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If we look hard enough, we are likely to find a black sheep somewhere in our family tree, but what if the black sheep was a regicide of King Charles I? This lecture will describe the adventure of uncovering the story of John Dixwell, the 38th signer of the King’s death warrant. He was one of three regicides who fled to the New World after the restoration of Charles II and were never captured. You will learn about an extraordinary artifact, Dixwell’s key to Dover Castle, which he brought with him when he fled. The speaker is the ninth generation to own the key and as part of her research she brought the key to the castle to be authenticated by archivists there. She also went all over England and New England in search of John Dixwell’s story, the story of his British family and the story of his American descendants. Numerous original documents such as birth records, estate inventories, wills, letters and indentures helped provide the means to imagine his life, his momentous decision to judge a king and his life in New England as a fugitive from justice.
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