Richard Cromwell
Richard Cromwell (4 October 1626 – 12 July 1712) was an English statesman, the second and final Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland and the son of the first Lord Protector, Oliver Cromwell.
For other people named Richard Cromwell, see Richard Cromwell (disambiguation).
Richard Cromwell
4 October 1626
Huntingdon, Huntingdonshire, England
12 July 1712 (aged 85)
Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, England
Robert Cromwell (grandfather)
- Edward Cromwell
(1644–1688)
Elizabeth Cromwell
(1650–1731)
Anne Cromwell
(1651–1652)
Mary Cromwell
(1654)
Oliver Cromwell
(1656–1705)
Dorothy Cromwell
(1657–1658)
Anna Cromwell Gibson
(1659–1727)
Dorothy Cromwell Mortimer
(1660–1681)
- Oliver Cromwell (father)
- Elizabeth Bourchier (mother)
1647
Following his father's death in 1658, Richard became Lord Protector, but he lacked authority. He tried to mediate between the army and civil society, and allowed a Parliament that contained many disaffected Presbyterians and Royalists to sit. Suspicions that civilian councillors were intent on supplanting the army peaked in an attempt to prosecute a major-general for actions against a Royalist. The army made a threatening demonstration of force against Richard, and may have had him in detention. He formally renounced power only nine months after succeeding.
Though a Royalist revolt was crushed by the recalled civil war figure General John Lambert, who subsequently prevented the Rump Parliament from reconvening and created a Committee of Safety, Lambert found his troops melted away in the face of General George Monck's advance from Scotland. Monck then presided over the Restoration of 1660. Cromwell went into exile on the Continent, living in relative obscurity for the remainder of his life. He ultimately returned to his English estate and died thirty years later at the age of 85. Cromwell was the longest-lived British head of state for 3 centuries, until Elizabeth II displaced him at 85 years, 9 months and 9 days in January 2012.
Early years and family[edit]
Cromwell was born in Huntingdon on 4 October 1626, the third son of Oliver Cromwell and his wife Elizabeth. Little is known about his childhood. He and his three brothers were educated at Felsted School in Essex close to their mother's family home.[1] There is no record of his attending university. In May 1647, he became a member of Lincoln's Inn;[1] however, he was not called to the bar subsequently.[2] Instead, in 1647 Cromwell joined the New Model Army as a captain in Viscount Lisle's lifeguard, and later that year was appointed captain in Thomas Fairfax's lifeguard.[2]
In 1649, Cromwell married Dorothy Maijor, daughter of Richard Maijor, a member of the Hampshire gentry.[3] He and his wife then moved to Maijor's estate at Hursley in Hampshire. During the 1650s they had nine children, five of whom survived to adulthood.[4] Cromwell was named a Justice of the Peace for Hampshire and sat on various county committees. During this period, Richard seems to have been a source of concern for his father, who wrote to Richard Maijor saying, "I would have him mind and understand business, read a little history, study the mathematics and cosmography: these are good, with subordination to the things of God. Better than idleness, or mere outward worldly contents. These fit for public services, for which a man is born".
Move into political life[edit]
In 1653, Richard Cromwell was passed over as a member of Barebone's Parliament, although his younger brother Henry was a member of it. Neither was he given any public role when his father was made Lord Protector in the same year; however, he was elected to the First Protectorate Parliament as M.P. for Huntingdon and the Second Protectorate Parliament as M.P. for Cambridge University.[5]
Under the Protectorate's constitution, Oliver Cromwell was required to nominate a successor, and from 1657 he involved Richard much more heavily in the politics of the regime. He was present at the second installation of his father as Lord Protector in June, having played no part in the first installation. In July he was appointed chancellor of Oxford University, and in December was made a member of the Council of State.
Later years (1659–1712)[edit]
During the political difficulties of the winter of 1659, there were rumours that Cromwell was to be recalled as Protector, but these came to nothing. In July 1660, Cromwell left for France, never to see his wife again.[11] While there, he went by a variety of pseudonyms, including John Clarke. He later travelled around Europe, visiting various European courts. As a visiting Englishman, he was once invited to dine with Armand de Bourbon, Prince of Conti, who was unaware of who he was. At dinner, the prince questioned Cromwell about affairs in England and observed, "Well, that Oliver, tho' he was a traitor and a villain, was a brave man, had great parts, great courage, and was worthy to command; but that Richard, that coxcomb and poltroon, was surely the basest fellow alive; what is become of that fool?" Cromwell replied, "He was betrayed by those he most trusted, and who had been most obliged by his father." Cromwell departed from the town the following morning.[12] During this period of voluntary exile, he wrote many letters to his family back in England; these letters are now held by Cambridgeshire Archives and Local Studies at the County Record Office in Huntingdon.
In 1680 or 1681, he returned to England and lodged with the merchant Thomas Pengelly in Cheshunt in Hertfordshire,[1] living off the income from his estate in Hursley. He died on 12 July 1712 at the age of 85.[13] His body was returned to Hursley and interred in a vault beneath All Saints' Parish Church, where a memorial tablet to him has been placed in recent years. He was the longest-lived British head of state for three centuries, exceeding even the long-lived and far longer-reigning George III and Queen Victoria, until Elizabeth II displaced him at 85 years, 9 months and 9 days in January 2012.
Fictional portrayals[edit]
Cromwell has been depicted in historical films. They include Cromwell (1970), where he was portrayed by Anthony May,[14] and To Kill a King (2003), where he was played by John-Paul Macleod.[15] The 1840 historical stage play Master Clarke by Thomas Serle revolves around Cromwell, who was portrayed by William Macready at the Haymarket Theatre.
Cromwell is portrayed in the novel The Last Protector by Andrew Taylor.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the : Firth, C.H. (1888). "Cromwell, Richard". In Stephen, Leslie (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 13. London: Smith, Elder & Co. pp. 186–192.
