Vincent Potter

Vincent Potter (c.1614–1661) was an army officer in Parliament's army during the English Civil War and was one of the Regicides of King Charles I of England.

Early life and career Potter was born in Warwickshire. In 1635 as a member of the Massachusetts Bay Company he sailed to Boston, Massachusetts, where he was employed as a soldier at Castle Island Fort. He spent four years in North America before returning to England and may have fought in the Pequot War.

On 6 March the same year, he also signed the death warrants of five prominent Royalist peers who had been captured during the Second Civil War, the Duke of Hamilton, the Earl of Holland, Lord Capel, the Earl of Holland, and the Earl of Norwich.

Trial and death He was arraigned at the Sessions House in the Old Bailey, October 16, 1660, and pleaded not guilty. His trial commenced on the 16 November, at which he asked for a delay as he pleaded he was ill and in great pain (probably from kidney stones). However the trial went ahead and he was found guilty of high treason and condemned to death for his part in the regicide of Charles I, but he died in the Tower of London in late 1661 or early 1662 before the sentence could be carried out.