Colonel John Downes was a commissioner who signed the death warrant of Charles I of England

Charles I of England

Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...

. After the English Restoration

English Restoration

The Restoration of the English monarchy began in 1660 when the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were all restored under Charles II after the Interregnum that followed the Wars of the Three Kingdoms...

 he was found guilty of regicide

Regicide

The broad definition of regicide is the deliberate killing of a monarch, or the person responsible for the killing of a monarch. In a narrower sense, in the British tradition, it refers to the judicial execution of a king after a trial...

 and was imprisoned until he died.

He was a businessman who did not fight in the English Civil War

English Civil War

The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...

 but amassed a fortune dealing in the confiscated Royalist

Cavalier

Cavalier was the name used by Parliamentarians for a Royalist supporter of King Charles I and son Charles II during the English Civil War, the Interregnum, and the Restoration...

 estates. In 1641, he was elected Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 for Arundel

Arundel (UK Parliament constituency)

Arundel was twice a parliamentary constituency in the Kingdom of England, the Kingdom of Great Britain, and the United Kingdom. The first incarnation strictly comprised the town centre of Arundel and was a borough constituency first enfranchised in 1332 and disfranchised in 1868 under the Reform...

. He was a close friend of Cromwell and received substantial land grants in Ireland and England.

On being found guilty of regicide

Regicide

The broad definition of regicide is the deliberate killing of a monarch, or the person responsible for the killing of a monarch. In a narrower sense, in the British tradition, it refers to the judicial execution of a king after a trial...

, he received the relatively light sentence of life imprisonment, rather than the usual traitor's punishment of being hanged, drawn and quartered

Hanged, drawn and quartered

To be hanged, drawn and quartered was from 1351 a penalty in England for men convicted of high treason, although the ritual was first recorded during the reigns of King Henry III and his successor, Edward I...

, because he tried to intervene on the King's behalf and only signed the death warrant after being intimidated by the other commissioners.
Originally the Downes family came from Cheshire but moved southwards to Warwickshire.
The Downes of Cheshire were an ancient Forester family. Roger Downes, a friend of Lord Rochester was killed in a
London brawl and his head sent to the family home Wardley Hall. The Hall is supposed to be haunted by his ghost.
The family were well known for their adherence to the Catholic faith though in later centuries they were Anglican.
It was Francis Downes who retrieved the head of his martyred cousin Ambrose Barlow OSB.

External links

• The Trial of King Charles I - Defining Moment for Our Constitutional Liberties, by The Hon Justice Michael Kirby AC CMG