Knights of the Royal Oak

The Knights of the Royal Oak was an intended order of knighthood. It was proposed in 1660 at the time of the restoration of Charles II of England, known as the English Restoration. It was to be a reward to those Englishmen who faithfully & actively supported him during his exile in France. The knights so created were to be called "Knights of the Royal Oak", and bestowed with a silver medal, on a ribbon, depicting the king in the Royal oak tree.^[1], a reference to the oak tree at Boscobel House, then called the "Oak of Boscobel",^[2] in which King Charles II hid to escape the Roundheads after the Battle of Worcester in 1651. Men were selected from all the counties of England and Wales, with the number from each county being in proportion to the population. William Dugdale in 1681 noted 687 names, each with a valuation of their estate in pounds per year. The estates of 18 men were valued at more than £3,000 per year. The names of the recipients are also listed in the baronetages, published in five volumes, 1741.^[3]

The award was abandoned before being formally established, out of concerns that it might perpetuate dissension and keep alive the differences between Parliament and the King, which were better left forgotten:

"...it being wisely judged," says Noble, in his 'Memoirs of the Cromwell family', "that the order was calculated only to keep awake animosities, which it was the part of wisdom to lull to sleep." Henry Cromwell, a zealous royalist and first cousin once removed to Oliver Cromwell, was one of the men proposed to be one of these knights. He had by then changed his name to Williams, ^[4]

Instead of individual honours being made, the 29th of May, Charles' birthday, was set aside as "Royal Oak Day," and "Oak Apple Day" to commemorate the Restoration. Celebration was made by the wearing of oak leaves in the hat; oak apples gilded, with a few leaves surrounding them, were sold in the streets of London. The statue of Charles I of England, at Charing Cross, was also decorated with branches of oak on this day. The holiday is still celebrated today as Oak Apple Day.^[5]

Contents 1 Knights of the Royal Oak, intended recipients 1.1 Bedfordshire 1.2 Berkshire 1.3 Buckinghamshire 1.4 Cambridgeshire 1.5 Cheshire 1.6 Cornwall 1.7 Cumberland 1.8 Devon 1.9 Dorset 1.10 Durham 1.11 Essex 1.12 Gloucestershire 1.13 Herefordshire 1.14 Hertfordshire 1.15 London and Middlesex 1.16 Wales 2 See also 3 Footnotes 4 References

Knights of the Royal Oak, intended recipients

Bedfordshire

• Sir William Beecher £1,600
• William Boteler £1,000
• Sir George Blundell £1,200
• Francis Crawley £1,000
• Sir John Duncombe £1,000
• Samuel Ironsides £600
• William Spencer £1,000
• Richard Taylor £1,000

Berkshire

• John Blagrave £2,000
• Hungerford Dunch £2,000
• John Elwayes £700
• Edmund Fettiplace
• John Freeman £800
• Richard Garrard £1,000
• Edward Keyte £1,000
• Sir St. John Moore £1,500
• Colonel Richard Nevil £1,500
• George Purefoy £3,000
• Sir Compton Read, Bart £2000
• John Whitwicke £800

Buckinghamshire

• — Abraham, of Wingrave £600
• Thomas Catesby £800
• — Claver, of Woovinge £600
• Captain Peter Dayrell £600
• Charles Dormer £3,000
• William Dormer £1,000
• Francis Ingolsby £1,000
• — Wells, of Lillingston £600

Cambridgeshire

• Robert Balam of Beaufort Hall £600
• Sir Thomas Bennet Wisbech £2,000
• Thomas Chicheley £2,000
• William Colvile of Newton £1000
• Thomas Ducket £1,000
• Sir Thomas Leventhorpe £2,000
• Sir Thomas Marsh £1,500
• Captain John Millicent of Bergham £700
• Captain Thomas Storey £800
• Sir Thomas Willis £1,000

Cheshire

• Thomas Baskerville £1,000
• Thomas Cholmondeley £2,000
• John Crew £1,000
• Roger^[6] Grosvenor of Eaton £3,000
• Henry Harpur £600
• — Leigh of Lyme £4,000
• Sir Thomas Mainwaring £1,000
• James Poole £2,000
• Darcie Savage £1,000
• Edward Spencer £600
• Peter Wilbraham £1,000
• Roger Wilbraham £1,000
• Sir Thomas Wilbraham £3,000

Cornwall

• — Boscowen £4,000
• Francis Buller £3,000
• Piers Edgecumbe £2,000
• — Ellyott, of Port Eliot
• Colonel — Godolphin £1,000
• Charles Grylls £700
• — Hallett £800
• Samuel Pendarvis
• — Penrose £1,000
• James Praed £600 ^[7]
• Edmund Prideaux £900
• Charles Roscarrocke £800
• Oliver Sawle £1,000
• William Scawen £800
• Joseph Tredenham £900
• John Vivyan £1,000

Cumberland

• Francis Howard £1500
• Colonel Lamplugh £1000
• William Layton £1010
• Christopher Musgrave £1000
• Thomas Curwen £1000
• William Penington £1000
• Edward Stanley £600
• Wrightington Senhouse £600

Devon

• Sir Copplestone Bamfield £1,900
• Col. Arthur Bassett £1,000
• Sir William Courtney £3,000
• Sir John Davie, Bt £2,000
• Sir John Drake, Bt. £800
• Richard Duke £1,000
• Francis Fulford of Fulford £1,000
• Col. John Gifiord £1,000
• Arthur Northcott £800
• Sir John Northcott, Bt £1,500
• Sir Courtney Poole £1,000
• Sir John Rolles £1,000
• John Tuckfield £1,000
• — Willoughby £1,700

Dorset

• — Baskervile
• Col. Humphrey Bisshopp £800
• Capt. Henry Boteler £600
• Thomas Freake £4,000
• Col. Robert Lawrence £700
• Woolley Miller £1,000
• John Still £1,000
• Col. Strangwayes £5,000
• William Thomas £600
• John Tregunwell £1,100
• Sir John Turbervile £1,500

Durham

• Col.-William Blakeston £600
• Anthony Byerley £600
• Samuel Davison £600
• Colonel Eden £1,000
• Marke Milbanke £2,000
• Ralph Millett £600
• John Tempest £1,000

Essex

• Sir William Ayloffe Bt £1,000
• Capt. Bramston £1,000
• — Clifton of Woodford £800
• Thomas Coates £1,000
• William Knight £1,000
• Thomas Lewther £1,000
• Capt. Charles Maynard £1,000
• Capt. Charles Mildmay £1,000
• Major Scott £1,000
• Henry Woolaston £1,000
• John Wrothe £1,500

Gloucestershire

• John Browneinge £800
• Buncombe Colchester £800
• William Cooke £1,000
• John Delabere £1,000
• Benedict Hall of High Meadow £4,000
• Sir Humphrey Hanmore £1,000
• Sir Humphrey Hooke £1,500
• William Jones £800
• Thomas Lloyd £800
• Thomas Masters £1,000
• Thomas Morgan £800
• John Smythe £1,000
• Richard Stevens £800

Herefordshire

• John Barnibee of Boothall £1,000
• Humphrey Baskerville £1,000
• Roger Bodenham, £2,000
• Wallop Brobaston £1,200
• Fitzwilliam Coningsby of Hampton Court 2000
• Humphrey Cornwall £6,000
• Sir Edward Hopton £2,500
• Henry Lingen £2,000
• Sir Thomas Tomkins £2,000
• Roger Vaughan £1,500
• Thomas Whitney £2,000
• Herbert Westfaling £800

Hertfordshire

• Edward Bashe £1,500
• Edmund Field £600
• John Gore £600
• Ralph Gore £600
• William Gore £800
• — Harrison of Balls £600
• John Jessen £600
• Thomas Keytley £800
• Capt. Thomas Morley £1,000
• Francis Shalcrosse £800
• Peter Soames £1,500
• Edward Watts £600
• Sir Henry Wrothe of Durante, in Enfield, Middlesex £2,000

London and Middlesex

Col. William Carlos £800

Col. Charles Gifford £600

Wales

Anglesey

• John Robinson, Esq
• William Bould, Esq
• Thomas Wood, Esq
• — Bodden, Esq
• Pierce Lloyd, Esq

Brecknockshire

• Richard Gwynn, Esq
• Wilbourne Williams, Esq.
• John Jefferys, Esq.
• Walter Vaughan, Esq.

Cardiganshire

• John Jones, Esq.
• Edward Vaughan, Esq.
• Thomas Jones, Esq.
• Reynold Jenkins, Esq.
• James Lewis

Carmarthenshire

• John Vaughan, Esq.
• Philip Vaughan, Esq.
• Henry Maunsell, Esq.
• Rowland Gwynn, Esq.
• Charles Vaughan, Esq.
• William Gwynn, Esq.
• Nicholas Williams, Esq.
• Richard Gwynn, Esq.

Caernarvonshire

• Sir John Owen's heir

Denbighshire

• Charles Salisburie, Esq.
• Huscall Thelwall, Esq.
• Foulke Middleton, Esq.
• John Wynn, Esq.
• Sir Thomas Middleton, Knt. (of Chirk Castle, Wrexham)
• Bevis Lloyd, Esq.
• John Lloyd, Esq.

Flintshire

• Sir Roger Mostyn, Knt., of Mostyn, Bart.
• Sir Edward Mostyn, Knt.
• — Salisbury, of Hegragge, Esq.
• Robert Davies, Esq.
• John Puliston, Esq.
• John Hanmer, Knt, Bart.
• William Hanmer, Esq.

Glamorganshire

• Sir — Esterlinge, Knight
• Herbert Evans, Esq.
• David Jenkins, Esq.
• Thomas Mathews, Esq.
• William Bassett, Esq.
• William Herbert, Esq.
• Edmund Lewis, Esq.
• David Mathews, Esq.

Merionethshire

• William Salisbury, Esq.
• William Price, Esq.
• William Vaughan, Esq.
• Howell Vaughan, Esq.
• — Attwyll, of Parke, Esq.
• Lewis Owen, Esq.
• John Lloyd, Esq.

Monmouthshire

• William Morgan, Esq.
• William Jones, of Lanarthe, Esq.
• Thomas Lewis, Esq.
• Charles Vann, Esq.
• Walter Rumsey, Esq.
• William Jones, of Llantrischent, Esq.
• — Milbourne, Esq.

Montgomeryshire

• John Pugh, Esq.
• — Owen, Esq., of Ruserton
• — Blaney, Esq.
• Roger Lloyd, Esq.
• Richard Owen, Esq.
• Richard Herbert, Esq.
• Sir Edward Lloyd
• Edmund Wareinge, Esq.

Pembrokeshire

• Thomas Langhorne, Esq.
• Lewis Wogan, Esq.
• Hugh Bowen, Esq.
• Essex Merricke, Esq.
• Sir John Lort, Knt. (Bart, after)

Radnorshire

• George Gwynne
• Evan Davies
• — Price, Esq. ^[8]

See also

• Escape of Charles II
• Oak apple
• Royal Oak (tree)

Footnotes

References

• John Burke A genealogical and heraldic History of the Commoners of Great Britain, Volume 1
• William Dugdale, The antient Usage in bearing of such ensigns of honour as are commonly call’d Arms. With a catalogue of the present Nobility of England, 1681, reprinted 1811, London
• British History Online, Knights of the Royal Oak
• Davies, Reverend Walter, The English Works of Rev. Walter Davies, M.A.), Oxford University Press, 1868
• Gloucestershire Notes and Queries: An Illustrated Quarterly Magazine Devoted to the History and Antiquities of Gloucestershire, Edited by William Phillimore Watts Phillimore, Sidney Joseph Madge, Published by Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent, and Co., Ltd., 1884
• Frederick William Fairholt, Thomas Dekker, Thomas Heywood, Thomas Jordan, John Tatham, Lord Mayors' pageants: being collections towards a history of these annual celebrations, with specimens of the descriptive pamphlets, for the Percy Society by T. Richards, 1844
• Oxford Historical Society Publications, Vol. 44, Clarendon Press for the Oxford Historical Society, 1904
• Mark Noble, Memoirs of the protectoral-house of Cromwell, vol. I, online text, p. 70,