Richard Deane (regicide)

Richard Deane,1610–1 June 1653, General at SeabyRobert Walker,painted c. 1653.

Richard Deane(bapt.8 July 1610– 1 June 1653) was an English military officer who supported theParliamentariancause in theWars of the Three Kingdoms.He was aGeneral at Sea,major-general and one of theregicides of Charles I.

Biography

Deane was a younger son of Edward Deane of Temple Guiting or Guyting inGloucestershire,where he was born, his baptism taking place on 8 July 1610. His family seems to have been stronglyPuritanand was related to many of thoseBuckinghamshirefamilies who were prominent amongOliver Cromwell's supporters during theEnglish Civil War.His uncle or great-uncle wasSir Richard Deane,Lord Mayor of Londonin 1628–1629.

Few records of Deane's early life survive, but he seems to have had some sea training, possibly on a ship-of-war. At the outbreak of the Civil War he joined the parliamentary army as a volunteer in the artillery, a branch of the service with which he was constantly and honourably associated.

In 1644 he held a command in the artillery underEssexin Cornwall and took part in the surrender after the secondBattle of Lostwithiel(2 September 1644). Essex (Letter to Sir Philip Stapleton, Rushworth Collection) calls him "an honest, judicious and stout man", an estimate of Deane borne out byClarendon's "bold and excellent officer" (book xiv. cap. 27), and he was one of the few officers concerned in the surrender who were retained at the remodelling of the army.

Appointed comptroller of the ordnance, Deane commanded the artillery atNaseby(14 June 1645) and duringFairfax's campaign in the west of England in 1645. In 1647 he was promoted colonel and given a regiment. In May of that year theParliament of EnglandappointedOliver Cromwellas lord-general of the forces in Ireland, and Deane, as a supporter of Cromwell who had to be reckoned with, was appointed his lieutenant of artillery. Cromwell refused to be thus put out of the way, and Deane followed his example. When the war broke out afresh in 1648 Deane went with Cromwell toWales.As brigadier-general his leading of the right wing atPrestoncontributed greatly to that victory.

On the entry of the army into London in 1648, Deane superintended the seizure of treasure at theGuildhalland the Weavers' Hall the day afterThomas Pride"purged"theHouse of Commonsand accompanied Cromwell to the consultations as to the "settlement of the Kingdom" withWilliam Lenthalland SirThomas Widdrington,the keeper of thegreat seal.He is rightly called by Sir J. K. Laugkiton (in theDictionary of National Biography) Cromwell's "trusted partisan", a character which he maintained in the active and responsible part taken by him in the events which led up to the trial and execution on 30 January 1649 of KingCharles.He was one of the commissioners for the trial, and a member of the committee which examined the witnesses. He also signed theexecution warrant,becoming the 21st of the59 signatoriesto the document.

Deane's capacities and activities were now required for thenavy.In 1649 the office ofLord High Admiralwas put into commission. The first commissioners were Edward Popham,Robert Blakeand Deane, with the title of generals-at-sea. His command at sea was interrupted in 1651, when as major-general he was brought back to the army and took part in thebattle of Worcester.Later he was made president of the commission for the settlement ofScotland,following theTender of Union,with supreme command of the military and naval forces.

At the end of 1652 Deane returned to his command as general-at-sea, whereGeorge Monckhad succeeded Popham, who had died in 1651. In 1653 Deane was withBlakein command at theBattle of Portlandand later took the most prominent and active part in the refitting of the fleet on the reorganisation of the naval service.

At the outset of theBattle of the Gabbardon 1 June 1653, Deane was killed. His body lay in state atGreenwichand after a public funeral was buried inHenry VII's chapelatWestminster Abbey,to be disinterred at theRestoration.

Family

His daughter, Hannah, was the fourth wife of Godwin Swift (1628–1695), Attorney-General atTipperaryto the Court Palatine of the1st Duke of Ormonde.This appointment was through his first wife, Elizabeth Wheeler, who was a niece of Sir Patrick Wemyss, the first cousin ofElizabeth Preston, Duchess of Ormonde.Godwin Swift was the uncle and guardian ofJonathan Swiftand a second cousin of Erasmus Dryden, the father ofJohn Dryden.

Further reading

• "Deane, Richard".Dictionary of National Biography.London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.