Edward Whalley - Withdrawal To The Colonies

Withdrawal To The Colonies

At the Restoration, Whalley, with his son-in-law, General William Goffe, escaped to North America, and landed at Boston on 27 July 1660, where they were well received by Governor John Endecott and visited by the principal persons of the town. They went about quite openly, and chose to live in Cambridge, just across the river. It is not clear why the two men decided to settle in Cambridge. An Edward Goffe was a resident, but there is no evidence that William Goffe was related. It seems more likely that they came to Cambridge because of their close ties with Captain Daniel Gookin. Gookin was one of the town's most active citizens; among many other roles, he was a selectman and a long-time Governor's Assistant. He was much involved in military matters and had been elected Captain of the Cambridge military company. He was trusted by Oliver Cromwell and selected by him to assist in transplanting a colony from New England to Jamaica. He visited England twice; on his second voyage back to the colonies, Whalley and Goffe were fellow passengers and may have stayed with him during their time in Cambridge. Later, Gookin appears to have managed the local holdings of the two regicides.

By February 1661, the Governor seems to have had second thoughts about welcoming the regicides so warmly and on the 22nd summoned a court of assistants to discuss their arrest, but the court would not agree to such action. Whalley and Goffe decided they were no longer safe in Cambridge and left on the 26th. Within a few days, orders arrived from England for their arrest.

The two fled for New Haven, Connecticut when their safety was compromised, where John Dixwell, also condemned as a regicide, was living under an assumed name. They were housed by Rev. John Davenport. After a reward was offered for their arrest, they pretended to flee to New York, but instead returned by a roundabout way to New Haven. In May, the Royal order for their arrest reached Boston, and was sent by the Governor to William Leete, Governor of the New Haven Colony, residing at Guilford. Leete delayed the King's messengers, allowing Goffe and Whalley to disappear. They spent much of the summer in Judges' Cave at West Rock. Whalley left New Haven for Hadley, Massachusetts. In Hadley he (some sources say both men journeyed to Hadley) found shelter in the home of Reverend John Russell, who had grown up in Cambridge and graduated from Harvard College in 1645. Every attempt by the English government to procure his arrest failed. He was alive, but in poor health, in 1674, and probably did not live long afterwards.