provided support throughout the trial and gave evidence on his behalf. After he was sentenced to death, Slingsby discussed ways of commuting his sentence with his relative by marriage, Denzil Holles, including arranging his escape from the Tower of London. These proved unsuccessful; prior to his execution, Strafford wrote Slingsby a final letter which ended "...God direct and prosper you in all your ways; and remember there was a person whom you were content to call master that did very much value and esteem you and carried to his death a great stock of his affections for you". Slingsby went into exile in the Netherlands and in February 1642 joined the retinue of Queen Henrietta Maria, who was purchasing arms and raising support for the Royalist war effort. She appointed him secretary to the 12-year-old Prince of Wales, but when the First English Civil War began in August 1642, he returned to his estates in Hemlington, now part of Middlesbrough, where he began recruiting for Charles I. Of his younger brothers, Robert was one of the few naval captains not to join the Parliamentarians, and was held in the Tower until December 1643 before being released. Walter spent most of the war in the West Country, and surrendered at Oxford in June 1646. Like many officers in the early stages of the war, Slingsby lacked military experience but brought with him mercenaries hired in Holland, which he used to train his recruits. By mid-January, he had around 100 cavalry and 400 infantry based in Guisborough, which were used to protect Royalist arms shipments arriving from Europe. On 15 January, the Earl of Newcastle, Royalist commander in the north, ordered him to occupy Whitby; hearing this, Sir Hugh Cholmeley, Parliamentarian commander in Scarborough, moved on to intercept him. On 16 January, he arrived outside Guisborough with about 400 men; the Royalists advanced to meet the attack and held their ground for two hours before the half-trained infantry broke in panic. Casualties on both sides were minimal, Cholmeley claiming only two men slightly injured; however, Slingsby was badly wounded and taken prisoner. He died on 19 January from his wounds and was buried in York Minster on 26th. Cholmeley, who was distantly related to Slingsby, changed sides several weeks later and held Scarborough for the Royalists until forced to surrender in July 1645. References Sources 1610 births 1643 deaths Alumni of the