Jeremiah Tolhurst (1615–1671) was an English tailor, soldier, businessman and politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

at various times between 1654 and 1660. He fought in the

Parliamentary A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democracy, democratic government, governance of a sovereign state, state (or subordinate entity) where the Executive (government), executive derives its democratic legitimacy ...

army in the

English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...

. Tolhurst was the son of Jeremy Tolhurst, yeoman, of Icklesham, Sussex and his second wife Elizabeth Wymond, daughter of Paul Wymond, attorney, of Winchelsea, Sussex. His father died in 1623 and he became a tailor. He served in the Parliamentary army during the Civil War at first in a Kentish regiment and then in the

New Model Army The New Model Army was a standing army formed in 1645 by the Parliamentarians during the First English Civil War, then disbanded after the Stuart Restoration in 1660. It differed from other armies employed in the 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Th ...

. He was a lieutenant of foot until 1644 when he became a captain. In 1649 he became a major. He moved to the north and acquired interests in coal and salt. He helped to supply Cromwell's army during the Scottish campaign. History of Parliament Online - Jeremiah Tolhurst
/ref> Tolhurst was a freeman of Dumfries by 1654 when he represented Dumfries Burghs in the

First Protectorate Parliament The First Protectorate Parliament was summoned by the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell under the terms of the Instrument of Government. It sat for one term from 3 September 1654 until 22 January 1655 with William Lenthall as the Speaker of the Hou ...

. He became a freeman of Newcastle and a member of Hostmen's Company in 1655. He was deputy governor of Carlisle from 1655 to March 1660 and was also commissioner for sequestrations for Cumberland and Westmorland in 1655 and commissioner for security from 1655 to 1656. He was J.P. for Cumberland from 1656 to 1661 and J.P. for Northumberland from 1657 to July 1660. In 1657 he was commissioner for assessment for Dumfries in 1657 and became joint farmer of excise for Northumberland, Cumberland and Westmorland until 1658. He was a captain of foot again from 1658 to December 1660 and commissioner for militia for Northumberland in 1659. In 1659 he was returned as representative for Dumfries Burghs in the

Third Protectorate Parliament The Third Protectorate Parliament sat for one session, from 27 January 1659 until 22 April 1659, with Chaloner Chute and Thomas Bampfylde as the Speakers of the House of Commons. It was a bicameral Parliament, with an Upper House having a powe ...

. He was commissioner for assessment for Dumfries and Northumberland in January 1660, commissioner for militia for Cumberland and Northumberland in March 1660 and governor of Newcastle from March to December 1660. In April 1660, Tolhurst was elected

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from xcb, Caer Luel) is a city that lies within the Northern England, Northern English county of Cumbria, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, Scottish border at the confluence of the rivers River Eden, Cumbria, Eden, River C ...

in the Convention Parliament. He was commissioner for assessment for Northumberland from August 1660 to 1661, sub-commissioner of excise for Cumberland and Westmorland from 1661 to 1662 and customs official for Newcastle by 1664. In 1669 he was a major in Sayer's Company of Foot. Tolhurst emigrated to the West Indies before July 1671 and died intestate in Jamaica three months later. Tolhurst married firstly by licence dated 25 September 1636, Elizabeth Soule, daughter of Robert Soule, tailor, of Rye, Sussex who brought him three houses in Rye which she had inherited. They had a daughter. She died by 1661 and he married again and had a son and three daughters.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tolhurst, Jeremiah 1615 births 1671 deaths British tailors 17th-century English businesspeople Roundheads English MPs 1654–1655 English MPs 1659 English MPs 1660 British emigrants to Jamaica