Table Of ContentHENRY IRETON AND THE ENGLISH REVOLUTION
A devout puritan Henry Ireton was an immediate Parliamentarian activist in
his native Nottinghamshire before his meeting with Oliver Cromwell in 1643
changed both men’s lives. Rising to the rank of Commissary-General of the
New Model and playing a prominent role in their English campaigns of
1645–48 Ireton shared Cromwell’s religious enthusiasm and acted as one of
his political mentors. Henry Ireton, more than any other individual, even
Oliver Cromwell, brought about the execution of Charles I in 1649. Indeed
it was Ireton’s influence, symbolised by his marriage to Bridget Cromwell in
1646, that did much to persuade Cromwell to become a regicide and in doing
so to put his political weight behind that very singular act of English history.
Ireton’s importance was through the theoretical and practical framework he
provided for the New Model Army officer corps that made possible their
revolution in the period 1647–1649. As the ‘penman’ of the revolutionary
army Ireton was an author of its significant political statements. Ireton was at
the heart of the army’s Heads of the Proposals, their attempt at settlement with
the King in 1647, he was its chief negotiator with the Levellers at the Putney
and Whitehall debates and Ireton was chiefly responsible for the 1648
Remonstrance that justified the army’s purge of Parliament and called for
execution of justice on Charles I. Ireton drove the New Model Army’s
revolution in his direction through his strength of will, fortified by his faith
and grasp of political reality, to enable a republic to be constructed after the
regicide. In 1649 both Ireton and Cromwell embarked on the conquest of
Ireland, Ireton remaining there as Lord Deputy. Here he was forced to modify
his stance to the Irish, if not Catholicism. It was in Ireland, while on campaign
in 1651, that Ireton, having worked selflessly to establish a godly republic, died.
DAVIDFARR is Head of History and Director of Studies at Norwich School.
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Henry Ireton, c. 1650. Copy attributed to Robert Walker (1599–1658), after Samuel
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Cooper and Sir Anthony Van Dyck. By courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery,
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HENRY IRETON
AND
THE ENGLISH REVOLUTION
David Farr
THE BOYDELL PRESS
© David Farr 2006
All Rights Reserved. Except as permitted under current legislation
no part of this work may be photocopied, stored in a retrieval
system, published, performed in public, adapted, broadcast,
transmitted, recorded or reproduced in any form or by any means,
without the prior permission of the copyright owner
The right of David Farr to be identified as the
author of this work has been asserted in accordance with
sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
First published 2006
The Boydell Press, Woodbridge
ISBN 1 84383 235 6
The Boydell Press is an imprint of Boydell & Brewer Ltd
PO Box 9, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 3DF, UK
and of Boydell & Brewer Inc.
668 Mt Hope Avenue, Rochester, NY 14620, USA
website: www.boydellandbrewer.com
A CIP catalogue record of this publication
is available from the British Library
This publication is printed on acid-free paper
Typeset by
Keystroke, High Street, Tettenhall, Wolverhampton
Printed in Great Britain by
Cambridge University Press
Contents
Acknowledgements vi
Abbreviations viii
Introduction: the two ‘deaths’ of Henry Ireton, 1651 and 1661 1
1 The making of Henry Ireton, 1611–1642 15
2 Reshaping, 1642–1647 44
3 ‘Penman’ of the army, 1647 76
4 Putney, 1647 99
5 Radicalisation, 1648 118
6 The Remonstrance, 1648 138
7 Purge, 1648 159
8 Regicide, 1648–1649 178
9 Ireland, 1649–1651 204
10 Lord Deputy, 1650–1651 221
Conclusion: Henry Ireton and the English Revolution 244
Bibliography 248
Index 271
v
Acknowledgements
As a member of the ‘New Morrill Army’ I have no qualms in admitting the
great debt that I, as do many others, owe to John Morrill. Much of this will be
clear from the numerous references to his work in the footnotes. The time
and care that he has always given in support, both academically and otherwise,
has always been significant.
Others who read drafts of this work, at various stages and in diverse forms,
have done much to point me in the right direction. I have been very fortunate
in being able to benefit from the advice of Ian Gentles over the past twelve
years. His expertise with regard to the New Model Army has always proved
invaluable and his recent authorship of the Ireton NewDNB entry made his
comments on various parts of this work even more directed. Norah Carlin
generously allowed me to read her draft article on army petitions and her useful
advice, particularly on early drafts of chapters covering the period 1647 through
to the regicide, has been much appreciated. Norah’s comments with regard to
historical practice, the nature of ‘authorship’ and especially with regard to the
Remonstrance of November 1648 saved me from numerous errors. Markku
Peltonen and Kate Siddiqui worked through early manuscripts covering the
period up to the regicide. Their comments encouraged me to continue and
reshape the book. The final person who worked through a draft of the
completed text, in typically record time at the end of the summer of 2005,
was Eamonn O’Ciardha. His comments with regard to the Irish period of
1650–1652 and advice with regard to ‘republican style’ saved me much time
and invariably improved the final draft.
There are many others to whom I also owe a debt of gratitude. Colin Davis
was prepared to let me inflict some of my early ideas with regard to Ireton on
his Cromwell Special Subject students at UEA. It says much of him that their
questioning challenged some of what I said, and Colin himself made me think
much more carefully about key aspects of Ireton’s life and writing. Jason Peacey
sent me copies of his excellent articles, ‘Marchamont Nedham’ and ‘Royalist
Newspapers’, as well as offering much useful advice with regard to Nedham
generally. Martin Dzelzainis shared information in relation to the attribution
by Austin Woolrych of the pamphlet, An Abridgment of the Late Remonstrance
of the Army(1648). Paul Sutton saved much of my time during the later stages
of this work. Tom Siddiqui was an excellent Bodleian ‘research assistant’. This
book would not, however, have been completed without the friendship and
hospitality of Richard Woolvin.
vi
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
As with any book of this type the time and expertise of a variety of archivists
and librarians across the country has been essential. The nonconformity of
Ireton’s parents could not have been constructed as fully or as efficiently
without the database of Nottinghamshire Archdeaconry records held at
Nottingham University. I was fortunate to benefit from the expertise of
Kathryn Summerwill while researching. Her advice made sure that these
records were fully appreciated and set in context by her own work on ‘The
Bawdy Court’. I would like to thank Aude Fitzsimons and Dr Neil Jones of
Magdalene College and Dr Frances Willmoth of Jesus College for providing
information with regard to their college and the Foljambe bequest. The staff
of the Cambridge University Library, the British Library, the Bodleian Library,
and Nottingham and Derbyshire Record Offices have all been especially
helpful. I am also grateful to Peter Sowden, Sarah Pearsall and Ann King at
Boydell and Brewer for their support, skills and efficiency.
Finally, I would like to thank those who made sure that Ireton always
remained in context, namely Fern, Arthur and Henry.
vii
Abbreviations
Abbott Abbott, W.C., The Writings and Speeches of
OliverCromwell4 vols (Cambridge, MA,
1934–44, reprinted Oxford, 1988).
AN/PB Archdeaconry of Nottingham, Presentment
Bills.
Berkeley Memoirs Berkeley Memoirs, in F. Maseres (ed.), Select
Tracts Relating to the Civil Wars in England, 2 vols
(1815–26).
BL British Library.
Carlin, ‘Petitons’ Carlin, N., ‘Petitions and Revolution in
England, September 1648-January 1649’,
unpublished.
CJ Journals of the House of Commons.
Clarke Papers Firth, C.H. (ed.), The Clarke Papers(vols 1 and
2, 1992).
CSPD Calendar Of State Papers – Domestic Series.
Declaration of the Declaration of the Engagements, Remonstrances,
Engagements Representations, Proposals, Desires and Resolutions
from His Excellency Sir Tho: Fairfax(27 Sept
1647), BL, E409(25).
DRO Derbyshire Record Office.
Gardiner, Civil War Gardiner, S.R., History of the Great Civil War
1642–9, 4 vols (Adlestrop, 1987).
Gentles, NMA Gentles, I., The New Model Army in England,
Ireland and Scotland 1645–1653(Oxford, 1992).
Hammond Letters Letters between Col Robert Hammond, Governor
of the Isle of Wight, and the Committee of Lords
and Commons at Derby House, General Fairfax,
Lieut. General Cromwell, Commissary General
Ireton, &c Relating to King Charles I(1764).
Hutchinson, Memoirs Hutchinson, T. (ed.), Memoirs of the Life of
Colonel Hutchinson(London, 1968).
KWI Kingdomes Weekly Intelligencer.
Lilburne, LFL Lilburne, J., Legal and Fundamentall Liberties of
the People of England(18 June 1649).
LJ Journals of the House of Lords.
viii
ABBREVIATIONS
Ludlow’s Memoirs Firth, C.H. (ed.), Ludlow’s Memoirs, 2 vols
(1894).
Mendle (ed.), Mendle, M. (ed.), The Putney Debates of 1647.
Putney Debates The Army, the Levellers and the English State
(Cambridge, 2001).
MP Mercurius Politicus.
Morrill (ed.), Cromwell Morrill, J. (ed.), Oliver Cromwell and the English
Revolution(London, 1990).
Morrill, Morrill, J., ‘Rewriting Cromwell: A Case of
‘Rewriting Cromwell’ Deafening Silences’, Canadian Journal of History,
38 (2003).
Morrill and Baker, Morrill, J. and Baker, P., ‘Oliver Cromwell, the
‘Zeruiah’ Regicide and the Sons of Zeruiah’, in J.Peacey
(ed.), The Regicides and the Execution of Charles I
(Basingstoke, 2001).
NewDNB Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
NRO Nottinghamshire Record Office.
NU Nottingham University.
PRO Public Record Office.
Ramsey, Ireton Ramsey, R.W., Henry Ireton(London, 1949).
Remonstrance A Remonstrance of his Excelleny Thomas Lord
Fairfax, Lord Generall of the Parliaments Forces.
And of the Generall Councell of Officers held at
St.Albans the 16. of November, 1648. Presented to
the Commons assembled in Parliament, the 20.
instant, and tendred to the Consideration of the
whole Kingdome(1648), BL. E473(11).
Taft, ‘Ireton’ Taft, B., ‘From Reading to Whitehall: Henry
Ireton’s journey’, in M.Mendle (ed.), The Putney
Debates.
Underdown, Pride’s Purge Underdown, D., Pride’s Purge(Oxford, 1971).
Woolrych, Soldiers Woolrych, A., Soldiers and Statesmen, The
and Statesman General Council of the Army and Its Debates,
1647–8(Oxford, 1987).
YAS Yorkshire Archaeological Society.
ix
