Henry Ireton, Lord Deputy of Ireland

Engraving, unfinished, probably published by Robert Walton, 1650 (c).

A strict and zealous puritan, Henry Ireton (1611-1651) was the man closest to Oliver Cromwell, marrying his eldest daughter, Bridget. Highly educated, he was the chief theoretician of the parliamentarian army and masterminded King's Charles I's trial and execution in 1649. His signature is among the first ones on the warrant of the King's execution, but he died before the Restoration in 1660, thus escaping death, unlike many of his fellow regicides. His body was however exhumed and then publicly hanged, beheaded and thrown into a pit.