Henry Lawrence (President of the Council)
Encyclopedia
Henry Lawrence was an English statesman who served as President of the English Council of State
during the Protectorate.
Lawrence was brought up as a Puritan
, and educated at Queens' College, Cambridge and then Emmanuel College, Cambridge
, where he became an MA in 1627. He was a Huntingdonshire landowner who leased out grazing land to his distant relation Oliver Cromwell
in the early 1630s. In the late 1630s Lawrence went to live in Holland where he felt freer to practice his form of Christianity, and remained there for most of the Civil War period. He published three religious books, "Of our Communion and Warre with Angels", and on the doctrine of baptism
.
He entered Parliament in 1646 to fill a vacancy as Member for Westmorland
. He was appointed a commissioner of Plantations in 1648 and commissioner for Ireland
in 1652. In 1653 he was nominated a member of the Barebones Parliament
, representing Hertfordshire
.
When Oliver Cromwell
was named Lord Protector, in December 1653, a new Council of State
was appointed; Lawrence was its president until its dissolution in 1659. He also represented Carnarvonshire
in the First
and Second
Parliaments of the Protectorate, and in 1658 was nominated to Cromwell's new House of Lords.
He played no further part in public life after the Restoration
, and died in 1664. John Milton
's sonnet "Lawrence! of virtuous father virtuous son" was addressed to his eldest son; his younger son John emigrated first to Barbados
, then Jamaica
where he founded a wealthy dynasty of plantation owners.
English Council of State
The English Council of State, later also known as the Protector's Privy Council, was first appointed by the Rump Parliament on 14 February 1649 after the execution of King Charles I....
during the Protectorate.
Lawrence was brought up as a Puritan
Puritan
The Puritans were a significant grouping of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries. Puritanism in this sense was founded by some Marian exiles from the clergy shortly after the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558, as an activist movement within the Church of England...
, and educated at Queens' College, Cambridge and then Emmanuel College, Cambridge
Emmanuel College, Cambridge
Emmanuel College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge.The college was founded in 1584 by Sir Walter Mildmay on the site of a Dominican friary...
, where he became an MA in 1627. He was a Huntingdonshire landowner who leased out grazing land to his distant relation 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....
in the early 1630s. In the late 1630s Lawrence went to live in Holland where he felt freer to practice his form of Christianity, and remained there for most of the Civil War period. He published three religious books, "Of our Communion and Warre with Angels", and on the doctrine of baptism
Baptism
In Christianity, baptism is for the majority the rite of admission , almost invariably with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally and also membership of a particular church tradition...
.
He entered Parliament in 1646 to fill a vacancy as Member for Westmorland
Westmorland (UK Parliament constituency)
Westmorland was a constituency covering the county of Westmorland in the North of England, which returned Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.The constituency had two separate periods of existence....
. He was appointed a commissioner of Plantations in 1648 and commissioner for Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
in 1652. In 1653 he was nominated a member of the Barebones Parliament
Barebones Parliament
Barebone's Parliament, also known as the Little Parliament, the Nominated Assembly and the Parliament of Saints, came into being on 4 July 1653, and was the last attempt of the English Commonwealth to find a stable political form before the installation of Oliver Cromwell as Lord Protector...
, representing Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire (UK Parliament constituency)
Hertfordshire was a county constituency covering the county of Hertfordshire in England. It returned two Knights of the Shire to the House of Commons of England until 1707, then to the House of Commons of Great Britain until 1800, and to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom...
.
When 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....
was named Lord Protector, in December 1653, a new Council of State
English Council of State
The English Council of State, later also known as the Protector's Privy Council, was first appointed by the Rump Parliament on 14 February 1649 after the execution of King Charles I....
was appointed; Lawrence was its president until its dissolution in 1659. He also represented Carnarvonshire
Caernarvonshire (UK Parliament constituency)
Caernarvonshire was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of England then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1885 and from 1918 until 1950. It elected one Member of Parliament by the first past the post...
in the First
First Protectorate Parliament
The First Protectorate Parliament was summoned by the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell under the terms of the Instrument of Government. It sat for one term from 3 September 1654 until 22 January 1655 with William Lenthall as the Speaker of the House....
and Second
Second Protectorate Parliament
The Second Protectorate Parliament in England sat for two sessions from 17 September 1656 until 4 February 1658, with Thomas Widdrington as the Speaker of the House of Commons...
Parliaments of the Protectorate, and in 1658 was nominated to Cromwell's new House of Lords.
He played no further part in public life after the Restoration
English Restoration
The Restoration of the English monarchy began in 1660 when the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were all restored under Charles II after the Interregnum that followed the Wars of the Three Kingdoms...
, and died in 1664. John Milton
John Milton
John Milton was an English poet, polemicist, a scholarly man of letters, and a civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under Oliver Cromwell...
's sonnet "Lawrence! of virtuous father virtuous son" was addressed to his eldest son; his younger son John emigrated first to Barbados
Barbados
Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is in length and as much as in width, amounting to . It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about east of the islands of Saint...
, then Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
where he founded a wealthy dynasty of plantation owners.