Sir Hugh Cholmeley, 1st Baronet (22 July 1600 – 20 November 1657) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

landowner and

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 ...

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 1624 and 1643. He was initially a Parliamentarian but later a

Royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of governme ...

leader during 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 ...

. His name is sometimes spelt Cholmley.

Life

Cholmeley was born at

Thornton-le-Dale Thornton-le-Dale (also called Thornton Dale) is a village and civil parish in the Ryedale district of North Yorkshire, England, about east of Pickering on the edge of the North York Moors National Park. The area of the village encompasses 39. ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

, the son of Sir Richard Cholmeley and his first wife Susanna Legard, daughter of John Legard of

Ganton Ganton is a village and civil parish in the Ryedale district of North Yorkshire, England. It is situated on the south side of the Vale of Pickering immediately north of the Yorkshire Wolds. Ganton lies west of the coastal town of Filey, and ...

, Yorkshire ( Legard baronets). He was educated at Beverley Free School and

Jesus College, Cambridge Jesus College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college's full name is The College of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint John the Evangelist and the glorious Virgin Saint Radegund, near Cambridge. Its common name comes fr ...

. In 1624 he was elected one of the members of parliament for

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, su ...

and was re-elected in 1625 and 1626. He was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

in 1626. In 1628 he was re-elected a member for Scarborough and sat until 1629, when King Charles I began to rule without parliament for eleven years. In 1622 he had married Elizabeth Twysden, daughter of

Sir William Twysden, 1st Baronet Sir William Twysden, 1st Baronet (1566–1628) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1593 and 1628. Life Twysden was the son of Roger Twysden, of Roydon Hall, East Peckham, and his wife Anne Wyatt, dau ...

East Peckham East Peckham is a village and civil parish in Kent, England on the River Medway. The parish covers the main village as well as Hale Street and Beltring. History The Domesday entry for East and West Peckham reads:- :'' The Archbishop himself ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

and Anne Finch, by whom he had two sons: William, his eldest son and heir, and

Sir Hugh Cholmeley, 4th Baronet Sir Hugh Cholmeley, 4th Baronet (21 July 1632 – 9 January 1689) was an English politician and baronet. Born at Fyling Hall, near Whitby in Yorkshire, he was the second son of Sir Hugh Cholmeley, 1st Baronet and his wife Elizabeth Twysden, ...

, the last of the line. During the years when

Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...

ruled without Parliament, Cholmeley became, together with Sir John Hotham, one of the leaders of resistance among the

gentry Gentry (from Old French ''genterie'', from ''gentil'', "high-born, noble") are "well-born, genteel and well-bred people" of high social class, especially in the past. Word similar to gentle imple and decentfamilies ''Gentry'', in its widest ...

. He organised a number of petitions and protests, and in 1639 he refused to pay

ship money Ship money was a tax of medieval origin levied intermittently in the Kingdom of England until the middle of the 17th century. Assessed typically on the inhabitants of coastal areas of England, it was one of several taxes that English monarchs co ...

. As a result, he was dismissed from all his posts and was summoned before the

Council of State A Council of State is a governmental body in a country, or a subdivision of a country, with a function that varies by jurisdiction. It may be the formal name for the cabinet or it may refer to a non-executive advisory body associated with a head o ...

, the King reportedly telling Hotham and Cholmeley that if they interfered again he would hang them both. In April 1640 Cholmeley was again elected a member for Scarborough 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 ...

. He was re-elected for Scarborough for 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 ...

in November 1640 and was created a

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

in 1641.George Edward Cokayne ''Complete Baronetage, Volume 2''
/ref> Initially, a Parliamentarian when the civil war broke out, Cholmeley was one of the parliamentary commissioners sent to negotiate with the King in May 1642; he raised a regiment for the Parliamentary army which fought at the

Battle of Edgehill The Battle of Edgehill (or Edge Hill) was a pitched battle of the First English Civil War. It was fought near Edge Hill and Kineton in southern Warwickshire on Sunday, 23 October 1642. All attempts at constitutional compromise between ...

and later joined Fairfax in his campaign against the royalist garrison at

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

. However, when

the Queen In the English-speaking world, The Queen most commonly refers to: * Elizabeth II (1926–2022), Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 1952 until her death The Queen may also refer to: * Camilla, Queen Consort (born 1947), ...

landed in Yorkshire, returning from the Netherlands where she had been attempting to raise money and troops, Cholmeley declared for the King, and

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

put him in command of all maritime affairs along the northern half of the Yorkshire coast. He was disabled from sitting in parliament in 1643. After the Royalist defeat at the

Battle of Marston Moor The Battle of Marston Moor was fought on 2 July 1644, during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms of 1639 – 1653. The combined forces of the English Parliamentarians under Lord Fairfax and the Earl of Manchester and the Scottish Covenanters und ...

, Cholmeley refused to flee the country, holding

for the king during its Great Siege, until he was forced to surrender, on very favourable terms, on 22 July 1645. His estates were sequestrated, but he later compounded for £850. Cholmeley spend time in exile, until returning to England in 1649. He wrote his memoirs before his death on 30 November 1657. It was addressed to his sons, and intended to "embalm the great virtues and perfections of their mother", who had died two years earlier.

References

;Attribution

Sources

*D. Brunton & D. H. Pennington, ''Members of the Long Parliament'' (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1954) *J. Foster, ''Pedigrees of the County Families of Yorkshire'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Cholmeley, Hugh, 1st Baronet 1600 births 1657 deaths Alumni of Jesus College, Cambridge Baronets in the Baronetage of England People from Ryedale (district)

Hugh Hugh may refer to: *Hugh (given name) Noblemen and clergy French * Hugh the Great (died 956), Duke of the Franks * Hugh Magnus of France (1007–1025), co-King of France under his father, Robert II * Hugh, Duke of Alsace (died 895), modern-day ...

English MPs 1624–1625 English MPs 1625 English MPs 1626 English MPs 1628–1629 English MPs 1640 (April) English MPs 1640–1648 English exiles Members of Gray's Inn People educated at Beverley Grammar School Royalist military personnel of the English Civil War Parliamentarian military personnel of the English Civil War Cholmeley baronets