Regicide in the Family

Regicide in the Family

The History Bites lecture series returns, beginning its Spring 2023 lecture series at noon on Friday, March 3, over Zoom.  Here is the Zoom link.

… What if you had someone in your family tree who played a role in the beheading of King Charles I in 1649, the only English monarch ever sent to his death? How would that make you feel?

That’s a question Sarah Dixwell Brown wrestles with in “Regicide in the Family,” her lively account of discovering that a distant ancestor, John Dixwell, was one of 59 judges who signed the death warrant for King Charles I following the conclusion of the English Civil War, which had pitted the king’s forces against those of Parliament.  When Charles II restored the monarchy in 1660, many of the 59 judges and members of Parliament who had signed his father’s death warrant were arrested and publicly executed in gruesome fashion. Dixwell fled first to Germany, then came to New England in the mid-1660s, eventually settling in New Haven, Connecticut after spending a brief time in the tiny settlement of Hadley.

Note: There will be no History Bites on March 17. We will resume the series at noon on Friday, March 31, with a live lecture in the Woodbury Room of the Jones Library; Phyllis Lehrer will talk about the history of the Amherst Record.

History Bites canceled for Friday, 11/3

History Bites canceled for Friday, 11/3

Due to a sudden illness, our speaker needs to cancel tomorrow’s presentation on the Wachusett Reservoir.

Coming up next week: on Saturday, November 12, at 3PM in the Jones Library, local author Sarah Dixwell Brown will officially launch her book Regicide in the Family, about her ancestor John Dixwell.

John Dixwell was one of the judges who condemned Charles I to death for high treason in 1649. When the English monarch was restored in 1660, Dixwell fled to Amherica.

And in two weeks: on Friday, November 18, we will host a Zoom presentation featuring Mr. Erik Reardon, who will talk about his book, Managing the River Commons, with its discussion of the role that fish, and protection of fishing rights, played in the historical development of New England.