Michael Oldisworth (1591–1664) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons variously between 1624 and 1653. He supported 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 ...

side 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 ...

. Oldisworth was the son of Arnold Oldsworth and his wife Lucy Barty daughter of Francis Barty of Antwerp.W R Williams ''Parliamentary History of the County of Gloucester''
/ref> He was a fellow of

Magdalen College, Oxford Magdalen College (, ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by William of Waynflete. Today, it is the fourth wealthiest college, with a financial endowment of £332.1 million as of 2019 and one of the s ...

, and became secretary to the

3rd Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * Second#Sexagesimal divisions of calendar time and day, 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (d ...

and

4th Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

Earls of Pembroke. He entered parliament in the interest of the Earls. In 1624 Oldisworth became

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

Old Sarum Old Sarum, in Wiltshire, South West England, is the now ruined and deserted site of the earliest settlement of Salisbury. Situated on a hill about north of modern Salisbury near the A345 road, the settlement appears in some of the earliest re ...

after Sir Arthur Ingram chose to sit for York instead. He was re-elected MP for Old Sarum in 1625, 1626 and 1628 and sat until 1629 when King Charles decided to rule without parliament for eleven years. In April 1640, Oldisworth was elected MP for

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of Wil ...

in the

Short Parliament The Short Parliament was a Parliament of England that was summoned by King Charles I of England on the 20th of February 1640 and sat from 13th of April to the 5th of May 1640. It was so called because of its short life of only three weeks. Aft ...

. In November 1640 he was returned as MP for Salisbury and

Plympton Erle Plympton is a suburb of the city of Plymouth in Devon, England. It is in origin an ancient Stannary, stannary town. It was an important trading centre for locally mined tin, and a seaport before the River Plym silted up and trade moved down riv ...

and chose to sit for Salisbury. His patron was a puritan and had broken with the King, and Oldisworth continued to support the parliamentarian cause. He was appointed keeper of

Windsor Great Park Windsor Great Park is a Royal Park of , including a deer park, to the south of the town of Windsor on the border of Berkshire and Surrey in England. It is adjacent to the private Home Park, which is nearer the castle. The park was, for many ...

in 1650 and master of the prerogative office. He was satirised by royalist pamphleteers and praised by Herrick.Stephen B. Dobranski ''Readers and authorship in early modern England''
/ref> Oldisworth married Jane Thomas, widow of William Thomas and daughter of

Sir John Stradling, 1st Baronet Sir John Stradling, 1st Baronet (1563 – 9 September 1637), was an English poet, scholar and politician. Life John Stradling was the son of Francis and Elizabeth Stradling of St George, Bristol, and was adopted by his second cousin, Sir Edw ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oldisworth, Michael 1591 births 1659 deaths Roundheads People from Salisbury Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford Year of death uncertain Members of the Parliament of England for Plympton Erle English MPs 1624–1625 English MPs 1625 English MPs 1626 English MPs 1628–1629 English MPs 1640 (April) English MPs 1640–1648