by the widow of Sir Edward Hungerford in May 1653 and was ordained at Salisbury in 1654 by the Presbyterians John Strickland rector of Salisbury, Wiltshire and Peter Ince rector of Donhead St Andrew, Wiltshire. He exchanged ministries for Sutton Mandeville, Wiltshire in 1657 in order for his wife to be nearer to her father in Salisbury. He was ejected by the uniformity act in 1662 and became, in 1663, chaplain and tutor in Lady Hungerford's family at Corsham, Wiltshire. He suffered a slight mental disturbance in 1671 and moved as tutor to the family of Thomas Grove of Ferne near Berwick St John, Wiltshire. He developed depression and went to live in the house of Luke Rugeley, M.D. from October 1673 to February 1674 when he was completely recovered. During his life, Thomas Rosewell published two books: An Answer unto Thirty Questions Propounded by the Quakers (1656) and The Causes and Cure of the Pestilence (1665). On 5 May 1674 he was elected as Nonconformist minister at Rotherhithe, Surrey. Tried for treason His fame rests on his sensational trial for high treason in 1684. In a sermon preached on 14 September that year Rosewell allegedly declared that 'we have had two wicked kings now together who have suffered popery to be introduced under their noses...'. He was arrested on 18 September and was tried in Westminster Hall by "Hanging" Judge Jeffries. The charge against him, that of treasonable preaching pointing to the king's death, was absurdly at variance with the whole of his previous character and known opinions. Thomas conducted his own defence and argued over the meaning of the charges written in Latin compared to the English words that he actually used. Evidence against him was tendered by three women of disreputable character, one of whom admitted that she had been paid to collect evidence. It is not clear from their sworn testimony whether they wilfully distorted his words or mistook his meaning. Despite clear counter-evidence presented by numerous witnesses, the jury, directed by Jeffreys, found him guilty of treason for which the penalty would have been death by beheading. However, he was not sentenced. When he came for sentence on 24 November, he argued his exception to the indictment as being deficient in the English interpretation of the original Latin. Jeffries acceded to Thomas's appeal for Counsel to argue a case about the sentence but would not