Thekinghehadexecutednineyearspreviouslyhad a sonwhowaslivinginexile, whothenpromptlyreturnedtoEnglandshortlyafterCromwell's deathtotakethecountryrightbackover.
However, sometimeearlyinhisreignbetween 16 85 and 16 88 it's believedthat a greatstormhitLondonthatBlueCromwell's headoffthatspikeandintothestreetsofLondon.
It's notentirelyclearwhathappenedtoCromwell's headfor a fewyearsuntilitshowedupagaininthemid 17 hundredsinthepossessionof a mannamedSamuelRussellAh, failedcomedianandwellknownpublicdrunkard, allegedlyRussellwas a distantrelativeofCromwell's, andit's theorizedthathemayhavepurchasedtheheadfromthemuseumafterduPoisdeath.
Russellwouldbringoutthedisembodiedheadof a manwhoonceruledtheBritishIsleswithabsoluteauthorityandpasseditaroundtoeverybodylikeitwasaninflatablebeachballat a concerton.
Butapparentlybuyingaheadfor £5600 turnedinto a worthwhileinvestmentforJamesCoxbecausehesoldit a fewyearslaterin 17 99 for £7400 intoday's moneyto a groupofthreebrotherswhowantedtousetheheadintheirnewLondonexhibitionofcuriosities.
Eventually, in 18 15, thedaughtersolditprivatelyforanundisclosedamountto a guynamedJosiahHenryWilkinson, whowanteditforsomereasonandwhobeganthetraditionofkeepingtheCromwellheadas a familyheirloomforthenext 1.5 centuries.
Thishorse, Wilkinsonfinallydecidedtodowhatnobodyelsehaddonewiththeheadinthepast 300 years.
この馬、ウィルキンソンは、過去300年の間に誰も頭を使わなかったことを、ついにやることにした。
Heburieditandputittorest.
彼はそれを埋めて安置した。
Andso, onthe 25thofMarch, 1960 in a secretlocationatSidneySussexCollege, theheadwasfinallyplacedinto a boxandburiedafter a journeythatspanned 299 yearssince 16 61 whenCromwell's headwasfirstloppedoffofhisalreadydeadbodythatsawaneccentriccastofownerstossingtheheadfromonepersontothenext.