Overton's later history is obscure. He was again in prison in December 1659, and his arrest was ordered on 22 Oct. 1663, apparently for printing something against the government of Charles II (Commons' Journals, vii. 800; Cal. State Papers, Dom. 1663–4, p. 311).
It is difficult to give a complete list of Overton's works, as many are anonymous. The chief are the following: 1. ‘New Lambeth Fair newly Consecrated, wherein all Rome's Relics are set at sale’ (a satire in verse), 1642. 2. ‘Articles of High Treason exhibited against Cheapside Cross, with the last Will and Testament of the said Cross’ (a satire in verse), 1642. 3. ‘Man's Mortality,’ Amsterdam, 1643; a second and enlarged edition was published in 1655, in 8vo, entitled ‘Man wholly Mortal.’ 4. ‘The Arraignment of Mr. Persecution … by Reverend young Martin Marpriest,’ 1645. 5. ‘A Sacred Synodical Decretal for the Apprehension of Martin Marpriest,’ 1645. 6. ‘Martin's Echo; or a Remonstrance from his Holiness, Master Marpriest’ [about 1645]. 7. ‘An Alarum to the House of Lords,’ 1646. 8. ‘A Defence against all arbitrary Usurpations, either of the House of Lords or any other,’ 1646. 9. ‘An Arrow against all Tyrants or Tyranny,’ 1646. 10. ‘The Commoners' Complaint,’ 1646. 11. ‘The Outcries of oppressed Commons’ (by Lilburne and Overton jointly), 1647. 12. ‘An Appeal from the Degenerate Representative Body, the Commons of England, assembled at Westminster, to the … Free People in general, and especially to his Excellency, Sir Thomas Fairfax,’ 1647. 13. ‘The Copy of a Letter written to the General from Lieutenant-colonel Lilburne and Mr. Overton on behalf of Mr. Lockyer,’ 1649. 14. ‘A Picture of the Council of State’ (by Overton and three others), 1649. 15. ‘A Manifestation of Lieutenant-colonel Lilburne and Mr. Overton, &c.,’ 1649. 16. ‘An Agreement of the Free People of England tendered as a Peace-offering to this distressed Nation, by Lieutenant-colonel Lilburne, Mr. Overton, &c.,’ 1649. 17. ‘Overton's Defiance of Act of Pardon,’ 1649. 18. ‘The Baiting of the Great Bull of Bashan,’ 1649. There are also a number of petitions addressed by Overton to the two houses of parliament.
[Brit. Mus. Cat.; authorities cited in the article.]
OVERTON, ROBERT (fl. 1640–1668), soldier, son of John Overton of Easington in Holderness, Yorkshire, born about 1609, was admitted to Gray's Inn on 1 Nov. 1631 (Poulson, Holderness, ii. 377; Foster, Gray's Inn Register, p. 194). At the beginning of the civil war he took up arms for the parliament, served under the Fairfaxes, and distinguished himself in the defence of Hull and at the battle of Marston Moor (Ludlow, Memoirs, ed. 1698, i. 78; Milton, Works, ed. Bohn, i. 293). In August 1645, when parliament made Sir Thomas Fairfax [see Fairfax, Thomas, third Lord Fairfax] governor of Pontefract, he appointed Colonel Overton his deputy. In September Overton reduced Sandal Castle (Report on the Portland MSS. i. 279). Ferdinando lord Fairfax [q. v.] urged his son to find a command for Overton in the regular army (23 March 1647), but Sir Thomas, while expressing his desire ‘to bring so deserving a man into the army,’ was not able to do so till the summer of 1647. About July 1647 Overton succeeded to the command of the foot regiment late Colonel Herbert's, and shortly afterwards became also governor of Hull. In June 1648 the mayor and corporation of Hull petitioned for his removal; but Fairfax strongly supported him, and he was also backed by a section of the townsmen (Portland MSS. i. 468, 478; Rushworth, vii. 1021). In the second civil war Overton's regiment fought under Cromwell in Wales and in the north, while its colonel guarded Hull, and drove the cavaliers out of the Isle of Axholme.
Overton took no part in the king's trial, but thoroughly approved of that measure. As early as February 1648 he had expressed the view that it would be a happy thing if God would please to dispossess the king ‘of three transitory kingdoms to infeoff him in an eternal one’ (Fairfax Correspondence, iii. 11). Both his regiment and the garrison of Hull sent addresses in support of the army leaders; but Overton clearly disagreed on several points with the policy of the new government (A Declaration of the Garrison of Hull, 4to, 1649). In 1650 Overton accompanied Cromwell to Scotland, commanded a brigade of foot at the battle of Dunbar, and was made governor of Edinburgh after its occupation by Cromwell (September 1650; Nickolls, Letters and Papers of State addressed to Cromwell, 1743, fol. p. 24; Carlyle, Cromwell, letter cxl.) His regiment formed part of the force sent over to Fife in July 1651, and he commanded the reserve at the victory of Inverkeithing (ib. letter clxxv.; Heath, Chronicle, pp. 505, 539). Remaining with Monck in Scotland when Cromwell followed Charles II into England, Overton helped to complete the subjugation of Scotland, and commanded an expedition which reduced and garrisoned the Orkneys (Tanner MSS. Bodleian Library, lv. 170). On 14 May 1652 parliament voted him 400l. a year inScottish
