Charles Worsley
Major General Charles Worsley | |
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![]() Major-General Charles Worsley (1622–1656) | |
Born | [1] | 24 June 1622
Died | 12 June 1656 St. James's, London[1] | (aged 33)
Resting place | Henry VII's chapel in Westminster Abbey |
Nationality | English |
Spouse(s) | Mary Booth (1644–1649) Dorothy Kenyonon (1652–1656) |
Parent(s) | Ralph Worsley and Isabel née Massey |
Charles Worsley (24 June 1622 – 12 June 1656) was an English soldier and politician. He was an ardent supporter of Oliver Cromwell and was an officer in the Parliamentary army during the English Civil War and the Commonwealth of England. He sat in the House of Commons in 1654 and governed a district during the Rule of the Major-Generals.[2]
Biography[]
Worsley was the son of Ralph Worsley, of The Platt, Rusholme and his wife Isabel Massy, daughter of Edward Massy of Manchester.[3] He was a parliamentary captain in Lancashire in 1644. By 1650 he was lieutenant colonel of regiment raised in Lancashire for Cromwell. In 1651 he was employed in the reduction of the Isle of Man.
Worsley commanded the detachment used in the expulsion of the Long Parliament[4] in 1653 and took charge of the "bauble" when Cromwell ordered it to be removed.[3]
In 1654, Worsley was elected the first Member of Parliament for Manchester in the First Protectorate Parliament.[5][4] During the Rule of the Major-Generals, Worsley governed a district consisting of Cheshire, Lancashire and Staffordshire.[2][4] He confiscated the property of Royalists, put Roman Catholics in jail, suppressed horse-racing, and promoted the public good according to his own ideals. He died suddenly in 1656 at the age of 33 and was buried in the Henry VII Chapel in Westminster Abbey.[3]
Notes[]
References[]
- Plant, David (18 December 2007). Charles Worsley, Major-General, 1622-56. British Civil Wars & Commonwealth website. Retrieved 8 July 2009.
- Willis, Browne (1750). Notitia Parliamentaria, Part II: A Series or Lists of the Representatives in the several Parliaments held from the Reformation 1541, to the Restoration 1660 ... London. p. 263.
- Attribution
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Lee, Sidney, ed. (1903). "Worsley, Charles". Index and Epitome. Dictionary of National Biography. Cambridge University Press. p. 1437. (see also main entry lxiii 32)
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Firth, Charles (1900). "Worsley, Charles". In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. 63. London: Smith, Elder & Co. pp. 32–33.
Further reading[]
- Espinasse, Francis (1874). "VI. The First Member for Manchester". Lancashire Worthies. Simpkin, Marshall, & Co . pp. 96–114.
- Royle, William (1941). "Major General Worsley". History of Rusholme: With a gossipy talk of men and things (PDF). Manchester: Printed at the William Morris Press. pp. 14–17.
- 1622 births
- 1656 deaths
- English generals
- Roundheads
- Burials at Westminster Abbey
- Worsley family
- English MPs 1654–1655
- Members of the Parliament of England for Manchester
- English military personnel stubs