Third Protectorate Parliament
Encyclopedia
The Third Protectorate Parliament sat for one session, from 27 January 1659 until 22 April 1659, with Chaloner Chute
and Thomas Bampfylde as the Speakers of the House of Commons
. It was a bicameral Parliament, with an Upper House having a power of veto over the Commons.
. However the Scottish and Irish constituencies (see list in the First Protectorate Parliament
article) were left unchanged.
Table 1: Constituencies and MPs, by type and country
Table 2: Number of seats per constituency, by type and country
Notes: (1) Monmouthshire (1 borough and 2 county seats) included in England, not Wales. (2) Dublin City and County treated as a county constituency (2 seats).
his son Richard Cromwell
succeeded him as Lord Protector
of the Protectorate
on 3 September 1658. As a civilian, Richard did not have the full confidence of the Army
, particularly as the administration had a perennial budget deficit of half a million pounds and the Army was owed nearly nine hundred thousand pounds in back pay. His only option was to call a Parliament in the hope that it would cement his position by general recognition of the ruling class and by raising new taxes to pay the arrears owed to the Army.
The Third Protectorate Parliament was summoned on 9 December 1658 on the basis of the old franchise, and assembled on 27 January 1659. Richard was recognised as Lord Protector by the Parliament by 223 votes to 134, but over the next month the old divisions re-surfaced. The "Commonwealthsmen" and members of the Rump Parliament
(such as Sir Henry Vane
, Edmund Ludlow
and Sir Arthur Haselrig
) wanted to dismantle the Protectorate and return to the Commonwealth which had existed between the regicide
of Charles I
in January 1649 and the dismissal of the Rump Parliament by Oliver Cromwell in 1653.
The Protectorate faction was led by the Secretary of State John Thurloe
, General John Lambert
and Major-Generals Charles Fleetwood
and Sir John Desborough
. These members wished to keep the Protectorate but were divided over who should command the Army and be Lord Protector.
The issues came to a head when Parliament attempted to impeach Major-General William Boteler
for actions he had carried out during the Rule of the Major-Generals
in 1656. In response to the attempted impeachment, on 6 April 1659 the Grandees in the Army presented Parliament with a declaration calling for soldiers to be granted immunity from prosecution for all actions carried out during Oliver Cromwell's Protectorate. But accepting that the Commonwealthsmen were in the ascendency in Parliament, Desborough and Fleetwood forced a reluctant Richard Cromwell to use his powers as Lord Protector to dissolve Parliament on 22 April 1659.
The Grandees intended to keep Richard Cromwell as Lord Protector under Army control, without calling another parliament. Their position was undermined, however, when it became clear that the Army's rank and file still harboured support for the "Good Old Cause" of the Commonwealth, and still wanted to have their arrears of pay settled. This swell of ground support forced the Grandees to allow Richard Cromwell to re-call the Rump Parliament
less than a month after the dissolution of the Third Protectorate Parliament.
There were two Speakers during the Third Protectorate Parliament and two Deputy Speakers. Chaloner Chute
served as Speaker from 27 January 1659 until 14 April 1659, with two deputy speakers: Sir Lislebone Long
from 9 March 1659 until 14 March 1659, and Thomas Bampfield from 16 March 1659 until 14 April 1659. Thomas Bampfield was Speaker from 15 April 1659 until 22 April 1659.
The Third Protectorate Parliament was preceded by the Second Protectorate Parliament
and followed by the return of the Rump Parliament
.
Chaloner Chute
Chaloner Chute was an English lawyer and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1654 and 1659. He was Speaker briefly in 1659....
and Thomas Bampfylde as the Speakers of the House of Commons
Speaker of the British House of Commons
The Speaker of the House of Commons is the presiding officer of the House of Commons, the United Kingdom's lower chamber of Parliament. The current Speaker is John Bercow, who was elected on 22 June 2009, following the resignation of Michael Martin...
. It was a bicameral Parliament, with an Upper House having a power of veto over the Commons.
Composition of the House of Commons
The constituencies and distribution of seats, in England and Wales, for this Parliament reverted to being the same as in the Long ParliamentLong 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...
. However the Scottish and Irish constituencies (see list in the First Protectorate Parliament
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....
article) were left unchanged.
Summary of constituencies and Members of Parliament
Key to categories: BC - Borough/Burgh constituencies, CC - County/Shire constituencies, UC - University constituencies, Total C - Total constituencies, BMP - Borough/Burgh Members of Parliament, CMP - County/Shire Members of Parliament, UMP - University Members of Parliament, Total MPs - Total Members of Parliament.Table 1: Constituencies and MPs, by type and country
| Country | BC | CC | UC | Total C | BMP | CMP | UMP | Total MPs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| England | 200 | 38 | 2 | 240 | 400 | 76 | 4 | 480 |
| Wales | 13 | 13 | 0 | 26 | 13 | 14 | 0 | 27 |
| Scotland | 9 | 20 | 0 | 29 | 10 | 20 | 0 | 30 |
| Ireland | 6 | 13 | 0 | 19 | 6 | 24 | 0 | 30 |
| Total | 228 | 84 | 2 | 314 | 429 | 134 | 4 | 567 |
Table 2: Number of seats per constituency, by type and country
| Country | BCx1 | BCx2 | BCx4 | CCx1 | CCx2 | UCx2 | Total C |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| England | 4 | 194 | 2 | 0 | 38 | 2 | 240 |
| Wales | 13 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 26 |
| Scotland | 8 | 1 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 29 |
| Ireland | 6 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 0 | 19 |
| Total | 31 | 195 | 2 | 34 | 50 | 2 | 314 |
Notes: (1) Monmouthshire (1 borough and 2 county seats) included in England, not Wales. (2) Dublin City and County treated as a county constituency (2 seats).
Events of the Parliament
After the death of Oliver CromwellOliver 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....
his son 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...
succeeded him as Lord Protector
Lord Protector
Lord Protector is a title used in British constitutional law for certain heads of state at different periods of history. It is also a particular title for the British Heads of State in respect to the established church...
of the Protectorate
The Protectorate
In British history, the Protectorate was the period 1653–1659 during which the Commonwealth of England was governed by a Lord Protector.-Background:...
on 3 September 1658. As a civilian, Richard did not have the full confidence of the Army
New Model Army
The New Model Army of England was formed in 1645 by the Parliamentarians in the English Civil War, and was disbanded in 1660 after the Restoration...
, particularly as the administration had a perennial budget deficit of half a million pounds and the Army was owed nearly nine hundred thousand pounds in back pay. His only option was to call a Parliament in the hope that it would cement his position by general recognition of the ruling class and by raising new taxes to pay the arrears owed to the Army.
The Third Protectorate Parliament was summoned on 9 December 1658 on the basis of the old franchise, and assembled on 27 January 1659. Richard was recognised as Lord Protector by the Parliament by 223 votes to 134, but over the next month the old divisions re-surfaced. The "Commonwealthsmen" and members of the Rump Parliament
Rump Parliament
The Rump Parliament is the name of the English Parliament after Colonel Pride purged the Long Parliament on 6 December 1648 of those members hostile to the Grandees' intention to try King Charles I for high treason....
(such as Sir Henry Vane
Henry Vane the Younger
Sir Henry Vane , son of Henry Vane the Elder , was an English politician, statesman, and colonial governor...
, Edmund Ludlow
Edmund Ludlow
Edmund Ludlow was an English parliamentarian, best known for his involvement in the execution of Charles I, and for his Memoirs, which were published posthumously in a rewritten form and which have become a major source for historians of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. After service in the English...
and Sir Arthur Haselrig
Arthur Haselrig
Sir Arthur Haselrig, 2nd Baronet was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1640 and 1659. He was one of the five members of Parliament whom King Charles I tried to arrest in 1642, an event which led to the start of the English Civil War...
) wanted to dismantle the Protectorate and return to the Commonwealth which had existed between the regicide
Regicide
The broad definition of regicide is the deliberate killing of a monarch, or the person responsible for the killing of a monarch. In a narrower sense, in the British tradition, it refers to the judicial execution of a king after a trial...
of Charles I
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...
in January 1649 and the dismissal of the Rump Parliament by Oliver Cromwell in 1653.
The Protectorate faction was led by the Secretary of State John Thurloe
John Thurloe
John Thurloe was a secretary to the council of state in Protectorate England and spymaster for Oliver Cromwell.-Life:...
, General John Lambert
John Lambert (general)
John Lambert was an English Parliamentary general and politician. He fought during the English Civil War and then in Oliver Cromwell's Scottish campaign , becoming thereafter active in civilian politics until his dismissal by Cromwell in 1657...
and Major-Generals 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...
and Sir John Desborough
John Desborough
John Desborough was an English soldier and politician who supported the parliamentary cause during the English Civil War.-Life:He was the son of James Desborough of Eltisley, Cambridgeshire, and of Elizabeth Hatley of Over in the same county, was baptized on 13 November 1608. He was educated for...
. These members wished to keep the Protectorate but were divided over who should command the Army and be Lord Protector.
The issues came to a head when Parliament attempted to impeach Major-General William Boteler
William Boteler
William Boteler was a Colonel of Horse in the New Model Army during the English Civil War. By the end of the war, Boteler had been appointed Major-General for Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, Northamptonshire and Rutland during the Rule of the Major-Generals....
for actions he had carried out during the Rule of the Major-Generals
Rule of the Major-Generals
The Rule of the Major-Generals from August 1655 – January 1657, was a period of direct military government during Oliver Cromwell's Protectorate.England was divided into 10 regions each governed by a Major-General who answered to the Lord Protector....
in 1656. In response to the attempted impeachment, on 6 April 1659 the Grandees in the Army presented Parliament with a declaration calling for soldiers to be granted immunity from prosecution for all actions carried out during Oliver Cromwell's Protectorate. But accepting that the Commonwealthsmen were in the ascendency in Parliament, Desborough and Fleetwood forced a reluctant Richard Cromwell to use his powers as Lord Protector to dissolve Parliament on 22 April 1659.
The Grandees intended to keep Richard Cromwell as Lord Protector under Army control, without calling another parliament. Their position was undermined, however, when it became clear that the Army's rank and file still harboured support for the "Good Old Cause" of the Commonwealth, and still wanted to have their arrears of pay settled. This swell of ground support forced the Grandees to allow Richard Cromwell to re-call the Rump Parliament
Rump Parliament
The Rump Parliament is the name of the English Parliament after Colonel Pride purged the Long Parliament on 6 December 1648 of those members hostile to the Grandees' intention to try King Charles I for high treason....
less than a month after the dissolution of the Third Protectorate Parliament.
There were two Speakers during the Third Protectorate Parliament and two Deputy Speakers. Chaloner Chute
Chaloner Chute
Chaloner Chute was an English lawyer and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1654 and 1659. He was Speaker briefly in 1659....
served as Speaker from 27 January 1659 until 14 April 1659, with two deputy speakers: Sir Lislebone Long
Lislebone Long
Sir Lislebone Long , baptised Loveban, was born at Beckington, Somerset, the son of William Long of Stratton on the Fosse and Mary Lovibond...
from 9 March 1659 until 14 March 1659, and Thomas Bampfield from 16 March 1659 until 14 April 1659. Thomas Bampfield was Speaker from 15 April 1659 until 22 April 1659.
The Third Protectorate Parliament was preceded by the Second Protectorate Parliament
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...
and followed by the return of the Rump Parliament
Rump Parliament
The Rump Parliament is the name of the English Parliament after Colonel Pride purged the Long Parliament on 6 December 1648 of those members hostile to the Grandees' intention to try King Charles I for high treason....
.