FROME Family History Group welcomed Mike Gorman to their July meeting to talk about Sir Ralph Hopton, 1596-1652, the King’s man in the South West.
Mike began by outlining the history of Witham Friary where Ralph Hopton was born and by explaining the circumstances that led to the English Civil War.
After the dissolution of Witham Priory in 1539, the lands and privileges were granted to the first Ralph Hopton, a servant of Thomas Cromwell. He later became Henry VIII’s knight marshal. Witham passed down through the family, eventually to another Ralph Hopton who became an experienced soldier and Member of Parliament, firstly for Shaftesbury and later Bath and Wells. He became a trusted adviser to Charles I and was a leading Royalist general during the Civil War, later commanding the King’s Army in the West.
Mike described the events that led up to the war, mainly the personality of Charles I. Charles was arrogant, conceited and a strong believer in the divine rights of kings. He introduced new laws and resurrected old ones causing much resentment. Like almost everyone in England in 1642, Ralph Hopton had to decide which side he would join: the king or parliament. He chose the king. He was issued with a commission of array for Somerset by the king to raise an army, but recruiting soldiers proved difficult as most of the east of the county supported Parliament. He travelled to Cornwall where he was able to put together his fighting forces and led them to battle with considerable success in 1642 and 1643, including the battle of Lansdown.
The Devon town of Torrington was the site of one of the last major battles of the first civil war and Ralph’s defeat helped to bring about the demise of Royalist power in England. The Battle of Torrington took place in heavy rain on the night of 16 February 1646. Led by General Thomas Fairfax, the Parliamentarians New Model Army swept into the town under cover of darkness and fought a fierce battle with Lord Hopton’s Royalist forces. The skirmish involved approximately 17,000 men on foot and on horseback. As the battle proceeded, a stray spark ignited the Royalists’ powder magazine stored in Torrington church.
Eighty barrels of gunpowder exploded, blowing the roof off the church and killing many Royalist soldiers and Parliamentarian prisoners in and around the church. The explosion effectively ended the battle. In the resulting confusion, Lord Hopton and what remained of the Royalist western army withdrew from Torrington and escaped into Cornwall. Lord Hopton surrendered to Fairfax at Truro on 14 March 1646, agreeing to disband the western army and to go into exile.
The Battle of Torrington marked the end of Royalist resistance in the West and led to the eventual defeat and execution of King Charles I. Ralph followed the future King Charles II into exile and he died in Bruges in 1652. After the Restoration in 1660 his body was buried in Witham Friary parish church. Unfortunately, the exact position is not known.
The audience were very appreciative of such a well-researched and informative talk. Mike was thanked by programme secretary, Sue Simpson.
The next meeting will be on September 27th when Tony Painter will tell us about myths and legends associated with the Godfrey maps.
