In 1643, near the start of the English Civil War, Parliament set up two committees: the Sequestration Committee, which confiscated the estates of the Royalists who fought against Parliament, and the Committee for Compounding with Delinquents, which allowed Royalists whose estates had been sequestrated to compound for their estates – pay a fine and recover their estates – on the condition that they must pledge not to take up arms against Parliament again. The size of the fine they had to pay depended on the worth of the estate and how great their support for the Royalist cause had been.[1]
To administer the process of sequestration, a sequestration committee was established in each county. If a local committee sequestrated an estate they usually let it to a tenant and the income was used "to the best advantage of the State".[2] If a "delinquent" wished to recover his estate he had to apply to the Committee for Compounding with Delinquents based in London,[2][a] as the national Sequestration Committee was absorbed by the Committee for Compounding in 1644.[3]
After the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660, most of the sequestrated land was returned to the pre-war owners.[4]
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