Early Modern History

The Seven Day Civil War

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The Seven Day Civil War in Surrey – 12th-19th November 1642: A True Account from Letters, Pamphlets and Newsbooks

Dilemma

Civil War in Surrey in November 1642

The first signs that the war was close at hand came early on the afternoon of Saturday 12th November 1642, when many people heard a series of cracking sounds that continued sporadically over the course of a couple of hours. Then, the next morning, there were reports of distant rumbles, like a giant’s muffled footsteps, followed by a huge explosion. In normal times, those living along the Thames west of London would have blamed the weather and looked for approaching dark clouds, but now they worried that, depending on the outcome of the battle being fought close by, they were soon going to find themselves caught up in the conflict between the king’s army that was marching purposefully towards the capital, and the parliamentarians trying to stop them at any cost.

News had been coming in since late summer from citizens fleeing the capital, that Londoners were preparing for an attack by the royalists, who would approach either north of the river through Middlesex, or south via Kingston Bridge and up through Putney. The ‘trained bands’ of soldiers, who were local militias of reservists called upon in times of need, had been repairing and reinforcing the city walls, and shops and businesses had been closed so that everyone, including women and children, could help by carrying baskets of earth for the ramparts, and gathering materials for the barricades. On the busier thoroughfares, great iron chains had been hung to stop the cavaliers in their tracks, and cannons were put in place beside which the gunners kept a lit flame at the ready.

London had split quickly along partisan lines. At first there were just angry words and accusations, and the adoption of symbols — royal supporters began wearing rose-coloured bands on their hats — but once news that the king had declared war was known, parliament stepped in. The Tower of London and its military resources were seized, and a Committee of Safety was established to take control of the trained bands away from the Lord Mayor and the Aldermen, who by nature and tradition supported the king. A recruitment drive was begun amongst the merchants, craftworkers and apprentices, and a further order was made to raise new troops from the county militias in the Southeast. The challenge was whether all these raw recruits could be assembled, organised and trained before the king’s army arrived.

Then came the clampdown. Anyone suspected of being a royalist ‘malignant’, or refusing to pay the levy that had been introduced to pay for the defences, was stopped and searched in the street to look for weapons, and had their homes raided and horses confiscated. Lookouts scoured the river for boats full of enemy soldiers. Roman Catholics, always thought to harbour royalist sympathies, were given twelve hours to leave London, and were told not to come within twenty miles of the capital again, or risk imprisonment. And so, a steady stream of refugees headed out towards the surrounding counties.

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Early Modern Elmbridge

Elmbridge in Early 1600s

The borough of Elmbridge in Surrey covers the towns of Weybridge, Walton-on-Thames, Hersham, East and West Molesey, Esher, Cobham, Stoke D’Abernon, Long Ditton, Thames Ditton, Hinchley Wood, Claygate, Weston Green and Oxshott.

I have written several true-life accounts of people and events in Elmbridge from the late fifteenth century to the end of the seventeenth century, which can be found on the following links or websites:

Elmbridge Hundred: Rural Retreat to Forest Law 1492-1548 (opens as Flipbook). To open as a pdf: Click here. The 3 parts were posted as blog posts on the Elmbridge Museum website (see below).

Sir Bartholomew Rede (1457-1505), Lord of the Manor of Oatlands – A biography of the founder of the Oatlands Estate, and eminent local landowner in Weybridge and Walton-on-Thames in the early Tudor period, who was Prime Warden of the Goldsmiths’ Company and Lord Mayor of London.

The Lost Manors of Oatlands and Hundulsham 1505-36 – The story of Sir Bartholomew Rede’s heir, his nephew William, and his personal and legal struggles to retain his inheritance as Oatlands attracts the attention of Thomas Cromwell and his master Henry VIII.

The Enclosure of Elmbridge Hundred 1539-48 – An account of the devastating impact that the creation of Hampton Court Chase had on the inhabitants of Elmbridge for almost a decade.

May Day Remembrances 1536 – The retelling of an violent event in Walton-on-Thames reported in the State Papers, and the reasons why Thomas Cromwell did not respond to his local Justice of the Peace.

The Museum of Melancholy: The Divine Case of Mrs Drake 1615-1647 (Opens as Flipbook). To open as a pdf: Click here.

A retelling of the life of Mrs Joan Drake of Esher Place, the Parsonage of Walton-on-Thames and Shardeloes near Amersham, and wife of Francis Drake (godson of the famous explorer). Extracted from an old book written in 1647 about her struggles with depression and spiritual anxiety and the efforts of a series of Puritan divines to cure her, it is a remarkable story of her intelligence, melancholic charisma and fortitude. It also covers her relationship with Dr John Hart, the ‘Relater’, and the impact of her illness on her son, William Drake, 1st Baronet of Shardeloes.

This story was serialised in an edited form in three parts by Community Life Magazine from May to July 2025. Click here.

The Most Notorious Riot in Oatlands 1617 (Opens as Flipbook). To open as a pdf: Click here. – The true story, based on eyewitness accounts, of the violent abduction of Frances Coke, a fourteen-year-old heiress, from Ashley House in Oatlands by her father, the celebrated Sir Edward Coke who had recently been Lord Chief Justice of the King’s Bench. The subsequent clashes with his wife, the redoubtable Lady Elizabeth Hatton, become a national scandal involving many major figures including King James I, the Duke of Buckingham, and members of the Privy Council.

This story was serialised in an edited form in four parts by Weybridge & Brooklands Community Life Magazine from September to December 2024. To open as a pdf: Click here.

The Ten Day Civil War in Elmbridge: 9th-18th November 1642 (Opens as a Flipbook). To open as a pdf: Click here. – This article focuses on a pivotal week in November at the beginning of the English Civil War when the Royalist army led by King Charles I, including the cavalry led by Prince Rupert of the Rhine, marched down the Thames Valley towards London. Using primary sources, it reveals the forgotten experiences of the local inhabitants of Surrey.