[3] Due to his staunch royalist and Roman Catholic views, Sherburne was removed as Clerk of the Ordnance by order of the House of Lords at the outbreak of the civil war.
Now living in near poverty—due to the seizure of his estate and considerable library—he obtained the acquaintance of several notable literary figures of the day, including his kinsman the author Thomas Stanley, the dramatist James Shirley, and latterly of the collector and naturalist Sir Hans Sloane.
The latter contained a dedication to the 'King of Sorrows' Charles I, then captive on the Isle of Wight, who may detect "a glympse of Your own invincible Patience and inimitable Magnanimity; in bearing and ever-mastering Mis-fortunes" carefully omitting the continuing line "being a Stoicall Exhortation to the Anticipation of Death".
[1] Following the execution of the king in January 1649, Sherburne moved from London, along with Thomas Stanley, staying at the country homes of the latter's relations in Cumberlow Green, Hertfordshire and Flower, Northamptonshire.
Sherburne was then enlisted as a tutor to the young Sir George Savile (later the Marquess of Halifax), and was linked at this time with the steward (of the same name) of Rufford Abbey who was involved in the Penruddock uprising.