| Colchester.uk.com | The History of Colchester 1601-1650 |
| Year | Events |
| 1601 | |
| 1602 | |
| 1603 | December 10: William Gilbert dies |
| 1604 | |
| 1605 | |
| 1606 | |
| 1607 | |
| 1608 | |
| 1609 | |
| 1610 | St. Mary Magdalen's hospital refounded as The College or Hospital of King James almshouse |
| 1611 | |
| 1612 | |
| 1613 | |
| 1614 | |
| 1615 | |
| 1616 | |
| 1617 | |
| 1618 | |
| 1619 | |
| 1620 | |
| 1621 | |
| 1622 | |
| 1623 | Act passed for paving all the town's streets, lanes and highways, although some had been paved much earlier |
| 1624 | |
| 1625 | Catholics imprisoned in the castle for making "seditious speeches" |
| 1626 | |
| 1627 | |
| 1628 | Samuel Harsnett becomes Archbishop of York |
| 1629 | |
| 1630 | |
| 1631 | Archbishop Harsnett bequeaths his library to the town, (now housed at the University of Essex), 1630/1631 |
| 1632 | |
| 1633 | |
| 1634 | |
| 1635 | New Charter granted by Charles I allows the appointment of a mayor instead of two bailiffs |
| 1636 | |
| 1637 | |
| 1638 | Maria de Medici, widow of Henri IV of France and mother-in-law of Charles I, stops in Colchester |
| 1639 | |
| 1640 | |
| 1641 | |
| 1642 | £1500 spent in repairing the town walls; townspeople prevent Royalist supporters from joining Charles I
First reference to the independent church (1641/1642) |
| 1643 | Royalist prisoners held at the castle after Cromwell's capture of Croyland in Lincolnshire |
| 1644 | Outbreak of plague and protests against witches |
| 1645 | Puritan sect claims that the Day of Judgment is imminent |
| 1646 | |
| 1647 | |
| 1648 | June 12: Royalist army of 4,000 from Kent, joined by Sir Charles Lucas and Sir George Lisle, arrives outside Colchester
Parliamentary army under Sir Thomas Fairfax arrives and lays siege August 28: Lucas and Lisle executed behind the castle; a third Royalist commander, Sir Barnaby Gascoigne was spared Publication of Colchester's Teares, an account of the siege "Faithfuily Collected, Drawn Out into a Moderate Relation and Debate, Humbly Presented to All Free-Born Englishmen" |
| 1649 | Demolition of Castle buildings begun by their owner, Charles Stanhope |
| 1650 | |
| The History of Colchester : 1501-1550 : 1551-1600 :: 1651-1700 : 1701-1750 | |