John Hotham the younger

Sir John Hotham the younger (1610 Yorkshire – 2 January 1645 London), known as Captain Hotham, was an English Member of Parliament and military commander who fought for the Parliamentarians during the First English Civil War. He was executed for treason in 1645.

Born around 1610, Hotham was the son of Sir John Hotham and his wife, Katherine Rodes.

As a young man, Hotham served in the army of the Prince of Orange during the Thirty Years War in the Netherlands from 1629 to 1631; he may have been present at the 1629 English siege of Bois-le-Duc. In 1640, Hotham became a member of parliament for Scarborough, North Yorkshire during the Long Parliament and the Short Parliament.

In September 1642, warfare broke out between the Royalist forces loyal to King Charles I and Roundhead supporters of the English parliament. In January 1642, Parliament had reappointed Hotham's father as the governor of Hull. Hotham went there with a detachment of troops to occupy it. Home to many Royalist supporters, Hull contained a significant Royalist arms cache... The mayor of Hull initially refused entry to Hotham, but a week later the Hothams controlled the city. On 23 April 1642, King Charles demanded entry to Hull, but Hotham's father refused.

In September 1642, Hotham moved from Hull with a detachment of troops to occupy Doncaster. In October 1642, he captured Cawood Castle in North Yorkshire. This move was in defiance of a neutrality agreement that Ferdinando Fairfax, 2nd Lord Fairfax of Cameron, the leader of the Parliamentarian forces in Yorkshire, had negotiated with the Royalist forces in Newcastle. In 1643, Hotham and Faifax occupied Leeds and laid siege to York. However, Royalist forces broke the siege and forced Fairfax's forces to retreat to Hull. Hotham participated in skirmishes at Tadcaster on 7 December and at Sherburn during this fallback.

...
Wikipedia