Who was Oliver Cromwell?
Statesman, military commander and Lord Protector.
Date and Place of Birth:
25th April 1599. Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire,
England.
Family Background:
Son and one of ten children of Robert Cromwell
and Elizabeth Steward. Seven survived childhood of which Oliver
was the only boy. His mother had inherited money from her first
husband a brewer. His father was the second son of minor gentry.
Education:
Huntingdon Grammar School. Sydney Sussex College,
Cambridge University. Studied law in London.
Chronology/Biography
of Oliver Cromwell:
1603: Death of Queen
Elizabeth the First.
1617: Death of his
father in June. Returns home from Cambridge University.
1621: Birth of first
son Robert.
1623: Birth of son
Oliver.
1624: Birth of Daughter
Bridget.
1625: Death of King
James the First and accession of Charles the First.
1626: (4th October).
Birth of his third son Richard, who was later to become the second
Lord Protector of England, Scotland and Ireland, for eight months,
from September 1658 until May 1659. Richard Cromwell was known colloquially
as Tumbledown Dick and Queen Dick.
1628: (March) Enters
the House of Commons as Member of Parliament for Huntingdon. (May)
"The Petition of Right" is presented to the King which
sought to forbid arrests of subjects without trial and remove arbitrary
taxation.
1629: (March) Dissolution
of Parliament by King Charles. Cromwell returns home.
1631: Moves his
family to St. Ives, Cambridgeshire to become a farmer.
1636: Moves his
family to Ely.
Cromwell Museum, Ely, Cambridgeshire
(© Anthony Blagg)
1637: The impoverished
King imposes Ship Money tax on goods imported or exported by sea.
1640: (April) King
calls up the "Short Parliament" to call for new taxes.
Cromwell represents Cambridge as their M.P. Parliament is dissolved
due to disagreements but is called up again in November and becomes
known as the "Long Parliament".
1641: (October)
Massacres take place after a rising in Ireland. 27th November Parliament
sends the "Grand Remonstrance" to the King which is a
list of all its grievances.
1642: (January)
Five Members of Parliament escape when the King tries to have them
arrested. 22nd August. The King leaves London, which is pro parliament,
and hoists his standard at Nottingham. 23rd October. The Battle
of Edgehill is fought near Kineton in Warwickshire, as the first
battle of the English Civil War. Both sides claim victory.
1643: Cromwell made
the Governor of the Isle of Ely.
1644: Cromwell made
Lieutenant -General. His son Oliver dies. 2nd July Battle of Marston
Moor. 27th October. Second Battle of Newbury. 9th December. Despite
the "Self Denying Ordnance" being adopted stating that
no M.P. can fight in the army Cromwell is allowed to continue his
military role.
1645: 14th June.
Battle of Naseby.
1646. 27th April
the King escapes to the Scottish forces at Newark and the Parliamentarians
march on his temporary capital Oxford, which surrenders on 4th June.
1647: The King is
seized at Holdenby House by a member of the Parliamentarian forces.
6th August. The Parliamentarian army marches into London. 28th October.
Army debates political and religious issues in St. Mary's Church,
Putney. 11th November. The King escapes ending up in Carrisbrooke
Castle on the Isle of Wight.
1648: Start of the
Second Civil War. 3rd May. Cromwell goes to Wales and beseiges Pembroke
Castle. 17th August. Battle of Preston. October. Cromwell lays siege
to Pontefract Castle in Yorkshire. 6th December. "Pride's Purge".
Only Members of Parliament who are loyal to the hard liners are
allowed to vote by Colonel Pride's men, the others are locked outside
the Chamber. Cromwell returns to London on the same evening but
has been kept informed of events all along.
1649: 20th January
Trial of King Charles opens. He declares it illegal. Sentence is
eventually passed on the King and he is executed on 30th January
by beheading outside the Banqueting Hall of the Palace of Whitehall
in London. May. Cromwell puts down a mutiny of a group of Levellers
at Burford. 15th August. Takes a force to Ireland to put down rebellion.
1650: 26th May.
Returns to England. June. leaves for Scotland. 3rd September. The
Battle of Dunbar.
1651: 3rd September.
The Battle of Worcester. King Charles's son, Charles (later to become
King Charles the Second) tries unsuccessfully to win back the throne
.
1652: April. Anglo-Dutch
War.
1653: 20th April.
Dissolution of them "Long Parliament". This is succeeded
by the "Barebones Parliament" i.e. one where members are
nominated by the authorities. 16th December. Cromwell is chosen
as Protector.
1654: April. Makes
peace with the Dutch. September. Cromwell's first parliament and
the death of his mother. December. Sends an expedition to the West
Indies.
1655: 22nd January.
Dissolution of parliament. May. Seizure of Jamaica.
1656: 17th September.
Second Parliament.
1657: The Sindercombe
Plot to assassinate him fails. 23rd March. Anglo-French treaty is
signed authorising an attack on the Spanish Netherlands. March.
Cromwell is offered the Kingship but declines eventually in May.
26th June. Is installed as Lord Protector.
Cromwell House, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire
(© Anthony Blagg)
1658: 4th February.
Dissolution of the second parliament. 4th June. Anglo-French forces
defeat the Spanish at the Battle of the Dunes. As a result England
acquires Dunkirk.
Marriage:
22nd August 1620 to Elizabeth Bourchier at St.
Giles, Cripplegate, London.
Places of Interest:
LONDON:
Statue of Cromwell outside the present Houses
of Parliament. Erected overnight in 1899 to avoid controversy and
paid for by Lord Rosebery as public subscription was not forthcoming.
Cromwell Statue outside the House of Parliament
(© Anthony Blagg)
CAMBRIDGESHIRE:
Cromwell Museum, Huntingdon.
Cromwell House, Ely.
Date and Place of Death:
3rd September 1658. London, England.
Age at Death:
59.
Site of Grave:
Originally the Eastern Chapel of Westminster
Abbey, London however the body was exhumed in 1661 as a Regicide
and hung and decapitated from the gallows at Tyburn Hill. (Modern
day Marble Arch, London). There was a rumour that his remains were
later taken by his third daughter and interred in tomb at her home,
Newburgh Priory, Coxwold, North Yorkshire.
