John Rushworth
Encyclopedia
John Rushworth English historian, was born at Acklington Park
in the parish of Warkworth
, Northumberland
, England
. He compiled a series of works called Historical Collections (which are also referred to as the Rushworth Papers), concerning the period of history covering the English Civil War
s throughout the 17th century.
, England
and was a contemporary of John Lilburne
whose writings, like those of Rushworth, had a profound impact on the history of the English Civil War
s of the 17th century. Although his senior, he also shared much in common with Oliver Cromwell
(born 1599), because they were evangelical Christians who believed that the Church of England
should undergo a total reformation, contrary to the wishes of King Charles I
.
in 1068. Lawrence Rushworth (his father) was an extensive landowner and Justice of the Peace at Heath, Yorkshire. His mother was Margaret Cuthbert, daughter of the vicar of Carnaby
in Humberside
. John Rushworth is reported to have been a good pupil who left school to study law at The Queen's College, Oxford
. He graduated in 1640 and then became a student barrister at Lincoln's Inn
where Oliver Cromwell
had previously studied in the 1620s and then commenced work as assistant clerk at the House of Commons
. He married Hannah Widdrington, daughter of Lewis Widdrington, and sister of Member of Parliament
Sir Thomas Widdrington
, who would much later become the Speaker of the House of Commons
.
John Pym
, who in a speech at the House of Commons on April 17, 1640 attacked the king and his government for problems within the country, both Cromwell and Rushworth identified themselves with the same sentiments. Charles I reacted by declaring war on Parliament from the grounds of Nottingham Castle
on August 22, 1642, and this act is said to have commenced a succession of three English civil wars.
and served General Fairfax. This gave John Rushworth an "embedded journalist" view of the wars then in progress. Rushworth followed the battles of Edge Hill; Newbury
; Marston Moor
; Naseby
; Battle of Preston
and Worcester
.
When Charles I was captured, Rushworth began to record details of events leading up to, during and following the trial and execution of the king. His views of Charles I as a king who had declared war on his own people, were later echoed in words by Thomas Jefferson
and others when writing about the reign of George III
in the Declaration of Independence
.
, and the establishment of an English Republic under the leadership of Cromwell. When Cromwell became Lord Protector
in 1653, Rushworth was promoted to Registrar of the Court of Admiralty. In 1657 he became the Member of Parliament for Berwick
, a seat to which he was reelected many times. As a member of the Cromwellian government he enjoyed the friendships of John Milton
(who served Cromwell as the official State Censor
); John Owen
; John Bunyan
and many other well known people of that period.
became Lord Protector. Rushworth completed his written histories of the period and dedicated them to Richard Cromwell. However, due to the inability of Richard Cromwell to continue the office established by his father as Lord Protector, by 1660 real power had shifted to the Council of State and John Rusworth, MP, became its Secretary.
in and of Scotland
.) When Charles II took to the throne and restored the monarchy, Rushworth was reassigned to the office of Treasury Solicitor.
During the following years Rushworth lived through the Great Plague
that hit London in 1665 and which lasted until the Great Fire
of 1666 destroyed many of its rat-infested buildings. These two events were recorded in the Diary (1660–1669) of his friend Samuel Pepys
. For a time Rushworth retained his seat in Parliament. He was repeatedly elected from 1659 to 1681.
In the Convention Parliament of 1660 Rushworth again represented Berwick. On 7 June 1660 he presented to the Privy Council certain volumes of its records, which he claimed to have preserved from plunder "during the late unhappy times", and received the king's thanks for their restoration. Reports were spread, however, of Rushworth's complicity in the late king's death, and he was called before the lords to give an account of the deliberations of the regicides, but professed to know nothing except by hearsay. Rushworth was not re-elected to the parliament of 1661, but continued to act as agent for the town of Berwick, although complaints were made that the king could look for little obedience so long as such men were agents for corporations.
In September 1667, when Sir Orlando Bridgeman was made lord-keeper, he appointed Rushworth his secretary. The colony of Massachusetts also employed him as its agent at a salary of twelve guineas a year and his expenses, but it was scoffingly said in 1674 that all he had done for the colony was 'not worth a rush'. In the parliaments of March 1679, October 1679, and March 1681, Rushworth again represented Berwick, and seems to have supported the whig leaders. Though he had held lucrative posts and had inherited an estate from his cousin, Sir Richard Tempest, Rushworth's affairs were greatly embarrassed. He spent the last six years of his life in the king's bench prison in Southwark, "where, being reduced to his second childship, for his memory was quite decayed by taking too much brandy to keep up his spirits, he quietly gave up the ghost in his lodging in a certain alley there, called Rules Court, on 12 May 1690". He was buried in St. George's Church, Southwark
. Wood states that Rushworth died at the age of eighty-three, but in a letter written in 1675 Rushworth describes himself as sixty-three at that date.
, Lincolnshire; (2) Rebecca, married, August 1667, Robert Blaney of Kinsham, Herefordshire; (3) Margaret; (4) Katherine, whose letter to the Duke of Newcastle on her father's death is printed in the "Report on the Duke of Portland's Manuscripts".
A portrait of Rushworth, by R. White, is prefixed to the third part of his "Historical Collections".
where they served as a source of inspiration for Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson bought a copy of Rushworth's Historical Collections for use in his own library and he often quoted from them.
Acklington Park
Acklington Park in the parish of Warkworth, Northumberland, England was the birthplace of John Rushworth who achieved fame in both England and during the formation of the United States of America for compiling a series of works called Historical Collections covering the English Civil Wars...
in the parish of Warkworth
Warkworth, Northumberland
Warkworth is a village in Northumberland, England. It is probably best known for its well-preserved medieval castle, church and hermitage. At the time of the 2001 census, the population of Warkworth was 1,493.-Geography:...
, Northumberland
Northumberland
Northumberland is the northernmost ceremonial county and a unitary district in North East England. For Eurostat purposes Northumberland is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "Northumberland and Tyne and Wear" NUTS 2 region...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. He compiled a series of works called Historical Collections (which are also referred to as the Rushworth Papers), concerning the period of history covering the English Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
s throughout the 17th century.
Background
John Rushworth was born c. 1612 in NorthumberlandNorthumberland
Northumberland is the northernmost ceremonial county and a unitary district in North East England. For Eurostat purposes Northumberland is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "Northumberland and Tyne and Wear" NUTS 2 region...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and was a contemporary of John Lilburne
John Lilburne
John Lilburne , also known as Freeborn John, was an English political Leveller before, during and after English Civil Wars 1642-1650. He coined the term "freeborn rights", defining them as rights with which every human being is born, as opposed to rights bestowed by government or human law...
whose writings, like those of Rushworth, had a profound impact on the history of the English Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
s of the 17th century. Although his senior, he also shared much in common with Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader who overthrew the English monarchy and temporarily turned England into a republican Commonwealth, and served as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland....
(born 1599), because they were evangelical Christians who believed that the Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
should undergo a total reformation, contrary to the wishes of King Charles I
Charles I of England
Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...
.
Early life
His paternal line were descendants of a family which first settled on the Yorkshire moorsYorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
in 1068. Lawrence Rushworth (his father) was an extensive landowner and Justice of the Peace at Heath, Yorkshire. His mother was Margaret Cuthbert, daughter of the vicar of Carnaby
Carnaby
Carnaby is a small village and civil parish on the A614 road in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is situated approximately south west of Bridlington town centre....
in Humberside
Humberside
Humberside was a non-metropolitan and ceremonial county in Northern England from 1 April 1974 until 1 April 1996. It was composed of land from either side of the Humber Estuary, created from portions of the East and West ridings of Yorkshire and parts of Lindsey, Lincolnshire...
. John Rushworth is reported to have been a good pupil who left school to study law at The Queen's College, Oxford
The Queen's College, Oxford
The Queen's College, founded 1341, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Queen's is centrally situated on the High Street, and is renowned for its 18th-century architecture...
. He graduated in 1640 and then became a student barrister at Lincoln's Inn
Lincoln's Inn
The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn. Although Lincoln's Inn is able to trace its official records beyond...
where Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader who overthrew the English monarchy and temporarily turned England into a republican Commonwealth, and served as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland....
had previously studied in the 1620s and then commenced work as assistant clerk at the House of Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
. He married Hannah Widdrington, daughter of Lewis Widdrington, and sister of Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
Sir Thomas Widdrington
Thomas Widdrington
Sir Thomas Widdrington SL was an English politician and judge of the 17th century.He and his brother Ralph were of a junior branch of an ancient Northumbrian family and were distantly related to William Widdrington, 1st Baron Widdrington...
, who would much later become the Speaker of the House of Commons
Speaker of the British House of Commons
The Speaker of the House of Commons is the presiding officer of the House of Commons, the United Kingdom's lower chamber of Parliament. The current Speaker is John Bercow, who was elected on 22 June 2009, following the resignation of Michael Martin...
.
Political involvement
Following the lead of MPMember of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
John Pym
John Pym
John Pym was an English parliamentarian, leader of the Long Parliament and a prominent critic of James I and then Charles I.- Early life and education :...
, who in a speech at the House of Commons on April 17, 1640 attacked the king and his government for problems within the country, both Cromwell and Rushworth identified themselves with the same sentiments. Charles I reacted by declaring war on Parliament from the grounds of Nottingham Castle
Nottingham Castle
Nottingham Castle is a castle in Nottingham, England. It is located in a commanding position on a natural promontory known as "'Castle Rock'", with cliffs high to the south and west. In the Middle Ages it was a major royal fortress and occasional royal residence...
on August 22, 1642, and this act is said to have commenced a succession of three English civil wars.
Rushworth's papers
Once the wars got underway in earnest, Rushworth became the Secretary of the New Model ArmyNew Model Army
The New Model Army of England was formed in 1645 by the Parliamentarians in the English Civil War, and was disbanded in 1660 after the Restoration...
and served General Fairfax. This gave John Rushworth an "embedded journalist" view of the wars then in progress. Rushworth followed the battles of Edge Hill; Newbury
Battle of Newbury
Battle of Newbury may refer to:*First Battle of Newbury, 20 September 1643*Second Battle of Newbury, 27 October 1644*Third Battle of Newbury...
; Marston Moor
Battle of Marston Moor
The Battle of Marston Moor was fought on 2 July 1644, during the First English Civil War of 1642–1646. The combined forces of the Scottish Covenanters under the Earl of Leven and the English Parliamentarians under Lord Fairfax and the Earl of Manchester defeated the Royalists commanded by Prince...
; Naseby
Battle of Naseby
The Battle of Naseby was the key battle of the first English Civil War. On 14 June 1645, the main army of King Charles I was destroyed by the Parliamentarian New Model Army commanded by Sir Thomas Fairfax and Oliver Cromwell.-The Campaign:...
; Battle of Preston
Battle of Preston (1648)
The Battle of Preston , fought largely at Walton-le-Dale near Preston in Lancashire, resulted in a victory by the troops of Oliver Cromwell over the Royalists and Scots commanded by the Duke of Hamilton...
and Worcester
Battle of Worcester
The Battle of Worcester took place on 3 September 1651 at Worcester, England and was the final battle of the English Civil War. Oliver Cromwell and the Parliamentarians defeated the Royalist, predominantly Scottish, forces of King Charles II...
.
When Charles I was captured, Rushworth began to record details of events leading up to, during and following the trial and execution of the king. His views of Charles I as a king who had declared war on his own people, were later echoed in words by Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...
and others when writing about the reign of George III
George III of the United Kingdom
George III was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of these two countries on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until his death...
in the Declaration of Independence
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Legal authority
Following the execution of Charles I in 1649, Rushworth became personal secretary to Oliver Cromwell. It was Rushworth who then began drafting plans for the abolition of the monarchy and the House of LordsHouse of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
, and the establishment of an English Republic under the leadership of Cromwell. When Cromwell became Lord Protector
Lord Protector
Lord Protector is a title used in British constitutional law for certain heads of state at different periods of history. It is also a particular title for the British Heads of State in respect to the established church...
in 1653, Rushworth was promoted to Registrar of the Court of Admiralty. In 1657 he became the Member of Parliament for Berwick
Berwick-upon-Tweed
Berwick-upon-Tweed or simply Berwick is a town in the county of Northumberland and is the northernmost town in England, on the east coast at the mouth of the River Tweed. It is situated 2.5 miles south of the Scottish border....
, a seat to which he was reelected many times. As a member of the Cromwellian government he enjoyed the friendships of John Milton
John Milton
John Milton was an English poet, polemicist, a scholarly man of letters, and a civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under Oliver Cromwell...
(who served Cromwell as the official State Censor
Censorship
thumb|[[Book burning]] following the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|1973 coup]] that installed the [[Military government of Chile |Pinochet regime]] in Chile...
); John Owen
John Owen (theologian)
John Owen was an English Nonconformist church leader, theologian, and academic administrator at the University of Oxford.-Early life:...
; John Bunyan
John Bunyan
John Bunyan was an English Christian writer and preacher, famous for writing The Pilgrim's Progress. Though he was a Reformed Baptist, in the Church of England he is remembered with a Lesser Festival on 30 August, and on the liturgical calendar of the Episcopal Church on 29 August.-Life:In 1628,...
and many other well known people of that period.
Death of Cromwell
When Oliver Cromwell died on September 3, 1658 at age 59, his son Richard CromwellRichard Cromwell
At the same time, the officers of the New Model Army became increasingly wary about the government's commitment to the military cause. The fact that Richard Cromwell lacked military credentials grated with men who had fought on the battlefields of the English Civil War to secure their nation's...
became Lord Protector. Rushworth completed his written histories of the period and dedicated them to Richard Cromwell. However, due to the inability of Richard Cromwell to continue the office established by his father as Lord Protector, by 1660 real power had shifted to the Council of State and John Rusworth, MP, became its Secretary.
Restoration of the monarchy
Negotiations were then undertaken with the son of Charles I to return to England as its king, subject to the rule of Parliament. (He had already been crowned King Charles IICharles II of England
Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...
in and of Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
.) When Charles II took to the throne and restored the monarchy, Rushworth was reassigned to the office of Treasury Solicitor.
During the following years Rushworth lived through the Great Plague
Great Plague of London
The Great Plague was a massive outbreak of disease in the Kingdom of England that killed an estimated 100,000 people, 20% of London's population. The disease is identified as bubonic plague, an infection by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, transmitted through a flea vector...
that hit London in 1665 and which lasted until the Great Fire
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
of 1666 destroyed many of its rat-infested buildings. These two events were recorded in the Diary (1660–1669) of his friend Samuel Pepys
Samuel Pepys
Samuel Pepys FRS, MP, JP, was an English naval administrator and Member of Parliament who is now most famous for the diary he kept for a decade while still a relatively young man...
. For a time Rushworth retained his seat in Parliament. He was repeatedly elected from 1659 to 1681.
In the Convention Parliament of 1660 Rushworth again represented Berwick. On 7 June 1660 he presented to the Privy Council certain volumes of its records, which he claimed to have preserved from plunder "during the late unhappy times", and received the king's thanks for their restoration. Reports were spread, however, of Rushworth's complicity in the late king's death, and he was called before the lords to give an account of the deliberations of the regicides, but professed to know nothing except by hearsay. Rushworth was not re-elected to the parliament of 1661, but continued to act as agent for the town of Berwick, although complaints were made that the king could look for little obedience so long as such men were agents for corporations.
In September 1667, when Sir Orlando Bridgeman was made lord-keeper, he appointed Rushworth his secretary. The colony of Massachusetts also employed him as its agent at a salary of twelve guineas a year and his expenses, but it was scoffingly said in 1674 that all he had done for the colony was 'not worth a rush'. In the parliaments of March 1679, October 1679, and March 1681, Rushworth again represented Berwick, and seems to have supported the whig leaders. Though he had held lucrative posts and had inherited an estate from his cousin, Sir Richard Tempest, Rushworth's affairs were greatly embarrassed. He spent the last six years of his life in the king's bench prison in Southwark, "where, being reduced to his second childship, for his memory was quite decayed by taking too much brandy to keep up his spirits, he quietly gave up the ghost in his lodging in a certain alley there, called Rules Court, on 12 May 1690". He was buried in St. George's Church, Southwark
St George the Martyr Southwark
St George the Martyr is a church in the historic Borough district of south London. It lies within the modern day London Borough of Southwark on Borough High Street at the junction with Long Lane, Marshalsea Road, and Tabard Street....
. Wood states that Rushworth died at the age of eighty-three, but in a letter written in 1675 Rushworth describes himself as sixty-three at that date.
Family
On his death Rushworth left four daughters: (1) Hannah, married, February 1664, to Sir Francis Fane of FulbeckFrancis Fane (dramatist)
Sir Francis Fane, of Fulbeck, in the county of Lincoln, K.B. was a writer of stage plays and poems and a courtier in the Restoration court of Charles II of England.-Biography:...
, Lincolnshire; (2) Rebecca, married, August 1667, Robert Blaney of Kinsham, Herefordshire; (3) Margaret; (4) Katherine, whose letter to the Duke of Newcastle on her father's death is printed in the "Report on the Duke of Portland's Manuscripts".
A portrait of Rushworth, by R. White, is prefixed to the third part of his "Historical Collections".
Legacy
In 1890, King's Bench Prison in Rule's Court was demolished. Rushworth School was then built on the site and the court was renamed Rushworth Street. While John Rushworth was remembered as a person, his writings found favor in AmericaUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
where they served as a source of inspiration for Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson bought a copy of Rushworth's Historical Collections for use in his own library and he often quoted from them.
External links
- Portrait and biography of John Rushworth
- Rushworth's Historical Collections at British History Online: full-text version of volumes 1-8. Accessed 2011-02-28.