How John Richmond accidentally killed his brother Henry

John Richmond returned to England from America in 1843 and was an Colonel in Cromwell’s Parliament Army in the Civil War. His brother Henry was serving with the army of Loyalists who supported King Charles I. John, was now Col. John Richmond with Cromwell’s Roundheads.  Henry, hearing that John was near by decided to call on his brother. It was the evening of the Battle of Newbury on September 20, 1643 when Henry appeared at John’s tent door. John did not recognize his brother but saw only the Royalist uniform of the enemy, shot and killed him.

The celebrated Rev. Leah Richmond, author and rector of Turvey, Bedfordshire, wrote much concerning his ancestry, and in one of his manuscript letters is recorded this tradition concerning the two brothers:

“On the night preceding one of the engagements, Henry, his brother, went into the camp of the other army, eluding the vigilance of the sentry, and reached John’s tent, in the hope of enjoying an affectionate interview, previously to the uncertain events of the morrow. On entering the tent, John, alarmed at the sudden appearance of a stranger, as he conceived Henry to be, rose upon his bed and shot him dead on the spot.”

Joshua Bailey Richmond, in his work, “The Richmond Family, 1598-1896, and Pre-American Ancestors, 1040-1594,” refers to this tradition and says in connection with it that nothing is definitely known concerning the American John Richmond between the years 1643 and 1655. He thinks that this John Richmond may have been the John Richmond who came to Saco, Maine in 1635, and that he may have returned to England and engaged in the Civil War. He was called Colonel, which circumstance might also tend to identify him with the John Richmond of the Civil War.

Source: Richmond family history website