The Knights of the Royal Oak was an intended order of chivalry in England. It was proposed in 1660 at the time of the restoration of Charles II of England to be a reward for those Englishmen who had faithfully and actively supported Charles during his nine years of exile in continental Europe. Members of the order were to be called "Knights of the Royal Oak", and bestowed with a silver medal, on a ribbon, depicting the king in the Royal oak tree. This was in reference to the oak tree at Boscobel House, then called the "Oak of Boscobel", in which Charles II hid to escape the Roundheads after the Battle of Worcester in 1651. Men were selected from all the counties of England and Wales, with the number from each county being in proportion to the population. William Dugdale in 1681 noted 687 names, each with a valuation of their estate in pounds per year. The estates of 18 men were valued at more than £3,000 per year. The names of the recipients are also listed in the baronetages, published in five volumes, 1741. Henry Cromwell-Williams, a zealous royalist and first cousin once removed to Oliver Cromwell, was one of the men proposed to be one of these knights. The order was never established, abandoned out of concerns at the time that it might perpetuate dissension and keep alive the differences between Parliament and the King, which were better left forgotten: "'...it being wisely judged,' says Noble, in his 'Memoirs of the Cromwell family', 'that the order was calculated only to keep awake animosities, which it was the part of wisdom to lull to sleep.'" Instead of individual honours being made, 29 May, Charles' birthday, was set aside as Oak Apple Day (Restoration Day) to commemorate the Restoration. Celebration was made by the wearing of oak leaves in the hat; oak apples gilded, with a few leaves surrounding them, were sold in the streets of London. The statue of Charles I of England, at Charing Cross, was also decorated with branches of oak on this day. The day is still observed in parts of England today. The modern organisation styling itself "Knights of the Royal Oak Society" is not legally recognised as one of the chivalric orders of the United Kingdom.

Knights of the Royal Oak, intended recipients

Bedfordshire

Berkshire

Buckinghamshire

Cambridgeshire

Cheshire

Cornwall

Cumberland

Devon

Dorset

Durham

Essex

Gloucestershire

Hampshire

Herefordshire

Hertfordshire

Huntingdonshire

Kent

Lancashire

Leicestershire

Lincolnshire

London and Middlesex

Norfolk

Northamptonshire

Northumberland

Nottinghamshire

Oxfordshire

Rutland

Shropshire

Somerset

Staffordshire

Suffolk

Surrey

Warwickshire

Westmorland

Wiltshire

Worcestershire

Yorkshire

Wales

Anglesey Brecknockshire Cardiganshire Carmarthenshire Caernarvonshire Denbighshire Flintshire Glamorganshire Merionethshire Monmouthshire Montgomeryshire Pembrokeshire Radnorshire

Footnotes