Daniel Axtell, Regicide, 1622-60 Tough soldier, baptist and
hardline regicide who was hanged, drawn and quartered at the
Restoration Born at Great Berkhamsted in Hertfordshire, Daniel
Axtell was apprenticed to a London grocer around 1638 and became
a zealous member of WIlliam Kiffin's Baptist congregation. He
joined Parliament's army during the First Civil War and by 1648,
was a major in Colonel Hewson's regiment, serving with
distinction on the campaign against the Royalist uprising in
Kent during the Second Civil War. Axtell was lieutenant-colonel
of Hewson's regiment during Pride's Purge, and in January 1649
he commanded the guards at Westminster Hall during the King's
trial. He was later accused of threatening to shoot Lady Ann
Fairfax when she interrupted the proceedings, of bullying and
beating the soldiers to make them cry for "justice" and
"execution", and of behaving discourteously towards the King.
Axtell served on Cromwell's invasion of Ireland in August 1649
and was appointed governor of Kilkenny