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Who was Oliver Cromwell? Statesman, military commander and Lord Protector. Date and Place of Birth: 25th April 1599. Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, England. Family Background: Son and one of ten children of Robert Cromwell and Elizabeth Steward. Seven survived childhood of which Oliver was the only boy. His mother had inherited money from her first husband a brewer. His father was the second son of minor gentry. Education: Huntingdon Grammar School. Sydney Sussex College, Cambridge University. Studied law in London. Chronology: 1603: Death of Queen Elizabeth the First. 1617: Death of his father in June. Returns home from Cambridge University. 1621: Birth of first son Robert. 1623: Birth of son Oliver. 1624: Birth of Daughter Bridget. 1625: Death of King James the First and accession of Charles the First. 1626: (4th October). Birth of his third son Richard, who was later to become the second Lord Protector of England, Scotland and Ireland, for eight months, from September 1658 until May 1659. Richard Cromwell was known colloquially as Tumbledown Dick and Queen Dick. 1628: (March) Enters the House of Commons as Member of Parliament for Huntingdon. (May) "The Petition of Right" is presented to the King which sought to forbid arrests of subjects without trial and remove arbitrary taxation. 1629: (March) Dissolution of Parliament by King Charles. Cromwell returns home. 1631: Moves his family to St. Ives, Cambridgeshire to become a farmer. 1636: Moves his family to Ely. Cromwell Museum, Ely, Cambridgeshire (© A Blagg) 1637: The impoverished King imposes Ship Money tax on goods imported or exported by sea. 1640: (April) King calls up the "Short Parliament" to call for new taxes. Cromwell represents Cambridge as their M.P. Parliament is dissolved due to disagreements but is called up again in November and becomes known as the "Long Parliament". 1641: (October) Massacres take place after a rising in Ireland. 27th November Parliament sends the "Grand Remonstrance" to the King which is a list of all its grievances. 1642: (January) Five Members of Parliament escape when the King tries to have them arrested. 22nd August. The King leaves London, which is pro parliament, and hoists his standard at Nottingham. 23rd October. The Battle of Edgehill is fought near Kineton in Warwickshire, as the first battle of the English Civil War. Both sides claim victory. 1643: Cromwell made the Governor of the Isle of Ely. 1644: Cromwell made Lieutenant -General. His son Oliver dies. 2nd July Battle of Marston Moor. 27th October. Second Battle of Newbury. 9th December. Despite the "Self Denying Ordnance" being adopted stating that no M.P. can fight in the army Cromwell is allowed to continue his military role. 1645: 14th June. Battle of Naseby. 1646. 27th April the King escapes to the Scottish forces at Newark and the Parliamentarians march on his temporary capital Oxford, which surrenders on 4th June. 1647: The King is seized at Holdenby House by a member of the Parliamentarian forces. 6th August. The Parliamentarian army marches into London. 28th October. Army debates political and religious issues in St. Mary's Church, Putney. 11th November. The King escapes ending up in Carrisbrooke Castle on the Isle of Wight. 1648: Start of the Second Civil War. 3rd May. Cromwell goes to Wales and beseiges Pembroke Castle. 17th August. Battle of Preston. October. Cromwell lays siege to Pontefract Castle in Yorkshire. 6th December. "Pride's Purge". Only Members of Parliament who are loyal to the hard liners are allowed to vote by Colonel Pride's men, the others are locked outside the Chamber. Cromwell returns to London on the same evening but has been kept informed of events all along. 1649: 20th January Trial of King Charles opens. He declares it illegal. Sentence is eventually passed on the King and he is executed on 30th January by beheading outside the Banqueting Hall of the Palace of Whitehall in London. May. Cromwell puts down a mutiny of a group of Levellers at Burford. 15th August. Takes a force to Ireland to put down rebellion. 1650: 26th May. Returns to England. June. leaves for Scotland. 3rd September. The Battle of Dunbar. 1651: 3rd September. The Battle of Worcester. King Charles's son, Charles (later to become King Charles the Second) tries unsuccessfully to win back the throne . 1652: April. Anglo-Dutch War. 1653: 20th April. Dissolution of them "Long Parliament". This is succeeded by the "Barebones Parliament" i.e. one where members are nominated by the authorities. 16th December. Cromwell is chosen as Protector. 1654: April. Makes peace with the Dutch. September. Cromwell's first parliament and the death of his mother. December. Sends an expedition to the West Indies. 1655: 22nd January. Dissolution of parliament. May. Seizure of Jamaica. 1656: 17th September. Second Parliament. 1657: The Sindercombe Plot to assassinate him fails. 23rd March. Anglo-French treaty is signed authorising an attack on the Spanish Netherlands. March. Cromwell is offered the Kingship but declines eventually in May. 26th June. Is installed as Lord Protector. Cromwell House, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire (© A Blagg) 1658: 4th February. Dissolution of the second parliament. 4th June. Anglo-French forces defeat the Spanish at the Battle of the Dunes. As a result England acquires Dunkirk. Marriage: 22nd August 1620 to Elizabeth Bourchier at St. Giles, Cripplegate, London. Places of Interest: LONDON: Statue of Cromwell outside the present Houses of Parliament. CAMBRIDGESHIRE: Cromwell Museum, Huntingdon. Cromwell House, Ely. Date and Place of Death: 3rd September 1658. London, England. Age at Death: 59. Site of Grave: Originally the Eastern Chapel of Westminster Abbey, London however the body was exhumed in 1661 as a Regicide and hung and decapitated from the gallows at Tyburn Hill. (Modern day Marble Arch, London). There was a rumour that his remains were later taken by his third daughter and interred in tomb at her home, Newburgh Priory, Coxwold, North Yorkshire.