John Downes (regicide) John Downes (regicide) Colonel John Downes (1609 – c. 1666) was a commissioner who signed the death warrant of Charles I of England. After the English Restoration he was found guilty of regicide and was imprisoned until he died. John Downes; family had moved southwards from Cheshire to Warwickshire. They were said to be able to trace their Cheshire lineage back to 864 AD, according to John Parsons Earwaker's "History" of East Cheshire families. It is said that when the King came hunting in Macclesfield Forest, a Downes would hold the King's stirrup, whilst he mounted and Lord Stanley would
Thomas Lister (regicide) Thomas Lister (regicide) Thomas Lister (1597–1668) was colonel in the Parliamentary army during the English Civil War and an MP. He was appointed a judge at the trial of Charles I, but on the restoration escaped with a light punishment. Lister was born in 1597, the eldest son of William and Griselle Lister (née Rivett). He grew up at the family home, Coleby Hall in Lincolnshire and was admitted to Gray's Inn 1616. In 1622, he married Margaret Armine. On the outbreak of the English Civil War, Lister was arrested by a party of 60 royalist troopers led by the