Hugh Peters was born in
Cornwall in 1598. Educated at Cambridge
University, Peters became a Puritan
and in 1626 moved to Holland
and became a pastor of a church in Rotterdam.
In 1635 Peters emigrated
to America and the following year he became a minister at Salem, Massachusetts.
On the outbreak of the Civil War Peters
returned to England and became a chaplain to the Parliamentary army.
In 1650 he was appointed as chaplain to the Council of State.
On 3rd September 1658,
Oliver Cromwell died. Parliament
and the leaders of the army now began arguing amongst themselves about
how England should be ruled. General George
Monck, the officer in charge of the English army based in Scotland,
decided to take action, and in 1660 he marched his army to London.
When Monck arrived he reinstated
the House of Lords and the Parliament of
1640. Royalists were now in control of Parliament. Monk
now contacted Charles
II, who was living
in Holland. Charles agreed that if he was made king he would pardon
all members of the parliamentary army and would continue with the
Commonwealth's policy of religious toleration. Charles also accepted
that he would share power with Parliament and would not rule as an
'absolute' monarch as his father had
tried to do in the 1630s.
This information was passed
to Parliament and it was eventually agreed to abolish the Commonwealth
and bring back the monarchy. In
August 1660, Charles
II and Parliament
agreed to pass the Act of Indemnity and Oblivion. This resulted in
the granting of a free pardon to anyone who had supported the Commonwealth
government. However, the king retained the right to punish those people
who had participated in the trial and execution of Charles
I.
A special court was appointed
and in October 1660 those Regicides
who were still alive and living in Britain were brought to trial.
Ten were found guilty and were sentenced to be hung, drawn and quartered.
This included Hugh Peters, John Jones
and Thomas Harrison.
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