John Okey

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John Okey (1606–1662) was an English soldier, member of Parliament, and one of the regicides of King Charles I.

In January 1649, as a commissioner of the High Court of Justice at the trial of King Charles, he was 6th of the 59 signatories on the death warrant of the King. In 1659, Okey was elected MP for Bedfordshire in the third Rump Parliament.

After the Restoration of Charles II of England in 1660, all the 59 men who had signed the death warrant for Charles I were in grave danger as they were considered regicides. Okey, like many of the 59, fled England. First he went to Germany and then to the Netherlands. However, in the Netherlands he was arrested by the English ambassador to the Netherlands Sir George Downing and returned to England under guard. After a brief trial, he was tried found, guilty, and then hanged, drawn and quartered in 1662.

In a twist, Downing had been to New England to study at Harvard on Okey's sponsorship, and had served as chaplain in Okey's regiment!