Colonel John Were of Halberton, commemorated in St. Andrew’s, is one of those figures whose life might have slipped into obscurity were it not for his own writings. His pamphlets—the Apologie, Relation and Petition—provide a rare and vivid account of the English Civil War as experienced by a provincial commander in Devon. They reveal not only the military actions he took part in, but also the personal struggle to defend his honour in the face of accusations of treachery. Through them, we glimpse the complexities of allegiance, reputation and survival in a county where the war was fought in sporadic campaigns rather than grand battles.
Born in 1612, John Were inherited the estate of his father Humphrey, Tiverton’s first Recorder and MP for the town in 1624. Humphrey died in 1625, leaving John as sole heir at the age of thirteen. By adulthood he was settled at Court Place in Halberton, serving as JP and churchwarden, and marrying twice. When the Civil War broke out in 1642, he was approached to fight for the King, but rejected the commission, declaring that he would devote himself “to promote the purity of Religion and the publique peace.” He raised three trained band companies for Parliament, and by his own account six further units between 1642 and 1644, claiming to be “the first, and I suppose the last, Gentleman in Devonshire, that raised and continued a Regement in that County.”
Were’s early service included the siege of Sherborne, the defence of Cowley Bridge near Exeter, and the disastrous battle of Stratton in May 1643. At Cowley Bridge he repelled Sir Ralph Hopton’s Cornish troops, earning the thanks of his men. At Stratton, though Parliament’s forces were routed, he insisted he fought to the last alongside General Stamford. Yet his troops were not always steadfast: when Hopton swept through Tiverton later that year, they fled. Were himself returned to Halberton, only to find Royalist domination so complete that he chose exile rather than take up arms for the King. He later joined in the heroic defence of Lyme Regis, and then marched west with the Earl of Essex, raising two regiments “without money” and clearing Tiverton of Royalist troops as Essex advanced.
At Lostwithiel in 1644 disaster struck. Essex’s army was trapped, and Were was blamed for the catastrophe. Accepting hospitality from a former comrade, Major Belfore, he was betrayed and handed over to Royalist commanders. Threatened with death, he promised to serve the King, though with a secret reservation that he would do so only insofar as the King complied with Parliament. This equivocation saved his life but destroyed his reputation. Branded “Renegado Were,” he was distrusted by both sides. Escaping his captors, he rejoined Parliament’s forces at Taunton, but Essex denounced him as a traitor. Arrested and imprisoned in London, Were wrote his Apologie in November 1644, seeking to vindicate himself. “I continued all the fight and came off with my generall,” he declared of Stratton, and of Lostwithiel he offered a detailed defence of his actions. His words were read in the Commons, but they did not fully restore his standing, and he remained in prison until exchanged in 1645.
Released just in time to join Sir Thomas Fairfax, Were took part in the siege of Tiverton Castle and the long campaign before Exeter. At last he reaped some reward for his service: after the surrender of Exeter in 1646, Fairfax appointed his regiment as one of three to safeguard the city. This was his final commission. He held no significant local office thereafter, save for a brief appointment as tax commissioner in 1657 under the Protectorate. He died in 1658.
What makes Were’s story compelling is not simply the record of battles and garrisons, but the personal voice that comes through his writings. In the Tower of London in 1644, awaiting judgement, he wrote with urgency and passion, seeking to clear his name. He emphasised his loyalty, his sacrifices, and his determination to uphold religion and liberty. He turned defeats into narratives of endurance, and victories into proof of his worth. His Apologie is both a defence and a plea, a document that shows how reputation could be as vital as survival in the Civil War.
Colonel John Were's tombstone lies in St. Andrew’s and and is therefore more than a marker of a local gentleman’s life. It commemorates a man who, through his own words, reveals the human dimension of the Civil War in Devon: the raising of regiments by local gentry, the defence of towns and bridges, the shifting fortunes of campaigns, and the struggle to maintain honour in the face of disaster. Were’s writings remain a unique and moving testimony of a man caught up in England’s terrible conflict, determined to be remembered not as a renegado, but as a faithful servant of Parliament and of his community.
