Sir Henry Vane (1613 14 June 1662), often referred to as Harry Vane and Henry Vane the Younger to distinguish him from his father, was an English politician and colonial administrator. He was briefly present in North America, serving one term as the governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony (1636-37), and supported the creation of Roger Williams' Rhode Island Colony and Harvard College. A proponent of religious tolerance, as governor, he defended Anne HutchinsonMoore, p. 318 and her right to teach religious topics in her home; this put him in direct conflict with the Puritan leaders in the Massachusetts Colony.Ireland, pp. 79–80Moore, pp. 287-288 He returned to England after losing re-election and eventually, Hutchinson was banned from the colony.Moore, pp. 319–320
He was a leading Parliamentarian during the English Civil War and worked closely with Oliver Cromwell. He played no part in the execution of King Charles I in 1649. He left Parliament in disgust at Pride's Purge in December 1648 and did not return until weeks after the King's execution. He refused to take an oath approving the King's execution. Vane served on the Council of State that functioned as the government executive during the Interregnum, but split with Cromwell over issues of governance and removed himself from power when Cromwell dissolved Parliament in 1653. He returned to power during the short-lived Commonwealth period from 1659–1660, following the death of Oliver Cromwell in 1658 and the failure of the rule of his son and successor Richard Cromwell. His fight for government reform, a constitution, and civil and religious libertiesWillcock, p. 347King, pp. 189–190Forster, p. 202 made him a man "too dangerous to let live" in King Charles II's view. He was arrested under orders from Charles II following his restoration to the throne in 1660. After a long debate, Vane was exempted from the Indemnity and Oblivion Act, and he was denied the amnesty granted to most men for their roles in the Civil War and Interregnum.
Although he was formally granted clemency by Charles II, he was indicted for high treason by a Middlesex grand jury after charges were presented by the king's attorney general, Sir Geoffrey Palmer, in 1662.Willcock, p. 324 In a court proceeding in which he was denied counsel and the opportunity to properly prepare a defence, he was convicted by a Royalist jury. Charles withdrew his earlier clemency, and Vane was beheaded on Tower Hill on 14 June 1662.
Vane was recognised by his political peers as a competent administrator and persuasive negotiator and politician. His politics were driven by a desire for religious tolerance in an era when governments were used to establish official churches and suppress dissenting views. Although his views were in a small minority, he was able to successfully build coalitions to advance his agenda. His actions contributed to both the rise and downfall of the English Commonwealth. His books and pamphlets written on political and religious subjects are still analyzed today. His writing A Healing Question advocated for a civilian government based on popular consent and a written constitution. Vane argued against military rule, proposing that legal authority should be derived from the people's representatives. This pamphlet laid the framework which would be implemented in the American constitution. It also proposed a constitutional convention, pre-dating the American Constitutional Convention by over a century.Hosmer, pp. 442–443 Vane is remembered in Massachusetts and Rhode Island as an early champion of liberty.
The New England Historical and Genealogical Society wrote of him in 1848: Those who have been accustomed to view Roger Williams in his true character, – a great and wonderful man, a pioneer in establishing religious and consequently political liberty, – must accord the same virtues to Sir Henry Vane. It is true, the latter did not lay down his life here in our land, nor was he compelled to fly to the wilderness to enjoy his opinions; but he did die for them, when and where the greatest good would accrue to the world. If Roger Williams deserves all the praise and admiration from posterity which he now has, and which are sure to increase in all future time, Sir Henry Vane certainly deserves no less.New England Historical and Genealogical Society, pp. 121–122
Early life
Henry Vane was baptised on 26 May 1613 at Debden, Essex. He was the eldest child of Sir Henry Vane the Elder, who came from the landed gentry, and Frances Darcy, who came from minor nobility.Ireland, pp. 33–35 The elder Vane used the family's money to purchase positions at court, rising by 1629 to be Comptroller of the Household. Vane was educated at Westminster School, where his classmates included Arthur Heselrige and Thomas Scot, two other men who would figure prominently in English politics.Ireland, pg. 36 Vane's friend and biographer, George Sikes, wrote that Vane was "[ignorant] of God" and of a temperament that made him "acceptable to those they call good fellows", but that he had a religious awakening at 14 or 15, after which he "and his former jolly company came to a parting blow."Ireland, pg. 37 Vane then enrolled at Magdalen Hall, Oxford, where he studied in spite of his refusal to take the necessary matriculation oaths. He then travelled to Europe, where he was reported to be studying at Leiden and possibly in France and at Geneva.
Vane's father had been upset by his open adoption of Puritan views, fearing this would hamper his opportunities for advancement at court. In 1631 he sent the young Vane to Vienna as an assistant to Robert Anstruther, the English ambassador. This was apparently a quite privileged role, for Vane's writings of the time include messages written in French and in cipher.Ireland, p. 40
During this trip the elder Vane was sent to negotiate with Swedish king Gustavus for an alliance; King Charles' unwillingness to act in the matter meant the effort was in vain.Adamson and Folland, pg. 35 He was introduced to the king after returning to England, and encouraged by his father to seek a position in the privy chamber.Ireland, pp. 45–46 His father engaged in numerous attempts to get him to give up his nonconformist views, without success. In order to worship as he chose, Vane then decided to go the New World, joining the Puritan migration.Ireland, pg. 54
New England Vane left for the Massachusetts Bay Colony, arriving in Boston in October 1635 on a ship also carrying John Winthrop the Younger and Hugh Peter.Ireland, pg. 57 The elder John Winthrop described Vane as "a young gentleman of excellent parts", and by the following month he had already been admitted as a freeman in the colony. He began playing a role in its judicial administration, deciding whether legal disputes had sufficient merit to be heard by a full court.Adamson and Folland, pp.65–66 Vane was instrumental in brokering the resolution to a dispute between the elder Winthrop and Thomas Dudley concerning matters of judicial conduct.Ireland, pg. 69 In May 1636 Vane was elected governor of the colony,Moore, pg. 316 succeeding John Haynes.Ireland, pp. 69–70 The situation he faced was complex, with issues on religious, political and military fronts and as a young man of twenty-three years, he was ill-prepared.
The colony was split over the actions and beliefs of Anne Hutchinson. She had come with her husband and children to the colony in 1634. During Vane's time as governor,Moore, pg. 318 she began holding Bible sessions at home, gaining a wide audience and sharing her opinions that the colonial leaders labelled as Antinomianism, the view that existing laws and practices were not necessary for salvation.Anderson, pp. 477, 482 Most of the older colonial leadership, including Dudley and Winthrop, espoused a more legalistic view. Vane was a supporter of Hutchinson and attended her Bible studies, as was at first the influential pastor John Cotton. Vane, however, immediately alienated some of the colonists by insisting on flying the English flag over Boston's fort. The flag had recently been the subject of controversy, since its depiction of the Cross of St George was seen by many colonists as a symbol of papacy, and John Endecott had notoriously cut the cross out of the Salem militia's flag.Moore, pg. 317 Vane's popularity declined further when he learnt in December 1636 that there were issues in England requiring his presence, and he attempted to resign. Although the court of assistants accepted his resignation, he withdrew it upon the request of the congregation of the Boston church.Ireland, pp. 81–82
During Vane's tenure a dispute with the Pequot tribe of present-day southeastern Connecticut boiled over into war. In 1636 the boat of a Massachusetts trader named John Oldham was found near Block Island, overrun by Indians. Further examination by the discoverers (after the Indians fled in canoes) uncovered Oldham's body on board.Cave, pg. 104 The attackers were at the time believed to be from tribes affiliated with the Narragansetts, but Narragansett leaders claimed that those responsible had fled to the protection of the Pequots.Moore, p. 267Cave, pp. 105–107 The Pequots were aggressively expansionist in their dealings with the surrounding native tribes (including the Narragansett), but had until then generally kept the peace with the nearby colonists. Massachusetts authorities were already angry that the Pequots had failed to turn over men implicated in the killing of another trader on the Connecticut River; the slaying of Oldham led to calls for action.Cave, pp. 100, 107–109
Despite the fact that Roger Williams had warned him that the Narragansetts were more likely responsible for Oldham's slaying, Governor Vane in August 1636 placed John Endecott at the head of a 90-man force to extract justice from the Pequots.Cave, pg. 109 Endecott's heavy-handed expedition did little more than destroy Pequot settlements, and sparked a military backlash. The Pequots struck back at settlements recently established on the Connecticut River by colonists from Massachusetts, and at the Saybrook Colony of the younger John Winthrop.Cave, pp. 135–136 In April 1637, Vane called a session of the general court that authorised the colonial militia to assist the other New England colonies in continuing the war.Adamson and Folland, pg. 98
Vane lost his position to the elder John Winthrop in the 1637 election.Doherty, pg. 93 The contentious election was marked by a sharp disagreement over the treatment of John Wheelwright, another Hutchinson supporter.Bremer, pp. 276–277 Winthrop won in part because the location of the vote was moved to Cambridge, reducing the power of Vane's Boston support.Ireland, pg. 82 In the aftermath of the election Anne Hutchinson was put on trial and eventually banished from the colony. Many of her followers seriously considered leaving after the election. At the urging of Roger Williams, some of these people, including Hutchinson, founded the settlement of Portsmouth on Aquidneck Island in the Narragansett Bay (later named Rhode Island and joined to Providence to form the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations). Vane decided to return to England. Biographer Henry Ireland argued in 1905, "Had he remained in New England, his enlightened mind and humane spirit would have held the Puritans back from the executions of witches and persecutions of other heretics which have added a dark chapter the early history of the States."Ireland, pg. 91 Before his departure, he published A Brief Answer to a Certain Declaration, a response to Winthrop's defence of the Act of Exclusion; this act was passed after the election to restrict the immigration of people with views not conforming to the colony's religious orthodoxy.Adamson and Folland, pg. 104