber, Sarah (1998). "Chapter 6: 'A bastard kind of militia', localism, and tactics in the second civil war". In Woolrych, Austin; et al. (eds.). Soldiers, writers, and statesmen of the English Revolution. Cambridge University Press, 1998. ISBN 978-0-521-59120-1.
- Creasey, James (1825). Sketches, illustrative of the topography and history of New and Old Sleaford, in the county of Lincoln, and of several places in the surrounding neighbourhood ... J. Creasey.
- Hardacre, Paul H. (2004). "Eyre , William (fl. 1634–1675)". doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/47099. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.) End notes:
- W. Eyre, The serious representation of Col. William Eyre (1649)
- W. Eyre, The case of William Eyres, esq. concerning his estate in Ireland (1675?)
- W. Eyre, A particular deduction of the case of William Eyre (1675?)
- 'Concerning Ireland, regiments thought fitt to be sent thither', proceedings of the committee of general officers, 25 Sept 1647, Worcester College, Oxford, Clarke MS 66, fol. 16v
- D. M. Wolfe, ed., Leveller manifestoes of the puritan revolution (1944), 235–41
- The Clarke papers, ed. C. H. Firth, 1, CS, new ser., 49 (1891), 419
- J. Rushworth, Historical collections, 5 pts in 8 vols. (1659–1701), 2.943
- CSP dom., 1649, 251, 25; 1650, 263, 505; 1675–6, 101–6
- Seventh report, HMC, 6 (1879), 27a
- The manuscripts of Rye and Hereford corporations, HMC, 31 (1892), 396
- C. Durston, 'Henry Marten and the high shoon of Berkshire: the Levellers in Berkshire in 1648', Berkshire Archaeological Journal, 70 (1979–80), 87–95
- council of state, order that Col. Ayres be removed from Oxford, Worcester College, Oxford, Clarke MS 181, box 1 (2)
- Thurloe, State papers, 3.35, 126
- CSP Ire., 1660–62, 628
- Calendar of the Clarendon state papers preserved in the Bodleian Library, 5: 1660–1726, ed. F. J. Routledge (1970), 301
- JHL, 12 (1666–75), 679, 681, 688, 708
- G. Aylmer, 'Gentleman levellers?’, Past and Present, 49 (1970), 120–25
- A. Woolrych, Soldiers and statesmen: the general council of the army and its debates, 1647–1648 (1987)
- JHC, 7 (1651–9), 315–16, 799
- C. H. Firth and G. Davies, The regimental history of Cromwell's army, 2 vols. (1940)
- Thorpe, Thomas (1839). Thomas Thorpe's Catalogue of Books.
- ISBN 978-1-4437-7438-3.