26-714: John Gell may refer to: Sir John Gell, 1st Baronet (1592–1671), Parliamentarian in the English Civil War Sir John Gell, 2nd Baronet (1612–1689), lead mining magnate and MP for Derbyshire John Eyre Gell (died 1739), known as John Eyre before inheriting the Gell estate and mines, see Gell baronets John Gell (admiral) (1740–1806), British admiral John Gell (Manx language activist) (1899–1983) See also [ edit ] Gell baronets Gell (surname) [REDACTED] Topics referred to by
52-703: A base by its troops. He reportedly ignored orders from Sir Thomas Fairfax to bring his troops to Naseby in June, then was reprimanded for allowing 3,000 cavalry from the defeated Royalist army to escape him at Ashbourne . As the war came to an end in April 1646, it was discovered that he was negotiating more favourable terms with the Royalist garrison of Tutbury Castle than those offered by his colleague Sir William Brereton. He resigned his commission and went to London seeking payment of expenses he claimed were owed him; as
78-546: A precaution, he first signed over his estates to his son John, keeping an annuity of £1,100 for himself. In 1645, Thomas Gell replaced the Royalist William Allestry as MP for Derby and helped his brother obtain a grant of £1,200 from Parliament towards his arrears in October 1647. During the internal power struggle over the post-war political settlement that dominated 1647 and 1648, Gell sided with
104-574: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Sir John Gell, 1st Baronet Sir John Gell, 1st Baronet (22 June 1593 – 26 October 1671) was an English landowner from Derbyshire , who acted as local Parliamentarian commander for most of the First English Civil War before resigning in May 1646. He was notorious for parading the body of his Royalist opponent through Derby after
130-617: The Battle of Hopton Heath in March 1643. Reputedly the richest man in Derbyshire, Gell proved an effective and energetic general, but the plundering conducted by his often unpaid troops provoked numerous complaints to Parliament . According to Puritan diarist Lucy Hutchinson , he "had not understanding to judge the equity of the cause, nor piety, nor holiness", while his men were "the most licentious, ungovernable wretches that belonged to
156-409: The lead industry . These included Royalty payments on lead produced from mines near Bakewell , Hope and Tideswell ; his combative nature led to lengthy legal disputes over the amounts due and made him unpopular locally. Gell contributed only a nominal amount of £10 to the 1625 Forced Loan and refused to fund the local Trained Band in 1630, marking him as an opponent of Charles I . During
182-622: The MPs excluded by Pride's Purge in December 1648, while Gell himself was stripped of all offices in February 1649. During the Interregnum in 1650, he was involved in a conspiracy to restore Charles II led by the Royalist lawyer Eusebius Andrews , who was acting on his behalf in his divorce proceedings with Mary Stanhope. Although Gell was careful not to commit himself, one of his retainers
208-788: The Parliament". Gell resigned his commission just before the First Civil War ended in 1646, and his ambiguous stance during the Second English Civil War meant he was removed from all his positions in February 1649. Implicated in a Royalist plot in 1650, he was sentenced to life imprisonment but released due to ill health three years later. Pardoned after the Stuart Restoration in 1660, he lived quietly in London where he died in October 1671. John Gell
234-640: The Parliamentarian moderates against the New Model Army. Previously the only person in Derbyshire excluded by Charles from the general pardon offered to his opponents in 1643, Gell now to pay the king £900 in return for a pardon. Hopes of regaining his influence ended with Royalist defeat in the Second English Civil War and the Execution of Charles I in January 1649. Thomas was one of
260-648: The Royalists, Gell replaced Brooke as Parliamentarian commander in Staffordshire and Warwickshire and was appointed Governor of Derby in 1644. Although an energetic and capable soldier, his bullying of the Derbyshire county committee and the plundering for which his unpaid troops became notorious provoked numerous complaints to Parliament. The formation of the New Model Army in April 1645 reduced his influence while he resented Derbyshire being used as
286-495: The feud continued into the First English Civil War when Chesterfield supported the Royalists . With war approaching, Charles sought to raise money by selling honours and in January 1642 Gell purchased a baronetcy for £300. As a Presbyterian , Gell's sympathies generally lay with Parliament, but the importance of the Derbyshire lead mines for manufacturing ammunition meant Charles unsuccessfully tried to win his support. When
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#1732790762690312-526: The highly controversial tax known as Ship Money . The methods adopted by the Gell brothers included seizing property in lieu of unpaid Duchy rents or Ship money, causing widespread local resentment. One of those affected was Sir John Stanhope; when he died in 1638, his wife Mary and cousin Philip Stanhope, 1st Earl of Chesterfield , took their case to the Privy Council . They lost, but
338-457: The inconclusive Battle of Hopton Heath on 19 March. The Parliamentarian artillery was captured but the Royalist commander, the Earl of Northampton , was killed after refusing to surrender. Gell offered to hand over the body in return for his artillery; when this was refused, he had Northampton's embalmed corpse paraded through the streets of Derby before burial. While Lichfield was soon retaken by
364-790: The lands he had inherited from his father in Kent to pay off some of the enormous debts the construction of the Hall had entailed. Sir Percival and his wife Lady Bridget eventually occupied the new building but in later generations it was never the principal home of the Willoughby family. Middleton Hall in Warwickshire was the family's usual residence. Willoughby was knighted by King James I on 20 April 1603 at Worksop . On 21 June he hosted Anne of Denmark and her children Prince Henry and Princess Elizabeth at Wollaton Hall. Shortly afterwards
390-562: The leading Royalist family in Derbyshire while Gell had pursued a long running feud first with her husband, then with her brother-in-law after the former's death in 1638. The marriage lasted less than a year. Gell graduated from Magdalen College, Oxford in 1610, then lived in Kedleston before taking up residence in Hopton around 1620. One of the wealthiest men in Derbyshire, his income derived chiefly from sheep and extensive interests in
416-426: The local church and digging up his flower beds. In March 1643, Gell joined Lord Brooke in an attack on Lichfield Cathedral , which was occupied by a Royalist garrison under Chesterfield. After Brooke was killed by a sniper, Gell took command and captured the position along with Chesterfield, who was held in London until 1649. He then combined with Sir William Brereton in an attack on Stafford , which ended in
442-628: The period of Personal Rule from 1629 to 1640, one response was to put such men in charge of collecting payments due to the Crown, thereby making them liable for the entire amount. In 1632, Gell and his brother Thomas were appointed joint Receivers of the Honour of Tutbury , the name given to the Derbyshire and Staffordshire estates of the Duchy of Lancaster , a royal possession. Gell was also made High Sheriff of Derbyshire in 1635, responsible for collecting
468-469: The rich fishing grounds around Baccalieu Island . Bartholomew Pearson and a surveyor named Olney had made the trip to Newfoundland to access its mineral and agricultural potential. Willoughby's main interest lay in the mining potential of Bell Island and was very critical of his party's lack of exploration on the island upon their return to England. Willoughby's partnership in 1618 with Thomas Rowley and William Hannam to give them half of his tract for
494-403: The same term This disambiguation page lists articles about people with the same name. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=John_Gell&oldid=1138118844 " Category : Human name disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
520-467: The war began in August 1642, Gell was instructed to secure Derbyshire for Parliament and recruited a regiment with his brother Thomas as lieutenant colonel . The local Royalists were led by Chesterfield; when he ransacked Hopton Hall, Gell retaliated by sacking his residence at Bretby Hall . He followed up by plundering Elvaston Castle , former residence of Sir John Stanhope, allegedly defacing his tomb in
546-474: Was also an important investor in the Newfoundland Company . He was the eldest son of Thomas Willoughby of Bore Place, Chiddingstone, Kent and educated at Furnival's Inn and Lincoln's Inn (1579). He married Bridget Willoughby, his second cousin, the daughter of Sir Francis Willoughby , builder of Wollaton Hall . She, as co-heiress of her father, inherited Wollaton Hall. Sir Percival sold all
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#1732790762690572-968: Was born 22 June 1593 in Hopton, Derbyshire to Thomas Gell (1532–1594) and Millicent Sacheverell (1571–1618). His father died shortly before the birth of his younger brother Thomas (1594–1656), and his mother married John Curzon (1552–1632) of Kedleston Hall , where Gell lived until 1614. He formed a close relationship with his half-brother Sir John Curzon (1598–1686). In January 1609, Gell married Elizabeth Willoughby (1600–1642), daughter of Sir Percival Willoughby of Wollaton Hall in Nottinghamshire . They had six children who reached adulthood; Millicent (1611–1652), Bridgett (1612–1680), John (1613–1689), William (1615–1642), Elizabeth (1617–1707) and Eleanor (1620–1713). In 1648, he married Mary Stanhope (died 1653), widow of Sir John Stanhope , an act that provoked much comment among his neighbours. She belonged to
598-640: Was formally pardoned and given a minor position in the Royal Household. He lived in London where he died on 26 October 1671, and was buried in St Mary's Church, Wirksworth . Percival Willoughby Sir Percival Willoughby (died 23 August 1643) of Wollaton Hall , Nottinghamshire was a prominent land owner, businessman, and entrepreneur involved during his lifetime variously in mining, iron smelting, and glass making enterprises in Nottinghamshire . He
624-468: Was heavily in debt. Appointed to the council which managed the company's affairs in 1610, he sent his third son Thomas to Cuper's Cove in 1612 along with Henry Crout and six apprentices. The orders to the party were to leave the colony and develop Willoughby's own tract which was all that land north of a line drawn between Carbonear and Heart's Content on the Bay de Verde Peninsula . This also included
650-607: Was returned as member of Parliament for Nottinghamshire and Tamworth in King James' first parliament, choosing to sit for Nottinghamshire. He was returned again and sat for Tamworth in 1614. Percival Willoughby's business partner, Huntingdon Beaumont , was responsible for constructing the Wollaton Wagonway . Willoughby was drawn into the Newfoundland Company venture by John Slany , to whom he
676-452: Was subsequently executed, and he was found guilty of failing to communicate details of the plot. The transfer of his estates in 1646 thwarted attempts to confiscate them, although he was sentenced to life imprisonment in the Tower of London . In 1653, he was released on grounds of ill health and allowed to live in a private house in London. Following the Stuart Restoration in May 1660, he
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