Edmund Whalley
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Edward Whalley (c. 1607 – c. 1675) 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 ...
military 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 ...
and was one of the regicides who signed the death warrant of King Charles I of England.


Early career

The exact dates of his birth and death are unknown. He was the second son of Richard Whalley, who had been High Sheriff of Nottinghamshire in 1595, by his second wife Frances Cromwell, an aunt of
Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three Ki ...
. His great-grandfather was Richard Whalley (1499–1583), a prominent adherent of Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset, and a Member of Parliament. Edward Whalley is said to have started out as a woollen-draper. During the 1620s and 1630s, he was a farmer in Chadwell St. Mary,
Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...
, but this farming venture turned out not to be a success. In 1639, Whalley was forced to flee to Scotland to escape from his creditors leaving his wife behind him. On the outbreak of 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 ...
, he took up arms for Parliament, and
James Temple James Temple (1606–1680) was a puritan and English Civil War soldier who was convicted of the regicide of Charles I. Born in Rochester, Kent, to a well-connected gentry family, he was the second of two sons of Sir Alexander Temple, although ...
obtained a position for him as a cornet in the cavalry troop commanded by Temple's cousin, John Fiennes (the son of his uncle, Viscount Saye and Sele). He fought at the Battle of Edgehill and later became major of Cromwell's regiment of horse. He distinguished himself in the field, and his conduct at Gainsborough in 1643 was especially praised by Cromwell. He fought at the Battle of Marston Moor, commanded one of Cromwell's two regiments of cavalry at the Battle of Naseby and at the capture of
Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
, was then sent into
Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...
, took Banbury, and was besieging
Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Englan ...
when he was superseded, according to
Richard Baxter Richard Baxter (12 November 1615 – 8 December 1691) was an English Puritan church leader, poet, hymnodist, theologian, and controversialist. Dean Stanley called him "the chief of English Protestant Schoolmen". After some false starts, he ...
, the chaplain of his regiment, because of his religious orthodoxy.


Regimental officer

He supported his regiment in their grievances against Parliament in 1647. When the king was seized by the army, he was entrusted to the keeping of Charles I and his regiment at
Hampton Court Palace Hampton Court Palace is a Grade I listed royal palace in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, southwest and upstream of central London on the River Thames. The building of the palace began in 1514 for Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, the chie ...
. Whalley refused to remove Charles's chaplains and treated his captive with courtesy, so much so that Charles later wrote him a letter of thanks. In the
Second English Civil War The Second English Civil War took place between February to August 1648 in Kingdom of England, England and Wales. It forms part of the series of conflicts known collectively as the 1639-1651 Wars of the Three Kingdoms, which include the 1641 ...
, Whalley again distinguished himself as a soldier. He was chosen to be a
Commissioner A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to in ...
(judge) at the
trial of 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 ...
and was the fourth to sign the king's death-warrant, immediately after Cromwell. The King was executed in London on 30 January 1649. In April 1649, soldiers in his regiment took part in the
Bishopsgate Mutiny The Bishopsgate mutiny occurred in April 1649 when soldiers of Colonel Edward Whalley's regiment of the New Model Army refused to obey orders and leave London. At the end of the mutiny one soldier, a supporter of the Levellers, Robert Lockyer, wa ...
. They refused to go on the Irish Expedition until the
Levellers The Levellers were a political movement active during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms who were committed to popular sovereignty, extended suffrage, equality before the law and religious tolerance. The hallmark of Leveller thought was its populis ...
' political demands were met, and they received back pay. They were ordered out of London, and when they refused to go, fifteen soldiers were arrested and
court-martial A court-martial or court martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of memb ...
led, of whom six were sentenced to death. Of this six, five were subsequently pardoned while
Robert Lockyer Robert Lockyer (sometimes spelled Lockier) (1625 – 27 April 1649) was an English soldier in Oliver Cromwell's New Model Army. A Leveller, he was the only soldier executed for his involvement in the Bishopsgate mutiny. Lockyer has been identifie ...
, a former Levellers agitator, was shot. Whalley took part in Cromwell's Scottish Expedition, was wounded at the Battle of Dunbar, and in the autumn of 1650, was active in dealing with the situation in the north. The following year, he took part in Cromwell's pursuit of Charles II and fought in the
Battle of Worcester The Battle of Worcester took place on 3 September 1651 in and around the city of Worcester, England and was the last major battle of the 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Three Kingdoms. A Parliamentarian army of around 28,000 under Oliver Cromwell def ...
. He followed and supported Cromwell in his political career, presented the army petition to parliament (August 1652), approved of the protectorate, and represented Nottinghamshire in the parliaments of 1654 and 1656, taking an active part in the prosecution of the
Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...
James Naylor James Nayler (or Naylor; 1618–1660) was an English Quaker leader. He was among the members of the Valiant Sixty, a group of early Quaker preachers and missionaries. In 1656, Nayler achieved national notoriety when he re-enacted Christ's Palm ...
. He was one of the
administrative major-generals The Rule of the Major-Generals, was a period of direct military government from August 1655 to January 1657, during Oliver Cromwell's The Protectorate, Protectorate. England and Wales were divided into ten regions, each governed by a major-general ...
, responsible for Lincoln, Nottingham, Derby, Warwick, and Leicester. He supported the "Petition and Advice," except as regards the proposed assumption of the royal title by
Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three Ki ...
, and became a member of the newly constituted
House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...
in December 1657. On
Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three Ki ...
's death, at which he was present, he in vain gave his support to
Richard Cromwell Richard Cromwell (4 October 162612 July 1712) was an English statesman who was the second and last Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland and son of the first Lord Protector, Oliver Cromwell. On his father's death ...
. His regiment refused to obey his orders, and 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 ...
dismissed him from his command as a representative of the army. In November 1659, he undertook an unsuccessful mission to
Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
to arrange terms with George Monck.


Withdrawal to the colonies

At the
Restoration Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to: * Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage ** Audio restoration ** Film restoration ** Image restoration ** Textile restoration * Restoration ecology ...
, Whalley, with his son-in-law, Major-General William Goffe, escaped to
North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
, and landed at
Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
on 27 July 1660, where they were well received by Governor John Endecott and visited by the principal persons of the town. They went about quite openly, and chose to live in
Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
, about from Boston. During this period, the English Parliament was debating the content of the Indemnity and Oblivion Act. Intelligence reached the colony that all but seven of the regicides would be pardoned. Knowledge of final contents of the Act did not reach the colony until November 1660, and for several months opinion among the leaders of the colony on what to do with Whalley and Goffe was divided. By February 1661, the Governor seems to have had second thoughts about welcoming the regicides so warmly, and on the 22nd, summoned a court of assistants to discuss their arrest, but the court did not agree to such action. Whalley and Goffe decided they were no longer safe in Cambridge and left on 26 February. Within a few days (on 8 March), orders arrived, via Barbados, from England, for their arrest. Daniel Fisher and his sister Lydia helped to hide Goffe and Whalley. The two moved to
New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...
, where
John Dixwell John Dixwell (1607 – 18 March 1689) was an English man who sat in Parliament, fought for the Parliamentary cause in the English Civil War, and was one of the Commissioners who sat in judgement on King Charles I and condemned him to death. At ...
, also condemned as a regicide, was living under the assumed name of James Davids. Arriving on 7 March 1661, they lodged with John Davenport, the local minister. News of the orders for their arrest arrived in New Haven, so Whalley and Goffe used a subterfuge to throw off any pursuit. They made a show of leaving and going to
Milford Milford may refer to: Place names Canada * Milford (Annapolis), Nova Scotia * Milford (Halifax), Nova Scotia * Milford, Ontario England * Milford, Derbyshire * Milford, Devon, a place in Devon * Milford on Sea, Hampshire * Milford, Shro ...
, where they made sure they were seen, but that night they returned in secret to New Haven. They again lodged secretly with Davenport and a number of other sympathizers until 13 May, when they resorted to hiding in some woodland and a cave on Providence Hill (spending some nights in a nearby house). Providence Hill is now known as
West Rock West Rock Ridge or West Rock of south-central Connecticut, is a long trap rock mountain ridge located on the west side of New Haven with a high point of . The ridge forms a continuous line of exposed cliffs visible from metropolitan New Haven an ...
, and today the cave is called Judges Cave. In August they moved into a house in
Milford Milford may refer to: Place names Canada * Milford (Annapolis), Nova Scotia * Milford (Halifax), Nova Scotia * Milford, Ontario England * Milford, Derbyshire * Milford, Devon, a place in Devon * Milford on Sea, Hampshire * Milford, Shro ...
belonging to a Mr. Tomkins, another sympathizer, and remained there for two years. In 1664 they were forced to return to the cave when the King's commissioners arrived in Boston, but Native Americans revealed the cave while the two were absent, which forced them to move further away from Boston. On 13 October, travelling only by night, they set off for Hadley, about one hundred miles away to the north in western
Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...
, where the minister, John Russell, had arranged for them to live with him. They remained there undiscovered for fifteen or sixteen years, receiving money from their wives in England and presents from a few supporters who knew where they were in order to pay their host for their support. In the first few years, they were in constant fear of discovery and were much relieved to read in the newspapers that they were thought to have died in Switzerland while living in exile with other regicides. Every attempt by the English government to procure Whalley or Goffe's arrest failed. Whalley was alive but in poor health in 1674 and probably did not live long afterwards.


Family

Whalley married first on 7 February 1626 at St. Dunstan's Church, Stepney, to Judith Duffell (or Duffield) of Rochester, Kent, by whom, besides other children, he had a son John and a daughter, Frances (who married William Goffe, another regicide). His second marriage was to Mary Middleton, sister of Sir George Middleton, by whom he had two sons, Henry and Edward.


Legacy

Whalley was commemorated with a New Haven street named for him as were the other two Regicides who found refuge in New Haven: Whalley Avenue, Dixwell Avenue, and Goffe Street diverge from a complex of intersections lying at the northwest end of Broadway. Hadley also has two parallel streets named after Goffe and Whalley, as well as a memorial stone at the former site of John Russell's home.


Popular culture

Whalley and Goffe appear as the protagonists of British author Robert Harris’s 2022 novel ''Act of Oblivion'', which depicts their flight across New England.


Notes


References

* * * ;Attribution *


Further reading

;Primary sources * — Edward Whalley was the fourth signatory * ;Secondary sources * An account of Whalley's life * * *The
Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition The ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' Eleventh Edition (1910–1911) is a 29-volume reference work, an edition of the ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. It was developed during the encyclopaedia's transition from a British to an American publication. So ...
(1911) recommends for "Whalley's sojourn in America" ** Massachusetts Historical Society – numerous papers ** The Hutchinson Papers (1865) by the Prince Society **Atlantic Monthly, vi. 89–93; **''Pennsylvania Mag''., i. 55–66, 230, 359; **F. B. Dexter's Memoranda concerning Whalley and Goffe, ''New Haven Col. Hist. Soc. Papers'', ii. (1877); **Poem commemorative of Goffe, Whalley and Dixwell, with abstract of their history, by Philagathos (Boston, 1793); **Palfrey's ''Hist of New England,'' ii.(1866); **''Notes and Quenes'', 5th series, viii. 359 (bibliography of American works on the regicides). {{DEFAULTSORT:Whalley, Edward 1607 births 1675 deaths Regicides of Charles I English generals People from Chadwell St Mary Roundheads People of colonial Connecticut Hadley, Massachusetts Parliamentarian military personnel of the English Civil War English MPs 1654–1655 English MPs 1656–1658 English emigrants