Oliver Cromwell KB (1563 - 1655)

Born 25 Apr 1563 in Huntingdon, Huntingdonshire, England

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 28 Aug 1655 at age 92 in Ramsey, Huntingdonshire, England

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He was not THE Oliver Cromwell, but the uncle of the famous Lord Protector of England. However, he was Sir Oliver Cromwell, who opposed his nephew Oliver during the English Civil War and remained a Royalist.

Biography

Oliver Cromwell KB was born in Huntingdonshire, England.

Oliver Cromwell KB is Notable.

Oliver Cromwell was the eldest son of Henry Cromwell and his first wife Joan Warren^[1][2][3][4]. He was born somewhere between 1562 and 1564 in Huntingdonshire, there is no confirmed record of an exact date^[4].

Oliver matriculated at Queens' College, Cambridge at Lent 1579 and was admitted at Lincoln's Inn on 12 May 1582. He used the manor house in Godmanchester as his principal residence until the death of his father in 1604^[3][4]. Hence, he is often referred to as Oliver Cromwell of Godmanchester (pronounced Gumster).

On 22 January 1584 he married Elizabeth Bromley the daughter of Thomas Bromley, Lord Chancellor, of Hodnet, Shropshire. Their eldest child, named Henry (after his grandfather), was born in 1586. They went on to have 9 children together, four sons and five daughters^[1].

Cromwell held a number of local offices: In 1585 he was captain of musters for Huntingdonshire and at the time of the Spanish Armada he was in charge of the men raised in Huntingdonshire^[4]. He was recorder of Huntingdon in 1596^[4]. He was Sheriff of Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire from 1598 to 1599^[4] and while Sheriff, in 1598, Queen Elizabeth may have dubbed him a knight bachelor^[4].

Oliver Cromwell as a young man

He was a J.P. from about 1585 but was removed in 1587, when there was one of the periodic purges of justices^[4]. In 1594 he was restored to his position as J.P.; as the online History of Parliament observes: "It was felt that in a county as small as Huntingdonshire, the custom by which only one member of a family could be a justice was inapplicable — particularly in the case of the owners of Hinchingbrooke."

Cromwell was first elected Member of Parliament for Huntingdonshire in 1589. He was re-elected to each Parliament up to and including the Addled Parliament of 1614 (that is, in 1593, 1597, 1601, 1604, and 1614). In 1621, the seat was occupied by Richard Beavill, but Sir Oliver stood for and was elected to the Happy Parliament of 1624, and its successor, the Useless Parliament of 1625, after the dissolution at King James' death^[4].

In 1600, Elizabeth died and was buried in Huntingdon^[1]. Sir Oliver remarried to one of the richest heiresses in England, Anne Palavicino, widow of the diplomat and moneylender, Sir Horatio Palavicino. To completely secure the Palavicino inheritance, Sir Oliver married three of his children from his first marriage to the three surviving children of Sir Horatio. Meanwhile, he and Anne had three children together^[1].

Hinchingbrooke House

He entertained King James at Hinchingbrooke on 27 April 1603, when the King was travelling south to occupy the English throne^[3]. Cromwell's presents to the King included "a cup of gold, goodly horses, deep-mouthed hounds, and divers hawks of excellent wing" and a some of the heads of Cambridge University came dressed in scarlet gowns and corner caps to present a Latin oration. It was described as "the greatest feast that had ever been given to a king by a subject". In gratitude King James conferred the Knight of the Bath ^[5] upon Cromwell at his coronation on 24 July 1603^[6]. He became attorney to Queen Anne of Denmark and a gentleman of the privy chamber.

On 6 January 1604, his father died and Sir Oliver succeeded to Hinchingbrooke and the family estates. In about 1605 he also succeeded to his father's office, Custos Rotulorum (Keeper of the Rolls) of Huntingdonshire^[4].

His name appears on The Second Charter of Virginia; May 23, 1609.

King James was frequently at Hinchingbrooke, apparently treating the place as his own - in 1614 he appointed a keeper of the wardrobe there^[3]. By 1623 Sir Oliver was trying to sell Hinchingbrooke to the King, to pay off his vast debts, but the death of James I in March 1625 ended the negotiations on Hinchingbrooke, which was finally sold on 20 June 1627 to Sir Sidney Montagu. Other estates had been sold to meet debts contracted to London moneylenders and he was left only with the property at Ramsey Abbey.

Ramsey Abbey House north facade incorporating fragments of the original house and abbey

Sir Oliver remained loyal to the crown at the outbreak of the English Civil War^[3]. His nephew and godson Oliver Cromwell was sent by parliament to the house at Ramsey to search for arms which could possibly be sent to the King at York. The younger Cromwell is said to have stood head uncovered in the presence of his uncle. Later the Ramsey estates were sequestered but were restored to him on 18 April 1648 through the influence of his nephew who became the Lord Protector.

Sir Oliver Cromwell died during his nephew's Protectorate in 1655 and was buried in St Thomas à Becket Church in Ramsey on 28 August^[7].

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3} A Short Genealogical View of the Family of Oliver Cromwell. To which is Prefixed, a Copious Pedigree, Volume 2; J. Nichols, 1785; page 3; https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=VXJbAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA4&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=4#v=onepage&q&f=false
2. ↑ The visitation of the county of Huntingdon, under the authority of William Camden, Clareneaux king of arms, by his deputy, Nicholas Charles, Lancaster herald, A. D. MDCXIII; by Charles, Nicholas, d. 1613; College of Arms (Great Britain); Ellis, Henry, Sir, 1777-1869; Camden, William, 1551-1623; https://archive.org/details/visitationofcoun00charrich/page/80/mode/2up/search/Cromwell
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4} Page, William; Proby, Granville; Ladds, S. Inskip, eds. (1932). "The borough of Huntingdon: Introduction, castle and borough". A History of the County of Huntingdon; VCH vol. 2. pp. 121–139.
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 4.9} CROMWELL, Oliver (?1566-1655), of Godmanchester and Hinchingbrooke, Hunts.; Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1558-1603, ed. P.W. Hasler, 1981 http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1558-1603/member/cromwell-oliver-1566-1655
5. ↑ "CROMWELL, Sir Oliver (1562/6-1655), of Hinchingbrooke House and Ramsey Abbey, Hunts. Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1604-1629, ed. Andrew Thrush and John P. Ferris, 2010. Available from Cambridge University Press. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1604-1629/member/cromwell-sir-oliver-15626-1655#footnoteref7_9zknmhg"
6. ↑ Shaw, William Arthur; Burtchaell, George Dames (1906). The Knights of England. A complete record from the earliest time to the present day of the knights of all the orders of chivalry in England, Scotland, and Ireland, and of knights bachelors, incorporating a complete list of knights bachelors dubbed in Ireland (2 volumes) Vol. 2. London: Sherratt and Hughes. p. 95. https://archive.org/details/knightsofengland01shawuoft/page/154/mode/2up/search/cromwell
7. ↑ https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/61592478/oliver-of_hinchen_brook-cromwell

See also:

• Wikipedia entry
• Oliver Cromwell website
• Clark, George Henry (1893). Oliver Cromwell. Boston: D. Lothrop Company. p. 58. republished. www.forgottenbooks.org. ISBN 9781440078705.
• Sainty, J C (February 2004). "Custodes Rotulorum 1544–1646: Huntingdon". Institute for Historical Research. Retrieved 6 January 2012. (a provisional list).
• Poulton, Diana (1982). John Dowland (2, illustrated ed.). University of California Press. p. 401. ISBN 0520046498.
• Bennett, Martyn (2006). Oliver Cromwell. Oxon: Routledge. p. 4. ISBN 978-0-415-31921-8.
• The visitation of Shropshire, taken in the year 1623 by Treswell, Robert; Vincent, Augustine, ca. 1584-1626; Camden, William, 1551-1623; Grazebrook, George, 1831-1917 ed; Rylands, J. Paul (John Paul), b. 1846 joint ed; College of Arms (Great Britain) Page 78: Bromley