Bulstrode Whitelocke
Encyclopedia
Sir Bulstrode Whitelocke (6 August 1605 – 28 July 1675) was an English
lawyer
, writer
, parliament
arian and Lord Keeper of the Great Seal
of England
.
, born in Fleet Street
, London
and baptized on 19 August 1605. He was educated briefly at Eton College
, then at Merchant Taylors' School and at St John's College, Oxford
, where he matriculated on 8 December 1620.
He left Oxford, without a degree, for the Middle Temple
, and was called to the bar in 1626 and chosen treasurer in 1628. He was fond of field sports and of music, and in 1633 he had charge of the music in the great masque performed by the inns of court before the king and queen. Meanwhile he had been elected for Stafford in the parliament of 1626 and had been appointed recorder of Abingdon and Henley
. In 1640 he was chosen member for Great Marlow
in the Long Parliament
.
He took a prominent part in the proceedings against Strafford
, was chairman of the committee of management, and had charge of articles XIX.–XXIV. of the impeachment. He drew up the bill for making parliaments indissoluble except by their own consent, and supported the Grand Remonstrance
and the action taken in the House of Commons
against the illegal canons; on the militia question, however, he advocated a joint control by king and parliament. On the outbreak of the English Civil War
he took the side of the parliament, using his influence in the country as deputy-lieutenant to prevent the king's raising troops in Buckinghamshire
and Oxfordshire
.
He was sent to the king at Oxford
both in 1643 and 1644 to negotiate terms, and the secret communications with Charles
on the latter occasion were the foundation of a charge of treason
brought against Whitelocke and Denzil Holles later. He was again one of the commissioners at the Treaty of Uxbridge
in 1645.
Nevertheless he opposed the policy of Holles and the peace party and the proposed disbanding of the army in 1647, and though one of the lay members of the assembly of divines, repudiated the claims of divine authority put forward by the Presbyterians for their church, and approved of religious tolerance. He thus gravitated more towards Oliver Cromwell
and the army party, but he took no part either in the disputes between the army and the parliament or in the trial of the king. On the establishment of the Commonwealth
, though out of sympathy with the government, he was nominated to the council of state and a commissioner of the Parliaments new Great Seal.
He urged Cromwell after the Battle of Worcester
and again in 1652 to recall the royal family, while in 1653 he disapproved of the expulsion of the Long Parliament and was especially marked out for attack by Cromwell in his speech on that occasion. Later in the autumn, and perhaps in consequence, Whitelocke was despatched on a mission to Christina, queen of Sweden
, to conclude a treaty of alliance
and assure the freedom of the Sound. On his return he resumed his office as commissioner of the Great Seal, was appointed a commissioner of the treasury with a salary of 1000, and was returned to the parliament of 1654 for each of the four constituencies of Bedford
, Exeter
, Oxford and Buckinghamshire, electing to sit for the latter constituency.
Whitelocke was a learned and a sound lawyer. He had hitherto shown himself not unfavourable to reform, having supported the bill introducing the use of English into legal proceedings, having drafted a new treason law, and set on foot some alterations in chancery procedure. A tract advocating tie registering of title-deeds is attributed to him. But he opposed the revolutionary innovations dictated by ignorant and popular prejudices. He defeated the strange bill which sought to exclude lawyers from parliament; and to the sweeping and ill-considered changes in the court of chancery proposed by Cromwell and the council he offered an unbending and honorable resistance, being dismissed in consequence, together with his colleague Sir Thomas Widdrington, on 6 June 1654 from his commissionership of the Great Seal (see William Lenthall
).
He still, however, remained on good terms with Cromwell, by whom he was respected; he took part in public business, acted as Cromwell's adviser on foreign affairs, negotiated the treaty with Sweden of 1656, and, elected again to the parliament of the same year as member for Buckinghamshire, was chairman of the committee which conferred with Cromwell on the subject of the Petition and Advice and urged the protector to assume the title of king. In December 1657 he became a member of the Cromwell's Other House
.
On Richard Cromwell
's assumption of the Protectorship he was reappointed a commissioner of the Great Seal, and had considerable influence during the former's short tenure of power. He returned to his place in the Long Parliament on its recall, was appointed a member of the council of state on 14 May 1659, and became president in August; and subsequently, on the fresh expulsion of the Long Parliament, he was included in the committee of safety which superseded the council. He again received the Great Seal into his keeping on the first of November. During the period which immediately preceded the Restoration he endeavoured to oppose George Monck's schemes, and desired Charles Fleetwood
to forestall him and make terms with Charles, but in vain.
On the failure of his plans he retired to the country and awaited events. Whitelocke's career, however, had been marked by moderation and good sense throughout. The necessity of carrying on the government of the country somehow or other had been the chief motive of his adherence to Cromwell rather than any sympathy for a republic or a military dictatorship, and his advice to Cromwell to accept the title of king was doubtless tendered with the object of giving the administration greater stability and of protecting its adherents under the Statute of Henry VII
. Nor had he shown himself unduly ambitious or self-seeking in the pursuit of office, and he had proved himself ready to sacrifice high place to the claims of professional honour and duty. These considerations were not without weight with his contemporaries at the Restoration. Accordingly, Whitelocke was not excepted from the Act of Indemnity, and after the payment of various sums to the king and others he was allowed to retain the bulk of his property. He lived henceforth in seclusion near Chilton Foliat
in Wiltshire
, dying on 28 July 1675.
in Buckinghamshire
and Chilton Park in Berkshire
. He married:
He left children by each of his wives.
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
, writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
, parliament
Parliament of England
The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England. In 1066, William of Normandy introduced a feudal system, by which he sought the advice of a council of tenants-in-chief and ecclesiastics before making laws...
arian and Lord Keeper of the Great Seal
Lord Keeper of the Great Seal
The Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of England, and later of Great Britain, was formerly an officer of the English Crown charged with physical custody of the Great Seal of England. This evolved into one of the Great Officers of State....
of England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
Biography
He was the eldest son of Sir James WhitelockeJames Whitelocke
Sir James Whitelocke SL was an English judge.-Early life:He was the younger of posthumous twin sons of Richard Whitelocke, merchant, of London, by Joan Brockhurst, widow, daughter of John Colte of Little Munden, Hertfordshire. His twin-brother, William, served under Francis Drake, and fell at sea...
, born in Fleet Street
Fleet Street
Fleet Street is a street in central London, United Kingdom, named after the River Fleet, a stream that now flows underground. It was the home of the British press until the 1980s...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and baptized on 19 August 1605. He was educated briefly at Eton College
Eton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
, then at Merchant Taylors' School and at St John's College, Oxford
St John's College, Oxford
__FORCETOC__St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford, one of the larger Oxford colleges with approximately 390 undergraduates, 200 postgraduates and over 100 academic staff. It was founded by Sir Thomas White, a merchant, in 1555, whose heart is buried in the chapel of...
, where he matriculated on 8 December 1620.
He left Oxford, without a degree, for the Middle Temple
Middle Temple
The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers; the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn and Lincoln's Inn...
, and was called to the bar in 1626 and chosen treasurer in 1628. He was fond of field sports and of music, and in 1633 he had charge of the music in the great masque performed by the inns of court before the king and queen. Meanwhile he had been elected for Stafford in the parliament of 1626 and had been appointed recorder of Abingdon and Henley
Henley-on-Thames
Henley-on-Thames is a town and civil parish on the River Thames in South Oxfordshire, England, about 10 miles downstream and north-east from Reading, 10 miles upstream and west from Maidenhead...
. In 1640 he was chosen member for Great Marlow
Great Marlow (UK Parliament constituency)
Great Marlow, sometimes simply called Marlow, was a parliamentary borough in Buckinghamshire. It elected two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons between 1301 and 1307, and again from 1624 until 1868, and then one member from 1868 until 1885, when the borough was abolished.-History:In the...
in the Long Parliament
Long Parliament
The Long Parliament was made on 3 November 1640, following the Bishops' Wars. It received its name from the fact that through an Act of Parliament, it could only be dissolved with the agreement of the members, and those members did not agree to its dissolution until after the English Civil War and...
.
He took a prominent part in the proceedings against Strafford
Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford
Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford was an English statesman and a major figure in the period leading up to the English Civil War. He served in Parliament and was a supporter of King Charles I. From 1632 to 1639 he instituted a harsh rule as Lord Deputy of Ireland...
, was chairman of the committee of management, and had charge of articles XIX.–XXIV. of the impeachment. He drew up the bill for making parliaments indissoluble except by their own consent, and supported the Grand Remonstrance
Grand Remonstrance
The Grand Remonstrance was a list of grievances presented to King Charles I of England by the English Parliament on 1 December 1641, but passed by the House of Commons on the 22nd of November 1641, during the Long Parliament; it was one of the chief events which were to precipitate the English...
and the action taken in the House of Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
against the illegal canons; on the militia question, however, he advocated a joint control by king and parliament. On the outbreak of the English Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
he took the side of the parliament, using his influence in the country as deputy-lieutenant to prevent the king's raising troops in Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....
and Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
.
He was sent to the king at Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
both in 1643 and 1644 to negotiate terms, and the secret communications with Charles
Charles I of England
Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...
on the latter occasion were the foundation of a charge of treason
Treason
In law, treason is the crime that covers some of the more extreme acts against one's sovereign or nation. Historically, treason also covered the murder of specific social superiors, such as the murder of a husband by his wife. Treason against the king was known as high treason and treason against a...
brought against Whitelocke and Denzil Holles later. He was again one of the commissioners at the Treaty of Uxbridge
Treaty of Uxbridge
The Treaty of Uxbridge of early 1645 was a significant but abortive negotiation to try to end the First English Civil War.-Background:Parliament drew up 27 articles in November 1644 and presented them to Charles I of England at Oxford. Much input into these Propositions of Uxbridge was from...
in 1645.
Nevertheless he opposed the policy of Holles and the peace party and the proposed disbanding of the army in 1647, and though one of the lay members of the assembly of divines, repudiated the claims of divine authority put forward by the Presbyterians for their church, and approved of religious tolerance. He thus gravitated more towards Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader who overthrew the English monarchy and temporarily turned England into a republican Commonwealth, and served as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland....
and the army party, but he took no part either in the disputes between the army and the parliament or in the trial of the king. On the establishment of the Commonwealth
Commonwealth of England
The Commonwealth of England was the republic which ruled first England, and then Ireland and Scotland from 1649 to 1660. Between 1653–1659 it was known as the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland...
, though out of sympathy with the government, he was nominated to the council of state and a commissioner of the Parliaments new Great Seal.
He urged Cromwell after the Battle of Worcester
Battle of Worcester
The Battle of Worcester took place on 3 September 1651 at Worcester, England and was the final battle of the English Civil War. Oliver Cromwell and the Parliamentarians defeated the Royalist, predominantly Scottish, forces of King Charles II...
and again in 1652 to recall the royal family, while in 1653 he disapproved of the expulsion of the Long Parliament and was especially marked out for attack by Cromwell in his speech on that occasion. Later in the autumn, and perhaps in consequence, Whitelocke was despatched on a mission to Christina, queen of Sweden
Christina of Sweden
Christina , later adopted the name Christina Alexandra, was Queen regnant of Swedes, Goths and Vandals, Grand Princess of Finland, and Duchess of Ingria, Estonia, Livonia and Karelia, from 1633 to 1654. She was the only surviving legitimate child of King Gustav II Adolph and his wife Maria Eleonora...
, to conclude a treaty of alliance
1654 Anglo-Swedish alliance
The 1654 Anglo-Swedish alliance was signed by Bulstrode Whitelocke, representing the Commonwealth of England, and Christina, Queen of Sweden in Uppsala, Sweden in 1654. Its main purpose was the offset the alliance between Denmark and the Netherlands. It was signed on April 28, but antedated April 11....
and assure the freedom of the Sound. On his return he resumed his office as commissioner of the Great Seal, was appointed a commissioner of the treasury with a salary of 1000, and was returned to the parliament of 1654 for each of the four constituencies of Bedford
Bedford
Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire, in the East of England. It is a large town and the administrative centre for the wider Borough of Bedford. According to the former Bedfordshire County Council's estimates, the town had a population of 79,190 in mid 2005, with 19,720 in the adjacent town...
, Exeter
Exeter
Exeter is a historic city in Devon, England. It lies within the ceremonial county of Devon, of which it is the county town as well as the home of Devon County Council. Currently the administrative area has the status of a non-metropolitan district, and is therefore under the administration of the...
, Oxford and Buckinghamshire, electing to sit for the latter constituency.
Whitelocke was a learned and a sound lawyer. He had hitherto shown himself not unfavourable to reform, having supported the bill introducing the use of English into legal proceedings, having drafted a new treason law, and set on foot some alterations in chancery procedure. A tract advocating tie registering of title-deeds is attributed to him. But he opposed the revolutionary innovations dictated by ignorant and popular prejudices. He defeated the strange bill which sought to exclude lawyers from parliament; and to the sweeping and ill-considered changes in the court of chancery proposed by Cromwell and the council he offered an unbending and honorable resistance, being dismissed in consequence, together with his colleague Sir Thomas Widdrington, on 6 June 1654 from his commissionership of the Great Seal (see William Lenthall
William Lenthall
William Lenthall was an English politician of the Civil War period. He served as Speaker of the House of Commons.-Early life:...
).
He still, however, remained on good terms with Cromwell, by whom he was respected; he took part in public business, acted as Cromwell's adviser on foreign affairs, negotiated the treaty with Sweden of 1656, and, elected again to the parliament of the same year as member for Buckinghamshire, was chairman of the committee which conferred with Cromwell on the subject of the Petition and Advice and urged the protector to assume the title of king. In December 1657 he became a member of the Cromwell's Other House
Cromwell's Other House
The Other House , established by the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell under the terms of the Humble Petition and Advice, was one of the two chambers of the Parliaments that legislated for England and Wales, Scotland and Ireland, in 1658 and 1659, the final years of the Protectorate.During the Rule of...
.
On Richard Cromwell
Richard Cromwell
At the same time, the officers of the New Model Army became increasingly wary about the government's commitment to the military cause. The fact that Richard Cromwell lacked military credentials grated with men who had fought on the battlefields of the English Civil War to secure their nation's...
's assumption of the Protectorship he was reappointed a commissioner of the Great Seal, and had considerable influence during the former's short tenure of power. He returned to his place in the Long Parliament on its recall, was appointed a member of the council of state on 14 May 1659, and became president in August; and subsequently, on the fresh expulsion of the Long Parliament, he was included in the committee of safety which superseded the council. He again received the Great Seal into his keeping on the first of November. During the period which immediately preceded the Restoration he endeavoured to oppose George Monck's schemes, and desired Charles Fleetwood
Charles Fleetwood
Charles Fleetwood was an English Parliamentary soldier and politician, Lord Deputy of Ireland from 1652–55, where he enforced the Cromwellian Settlement. At the Restoration he was included in the Act of Indemnity as among the twenty liable to penalties other than capital, and was finally...
to forestall him and make terms with Charles, but in vain.
On the failure of his plans he retired to the country and awaited events. Whitelocke's career, however, had been marked by moderation and good sense throughout. The necessity of carrying on the government of the country somehow or other had been the chief motive of his adherence to Cromwell rather than any sympathy for a republic or a military dictatorship, and his advice to Cromwell to accept the title of king was doubtless tendered with the object of giving the administration greater stability and of protecting its adherents under the Statute of Henry VII
Henry VII of England
Henry VII was King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizing the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death on 21 April 1509, as the first monarch of the House of Tudor....
. Nor had he shown himself unduly ambitious or self-seeking in the pursuit of office, and he had proved himself ready to sacrifice high place to the claims of professional honour and duty. These considerations were not without weight with his contemporaries at the Restoration. Accordingly, Whitelocke was not excepted from the Act of Indemnity, and after the payment of various sums to the king and others he was allowed to retain the bulk of his property. He lived henceforth in seclusion near Chilton Foliat
Chilton Foliat
Chilton Foliat is a village and civil parish on the River Kennet in Wiltshire. The parish is in the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is on the county boundary with West Berkshire and is about northwest of the Berkshire market town of Hungerford.-Parish church:The Church of...
in Wiltshire
Wiltshire
Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...
, dying on 28 July 1675.
Family
Whitelocke lived at Fawley CourtFawley Court
Fawley Court is a country house standing on the banks of the River Thames at Fawley in the English county of Buckinghamshire, just north of Henley-on-Thames. The former deer park extended over the border into Oxfordshire...
in Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....
and Chilton Park in Berkshire
Berkshire
Berkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...
. He married:
- Rebecca, daughter of Thomas Bennet
- Frances, daughter of Lord Willoughby of ParhamWilliam Willoughby, 3rd Baron Willoughby of ParhamWilliam Willoughby, 3rd Baron Willoughby of Parham was an English peer.He was born in Knaith, England, the son of William Willoughby and Elizabeth Hilyard...
- Mary Carleton, daughter of Bigley Carleton, widow of Rowland Wilson
He left children by each of his wives.
Further reading
with authorities there cited:-
- R. H. Whitelocke's Memoirs Biographical and Historical of Bulstrode Whitelocke, 1860;
- Lives of all the Lord Chancellors, 1708, 8vo;
- Morton's preface to Whitelocke's Swedish Embassy, also reprinted in Reeve'sHenry ReeveHenry Reeve was an English journalist.-Biography:He was the younger son of Henry Reeve, a Whig physician and writer from Norwich, and was born at Norwich. He was educated at the Norwich grammar school under Edward Valpy. During his holidays he saw a good deal of the young John Stuart Mill...
edition of the same work; - Foss'sEdward FossEdward Foss was an English lawyer and biographer.He was born in London. He became a solicitor, and on his retirement from practice in 1840, devoted himself to the study of legal antiquities. His Judges of England was regarded as a standard work, characterized by accuracy and extensive research...
Judges of England, 1848–64, and Biographical Dictionary of the Judges of England, 1870; - Campbell's Lives of the Lord Chancellors and Keepers of the Great Seal; **about fifty of Whitelocke's letters are printed in the Thurloe State Papers;
- Hist. MSS. Comm., 5th Rep. pp. 312–13. Twenty-eight folio volumes of papers collected by Whitelocke are in the possession of the Marquis of Bath, Hist. MSS. Comm. 3rd Rep. p. 190.
External links
- Historical and Political Writings by Bulstrode Whitelocke
- Pictures in the National Portrait Gallery, LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
- Infoplease biography