He fought alongside a royalist army against the usurpers during the Siege of Colchester and commanded those besieged in the city. He distinguished himself through his bravery.

He was made a prisoner in the Tower of London and stripped of his property. He remained imprisoned in the tower until 1646.

The surname Fletcher belonged to my maternal grandfather and was one that he held very proudly. It is the name I legally adopted as my own surname at age 15. Fletcher is an English surname meaning “arrow maker” that was given to medieval craftsmen who designed and crafted arrows.

In 1646, the king recognized John Aylett’s heroism by adding distinguished symbols to his coat-of-arms—including a canton, the Rose of England and a crest depicting an arm holding a sword.