Sir Gilbert Pickering | |
---|---|
Lord Chamberlain | |
In office 1655–1659 | |
English Council of State/Committee of Safety | |
In office 1649–1660 | |
Member of Parliament for Northamptonshire | |
In office April 1640 –May 1660 [lower-alpha 1] | |
Personal details | |
Born | 10 March 1611 Titchmarsh,Northamptonshire |
Died | 17 October 1668 57) Titchmarsh,Northamptonshire | (aged
Resting place | St. Mary the Virgin,Titchmarsh |
Spouse | Elizabeth Montagu (1638–1668 his death) |
Relations | Edward Montagu,1st Earl of Sandwich (brother-in-law) John Dryden (cousin) |
Children | Eight sons,four daughters |
Alma mater | Emmanuel College,Cambridge Gray's Inn |
Occupation | Politician and religious radical |
Sir Gilbert Pickering,1st Baronet,10 March 1611 to 17 October 1668,was a member of the landed gentry from Northamptonshire,and a religious Independent who supported Parliament in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. An MP for Northamptonshire for most of the period from 1640 to 1660,during the 1649 to 1660 Interregnum he also served as Lord Chamberlain,sat on the English Council of State,and was appointed to Cromwell's Upper House in 1658.
Although appointed a judge at the Trial of Charles I in January 1649,Pickering attended only two sessions and did not sign the Execution warrant,which saved him from being classed as a regicide following the 1660 Stuart Restoration. He received a pardon with the help of his brother-in-law Edward Montagu,1st Earl of Sandwich,but was banned from holding public office,and died at home in October 1668.
Gilbert Pickering was born 10 March 1611 in Titchmarsh,Northamptonshire,eldest son of Sir John Pickering (1585–1628),and Susannah Dryden (d.1661). A devout Puritan,his father was arrested in January 1627 for refusing to pay "loans" imposed by Charles I,and although released from prison a few months later due to illness,died in January 1628. Gilbert had two younger brothers,John (1615–1645),who became a colonel in the New Model Army and died of fever on active service,and Edward (1617–1698),as well as a sister Mary (1615–?). [1]
In May 1638,Pickering married Elizabeth Montagu (d.1679),daughter of Sir Sidney Montagu,a judge in the Court of Requests. They had eight sons and four daughters,including his eldest child and heir John (1640–1703),Elizabeth (1642–1728),Oliver (1645–1669),Montegue (1654–1694). [2]
Pickering graduated from Emmanuel College,Cambridge in 1625,entered Gray's Inn to study law in 1629,and shortly after his 1638 marriage purchased a baronetcy in Novia Scotia. [2] Like his brother John,he was originally a Presbyterian,who wanted to restructure the Church of England along lines similar to the reformed Church of Scotland established by the Covenanters in 1639. He later became a religious Independent,one of those who rejected any State religion,and was suspected of being an Anabaptist,a sect viewed as heretical by other Protestants,and widely persecuted in both Europe and the New England Colonies as a result. [3]
First elected as MP for Northamptonshire in April 1640,Pickering retained this seat in every Parliament until April 1660. When the First English Civil War began in August 1642,he joined the Parliamentarian Committee for Northamptonshire,and was most active as "a sequester and committee man". In late 1644,he supported Oliver Cromwell's criticisms of Essex and Manchester,the former for his defeat at Lostwithiel,the latter for failing to exploit victory at Marston Moor and bungling the Second Battle of Newbury. John Pickering,who fought at Marston Moor and Newbury,was one of the witnesses on whom Cromwell relied in the attack on Manchester that led to his removal under the Self-denying Ordinance. [4]
Parliament's victory in 1646 was followed by two years of arguments over the peace settlement between moderate Presbyterians and the leadership of the New Model Army. Although Pickering largely avoided involvement,as an Independent he was generally viewed as an Army supporter, [lower-alpha 2] and thus kept his seat in the Rump Parliament established after Pride's Purge in December 1648. He was appointed one of the judges in the January 1649 trial of Charles I,but only attended two sessions and did not sign the death warrant.
He remained MP for Northamptonshire through the Interregnum 1648–1660 and was appointed Lord Chamberlain to Oliver Cromwell in 1657. His public career ended in 1660. With the help of his brother-in-law Edward Montagu,1st Earl of Sandwich,Pickering obtained a pardon from King Charles II. The original of the pardon delivered by Charles II on vellum in Latin is in the Pitts Theology Library of Emory University,MS no 109.
Pickering was also cousin to the poet,John Dryden,who grew up in Titchmarsh;monuments to Dryden and his parents were erected at Titchmarsh by his daughter Elizabeth,whose 1668 marriage was attended by her distant relative,Samuel Pepys. Sir Gilbert and his descendants are commemorated by tombs and memorials in Saint Mary the Virgin,Titchmarsh. [5]
Algernon Percy, 10th Earl of Northumberland, 4th Baron Percy,, was an English aristocrat, and supporter of the Parliamentary cause in the First English Civil War.
Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Carlisle was an English military leader and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1653 and 1660 and was created Earl of Carlisle in 1661.
Edward Montagu, 1st Earl of Sandwich, 27 July 1625 to 28 May 1672, was an English military officer, politician and diplomat from Barnwell, Northamptonshire. During the First English Civil War, he served with the Parliamentarian army, and was an Member of Parliament at various times between 1645 and 1660. Under The Protectorate, he was also a member of the English Council of State and General at sea.
Colonel John Hewson, also spelt Hughson, was a shoemaker from London and religious Independent who fought for Parliament and the Commonwealth in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, reaching the rank of colonel. Considered one of Oliver Cromwell's most reliable supporters within the New Model Army, his unit played a prominent part in Pride's Purge of December 1648. Hewson signed the death warrant for the Execution of Charles I in January 1649, for which he reportedly sourced the headsman, while soldiers from his regiment provided security.
Francis Rous, also spelled Rouse, was an English politician and Puritan religious author, who was Provost of Eton from 1644 to 1659, and briefly Speaker of the House of Commons in 1653.
Sir Edward Rossiter was an English landowner, soldier and politician from Lincolnshire. He fought with the Parliamentarian army in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, and sat as an MP at various times between 1646 and 1660.
Sir Thomas Barrington, 2nd Baronet, 1585 to 18 September 1644, was an English politician and Puritan activist who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1621 and 1644. In the early stages of the First English Civil War, he helped establish the Eastern Association, one of the most effective elements of the Parliamentarian army.
John Crew, 1st Baron Crew of Stene was an English lawyer and politician, who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1624 and 1660. He was a Puritan and sided with the Parliamentary cause during the Civil War. He was raised to a peerage as Baron Crew by Charles II after the Restoration.
Anthony Stapley was one of the regicides of King Charles I of England.
Colonel John Pickering was a member of the landed gentry from Northamptonshire who served with the Parliamentarian army in the First English Civil War. Like his elder brother Sir Gilbert Pickering, a close ally of Oliver Cromwell, he was a religious Independent, known for his devout faith and radical views. Appointed colonel of an infantry regiment in the New Model Army, he died of fever at Ottery St Mary on 24 November 1645.
Eusebius Andrews, December 1606 to 22 August 1650, was a London lawyer and Royalist during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, executed for his part in a 1650 plot to restore Charles II of England. A prominent supporter of the Crown since the early 1630s, he was a determined conspirator who organised a number of Royalist risings in Cambridgeshire between 1642 and 1650.
William Carnaby (1595–1645) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1640. He fought on the Royalist side in the English Civil War.
William Ogle, 1st Viscount Ogle was an English soldier from Northumberland who settled in Hampshire and was Member of Parliament for Winchester from 1640 to 1643. He served in a number of wars and was Royalist governor of Winchester from 1643 to 1645.
Elizabeth Creed was an English artist and philanthropist.
Sir Sidney Montagu was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1593 and 1642. He supported the Royalist cause in the First English Civil War.
There have been two baronetcies created for persons with the surname Pickering, one in the Baronetage of Nova Scotia and one in the Baronetage of England. Both creations are extinct.
Lewis Watson, 1st Baron Rockingham was an English landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1621 to 1624. From 1621 to 1645 when he received his peerage he was known as Sir Lewis Watson, 1st Baronet. He supported the Royalist cause in the English Civil War and for his services was created Baron Rockingham in 1645.
Sir Henry Pickering, 1st Baronet was an English landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1654. He fought in the Parliamentary army in the English Civil War.