Robert Venables

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. Personal details Robert Venables was the son of Robert Venables of Antrobus, Cheshire and Ellen Simcox (1577–1658), daughter of Richard Simcox of Rudheath; he seems to have had at least one sister, Elizabeth (1609–1683), but details are unclear. The Venables were a cadet branch of a family that could trace their ancestry back to the Norman Conquest, and were classed as members of the minor gentry. His father had interests in the Cheshire salt mine industry and was part of a local Puritan network; Robert's godfather was the preacher Richard Mather, grandfather of Cotton Mather.