ABSTRACT
When he escaped from Hampton Court on 11 November, Charles apparently had no idea where he was going. He was prompted to fl ee by allegations of an attempt on his life: a letter received on 9 November signed by E.R. claimed that eight or nine agitators were planning to kill him, but the plans for escape were probably set before the letter arrived. Charles escaped with two advisors, Sir John Ashburnham and Sir John Berkeley, who had opposed plans for joining the Scots, and they were against the northern fl ight; Berkeley had proposed London, but changed his mind, Ashburnham remembered meeting Colonel Hammond who had given up his regiment of foot because he was disaffected with the army’s role in politics. Asburnham claimed that Hammond had told him that he had wanted no part in ‘such perfi dious actions’. Ashburnham proposed that the king make for Sir John Oglander’s house on the Isle of Wight from where they could make contact with Hammond to see if he was willing to help or get a boat for the continent. Hammond proved not to be the instrument that Charles and Ashburnham had wished. The governor quickly secured the royal party and the king was back in captivity as close as that at Hampton Court causing Ashburnham subsequently to refer to Hammond as ‘that detestable villaine (the Governour)’.1 Hammond lodged the king in Carisbrooke Castle and contacted parliament immediately. The governor’s letter to parliament was read in the Commons on 15 November informing MPs that he
had thought it his duty to take the king to Carisbrooke to preserve him from the apparent threats to his life and ensure the continuation of negotiations. Hammond also thought it necessary to make abundantly clear ‘his own fi delity and care’ in order to offset any damage to his reputation should it be discovered that the royalists had thought it worth making approaches to him.2 Parliament was quick to assure Hammond that he would be supported with new troops and he was equally quick in ensuring parliament that he was working with the gentry of the isle to raise suffi cient guards.
