Oliver Cromwell: Soldier, Statesman, Lord Protector

‘By birth a gentleman’

Oliver Cromwell was born in Huntingdon on 25 April 1599. The only surviving son of Elizabeth Steward and Robert Cromwell, he grew up with seven sisters in a modest branch of a wealthy gentry family.

We know very little about the first 40 years of Cromwell’s life. Educated at the local grammar school, he briefly attended Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, returning home following his father's death in 1617.

What religion was Oliver Cromwell?

As an adult, Oliver Cromwell experienced a dramatic conversion to what we now call ‘puritanism’. In 1638, he wrote that God had provided ‘one beam in a dark place’, suggesting he found new purpose and comfort through his conversion.

Puritans believed that the Reformation was incomplete. They prioritised simple worship and wanted to remove Catholic practices from the English church.

‘Truly my life is but half a life in your absence’

Cromwell’s marriage and early career

On 22 August 1620, Oliver Cromwell married Elizabeth Bourchier, the 22-year-old daughter of a wealthy London merchant. They were a devoted couple; Elizabeth once wrote to her husband, 'Truly my life is but half a life in your absence'. They went on to have nine children, six of whom survived to adulthood.

Cromwell seemed to settle into country life, managing his estates to support his mother, sisters, and growing family. In 1628, he briefly became an MP representing Huntingdon, though he left little impact.

In the 1630s, disputes and financial troubles forced Cromwell out of Huntingdon. The family moved to St Ives where he worked as a modest tenant farmer. However, a fortunate inheritance improved the family’s circumstances and in 1640 he was selected as Borough MP for Cambridge.

Sitting in the 'Short' and 'Long' Parliaments, which sat from 1640 to 1660, Cromwell joined committees, presented petitions, and made passionate political speeches. However, he was far from a leading figure.

The outbreak of civil war in England would change everything.

From unknown soldier to ‘Old Ironsides’

Oliver Cromwell’s rise to power begins

At the start of the English Civil War in 1642, Oliver Cromwell had no real military experience. Yet it was as a soldier that he secured his path to power.

Cromwell was first commissioned as a Junior Cavalry Officer, raising parliamentary troops, and organising the defence of Cambridge. His first appearance on the battlefield came at Edgehill in October 1642. He was promoted to the rank of Colonel by the following year.

By 1644, Cromwell was promoted again to Lieutenant-General of the Eastern Association Army. As cavalry commander he helped secure Parliament’s victory at the Battle of Marston Moor.

Victory against the King

In 1645, Cromwell became second-in-command of Parliament’s ‘New Model Army’, serving under its Commander in Chief, Sir Thomas Fairfax. On 14 June 1645, Cromwell and Fairfax led their troops to a decisive victory at the Battle of Naseby.

After a few more minor skirmishes and attempts to re-rally support, Charles I was captured and handed over to Parliament in January 1647.

The captured King at Hampton Court

Charles I was imprisoned at Hampton Court Palace from August 1647. Cromwell visited the palace multiple times to discuss the ‘Heads of Proposals’ - an attempt to settle the dispute between the King and Parliament. But the King evaded negotiations.

On 11 November the King escaped Hampton Court via the nearby River Thames. He didn’t get very far – he was soon recaptured on the Isle of Wight.

To kill the King

Oliver Cromwell and the Regicide

The King’s escape from his prison at Hampton Court Palace was soon followed by royalist rebellion across the country. While Cromwell was dispatched to put down forces from South Wales and Scotland, Parliament debated what to do with their recaptured King.

The ‘Rump’ Parliament

At first many in Parliament – at one point including Cromwell – still hoped to negotiate with Charles I. But the King refused. The time had come for drastic action.

Hours before Cromwell returned to London on 6 December 1648, Colonel Thomas Pride ruthlessly arrested and excluded any MPs still set on negotiating with the King.

Many other MPs also left in protest. Oliver Cromwell took his place in the much-reduced ‘Rump’ Parliament. 

Charles I is executed

On 20 January 1649, Charles I was put on trial for treason. Oliver Cromwell attended every day of proceedings and was the third of 59 men to sign the King’s death warrant.

Charles I was executed outside the Banqueting House, Whitehall on 30 January 1649. The event – known as Regicide – was unprecedented and shocking.

Parliament ordered that the Crown Jewels – sacred and ceremonial objects representing power and responsibilities of monarchy – be melted down at the Tower Mint. 

England declared a republic

Shortly after the King’s execution, the country was declared a republic under the ‘Commonwealth of England’. Oliver Cromwell became one of the 41 members of the Council of State, established to hold executive power in the place of a monarch and Privy Council. He sat as its first Chairman on 17 February 1649.

An infamous campaign: Cromwell in Ireland

In 1649, Oliver Cromwell was sent to Ireland to put down royalist resistance following the death of Charles I. Under his leadership, troops lay brutal siege to Drogheda and Wexford, killing soldiers and civilians – including Catholic clergy.

This remains the most infamous period in Cromwell’s life. He tried to justify this violence as ‘a righteous judgement of God upon these barbarous wretches,’ arguing it was necessary to force other towns to surrender. However, many historians argue that Cromwell’s actions in Ireland were extreme and handled differently from his campaigns in England and later in Scotland.

Why did Parliament want to invade Ireland?

After the death of Charles I, an uneasy royalist alliance had formed in Ireland between Protestants and Catholics of both Gaelic Irish and English descent. They were supported by fleeing royalists from England. The alliance followed years of unrest after the Irish Rebellion of 1641, reports of which fuelled anti-Catholic sentiment in England and influenced Parliament’s policies in Ireland, including Cromwell’s invasion in 1649.

What happened after Cromwell left Ireland?

Cromwell left Ireland in May 1650, but the Commonwealth’s conquest continued until 1653. Induced famine brought severe disease and caused the deaths of up to a quarter of the Irish population. Parliament ordered the settlement of Protestants on seized Catholic lands. Many dispossessed Irish Catholics were transplanted to the relatively poor and isolated western province of Connacht or transported to the West Indies as indentured servants.

The new ‘Lord Protector’

Oliver Cromwell is named Head of State 

After Cromwell dissolved Parliament, the Commonwealth was briefly governed under a ‘Nominated Assembly’, also known as the ‘Barebones Parliament’.

On 16 December 1653, Oliver Cromwell was named ‘Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland’ – the first English commoner to be declared Head of State.

How did Cromwell use Hampton Court?

Cromwell spent most Fridays to Mondays at Hampton Court – an early example of a ‘weekend’. Instead of Charles’ former rooms, the Lord Protector occupied the more up-to-date Queen’s Apartments.

Though not quite the heights of royal luxury, Hampton Court maintained some of its pomp and grandeur. Richly furnished with Spanish tables and Turkish carpets, Cromwell also enjoyed highlights from the royal collection. Mantegna’s Triumphs of Caesar hung proudly in the Long Gallery and rich tapestry sets adorned the palace rooms, including Cromwell’s bedchamber.

As a Puritan, Cromwell disapproved of music in religious services. However, he loved secular music and installed an organ from Magdalen College, Oxford in the Great Hall at Hampton Court Palace.

Gardens and statues

Cromwell enjoyed riding and hunting in the palace grounds. He also installed the ‘Diana’ or ‘Arethusa’ Fountain, originally commissioned by Charles I as a gift to Queen Henrietta Maria, in the Privy Garden. This fountain is now found near the south entrance to Bushy Park.

Not everyone approved of Cromwell’s taste. Four other sculptures depicting nude classical figures sparked outrage from more radical puritans, one of whom told the Lord Protector that ‘this one thing I desire of you – to demolish these monsters that are set up as ornaments in the Privy Garden’.

How did Oliver Cromwell die?

Oliver Cromwell died on 3 September 1658, aged 59 – probably from a malarial infection and kidney problems.

His beloved daughter Elizabeth Claypole had died at Hampton Court in August 1658, leaving both her parents devastated. The Lord Protector’s already fragile health had begun to crumble.

Shortly after, George Fox encountered Cromwell out riding at Hampton Court. Fox reported that he ‘felt a waft (or apparition) of death’ about the Lord Protector and the next day Cromwell took to his bed. He was moved to Whitehall Palace in the hope of recovery, but this would never come.

Where is Oliver Cromwell buried?

Oliver Cromwell was buried privately in Westminster Abbey on 10 November 1658. He was later given a full state funeral, including a crowned effigy which lay in state at Somerset House.

Afterlife: Oliver Cromwell’s head

The Lord Protector was not left to rest in peace after his burial. Following the Restoration of the Monarchy, King Charles II ordered that Cromwell, along with the other ‘regicides’ buried in Westminster Abbey, be exhumed, hung, and beheaded.

Oliver Cromwell’s head remained on display above Westminster Hall until around 1685. By tradition, the head was blown off its spike and made its way through several private collections. A head identified as Oliver Cromwell found its way to Sidney Sussex College, where it was buried beneath the Chapel in 1960.

Oliver Cromwell's legacy

The end of the Protectorate

After Cromwell’s death, the Protectorate passed to his eldest surviving son, Richard. This would prove to be a mistake. Richard struggled to keep the already fragile country together and he resigned the Protectorate on 25 May 1659.

The monarchy was restored under Charles II on 14 May 1660. Charles was crowned with a new St Edward’s Crown to replace the one melted down by Parliamentarians. This can still be seen in the Crown Jewels exhibition, on display in the Jewel House of the Tower of London.

Popular culture 

Cromwell’s reputation remains a keen topic of debate, principally for his role in the regicide, his actions in Ireland and his rise to power as Lord Protector.

In 1899, a statue of Oliver Cromwell was erected outside the House of Commons. He continues to endure in popular culture, portrayed by Richard Harris and Tim Roth in film, and satirized by Monty Python in song.

At Hampton Court, much of the building occupied by the Lord Protector was demolished and rebuilt by Sir Christopher Wren. However, Cromwell was integral to the palace’s survival and his presence placed the building at the heart of the Interregnum.