biography
| sex:
| male
|
| lived:
| (1613–62)
|
| biography:
| English statesman, born in Hadlow, Kent, SE England, UK. He studied at Oxford, travelled in Europe, became a Puritan, and sailed for New England (1635), where he was Governor of Massachusetts; but his advocacy of toleration lost him popularity, and he returned in 1637. He entered parliament, became joint treasurer of the navy, and was knighted (1640). He helped to impeach Strafford, promoted the Solemn League and Covenant, and was a strong supporter of the Parliamentary cause in the Civil War. During the Commonwealth he was appointed one of the Council of State (1649–53), but he opposed Cromwell's becoming Lord Protector in 1653, and retired from politics. On Cromwell's death he returned to public life (1659), opposed the Restoration, and was imprisoned and executed. |
|
|
