Vane (Henry) is born in Debden, England.

The son of the comptroller of King Charles, Henry Vane graduates from Oxford University, arrives in Boston in 1635,* and becomes a supporter of Anne Hutchinson. He serves as governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony (1636), but returns to England on August 3, 1637, joins the forces of Oliver Cromwell during the English Revolution, and, after the restoration of Charles II, becomes the first – and to date only – Massachusetts governor to be beheaded, in London, on June 14, 1662.