a voluntary sacrifice". In October 1663 Hutchinson was arrested on suspicion of being concerned in what was known as the Farnley Wood Plot. The evidence against him was far from conclusive, but the government appears to have been eager to seize the opportunity of imprisoning him. Imprisonment restored Hutchinson's peace of mind. He regarded it as freeing him from his former obligations to the government, and refused to purchase his release by fresh engagements. During his confinement in the Tower of London, he was treated with great severity by the governor, Sir John Robinson, and threatened in return to publish an account of his malpractices and extortions. He even succeeded in getting printed a narrative of his own arrest and usage in the Tower, which is stated on the title page to be "written by himself on the 6th of April 1664, having then received intimation that he was to be sent away to another prison, and therefore he thought fit to print this for the satisfying his relations and friends of his innocence". A warrant for Hutchinson's transportation to the Isle of Man was prepared in April 1664, but he was finally transferred to Sandown Castle in Kent on 3 May 1664. The castle was ruinous and unhealthy, and he died of a fever four months after his removal to it on 11 September 1664. His wife obtained permission to bury his body at St Margaret's Church, Owthorpe. Assessment In the opinion of the historian C. H. Firth that Hutchinson's defence of Nottingham was a service of great value to the parliamentary cause, but his subsequent career in Parliament and the Council of State shows no sign of political ability. His fame rests on his wife (Lucy Hutchinson's) detailed biography of his life and commemoration of his character, not on his own achievements. Family He was married to Lucy, daughter of Sir Allen Apsley, Lord Lieutenant of the Tower of London. John and Lucy had 9 children, including John and Barbara. His wife was the author of his biography Memoirs of the life of colonel Hutchinson. Although the book was not published until several years after her death, she had known many of the people in that conflict and was in an ideal position to chronicle the events of the war. Notes References Hutchinson, Lucy, b. 1620; Hutchinson, Julius; Halsall, Edward; Chisenhale, Edward, d. 1654, Memoirs of the life