Rule of the Major-Generals

The Rule of the Major-Generals from August 1655 – January 1657,[1] was a period of direct military government during Oliver Cromwell's Protectorate.[2]

England was divided into 11 regions[3] each governed by a Major-General who answered to the Lord Protector.[2]

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,[lower-alpha 1] and Scotland under Major-General George Monck were in administrations already agreed upon and were not part of the scheme.[4]

NamePeriodRegionDeputiesNotes
James BerryAppointed in 1655Herefordshire, Shropshire, Worcestershire and WalesJohn 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 FleetwoodAppointed in 1655 Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Isle of Ely, Norfolk, Oxfordshire and SuffolkGeorge 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 YorkshireCharles 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 WestminsterSir John BarksteadSkippon 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]
Edward Whalley Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Warwickshire,  
Charles Worsley;
Tobias Bridge 		1655–June 1656;
June 1656–January 1657		Cheshire, Lancashire and Staffordshire 

Notes

  1. ↑ Henry Cromwell was nominally under the Lord Deputy of Ireland, Charles Fleetwood, but Fleetwood's departure for England in September 1655 left Cromwell the ruler of Ireland for all practical purposes.
  1. ↑ Little 2007, p. 15.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Plant 2008.
  3. ↑ Royle 2006, p. 698.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Royle 2006, pp. 698, 699.

References

Further reading