Henry Cromwell (20 January 1628 – 23 March 1674) was the fourth son of Oliver Cromwell and Elizabeth Bourchier, and an important figure in the Parliamentarian regime in Ireland.
Biography Early life Henry Cromwell was born at Huntingdon on 20 January 1628. cites Noble, i. 197.
He was educated at Felsted School and Emmanuel College, Cambridge.
Military career Henry Cromwell entered the New Model Army towards the close of the First Civil War, and was in 1647 either a captain in Harrison's regiment or the commander of Fairfax's lifeguard. cites Cromwelliana, p. 36. Heath and Wood identify him with the commandant of the life-guard. cites Flagellum, p. 57; Wood, Fasti, 1649. In the summer of 1648 Henry Cromwell appears to have been serving under his father in the north of England. cites Memoirs of Captain Hodgson, p. 31, ed. Turner.
In February 1650 Cromwell had attained the rank of colonel, and followed his father to Ireland with reinforcements. He and Lord Broghill defeated Lord Inchiquin near Limerick in April 1650. cites Whitelocke, Memorials, f. 432; Cromwelliana, p. 75. In 1653 Cromwell was nominated one of the representatives of Ireland in the Barebones Parliament. cites Parliamentary History, xx. 1/9.
Political career On 22 February 1654 Henry Cromwell was enrolled in Gray's Inn (this was merely an honorary registration).
After the dissolution of that parliament and the establishment of the Protectorate, his father despatched him to Ireland on a mission of inquiry to discover the feelings of the Irish officers towards the new government, and to counteract the influence of the Anabaptists. cites March 1654, Thurloe, ii. 162. He reported that the army in general, with the exception of the Anabaptists, were well satisfied with the recent change, and recommended that Ludlow, of whose venomous discontent and reproachful utterances he complains, should be replaced as lieutenant-general by John Desborough. Charles Fleetwood, though a staunch supporter of the protectorate, he regarded as too deeply involved with the Anabaptist party to be safely continued in Ireland, and advised his recall to England after a time, and the appointment of Desborough to act as his deputy. cites March 1654, Thurloe, ii. 1 49. Before leaving Ireland he held a discussion with Ludlow on the lawfulness of the protectorate, which the latter has recorded at length in his Memoirs. cites Ludlow Memoirs, p. 187, ed. 1751.
In August 1654 a new Irish council was commissioned, and the council of state voted that Cromwell should be appointed commander of the Irish army and a member of the new council. cites 21–22 August 1654, Cal. State Papers, Dom. pp. 321-328. This appointment seems to have been made at the request of Lord Broghill and other Irish gentlemen. cites 21–22 August 1654, Cal. State Papers, Dom. p. 382; Thurloe, iii. 29. In spite of this pressure it was not till 25 December 1654 that Cromwell became a member of the Irish council, though the date of his commission as major-general of the forces in Ireland was 24 Aug. 1654. cites Oliver Cromwell, Life of Oliver Cromwell, p. 693; 14th Rep, of the Deputy-Keeper of Irish Records, p. 28. The cause of this delay was probably Cromwell's reluctance to advance his sons (see Carlyle, Cromwell, Letter cxcix.) Whatever the Protector's intentions may have been, and there are several references in the letters of John Thurloe and Henry Cromwell which prove that this reluctance was real, Fleetwood was re-called to England very soon after the coming of Henry Cromwell to Ireland. He landed in Ireland in July 1655, and Fleetwood left in September. cites Mercurius Politicus, 5494, 5620. The latter still retained his title of lord-lieutenant, so that Cromwell was merely his deputy — the position which he had intended Desborough to fill. The object of the change in the government of Ireland was to substitute a settled civil government for the rule of a clique of officers, and to put an end to the influence of the Anabaptists, who had hitherto monopolised the direction of the government. The policy of Cromwell towards the native Irish was very little milder than that of his predecessor. His earliest letters show him zealously engaged in shipping young women and boys to populate Jamaica. He suggested to Thurloe the exportation of fifteen hundred or two thousand young boys of twelve or fourteen years of age. cites Thurloe, iv. 23, 40. He does not seem to have sought to mitigate the rigour of the transplantation, or to have considered it either unjust or impolitic. On the other hand, his religious views were more liberal, and he remonstrated against the oath of abjuration imposed on the Irish Catholics in 1657. cites Thurloe, vi. 527.
What distinguished Cromwell's administration from that of Fleetwood was the different policy adopted by him towards the English colony in Ireland. Instead of conducting the government in the interests of the soldiery, and in accordance with their views, he consulted the interests of the old settlers, the ancient Protestant inhabitants of Ireland, and was repaid by their confidence and admiration. A letter addressed to the Protector by Vincent Gookin, at a time when there was some danger of Cromwell's resignation or removal, shows the feelings with which this party regarded his rule. cites Thurloe, v. 646.
The Presbyterians and the more moderate sects of Independents, hitherto oppressed by the predominance enjoyed by the Anabaptists, expressed a like satisfaction with his government. cites Nichols, Letters to O. Cromwell, 137; Thurloe, iv. 286. With the Anabaptist leaders Cromwell had, in January 1656, an interview, in which he very plainly stated his intentions towards them. "I told them plainly that they might expect equal liberty in their spiritual and civil concernments with any others; and ... that I held myself obliged in duty to protect them from being imposed upon by any; as also to keep them from doing the like to others. Liberty and countenance they might expect from me, but to rule me, or to rule with me, I should not approve of". cites Thurloe, iv. 433. This line of conduct he faithfully followed in spite of many provocations. His adversaries were powerful in England, and continually at the ear of the Protector; but Oliver, though chary of praise, and not giving his son all the public support he expected, approved of his conduct in this matter. At the same time he warned him against being "over jealous", and "making it a business to be too hard" for those who contested with him. cites Carlyle, Cromwell, Letters cvii. cviii.
C. H. Firth states in the Dictionary of National Biography that in truth Henry's great weakness lay in the fact that he was too sensitive and irritable. His letters are a long series of complaints, and he continually talks of resigning his office. One of the first of his troubles was the mutinous condition of Ludlow's regiment, which he took the precaution of disbanding as soon as possible. cites Thurloe, iii. 715, iv. 74. Then, without Cromwell's knowledge, petitions were got up by his partisans for his appointment to Fleetwood's post, which afforded Hewson and other Anabaptists the opportunity of public protests on behalf of their old commander, in which they identified the deputy's supporters with the enemies of the godly interest. cites Thurloe, iv. 276, 348. In November 1656 two generals and a couple of colonels simultaneously threw up their commissions on account of their dissatisfaction with Henry's policy. cites Thurloe, v. 670.
Just as Cromwell was congratulating himself that the opposition of the Anabaptists was finally crushed, he was involved in fresh perplexities by the intrigues and resignation of Steele, the Irish Chancellor. cites Thurloe, vii. 199. After the second foundation of the protectorate by the "Petition and Advice", Cromwell was at length appointed Lord-Lieutenant by commission dated 16 November 1657. cites 14th Rep. of Deputy-Keeper of Irish Records, p. 29; Thurloe, vi. 446, 632. His new rank gave him more dignity and more responsibility, but did not increase his power or put an end to his difficulties. His promotion was accompanied by the appointment of a new Irish council, "the major art of whom", wrote Henry to his brother Richard, "were men of a professed spirit of contradiction to whatsoever I would have, and took counsel together how to lay wait for me without a cause". cites Thurloe, vii. 400. His popularity was shown by a vote of parliament on 8 June 1657, settling upon him lands to the value of £1,500 a year, which he refused on the ground of the poverty of Ireland and the indebtedness of England. cites Burton, Diary, ii. 197-224.
At the time of Cromwell's appointment the pay of the Irish army was eight months in arrears, and £180,000, owing from the English exchequer, was necessary to clear the engagements of the Irish government. cites Burton, vi. 649, 657. The difficulty of obtaining this money, as also the appointment of the hostile councillors, he attributed to his adversaries in the Protector's council. "Those who were against my coming to this employment, by keeping back our monies have an after game to play, for it is impossible for me to continue in this place upon so huge disadvantages". cites Burton, vi. 651, 665. He was also charged to disband a large part of the Irish army, but not allowed to have a voice in the management of disbanding.
Cromwell endeavoured to devise means of raising the money to pay them in Ireland, but found the country was too poor, and the taxes far heavier than in England. cites Burton, vi. 684, vii. 72. By using the utmost economy he wrote that £196,000 might suffice for the present, but all he seems to have obtained was the promise of £30,000. cites Burton, vi. 683, vii. 100. In the opinion of Firth, to have succeeded under such unfavourable circumstances in maintaining tranquillity and apparent contentment is no small proof of Cromwell's ability as a ruler. "The hypocrisy of men may be deep", he wrote in April 1658, "but really any indifferent spectator would gather, from the seeming unanimity and affection of the people of Ireland, that his highness’s interest is irresistible here". cites Burton, vii. 101. The adversaries who rendered the task of governing Ireland so burdensome appear to have been the leaders of the military party who surrounded the Protector. Henry Cromwell frequently refers to them in terms of dislike and distrust, especially in his letters to Thurloe during 1657 and 1658. He considered them as opposed to any legal settlement and desirous to perpetuate their own arbitrary power. cites Burton, vi. 93.
On the question of the acceptance of the crown offered to his father in 1657 his own views were almost exactly the same as those of the Protector himself. From the first Henry held the constitution sketched in the articles of the Petition and Advice to be "a most excellent structure", and was taken by the prospect of obtaining a parliamentary basis for the protectorate. But the title of king, "a gaudy feather in the hat of authority", he held a thing of too slight importance to be the subject of earnest contention. Both directly and through Thurloe he urged his father to refuse the title, but to endeavour to obtain the new constitutional settlement offered him by parliament with it. cites Burton, vi. 93, 182, 222.