John Dove

Who was John Dove?

John Dove was a parliamentary politician during the English Civil War and Interregnum. He has sometimes been numbered amongst the regicides; however, although he sat as a Commissioner in the trial of Charles I at the Painted Chamber of the Palace of Westminster on the 12th, 13th, 19th, and 26 January, Dove took no other part in the trial of Charles, did not sign the death warrant, and he was not punished at the Restoration.

Little is known about Dove's background, although his father, Henry, had been Mayor of Salisbury, Wiltshire in 1616. John was also a landowner and active in local politics, serving as mayor of the city in 1635. He and his brother Francis were zealous parliamentarians, serving on a number of county committees from 1644, and he was elected to the Long Parliament for Salisbury in 1645 in the place of an ejected Royalist. He was made a colonel of the Wiltshire militia in 1650 and was commended in August 1651 by the Council of State for his zeal.