Rule of the Major-Generals

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The Rule of the Major-Generals from August 1655 – January 1657[1], was a period of direct military government during Oliver Cromwell's Protectorate. The failure of the First Protectorate Parliament discouraged Cromwell from further attempts to co-operate with civilian politicians, and a series of Royalist insurrections that culminated in Penruddock's Uprising in the spring of 1655 convinced him that stringent security measures should be enforced. Cromwell also believed that the failure of the Western Design to the West Indies was a sign of God's displeasure at England's progress, and that a godly reform of the nation's morals was urgently required.

During August and September 1655, Cromwell worked with John Lambert, John Disbrowe and Sir Gilbert Pickering to finalise arrangements for the new system. The Major-Generals were formally commissioned on 11 October 1655 and proclaimed on 31 October. England was divided into 10 regions[2] each governed by a Major-General who was answerable only to the Lord Protector. The first duty of the Major-Generals was to maintain security by suppressing unlawful assemblies, disarming Royalist "malignants" and apprehending thieves, robbers and highwaymen. They were authorised to raise cavalry militias in their regions consisting of volunteers loyal to the Protectorate. The militia was funded by a new 10% income tax imposed on all known Royalists which was known as the Decimation Tax. It was argued that a punitive tax on Royalists was a just means of financing the militia because Royalist conspiracies had made it necessary in the first place.

Assisted by specially appointed commissioners, the Major-Generals were also expected to enforce moral reform in their localities. Pastimes like horse-racing, stage plays, cock-fighting and bear-baiting were abolished; laws against drunkenness, sexual licentiousness, blasphemy and swearing were enforced; unruly alehouses were closed. While the discouragement of public assemblies was partly in the interests of national security, Cromwell and the Major-Generals genuinely hoped to reform the morals of the nation by these measures.

The system was not intended to replace the traditional structure of local government. The Major-Generals and their assistants worked alongside the existing hierarchy of magistrates, sheriffs, constables and town corporations.

The impact of the Major-Generals varied from region to region. Co-ordinated by John Thurloe, they were successful in curbing security threats to the Protectorate, but the repressiveness of enforced moral reform was widely unpopular. The legality of the system was also called into question. In the summer of 1656, the Major-Generals attempted to influence the elections for the Second Protectorate Parliament; during its first session, MPs decisively rejected a bill that would have renewed the rule of the Major-Generals and made the Decimation Tax permanent. Cromwell himself was aware of the unpopularity of military government; under mounting pressure from MPs to accept the Crown, he abolished the Major-Generals and the Decimation Tax in January 1657.

[edit] The Major-Generals and their regions

There were ten regional associations covering England and Wales administered by Major-Generals. Ireland under Major-General Henry Cromwell,[3] and Scotland under Major-General George Monck were in administrations already agreed upon and were not part of the scheme.[4]

Name Period Region Deputies Notes
James Berry Appointed in 1655 Herefordshire, Shropshire, Worcestershire and Wales John Nicholas in Monmouthshire;
Rowland Dawkins in Carmarthenshire, Cardiganshire, Glamorgan, Pembrokeshire.		  
William Boteler (Butler)   Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, Northamptonshire and Rutland   Zealous and uncompromising in his hostility to his religious and political enemies, Boteler was a severe persecutor of Quakers in Northamptonshire; in 1656 he advocated that James Nayler should be stoned to death for blasphemy. Boteler was also aggressive in his persecution of Royalists in his area, unlawfully imprisoning the Earl of Northampton for failing to pay his taxes.
John Desborough   Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire    
Charles Fleetwood Appointed in 1655 Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Isle of Ely, Norfolk, Oxfordshire and Suffolk George Fleetwood (a distant kinsman) in Buckinghamshire;
Hezekiah Haynes in Essex, Cambridgeshire, Isle of Ely, Norfolk, Suffolk;
William Packer as military governor of Hertfordshire and Oxfordshire		 Owing to his other responsibilities on the Council of State, day to day matters in his region were overseen by Fleetwood's three deputies.[4]
William Goffe October 1655 Berkshire, Hampshire and Sussex    
Thomas Kelsey   Surrey and Kent    
John Lambert   Cumberland, County Durham, Northumberland, Westmorland and Yorkshire Charles Howard in Cumberland, Northumberland, Westmorland;
Robert Lilburne in County Durham, Yorkshire		 Owing to his other responsibilities on the Council of State, day to day matters in his region were overseen by Lambert's two deputies.[4]
Philip Skippon   Middlesex; including the cities of London and Westminster Sir John Barkstead Skippon was by now elderly, and on the Council of State, so most of the day to day matters in his region were largely undertaken by Barkstead,[4] who was zealous in suppressing immorality and ungodliness in London and surrounding districts.
Edward Whalley   Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Warwickshire,  
Charles Worsley;
Tobias Bridge		 1655–June 1656;
June 1656–January 1657		 Cheshire, Lancashire and Staffordshire   Worsley was extremely zealous in persecuting Royalists, closing alehouses and working to promote a godly reformation in his region. His strenuous efforts exhausted him and brought about his sudden death in June 1656

[edit] References

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ Little, Paterick; Putting the Protector nack into the Protectorate BBC history magazine Vol 8, no 1, January 2007. Page 15
  2. ^ Royle, Trevor, References Page 698
  3. ^ Henry Cromwell was nominally under the Lord Deputy of Ireland, Charles Fleetwood, but Fleetwood's departure for England in September 1655 left him for all practical purposes the ruler of Ireland
  4. ^ a b c d Royal, Trevor References; pages 698,699