Henry Scobell (baptised 1610; died 1660[1]) was an English Parliamentary official, and editor of official publications. He was clerk to the Long Parliament, and wrote on parliamentary procedure and precedents.
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He was initially under-clerk of the parliaments. He became Clerk of the House of Commons from January 5, 1649, his predecessor Henry Elsyng having resigned, and also held a position as censor of publications, and then was Clerk of the Parliament for life, on May 14, 1649.[2] He was the first editor, from 9 October 1649, of Severall Proceedings in Parliament, an early official newspaper, and the second of Parliament's publications.[3][4]
In the Rump Parliament, Scobell found himself in the middle of the clashes leading to its dissolution in 1653.[5] He remained Clerk to Barebone's Parliament.[6]
From 1655 he became Clerk to the Council of State, a large jump in status, in succession to John Thurloe and sharing the position with William Jessop.[7] Up to then he had been for a period an assistant secretary to the Council.[8]
In 1658, as a preliminary to the Savoy Assembly, he called together elders of Independent churches from the London area, in the house of George Griffith.[9] He himself was an elder of the Congregational church of John Rowe, meeting in Westminster Abbey.[10][11]
In October 1659 he was one of those calling on George Monck to intervene, in the vacuum of power after the death of Oliver Cromwell.[12]