Thomas Hammond

Thomas Hammond (c. 1600–1658), was an officer in the New Model Army and a regicide. Family life Hammond was the third son of the five children of Dr John Hammond (c. 1555–1617), physician to the royal household under James I, who purchased the site of Chertsey Abbey in Surrey in 1602. His brother was the cleric, Henry Hammond. He married Susan Temple (daughter of John Temple of Frankton) in 1635. Civil War In 1642, at the start of the English Civil War he was commissioned as an artillery officer. As he was an experienced officer he must have seen military service in the continental wars that preceded the Civil War although there is no direct evidence of this. His motives for joining the Parliamentary side against King Charles I are not recorded but his radicalism was evident by 1644 when he testified against his own commander-in-chief, Edward Montagu in favour of Oliver Cromwell. Between 1647 and 1649 he was active member of small committee that represented the interests of the Grandees in the New Model Army in their dealings with the Long Parliament, the Agitators in the army with their and their Leveller allies, and King Charles. Was named as a Commissioner at the High Court of Justice for the trial of Charles I and attending no fewer than fourteen of its sittings, but he did not sign the death warrant. His motives for not signing are not recorded.