William Careless

Careless was a member of a recusant Roman Catholic family of Royalist sentiments. After the outbreak of hostilities in 1642 Careless raised a troop of cavalry to fight for Charles I, which he commanded as a captain in the regiment of Thomas Leveson. This regiment was largely officered by men from the Roman Catholic enclave of south Staffordshire.[6] He was the captain of the Royalist garrison at Lapley House, Staffordshire, in 1643, and was appointed governor of Tong Castle, Shropshire, in April 1644.[7] He appears to have rejoined his regiment to take part in Prince Rupert's campaign to relieve the siege of York. Careless (as William Carlis) has been listed as one of the two captains of Leveson's Horse present at the Bolton Massacre, an action controversial for the indiscriminate killing of Parliamentarian defenders and civilian inhabitants.[8] His regiment then went on to fight as part of the right-wing cavalry, commanded by Lord Byron, at the Battle of Marston Moor in July 1644.[9] Following this serious Royalist defeat Careless is next recorded in his native area of the English Midlands, when in December 1644 he was captured in a skirmish with Parliamentarian forces near Wolverhampton. In April 1645 he was recorded as one of the prisoners that the Parliamentarians were holding in the High House, Stafford.[10] After his release Careless served in Ireland, lived in Lower Germany (Netherlands) for a time and became an officer in the Spanish army.[5][11] He returned to England in or before 1650, and spent nine months in and around his home in Brewood before once again taking up arms in the Royalist cause.[10]

Careless greeting Charles II in Boscobel Wood, with one of the Penderel brothers, by Isaac Fuller.

A young Charles II, c. 1653

After the execution of Charles I, his son Charles II invaded England at the head of a largely Scottish army. Careless joined the king with a small force, described as a regiment of horse,[12] as he advanced on Worcester and fought as a major under Lord Talbot at the Battle of Worcester. The Royalist forces were very heavily defeated. Careless fought to the end, covering the King's flight alongside a handful of others including the Earl of Cleveland, Sir James Hamilton, Colonel Thomas Wogan and Captains Hornyhold, Giffard, and Kemble. Careless and his companions made a number of desperate cavalry charges down Sudbury Street and High Street, though heavily outnumbered. Hamilton and Kemble were badly wounded, and a number of troopers were killed. Their actions allowed King Charles to escape the city by St. Martin's Gate.[13] Careless reputedly witnessed the death of the last man to be killed in the battle.[14]

Following his catastrophic defeat, King Charles sought refuge at Boscobel House where, as he related to Samuel Pepys in 1680, he met Major Careless. Charles was being hidden and cared for by the Penderel family who, as tenants of the Giffard family, were living at Boscobel House. Careless, who was a local man,[15] suggested that the house was unsafe and recommended that the king hide in a large pollarded oak tree in the woodlands of Boscobel (6 September 1651). The king and Careless took some food and drink into the tree and were gratified that Parliamentarian soldiers searched the woodland intensively without detecting them. The king, who was exhausted, slept in the tree for some of the time, being prevented from falling by Careless' support. Charles spent the night hiding in one of Boscobel's priest holes, Careless in another.[16] The following day Careless killed and butchered a sheep with his dagger, the mutton was afterwards cooked by the king himself. Being too well known locally, and not wishing to draw attention to the disguised Charles, Careless parted from the king later the same day (7 September 1651).[16][17][18]

A contemporary armorial locket containing a miniature portrait of William Careless is in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, (see "External links" below). The inscription within the locket runs:

"Renowned Carlos! thow hast won the day

(Loyalty Lost) by helping Charles away,

From Kings-Blood-Thirsty-Rebels in a Night,

made black with Rage, of theives, & Hells dispight

Live! King-Loved-Sowle thy fame be Euer Spoke

By all whilst England Beares a Royall Oake"

Coat of arms

Careless escaped England independently of King Charles, fleeing to France; he was the first person to inform Charles' sister, Mary, Princess of Orange, of her brother's safety.[19][20] In 1656 William Careless, with the rank of colonel, is listed as a captain in the King's Royal Regiment of Guards the lineal predecessor of the Grenadier Guards.[21] At Brussels he received, in 1658 by letters patent under the Great Seal in the name of Carlos, a coat of arms incorporating an oak tree and three crowns representing the three kingdoms of the British Isles; an oak-leaf civic crown formed part of the crest.[22][23]

Careless served with his regiment at the Battle of the Dunes (14 June 1658), near Dunkirk; this battle was fought between a Spanish army, with an allied British Royalist force commanded by the Duke of York (later King James II), and a French army with Cromwellian English (Commonwealth) allies. The Spanish army was defeated and Colonel Careless was made captive, however, he was soon released on a "half ransom." During the battle Careless' regiment stood firm when all the regiments around it fled; the King's Guards were eventually persuaded to surrender when two of their officers had been conducted to a nearby eminence from which they could see that the rest of the army they belonged to had been swept from the field or had already surrendered.[24]

He returned to England with Charles II in 1660, and after the Restoration Careless was granted (with 2 others) the lucrative proceeds of tax on hay and straw brought into London and Westminster, the right to sell ballast to shipping on the Thames and the office of inspector of livery horsekeepers (1661).[5][25] In 1660 Careless, along with Charles Giffard and others who helped in King Charles' escape, was proposed as a knight of The Order of the Royal Oak and was listed under those persons resident in London and Middlesex. As for all proposed knights Careless' income was recorded, and this was £800.00 per annum. Charles II was persuaded that the new order of chivalry would prove politically and socially divisive as it only rewarded those who had aided him in adversity and those who were ardent Royalists. He therefore reluctantly abandoned the scheme.[26]

Careless was made a Gentleman of the Privy Chamber in 1666.[27] Gentlemen of the Privy Chamber were empowered to execute the King's verbal command without producing any written order; their person and character being deemed sufficient authority. With his close friend Charles Giffard, Careless was prominent in petitioning the king for favour on behalf of various people involved in the escape of Charles II after Worcester, or their dependants. Many of these petitions were successful and they materially benefitted friends and former neighbours of Careless.

In 1678, along with other Catholics who aided King Charles after Worcester, he was made exempt from all anti-Catholic legislation.[28] Careless was evidently loyal to King Charles' successor, James II, as he was paid a bounty of £300 from that monarch's secret service fund in 1687.[20]

Sources variously give Careless the rank of captain, major and colonel. In the historical tract "Boscobel" it is stated that Careless was a major at the time of the Battle of Worcester.[13] It would appear that he was promoted to colonel sometime between 1651 and 1656, when he is first recorded as holding the rank. However, it is possible that he was acting as the major for his regiment in 1651 whilst holding the substantive rank of colonel.

Colonel William Careless is recorded as living in Hallow, Worcestershire in the 1680s; he died in London, and was buried in his native Brewood, 28 May 1689.[14] A memorial to William Careless is to be found in the church of St Mary the Virgin and St Chad, Brewood; he is believed to be buried in the churchyard though his original monument no longer exists; a replacement headstone was erected in Victorian times.