"The Famous Maiden-Troop"
Female Agency Behind Parliament's Civil War Army
The cornet of Captain John Blackwell, captain of the City of London's 'Maiden Troop', c.1644
The role of the single woman, unmarried and economically independent of men, has been overlooked in the context of the Civil Wars: a lack of surviving historical documents concerning such lives has effectively rendered these women 'voiceless'. It can thus be too easily assumed that such women had little or no influence on the events of the war around them. One exception is the case of a particular Parliamentarian cavalry troop, famous in its day for being raised and equipped with money donated by London's unmarried women.
In April 1644 the Parliamentarian newspaper Mercurius Civicus announced the furnishing of a new body of cavalry to swell the Parliamentarian ranks: “the well affected Maidens in and about the City of London . . . are now collecting what quantity of money they can amongst themselves for the raising and setting forth of a Regiment of Horse” (1).
The area of London where the young women referred to lived was adjacent to Cheapside, in London's commercial heart. There were plenty of independent, young women in this part of the capital who had money to spare for Parliament's cause, earning a living as highly trained, skilled workers. Indeed, half of all London apprentices in this period were girls (2). It can be supposed that those involved in helping to raise the Maiden Troop earned their money in London's cloth trade, which was dominant in Cheapside. The average age of marriage for women in this period was twenty-four, but for women in the cloth trade the average age was into the thirties: women who were able to support themselves through skilled work had no need of a husband to keep them (3). Parity of male and female labour at this time is evident in studies made of women corn shearers, who received the same pay as their male counterparts at harvest. At the end of the seventeenth century the philosopher John Locke would write of female workers: 'we should do [women] an injury if we should take them from their company and not make them equal to those in wages they can equalize in work' (4). Locke's father, incidentally, served with Parliament's cavalry in the Civil War.
The Importance of Nonconformity
'A London Merchant's Daughter', by Wenceslaus Hollar (British Museum). Drawn just a year before the Maiden Troop was raised, this image depicts the kind of moneyed, young woman likely to have contributed to Parliament's cause.
These young, independent women would have learned the value of hard work from scripture:
“Who can find a virtuous woman? . . . She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands . . . She girdeth her loins with strength, and strengtheneth her arms . . . She layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff . . . She maketh fine linen and delivereth girdles unto the merchant." (5)
Diligence and labour were Christian virtues, and the thread which drew these young women together were the parish churches where they worshipped - it was the place where they met and associated, and where their contribution to the war effort was channelled. Money for the new cavalry troop was gathered via the collection plates at St Mary Magdalene in Milk Street, St Michael's Crooked Lane, St Margaret Moses and St Thomas the Apostle (6). Other parishes may have been involved but, if so, details have not survived. The congregation of St Thomas the Apostle, in particular, were notable for the reforming mood that fuelled so much of the religious and political unrest of the period. In 1643 they had the incumbent minister committed to the Fleet prison for speaking out against the Parliament and for supporting Archbishop Laud's High Church doctrine (7). It was no coincidence that the Maiden Troop's cornet (the unit's colours) carried an image of the city of London accompanied by the Latin motto, Accendia Cura Zionis - 'Kindle the Care of the People of Zion'. This was London re-cast as the Holy City - England's New Jerusalem - and the zealous young women who lived there were said to be 'not willing to subject themselves to the outrageous usage of the Cavaliers' (8).
The officer appointed to command the new cavalry troop was John Blackwell. Often described as merely the son of a grocer, his father had in fact earned a fortune as supplier of food to the Stuart court. At the outbreak of the Civil War he turned his back on royal patronage and joined Parliament's army as a captain in London's Blue Regiment. He was puritan in his faith: in 1641 he vociferously objected to new altar rails at the church of St Thomas the Apostle, decrying them as being nothing more than a Papist ornament. He organised their removal and burning, for which public disturbance he was fined £10 (9).
The younger John Blackwell had joined the Parliamentarian cause early. In April 1642 he was an ensign in his father's infantry company, but by the end of 1643 he had transferred to the cavalry as cornet in the City Horse regiment. Also known as Colonel Harvey's Regiment, the City Horse was a part of the London Trained Bands militia and maintained through public funds. In early 1644 it still required a final, sixth troop to bring it to full regimental strength. The Maiden Troop was intended to fill this gap - paid for not through taxes (which by this point of the war was becoming a considerable burden to Londoners) but through voluntary contributions.
In April 1644, the same week that news of the Maiden Troop was announced in the press, the newly promoted Captain Blackwell was busy buying horses for his troop at Smithfield market. He was aware that money was in short supply and had to repeatedly badger the Treasurers at War for funds: 'When more moneys come in I shall be more troublesome', he jokingly commented (10). Blackwell appears to have been immensely proud of his appointment, often signing his letters not merely as 'captain' but 'Captain of the Mayden Troupe' (11), and it was with good humour and enthusiasm that he prepared for the coming summer campaign.
Funding the Troop
By 2 May 1644, Parliament understood that Blackwell's troop was ready for service and ordered it to march - which must have come as a surprise to Blackwell because he was still trying to purchase arms for his men at the time (14). Lack of money was a continuing problem, and costs were beginning to mount. Surviving documents reveal that the contributions from the young women in their parishes had yielded £41 by late May, but this fell far short of the amount required (15). The troopers were to be expensively armed, each equipped with armour, helmet and two pistols. Half the troop were also equipped with carbines (16). Blackwell provided nearly eighty pounds of his own money for the cost of pistols, the largest sum provided by any single contributor (17). A further £60 was provided by a 'Mr. Dawlinan', the churchwarden at St. Giles Cripplegate. Given the size of the sum, it is possible that this money was not a personal donation but was received from Dawlinan in his capacity as a Commissioner for the Public Assessment – which raises the possibility that the Maiden Troop was partially funded from the public purse after all (18).
Map of London showing (in orange) the parishes known to have contributed money to the Maiden Troop. From left to right: St Margaret Moses, St Magdalene Milk Street, St Thomas the Apostle and St Michael Crooked Lane. The dark blue line marks the catchment area of the London 'Blue Regiment' (Based on John Roque's 1746 map).
'A London Citizen's Daughter' Hollar, 1643. (British Museum)
Raising a force through voluntary contributions, then, seems to have been only moderately successful. Surviving accounts show that donations from London's young women amounted to only a quarter of the cost required to raise the troop, with some parishes able to provide the cost of only one horse. Donations were supplemented by Dawlinan's payment (one third of the total) and from the captain's own pocket. Even so, the young women's contribution was significant, not least in the troop's sense of identity. The troop's standard, besides depicting the city of London, was notable for its device of silver love hearts issuing forth grenade-like flames – a considerably less-masculine image than the typical cavalry colours of the period, with their death-or-glory display of swords and thunderclouds. The Maiden Troop's motto also betrayed a feminine sentiment in its call to care for and nurture the city and its church. Despite the short-fall in the contributions from working women, then, the troop maintained a close affiliation with London's spinsters. The unit was always referred to as The Maiden Troop in official documents, as distinct from nearly all other troops in the army, which were simply referred to by their captain's names.
On the evening of 27 May 1644, Captain Blackwell's troop was finally able to muster with the rest of its regiment at London's Artillery Ground. On paper, a full-strength troop should have been able to muster 60 men and horses; the Maiden Troop fielded just 47. Its first duty was to escort pay wagons destined for the Earl of Essex's army at St Albans, before joining Essex for the summer campaign (19).
London was not the only city where young women were helping to fund Parliament's war-effort. In August 1643 Nehemiah Wallington recorded:
The virgins of Norwich, hearing of the Cavaliers' violent outrages committed upon their sex wheresoever they get the victory, are so sensible of their reputations that they have readily contributed so much money as hath raised a goodly troop of horse for their defence, which is called the Maidens' Troop. (12)
The virgins of Norwich, hearing of the Cavaliers' violent outrages committed upon their sex wheresoever they get the victory, are so sensible of their reputations that they have readily contributed so much money as hath raised a goodly troop of horse for their defence, which is called the Maidens' Troop. (12)
The War in the West
Oliver Cromwell (in whose regiment the Norwich troop served, under Captain Swallow) noted that contributions were received from both 'young men and maids' (13), although it seems to have been the efforts of the women on which the press dwelt, and which caught Wallington's attention. It is possible there were also male contributors to London's Maiden Troop, but that these were overshadowed by the efforts their female counterparts, which Parliament's press-writers deemed more newsworthy. Norwich's maiden troop became part of Cromwell's cavalry regiment under the command of Captain Swallow.
Following its departure from London, the young women's role in the account of the Maiden Troop diminishes. The rest of the troop's story is shaped by the actions of men.
In June 1644, the Earl of Essex embarked on a campaign to gain the south west of England from the Royalists that would see Blackwell's command, painstakingly assembled over the previous two months, dismantled with heart-breaking speed. Blackwell recorded eight horses either dying on the march or being so exhausted and lame that they had to be abandoned en route. One mount died in its London stables before the troop even marched. Each of these horses had cost London's women £5 of hard-earned money.
In June 1644, the Earl of Essex embarked on a campaign to gain the south west of England from the Royalists that would see Blackwell's command, painstakingly assembled over the previous two months, dismantled with heart-breaking speed. Blackwell recorded eight horses either dying on the march or being so exhausted and lame that they had to be abandoned en route. One mount died in its London stables before the troop even marched. Each of these horses had cost London's women £5 of hard-earned money.
Essex advanced into Cornwall, only to find that Royalist forces had pursued him and succeeded in cutting off his homeward route. By August his army had been manoeuvred into a hopeless position, trapped on a narrow headland with their backs to the sea. With little chance of being evacuated by ship it was decided that the horse should attempt to break-out of their beleaguered position.
In the early hours of 31 August, under cover of darkness, Blackwell's troop was among the Parliamentarian cavalry that escaped through the Royalist cordon, desperately heading for the nearest Parliamentarian garrison at Plymouth. Not all made it: nearly a quarter of the Maiden Troop were lost at Lostwithiel - some through sickness before the breakout, others being captured and having their horses taken from them 'contrary to the Articles made with the enemy' (20). Some of these troopers appear to have been subsequently remounted, but 'divers of them had their horses killed & tired breaking through the enemy' (21). Despite this, the bulk of the Maiden Troop succeeded in reaching Plymouth, where they were subsequently besieged by Royalist forces under Sir Richard Grenville.
The troop spent the following month at Plymouth, garrisoned by Essex's second-in-command, Lord Robartes. On 4 October the garrison attempted to seize back the initiative from the Royalists by launching an attack to take Saltash, on the opposite side of the river from Plymouth, hoping to threaten the Royalist lines of communication. They withstood two Royalist counter attacks before Grenville retook Saltash three days later. Most of Blackwell's men managed to escape but seven are recorded as having been captured. Grenville had a reputation of dealing brutally with prisoners, of hanging first and asking questions later. This reputation was borne out in the fate of Blackwell's troopers: the seven men were imprisoned in Lydford Castle on the edge of Dartmooor. Five of them are believed to have starved to death there (22).
In the early hours of 31 August, under cover of darkness, Blackwell's troop was among the Parliamentarian cavalry that escaped through the Royalist cordon, desperately heading for the nearest Parliamentarian garrison at Plymouth. Not all made it: nearly a quarter of the Maiden Troop were lost at Lostwithiel - some through sickness before the breakout, others being captured and having their horses taken from them 'contrary to the Articles made with the enemy' (20). Some of these troopers appear to have been subsequently remounted, but 'divers of them had their horses killed & tired breaking through the enemy' (21). Despite this, the bulk of the Maiden Troop succeeded in reaching Plymouth, where they were subsequently besieged by Royalist forces under Sir Richard Grenville.
The troop spent the following month at Plymouth, garrisoned by Essex's second-in-command, Lord Robartes. On 4 October the garrison attempted to seize back the initiative from the Royalists by launching an attack to take Saltash, on the opposite side of the river from Plymouth, hoping to threaten the Royalist lines of communication. They withstood two Royalist counter attacks before Grenville retook Saltash three days later. Most of Blackwell's men managed to escape but seven are recorded as having been captured. Grenville had a reputation of dealing brutally with prisoners, of hanging first and asking questions later. This reputation was borne out in the fate of Blackwell's troopers: the seven men were imprisoned in Lydford Castle on the edge of Dartmooor. Five of them are believed to have starved to death there (22).
The End of the Maiden Troop
The losses sustained at Lostwithiel and Plymouth broke the back of the Maiden Troop. Blackwell's command was disbanded and its surviving mounts distributed among other Parliamentary units: 11 of the troop's horses were left for the use of Lord Robartes' Regiment and a further 5 with the local Plymouth forces (23). No blame was attached to Blackwell for the demise of his troop. In the late summer of 1645 he was given a command in Cromwell's regiment of horse, replacing a captain who had been killed at Naseby. Blackwell continued in the army until 1648, when he took up a permanent clerical post at Westminster.
Blackwell's service for Parliament led to him being barred from public office after 1660. Times and politics changed, however, and the Glorious Revolution of 1688 allowed old Parliamentarians back into positions of influence. In that year, Blackwell, by then aged 64 and living a nonconformist's exile in Massachusetts, was appointed Governor of Pennsylvania, recommended for the post partly on the reputation of his old command: “he commanded in the beginning of the wars the famous maiden-troop”, was the endorsement of the colony's founder, William Penn (24). Forty years on the name of the Maiden Troop still resonated, long after the lives of the young women who had helped raise them had been forgotten.
Robert Hodkinson
March 2019
Robert Hodkinson
March 2019
Notes:
1. Mercurius Civicus, 11-18 April 1644. Thomason Tracts, British Library, E. 43 (10)
2. Greer, G. Shakespeare's Wife (London: Bloomsbury, 2007), p.84
3. Lawrence, Women in England, p.10, quoted in Greer, p.170
4. John Locke, Journal, quoted in Greer, p.159
5. Proverbs, 31 (KJV)
6. The National Archives, Commonwealth Exchequer Papers, SP28/15, f.49
7. House of Lords Journal, vol. 6, p.25
8. Mercurius Civicus, ibid.
9. House of Lords Journal, vol. 4, pp.295, 312. For more detail on John Blackwell junior see Aylmer, G. E. “John Blackwell (1624-1701)”, in: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004)
10. Letter of John Blackwell, SP28/14, f.96
11. ibid., SP28/15, f.47
12. Nehemiah Wallington, Historical Notices (London, 1869) vol. 2, p.171
13. Carlyle, T. The Letters and Speeches of Oliver Cromwell (London 1904), vol. 1, pp.145-146
14. Calendar of State Papers Domestic: Charles I, 2 May 1644; SP28/15, f.47
15. SP28/15, f.49
16. SP28/22, f.279
17. SP28/14, f.96
18. ibid.
19. The Weekly Account, 23-30 May 1644, Thomason Tracts, E. 49 (36)
20. Blackwell's account of his troop's equipment losses is found in SP 28/22, f.278
21. ibid.
22. ibid; for Grenville's attrocities in Cornwall see Long, C. E. (ed.) Richard Symonds's Diary of
the Marches of the Royal Army (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997), p.127
23. SP28/22, f.278
24. Hazard, W. D. (ed.) Register of Pennsylvania, vol. 4 (Philadelphia, 1829)
1. Mercurius Civicus, 11-18 April 1644. Thomason Tracts, British Library, E. 43 (10)
2. Greer, G. Shakespeare's Wife (London: Bloomsbury, 2007), p.84
3. Lawrence, Women in England, p.10, quoted in Greer, p.170
4. John Locke, Journal, quoted in Greer, p.159
5. Proverbs, 31 (KJV)
6. The National Archives, Commonwealth Exchequer Papers, SP28/15, f.49
7. House of Lords Journal, vol. 6, p.25
8. Mercurius Civicus, ibid.
9. House of Lords Journal, vol. 4, pp.295, 312. For more detail on John Blackwell junior see Aylmer, G. E. “John Blackwell (1624-1701)”, in: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004)
10. Letter of John Blackwell, SP28/14, f.96
11. ibid., SP28/15, f.47
12. Nehemiah Wallington, Historical Notices (London, 1869) vol. 2, p.171
13. Carlyle, T. The Letters and Speeches of Oliver Cromwell (London 1904), vol. 1, pp.145-146
14. Calendar of State Papers Domestic: Charles I, 2 May 1644; SP28/15, f.47
15. SP28/15, f.49
16. SP28/22, f.279
17. SP28/14, f.96
18. ibid.
19. The Weekly Account, 23-30 May 1644, Thomason Tracts, E. 49 (36)
20. Blackwell's account of his troop's equipment losses is found in SP 28/22, f.278
21. ibid.
22. ibid; for Grenville's attrocities in Cornwall see Long, C. E. (ed.) Richard Symonds's Diary of
the Marches of the Royal Army (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997), p.127
23. SP28/22, f.278
24. Hazard, W. D. (ed.) Register of Pennsylvania, vol. 4 (Philadelphia, 1829)