1. Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell was born on April 25,
1599, at Huntingdon. His father,
Richard Cromwell, was a younger
son of one of the richest men in the
district, Sir Henry Cromwell of
Hinchinbrook, known as the "Golden
Knight." Cromwell's mother was the
daughter of Sir William Steward, who
managed the tithe revenues of
Ely Cathedral.
In 1616 Cromwell entered Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge. He left the
following year on the death of his father. For the next few years he lived in
London, where in 1620 he married Elizabeth, the daughter of Sir James
Bourchier, a wealthy leather merchant. Cromwell then returned to his small
estate in Huntingdon, where he farmed his land and played a modest part in
local affairs, acquiring a reputation as a champion of the poor and
dispossessed
2. Oliver Cromwell was a soldier and statesman,
Lord Protector of the Commonwealth.
He began his career as a Member of the Long
Parliament for Cambridge who returned to his
native county when the English civil war broke
out to raise a troop of horse against the king.
Over a career involving many dozens of
battles, sieges and skirmishes, Cromwell was
beaten once at Clonmel, in May 1650, he faced
well-equipped and trained Anglo-Scots force of
20,000 under David Leslie.
He died at Whitehall on Friday 3 September
1658, the anniversary of his great victories at
Dunbar and Worcester