Robert Venables

Robert Venables
Map of Jamaica, captured by Venables during the 1655 Western Design
Born	1613 Antrobus, Cheshire
Died	10 December 1687 (aged 73–74) Wincham, Cheshire
Allegiance	Parliamentarian Commonwealth
Years of service	1642–1655
Rank	General
Unit	Jones' Regiment of Horse
Commands held	Governor of Tarvin Western Design, 1654–1655 Governor of Chester, 1660
Battles/wars	Wars of the Three Kingdoms Chester; Rowton Heath; Oxford; Cromwellian conquest of Ireland Rathmines Drogheda Lisnagarvey Scarrifholis Charlemont Anglo-Spanish War Santo Domingo Jamaica

Robert Venables (ca. 1613–1687), was an English soldier from Cheshire, who fought for Parliament in the 1638 to 1651 Wars of the Three Kingdoms, and captured Jamaica in 1655.

When the Anglo-Spanish War began in 1654, he was made joint commander of an expedition against Spanish possessions in the West Indies, known as the Western Design. Although he captured Jamaica, which remained a British colony for over 300 years, the project was considered a failure, ending his military career.

Appointed Governor of Chester shortly before the Restoration of Charles II in 1660, his religious views made him unacceptable to the new regime. He returned to private life and in 1662 published a treatise on fishing, The Experienced Angler, which went through five editions in his lifetime. Arrested but released without charge after the Farnley Wood Plot in 1663, in 1668 he purchased an estate at Wincham, Cheshire, where he lived quietly until his death in 1687.