Hercules Huncks

Hercules Huncks was born to an armigerous family that traced its origins back to the 14th century in Gloucestershire, at Radbrooke.The Visitation of the County of Worcestershire made in 1569, p. 81. London: Harleian Society, 1888. [https://archive.org/details/visitationcount01mundgoog/page/n97/mode/2up Visitation] His father Thomas had inherited the manor of Preston on Stour (then in Gloucestershire) from his own grandfather, but in 1594, under financial difficulties, sold it.'Parishes: Preston on Stour', in A History of the County of Gloucester: Volume 8, ed. C R Elrington (London, 1968), British History Online [https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/glos/vol8/pp81-89 BHO] Thomas's wife was Katherine Conway, sister of Edward Conway, 1st Viscount Conway, Secretary of State in 1625, and it was through the connection with the Conways that the family retained any influence. The second Viscount Conway referred to Hercules as "Cousin Huncks".Hill, George. The Montgomery Manuscripts, p. 252, note # 43. [https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Montgomery_Manuscripts/EoBS43b5rwMC?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=Hercules Montgomery]

Thomas Huncks served under Edward Conway as a soldier for the Dutch States-General, for which he was knighted (as Hunckes) in 1605.Shaw, W A. The Knights of England, vol 2. p. 139. London: Sherratt and Hughes, 1906. [https://archive.org/details/knightsofengland02shawuoft/page/n147/mode/2up 1605] At least two of his sons were also knighted - Sir Henry Huncks, sometime Governor of Barbados, and Sir Fulke Huncks - both colonels in the Royalist forces of Charles I.Burke, John and Bernard. The Royal Families of England, Scotland and Wales, Vol. 1. Byam:Pedigree CXCVI. London: 1848. [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=wu.89046834107&seq=10&q1=Huncks Burke] Manganiello, [https://books.google.com/books?id=an-eXXA3DBMC&pg=PA270 p.270] The sons had little choice but military careers, as Thomas Huncks could not afford to advance them in any other profession. In 1616, he wrote his brother-in-law Edward Conway that he could not afford to support his son Foulke outside a career as a soldier."James 1 - volume 88: July 1616." Calendar of State Papers Domestic: James I, 1611-18. Ed. Mary Anne Everett Green. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1858. 378-389. British History Online. Web. 24 September 2023. [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/cal-state-papers/domestic/jas1/1611-18/pp378-389 July]

Hercules, the fifth and youngest son, was baptised on 28 April 1601 at Stratford-upon-Avon.Ancestry Index [https://www.ancestry.co.uk/discoveryui-content/view/24669675:9841?tid=&pid=&queryId=f126148a52f5e23204bf7cfca7ea681e&_phsrc=OUs3025&_phstart=successSource Ancestry UK] He married twice: first (as Hercules Honcksz ) in the Netherlands at Utrecht on 1 January 1630 to Elizabeth Boudeloot,Netherlands, Marriage Index, 1524-1899 [https://www.wiewaswie.nl/personen-zoeken/zoeken/document/srcid/48167077 Marriage]Marriage Index [https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/61285/records/551170?tid=&pid=&queryId=bcfdb514-9d0d-4b94-b0fc-a7f3c93d86e5&_phsrc=OUs11631&_phstart=successSource Ancestry UK] and secondly in London to Frances Blundell, widow of Christopher Phillips, licence issued 10 May 1637.A calendar of the marriage licence allegations in the Registry of the Bishop of London: 1597 to 1700, vol. 1, p. 120. [https://www.ancestry.co.uk/imageviewer/collections/28562/images/dvm_LocHist012317-00083-1?queryId=838231d2-f8de-4a36-8f28-c6d37753452b&usePUB=true&_phsrc=OUs11629&_phstart=successSource&pId=145&rcstate=dvm_LocHist012317-00083-1%3A1528%2C1136%2C1839%2C1181%3B1409%2C1200%2C1617%2C1241%3B2012%2C1318%2C2246%2C1364%3B1424%2C2292%2C1635%2C2334%3B1314%2C1138%2C1519%2C1181 Calendar] This marriage produced twin children - Edward and Levina - baptised at St Martin-in-the-Fields on 15 December 1641.Parish Register St Martin in the Fields 1636-1653 [https://www.ancestry.co.uk/discoveryui-content/view/151930734:61865?tid=&pid=&queryId=f126148a52f5e23204bf7cfca7ea681e&_phsrc=OUs3029&_phstart=successSource Ancestry UK]

The record of his 1630 marriage in the Netherlands indicates that by that time he had followed his father into the Dutch service as a soldier during the Wars of the Low Countries.Calendar of state papers, Domestic series, of the reign of Charles I, 1625–[1649] preserved in the State Paper Dept. of Her Majesty's Public Record Office, March 15, 1628. Vol. XCVI, p. 20. [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=msu.31293015894433&seq=44&q1=Huncks CSP] In 1633 he was definitely in the service of the States of the United Provinces, as on 20 March 1633, his nephew "Joseph Archibald" (Archbold - son of his sister Elinor Archbold) was issued a pass to visit him in Holland.Records of the Privy Council, page 523, Pass. Ref. PC 2/42/912. [https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C17554566 RPC]

Huncks returned to the service of King Charles I during the Bishops' Wars against Scotland of 1639-1640. In June 1640 "Captain Hercules Hunks" was under the command of the Earl of Northumberland in His Majesty's army, taking delivery of 100 men of Lincolnshire impressed for military service.Indenture: YARB 11/1/13 [https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/3d88c7b0-69de-4583-9c53-9eab467a35bd Indenture]"A List of the Strength of the King's Majesties Army, both Officers and Soldiers, as they were muster'd." [https://www.british-history.ac.uk/rushworth-papers/vol3/pp1221-1286 Muster]

However, he later became "one who had opposed with more than ordinary vehemence all those who were for the king." By August 1644, in the midst of the Civil War between the king and Parliament, Parliament's Captain Huncks was a prisoner of war at Belvoir Castle, where he was exchanged for a Royalist officer.'House of Commons Journal Volume 3: 5 August 1644', in Journal of the House of Commons: Volume 3, 1643-1644(London, 1802), British History Online [https://www.british-history.ac.uk/commons-jrnl/vol3/pp579-581 Commons]

On 7 June 1647, Colonel Michael Jones landed in Ireland to take the island for Parliament,Gardiner, Samuel R. History Of The Great Civil War Vol. 4 (1647–1649) p. 104 ff. London: Longman, Green & CO., 1905. [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.461699/page/n119/mode/2up Gardiner V4] and Hercules Huncks was part of his army, as on 13 October 1648 his wife Frances was petitioning to receive his arrears of pay "from his service in Ireland, whither he has again returned to spend his dear blood for the good of that kingdom, while she has nothing left meantime for the maintenance of herself and her children." Historical Manuscripts Commission: Seventh Report 1879. p. xii. [https://www.google.com/books/edition/Report/DjTvhv9epUYC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Hercules+Huncks&pg=PR12&printsec=frontcover p. xii] He had by that time been raised to the rank of colonel, and was appointed governor of Londonderry, replacing Lord Foliot.Calendar of the state papers relating to Ireland preserved in the Public Record Office. 1625-[1670], pp. 32-33. London, 1900. [https://archive.org/details/cu31924091770861/page/n77/mode/2up CSP Ireland]

File:Houghton Portrait File - Charles I of England beheaded.jpg

In January 1648/9, following the Trial of Charles I, Colonel Huncks, with Francis Hacker and Robert Phayre, was one of the senior army officers delegated to supervise and carry out the king's execution, and the king's death warrant was addressed to those three officers. However, Oliver Cromwell decided that an additional warrant explicitly addressed to the executioner was necessary and ordered Huncks to write and sign it. He refused.Caulfield, James. The High Court of Justice, p. 98. 1820. [https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_High_court_of_justice_comprising_mem/mi0AAAAAQAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22Death+warrant%22+Hacker,+Huncks,+Phaire&pg=PA98&printsec=frontcover Court] According to Hunck's own testimony at the trial of his fellow-officer Daniel Axtell, Cromwell called him a "froward, peevish fellow" and wrote out the warrant himself. Finch, Heneage. The Indictment, Arraignment, Tryal, and Judgment, at large of twenty-nine Regicides, pp. 143–144. 1739. [https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Indictment_Arraignment_Tryal_and_Jud/Sfu9kdMFG6UC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Huncks+Pardon&pg=PA144&printsec=frontcover Finch]

Following the execution of the king, Parliament moved to send the army to complete the conquest of Ireland, offering allotments of confiscated Irish lands to settle the pay of the English soldiers, which were greatly in arrears."House of Commons Journal Volume 6: 17 August 1649." Journal of the House of Commons: Volume 6, 1648-1651. London: His Majesty's Stationery Office, 1802. 280-282. British History Online. Web. 19 September 2023. [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/commons-jrnl/vol6/pp280-282 Commons] Cromwell accepted command of this expeditionary force on 30 March 1649.Gardiner, Samuel Rawson. History of the commonwealth and protectorate, 1649-1656, p. 27. New York : AMS Press, 1965. [https://archive.org/details/historyofcommonw0001gard/page/26/mode/2up p. 27] Colonel Huncks was in the vanguard of the force, commanding both a regiment of foot and a regiment of horse. Two of his companies were sent in advance to reinforce Londonderry in July, and the rest sailed with the main body of the army to Dublin,Gardiner (1965), p. 97. [https://archive.org/details/historyofcommonw0001gard/page/96/mode/2up p. 97]Calendar of the state papers relating to Ireland preserved in the Public Record Office. 1625-[1670], pp. 790-1. London: H M Stationery Office, 1900. [https://archive.org/details/cu31924091770861/page/790/mode/2up CPS Ireland] where the regiments of the vanguard, including Huncks', joined the forces of Parliamentary governor Colonel Jones for the decisive victory of the Battle of Rathmines on 2 August 1649.McNally, Michael. "Ireland 1649-52: Cromwell's Protestant Crusade (campaign) [PDF]" Osprey, 2009. [https://vdoc.pub/documents/ireland-1649-52-cromwells-protestant-crusade-campaign-sm3nf55jf5k0] IrelandH O Brunskill, "The Battle of Rathmines: 2nd August, 1649". Dublin Historical Record, Vol. 2, No. 1 (Sep., 1939), pp. 18-29. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/30080102 Rathmines]

Following the conquest, Huncks did receive a land grant, of [https://www.castles.nl/monkstown-castle Monkstown Castle Cork], which he sold, and by 1651 he was appointed Governor of Derry.Lodge, John. The Peerage of Ireland, "Robert, Earl of Belvedere" p. 19. 1789. [https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Peerage_of_Ireland_Or_a_Genealogical/y1oUAAAAQAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Huncks+Genealogy&pg=PA19&printsec=frontcover Peerage]

File:Charles I execution, and execution of regicides.jpg

On 15 October 1661, following the restoration of the monarchy, those persons deemed guilty of the former king's death were tried for treason. Huncks testified at the trial of Axtell, formerly his colleague as a guard of the king, that Axtell had urged him to sign the warrant to the king's executioner, which he had refused to do: "The ship is now coming into the harbor, will you strike sail before we come to anchor?" Edmund Ludlow, Memoirs, vol. 2, p. 318. Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1894, C D Firth, ed. Both Axtell and Francis Hacker, who had signed the order to the executioner, were executed.Ludlow, p. 302.

On 17 January 1661, a pardon was issued to Hercules Huncks:

Sir Geoffrey Palmer, Attorney-General, and Sir Heneage Finch, Solicitor-General, in their report on his petition consider him a penitent person and hope well of him in the future. He shall have the benefit of our Declaration in relation to his arrears and lands, notwithstanding a clause therein which excepts from its benefits all who were 'of the guard of halberdiers assisting to put the bloody sentence of death in execution upon the 30th January, 1648'Calendar of the state papers relating to Ireland preserved in the Public Record Office 1660–70, with addenda 1625–70 p. 186. [https://archive.org/details/calendarstatepa00mahagoog/page/186/mode/2up CPS Ireland]

He returned to Ireland, where he resided at Lisburn in Ulster, the seat of his Rawdon kinsmen, close connections of the Conways, who had been granted extensive lands in the area, from which they took the title Viscount Killultagh.Lisburn.com. [https://lisburn. Lisburncom/history/history_lisburn/george_radwon_and_lisburn.html Lisburn]

His daughter Levina married Hugh Montgomery of Ballylesson in County Down; they had a son Hercules Montgomery.

Hercules Huncks died at Lisburn in 1676. Administration of his estate was granted in 1676 at Lisburn, Ireland. Administration Grants: F–N: 1595–1810 [https://www.ancestry.co.uk/discoveryui-content/view/33470:62077?tid=&pid=&queryId=09219afb2519d75eebce32090702f3e1&_phsrc=OUs3027&_phstart=successSource Ancestry UK]Administration: Ireland, Abstracts of Wills and Marriages Ancestry UK [https://www.ancestry.co.uk/imageviewer/collections/62059/images/62059_b1010090-00680?rc=&queryId=dadadcc8-628b-4889-b1d5-70e26154b55b&usePUB=true&_phsrc=OUs11646&_phstart=successSource&pId=224827 Ancestry UK]

{{reflist|2}}

• Finch, Heneage. The Indictment, Arraignment, Tryal, and Judgment, at large of twenty-nine Regicides. 1739.
• Gardiner, Samuel R. History Of The Great Civil War Vol. 4 (1647–1649) London: Longman, Green & CO., 1905.
• Gardiner, Samuel Rawson. History of the commonwealth and protectorate, 1649-1656. New York : AMS Press, 1965.
• Ludlow, Edmund. Memoirs, vol. 2. Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1894. C D Firth, ed.
• Manganiello, Stephen C. The Concise Encyclopedia of the Revolutions and Wars of England, Scotland, and Ireland, 1639-1660, Scarecrow Press 2004, {{ISBN|0-8108-5100-8}}
• McNally, Michael. "Ireland 1649-52: Cromwell's Protestant Crusade (campaign) [PDF]" Osprey, 2009.

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Category:1601 births

Category:Roundheads

Category:New Model Army

Category:Wars of the Three Kingdoms

Category:Regicides of Charles I

Category:Recipients of English royal pardons

Category:1676 deaths