The
other Cromwell would have been Richard, the third son of Oliver.
It stands to reason that the same thoughts that applied to the
father apply to the son in my conclusions regarding Caldwell and
Cromwell.
From
Britannia:
"Richard
was the third son of the Lord Protector, Oliver Cromwell. Born
on the 4th October 1626, he served in the Parliamentary Army in
his younger days, being admitted as a member of Lincoln's Inn
in 1647. Upon his marriage to Dorothy Major, the daughter of a
country squire from Hursley in Hampshire, he turned to the life
of a gentleman farmer, representing Hampshire (1654) and then
Cambridge University in Parliament (Nov. 1655 & 1656).
Richard
was not brought forward into public life until the deaths of his
elder brothers and the establishment of the second Protectorate
in 1657. He succeeded his father as Chancellor of Oxford University
and was made a member of the Council of State. He also received
his own regiment and a seat in the House of Lords. Eventually,
on his deathbed, Cromwell Senior nominated Richard as his successor.
On
3rd September 1658, Richard Cromwell was proclaimed Lord Protector
of the Realm. His appointment, however, was resented by the military
officers on the council who showed open animosity towards their
civil counterparts. In order to raise money and settle such differences,
Richard was forced to dissolve the Protectorate and reinstate
the Rump Parliament in January 1659.
Anarchy
ensued: bitter arguments between the men of substance and the
military resulted in a break-away Army Council which took Richard
into their power and forced him to dissolve the Rump in May. The
Army Council then agreed with a reassembled Long Parliament on
the Lord Protector's dismissal. Richard, passive throughout, submitted
to Parliament's decision on 25th May 1659.
Many
of the nobility, middle class tradesmen and army were disgusted
with rule by force, while the generals found it impossible to
unite behind a single policy. General Monck then became the chief
mover behind a push to restore the monarchy. He marched his troops
to London in support of the Rump, breaking the stalemate and reinstating
the Rump for a third time. Monck entered London in February 1660
and opened the doors of Parliament in the following April to those
members that were barred ten years earlier. The House of Commons
set up a monarchistic Council of State authorized to invite Charles
II to take the crown. The Long Parliament finally dissolved itself
following these actions and a Stuart once again sat on the throne.
Richard
found it wise to leave England's shores in the Summer of 1660.
He lived in France under the name of John Clarke for many years,
before moving on Spain, Italy or possibly Switzerland. He was
only finally allowed to return home, without recriminations in
1680. He paid ten shillings a week for lodgings at the house of
one Sergeant Pengelly at Cheshunt near his Hertfordshire estate.
It is said that, in old age dressed in his poor farmer's clothes,
he once saw Queen Anne sitting on the very throne that he himself
had once graced. No-one suspected the old farmer of ever having
occupied such a high position. He died on 12th July 1712 at the
age of eighty-five and was buried in the chancel of Hursley Parish
Church.
<<<<
Back | Gustave Anjou >>>>
( 1 | 2
| 3 | 4
| 5 | 6
| 7 | 8
| 9 | 10
)
Sources:
Sean
Purdy; Battle of Dunbar: Cromwell's Masterstroke
Basil P. Briguglio, Jr.; The Cromwellian Conquest of Ireland
Encyclopedia Britanica
Britiannia
The Cromwell Association
The Cromwell Museum, Huntingdon
Recommended
Reading:
- Cromwell
Against the Scots: The Last Anglo-Scottish War, 1650-1652, by
John D. Grainger
- The
New Model Army in England, Ireland and Scotland, by I. Gentles
- All
the King's Armies, by Stuart Reid
- Hell
or Connaught, by Peter Ellis
- Cromwell,
by Maurice Ashley
- The
Good Old Cause, edited by Christopher Hill
- Siege
and Slaughter at Dgrogheda,by Barry M. Taylor
- Cromwell's
Place in History, by S.R. Gardiner
- Oliver
Cromwell, by S.R. Gardinerby
- Cromwell,
Our Chief of Men, by A. Fraser