Detail from Engraving of
John Vanderbank's painting
The Execution of Charles I
showing Major John Fenwick

John Test and his wife Elizabeth Sanders came to America aboard the Griffin in 1675 as part of the Fenwick colony. Who was John Fenwick?

Fenwick was an important part of one of the greatest historical events in English history, namely, the first English Civil War and the beheading of Charles I King of England in 1649. He was a major of Cavalry and on January 30, 1649 he was part of the military contingent protecting the scaffold during the execution of Charles I.

Charles I
1600-1649

In 1651, the president of the Parliament appointed Fenwick to raise and to lead a special guard to protect Parliament. From 1649 - 1653 and 1659 - 1660 Parliament rules England under the republican government of the Commonwealth of England. Between these two periods, and due to in-fighting amongst various factions in Parliament, Oliver Cromwell ruled over the Protectorate as Lord Protector (effectively a military dictator) until his death in 1658.

Charles II
1660 - 1685

By 1659, with no faction of the army or of Parliament able to command the assent of the majority, England seemed to be descending into anarchy. Charles II offered to resume the throne under conditions accepted by Parliament in 1660. It was declared that Charles II had reigned as the lawful monarch since the execution of Charles I in 1649.

Although the monarchy was restored, it was still only with the consent of Parliament. Therefore, the civil wars effectively set England and Scotland on course to adopt a parliamentary monarchy form of government.

Upon the restoration of the monarchy, Parliament passed the The Indemnity and Oblivion Act 1660 providing pardons to those who opposed the monarchy and supported the parliamentary and military rule during the The English Interregnum after after the execution of Charles I. However, the act also authorized reprisals against those who had officiated or participated in the trial and execution Charles I.

In general, many of those who participated in the government during the Interregnum lost power and influence with the restoration. Many of them left England in pursuit of better conditions for a prosperous life. Fenwick apparently saw his prospects better abroad than at home as well.

However, he remained in England until 1675. It was in 1660, the year of the restoration that Charles II gave the land to be known as Jersey to two of favorites: West Jersey to John Lord Berkley and East Jersey to Sir George Cartaret. In 1673 Lord Berkley sold West Jersey to John Fenwick and Edward Byllynge for £ 1000 and annual rent of 40 beaver skins.

West Jersey
and East Jersey

Edward Byllynge proved to be a corrupt partner with the result that title to the land came under a legal cloud. In the end, with William Penn playing a key role as mediator, Fenwick ended up as proprietor to one tenth of West Jersey called the Salem Tenth constituting what is now Salem and Cumberland counties covering an area of over 1,000 square miles or more than 650,000 acres. The title to the land was under continual challenge as long as Fenwick lived. Before leaving for America he mortgaged the property to two of his Quaker personal friends (John Eldridge, a tanner, and Edmund Warner, a poultryman) for a sum of 110 pounds 15 shilling to cover various debts: to the "biskett maker," the caik baker" his attorneys and his wife's relatives.

These two were permited to sell land in the Salem Tenth to pay Fenwick's creditors. They sold land but never paid any of Fenwick's creditors. With the mortgage on file in the Chancery Office in London the validity of Fenwick's claim on the Salem Tenth became legally murky. None of the land that Fenwick sold had a clear title to it. Those who came over with him and purchased land entertained doubt of the validity of their titles. If there titles were bad then their efforts to clear and build on %#8220their land” could result in zero gain for them and for their children.

Fenwick was born in 1618 and studied law at Grey's Inn in London. His father was Sir William Fenwick who represented Northumberland in Parliament in 1859 siding with Parliament against the monarchy. John Fenwick was an active soldier for Oliver Cromwell and the Commonwealth.

Exactly when Fenwick joined the Society of Friends becoming known as a Quaker remains uncertain. It is known that it was after 1649 however. Thomas Shourds in his History and genealogy of Fenwick's Colony, New Jersey says that it was in 1665. In any case, in 1675 in brought over a small band of Quakers and others to found the first English settlement in the Delaware River Valley.

Joseph Sickler in his The History of Salem County New Jersey writes:

The passenger list of the Mayblower is celebrated in American history and a society has been formed to perpetuate the memory of those who immigrated upon this ship. Equally famous should be the passenger list of the Griffin, whose members colonized the first permanent Enlish-speaking settlement in the Delaware valley. [p. 25]