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
John Cook (regicide) mother, John Cooke's widow Frances, who had subsequently married secondly to Lieut William Proctor of Rendezvous Bay, Antigua, and thirdly to Acquilla Stoughton of St John's, Antigua. John and Freelove had three sons, but only one surviving – John Gunthorpe Junior, who died in Antigua in 1740, leaving issue. The journalist, historian and anti-Corn Law propagandist William Cooke Taylor (1800–1849) claimed descent from Cook. Notes Sources John Cook (regicide) John Cook (1608 – 16 October 1660) was the first Solicitor General of the English Commonwealth and led the prosecution of Charles I. Following the English Restoration, Cook was convicted of