William Eyre (leveller) facts for kids

William Eyre (who lived between 1634 and 1675) was an English army officer who fought for Parliament during the English Civil War. He was also a Leveller, a group of people who wanted more rights and freedoms for ordinary people.

Early Life and Beliefs

We don't know much about where William Eyre came from. Some historians think he might have been from a regular farming family, like many of the soldiers who joined Oliver Cromwell's army.

Eyre himself wrote in 1649 that he had to leave England in the mid-1630s and go to New England (in America). He left because he disagreed with the "Service Book," which was a new prayer book that many people felt was too similar to Catholic traditions and was forced upon them by the King.

Fighting in the First Civil War

In 1642, William Eyre started as a sergeant in Denzil Holles's army group. He fought in the Battle of Edgehill, one of the first big battles of the war. Soon after, his group was defeated at the Battle of Brentford.

Eyre then joined the Eastern Association, a powerful group of Parliament's armies. Oliver Cromwell himself made Eyre a quartermaster (someone in charge of supplies) in his own cavalry troop. Quickly, Eyre was promoted to captain of a troop in Cromwell's famous "Ironside" cavalry. He fought with Cromwell in 1643.

However, Eyre and Cromwell started to disagree on political ideas. By the summer of 1644, Eyre decided to leave his position in the army.

Marriage and Land in Ireland

In 1647, William Eyre married Mary Leycester. Mary had been married twice before. Through her previous husband, Mary had rights to a large area of land in Ireland called Shillelagh and Carnew Castle. This meant Eyre now had a claim to this property.

Because of his new connection to Ireland, Sir Thomas Fairfax, a top general for Parliament, suggested Eyre become a colonel (a high-ranking officer) in an army group that was going to Ireland.

The Corkbush Field Meeting

On November 17, 1647, even though his army group wasn't officially part of the main New Model Army, Eyre went to a meeting called the Corkbush Field rendezvous. At this meeting, he encouraged soldiers to support the "Agreement of the People" – a plan from the Levellers that asked for more rights for ordinary citizens.

Because he encouraged soldiers to go against official orders, Eyre was arrested for trying to cause a rebellion. He and other Levellers arrested at the same time were seen as heroes by their supporters. While other soldiers were tried, Eyre's trial was put off. He was eventually allowed to return to his army group in December 1647 after he agreed to follow military rules.

The Second English Civil War

Meeting at Broadway in 1648

In January 1648, Eyre attended the Broadway meeting with about 80 other officers. They met to talk about their soldiers' complaints, especially about not getting paid. It's possible they also discussed plans for a rebellion. Soon after, in February, Eyre's army group was officially disbanded.

Raising a New Army Group in Berkshire

After his group was disbanded, Eyre moved to Berkshire. There, he helped Henry Marten, a member of the local government, create a new cavalry group. This group was not approved by Parliament. However, because the country was in the middle of the Second Civil War, Marten and Eyre ignored Parliament's requests for them to explain themselves.

A newspaper at the time, Mercurius Pragmaticus, reported that this new group claimed to be "for the people's freedom against all tyrants whatsoever." It was said to have 1,500 men, including Leveller soldiers who left their old groups and local farmers. They got their weapons and horses by taking them from people who supported the King.

Over the next few months, this new group helped the New Model Army. Eventually, Parliament officially made Marten's group part of the New Model Army.

Life During the Commonwealth

After the war, Henry Marten was able to avoid trouble for raising an unauthorized army group. However, William Eyre could not convince General Fairfax that he had Cromwell's permission to do the same. In February 1649, Fairfax ordered Eyre's troops to be disbanded and Eyre to leave the army.

The Burford Rebellion in 1649

In May 1649, Eyre, now a regular citizen, joined a rebellion influenced by the Levellers, known as the Burford mutiny. He was captured at an inn in Burford. When asked to explain his actions by Fairfax and Cromwell, Eyre famously said that "if... but ten men appeared for [the cause], I would make eleven," showing his strong commitment to the Leveller ideas. He was then sent to prison in Oxford.

Imprisonment and Life in Ireland

In July 1649, Eyre was moved from Oxford to Warwick Castle because the government was worried about more unrest. While in prison, Eyre wrote to the government, saying he had made mistakes and asking to join his family in Ireland. He was released on August 1, 1650, after about a year in Warwick. From there, he went to Ireland and, with help from Henry Ireton (a high-ranking official), he gained control of the Shillelagh estate.

During the Protectorate

By 1654, Eyre had left Ireland and was in London. He was secretly working with his old Leveller friends against the new government led by Oliver Cromwell. When he returned to Ireland, he was arrested. He defended his actions by saying that even Cromwell, whom he respected, could be corrupted by power.

Eyre remained in prison until the end of the Protectorate. While he was in prison, several lawsuits were filed against his claim to the Shillelagh and Carnew Castle estates.

The Restoration Period

Eyre was briefly free in 1659. But in May 1660, when Charles II became King again, Eyre was arrested because he was seen as a threat to the restored monarchy. He was accused of trying to start a rebellion among the Irish soldiers while held in Dublin Castle. Even though there wasn't enough proof to charge him with treason, the new government decided he was too dangerous to release. He was kept in different prisons for the next nine years.

Appeals for His Irish Estates

Eyre was finally released in December 1669. He traveled to London with his daughter to try and get his Irish estates back. He published two appeals, explaining his side of the story and claiming that others had illegally taken his land while he was in prison.

The last historical record of William Eyre is from May 1675, when one of his appeals was presented to the House of Lords. We don't know what happened to him after that or when he died.