John Venn

Who was John Venn?

John Venn was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1641 to 1650. He was one of the regicides of King Charles I.

Venn was born in Lydeard St Lawrence, Somerset, England, in 1586 and was an apprentice in the Merchant Taylors' Company before becoming a wool and silk merchant. He was one of the founders of the Massachusetts Bay Company.

In September 1640, as one of the leaders of the Puritan militants, he sent a petition to King Charles demanding religious reform. Together with Isaac Penington, he demanded the prosecution of the Earl of Strafford.

In 1641, Venn was elected Member of Parliament for City of London in the Long Parliament. In 1642, he fought in the army of the Earl of Essex, and following the battle of Edgehill was appointed governor of Windsor Castle, a position he retained until 1645.

When the pro-Royalist Presbyterian mobs of London seized Westminster, he did not join the pro-Army Independent MPs in seeking asylum with the Army. He would be one of the few to change sides over the next year and a half, and come to support the army against King Charles.