Sir John Gell, 1st Baronet

Sir John Gell
Sir John Gell
Parliamentarian Commander Derbyshire, Staffordshire, and Warwickshire, Governor of Derby
In office 1643–1646
Deputy Lieutenant of Derbyshire
In office August 1642 – July 1646
High Sheriff of Derbyshire
In office 1635–1636
Personal details
Born	22 June 1593 Hopton, Derbyshire, England
Died	26 October 1671(1671-10-26) (aged 78) Westminster, London, England
Resting place	St Mary's Church, Wirksworth
Spouse(s)	(1) Elizabeth Willoughby (1610–1644) (2) Mary Stanhope (1647–1648; dissolved)
Children	(1) Mary and Elizabeth
Alma mater	Magdalen College, Oxford
Occupation	Landowner, soldier and administrator
Military service
Years of service	1642 to 1648
Rank	Colonel
Battles/wars	First English Civil War First Siege of Lichfield Hopton Heath Relief of Newark Siege of Tutbury Castle Siege of Belvoir Castle

Sir John Gell, 1st Baronet (22 June 1593 – 26 October 1671) was an English landowner from Derbyshire, who acted as local Parliamentarian commander for most of the First English Civil War before resigning in May 1646. He was notorious for parading the body of his Royalist opponent through Derby after the Battle of Hopton Heath in March 1643.^[1]

Reputedly the richest man in Derbyshire, Gell proved an effective and energetic general, but the plundering conducted by his often unpaid troops provoked numerous complaints to Parliament. According to Puritan diarist Lucy Hutchinson, he "had not understanding to judge the equity of the cause, nor piety, nor holiness", while his men were "the most licentious, ungovernable wretches that belonged to the Parliament".^[2]

Gell resigned his commission just before the First Civil War ended in 1646, and his ambiguous stance during the Second English Civil War meant he was removed from all his positions in February 1649. Implicated in a Royalist plot in 1650, he was sentenced to life imprisonment but released due to ill health three years later. Pardoned after the Stuart Restoration in 1660, he lived quietly in London where he died in October 1671.