Simon Thelwall (1601–1659) was a Welsh politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1640 and 1654. 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 ...

. Thelwall was the son of either Simon or Edward Thelwall of Plas-y-ward. He was admitted at

Lincoln College, Oxford Lincoln College (formally, The College of the Blessed Mary and All Saints, Lincoln) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford, situated on Turl Street in central Oxford. Lincoln was founded in 1427 by Richard Fleming, the ...

on 7 June 1616 aged 15. He was sworn a burgess of Denbigh of 31 March 1634, and was admitted to

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wal ...

in November 1637.W R Williams ''The Parliamentary History of the Principality of Wales''
/ref> In November 1640, Thelwall 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

Denbigh Denbigh (; cy, Dinbych; ) is a market town and a community in Denbighshire, Wales. Formerly, the county town, the Welsh name translates to "Little Fortress"; a reference to its historic castle. Denbigh lies near the Clwydian Hills. History ...

in the

Long Parliament The Long Parliament was an English Parliament which lasted from 1640 until 1660. It followed the fiasco of the Short Parliament, which had convened for only three weeks during the spring of 1640 after an 11-year parliamentary absence. In Septem ...

. During the Civil War, he was driven out of Denbighshire and fled to Pembrokeshire. As Major Thelwall he helped drive the Royalists out of Pembrokeshire in 1643. He was one of the commanders who received the surrender of

Denbigh Castle Denbigh Castle and town walls (; cy, Castell Dinbych a waliau tref; ) were a set of fortifications built to control the lordship of Denbigh after the conquest of Wales by Norman King Edward I in 1282. The King granted the lands to Henry de Lac ...

in 1646. He became a Deputy Lieutenant for Denbighshire on 2 July 1646 and became commissioner to manage Denbighshire in May 1648, was one of the Committee for North Wales in June 1648 and commissioner for pious uses for the use of the corporation on 17 November 1648. He was excluded from Parliament in December 1648 under Pride's Purge. He was elected MP for

Denbighshire Denbighshire ( ; cy, Sir Ddinbych; ) is a county in the north-east of Wales. Its borders differ from the historic county of the same name. This part of Wales contains the country's oldest known evidence of habitation – Pontnewydd (Bontnewy ...

in 1654 for the First Protectorate Parliament. Thelwall married firstly Margaret Sheffield, daughter of Edmund Sheffield, 1st Earl of Mulgrave. He married secondly Dorothy Meredith, widow of Andrew Meredith of Glantared and daughter of John Owen Vychard of Llwydiarth. Lumley Thelwall was his brother.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thelwall, Simon 1601 births 1659 deaths Members of the Parliament of England (pre-1707) for constituencies in Wales Roundheads Alumni of Lincoln College, Oxford Members of the Inner Temple Members of the Parliament of England for Denbighshire English MPs 1640–1648 English MPs 1654–1655