Later Sir George Boncle’s Regiment of Horse, then Colonel Sebastian Boncle’s Regiment of Horse
Royalist regiment of horse serving as part of the Oxford army and as garrison of Oxford
The regiment was raised in late 1642, after Edgehill. Sir Arthur Aston was appointed governor of Reading, his horse regiment formed part of the garrison, besieged by Essex’s army Reading was surrendered by Fielding after Aston’s incapacitation. The regiment were then based in Oxford, participating in the Oxford Army’s summer campaign. In 1644 they remained at Oxford, where Aston was governor, though were drawn out for occasional raids. In 1645, under the command of Sir George Boncle the regiment fought at Naseby. Sir George was captured and his brother Sebastian Boncle took over. Their later service is obscure; perhaps they remained as part of the Oxford garrison.
The regiment was noted as carrying four black cornets with black and white fringes, noted by Symmonds in April 1644. The colonel’s cornet was black, the others differenced by white crosses of the ‘cross potent’ variety. Appropriately, the cross potent is made of heraldic ‘crutches’. The design is shown in the Flag Illustration above.
In December 1642 six firelock carbines were issued to the regiment, though four 'wanted firelocks'.
A list of the regiment's officers is shown in Officers and Regiments of the Royalist Army by Stuart Reid (Partizan Press).
Sir Arthur Aston (1590-1649) was a Catholic from Cheshire. Biographies can be found online at BCW, Royal Berkshire History and Wikipedia. He was a professional soldier, fighting for Russia, Poland then for Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden. He fought at Newburn Ford in the Second Bishops’ War under Lord Conway and was knighted in 1640.
At Edgehill Aston was Colonel-General of dragoons, and was later appointed Governor of Reading. Besieged by Essex, he relinquished command after being hit on the head by a roof tile dislodged by cannon-fire and rendered dumb. Some wondered whether this was a cunning ploy to avoid taking personal responsibility for the surrender. He was then appointed Major General to Prince Rupert and in August 1643 Governor of Oxford. Unpopular as Governor due to his severity and short temper, he broke his leg in a riding accident in 1644, gangrene set in and it required amputation, his position passing to Sir Henry Gage on Christmas Day. Clarendon plainly disliked him, opining that “He had the fortune to be very much esteemed where he was not known, and very much detested where he was; and he was at this time too well known at Oxford to be beloved by any.” In 1646 Aston joined Ormond in Ireland and was later appointed Governor of Drogheda. Besieged in 1649 by the New Model Army led by Cromwell, Drogheda was stormed with notoriously little quarter given. Sir Arthur's brains were beaten out with his own wooden leg, which the Parliamentarian soldiers falsely suspected was full of gold coins.
George Boncle was a professional musician from Kent, who by 1640 had risen to Groom of the Bedchamber to Prince Charles. He served as Lieutenant Colonel under Aston and took over the regiment after Aston’s incapacitation in 1644. Captured at Naseby he died of his wounds in prison.
Sebastian Boncle served as Lieutenant Colonel under his brother George. He took over the regiment after Naseby. He later entered military service on the continent, dying abroad in 1651.