A boundary stone on Hutton Moor

A boundary stone on Hutton Moor inscribed on the north-east face with “RC TC 1856” which stand for Robert and Thomas Chaloner who inherited the manor of Guisborough in turn on the death of their father, also named Robert, in 1842¹North York Moors Historic Environment Record (HER) No: 16513²‘Parishes: Guisborough | British History Online’. 2023. British-History.ac.uk <https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/yorks/north/vol2/pp352-365#p39> [accessed 9 February 2023].

On this day in 1649, the funeral of King Charles I took place. His dignity during his trial and execution had won him much sympathy and he was laid to rest at Windsor rather than Westminster Abbey to avoid the possibility of public disorder at his funeral.

I wonder what two brothers of the Chaloner family were feeling at this time — jubilation or fearfulness.

The previous month, Thomas Chaloner and his younger brother, James, had served as two of the 135 commissioners that had tried the King. Their father was Sir Thomas Chaloner of Guisborough, an ancestor of Robert and Thomas whose initials appear on this boundary stone on Hutton Moor.

Thomas Chaloner was one of the signatories to the King’s death warrant, but James was not. Those who signed the document received the severest punishment, in many cases being hung, drawn and quartered.

In 1660, The Indemnity and Oblivion Act gave a general pardon for everyone who had committed crimes during the English Civil War and the Interregnum, with the exception of such crimes as murder (without a licence granted by King or Parliament), piracy, buggery, rape and witchcraft, and specific people named in the Act such as those involved in the regicide of Charles I.

Both Thomas and James were so named in the Act.

Thomas fled the country and died in 1661 at Middelburg in the Netherlands.

James was imprisoned and died in July 1660 from an illness. His property was sequestrated by the state.

• 1
  North York Moors Historic Environment Record (HER) No: 16513
• 2
  ‘Parishes: Guisborough | British History Online’. 2023. British-History.ac.uk <https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/yorks/north/vol2/pp352-365#p39> [accessed 9 February 2023]