Francis Ottley

Sir Francis Ottley, Royalist military governor of Shrewsbury in the early stages of the English Civil War

Pitchford Hall, Shropshire, home of the Royalist Ottley family in the 17th century. Pictured in 1901

Pitchford Hall, photographed 2005.

Sir Francis Ottley (1600/1601–11 September 1649)^[1] was an English Royalist politician and soldier who played an important part in the English Civil War in Shropshire. He was military governor of Shrewsbury during the early years of the Civil War.

Background, early life and education

Francis Ottley's parents were:^[2]

• Thomas Ottley of Pitchford, Shropshire

The Ottley family belonged to the middling landed gentry and claimed descent from the Ottleys of Ottley, near Ellesmere, Shropshire.^[2][3] However they made their fortune as part of the powerful merchant class of the town of Shrewsbury itself, the wealth of which derived from its monopoly in the finishing of Welsh cloth.^[4] As early as 1444 a Thomas Ottley was one of the aldermen assisting the bailiffs in the government of Shrewsbury.^[5] He bought Pitchford Hall in 1473,^[3] and also had a house in Calais,^[6] from which he could seek outlets for finished cloth. His son William was High Sheriff of Shropshire in 1500,^[3] marking the definitive acceptance of the Ottleys into the landed gentry, the dominant class in Shropshire, which had no resident aristocracy in the 16th century.^[7]

• Mary Gifford, daughter of Roger Gifford, MD^[8]

Roger Gifford was a noted doctor, who was appointed Elizabeth I's physician ordinary in 1587.^[9] He became wealthy and served as MP for Old Sarum. He was reported to be a Catholic but this is uncertain.

Francis Ottley was educated at Shrewsbury School from the age of ten.^[10] He entered Lincoln College, Oxford, matriculating at the age of 17 on 4 December 1618,^[1] the same day as his younger brother, Richard. While Richard stayed on to graduate, Francis left without a degree for legal training, and the Inner Temple registered his admission in November 1619,^[11] incorrectly naming his father as Robert. In 1621 he married Lucy, the already widowed daughter of Thomas Edwards, who was High Sheriff of Shropshire at the time.^[10]

The Civil War

Royalist seizure of Shrewsbury

Ottley was already active in local politics before the outbreak of the English Civil War in 1642,^[2] so quickly emerged as a leading Royalist within Shropshire, playing a key role in the military conquest of the county by the Charles I. As newspapers were not yet in circulation in the Midlands,^[12] he kept in touch with the national situation by having an agent in London, Robert Browne,^[13] send him occasional newsletters, summarising developments in the capital, but also in provincial centres as news came in. Letters from Browne still survive, relaying such news as the crisis in May 1641 over the execution of Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford^[14] and, a year later, the first hostilities between Charles I and Parliament at Hull.^[15]

Sir Vincent Corbet, Ottley's principal Royalist collaborator in Shropshire during the early days of the Civil War and later a cavalry commander.

The town and corporation of Shrewsbury were deeply divided. A political and ideological conflict between Puritans and Laudians had resulted in a battle of the pulpits for more than two decades.^[16] During the summer of 1642 parliament and the king instigated rival mobilisations, the former under the Militia Ordinance, the latter under Commissions of array. Ottley received a commission from the king, dated 28 June,^[17] to mobilise the county's Trainbands by sending a warrant to the High Sheriff. On the other side, a group of Shrewsbury aldermen petitioned parliament on 16 July to recognise a militia that had begun to gather under the command of Thomas Hunt.^[18] Parliament authorised the training of militia for the defence of Shrewsbury and, under an act of 22 July, deputed three MPs, William Pierrepont, Sir John Corbet, and Richard More to establish its military control of Shropshire.^[19] The Drapers' Company responded with contributions of money, silver plate and equipment for the parliamentary cause.^[18] However, Ottley seized the initiative and disrupted the parliamentary muster on 1 August. Royalist forces drilled the following day under Sir Vincent Corbet of Moreton Corbet.

Ottley was one of those who signed a declaration of loyalty to the king issued by the grand jury at Shrewsbury assizes on 8 August.^[10] It expressed

unanimous and thankful acknowledgements of the good laws, which through the King's goodness, had been enacted in this parliament; their readiness to obey his Majesty in all lawful ways for putting the country in a posture of arms for his defence; and their resolution to adventure their lives and fortunes in defence of his royal and sacred person.^[17]

Ottley sent out messengers to carry the resolution to gentry in outlying areas to keep them informed and supportive. However, the situation remained confused and undecided for several weeks, with many of the Shropshire gentry hoping that mediation would avert open conflict.^[20] Sir Richard Newport appeared on the scene as a mediator between the two sides but he was secretly in close contact with Ottley.^[21] and had pledged £6000 to the king for a barony.^[22] However, he created enough confusion and was to be duly rewarded.

Hopes faded quickly after the king raised his standard at Nottingham on 22 August, effectively declaring war on Parliament.^[23] Shrewsbury corporation declared a policy of neutrality and non-resistance on 30 August.^[24] Ottley plotted to bring the king to Shrewsbury to take advantage of the situation, using as intermediary his friend Thomas Eyton of Eyton upon the Weald Moors,^[18][25] although he also received information from other informants, like Sir Thomas Hanmer, 2nd Baronet,^[26] the king's cupbearer. By 4 September Eyton had met the king at Nottingham and passed on to Ottley the king's summons to a meeting.^[27] In the mean time, on 10 September, the king wrote, authorising him to raise 200 infantry to take Shrewsbury.^[28] and, in an accompanying letter, Edward Hyde assured him of the king's personal, as well as official, concern and regard for him.^[27] On 13 September, the Royalist field army set off westward and reached Derby on the same day, where the king received an assurance from Ottley that the town was “at his devotion.”^[20][29] The king had reached Uttoxeter by the time Ottley was able to meet him.^[18] An address was drafted for the king to read out at Wellington,^[20] where he rallied his forces on 19 September.^[29] On 20 September the king and his army entered Shrewsbury^[20] to a welcome from its people, although they had little choice in the face of overwhelming force.^[30] Ottley was knighted by the king at Shrewsbury on 21 September 1642.^[2]

The king was based at Shrewsbury until 12 October 1642, shadowed by the main Parliamentarian army, under the Lord General, Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex, which had marched from Northampton to Worcester to block his progress southward.^[31] The Royalist soldiers billeted in the town were ill-paid and took to extortion and looting.^[30] Soon this spread to the surrounding countryside of north Shropshire.^[32] As early as 28 September Ottley received a complaint from John Weever of Market Drayton that he and his neighbours had had their homes looted by Royalist soldiers. Weever and other complainants had already begun to address themselves to Ottley, although he was not yet formally head of the garrison at Shrewsbury.

Governor of Shrewsbury

Edward Hyde, later Earl of Clarendon, a moderate voice and Ottley's main supporter in the Royalist camp.

Sir Orlando Bridgeman, a Cheshire Royalist politician and future Chief Justice of the Common Pleas and Lord Keeper of the Great Seal. He was in close contact with Ottley during the Civil War.

Major General Sir William Brereton, most successful Parliamentarian commander in the Midlands, under whose protection the Shropshire committee gained a foothold at Wem.

Prince Rupert, portrayed in Parliamentarian propaganda as the author of atrocities. He was the main Royalist critic of Ottley's policies.

When the king left on 12 October, embarking on the campaign that would lead to the Battle of Edgehill, Ottley had still not been appointed military governor of the town. Instead, there was an ambiguous document, signed by the king on 11 October, ordering him not to leave his residence in the county and requiring the Sheriff, JPs and other officials to aid him by protecting his “person family and Estate and every part therof against all persons Whatsoever.”^[33] He was thus compelled to continue lobbying for official appointment to the post of governor.^[10] Meanwhile, however, he tried to take control of the situation. Moving south from Shrewsbury, on 14 October at Bridgnorth the king declared three of Shrewsbury's most prominent citizens traitors: Thomas Hunt, Humfrey Mackworth, and Thomas Nicholls. These immediately disappeared from the area, leaving the Royalists freer to consolidate their position.

In December Ottley, together with Eyton, Corbet and other gentry, financed the formation of a force of dragoons, which was to be commanded by Corbet.^[34] However, the initial response was poor, with only about 60 enlisted.^[35] In January 1643 Ottley renewed his campaign to be appointed governor.^[36] On 2 January he compelled all the inhabitants of Shrewsbury, on pain of death, to swear a declaration against the Parliamentary Army:

I. A. B., do in the presence of Almighty God protest and acknowledge without any mental reservation that I do detest and abhor the notorious rebellion which goes under the name of the Parliament Army, and will with my whole force and means to the uttermost of my power withstand their impious rebellion against our most gracious Sovereign Lord King Charles, our Protestant religion, our laws of the land, our just privileges of Parliament, and liberty of the subject.

This he hoped would win the king's favour and bring the coveted appointment. On 5 January Hyde wrote from Oxford, the Royalist capital, explaining the king's reluctance and promising speedy appointment if required.

If you receave not so full satisfaction by your man as you expecte, you must not attribute it to any negligence of your frends, or any disesteem in his Ma^ty towards you. I assure you the King hath a very just sense of your meritt and lookes upon the service of that towne (where he received so great testimonyes of duty and Loyalty) as the effect of your Care and industry, and therefore you may beleive he will never be unwilling to grante you any addition of power, who imploy it so well to his advantage, but in this business of Govenour he makes some pawse upon this scruple, he hath had of late ill luck in making Govern^rs of Cities and Townes, and tho' he hath always chosen loved and popular men for those places, yet private differences have so farr grown, that he hath been in danger to loose the Corporation. Now he says you are Comaunder of the Armes of the Town, and already have all authority to that purpose, but he fears if he should send you an absolute Pattent of Governour, it may some day discontent the Corporation, however he resolves there shall be no other Governour but you, and if you and the Towne think it necessary that you should have an immediate Pattent lett us hear from you and it shall be dispatch'd...

However, Ottley had other informants at Oxford and elswhere. A letter despatched the following day by Thomas Bushell made clear that there others lobbying for the post at Shrewsbury. Apparently Ottley insisted on the appointment, as he was rewarded with formal appointment as governor later that month.^[2] A consignment of high quality carbines despatched to Oxford on 11 January must have helped, for Hyde soon wrote back asking for more and offering to raise the necessary money.^[37] A letter from Hyde, written 9 February, significantly alludes to Ottley's commission, possibly still en route, before bemoaning his apparent inability to provide the promised arms.^[38]

Despite the oath of loyalty, there was plenty of open discontent in the town. At the Spring assizes of 1643, all ten brought before the court were charged with offences of disloyalty.^[34][39] On 17 March Ottley issued a proscription list, ordering the arrest of 43 people for disaffection towards the regime. However, there was still a large body of opinion uncommitted to either side and wanting only a return to peace and business as normal. Jonathan Langley, a native of Shrewsbury stranded in the Parliamentary stronghold of Birmingham, wrote to Ottley of his desire to return to his home and family, and pointing out that “my protestation already taken binds me both to King and to parliament.”^[39] Trade was greatly impeded by the necessity to obtain a pass from Ottley for any journey outside the town.^[40] The depredations of Royalist soldiers impeded trade and inconvenienced citizens, creating a stream of complaints to the governor. On 7 January it was Peter Venables, an important Cheshire Royalist requesting release of his sister's goods seized by Ottley's soldiers;^[41] on 28 January John Birch, a Bristol wine merchant, wanting to know what had happened to four butts of sack, worth £64, and requesting restitution or recompense.^[42] Some of the complainantts could be ignored: particularly Birch, who was already suspect and was soon in arms on the side of Parliament.^[43] It was not so easy to shrug off a letter from the king himself, alleging that Ottley's men had purloined goods belonging to an influential Staffordshire wool merchant and demanding they be released forthwith.^[44] Moreover, Hyde wrote complaining that Mr. Acherley, in whose house he had stayed the previous September, was being subjected to a campaign of intimidation.^[38]

Harassed by conflicting demands, Ottley's position was slowly but steadily undermined by both the opposition and his own side. He frequently received news of events in Cheshire and in the north of Shropshire from Orlando Bridgeman, who seems to have been a close friend: however, the news was not always good, and there was usually a request for more men and materials to fight the war.^[37] At the end of January 1643, Ottley received a flurry of letters reflecting the first serious impact of a Parliamentary fightback, under Sir William Brereton. Most disturbing was a letter from Sir Vincent Corbet, 1st Baronet, beseeching him to send to Whitchurch not soldiers but as many surgeons as he could possibly provide.^[45] In February Parliament established a Shropshire committee to take control of the county.^[46] and in April it was federated with its counterparts in Warwickshire and Staffordshire.^[47] In July there were rumours of plots among the townspeople of Shrewsbury.^[10] A letter from Oxford rebuked him for not issuing sufficient propaganda to counteract the widespread Parliamentarian pamphleteering.

Around the end of August the parliamentary committee, with the support of Brereton gained a foothold in its native county, occupying the small, unfortified market town of Wem.^[47] In October the Parliamentarians saw off a serious Royalist assault, partly because the townspeople, including many women, rallied to their aid. Very soon after, a widespread plot against Royalist control was uncovered in Shrewsbury. Ottley's papers contain an account for the building of gibbets, dated 29 December, probably indicating a considerable number of executions around that time. However, this was not enough for his Royalist critics. Prince Rupert wrote on 25 January 1644 to demand that Ottley initiate a reign of terror and announcing that he would soon arrive to make Shrewsbury his base for the Spring campaign.^[10] Rupert arrived on 18 February, armed with the powers of President of Wales, a post substituting for the Council in the Marches of Wales.^[48] Clearly unimpressed by Ottley, Rupert dismissed him or demanded his resignation and put in charge Sir Fulke Hunckes, a veteran of the Irish wars. He also demanded a contribution of £1000 from the town. He then led a brutal campaign to clear the area of Parliamentarian troops, massacring the garrison of Hopton Castle – a move which seems to have stiffened resistance.^[49] The following month, Rupert left to relieve Newark, with the military situation in Shropshire unchanged despite the disruption and bloodshed.

Capture and death

Ottley remained a Royalist soldier in Shrewsbury, despite his removal from power. Later in the year, Rupert returned to campaign in Shropshire and replaced Hunckes with Sir Michael Erneley, a Wiltshire landowner who had no connection with the area^[50] and considered the locals hostile.^[51] Ottley himself was made Royalist High Sheriff of Shropshire,^[50] although Parliament recognised Colonel Thomas Mytton, the governor of Wem, as sheriff. In January 1645 Erneley lambasted Ottley and the local gentry for their failure to make sufficient contributions to the war effort:

I hope you and the Gentlemen of the County will send mee not lesse then a thousand. If they shall prove backward in a business of soe great consequence to the service of his Majesty, I am confident you must conclude with mee that they want affection to his Majesty's service, and that other their undertakings are noe more then mere pretences. I shall desire your answeare by the Bearer.

Erneley was attempting to strengthen the fortifications of the town, expecting an imminent attack and was himself under pressure from Prince Maurice, now in charge of the Royalist forces in the region, to complete the work.

In February Maurice arrived in Shrewsbury and himself weakened its defences by taking away some of its garrison to reinforce his army campaigning in Wales and Cheshire.^[52] This gave the county's Parliamentary committee an opportunity to move troops forward, enveloping the town in readiness for an assault. On 21 February they surprised Royalist commissioners of array at Apley Hall,^[10] home of Sir Thomas Whitmore, 1st Baronet, and took them prisoner. They included Ottley and the son of Sir William Owen, a former MP and tenant of the council house in Shrewsbury.^[50] The following evening, a small Parliamentarian force led by a Dutch professional soldier, William Reinking, entered the town by a door left open below the council house.^[53] The town's main gates were taken and opened to admit the main force, under Mytton, and Shrewsbury fell, with little bloodshed, to the Parliamentarians.

Ottley was one of those who on 26 April 1646 negotiated the surrender of Bridgnorth,^[10] by then the last important Royalist stronghold in Shropshire, to Parliament. Under the terms of the surrender, he and his family, like the rest of the garrison, were to choose between peace and exile. He chose to stay. As his estates had been sequestrated, he was forced to compound for delinquency. After a long wait, he was ordered to pay a fine of £1200. He died on 11 September 1649.

Marriage and Family

Sir Francis Ottley with his wife, Lucy Edwards, and two of their children, Richard and Mary. An engraving made c.1825 after an oil painting of 1636 by Petrus Troueil, now owned by the Shrewsbury Museums Service.

Francis Ottley married Lucy Edwards, daughter of Thomas Edwards of the College, Shrewsbury, in 1624.^[54] She was the widow of Thomas Pope, another Shrewsbury resident, and was about eight years older than Ottley. Francis and Lucy Ottley had at least three children, whose baptisms are recorded in the Pitchford parish register.^[55]

• Sir Richard Ottley (baptised 15 September 1626) was an important Shropshire politician and MP after the Restoration.^[56]
• Adam Ottley (baptised 26 October 1628) was also involved in post-restoration politics in Shropshire, a town clerk of Shrewsbury.^[57]
• Mary Ottley (baptised 30 March 1630) lived through the Civil War but died in August 1648.^[58]

Footnotes

References

Coulton, Barbara, 2010: Regime and Religion: Shrewsbury 1400-1700, Logaston Press ISBN 978 1 906663 47 6.

Grazebrook, George and Rylands, John Paul (editors), 1889: The visitation of Shropshire, taken in the year 1623: Part II by Robert Tresswell, Somerset Herald, and Augustine Vincent, Rouge Croix Pursuivant of arms; marshals and deputies to William Camden, Clarenceux king of arms. With additions from the pedigrees of Shropshire gentry taken by the heralds in the years 1569 and 1584, and other sources. Accessed 17 October 2013 at openlibrary.org.

T.R. Horton (editor) (1900): The Registers of Pitchford Parish, Shropshire, 1558–1812, Shropshire Parish Register Society. Accessed 4 November 2013 at Internet Archive.

Owen, H. and Blakeway, J.B. (1825) A History of Shrewsbury, Volume 1, part missing, accessed 1 November 2013, at Internet Archive.

Phillips, William, 1894: The Ottley Papers relating to the Civil War, in Transactions of the Shropshire Archaeological and Natural History Society, 2nd series, vol. VI, 1894, p. 27-78 accessed 18 November 2013 at Internet Archive.

Sherwood, Roy, 1992: The Civil War in the Midlands 1642-1651, Alan Sutton Publishing, ISBN 0 7509 0167 5.

External links