John Hotham the younger

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John Hotham the younger (1610-45) was the eldest son of John Hotham and an English Member of Parliament during the civil war.

The eldest son of Sir John Hotham and his first wife, the younger Hotham was generally styled Captain Hotham. He served under Sir Horace Vere in the army of the Prince of Orange during 1629-1631 and was elected MP for Scarborough in the Short and Long Parliaments. When Parliament re-appointed his father governor of Hull in January 1642, Hotham went ahead and secured the town with the support of the radical MP Peregrine Pelham and the Yorkshire Trained Bands. In October 1642, Captain Hotham led a force of around 500 horse and foot to capture Cawood Castle near York in defiance of a treaty of neutrality between Lord Fairfax and the Yorkshire Royalists which the Hothams repudiated. He joined Fairfax to drive the Royalists out of Leeds but was unable to prevent the Earl of Newcastle from crossing the River Tees at Pierce Bridge and securing York in December 1642.

Hotham resented Fairfax's authority and considered himself to be a more suitable commander for the Yorkshire Parliamentarians. With his father's support, Hotham entered secret negotiations with Newcastle, indicating that they might be willing to surrender Hull and come over to the King's side. Hotham spun out the negotiations for several months, intending to secure the best terms. In April 1643, he joined forces with the Parliamentarians in Lincolnshire. The unruly behaviour of his troops and his alleged attempts to subvert Parliamentarian officers aroused the suspicions of Colonels Cromwell and Hutchinson at a rendezvous at Nottingham in June 1643. They reported to the Committee of Safety, and Hotham's arrest was ordered. He escaped from Nottingham and fled to Lincoln, but was arrested again when he went to confer with his father at Hull. Both Hothams were sent to London and tried by court martial in December 1644. Despite trying to lay all blame on his father, Captain Hotham was executed in January 1645.