Events from the year 1644 in England. This is the third year of the First English Civil War, fought between Roundheads ( Parliamentarians) and Cavaliers ( Royalist supporters of King Charles I).

Incumbents

• Monarch – Charles I

Events

• January – Oliver Cromwell and his soldiers impose a Puritanical regime of worship at Ely Cathedral.
• 22 January – King Charles I opens the Royalist ' Oxford Parliament'. ^[1]
• 26 January – First English Civil War: at the Battle of Nantwich the Parliamentarians defeat the Royalists, ending a week's siege of the Cheshire town. ^[2]
• March – Matthew Hopkins begins his career as a witch-hunter in the eastern counties.
• 21 March – First English Civil War: Prince Rupert effects the Relief of Newark. ^[3]
• 29 March – First English Civil War: Parliamentary victory at the Battle of Cheriton in Hampshire. ^[3]
• 20 April–14 June – First English Civil War: Royalists besiege Lyme Regis in Dorset. They do not take the town, but destroy twenty ships. ^[4]
• 25 May – First English Civil War: Royalist forces under Prince Rupert storm and take Stockport and cross the Mersey. ^[5]
• 28 May – First English Civil War: Bolton Massacre: Royalist forces under Prince Rupert kill several hundreds of the town's defenders. ^[5]
• 11 June – First English Civil War: Prince Rupert and his men take Liverpool Castle. ^[6] Liverpool is later reclaimed by Sir John Moore.
• 29 June – First English Civil War: Royalist victory at the Battle of Cropredy Bridge. ^[3]
• 2 July – First English Civil War: Battle of Marston Moor, the largest battle of the war, produces a crushing victory for the Parliamentary side in Yorkshire, ending Charles I's hold on the north of England. ^[2]
• 14 July – Queen Henrietta Maria leaves the country for France. ^[1]
• 16 July – First English Civil War: Parliamentary forces capture York. ^[1]
• 2 September – Second Battle of Lostwithiel in Cornwall, the last major victory for Charles I and the Royalist side in the English Civil War.
• 22 October – Newcastle upon Tyne captured by a Scottish army led by Alexander Leslie, 1st Earl of Leven. ^[2]
• 27 October – First English Civil War: Parliamentary victory at the Second Battle of Newbury. ^[3]
• 23 November – John Milton's Areopagitica, an appeal for freedom of speech, is published in London. ^[2]
• 19 December – the House of Commons passes the Self-denying Ordinance. ^[3]
• 25 December – Christmas falls on a date set aside for fasting by Parliament, whose supporters are enjoined to observe the fast. ^[2]
• 1644 Baptist Confession of Faith drawn up in London. ^[7]

Births

• 14 January – Thomas Britton, concert promoter (died 1714)
• 18 January – John Partridge, astrologer (died 1708)
• 21 March – Sir Walter Bagot, 3rd Baronet, Member of Parliament (died 1704)
• 22 March – Sir James Rushout, 1st Baronet, Member of Parliament (died 1698)
• 31 March – Henry Winstanley, engineer (died 1703)
• 16 June – Henrietta Anne Stuart, Princess of England, Ireland and Scotland (died 1670)
• 30 August – Thomas Tufton, 6th Earl of Thanet, nobleman and politician (died 1729)
• 14 October – William Penn, Quaker and founder of Pennsylvania (died 1718)
• Thomas Guy, speculator and philanthropist (died 1724)
• Approximate date – Elizabeth Haselwood English silversmith (died 1715) ^[8]

Deaths

• 30 January – William Chillingworth, theologian (born 1602)
• 22 June – Sir Edward Dering, 1st Baronet, antiquary and politician (born 1598)
• 2 July – William Gascoigne, scientist (born c. 1610)
• 20 July – Peter Hausted, poet and playwright (year of birth unknown)
• July – William Crabtree, astronomer and mathematician (born 1610)
• September – Sir Thomas Barrington, 2nd Baronet, Member of Parliament (year of birth unknown)
• 8 September
  • John Coke, politician (born 1563)
  • Francis Quarles, poet (born 1592)
• 6 November – Thomas Roe, diplomat (born c. 1581)
• 28 December – John Bankes, judge (born 1589)

References