Regicide in the Family

Finding John Dixwell

By: Sarah Dixwell Brown

Narrated by: Sarah Dixwell Brown

In the 1660s, three fugitives from justice came to New England to escape being drawn and quartered in London. They had been among the 59 judges in the trial of England's King Charles the First who found him guilty of betraying his own people and sentenced him to death by beheading.

For the next 11 years, England was governed by men trying to create a different kind of government, one led not by a monarch with divine rights, but by the people. Their ideas helped the founding fathers of the United States, a century later, come up with our Bill of Rights. In 1660, the king's son, Charles the Second, was restored to the throne and began avenging his father. One of the three regicides who fled to North America was John Dixwell, my seven greats grandfather.

My book tells the story of how being given Dixwell as a middle name and then given his key to Dover Castle (where he was governor of that military fortification) led me to spend decades digging up every possible scrap of information about his life and his decision to judge a king. The book details my discoveries in New England, England, and my family tree, where I figured out not only who had the key in each of the eight generations that preceded mine, but also how each key keeper likely felt about the man who consigned a king to death.

Sarah Dixwell Brown taught writing at Stanford University, Santa Clara University, Mount Holyoke College and the Commonwealth Honors College at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She has published numerous personal essays in national and local publications. This is her first book. It was prompted by her receiving a family heirloom, a key to Dover Castle that once belonged to her direct ancestor, John Dixwell, a regicide of Charles I who escaped to New England in the 1660s. She lives in Western Massachusetts.

©2022 Sarah D. Brown (P)2023 Sarah D. Brown

Delightful

This book is a monumental achievement of genealogical research and writing that is inspirational for those of us inclined to learn about our forebears and instructional for those who are simply interested in English and American history

I couldn’t stop listening

This book narrated beautifully by the author Sarah Dixwell Brown was both entertaining and engaging. I found myself totally fascinated by the history of the Key to Dover Castle and Dixwell Brown’s ancestor the regicide John Dixwell. Dixwell Brown has a lovely soft timbre to her voice making listening very pleasurable. She is very funny and deprecating and peppers the subject matter which could be quite dry with lots of family anecdotes and endearing descriptions of her own childhood as well as chronicling the journey she makes to England with her friend to uncover the history of John Dixwell her 7th great grandfather. I listened to this over 2-3 days found it completely compelling and left me feeling inspired to research more into my own family history. Would definitely recommend this book not just to lovers of history but to people who might be interested in researching their own ancestry as it illustrates resources that might be at your disposal to put the pieces of the puzzle together. Big shout out to librarians!

This book held my interest the whole time.

A well researched exploration of one of the regicides of Charles I, John Dixwell, who ultimately fled Europe and England to live in the British colonies of North America. The author clearly indicates all her research and her conclusions able to be draw or not draw. This book is in nice little gem worth the listen.

Travel with the author on her search

Totally enjoyed the book and audiobook. Great read! Great research by the author. Total enjoyment.

History with a personal narrative and an important message

The author masterfully weaves a scrupulously well-researched history with an engaging personal narrative. The unfolding story reads like a mystery that has an important message of commitment and conviction evidenced by both the hero of the story and the author herself.