Robert Venables | |
|---|---|
 Map of Jamaica, captured by Venables during the 1655 Western Design | |
| Governor of Chester | |
| In office April 1660 – July 1660 | |
| Parliamentarian Governor of Liverpool | |
| In office January 1647 – August 1649 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1613 Antrobus, Cheshire |
| Died | 10 December 1687 (aged 73–74) Wincham, Cheshire |
| Military service | |
| Years of service | 1642–1655 |
| Rank | General |
| Battles/wars | |
Robert Venables (c. 1613–1687) was an English soldier from Cheshire, who fought for Parliament in the 1638 to 1651 Wars of the Three Kingdoms, and later served under the Commonwealth of England.
When the Anglo-Spanish War began in 1654, he was made joint commander of an expedition against Spanish possessions in the West Indies, known as the Western Design. Although he captured Jamaica, which remained a British colony for over 300 years, the project was considered a failure, ending his military career.
Appointed Governor of Chester shortly before the 1660 Stuart Restoration, he was replaced by the new regime and returned to private life. In 1662 published a treatise on fishing, The Experienced Angler, which went through five editions in his lifetime. Arrested but released without charge after the Farnley Wood Plot in 1663, in 1668 he purchased an estate at Wincham in Cheshire, where he lived quietly until his death in 1687.