John Stawell was born in August 1600, eldest surviving son of Sir John Stawell of Cothelstone Manor and Elizabeth Touchet, daughter of the Earl of Castlehaven. He married Elizabeth Killgrew in December 1617; they had two daughters, and five sons who survived to adulthood, three of whom fought for the Royalists in the First English Civil War.
Career
Educated at Queen's College, Oxford, Stawell was elected Member of Parliament in 1625 for Somerset. Created a Knight of the Bath by Charles I in 1625, he supported the Forced Loans imposed when Parliament refused to approve taxes. As a result, he was not elected in 1628, and Charles appointed him High Sheriff of Somerset. The Somerset gentry were split between those like Sir John who supported Lord Poulett, and their opponents, led by Sir Robert Phelips. Phelips was a prominent opponent of Charles' Personal Rule, and it is suggested Stawell's support for the king in the 1630s was primarily aimed at undermining his local rivals. Elected for Somerset in the Long Parliament of 1640, he supported Charles when the First English Civil War began in August 1642, and was suspended from Parliament. A man of considerable wealth, he raised five regiments at his own expense for the Royal army, serving under the Marquess of Hertford in the West Country. He was appointed governor of Taunton when it surrendered to the Royalists in June 1643, but withdrew to Bridgwater before it was recaptured by the Parliamentarian army in June 1644. In September 1644, he petitioned the king to make peace, a campaign he continued over the next year. Many on both sides wanted to end the war; Stawell proposed Charles should put himself at their head, and accompany a peace petition to Parliament. A return to the policy of armed neutrality adopted by various counties in 1642, it also reflected the strength of the Clubmen movement in Somerset, but few of the leaders were prepared to consider such a solution, least of all Charles. Captured when Exeter surrendered in 1646, he refused to take the covenant, or to swear not to bear arms against Parliament in future, and held on charges of high treason. He was imprisoned in the Tower of London and after many delays finally brought to trial in December 1650, but the High Court referred him back to Parliament. Although much discussed, his case was never settled, and he remained imprisoned for the entire Commonwealth period. Following his capture, Robert Blake, commander of the Parliamentarian garrison of Taunton, had been ordered to ensure Cothelstone Manor could not be fortified again. Stawell's lands were sold for £64,000 in 1651, although his family were allowed to live in the semi-ruined manor house. Finally released following the 1660 Restoration of Charles II, his estates were returned, and he was elected to the Cavalier Parliament in 1661. However, his health had been ruined by long imprisonment. He died on 21 February 1662, and buried in the Church of St Thomas of Canterbury, Cothelstone.
